endgames | 036 -- [Voice]

((Backdated to February 4th))

[It's been a long time since Shikamaru's failed a mission. All right. Failure might be too strong a word for this one. He can actually laugh at that. This isn't like when he was twelve. It's a personal embarrassment, not something that's going to keep him up at night, sick to his stomach.

A failure is a failure though, and that makes it a pain in the ass. He'd apologized to the MSF personnel profusely, and requested to be put on a different mission to make up for the screw-up. They'd looked nonplussed about the whole thing and stuck him back in Luceti, but eh. Shikamaru decides to keep his journal close to him anyways, in case they take him up on that. It's for this reason he doesn't go out to do any of the things he probably should. He passes the time by flipping through the journal instead, and thinking over the last mission.]

[Voice]

When I first came to this village, I remember going out. Left or right, it seemed anywhere I looked someone was using that so-called "filial magic". ...Haaa. [He scratches his head, and there's a smirk in his voice.] That's an exaggeration, but you get it. That was years ago, though. It seemed like it was becoming less common until that incident last year, when everyone got possessed.

Anyone learning anything from those guys now? Seems like the kind of thing that would spark interest, especially with one extra spirit hanging around.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... Only you would say that.

It's better than that grape one, anyways.

[But okay, moving on.]

Right, right.

[ Okay, no. Seen it, pedestrian...

Oh he holds up Settles of Catan box now ]

[No, actually, he doesn't know that one. He looks at the box studiously.]

Is that like Risk meets Monopoly?

No idea. I've never seen it before either.

[ And he makes sure the box is handed off!! ]

[Shikamaru takes it, setting it on top of the stack he already has, but flipped around so he can read the back.]

We can snag it, sure.

[He's kind of drawn into reading about it, it looks fun.]

So do I win?

[ EHEHEHE ]

Yeah. You win, you win.

Solid.

[ ... Though he picked out a complicated boring looking game oops ]

[A complicated, boring looking game that's guaranteed to be just up Shikamaru's alley at that. GOOD JOB. You'll be playing it for two months.]

Should we head back now, or you want to hang around more?

No we might as well head back...

You sure? There's a pile we haven't looked at over there...

But we already found the game, didn't we?

I guess.

[He just wants more, okay. :T]

...But we could find another one.

[ So he doesn't need to play that one ]

[Hi yes, he's over there by the time that sentence is finished, sorting through the pile.]

You know... Were there ever any board games you liked as much as video games, back in your world?

Not really. I mean, I guess when I was really young there must have been a few, but I was an outdoors kid, for the most part.

[ He pauses, and then as he looks through the games, hr clarifies - ] After all, I didn't move to Tokyo until I was gong on eleven.