5th Floor Common Room, Monday Early Evening

[intraspective]

Really, she ought to be asleep despite the ridiculously early hour. A weekend spent with little sleep and using loads of energy meant by all rights that she should be dead to the world at the moment. Ino had spent about an hour after her last class staring up at the ceiling before giving that idea up for a lost cause and wandered out to the common room to see what she could find that was entertaining enough to keep her from getting bored.

Normally Ino wasn't much of one for movies, but poking around turned up The Continuous Tale and it looked interesting enough for her to stare at while she tried to convince herself to unwind enough to actually sleep. Score!

That decided on, she made popcorn (because if she was going to do this movie thing, she was going to do it right) and curled up on the couch, hitting play. And, okay, maybe snuggle into a blanket as well. That counted as part of the whole movie thing, right? Right?

It totally did. She could even be convinced to share, if asked nicely.

[Ooopen as a common room is, yes!]

Comments

[intraspective]

"It's pretty good so far," Ino said earnestly, eyebrows raising as she put a face to the guy-with-wings who'd called her by mistake.

"Nothing wrong with ancient if you don't know it is."

[wwiii]

"Oh, I didn't say there was anything the matter with it," Warren replied, shrugging. "I'm just more used to people breaking out the newest and shiniest, you know?"

He glanced toward the girl, who he wasn't even aware that he called, and gave her a little grin. "There's nothing the matter with a classic, anyhow."

[intraspective]

"I would have no clue what's the newest and shiniest," Ino admitted, a bit sheepishly, but smiling. "I don't watch many and I liked the cover on this one?"

The flying thing had been fuzzy. Shush.

[wwiii]

"Well, in all fairness, most of what I think is new and shiny back home doesn't quite exist yet, here."

See? He was totally capable of thinking of things in all fairness!

"It's been ages since I've watched this movie, you know. Mind if I take a seat?"

[intraspective]

"Sit, eat popcorn, tell me your name," Ino carolled, because she could. "Mine's Ino so you can't say you don't know mine now."

A beat.

"You're from the future? A near future?"

[wwiii]

"Not too far from now, no," he agreed, taking a seat and grinning as he made a reach for the popcorn.

See! He totally did these things in the order in which he was told. Raised to be obedient, that Warren.

"I'm Warren."

[intraspective]

"Did you know you called me?" Ino asked interestedly, stealing a handful of her own popcorn and shoving it in his direction.

Also, seeing his reaction might be fun.

"I didn't know the phones were whacked and I left you an answer but I'm pretty sure you never got it or meant to call me in the first place."

Babble: on!

[wwiii]

"I... You're one of the ones who got one of my messages?"

Oh, yes, there was a reaction pretty immediately. It mostly consisted of Warren's heart pounding in his ears, while the rest of him tensed and he held his breath.

Crap.

"Which one?"

[intraspective]

Her eyes didn't miss his reaction and Ino leaned back, exuding comfort and maybe just a little bit of reassurance. After all, she'd given him a serious answer on the phone--he was obviously easily spooked.

"Well," she said, "I don't remember your words exactly," Ino, you liar, "but what I said was: '…I don't recall you taking me flying? But, uh, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to 'cause you sound a bit confused but I do happen to like flying and…'

A pause.

'Here's a hint, and you've got to be new if you don't know this: normal don't exist on this island. If flyin' is your thing then that's a nice and shiny power. Seriously, don't worry 'bout it, people'll think it's cool.'"

And she was just going to eat another bit of popcorn and be quietly pleased with herself. There.

[wwiii]

To his credit, Warren was at the very least not having a heart attack, here.

"You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that," he noted, his gaze falling from the screen so that he could pick apart a piece of popcorn between his fingers. "Old habits die hard, I suppose. It's not even that much of a secret anymore. I mean, I spent most of the weekend without my coat on, and people have seen me up on the roof."

[intraspective]

Ino shrugged.

"I'm only repeating what I said on the phone," she pointed out. "You okay?"

[wwiii]

"Never better."

Lies.

"For what it's worth, I guess I'm just a little worried that not everybody is as accepting and open-minded as people insist. So far, nobody's really proven me wrong, so I'm probably just being silly."

And cramped. For no good reason. Stupid coat.

[intraspective]

Liar.

Ino gave that a bit of a shrug. "Open-minded 'bout wings? They'll totally be. Only problems I'd guess you might get is 'round newbie days when the new ones need the adjustment period of figuring out that Fandom Island is weird."

Her grin was light, then.

"Besides, flying is cool."

[wwiii]

Weird how something that he couldn't agree with more could perk him up a little, wasn't it?

"I've only actually been out flying a few times," he replied. "But here seems to be an okay place to get out and practise, once I'm confident that I'm not going to go careening to my death, or anything."

Such self-confidence this boy had. Really, now.

[intraspective]

Ino blinked at him.

"Well," she said, eschewing 'careful' for a blink. "That's a defeatist sort of frame of mind ain't it?"

[wwiii]

It was a good mindset to be in, so long as gravity proved to be a functional force of nature!

"I haven't exactly mastered takeoffs yet," Warren explained. "Or landings. I haven't decided which of the two is more humiliating to mess up, though."

[intraspective]

Ino laughed in the face of gravity.

...When she had Staffy.

"Oooh." That made more sense, yes. "So--you haven't had them long, or something?" Because wasn't that a baby step? "Or, uh, place where you couldn't be open 'bout 'em?"

[wwiii]

"They just kind of... happened, a while ago," Warren replied. See, he could be open about stuff. Awkwardly, but it wasn't as though she didn't already know he had them, here. "But you're right. New York isn't exactly the sort of place where people can go around announcing things like this."

[intraspective]

Awww. The awkward was a bit endearing, really. In a toddler sort of way.

... Er. Sorry, Warren.

"Nooo, that's a big city." She knew that much! "And it's not really a place where it's dark enough or quiet enough ever to go and try it out at night, yeah?"

[wwiii]

"Night might as well be broad daylight, there," Warren agreed, picking apart at his popcorn some more. "It isn't as though it gets any less busy after nightfall. There's too much to be done in places like that. It's like everybody has somewhere to be."

[intraspective]

"Parties and clubs," she answered cheerily. "Well, that's my guess anyway. Probably less boring than reality."

[wwiii]

"I suppose that depends on whose reality you're talking about, and whether or not the person in question can go out in public without strapping spare limbs in place," Warren pointed out.

[intraspective]

...

"...this is true."

A beat.

"I have this disease," she explained, "where I say things. Hi."

[wwiii]

"Hi," Warren replied. He worked on a smile, there, and for a moment he even looked vaguely amused. "Sounds like a serious disease. Have they found a cure?"

A little duct-tape over the lips, he'd heard, could work miracles for diseases like that.

[intraspective]

"There's no such cure," she said, eyes dancing with mirth. "At least, not 'less they were to throttle me and I'm lucky people like me enough not to resort to that."