The Deck | Afternoon | Monday | February 15

[therewaslife]

One of the easiest ways, Bod discovered, of dealing with leftover restless energy was to get himself out of his room. Finding it was warmer than it had been was even better. It meant he could go outside without feeling like he was going to turn into the human equivalent of an icicle.

With a walk into town on his mind, Bod decided he could wait awhile when he discovered the deck. It look little used (which made sense during the winter months) but it was warm enough today to get some use.

So, he clambered onto the deck and took a seat, making himself comfortable by stretching his leg out and tucking his arms behind his head. Of course, now that he was there, he didn't really have much to do. Staring at the sky worked for a few moments before he let his eyes slip closed.

It wasn't sleep so much as an easy way to take himself back to a different time in a different place with different people. He didn't do this often since it tended to make him maudlin but on a brisk Monday, he allowed himself the luxury.

[deck's an open place! just trying to keep myself awake!]

Comments

[longislandiceme]

Hey, as far as Bobby was concerned, there was nothing wrong with turning into the human equivalent of an icicle. Still, in an effort to blend in he was at least wearing a light jacket as he made his way outside.

"Hey, man," he greeted, finding a deck chair of his own to flop into.

[therewaslife]

"Hullo," said Bod, opening his eyes and turning his head to glance at the new arrival. It seemed Bobby had the same idea as he did what with the being outside. "Having a long day?"

[intraspective]

"Shoulders!" Ino greeted cheerfully, hopping up on the deck with a hot chocolate. "Hey!"

Ino, that's not his name.

[therewaslife]

Bod couldn't help the laugh that escaped this time and ended up greeting Ino with one of his more infrequent, broad grins.

"Hullo, Ino," he said once the laugh had subsided. "I'm glad to hear I've got a memorable quality about myself."

[intraspective]

"At least one," she assured him brightly, perching on one of the tables and grinning at him all bundled up in her winter clothing. "I'm sure you've got more, but I only know the one so far. How're you doing?"

[therewaslife]

"I'm doing well, thank you," he said, sitting up a little so he could see her more clearly. "I'm glad that the weather's warmed up some and I had a good time at the dance the other day. What about yourself? You look happy."

[intraspective]

"You have to tell me your shoe size, Bobby," Ino carolled merrily. "Or else I'll resort to breaking and entering and that might get me in trouble. And, hi!"

And it'd be complicated to steal a shoe from his foot, really.

[intraspective]

"The dance was awesome," Ino agreed, and laughed. "And I'm doing pretty awesome too. Radio thinks I've got a boooyfriend now and Tyler-sensei said one of the flowers I didn't understand why I got might be 'cause someone has a crush on me and they're testing the waters or something! Which is really kinda strange 'cause I totally don't know what to make of it at all!"

Quite possibly because she was thinking too hard about it. Shhh.

[longislandiceme]

"Terribly busy," Bobby nodded seriously. It was only partially a lie, because he'd totally freaked out for like ten minutes after the email from Mr Halpert.

Never mind that he'd spent most of the morning sleeping in because of having no classes or other schoolwork until Wednesday. "Needed a break from the, uh. You know. Frantic pace of high school."

[longislandiceme]

"Hey, Ino," Bobby said. "And here I was thinking maybe you'd forgotten."

[therewaslife]

Bod blinked, taking that all in but keeping his grin because he was finding it hard not to around her. Energy was infectious, apparently.

"Have you and he talked about?" Because Bod was such an expert at relationships. Except how he wasn't. At all. But talking seemed to be a logical next step. "The boyfriend/crush what have you thing."

[intraspective]

"I never forget," she insisted merrily, even though her mun is a flake. "I was waiting for the right level of boredom to strike me. And you owe me the spectacle of you in high heels."

[therewaslife]

"I felt a little too closed in inside," said Bod, glancing back at the dorms. "The rooms are nice but I haven't spent so much time inside in years."

He kind of missed being outside all day, everyday, seeing the sun rise and then watching it give way to the room.

"At least there are no gremlins this week?" Seemed to be a silver lining.

[longislandiceme]

"I'm still not entirely sure what I get out of this, you know," Bobby had to admit. Maybe you should have thought about that before agreeing, Drake.

[intraspective]

"The boy radio thinks I'm dating is just a friend," she insisted, grinning back at him. "Zack was totally surprised when radio said we were dating too."

Not that radio didn't have reason to think it, but well, as far as they were concerned they were just friends. Theirs was a special friendship that included hand holding, shush.

"But I haven't talked to the person who might have a crush on me," Ino confessed. "I've got no clue what to say to them. We're barely even friends, I thought."

And the more she thought about it, the more she was confused about it.

[intraspective]

"Love and affection," she said blithely. "And possibly chocolates."

[therewaslife]

"You're--" Bod paused and chewed on his lower lip. "You seem to be in the middle of a confusing situation. But not unhappy about it, which is good. And receiving flowers is always nice, I'd assume?"

He hadn't received any, hadn't even really thought about it, and had no experience in that whole notion of romanticism.

[longislandiceme]

"Ew, yes," Bobby made a face. "From what I've heard, I'm kind of glad I missed that little invasion."

[longislandiceme]

"Love and affection and chocolate, huh?" Bobby mused. "That... actually doesn't seem like a bad deal, I guess. You'll be taking pictures, I presume?" He'd gotten himself into enough scrapes by now that having it recorded for posterity was... well, still embarrassing, but routine.

[intraspective]

Clearly that made him the perfect person to use as a sounding board for romantic advice!

"I love flowers," she said, smiling. "My room is filled with them, if you ever stop by. So getting flowers is definitely a happy thing. I'm just not sure what to make of the fact someone might have a crush on me and is testing the waters by claiming friendship first."

Asking Tyler-sensei for advice had quite possibly already confused this issue, yes.

[therewaslife]

"It was messy." Bod had mostly missed it too, choosing to stay inside his room and then in Caritas for the most part. "I was glad I didn't have to clean anything up. At least the snow waited until after that invasion to start because freezing the...bits of mess would have been even worse."

Such a pleasant conversation topic. Really.

[therewaslife]

"Are you friends?" asked Bod, feeling that an important designation to get out of the way. "I should say, is the friendly feeling returned?"

[intraspective]

"Absolutely," she answered unrepentantly. "Can't have something like that happen without proof that it did, you know? Maybe a video camera but I'm not that great with one of those."

She got distracted! And then the picture wasn't what she'd been trying to film and then she couldn't figure out how to stop it from filming!

[intraspective]

Ino sipped her hot chocolate and mulled over that.

"It could be returned?" Ino lifted her shoulders in a bit of a shrug. "But I get the feeling we'd have a lot of fights, you know? I mean, we've talked a handful of times? So it's hard to say but I got a temper and I know they've got one too."

[therewaslife]

"Maybe the feeling isn't so much a crush but admiration?" Bod suggested, not really having a clue but saying something anyway. "Respect? Only talking a handful of times does make it strange to go from acquaintances to a crush."

Bod paused and shook his head. "Of course, I could be completely wrong."