endgames | 028 -- [Voice || Action]

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028 -- [Voice || Action]

Hi. [The journal feed starts unceremoniously.] Noticed the village is getting back into the swing of things. Either that or those who are sulking are doing so more quietly. Good luck with that, whichever.

But hey. I'm looking for a lighter that I misplaced. Anyone comes across it, lemme know. Thanks.

[/end voice]

[Through the afternoon and evening, Shikamaru can be found in various places around the village: digging through things in shops, searching through grass and shrubs and so on. He hasn't been around the village much in the last two days, busy elsewhere with his deer.

Now it almost seems like he's making up for it. One minute you might walk past him digging through the trash behind a building, only to go in to find he's inside already (probably asking if the place has a lost and found). Someone's busy.]

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...Yeah, I don't think he would be! [ She sounds a very little less cheerful than usual, but is powering through it. ]

I think Soren's a lot better at it, though. An' he's always been good at knowing what I'm saying before now, so this shouldn't be any different than that! An' it'll give us both something to do.

[--he picks up on that pretty easily.]

Soren? You watching him for Chien?

[ She's quiet for a few minutes. ]

Ummm. Kinda? He came and found me earlier an' he brought the weird red thing-y and the ball thing-y an' brought me to Chien's room an' it was empty, an' calling him didn't work, so.

I think I calmed him down a bit though! Well, he's allowed to stay with us an' I'm giving him the top bunk of my bunk bed, and I asked Masaomi about what happens next.

[...oh. So it's that sort of thing, huh?]

Masaomi's really good at that sort of thing. He's only had Linda since February, you know?

I didn't know that! We just talked about her birthday once, I think, and what she can bend!

Aaaaaaaaanyway [ back to the topic that is not that topic ] Soren's got good eyes, so we'll both look around, 'kay? [ She half directs that away from her journal, and there's a muffled acknowledgement from her new companion. ]

[Hey, you're too young to be deflecting. 8|]

That's nice of you guys. [Hi Soren, long time no see.] But seriously. You sure you're feeling okay, Ikki?

We're nice people! Right, Soren? [ Well, he's at least willing to go along with whatever she's doing. They've played around before, just always with Chien in tow. She'd never actually heard from Chien what he thought of her, but she'd considered Soren and Chien to be two of her best friends in Luceti - ranked equivalent to Vivi at six.

Somehow it was easier to brush off Asami and Zuko, who she'd see again someday in her own home, than it was to brush off people from other worlds she'd probably never see again.

She's trying to give an honest answer, because lying does not at all come naturally to Ikki, so she's thinking about it. ]

I kinda keep waiting for Soren to go and get Chien or for Chien to contact me, kinda like how it's weird to go by Uncle Zuko's room and have it be empty, but I don't think I'm not okay. ...Um, I mean, I'm prob'bly gonna miss him a lot, and I cried a little earlier at first when I found Katara, but it's okay 'cause Soren was sad too.

But he's one of my friends, y'know? So I think it's okay to be sad! It doesn't mean I'm not okay, 'cause there's plenty to be happy about, too. ...Well, not about a friend leaving, but y'know I heard about Halloween, and about caramel apples, and about little red riding hood, and about pirate history, and I'm going to get to meet someone named Sabo sometime, and he likes adventures and exploring, too!

Um, does that make sense? [ She's probably rambling a bit, but she tends to do that anyway. ]

[...it's funny how this little girl can have more emotional maturity than half the people in this place. Himself included.]

Yeah. I get you. The world doesn't stop because you're missing someone.

[He misses home a lot sometimes. His parents, and Chouji. Asuma. Especially Asuma. His sensei leaving Luceti hurt almost as much as when he died. Masaomi was the one that made him realize he needed to focus on things here, on his friends who are alive, but there are still times when Shikamaru really wishes he could go to his old sensei for advice.

He can't believe he threw away that lighter.]

If you need to be sad for a little while longer, that's okay too, you know.

