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Book Haven - Friday - 5/2

Liir had made up a stew as well as cookies for the store today. Early in, he dusted and organized and got the store in prime condition before putting out the cookies, the tea, and the pot of stew.

He had the store for the whole day. A whole day for him to read and--

...he was doomed.

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There's food and drink and books.

He wished he had something to do other than read. Reading was not something he was prepared to do all day. It just wouldn't be good.

Ino slipped in without a word, on silent feet, when his back was (hopefully) turned. It was just past lunch, and she was in clean clothes but still looking exhausted. Really, she should sleep, but Ino didn't want to.

She curled up in one of the chairs, resting her chin on her knees and waited to see how long it'd take him to notice her.

He noticed her immediately, but didn't act on it for a minute or so. Finally, though, he turned to her.

"Can I get you anything, Ino? Is something the matter?"

A pause.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm not mad at you," she said quietly, ignoring his other questions because that one was the most important. "Sorry for missing yesterday."

He shrugged it off, but walked over.

"I wasn't upset, if you're worried. A little worried, considering, but--"

He held out an arm for her. He didn't want to touch her if she didn't want to be touched.

She didn't want to get up, so she didn't, but Ino did reach out one hand to tug his arm (and the rest of him) closer.

"Sorry," she said again. "I shouldn't've, but I didn't want to be around people." Thinking of what she'd said to her plants. "There was a storm."

"I get that way sometimes as well," he told her as he leaned down and shuffled over to put the arm around her shoulders.

"A storm?"

Edited 2008-05-02 16:25 (UTC)

She relaxed, a little, at the contact and rubbed at her face. "Just something I told my plants. That there's storms."

Which made sense to her really.

It made perfect sense. He just had to figure out how it made sense, when it made sense. If he wasn't too dull...

"There are. They're terrible, sometimes. They pass, though. So I've experienced."

It was really all he could say about the weather. Small talk was not his forte.

It wasn't small talk, not exactly.

She shifted a bit, wondering if he'd like to sit and asking the question with her eyes. It wasn't the largest chair in the place, but it was more than large enough for her, since she was so small, and maybe he could fit too?

"Sometimes," Ino said, "you don't know what they'll leave behind with their passing." Something broken? Was it fixable? Who knew?

He sat. He was tall, yes, but still thin despite all the cooking since he had a tendency to forget to eat when he wasn't cooking. And sometimes when he was. A beanstalk.

"Generally not."

He could think of one storm that'd had terrible consequences. It made what came out of his mouth next a little morbid.

"But most things can be dealt with as long as everyone's alive."

She curled up against him, not quite a lapful of little sister but close.

"Doesn't mean you've got to like it," Ino said. "Or that it'll be fixable."

He wouldn't mind in the least.

"No. You don't have to like anything.

"But it probably is fixable."

"I don't know how," she said, considering his lap and debating with herself about it. "And he doesn't care enough to."

"I don't know that I'll know either, but I'll do whatever you need me to do to help," he told her frankly.

Ino judged herself needing more comfort and, with a graceful little squiggle and squirm combination, shifted over to his lap.

"I don't know what can help," Ino told him, closing her eyes.

He readjusted to make sure she was comfortable before kissing her hair.

"Then I am content to wait till you think of something," he said softly.

"You've got more confidence in me right now than I do myself," Ino said. "Thank you."

For so many things.

"People are stronger when they're believed in," he said, as he'd tried to explain to her once before. Things, people; the more real they were, the more they could do. The more power they held.

And he wanted to help. So he could do that.

"You're welcome."

Ino was content, for a while, to just sit in silence, treading the thin line between being awake and falling asleep in her brother's lap.

"Liir?" she asked eventually, her voice drowsy and leaving her eyes closed. "If there was danger, everyone was in danger, and you could only save one of the people you cared about, what would you do?" It was connected, thinly, oh so thinly, to what had been running through her mind lately.

"Save the one who couldn't save themself," he said honestly.

"It's what I'm doing right now," he admitted, though much more quietly.

She frowned a bit, not sure she heard the last part, glancing up at him sleepily. "What?"

"Save the one who can't save themself," he said again. He wouldn't repeat the last unless she asked.

Edited 2008-05-02 19:38 (UTC)

Ino frowned a little harder at him. "Not that bit," she said, voice slowly losing it's sleepy edge. "The other bit."

"I could be in Oz. Doing something there. I'm not."

For Nor. For Princess Nastoya. For the Animals, the Munchkinlanders, the Arjiki.

Instead, he was here.

He had family in Oz now, at least one surviving member. But he was here, with the family that he chose, that needed him (or so he hoped) more than crafty, dreaming Nor.

"They'll be better without me. I hope the people here are better for having me here."

“I like you here,” Ino said, eyes dark. “Too many people are going away as it is. You’re not allowed to go.” Half order, half pleading, that’s what the last bit came out as.

"I don't intend to," he told her, just as serious. "At the most, a quick visit or two to wrap up some business and I won't be sticking my neck out in the least. And not for a while at any rate."

Not till he felt like it would be worth such a trip.

Green green eyes were calm and warm as they peered back at her.

"I like being here with you."

Edited 2008-05-02 20:36 (UTC)

...

...

Ino turned that over in her head, slowly, blue eyes never blinking as she stared up at him. “You’ll tell me when you’ll go? Even if it’s just for a trip?” Cable-san hadn’t. And, to her, Cable-san was just as much a Dad as Liir was her brother and that hurt inside and…

She Didn’t Want To Think About It. Ino ducked her head, closing her eyes as if to block out the thoughts.

"I will tell you when I go," he said. "I'll tell you well before, the day of, and I promise I will make a point to let you know when I should be back and come see you that day so you're not unduly worried."

He let her duck her head, his hand lifting to run down her hair. He knew how to settle a nervous animal and surprisingly, it was very similar for dealing with people.

"Thank you," she said very quietly, fighting back tears, glad he couldn't see that though it probably showed in her voice, and so glad he was here, that he was kind, that he'd pet her hair and just let her stay. "Thank you so much."

It meant she mattered. That helped.

"Always, Ino," he told her firmly, believing it. He would always do that for her, as long she needed it.

He's convinced the world is going to end, so here's the OOC to make sure he's wrong.

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Book Haven - Friday - 5/2

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