Strokes of Genius, Wednesday

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo was actually in what, for her, passed for a mellow mood today -- which was to say that rather than being actively cranky, she was lying in wait for something to give her a reason to be cranky.

. . . okay, most people would just call that quiet and subdued. Whatever. That description was almost ridiculous when used on her.

Clocky was rolling along through the aisles as usual, and Katchoo had the radio going while she made significant progress toward filling up yet another sketchbook and finishing off yet another pack of cigarettes. As productivity went, it was sort of a mixed bag.

[OOC: If you OCD me now, you'll take away the biggest part of me. Oh, I know, that was awful. Open!]

Comments

[intraspective]

"Katina!" Ino carolled as she flung the door to the store open. "Guess who!?"

There was no need for guesses, really, and Ino knew it. She was just being a dork.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Someone who was at work at an hour only crazy people go to work at, and now has extra lunch break time to pester me?" Katchoo asked in as mild a tone as she ever achieved with people who weren't Francine. "Y'know, if we were meant to get up that early all the time we wouldn't need alarm clocks."

Over by the pastels, Clocky buzzed disdainfully.

[intraspective]

Ino gave a shrug at that, wandering in and letting the door fall shut behind her. "We're taught to get up early," she said, "Academy classes started at five in the morning some years."

It changed. Depending on what was being covered.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"God." Katchoo grimaced, but there was a tiny bit, or more of a hint, of a smile on her face. "That's closer to bedtime than breakfast if you ask me."

[intraspective]

"A ninja must be able to operate at any and all hours," Ino recited. "Which, yeah, means there were some midnight classes too. We didn't stick that much to the usual 9-to-4 sort of schedule. I mean, there was always some time in classrooms, but a lot wasn't too."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"This is why I stick to painting," Katchoo informed her, maniacally ignoring her own history of, er, nocturnal activities. You never knew when someone needed . . . company.

[intraspective]

She laughed. "You mean you don't get up in the dead of night to paint the sky?" Ino teased. "Or, like, the ocean in the starlight?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo's expression turned wistful, just for a second, at the memory of the moonlight over the ocean in Hawaii. "Yeah, sometimes. But I do it 'cause I want to."

[intraspective]

"'Cause you don't have to answer to anyone if you didn't?" Ino checked. "I guess it might be different then, but when I was really little it was more of an adventure to be up late."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much." There had also been all those times back in Houston, sneaking over to Francine's house late at night, but most of those hadn't been necessitated by happy events either. "Been a long time since that was just fun for me."

[intraspective]

"Why not do it just for fun while here then?" Ino asked, taking her seat, as usual, on the counter without so much as a by-your-leave.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo'd given up on even the prospect of Ino asking for permission before making herself comfortable around here anyway. "Fire drill doesn't count, huh?" It was obvious sarcasm, because seriously.

[intraspective]

"Not 'less you enjoyed the drill," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at her. "Ugh. The drill I don't mind. The fact that I've got to stay up 'cause there's no point in attempting to get another hour or two of sleep is annoying."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"I'd enjoy a root canal more," Katchoo shot back with what was, for her, good humor. "Who was gonna get back to sleep after being drenched that way anyway?"

[OOC: Sorry! I missed this notification somehow.]

[intraspective]

"From the number of people trying to sleep in the rain?" Ino asked, laughing. "Quite a few people!"

[*facepalms!* And I fell asleep omg. SP is wiiin?]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"You'd think everybody would be in bed hacking up their lungs right now after that, geez." Katchoo would probably always find something to complain about. "Pretty funny watching Arthur bitch about it, though."

[intraspective]

"Probably! I was too busy laughing at my sis to notice him," Ino said cheerfully. "She fell in the mud. It deserved laughter."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"The bruises faded already, then?" As if Katchoo thought Ino'd let herself get beaten up that easily. She'd watched her in Fight Club often enough.

[intraspective]

"Ha! No, she didn't even try to hit me. Jennifer's not much of a fighter--she's all Law and Justice and Doing the Right Thing Within the Law."

Which.

Uh.

Meant Ino avoided quite a few conversational topics with her, but.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Aww. That's kinda cute," Katchoo said dryly. Well, it was, she thought. In a hopelessly naive kind of way. "Must make small talk fun."

[intraspective]

Ino made a face at her. "I can do small talk with a hefty serving of skating around what my world is like just fine."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Never said you couldn't do it." Katchoo drummed an irregular beat on the cash register with her index fingers and shrugged. "Bet it's a pain after a while, though."

See, this was why she tended to avoid small talk with most people. But that was just her.

[intraspective]

She shrugged a bit. "It is, but it's not hard to do--most people love talking about themselves, so I turn the conversation back to her with questions."

Ino tugged at her hair. ". . .I don't even think she knows I'm a ninja."

Huh.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo nodded; that had been one of the first things she'd been taught to do when getting information out of potential targets at Darcy's parties, and sometimes it was surprisingly easier than you might think when playing the airheaded socialite in a crowd full of politicians and high rollers.

"You think that won't go over well?"

Man. She knew that feeling.

[intraspective]

That got a shrug. "Maybe? It depends on if she asked more questions? Some people think 'oooh, ninja~' and picture whatever stuff there is in fiction and crap around here. Which apparently makes us cool? But if she asked, and then actually, you know, thought 'bout what I did."

Ino made a face. "It's probably easier if I don't really go over it? She knows I know how to fight, but I think she's certain it's more for self-defence."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's 'cause that's the line they feed everybody when you take lessons, 'least in my world, about how you should never use it except in self-defense, never be the aggressor, blah blah blah." Katchoo rolled her eyes. "Keeps the parents feeling safe about packing their kids off to after-school activities and most potential lawsuits off their asses. The delusion's everywhere now."

[intraspective]

"Ewwww," Ino said succinctly. "That's stupid, I mean, not learning how to defend yourself, but that whole line."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"What are you gonna do? Frikkin' sheep," Katchoo said derisively. "Why take responsibility for your kid acting out when you can blame someone else for their violent tendencies?"