029 -- [Action || Video]

[endgames]

[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?

Comments

[endgames]

[fffff she's taking up the whole screen]

Mouse Trap? [He grins and leans back to grab the box.] I've mostly played it on my own so far, but it's a lot of fun. More so with two people, I'm positive.

[etudes]

[ kotomi all up on the middle of the camera.. ]

Then Shikamaru-kun and I can play that one, right? Especially if it'll be fun, since.. having fun is something friends do. [ as if that's something that actually has to be stated. ]

[endgames]

Sure. Like I said, it's your pick. You can even pick out two games, if you like.

[Just in case she doesn't find this one as fun as she though. 8|a]

[etudes]

No, I want to play this one. [ Somehow she seems oddly focused on it now.. but there's a big chance it's just Kotomi being Kotomi. Aka just generally weird. ]

I think that one would be the most fun.

[endgames]

[Huh.]

All right. If you're that determined.

Where do you want to meet? It's cold out, so we should likely do this indoors. A house, or maybe one of the shops or other places.

[etudes]

I can come over to Shikamaru-kun's house, if you want. [ Apparently she has no problems with just.. going over to a boy's house, nope. ] Or Shikamaru-kun can come over here, but I wouldn't want to bother Fuuko-chan too much with it.

[endgames]

[He tries to keep his apartment a ninja secret on the journals, so hmmmm.]

How about a halfway point? If we meet at a place like the restaurant or the bakery, we'll have something to eat while we play as well.

[And disrupt business!]

[etudes]

[ It's a good thing Kotomi doesn't really realise the disrupting business part yet, so she nods. ]

That's okay too. So Shikamaru-kun just likes food a whole lot..? [ drawing the weirdest conclusions. ]

[endgames]

I wouldn't say a lot. [But being best friends with an Akimichi guarantees you get an appreciation for it.] It's nice to have snacks at hand, though.

[etudes]

I've never played a board game while eating snacks. [ Mostly since - like she said - she hasn't played one at all, but apparently that's another special case to her. ]

It sounds really exciting.

[endgames]

Heh. Well it's fun, anyways. Which place do you want to go to?

[etudes]

The bakery sounds nice.. the food there is always nice when I get something from there. So playing a board game there might be the most suiting.

[endgames]

All right. Then I'll meet you there.

just want to action it up here, ooorrrr..? o/

[etudes]

Please wait for me then, Shikamaru-kun.

action is fine!

[endgames]

[And so Shikamaru will be there! He's found a spot a little out of the way and while he hasn't set up the game - you just don't make the trap on your own - he has gotten all the pieces out.]

[etudes]

[ With as spacey as she is, it takes a little while before Kotomi to arrive. She probably accidentally walked in the wrong direction thrice and ended up making a very roundabout walk to the bakery.. but sooner or later she does arrive and she does manage to spot the guy pretty easily, walking over to where he is with the game and giving him a tiny bow. ]

Good day, Shikamaru-kun.

[endgames]

Hey, Kotomi. Didn't trip on your way here, did you?

[etudes]

[ .. Ah, yup, there goes her brain ignoring filter again, right off the bat this time. She's just blankly staring, almost as if he isn't there just since he said Kotomi instead of Kotomi-chan.. ]

[endgames]

[...oops.]

Right, right. Kotomi-chan.

[etudes]

Hi. [ Yup, now it registers - enough so she can sit down on the opposite side of where he's sitting so she can face him. She's already eyeing the game though, since the board is set up now. ]

So.. this is the game?

[endgames]

That's right. It's not set up yet - that's something the players do together before the game starts.

[He gestures at the stuff to make the trap with.]

[etudes]

All those parts..? [ She's looking at them curiously now, even leaning a little so she can see them better. ]

.. Isn't that difficult? I don't have much experience.

[endgames]

[Shikamaru shakes his head.]

It's fine. You learn as you go.

[etudes]

[ a small nod - apparently she's at least willing to believe him. ]

So.. how exactly do you start?

[endgames]

Step one is to choose who goes first. I can do that and start to show you by example, if that's satisfactory.