The Perk, Saturday Afternoon

[intraspective]

Ino showed up before Kabuto. Which was hardly a surprise because she always showed up to things before he did. So, with a roll of her eyes, she got a hot chocolate from the staff and settled in to wait for him.

At ten minutes of waiting, she was starting to get seriously annoyed.

By twenty she'd finished her hot chocolate and gotten another, because knowing her luck she'd just get up to leave and he'd show up.

After thirty minutes of waiting, Ino was just sitting in her seat and seething. She was going to kill him the next time she saw him. Standing her up was seriously not cool.

[Open! Come cheer Ino up! And the boyfriend's absence is totally modded with permission.]

Comments

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J. really needed to get that dresser project finished today; he needed the right fuel. He, of course, needed coffee. Lots of it. Forget the fact that he'd practically sucked down a pot of it prior to hopping over to the Perk after scavenging through the junkyard a bit for supplies.

Coffee in one hand and a weird sort of rusted bended radiator thing in the other, A.J. was about to head back when he spotted a familiar blonde head. "Ino!" he started to greet her brightly, lifting the radiator thing since he couldn't exactly wave. "Hey, how are--" And that's when he noticed her expression. "Whoa. You okay?"

[intraspective]

"I've been stood up." Ino told him flatly, "I'm considering various ways to murder Kabuto right now."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Yikes," A.J. said, biting his lip a little and trying to ignore a lot of the things cropping up in his head and telling him that he shouldn't be surprised. "Um, any current forerunners?"

[intraspective]

"He'd have to be unconscious," she said clinically, "which takes a lot of the fun out of it. Because flaying him would be way more satisfying if I could hear him scream. Same with anything to do with fire."

Ino blinked and actually focused on A.J. "And what is that?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

Yup. Niiiice healthy relationship right there. But A.J. wasn't going to say anything. He might have actually been a little afraid to say anything.

He focused on the radiator thing instead, getting a great, big, doofy grin on his face. "I have no idea," he admitted, "but it's it great?"

[intraspective]

She stared at him. And at the... thing. "Great," Ino said dubiously, "Where did you find something like that? And what are you going to do with it?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

Of course, A.J. didn't expect Ino to understand. He kept beaming. "I found it at the junkyard. I love that place. You can find the coolest stuff there. And this is going to be a part of my current project. I've got to hammer it out, cut it, weld it a little to do with it what I want, but it's gonna be, like, this snake-like thing when I'm finished. It'll be awesome."

There was bouncing. Light bouncing, of course, because he had a cup of coffee in one of his hands, but bouncing none-the-less.

[intraspective]

Ino sipped her hot chocolate and warily eyed his bouncing. "Sit down," she ordered, "before you spill your drink." And he'd distract her from her bloodthirsty thoughts.

[by137.livejournal.com]

"I'm too excited to sit down," A.J. said, but, at the same time, he remembered why Ino was here and sulking and gave her a small, sympathetic smile before setting down the radiator thing and took a seat. "But, for you, I guess I can take a small break."

[intraspective]

That got a small smile out of her. "What's been happening in the land of A.J. lately? Did you go to the picnic yesterday?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"I did go to the picnic," A.J. said, nodding, "intent to meet some new people, but I got distracted by Anemone's hair." He smirked a little. "But I did get to meet some of 'em later, in one of the common room. Really fun group so far, from what I've gotten a taste of."

[intraspective]

"I'll agree with you there," Ino said, thinking of her conversations with Coraline and Reno yesterday, "Fandom does tend to get some of the most interesting people."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"That's for sure," A.J. said, chuckling a little. And still bouncing. He did stop, however, to take a long, thoughtful sip of his coffee and then said, "Did you get a chance to meet a lot of them? Or just a few? Are there a lot of them, do you know?"

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette wandered in to get a white chocolate mocha. Breezed right on up to the counter and placed her order. Then she turned around and noticed an angry Ino.

"What's wrong with you?"

[intraspective]

"Kabuto stood me up." Ino said, glowering at her hot chocolate. "We were supposed to meet here."

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"Well," Annette was trying to find words of comfort here. "He's a moody bastard, right? I'm sure he just forgot."

[intraspective]

"We handwavily decided it last night. I doubt he just forgot." Ino'd been here thinking about it for a while after all. This was probably another of his stupid mind games.

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette grabbed her mocha and invited herself to sit down at Ino's table. "I always thought he was kind of a jerk." Especially since the New Years party. "You can do much better than him, Ino." Yeah, Annette probably wasn't helping too much here.

[intraspective]

Hey, Ino wasn't going to mind friendly company of any sort right now. Especially not if they saw her side of this issue. "I know I could," she sighed, "but I do like him. And if I gave up then he'd win." Which of those reasons was the more important one? Ino wasn't sure herself.

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"He'd win what? Being alone? Oh yay! I forgot how being alone is so much fun," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I swear, if I was a ninja, I'd totally try to kick his ass."

[intraspective]

Put that way it sounded stupid. But Ino had this Issue with losing challenges. "He's a challenge," Ino tried to explain, "and winning means I figure him out and make this work longer than anyone thinks I should, because it really shouldn't work. Because I can."

She was aware that this was messed up, okay?

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

No, really, Annette understood it and she sympathized with Ino. "I understand that, I do. There are certain... challenges in my life I would love to win even though I'm not seriously working on them. People are different," she mused thoughtfully. "If you really like him, then I guess you have to make him get that."

[intraspective]

"It's just, even if I do make it clear to him I'm never sure if he's taking it seriously, you know? Of if this is all a joke to him or something." She looked over at Annette curiously, "What sort of challenges? Anything I can help with?"

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"Does Kabuto even know what a joke is?" she asked seriously. "I mean, he is like the epitome of everything serious, Ino. Granted, I haven't been around him but a few times but hello? He totally doesn't take joking very well." She shrugged a shoulder and confided low, "Things are a little... awkward between Dick and I."

[intraspective]

"No, no, he likes jokes when he's the one playing them on people. Like mind games and stuff are right down his alley. But yeah, he doesn't like them done to him." Ino sipped her hot chocolate, and asked, "Because you didn't see each other over the holidays, or what?"