Universal Appointments -- IC

[picarats]

IC  Appointments Post!
For one-on-one threading, back tagging, and any other character contact that doesn't need it's own post!
Please specify game, character, and method of contact!

(ie. Luceti // Asuma [ Action ] )

Comments

[ Luceti | Asuma | Voice ]

[endgames]

((Takes place sometime in the afternoon of April 9))

[It's a brief run-in with Sasuke that drives Shikamaru back to the journals that day, wanting to check on everyone. And it's to good news, seemingly. People seem to be acting like themselves again, many no doubt working through post-experiment issues. So checking in leads to other things now.

First on his list is his former sensei.]

...Asuma?

[lastsmoke]

Hey, Shikamaru. [ He's not exactly surprised to hear from him. But with everyone going back to how they had been before, he hadn't really thought Shikamaru would contact him for a while. ]

Something up?

[endgames]

Just... wanted to see how things were.

[This is too casual. He knows that right away.]

[lastsmoke]

Ahh, well, things are going well. [ He can guess why he's asking. Though that would mean Shikamaru isn't back to normal yet. ]

Most everyone seems to be back to normal, now. [ At least he thinks so. He doesn't know many people well enough to say otherwise. ]

[endgames]

It would seem that way. I still need to talk to my other friends.

[In retrospect, maybe he should have done that first. At the same time, not all of them had forgotten their world. Just Asuma, and Temari. So he's right either way, isn't he?]

[lastsmoke]

Were they acting oddly, as well?

[endgames]

Some. Most remembered home properly, save a few details.

[lastsmoke]

Heh. Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?

[ Not necessarily a good thing for AUsuma, but...well, he'll just make a mental note to hunt down Clive later. To make sure they're still on the same page. ]

[endgames]

Yeah. Did well to ease my mind.

[That will happen next, he knows. Asuma will want confirmation as much as Shikamaru wants it - they'll both go to people they trust for that.

Shikamaru wishes his name was still on that list.]

[lastsmoke]

Yeah, I imagine it would.

[ He wishes he knew for sure. What was real and what wasn't. He can guess that Shikamaru's in the right, only because he has more than one person he can check in on. ]

[endgames]

[This is, somehow, more awkward than that other conversation.

Shikamaru leaves it hanging at that for a while. Long enough to check with the others; to know for sure. Long enough to mull it over some more as he comes along a hidden place in the mountains where he can rest for awhile. Let his guard down and think. Hopefully long enough for Asuma to talk to Clive (that was the name of that kid, when he looked).

When he finally responds again, hours later, it's in writing instead.]

You know what I'm going to do, right?

[lastsmoke]

[ He responds in writing as well. It was easier than putting on a good face.

Because he'd talked to Clive, and...well, Clive had confirmed that Asuma was in the wrong. That his memories had indeed been tampered with. ]

Report me as a glitch, yeah?

[endgames]

Yeah.

[The term 'dying' had been tossed around a lot, for those who had been affected, knowing they would change back. Shikamaru's not so deep to think of it like that - that his report, in a sense, could be killing this man.

Shikamaru has killed before. This decision is not the same. No, it's all at once better and worse. He's erasing him.

...it's a lofty decision, even if it's one he's already committed to.]

I wanted to make sure you knew.

[lastsmoke]

Thanks.

[ He didn't see it either way, really. As much as he liked London, he wanted to remember who he really was. Who he should be. It wasn't being erased, or dying, it was just...being returned something that had been taken.

Yeah, he was losing something in the process, but...the truth was better than a lie, wasn't it? ]

Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon, yeah?

[endgames]

That's the idea.

We can talk again then.

[Because he's not sure if you want him around right now.]

[lastsmoke]

Alright.

[ He'll close his book, then, and go about business as usual. Every so often he stops to wonder when things will change, and if he'll even notice when they do. ]