dangerouswind | |voice| (dated morning of the 22nd)

|voice| (dated morning of the 22nd)

[It's just about the most inconsequential question she can ask, but that's not the point. As much as she just wants to ignore the journal -- or berate everyone for being too damned loud, she has obligations.] I've a few starter plants -- vegetables and flowers -- that need homes. Anyone want 'em?

[Loosely translates to hey I'm back and I can hear you to those who care.]

[Filtered 90% to Leaf allies]
Is Kankuro back?

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I'll dance a jig later.

[Halfway though chewing, he has to bite back to keep himself from choking on a laugh.]

I'd pay to see that.

Would you be willing to pay in dinner now and again? I'd actually go for it then.

[He sits back a little, as if pleasantly surprised. He's cooked for her a couple times, assumed she didn't hate it from the lack of complaints. First time he's got a request though. Still, he can't help but joke.]

I could have Chouji do it.

[His cooking being better would equal two jigs, yes?]

He does make a damn good stew.

He's Akimichi.

[She shrugs one shoulder.] I guess that explains it.

[Totes. But she's probably never met any other Akimichi. She's not lived through the war to, at least.

He takes another bite of his fish, and considers something he said to Masaomi, that night he got drunk.]

Seriously, you should see it. [He speaks between bits this time now, at least.] The Akimichi are one of the four Noble Clans of Konoha, and they all love food. You can bet their kitchens are of their biggest luxuries.

[She sits back in her chair, watching his lips as he speaks out of habit.] That explains a few things. Chouji's first order of business when we met this time was to offer me food.

[A grin.] They say the road to a man's heart is his stomach. It's only appropriate that it'd be a two-way street.

[Her lips twitch in a near-smile.] He's a god enough guy.

[At least that's one friend she likes. He smiles in agreement, nodding as he finishes off his fish. After a moment...]

By the way. [A bite of rice.] There's something I've been meaning to bring up with you.

Yeah? [Coming from him? Could be anything.]

Mm. [A nod. And then:] I like you.

[She's lucky she isn't in the process of swallowing soup when he says that. She might have choked on it otherwise.

They have certainly done a good bit of dancing around each other the last few months. Even she can admit that. She's thought about it herself, never quite sure how she felt or what she wanted to do about any of it.

Trust him to bring it up before she's ready to figure it out.]

Ah. [It's all she manages. Not acceptance, but not rejection. Acknowledgement.]

[He doesn't appear surprised, brushing rice off his kelp with the back of his fork. He misses chopsticks. Forks are weird.]

Don't worry. I'm not expecting anything out of you for it. [He actually bothers to look up as he says this, with a sideways smile.] I don't even know if I'm mature enough to like a woman like you. You're troublesome, and I'm an asshole. I make you mad instead of making you happy, and the way you treat some of my friends is more than a little grating. I look a lot younger too, now.

[And he shrugs.] But it's something I've been thinking I should at least say, given all that's happened.

[She's still trying to figure out how to respond at all when he starts nonchalantly listing some of the reasons why she dump the soup on his head and walk away right then and there.

It's a bit telling - to her anyway - that she's still sitting there. There's something about all that that's bothering her, though.]

Why now? [Because "all that's happened" is a pretty vague, broad descriptor.]

[He's quiet for a few seconds, biting his tongue while trying to figure out how he wants to word this. And even though he's watching her, all he can see is the war. Those men under his orders, who died when the Gedo Mazo went on its rampage. The Mist-nin, who got his heart ripped out in front of him. Neji.

His palms begin to shake and sweat. He wipes them off discreetly under the table, then coughs into one hand to excuse the silence.]

There's a lot of people who have died, in the war...

[Again he pauses. For some reason, this seems like the more delicate thing to explain.]

[Her eyes narrow a bit, at both the words and his actions. This isn't something he wants to talk about, she can see that plainly.

It's also fairly evident that his confession isn't some spur of the moment thing based in shallow reasoning.

... That's gonna make it harder to dump soup on his head.]

Go on.

[Rude, Temari. Rude. But that it does.]

It hammers in the reality of things, when I think on it for too long... That those men had their own lives, and people who loved them. [There's another smile, as he tilts his head.] People who were precious to them, too.

I think most of them died with regrets, but I didn't figure out why until I thought of my dad. In the end, he didn't give me any words to pass on to my mother. He had them, but he didn't say them. It might seem callous, but it's also true that maybe he knew he didn't need to. Because he died knowing he said all the things he needed to, and not everything needed a repeat.

[Nice as it might've been. Apparently dad thought hiding the box was more important. Still, Shikamaru knows there was more meaning to it than fear of his mother, scary as she might be. He smiles, and shrugs again.]

Instead of dying... I think I'd like to live with as few regrets as that.

[She's quiet in the face of all that. Whatever she'd expected when she asked him why, this wasn't quite it. Maybe she should have known better.

Regret. No one wants to live with that.

She's not sure what holds her back, but something does. Something keeps her from taking that step. It's not him; she knows that much. She thinks about speaking, but can't quite find the words she wants.

I'll think about it is all she can even begin to think of but it doesn't seem quite right.]

[He already told her he didn't expect an answer right away. He didn't mean this second, no. Not even this week, or month.

All he wanted was to say it.

He doesn't see the need to repeat himself either. That, or what he assured her. And so Shikamaru breaks eye contact, going back to eating his food. After another few seconds have passed, he lifts up his rice bowl.]

This is good. [Another moment of consideration, then he offers the bowl out to her.] Have some with me.

[Oh. Well. Back to normal.

Or whatever passes for normal between them, at any rate. She frowns, but eventually just nods and takes a bite.]

Not bad.

[Just dinner together. Yep.]

[He likes her. He likes this.

Maybe she'll never say anything to him about it, but he feels better knowing he got it out there. Lick ticking off something on an imaginary bucket list in his head.]

Yeah. For something so plain, it has a lot of flavor to it. [He takes another bite for himself, and puts the bowl down between them.] How's the soup?

[She shrugs a shoulder, gestures to the soup.] It's good. Better than anything I've had for a week.

|voice| (dated morning of the 22nd)

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