022 -- [Action || Voice]

[endgames]

[Filtered to Konoha Shinobi and Temari || 100% Unhackable]

Meeting tonight, at sundown. [What about goes without saying - most of them should know already.] Fourth floor's kitchen. Try not to pull a Kakashi.

[And thus starts off the long to-do-list of Shikamaru's day. The filter goes up in the morning, giving - hopefully - everyone time to see it.

He's decided he needs to talk to Naruto before then. On his way out the building he'll stop by his apartment, or send another filter off to him if he's not around. With everything going on he would be surprised. After he's tracked him down, it's off to the other side of the village to find Tony Stark at his casa, to hand over a project he's been working on for the last several nights. Playing delivery boy again, ugh. No notice this time, though. He's acting like a functional human being again, but he's not up for the sarcastic banter. Once he's done there, it's over to the school to find Katara in the thirty minute window he has after classes let out. Apologies are an order.

Specific things attended to... wow, without Masaomi around this week, he has a lot of time on his hands, huh. Well okay. He goes off to the forest with a bag of coconuts of all things and lines them up at head level when he finds a good spot to sit them for tanto practice - or more precisely: strength training. He's never used his short sword much. The one time he did, he wasn't strong enough with it to do as he intended, so he should work on that now.

And okay, surely by then the sun will be going down... or okay, nope. With a few hours to kill, somehow he winds up at the Seventh Heaven restaurant. In part because he figures it could be a good place to drop off some of the coconuts, and also because he realizes on the way over he hasn't actually eaten yet. Or done much of anything this past week, besides getting Asuma up to speed about Luceti, or working on various projects.

Sooo. Might be nodding off there at the restaurant. Might be napping after he eats, if he doesn't get kicked out for it. SITTING DOWN WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA. Fine, he'll pose a random pointless question to the masses, maybe that'll keep him occupied.]

[Voice]

Wonder why they call this place Luceti. Seems like a dumb name. Does it even mean anything? 

Comments

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

You mean the residents didn't give it the name?

[ voice ]

[endgames]

These residents didn't, far as I know.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

Huh. Weird. Maybe it means something in whatever language we're all speaking.

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Maybe. You'd think it'd just translate right over, whatever it is.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

Not if they didn't choose to give us that word, right?

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Watch it be some practical joke. Their secret weakness, right under our noses.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

That... is depressingly possible. Who knows. Maybe they haven't read the Evil Overlord's Handbook.

[ voice ]

[endgames]

...handbook?

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

...it might be an Earth thing.

[Sorry, Molly's not willing to divulge very real fictional villain foilables where very real fictional villains could overhear it.]

[ voice ]

[endgames]

One of several hundred versions, huh.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

Apparently. [And does that sound like it bothers her at all?

N O P E.]

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Heh. [He loves it when people take things in stride.]

Name's Shikamaru.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

[It's a lot easier to do when the teacher you trust more than anything is here and gave you the low down. Right now, this place is both horrifying and cool in equal measures.]

I'm Molly. I just got here.

[Literally - that morning.]

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Yeah, think I heard you earlier. You'll have to excuse me for not joining the welcome wagon.

[Saying hi to everyone would be troublesome, after all.]

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

That's okay, I got into town all right. And it's not like we've met before.

[...]

So you're one of those "Luceti Veterans" I've heard about?

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Ehh. Dunno. How much time would you say counts for that type of status?

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

From what I heard? A week or more.

[She's going off of a fellow New Feather's assessment here.]

[ voice ]

[endgames]

[He barks a laugh.] All right, then I guess I am.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

All right, so what are your top five tips for living in Luceti? It can be anything. [And she means it.]

[ voice ]

[endgames]

Aa, I have to come up with five? How troublesome...

[But he's lining them up in his head.]

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

Traditionally, it's ten, but I decided not to impose too much on a first conversation.

[She could be convinced to lower it to three, but... she's very much interested in his response.]

[ voice / written ]

[endgames]

Generous.

[But okay, he's working on it now, choosing to write it out instead.]

1. get two things: a paperweight and ear plugs
2. don't knock down trees
3. watch your back
4. keep busy
5. don't talk to squirrels

[And back to voice.] There. Check the page.

[ voice / written ]

[talentsgirl]

Oh wow, it can do that too?

[A shuffling sound as she turns the - ha!

She reads that and quickly comes to the most important question she has in response.

Why is 'watch your back' number three? It's an interesting placement, high enough that it's given some weight and low enough that it wouldn't seem to be a first priority. The same with 'keep busy.' Paperweight and ear plugs, huh? For the journals. To keep them from flipping around? Maybe. But more importantly-]

...what's wrong with talking to squirrels?

[ voice / written ]

[endgames]

They talk back. It's annoying.

[ voice ]

[talentsgirl]

[Molly laughs at that, open and free.]

Oh. I thought you were going to tell me they were in on a plot to take over the world. It would have been interesting to hear if that theory had crossed dimensions.