endgames | 010 -- [Voice || Action]

[Forward-dated to early Tuesday morning - Unfortunately for you, Luceti, the paperweight Shikamaru usually keeps on his journal seems to have been knocked off during the night. If he knew, he might apologize for the BLARING alarm clock as it goes off at six in the morning.

But he doesn’t, so instead you get complaining.]

Nn… again? Forgot I set the thing… [BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. And a sigh. He could get up and get it. It’s annoying enough that he considers! But… it’s also a whole five feet away. Is that much effort worth it this early in the morning?]

How troublesome. [APPARENTLY NOT. He opts to instead bury his head under his pillow and go back to sleep.

But fear not. Lazy geniuses may not be so genius when they have to wake up early in the morning, but a certain

dangerouswind of his is troublesome no matter what time it is. That ringing will probably last no more than a minute or two before getting cut off loudly. And violently.]

[…MUCH LATER. After a trek in his pj’s through the snow: a secret transmission from the restaurant.]

[Filtered from Temari || 100% Unhackable]

…I need clothes. Preferably something warmer than pajamas. Shoes would be nice. I’d offer something in return, but money’s out for obvious reasons, and it’s not like I have much else to offer. [Long pause. He’s desperate enough.] But by all means – if anyone else can think of something, I’m all ears at this point.

[He’ll offer Chouji’s cooking if he has to. Okay, and maybe he’ll do something himself. ~~He’s going to regret this, isn’t he.~~]

[ooc: ~~First response is obviously reserved |D~~ IT'S ALL GOOD]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[With everything going on, Shikamaru's been out of his apartment more and more lately. Chouji's been busy, so it seemed like a good idea to find other things to spend his energy on.

There's not so much to do indoors besides staring at that space where his wall used to be and wonder why the hell it hasn't fixed itself yet. Which is what he ends up doing for a few minutes when he does get back home.

...because seriously. Why.]

[Temari has been rather actively avoiding home -- and, of course, Shikamaru. She's had to think, you know, and that requires not being around him. At all. Especially when she knows she has to think about him.

She's still not sure of anything when she finally makes her way back home to find him staring at the wall. He's on one side, she's on the other, and there's a busted wall between them. She would have laughed at the damned cliche if she wasn't feeling so... so...

... She didn't even know what she felt.

So instead she walks over to the wall silently, crosses her arms, and looks down at the debris.]

I thought they usually fixed this sort of thing before long.

[Then again, the last time she'd taken that wall out, she hadn't been around for the next two weeks.]

The last two times it was like clockwork. [He makes himself look away from the broken wall and at her - it's not like she's the plague or anything. She deserves at least that.]

A few days and then it was like there hadn't been any damage at all.

Huh. [She really doesn't know what to say to him. Yeah, okay, maybe going after him this morning with her fan was a little extreme, but the second she brings that up, he's all over it and he'll never let it go. She doesn't have the energy to steer that conversation the way she wants it to go -- namely with her not apologizing, ever, for that.]

They should build it out of sturdier stuff if they want it to last.

Maybe they don't. Maybe leaving it like this is a way of saying they're tired of fixing our shit.

[He puts his arms behind his head, trying to be as casual as he would usually.]

Yeah. [She can't really argue with that one. She doesn't even want to try.

... She's kinda tired, too. She kicks at a stray piece of wood and sighs.]

Well. Guess you don't have to worry about the wall coming down anymore, if they never fix it.

This one, anyways. We have a few more I can worry about. S'probably only a matter of time, between you and Chouji.

You can always go somewhere else. [But there's really not too much bite in her words. Some, because, really. It's Temari.]

That would be troublesome. Besides. I was here first.

Troublesome.

[There it is again. Damn it, Shikamaru. One conversation without that word is all she asks.

Well. Not all, but a good bit of it.

She's silent for a moment before she decides to just plow ahead, consequences be damned. She needs to know before they tear themselves apart over this.]

What else is too troublesome?

[Is she? Is this? Let him and his giant brain figure out what she's asking because she's not sure if she even knows.]

[And just like that, this isn't just a conversation anymore. He frowns, lowering his arms and looking at Temari as if he's trying to figure out what exactly she wants him to say.]

...fighting over every little thing ranks pretty high up on the list.

[She would love it if he spoke his mind, instead of looking at her like she's a shouji piece to be manipulated into doing what he's planned.]

You think that's my idea?

I think we've both played a hand in it, no matter how much we don't want to admit it.

[A pause.] We have. [That's marginally better than saying "You're right."]

I dunno, Shikamaru. This is just... [Ridiculous? Insane? Sad? All of the above? Hell if she knows.]

[It's troublesome, woman. Just admit it.]

...not what I was expecting, that's for sure.

[Shut up. She doesn't say that word.]

Not really.

[Damn it, she really liked you, Nara.] Maybe we just latched onto the first familiar thing in this place. Didn't think it through.

[Except she.... really liked you.]

Maybe. [Only he thinks everything through. He's not the type to date a girl if he can't imagine a relationship in the long term.

Could he have really made such a huge miscalculation with you?]

...so what do we want to do about it?

[Yeah, she knows you do. Which was part of why this relationship seemed to have so much promise.]

... Are you actually suggesting something? I would have thought it would be troublesome.

[Some things that are troublesome deserve the try. But he can't if he's the only one who thinks that.]

Look, if you're not interested, you can just say so. But if you are... then, yeah. I am.

[Her response is automatic and sharp.] I didn't say that.

[And then she realizes that that's tantamount to picking a fight. She takes a breath and then nods.] All right, then. We're in agreement.

[We are?

He wasn't expecting them to be, but for once he's not going to question it.]

First time in a while. [Let's shoot for a few more.] But okay. Let's take another day or two to cool down and get our heads clear. After that, maybe we can sit down with someone and talk things out.

[She nods -- almost like she was accepting a mission, truth be told -- and turned away from the wall. Or, not-wall, as the case may be.

She hates the idea of bringing in another person but they can't seem to talk to each other without snapping, so it might be necessary.]

All right. It's a plan.

[He nods, watching her go. Then stares at the not-wall some more. What are the chances it'll fix itself before either one of them go to bed?

Low, most likely. Stupid Malnosso.]

I guess I'll go take the couch tonight, then.

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