Yep. I think I'm sadder about him than Uncle Zuko and Asami just 'cause - I don't know what happens next for Chien. Y'know? 'Cause I know that both of them're going to be fine, 'cause they already have been, but I don't know what happens next for people who aren't from home.

But he's with his brothers, now, probably! And living in a really brown place. So I think he's probably happy! ...Although he wouldn't really know to be sad?

...Mm, anyway, this is just a different sort of wind, right?

Something like that. Even if you don't know the whole story, I think you know enough to assume he can be happy for a while, at least. With those brothers you spoke of.

[...] But hey. Did Katara ever tell you about that memorial garden?

Ber an' Cer. They're triplets, an' Chien is the oldest. [ also they are dogs but Chien never mentioned that 8|a ]

Memorial garden? Nooooope, I don't think so?

It's a garden by the welcome center. People plant things there, and I think there's a spot where you can right the names of people who used to be in Luceti, but were sent home. So people know they were here.

[HE COULD BE WRONG. But he's also never used it.]

Really? [ That does sound nice! And also like something she should ask Aang or Katara about, since they've been helping out there recently. ] I think that sounds like a really good idea! Maybe Soren and I will stop by!

Have you ever been there?

Only looked at it from afar. But I thought it might interest you.

Thank you, Shikamaru. [ No exclamation point not because she's depressed but more because...she's actually taking a moment to be serious. It's a new development, yes.

it also lasts for like five seconds tops. ] We'll go there after we look around!

Look around what?

...Look around for your lighter, silly! [ She's definitely laughing. ]

Oh. [He laughs too; it sounds good, even forced. He won't bother telling her she doesn't have to again, at least.]

The more people who have their eyes out, the quicker you'll find it!!

[ She can still bop around looking for things with the journal, though, since she doesn't actually have to actively do much with it for the voice function. The camera shots are probably getting pieces and parts of scenery and the sky and a variety of obviously not her face, because she's focusing half on the ground and half listening. ]

Hey, Masaomi is actually pretty cool, huh? Even though the uncool monster stuff.

[He's been looking for two days.

...this is a welcome distraction.]

You see it too, do you? Most people don't look past that, but yeah. He is.

He confuses me sometimes with the things he talks about, but it's more that sometimes he uses terms and talks about things that aren't from home! Also he talks about romance a lot?

But yep, he's cool. Although the last time he asked about it I said he was interesting instead. But, y'know, when I called him he answered right away, and he spent a lot of time with me today and helped us out, like a Sifu. Mm, he probably doesn't need to try to be cool, which I think he was saying he was doing that one time at Tanabata, although I don't know if I think he was doing that 'cause it just looked like they both weren't thinking that much about how they looked.

[ context is unimportant you know ]

Masaomi is the kind of person who thinks clothes make the man.

[Figuratively or literally. Could be both, but he won't explain. Ikki's smart, and can derive a meaning from that.]

I think he's starting to see beyond that lately, but he still forgets sometimes. Should you feel like it, it can't hurt to remind him of that.

[That he's cool, that is. Shikamaru thinks he could hear it more.]

He has a lot of clothes that I've seen! Also he has the best wings. [ THE BEST. They are so pink and bright and pretty. They are the best. ]

I will! We still have to meet up for the thing at the dome we didn't do before.

Oh, hey. Y'know how Lee calls me Ikki-chan, and Masaomi does, too? [ She never cared before, figuring it was some sort of nickname, but it did just suddenly stop today on one count. ] Why would someone stop doing that?

[--brb. He was probably laughing loudly at that comment about Masaomi's fluorescent pink wings.]

Aa... [Snicker. Okay, sobering up. What was the question.] It depends.

It's polite to add something like that to a name, see. [Notice: Shikamaru rarely does because he's a rude little snot. 8|] When you don't use them, you're being informal. Good friends who talk to each other a lot might not use them, for example.

[Or they're just rude. Or dislike you. But considering she said Lee and Masaomi he DOUBTS THIS.]

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