Room 528, Friday Evening

[icecoldfrost]

Emma was in a mood.

She'd skipped the undignified chaos of the newbie picnic in order to sulk get some quiet time in her room, and the raw noise this time of year left her in perpetual headache. She'd managed to make it through class today, although barely, and her temper was starting to fray again at whomever in the building had thoughts nattering away like some demented parakeet.

But the volume of the dorms, coupled with the residual crankiness she had left over from the rest of the week and situations not to be recognized, had sent her back to her room to scowl and pick over her closet, tossing last season's things in a pile to drop off at the Salvation Army or something. She had money now, dammit, she was going to spend it.

And despite promising herself that she wasn't going to do anything that sappy or petty, she was occasionally sending text messages over her phone.

bored now.

No answer.

am now trying long distance telepathy. do you have a compulsion to pet a duck yet?

She wasn't going to wait for an answer, really. Her ex...whatever...was just going to have to suffer her texting whims today.

tell me when your homework starts quacking.

be very very quiet. it's talking to you.

booooooooored.

The door was open, but Emma would be alternately bemused or pissy, depending on if that person had shut up yet. God.

[OOC: Open door, open post, fear the Fun Dip.]

Comments

[intraspective]

"Deviousness has gotten me nowhere in the last week," Ino said, frowning slightly at Emma. "Being blunt is the safer route right now."

[icecoldfrost]

Emma sighed. "Tell Auntie Emma, darling," she said, signaling for Ino to close the door. "Is there anyone I need to terrify?"

[intraspective]

She sighed, shutting the door and leaning against it. Comforting to have something solid against her back.

"If it was that simple," she said, trying out a smile. "I'd terrorize them myself. It's a mess. My--team," that word hurt and yet she kept using it, "wanted to do something against orders that had a high possibility of getting themselves killed. I lied and said I was in."

Ino sank to the floor, comfortable enough there. "I kept them alive," she said, "but now I don't have a team."

[icecoldfrost]

"They're being ridiculous. The entire point of having a team is survival," Emma pointed out. "Getting killed doesn't do anyone any good."

[intraspective]

Ino nodded.

"I know. That's why it's--I sold them out. So I broke the trust. But they would have gotten us killed and sensei said to look after them and... revenge wasn't worth their lives."

[icecoldfrost]

"Revenge is worth a lot," Emma admitted. "I've got a nice long list of people to screw over every chance I get. But revenge isn't actually revenge if it takes you down with it. You have to be able to savor it for it to have any meaning."

[intraspective]

She nodded.

"I want revenge," she confessed. "I really do. But not at the cost of more people I care about. I can wait and plan and remember. I... three days after it happens... that's not the time to try for revenge. It's not."

[icecoldfrost]

"What's that saying? Revenge is a dish best served cold?" Emma pondered aloud. "Anyway. They'll come around eventually."

"Especially if you have a better plan."

[intraspective]

Her lips twitched.

"I'm not the one that's a genius at making plans on my... team," she said, sounding like she was quoting. "Too impulsive, relies too much on luck, lets emotions get the best of her in the middle of battle..."

Ino glanced at Emma.

"It'd be something worth doing to get a revenge plan that works."

[icecoldfrost]

"Except you did the opposite of all that in stopping your team." Emma was just going to wait for that to sink it. "Give yourself some credit, Ino."

[must sleep, SP?]

[intraspective]

Ino blinked at her.

She hadn't really... considered that.

"I... just wanted them to stay alive," she said quietly. "It wasn't really a plan."

[SP is amaaazing! Sleep well!]

[icecoldfrost]

"You had an idea and the desire to make it happen, and you followed through. That's enough to count as a plan for your first time taking charge," Emma responded, waving one hand negligently. "Stop, look, listen, engage. Just break it down into steps, and anything can become a plot. Or plan."

Emma sometimes had trouble telling the two apart.

[intraspective]

Her lips twitched.

"I think most people just call that 'life'."