[Appointment Post]

[dangerouswind]

Need to thread with Temari? Here's the place for phone calls and action threads that don't require a post to themselves. Please note [action] or [voice] and the date in the subject line.

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[Action, August 24]

[endgames]

[After the draft's announcement and talking it over with Ino, Shikamaru had gone to Temari's apartment to look for her only to find no one home. And no one home still for several hours after that.

It would figure she'd be this troublesome, even so soon after he got back from his stay with Malnosso.

While the matter he needed to discuss with her was pretty urgent, he wasn't about to sacrifice his first night of real sleep on the floor outside her door to wait for her.

Hence, when she does return to her apartment, she'll find one (sparklier than usual) ninja snoring on a mattress he dragged into the hallway, outside her door.

[Action, August 24]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[It's only a few hours into the 24th that Temari makes her way back to her apartment. After the draft announcement -- on her birthday, no less -- she'd gone out for some much-needed venting. Unfortunately, her venting had turned to trying to meditate had turned to simply sitting at the edge of the forest and thinking far too much.

Gaara had followed Kankurou home and left her here. Shikamaru was still gone, gone long enough that Temari wondered if he'd ever return. Not that she was worried. Never was, about his damned...

... Is there something sparkling in front of her door?

Full stealth mode engage. Really. Because... sparkling in front of her door ranks up there with very strange things. Upon come closer, she stops. Speak of the devil.

Before she can hide it, a moment of sheer, raw emotion shows: eyes closed, shoulders slumped, and a deep (albeit a little shaky) breath. She reels it in, swallows hard, and hopes that he's still asleep. She takes a few steps forward and nudges his knee with her foot. (Any other time and she might have just kicked him. Hard. But he gets a free pass this time.)]

Oi, Nara. Something wrong with your own apartment?

[Also. Sparkling. What's up with that?]

[Action, August 24]

[endgames]

[Normally he would've been up the second he heard her in the hall. Exhaustion does something to a guy though, even for ninjas. She moves so quietly after that that he doesn't even realize someone's there until he hears the sigh, and isn't fully awake until she's nudging him with her foot.]

...hn. [Someone above him, but - light past his eyelids, hands still at his sides, no echoes, dry air - he'll take his time waking up. He yawns, but makes no effort to move, just yet.] Nah. Like it just fine. Wish I were in it.

[He cracks open one eye.] ...time's it?

[Action, August 24]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Well, he seems all right. Temari props one hand on her hip and quirks a brow as she looks down at him.]

Somewhere between four and five. Thought's appreciated, but I outgrew nightlights a long time ago.

[Action, August 24] 1/2

[endgames]

Shuddup.

[He's not that shiny, okay. Okay.]

[Action, August 24]

[endgames]

[He yawns, groggy, but pushes himself upright with his hands. The wrists are bruised, but he pays them little mind. He'll have Ino take care of them in the morning, when she's feeling better.]

Didn't take you for the partying type.

[Action, August 24]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

Right. Partying. [Something about the flatness of her voice should tell him all he needs to know. Partying. Of course that's what she'd do.

She's very tempted to just step over him and go to bed, but if he's out here, then he has a reason for being here. With a sigh, she sets her fan aside and takes a seat on the edge of his mattress. Might as well talk in the hall. It's quiet.]

I'm assuming you know about the draft, then? [No use asking him when he got back; it would have been pretty recently and she knows him well enough to know that he'd be poking through the journals right away.] Which is probably what you're here to talk about. Unless, of course, the Malnosso actually dropped you off on a mattress in front of my door. If that's the case, they're a few hours late.

[Pause and she summons up a shadow of a teasing smirk.] No big bows or wrapping paper, either. I'm disappointed.

written; october 19th

[breezing]

[ Letter written thanks to Shikamaru ]

Dear Temari,

Hello! My name is Ikki and I am not writing you on account of the Hyrda Social Project but instead because I have a friend who said that I should ask you my questions because it is the nice thing to do! I do not know you but I know people from your world who are very nice and interesting and cool and amazing!

A little about me is that I am seven years old and live in House 56 and am an airbender, which is someone who controls the air and uses it for things!! I am also now a pokemon trainer although I am not as good at that as I am at bending since I am still in training, but I am trying very hard and I hope I will be able to help Soren properly someday. Soren is my partner who is a swellow which is a kind of flying bird pokemon!

He kind of wanted to go look at the tornado yesterday, but instead we went in the basement with my Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph and everyone and we waited for the storm to end. Storms can be very dangerous!! But according to other people there have been worse storms here because apparently one of them burned our house down????? But our house is okay!!! Is your house okay??

Also what ninja village do you come from? Do you use genjutsu or ninjutsu or taijutsu? I have heard from Lee that he cannot use one of those types at all!!!!! He thought I was using a jutsu when I used airbending but I was not, and we talked about that a bit.

Also I decided to draw you a picture of your favourite animal!

[ INSERT SAID PICTURE HERE ]

I hope to hear from you really soon!

Love,
Ikki

written; october 19th

[dangerouswind]

[What.

The. Hell.

Insta-suspicion is a go. She remembers talking to Ikki... once. Maybe it was once. Certainly not more than twice and she knows she didn't tell her all that. (Lee, you have a giant mouth -- but it's probably not all Lee's fault.)

She thinks about not answering but that thought is shoved aside almost as soon as she realized that she's been approached by a seven-year-old. Even Temari can't kick a puppy -- and whoever did this to her probably knows that.

Well, definitely not Ten-ten, then.

She has her suspicions. Definitely has her suspicions.

... Cute picture. She's not going to be won over with a purple weasel and a flower. She won't, damn it. Won't.

... It's really cute.

