endgames | 028 -- [Voice || Action]

Entry tags:

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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She lost it?

[And there MIGHT be. They might also be ones for actual tobacco.]

[As he talks, he gets caught up the story, but he also peers closer to get a better look at what might be the end of another pipe sticking out from a box.]

Yeah, a long time ago. It wasn't that long after the three of us started traveling together. She pretended to be an Earthbender to get captured by the Fire Nation so we could find out whether they were being taken and freed them. We were able to save her and the other Earthbenders, but we didn't realize she had left her necklace behind until it was too late.

[He tries to picture katara acting like Toph-- actually why didn't they just use Toph? Huh. Must've not been around then.

Rolling his eyes, he flips the other pipe out of the box into Aang's hand before going back to searching through it. So what after that?]

[He gleefully sticks it in his mouth, and with an appreciative smile he continues.]

I tried making her a new one with Sokka's fishing line, but she only wore it a little. But we found out that the Fire Nation had gotten it and first they tried to use it to make her help us [Zuko must have been really silly for thinking that would work.], but then they tried to use it to track us. That was... well it was Zuko who had it, that's when he was on the other side. [He feels Shikamaru's trusted enough that he probably knows about Zuko's allegiance shift already, so no need to be discreet about it.] They tracked us to a town, and we were able to escape them, but before we got away I was able to snatch the necklace back from Zuko without anyone even noticing.

[He'd be right about that guess. Shikamaru's thoughts also mirror Aang's in the telling of this story - betray the world's best chance for peace for a necklace?

...it strikes him for the first time that they really were kids for that. Katara has matured in the time he's known her - when they first met, she reminded him of a civilian so many times. But this is probably the first instance he's realized that there would've been a point in their journey where she was even more naive than that.

It's kind of a trippy thought.

But this is a small thing in the end, he can note. Not even a major battle. The way Aang tells of getting the necklace back makes him smile too. It reminds him of how he liked to solve his problems back in the day.]

Clever.

[It did seem so much simpler than. Most of the problems back then seemed so relatively solveable. But it probably helps that Zuko wasn't much older than them and always had good in him.]

Thanks. She was real happy when she got it back and I got a kiss on the cheek. [A moment to laugh.] But if I find your thing, I think I'll just go with one of those handshake things.

Ha. More like a high-five, or a fist-bump.

Okay! I think I know those.

[He holds a sophisticated pose with the pipe for the moment before pulling out another box to look over.]

They're a staple in the bro code.

[Shikamaru snorts at Aang's pose before sticking his pipe back in his mouth, sorting through the bottom of this bin. There's some disposable lighters here, but that's it.]

What's a bro code?

[Cups. This box... is just... cups. All cups.]

[He pushes the pipe to the side of his mouth with his tongue, so he can talk.]

A sacred, unwritten code of honor between guys.

Oh. But I never learned it. Is it like being honorable to girls?

No. That's being a man.

[He exchanges boxes now.]

This is about placing a value on the camaraderie between men.

Oh, if you say so. I place lots of value on my friendships already!

[He tries to skim through the next box, which is mostly photo albums.]

Boy friendships are different from girl friendships though.

They are?

Subtly.

I guess I try to be kinder with girls... but Toph's kinda different.

Heh. Some girls are tougher, just as some men are weaker. But there's still differences in how they think, fundamentally.

It's why when you're little, boys like to play with boys and girls like to play with girls.

That makes sense! Now that I think about it, that's probably why the monks raised boys and girls in different temples. I didn't have any girl f- friends who are girls until I met Katara... and then Suki and Toph.

[...ha.]

If they were anything like monks in my world, I'd guess they had higher aspirations.

But close enough.

Yeah, I think there were a bunch of reasons! But it still makes sense to think of it like that. So I have to make sure I'm doing the right things for my friends who are guys, then.

[And then he switches to his next box.]

Pretty much. To get back on point - hugs are for girls [okay other times are okay but Aang isn't far enough indoctrinated to yet grasp the complexity] and hand shakes are too formal. That's why guys give high-fives and bump fists. It's the manly show of friendship.

Wait a second. [He drops the box he's holding, which luckily doesn't have anything breakable, and the pipe droops out of his mouth. This is a very important point. Something that absolutely must be clarified.]

I don't hug guys?

You're what - fourteen, right?

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