Chilly Boulder, Friday Evening

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

…morbid curiosity.

That was what it was, Hinata decided, waiting outside Chilly Boulder for Hayley to show up and contemplating the fact that… well. Hayley was going to teach her about knocking boy's socks off or some such thing. Clearly, Hinata thought, this was doomed to failure.

And yet she'd shown up anyway.

It had to be morbid curiosity. And vaguely wondering, again, how she'd been talked into this. It seemed like a good idea at the time?

Hinata clasped her hands in front of her and waited patiently. She was good at that, at least. If likely to be incredibly poor at anything else discussed this evening.

[Hinata is here for Hayley, but post is open for all other ice cream needs!]

Comments

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley bounced into Chilly Boulder a little late, but grinning.

"Ice cream and boy talk!" she declared. "This'll be great."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Ice cream is generally pleasant," Hinata teased mildly. "The boy t-talk on the other hand, I th-think you're more excited than I am."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Awww," Hayley said. "You're awfully shy, aren't ya?"

She smiled at her friend. "We can fix that. Maybe."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying to improve," she protested mildly. "I'm just..."

...

"Ch-Changing slowly?"

Glacially, even.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," Hayley said. "You're still you, right? Which is what matters most."

She nodded emphatically.

"So, what exactly do you want to do with this boy?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She pinked up.

"A-Ano," Hinata said carefully, "I th-think I would like for him to... notice and talk with me..."

Oh, Hinata.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, what do you so when he notices you?" Hayley said. "Boys are fickle. They get distracted way too easy."

Pot. Kettle. Black.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata considered that carefully.

"He n-needs someone who can keep up with him?" she tried. "And train with him--if I c-can do th-that, then he'd notice and appreciated it."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"So, tell me more about him," Hayley said. "So we can find his weak spots."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"He's th-the strongest person I know," Hinata said quietly. "And I don't understand how. At h-home almost none of the adults care for him and he's an orphan so he's h-had to live on his own and yet he's always smiling and laughing wh-when people are watching..."

She looked down. "But wh-when he's alone, sometimes he looked so sad..." Hinata shook her head. "Ah, but h-he likes playing pranks on people and seeing th-them laugh and even though he's very loud and not very r-refined, he can be gentle. He likes taking care of plants and playing around th-though he... doesn't always know where to draw the line so sometimes he can be cruel without meaning to."

"He's very l-loyal," Hinata mumbled, flushing because she was talking way too much for her. "A-And fierce in the protection of those he cares about; he d-doesn't like lies or deceptions and is o-out-spoken about it..."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"...wow," Hayley said, in awe.

"...he sounds amazin'. We really need to get you mackin' with him."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata flushed deeply at that.

She... didn't know that word, but the context made it pretty obvious and yet all the same perhaps...

"M-Mackin'?" she squeaked. Oh, Hinata, don't ask. It'll only embarrass you more.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"You know," Hayley said. "The kinda kissin' where you touch a lot."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

...

...

"I th-think," she said, beet red. "Th-That I'd like to buy ice cream now. Wh-What would you like, Hayley? My treat."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Oh,that's awfully nice," Hayley said. She thought for a second. "I'd like a waffle cone. With strawberry ice cream."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata was so glad for the temporary distraction and flashed her a quick smile before getting up to place their orders.

She had vanilla, with a bit of strawberry syrup on it, in a little bowl, Hayley's order, and was looking much more composed by the time she got back.

"N-No problem," she answered, offering Hayley the cone. "After all, you're h-helping me."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Hayley said. "We're doing this for your benefit. Though I guess he'll get something out of it too, if I do my job right!"

She giggled. She thought this was just ever so keen.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Piiink.

"S-So what now?" she asked. "Wh-What are his weaknesses?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, every boy likes certain things," Hayley said. "But as for specifics, well, that'd require reconnaissance."

She licked at her cone and thought.

"Ever thought about short skirts?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

...this was the girl who wore a jacket even in the middle of summer.

"N-No," she stammered. "A-And I don't think my father would approve..."

Hyuuga Clan did tend to stick on the traditional side of things.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Well yeah, but would your father approve of the boy anyway?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata looked down.

"No."

Never in a million years, she figured.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"So, why not use everything at your disposal?" Hayley said. "You wouldn't go into battle without all your weapons, right?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"B-But it wouldn't be practical," she said, groping for some sort of excuse to hide how flustered she was at that idea. "H-He also respects fighting skill and th-that needs to be practical."

Nevermind that Mitarashi Anko fought in a fishnet body-stocking... thing and a trenchcoat. Or that half of Ino-san's uniform was bandages rather than real fabric.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, the skirt would just have to be short enough not to get in the way, silly," Hayley said. "Then it's, well, you know. Really not in the way."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

...

...

My, her ice cream was fascinating. "Wh-What about leggings or something?" she asked, a bit desperately. "Those would... sh-show off..."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Oooh, good idea," Hayley said. "That's a great idea."

She nodded. "And a low cut top, of course."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata was dismayed, of course, but not entirely surprised.

Hayley's ideas all seemed to be about losing her clothing...

"W-Why can't I keep my jacket?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, because you've got three things that all boys love, and the top two are the only ones that you can give a sneak preview of, you know?" Hayley said.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"B-But he's not like th-that," Hinata protested. "And I'm n-not like th-that either and he'd know it for a l-lie and th-then he'd hate me."

Or, more likely, be really confused.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley frowned. This stuff always worked for her.

"...then maybe you just gotta kiss him," she said.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata flushed.

"A-And that might work?"

If she didn't faint at the idea. It was easier to think about it abstractly when he was a world away, literally.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"He'd definitely notice you!" Hayley said.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"B-But what if it went badly?" she asked, worried. "I m-mean... I don't... I can barely talk to h-him..."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, then we got to make sure you can really kiss!" Hayley said. "That's all."

She had devious ideas, that Hayley Fitzpatrick.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"...how?" Hinata asked finally.

Dubiously.

And quietly wondering if she ought to have stuck with the clothing angle.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Well, by practicin', silly," Hayley said. "That's the only way you make perfect."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"B-But I don't like o-other people th-the way I do... him," she managed, face flaming. "I c-couldn't!"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't have to mean anything," Hayley pointed out. "It'd just be practice. Like target practice."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata was a very romantic soul about love.

...hearing it set up as target practice was rather distressing.

"B-But that's not wh-what, not how love w-works...?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley let out an 'awwwww'.

"Kissing isn't love, though," she said. "Besides, wouldn't you want to be good at it for the people you do love?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"W-Wouldn't that make it seem that I loved... too easily?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Who says he has to know?" Hayley said. "We can keep it secret, right?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"But if I p-practised, w-wouldn't he know?" Hinata asked, frowning as she thought about it.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley actually thought that made sense.

"...would it be worse if you kissed him and he thought you were awful at it?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I d-don't know," Hinata fretted. "I've never th-thought about it before."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"...This isn't as easy as I think it is, is it?" Hayley said, her face showing worry.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I'm s-sure it will work out," Hinata reassured Hayley. "It m-might just take some time..."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Hayley said. "I guess we're gonna have to take baby steps, right?"