031 -- [Action | Voice]

[endgames]

[Today is an understated awesome day, ladies and gentleman. To everyone? Okay, maybe not. But Shikamaru sure is pleased as punch. After a month's stay in the Battle Dome clinic recoveries from the injuries he got in his fight with Hidan, Shikamaru's finally cleared to check out today.

Before he gets the all-clear, he can be found in - brace yourselves - one of the Dome's simulation rooms. He's actually been using them for the past week for his physical therapy. If he's going to be doing a lot of walking, might as well change up the scenery.

Namely, he's replicated parts of the Nara Clan's forest. At its opening, the sky is more open, but the further in you go the thicker the trees grow together. Wandering will reveal easter eggs - old statues, broken and ruined, or a path of moss-covered stone lanterns. Maybe a young deer if you're lucky.

Other parts of the forest seem to be swallowed by shadow completely, offering nothing but pitch black that no amount of light will ease and the sense you're being watched if you step into them.

He'll try and clear up some stuff with Law before he goes, but after that he hits the journal.]

[Voice]

For those of you who saw that Vaskoth place... I figure it's been long enough. Name something you liked about it, if you can recall.

[Filtered to Molly (NPC) || 100% Unhackable]

You must be made of sterner stuff than I.

[/end voice]

[Feels like forever since he's been back in the swing of things. Shikamaru can be found at CH1 of course, in or around his apartment. Throughout the days following, he'll also be at the place formerly known as Azzip's, getting back to turning it into a convenience store.]

Comments

[snikting]

I didn't exactly go to Vaskoth as a tourist. So yeah. That's it.

[endgames]

Mm. I didn't either, but I was curious what else people might have noticed.

[snikting]

There somethin' in particular you were hoping for?

[endgames]

Yeah. Still hoping.

[snikting]

You plannin' on elaborating or is the vagueness intentional?

[endgames]

Heheh. [He smirks, just briefly.] Yes and no. I was testing the board; I wanted to see what people thought for themselves, not just my opinion.

[The result's been a very honest response. He appreciates that more than a lot of things.]

There were two things I was hoping more people would notice, however. [He raises one finger.] What they accomplished before the Cultist attack just by pulling together, [a second finger] and their draft immunity.

[snikting]

So they had a lot of perks. Some of them were soldiers for the MSF. They were one step away from being the Malnosso. Not exactly the 'dream'.

[endgames]

Ha. If I were living the dream, I'd be back home and part of a war either way. Some people aren't so cut to be on the frontlines, though.

I get tired of watching people die needlessly.

[snikting]

Story of my life, kid. I don't much like the drafts either. I'm just not sure the trade off is worth it yet.

[endgames]

[He wonders if this guy's been to the tunnels; if that has to do with anything or if his reasoning is just because.

He shrugs.]

If I'm the only one who thinks so, it won't happen anyways.

[snikting]

Would you sign up?

[endgames]

Maybe. [Most likely.] Depends on how much they'd ask of me.

[He wants to hear what other commitments are involved; what expectations they hold. He believes in compromise, but not when it's his soul. Not when it's the things and people he values most.]

[snikting]

The stakes always go higher than first glance. You might sign up to fight the Sparties, but before long you might be doing stuff you ain't prepared for. Like turning on other enclosures that ain't as participatory as we are.

[endgames]

[He finds it amusing, in the back of his head, that this guy's adopted that slang you hear outside the barrier.

And he finds it funny in a not so ha-ha way that he mentions the other enclosures. From what he's seen, they haven't needed Malnosso intervention to rise to conflict between themselves.]

So what would you do?

[snikting]

Ain't decided yet. But I'd join 'em if I had to. I'm kinda familiar with high stakes and high prices.

[The Malnosso seem about as shady to SHIELD to him.]

[endgames]

Here I was expecting an opposite response.

[But the answer and previous responses solidify to him that this guy is familiar with the military, at least, and several sides of it.]

[snikting]

I'm an old man. I know what I'm able and willing to live with.

[He figures that this kid probably thinks he is too. Logan thought that way once too. He was wrong.]

[endgames]

Must've been some ride, figuring that out.

[snikting]

Life's got a way of happening.

[endgames]

Right. [And he sighs.] You know, like most men, you seem like the guy who doesn't talk about his experiences much despite that.

Whatever you've learned, I respect that. But there's only so much we can take from the same hints before guys like me have to figure out the rest on our own.

[snikting]

Guys like me got stories we don't care to think about, much less talk about. But I ain't telling you what to do. I ain't gonna lose any sleep if you decide to join the Mallies. Just consider yourself cautioned.

[endgames]

All I know is nothing's going to change here without some cooperative effort.

[snikting]

You won't get no arguments from me.