The Park, Wednesday Evening

[intraspective]

After bailing on Sparkle—she'd given him more than enough work to do, anyway—Ino had meandered the island aimlessly for a bit, too happy to settle and too unmotivated to find something to actually do.

The allure of fresh baked cookies from J,GoB proved to be too much of temptation to resist, which was how she'd wound up with a bag of them.

That she'd wound up in the park afterwards was mostly… just because she liked the park. It was green. Midgar was her home, and she loved it fiercely, but aside from a few small pockets of green (her rooms, Aerith's home, the church…) there just wasn't much healthy green to be had.

She flopped down on a bench and nibbled on her still warm cookies. Mmmm. Gooey. And chocolatey. The evening air was pleasant and the sun not yet down. She was going to enjoy just being for a bit.

Ino was well aware that all the food she'd eaten today had been junk. But that was part of the fun of being an adult: getting to make all the bad decisions.

No regrets.

[Open, yo!]

Comments

[uncertain_dume]

Nothing to regret! But the funky looking dog who came trotting across the park to greet this person on his favorite bench would probably regret those cookies. That wasn't stopping him from parking his butt down on the ground in front of her and looking up at her with a big doggy smile, tongue lolling from his mouth, tail wagging happily behind him.

"Stance!" Kanan called, coming jogging up behind him. "Come on, pal, leave off. Those aren't for you."

[intraspective]

"Yeah, sorry, cutie," Ino said, offering her free hand for the puppy (all dogs were puppies!) to sniff at anyway. "Chocolate ain't no good for cuties like you."

Ino grinned up at Kanan, peering at him through her eyelashes.

"Now for cuties like him, on the other hand..."

[uncertain_dume]

"Some cuties can't deny that they've got a sweet tooth," Kanan laughed, giving Ino a nod. "Hey, Iris. It's been a while."

[intraspective]

"We must keep missing each other," she said, laughing. "Tragic, really. You're not bad company. You got time to hang out?"

She'd just been admiring the scenery.

[uncertain_dume]

"You know, I'm not in any hurry to get anywhere tonight. Stance'll appreciate the excuse to run around a little longer," Kanan replied. He nodded around the park. "And it's a nice night."

[soniaroadsqueen]

It was a nice day outside. So of course Ringo was out and about.

The only real question was whether you'd hear the whine of her ATs or her giggling whoop of excitement first. Because you were definitely going to hear one or the other as a clear warning of her approach.

[intraspective]

"It is," she said, smiling and shifting over so she wasn't taking up the whole bench. "It's green. Finally. I love it when everything is green."

A beat.

"Did you want a cookie?" she asked. "They're still warm."

[intraspective]

Ino couldn't help but smile at the sound of the exuberant happiness coming her way.

She broke another cookie in half and ate it while trying to decide which direction the person was coming from.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanna chuckled as he took a seat.

"Hey, sure, thanks," he replied, glancing at the selection. "I'd be nuts to turn down a cookie. Even if Stance is going to just sit there and stare the entire time I eat it."

Stance tilted his head and whined a little. Cookie?

[intraspective]

"They do that," Ino said easily. "Girl does that too."

She considered that for a moment.

"Then again, so does Zack."

SO.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan turned a little glance at her sideways, grinning as he reached for a cookie of his very own.

"That's your... boyfriend? I've never met the guy. I always seem to miss the way he's working when I go to the shelter to stock up on dog food."

Weird how that happened, really.

[soniaroadsqueen]

It wouldn't take a normal person very long to identify where all that noise was coming from, speeding down one of the walkways that wound by Ino's bench.

It'd take Ino even less time to figure it out.

[intraspective]

Truly, a mystery for the ages!

"I ain't sure boyfriend were ever the right word," Ino mused, tilting her head back thoughtfully. "But, ah, guess now he's my... fiancé."

Wow. That was. Yeah. That was weird.

[intraspective]

It really didn't take her long at all.

"I demand you stop and talk to your senpai!" Ino called as soon as she saw the flip of Ringo's hair.

[what_the_shock]

Miguel was out wandering, too, trying to get at least a little bit of exercise under his belt. He stopped and smiled at the pretty woman. "Hi."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter liked to sit and meditate sometimes, and as he wasn't doing anything particularly dangerous today, he thought he might take a page from Kanan's book and try the park instead of the preserve.

He hadn't been counting on so many people someone else being there. He nodded hello.

[intraspective]

Smiling at pretty ladies was definitely exercise. It was a fact.

"Hey there," she said cheerfully. "Want a cookie?"

It was probably for the best if she didn't eat the entire bag herself.

[soniaroadsqueen]

That set Ringo off in another fit of giggles as she twisted her hips and skidded to a quick stop just a few feet past Ino. "What's in it for me?" she asked, voice all sing-song.

Even though she'd already stopped.

[intraspective]

"I have cookies," she said persuasively. "If you say hi, I'll give one."

[intraspective]

"Cookies!" she said, holding out the bag. "You can't turn down cookies, right? Or my company!"

[what_the_shock]

Hey, it was something you just had to do!

"Sure!" Miguel came over, looking at what she had. And noticing the ring on her finger. Oh, well. He smiled again anyway. "Thanks. You're just sitting here giving out cookies tonight?"

[intraspective]

"You celebrate your way, I celebrate my way," Ino said, with a sniff that was ruined by her laugh. "It's a good night to give out cookies. And I didn't make any of these, so they're totally safe 'less J,GoB is trying to kill us all... in which case I'm due to drop dead any second now."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter laughed softly. "I can't eat them, but thank you. Hi, I'm Peter."

[intraspective]

"Iris," she said, smiling. "Is it too nosy to ask why you can't eat them? Or should I talk 'bout somethin' else?"

She slowly closed one eye in a languid wink.

"We could talk 'bout the weather."

[what_the_shock]

"Why, is your cooking that bad?" Miguel asked with a laugh. "What are you celebrating?"