It takes a minute or fourteen to answer. For most of the intervening time, Temari is staring at her journal with equal parts befuddlement and irritation.]

Ikki,

One question before I answer any of yours: how did you know what my favorite animal was?

-Temari

written; october 19th

[breezing]

[ Well, Shikamaru didn't say "don't tell her I told you so", so surely that's something she can reveal, right? Ikki's dilemma doesn't take more than a few seconds to go over. After all, even if it was some sort of ninja secret Temari is also a ninja and therefore allowed to know ninja secrets. ]

Dear Temari,

I asked Shikamaru! He also said I should give it an eyepatch so I did. Shikamaru is nice and smart and fun and strong and plays with me sometimes! He is one of my favourite friends!

Love,
Ikki

written; october 19th

[dangerouswind]

[Suspicion confirmed. As if she really had to think about it.]

So Shikamaru put you up to this? [Well, if that's true and it probably is, there's probably no harm in it.

She'd definitely hear from Shikamaru if she didn't go along with it. And he calls her troublesome.] I get to ask a question first, though. You called Sokka your uncle; you know Katara, then.

Now, what question do you want answered first?

written; october 19th

[breezing]

[ since Temari drops the format, she does, too. ]

Well, he said it would be nice to ask you instead of him telling me things and then he wouldn't tell me anything and said it was a moral lesson. [ She wasn't about to argue the point, either. ]

Yep!! Katara is my grandmother except from seventy years before when I'm from. I live with Katara and grandpa and Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph and Uncle Roku and Momo and Appa and Hawky and Petunia and Soren!

[ Aw man. She has to pick? ]

Which ninja village are you from?

written; october 19th

[dangerouswind]

[Temari has no use for format.

Also, she not even asking about the seventy year thing or touching that list of names. Good Lord, Ikki, but she's kinda glad she's not hearing this. She might start worrying about you breathing sometime.]

Suna. There's no one else from my village here right now.

[Action, November 12]

[endgames]

[And so it has been about two weeks since a certain incident! Other than going upstairs to visit Silver (who was coma'd until the fourth), and eating ramen with Lee, Shikamaru's been spending most of his time sleeping. His shoulder was dislocated after the draft, so he figured that's excuse enough to rest up.

And not sulk. Definitely not sulk.

It's been a week since Naruto's been gone. This seems like just cause to get up and see what's in the fridge.]

[Action, November 12]

[dangerouswind]

[Who sulks? There's been no sulking here. No hiding either. Nope. Never.

But she still needs to eat. When she sees just who's poking at the fridge, she's very tempted to turn around and walk right back out.

Temari doesn't run away though.

And she's hungry. Just gonna... slide right into the kitchen and ignore you, lalala.]

[Action, November 12]

[endgames]

[GUESS WHO'S OBLIVIOUS THERE'S A PROBLEM.

He waves casually even, as if to make sure he got her attention long enough to say hi.]

[Action, November 12]

[dangerouswind]

[Hello, Captain Oblivious.

She blinks at him and raises her hand in a sort of half-hearted wave.] There food in there?

[Action, November 12]

[endgames]

Yeah. [He grabs a Mountain Dew for himself.] What are you itching for?

[Action, November 12]

[dangerouswind]

[Automatically, she watches his lips...

...and ends up staring, because....

Well. Because. Damn it.]

Something more substantial than that.

[Action, August 23]

[endgames]

[So in the morning...ish? Late morning. Enough time to sleep and prepare but before he expects she'll be out of her apartment. Whichever.

(no not whichever, he takes careful time plotting this out--)

WHICHEVER. He's got this. He's cool and relaxed. He's been on missions a lot but she wouldn't blow him off over that like Masaomi said, right? RIGHT... They've seen each other. He's not ignored her or anything. It's more than they're used to back home, what with the distance. They've gone months with little more than a how-do-you-do back home, so this should be fine.

...screw Masaomi and his doubt. WELL he has a plan. But she won't be annoyed, so there's no reason this shouldn't be a nice thing. Shikamaru knocks on Temari's door, shaking off any worries for a casual easy confidence.]

[dangerouswind]

[It's been a quiet, slow morning. Up early to watch the sunrise, a light breakfast, tending to her plants; it's pretty routine. Up until the knock on her door. Not often does that happen.

She opens the door, raises a brow at Shikamaru, and leans on the doorjamb.] You're up early.

[endgames]

[He grins, a sideways smirk that meets his eyes.]

Well you know. Had things to do. [From behind his back, he produces a modest bouquet.] It's cliche to get a lady flowers, but since you like plants I took a gamble it'd be okay. Happy birthday.

[The bouquet is made up of three white azaleas. He doesn't really know the significance of their meaning, and if he did he'd have picked something else out of fear of insulting her. The pains of no longer having Ino around. Not that he was completely unattentive to her hobby however. Despite not knowing the meaning of an azalea, he did pick these flowers based off something Ino had told him once about the importance of color in floral arrangements.

White. Pure intentions.]

[dangerouswind]

[She does raise an eyebrow at the azaleas but doesn't comment; she knows him well enough to know he probably didn't even think about the significance. Still, they're nice and she does chuckle.]

Works for me. [She takes them, motions him inside as she turns toward her coffee table. There's a watering can there -- she simply sets the flowers inside, propped up against the lip, in lieu of actually setting them in a vase. It works for now.] No cake?

[endgames]

[He follows her in, glancing around the place. It's been a while since he's seen it, not since the buildings got a layout change. He smiles when he sees her set them in the watering can. Keeping things simple is one thing they can agree on.]

I figured you might like that after.

[dangerouswind]

After, huh? [She straightens, gives him a look -- he's been in and out on missions so much she's honestly not quite sure where they stand, but hey. It's her birthday and she's not gonna question much of anything.] After what?