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032 -- [Voice || Action]
[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.]
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.]
[Action]
After all, these are the ones that were left to shape his brother after he'd taken everything else away from him. These were the faces he saw every day instead of his.]
[Action]
[Action]
Otherwise we teach ourselves.
... so no, not a proper school. I was well trained for a number of things, but...
[Shrug.]
Besides, a school for shinobi. Gotta be a bit different.
[Action]
[It's very nature makes something like that a little absurd.]
If one really wants to learn, they'll find a way to do so. You've done well for yourself regardless.
[Action]
[Like Itachi said, sounds like he figured most of that out without school anyways.]
[Action]
[Law crooks a sheepish smile towards his partner. He's done okay. Not great yet.]
Transformation sounds like a fun subject. How's Masaomi doing with it?
[If you are even teaching him that, that is.]
[Action]
An interesting individual.]
[Action]
[They haven't practiced anything since he got back, actually. There was the draft, and he supposes he's been so wrapped up in other things beyond that... Well that's not something to think about now.
You can practically see him wracking his brain, though, attempting to recall past the haze of alcohol what Masaomi's last ninja training lessons were like. This too is obvious when he has it: a look that's at once intensely prideful as he snaps his fingers.]
But he figured out Substitute, though! Yeah, yeah... that was 'bout a month ago-- sort of? He sort of got it.
[Still grinning, though.]
[Action]
[Says the guy who makes use of displacement and substitution on a wide scale basis in Room. It is a very useful and fun ability to have in his opinion.]
It's gotten me out of hot water more than once, that's for sure.
[Action]
Substitution? The common variety with a log or similarly sized object?
[As there are a few other forms, but he doubts Masaomi would be capable of them.]
[Action]
It was a log. It took like a month stickin' him right up next to it [he uses his hands to illustrate distance; in reality it was something like five feet apart] before he got that much and could do it, but I wasn't sure he could at all, you know? But he did. It was cool.
[Action]
[Action]
He mutters a thoughtful 'Hm', thinking back again to their last encounter.]
[Action]
[Now he's feeling lonely. It's stupid, with people he gets along with around him (and he can tell it's real), but it's a pang all the same. Maybe he shouldn't have gone out tonight. Didn't have to tell Chouji, but he could've told Masaomi... could've invited anyone along, so he wouldn't be alone.
(only he isn't, which is why he can tell)
It'll be okay, though. He smiles, and takes another drink.]
Can never gettit through 'is head. But he's a good guy.... he'll learn.
[Action]
[There's more than a trace of fondness to his smile. Because Masaomi is one of his. And he does worry. But those demons he has to conquer himself.]
[Action]
[Then again, it was similar in his own world. Not everyone could easily access their chakra. Of course, then you had those like Lee who trained as a ninja regardless.]
[Action]
[He means 'access', but he's slurring again. He gets an unfocused look as he tries to recall if he noticed it in anyone else. He hasn't tested it to the same extent with anyone else, but maybe...?]
Katara calls it chi.
[Action]
Which is why I wouldn't be surprised if someone not from my world developed Haki here. It's thing everyone has back in my home, even if it's dormant in most cases. So...
[He pours himself more to drink and heck, this bottle is getting low.
He holds it up. More, guys? Otherwise he'll finish it off with no regrets.]
It's kinda funny if you think of it. I see folks from other worlds learning skills and techniques from all over - magic, chakra control, you name it. Either the boundaries between our universes are all bleeding together, or we all have more in common than we know, despite our different worlds.
[Action]
...Do you really think that might be the case? That our continued proximity here has allowed for our different energy signatures to blend into each other?
Or did we simply have varied names and uses for what was essentially the same form of energy from the start?
[Action]
Which is a while off yet. He will definitely take that refill.]