032 -- [Voice || Action]

[endgames]

[A ninja walks into the bar.

Okay, that's getting ahead of the story. Let's backtrack then. Not too far. Everything he's been through in the past two weeks doesn't need to be said. At least, this isn't the place for it. What's important to mention is that on March 27, Nara Shikamaru left Luceti, gone back to home and to war. He returned on the same day and got thrown into another, and coming back to day-to-day life in this village after has felt almost unreal.

It's been nearly two weeks, but it wasn't until today that any of it definitively sunk in. All of the deaths. Everything they've lost - that he's lost. That the fighting is over, even if the war isn't.

You wouldn't think moving on with your life would be the scariest thing about that.]

[Voice]

Yo. [The greeting comes after he's gotten a grip on himself, so lackadaisical you wouldn't know the difference.] Some of you might've noticed that old pizza place was being remodeled. It's taking longer than I thought, but I've been working on turning it into a convenience store since November. It can probably open soon.

I'm gonna stock it with the basics. Milk, bread... staples like that for when no one wants to walk all the way to the grocery. So what snacks and drinks do you guys want? I'm not going to the trouble of getting things it turns out no one likes. That way, they'll just sit on the shelf to collect grease and dust. That's gross.

[He waves lazily, like he gave up on the motion halfway through, and reaches over to switch the feed.] Lemme know.

[Filtered to Trafalgar Law || Unhackable]

Hey. Got what you asked of me too.

[/end Voice]

[Several hours later... A ninja walks into a bar, and for the first time orders not Mountain Dew, but Genshu sake. A whole bottle.

Convincing himself to drink is more difficult than ordering it, however. Shikamaru sits at the bar for a while, spending more time staring into his cup than lifting it to his mouth. It's not like he's in a rush. He made a point not to tell anyone what he was up to, just that he would be back late and would get dinner on his own. Eventually though, he does get to drinking. It's a lot easier once he's started, and he loosens up. He won't be at the bar long after that, called away on an errand which leads him down toward House 22.

(ooc: threads with Law and Masaomi will be canonically last for this part)

The next day... he has a hangover. And it sucks. 8|

But he has people to talk to. Sakura and Asuma are both on his list, if they're home. Ino is last, and not without Chouji to go with him. Anyone else in the building is welcome to run into him on this day too, of course.]

Comments

voice;

[etudes]

... Hey, Shikamaru-kun.. what kind of snacks would people usually like?

[ It's relevant to the question, okay. She has no clue what to ask for since she never has snacks, so she needs to find out what's socially acceptable!! ]

voice;

[endgames]

[Oh. It's been a while since he's talked to Kotomi. It feels longer than it is in his head, but here's a person he doesn't mind talking to again.]

There's a lot of things, I suppose. Chips, sodas, candies, frozen treats... Those are the usual things you see.

[etudes]

Then.. I'd like to try all of them!

[ Her tone is still fairly blank, but the note of determination in there is obvious. ]

Please teach me about these things, Shikamaru-kun.

[endgames]

[...FOR A MOMENT HE FORGOT HOW SHELTERED YOU WERE, KOTOMI.]

You've never tried any of them. Seriously.

[It should be a question, but it doesn't come out as such due to just how odd that seems.]

[etudes]

... I haven't.. [ Her tone turns a little more hesitant again, filled with doubt at what he's saying. ]

Is that.. weird..? That I haven't had these snacks..

[endgames]

[Aha... he tries to be more upbeat.]

I'm used to people our age over-indulging on junk food. I forget some eat healthier... [He rubs the back of his neck.] Tch, girls especially.

[etudes]

But eating healthy is an important part of life. If you don't get the right nutrients, then your health could be impacted greatly.. people even used to develop really scary diseases just because of a lack of vitamin C in the past.

[ HORRORS OF THE WORLD. To her, at least. ]

[endgames]

You can eat healthy and still have other snacks in between, though.

[etudes]

That's true, but you should still make sure to eat them in moderation. You can get really, really fat too from eating too many snacks, after all..

.. Ah, maybe you'd grow so big that you wouldn't be able to walk down the street, you could only roll..

[endgames]

I have a friend who can do that.

[etudes]

Shikamaru-kun's friend is that big..? [ She seems pretty shocked. In her own blank way, that is. ]

[endgames]

He's big-boned. The f-word is taboo.

[The rolling part is a ninja technique, but that's harder to explain.]

[etudes]

.. F-word.. [ .. give her a moment to think, and then she carefully tries.. ]

Flower..? Fluke..? Floccinaucinihilipilification..?

[endgames]

...is the last one even a word??

[etudes]

Of course. It means "the estimation of something as valueless". [ yup, saying it as if it's normal knowledge!! the more you know, shikamaru. ]

[endgames]

...jeez. Words that are a mouthful like that are troublesome.

[etudes]

If it's Shikamaru-kun, then he can remember though for sure, right? I believe in Shikamaru-kun, after all. He can probably do anything he puts his mind to.

[endgames]

[So he's told the point of being a genius is to be.]

Still. If I can describe it in simpler words, all the better.

[etudes]

But doesn't Shikamaru-kun think there's something pretty about words like that? Like in poetry..

[endgames]

I think if you put that in a poem, not a lot of people would get it.

[etudes]

I talked with someone about poetry before, but they said they didn't really get poetry.. so in that case, a word like that would be perfect.

[endgames]

In that case, so would a dictionary.

[etudes]

Shikamaru-kun doesn't need a dictionary now anymore though, right? I just taught him. [ AND SHE'S SO PROUD OF IT.. no, really, she's smiling. ]

[endgames]

[...oh fine. It's hard to be a smartass when she looks so happy.]

Yeah, yeah. I'll definitely remember it.

[etudes]

If Shikamaru-kun ever wants to know something else, he can always ask me.

.. Just like I can ask Shikamaru-kun about stuff I don't know. [ like the snacks and all.. ]