Roof, Friday Midday

[withoutverona]

Romeo's head was muddled after his trip home. The movie final had diverted a little but not helped; it just meant graduation loomed, and his decision was at hand.

He wanted to follow Yurika. He wanted to live in Verona. He wanted to please his father -- and he wanted to stand on his own. None of those things seemed to fit together quite right in his head.

He took one of his emergency cigarettes and climbed onto the roof to think, appreciating the warm breeze as he leaned on the edge broodily.

Fandom wasn't Verona. But at least it was spring here, too.

[OOC: Open roof, yep!]

Comments

[intraspective]

Ino was humming as she wandered up to the roof with Staffy in her hand. It was nice out! She could totally go flying, right?

But she could also talk for a bit too! "Hi!" she chirped.

[withoutverona]

"Good day, Ino," Romeo said easily. "You have a staff."

... not much got by him.

[intraspective]

She grinned. "I do," Ino said, twirling it idly in one hand, before bouncing over to him. "It flies though, so not an ordinary staff."

A beat.

"Unless a lot of them can fly in someone else's world and no one ever told me."

[withoutverona]

"I don't think they fly at home, but I didn't get a chance to check while Reno and I were there," Romeo shared. "Why does yours fly?"

[intraspective]

"'Cause Liir made it so I could fly even though I don't have magic," she said, studying it. "Which these days half makes me think I ought to give it back to him, and half says it was a gift, freely given, and I don't have to. Why were you in... Verona, right? And you should totally check next time you visit."

[withoutverona]

"Are things any better with you and Liir?" Rmeo asked idly. "And we were there because my father has finally realized I'm serious about going to Tokyo, and he wants me to come home."

A moment later, he added, "I don't want to see his point, but I think I do."

[intraspective]

"We haven't really talked, so it's kinda at a standstill." She shrugged. "What's his point, if you don't mind me asking?"

[withoutverona]

Romeo thoughtfully stubbed out his cigarette before answering. He didn't mind talking about it; he was just thinking over the phrasing.

"That it's my home and my family, and as his son I should be there to help him," he finally answered. "He thinks going to Tokyo is childish of me."

[intraspective]

"Do you think it's childish?" she asked, flopping down beside him. "Or, I guess really, how is childish being defined? Impulsive? Wanting to do what you want to do? I mean... I think most parents what their kids to follow in their footsteps, you know, but not doing so doesn't mean someone is being childish."

[withoutverona]

"I think if I asked him to expand on childish, he'd say I was impulsive, rash, unmanly, and more than a little stupid about all of this," Romeo answered. "There might be some truth there; I know I don't want to do what he does, though. I can barely manage a shop, let alone a huge business. But I always saw myself in Verona, someday. So."

[intraspective]

"Unmanly?" she said, since that was the one that confused her. The others... well, Ino could see how they'd apply to him. "Could the business be expanded?" she asked instead. "You could bring the business to Tokyo? Though that, all considered, might be hard and uh, don't most people who run a business take, like, classes or something first? You could do that."

[withoutverona]

"Girlish. Silly. Frivolous." Romeo blanched, then, remembering who he was speaking with. "No offense meant. Girls aren't quite as equal, at home."

He waivered, thinking about the rest of it, "It's a question to ask, at least. It's a different world, so I can't expand the business there. But if I offered to take classes in Tokyo, that might buy some time."

[intraspective]

Smart boy, since her eyes had narrowed at his description. "I'll let it slide," she said, with a sniff.

"Is Tokyo good at business?" she asked, rather dubiously, "I mean, I don't know much 'bout it, but I think I read that somewhere? And classes there would totally let you think it over more and see how you like living in Tokyo."

[withoutverona]

"Tokyo is good at business, and Dojima's father is excellent," Romeo said. "I might be able to talk of it to my father as an internship, but I suspect he'd tell me there are schools in Verona, too."

[intraspective]

"But wouldn't your schools be biased?" she said, "I mean, your family is big there, right? So you wouldn't be getting an unbiased opinion--whereas in Tokyo, you could, 'cause Montague doesn't mean anything."

[withoutverona]

"True, but if Montague doesn't mean anything there, I won't get a true picture of what business will be like in Verona," Romeo said. "My last name will matter, I may as well start out knowing that."

[intraspective]

Fiddling with Staffy, Ino frowned at that.

"It sounds like, if you went to school in Verona, you would either have to have only the school that your father knew was prejudiced towards you--or go to one that was less for you. Which might not give you an actual idea of how the business itself works without your advantages. I mean, you can always, once you've taken the classes 'bout how things work for most people, spend a few months watching how your father plays the game and adjusting what you know?"

[withoutverona]

"I don't know. Maybe." Romeo's head was starting to hurt. "Tell me something happy, Ino."

[Sorry. Work exploded.]

[intraspective]

That really wasn't a request she could ignore.

"Happy, happy," she mused. "I don't know--there's lots of things to be happy 'bout. It's getting nicer out, and the plants are starting to look all perky and that's a happy thing for sure, and there's been enough going on that I haven't had a chance to get grumpy about stuff, so I'm sure that makes people happy when I'm not yelling."

Hmm... oh! "I know what's happy," she said brightly. "I still have your red sweater, you know, and you're not getting it back. So I guess that's more happy for me than for you, but..."

[withoutverona]

"It is nicer," Romeo agreed, looking distinctly relieved. "And are you so sure of that? I'll stay for a few weeks after graduation. I might sneak into your room just to steal it back."

[intraspective]

"Maybe I'll just wear it everywhere I go then," she said, smiling at him and glad to know he wasn't leaving right away. "So you can't take it anyway!"

[withoutverona]

"I'm keeping the gun you found me in Paris," Romeo informed her. "I don't think I ever paid you for that. Let's call it a sweatshirt for a handgun, and I escape with my pride."

[intraspective]

"Oh, I don't know," she said, pretending to think it over, eyes bright, "I think the gun means I deserve at least the sweatshirt and a hug to make even."

Ino just liked hugs.

[withoutverona]

Romeo unfolded to his full height. "You drive a hard bargain, Miss Yamanaka," he informed her. "A sweatshirt and a hug, then."

He liked hugs, too.

[intraspective]

"Some would say it's a steal," she replied, grinning and bouncing up to claim her hug. "Special price, only for you."