endgames | 029 -- [Action || Video]

[The afternoon finds Shikamaru bundled up against the cold and out and about in parts of the village he won't normally be in. Wandering, it might look like; he drifts in and out of high-traffic areas like the bar and the item shop to places less visited. The coffee shop he'll be at for sure, and his final stop will be the building that was once Azzip's Pizza.

This will do.]

[Video]

[Later in the afternoon, with dark still far off, the journal feed will click on to see Shikamaru surrounded by various colorful boxes among other things. He folds his hands over a table.]

It's come to my attention over the last few months that some of you have never heard of boardgames, or have otherwise never played. As a reasonable guy, I can let a lot of things go, but that... just seems sad.

[He shakes his head here. With woe, even. And then he gestures to the board games from various worlds strewn in the background. Close inspection will find a shogi set, a chess board, Go, Pai Sho, Plateau, Candy Land, Mouse Trap, ~~Jumanji~~ and so on. You can pretty much make up any family-friendly board game you want here and he will have it somehow. Go for it, actually. He hasn't played all of them.]

I'm here to tell you why they're awesome. [...] And possibly to petition for a partner. It's troublesome, but you'd be surprised how hard that is to accomplish here...

Katara. [Hint, hint.] Kotomi-chan. [Who he can't tease as well, so he'd best clarify:] If you're still up for that.

[He shakes himself with a grin, saluting at the journal with his left hand. He picks up the nearest game.] Anyways, let's get started. It goes like this...

[And from here he'll be giving the abridged rules of the games he knows to start. Feel free to interrupt him, or call him out on any games he skips.]

[/end Voice]

[Action || Locked to Konan]

[Much later in the night, after he's seen to everything he needs to, Shikamaru takes a box out of a drawer and goes outside. From it, he withdraws an origami hummingbird, and contemplates it slowly for a few quiet minutes.

When he's done, he holds it up at eye level and speaks seriously.]

It's about time we spoke again. Don't you think?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Chess, pai sho, Risk. Games similar to that.

[Pai sho is a game from Katara's world - exclusively so far as he knows. Must've learned it from Ikki...]

That's my thing too. Haven't tried Risk, though.

[It's probably somewhere in this pile...]

Risk has a random element in it provided by dice. It can be interesting and vexing by turns.

Uh-huh.

[He's doing some rummaging now, sliding boxes back and forth to see their titles. But listening.]

If you haven't a copy of your own, Greg has one.

Gregor? [Or another Greg?]

[Ah, well if Shikamaru already knows him as Gregor...] The same.

["Greg" is relatively weird sounding name to him, so he just made the connection to the only one like it he'd heard before.]

Ha. That shouldn't surprise me, really. [He was the one who suggested that analyst group; said that was the kind of work he did.] He around?

I am afraid not at the moment. He's gone on a mission. Is there something you need?

[...damn. Oh well. It won't be ready this soon anyways.]

Not right away. I'll just have a chat with him when he returns.

As you like. [He'll have to mention this to Gregor, see if he knows what it's about.]

Anyways. You were talking about Risk.

Indeed. I can go over the rules if you like.

[Loki props his chin in his hand.] I am surprised there is not a club for playing such games. It would be quite fun.

Yeah, if it were a casual thing.

[And he makes a motion in the journal window like 'go ahead'.]

I don't know what else such a thing would be.

[And then he starts going over the rules of Risk for Shikamaru, which will not be repeated in detail here.]</small.

[Shikamaru listens with rapt attention.

He's still not sure what to think of this guy. He's respected Tony's obvious opinion (kinda wonders how that fallout went) but has otherwise minded his own business.

Putting aside the whole supervillain deal, he loves games. As Loki explains the rules, it's obvious his interest will be piqued.]

[Loki finishes going over the rules.]

Of course, 'tis easier to visualize with the board and such.

Nah, I was getting a good enough mental image of it. I've seen maps of that place.

[He's pretty sure he'd recognize it if he saw it.]

All right. [Not like he's going to argue with that.]

Thanks for me turning me to it.

You are most welcome. Do let me know if you should like to play some time.