just tell me why baby they might call me crazy

[endgames]

Who: Masaomi (generalflirt) and Shikamaru (endgames)
What: A joint mission
When: Backdated to August 3-9
Where: Southern Farmlands - Fort Foster
Summary: Masaomi and Shikamaru finish up their third and final week of MSF Boot Camp together. While they're there they toast Specialist Davis' passing and try (and fail) to get in touch with a certain person.
Rating: One-star. I've seen better this summer. (but nah, probably PG-13)

The final week of MSF Training is far less forgiving than the first two. The drill sergeant and instructors expect nothing short of unquestioned compliance from any recruit that's made it this far. You jump when you're told; you drop and count off until the sergeant says you're done. A sassy remark isn't going to see you doing laps at this stage, but with a kick in the ass back to your enclosure.

The first few days are a warm-up in intense physical exercises, clocking their times and their limits. There's a brief reprieve when they're tested in hand-to-hand and self-defense, as well as the final qualifications to handle MSF weaponry. The last three days of training are spent in a dual teamwork and survival exam. They're flown out in helicopters, in eight teams of six, into a canyon somewhere along Tubutu River. Including the climb back out of the canyon, it's a 100 kilometer trek in the summer heat back to their destination at Fort Foster. They're given nothing but a map and the clothes on their back, and instructions to stay away from the main roads. No easy path here. Along the way supplies might be found, but they're mostly expected to fend and gather food and water for themselves, working together.

And it's a long way back. When they do make it, however, there's mercifully some downtime as final assessments are carried out. A night's rest too, before they're shipped back to their enclosures.

Comments

#1: The night of the third day (or any other qualifying day)

[generalflirt]

[ You know this is hard work - it's hard an long work and as a result when Masaomi gets back to the barracks that him, Shikamaru, and eight other people are sharing, eh is so tired he doesn't want to move. But he also feels bad for the fact that Linda's been stuck in here all day, as per the regulations. Do despite his muscles aching and his desire to sass on maximum, he's still going to play with his Pikachu. Specifically, he's going to tell her about everything that happened today as they lazily play pattycake into the evening. This might annoy some of the other people in here who wants to go to bed immediate but. You know what? Fuck 'em.

Unless Shikamaru wants to defend him or tell him to shut up. Or discuss his day with him too. Or they can remark about it mutually ]

[endgames]

[Honestly, for Shikamaru it's welcome background noise. Of course unlike their bunkmates, he had the advantage of having lived with Masaomi for 2+ years now and is well used to their chatter. Similar to white noise on a TV it helps him sleep, and he could - and probably does at various points - doze off to it.

That it's a mission may have something to do with it too. Even when trumpets start blaring, he sleeps more soundly here than he has most nights in the last two months, in their apartment back in Luceti. Not even one screwed up dream to write home about.

Where Masaomi and Linda are white noise, though, the other men in the room aren't so much. Roused by their loud and vocal complaining Shikamaru sits himself up, forgetting to duck and thus beaning himself on the top bunk above him. He hisses, massaging his temple as he directs his focus to whoever's chewing his friend out.]

Relax. I can loan you some earplugs, if that'll help.

[generalflirt]

You have earplugs?

[ Masaomi chimes in with this, looking quite overly interested! Linda also turns to look at Shikamaru, but then goes right back to glaring at the guy who was complaining at Masaomi. Who happens to be a middle aged man from Wyoming. Or at least you might assume, given his size and his beard. But he was on the bunk atop them and now is like :T at the mouse. He turns to look at shikamaru ]

[endgames]

Not for you.

[Plainly, but he shoots the two of them a brief glance. He recognizes that tone for what it is: Masaomi being a little too wound up; strung up too close to his limits and getting overly cheeky to compensate for it.

Leaning over to reach in the thin space under his bunk, Shikamaru pulls out a small box, and from out of it, produces a pair of orange ear plugs in a small plastic bag. He puts the box back and gets up from out of his bed to hand them over to the other man, like a peace offering.]

[generalflirt]

[ The man looks down at them, and then at Shikamaru, and then finally glares at Masaomi and Linda. He then nods and takes the bag in his big fingers so that he can delicately put them in his ears. You're all jerks :T ]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru waits until they're in before angling his head away, just in case the guy can read lips.]

So much for making friends. [He yanks Masaomi's pillow up - since he's clearly not using it 8| - and tosses it to the foot of the bunk.] Scoot your feet.

[generalflirt]

Hey-!

[ He huffs at this, but then moves his feet. Linda scoots a little too, so she can be closer to her human. But still ]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru rolls on in, shoving a foot in Masaomi's face to tweak his nose with his toes before dropping it back on the other side. He settles down at the foot of the bunk, making himself comfortable.]

And how are you holding up, Linda?

[generalflirt]

[ WHY HIS FACE. WHY TOES. He swats at Shikamaru, irked! Much irks.

As for Linda. She's been bored over here, honestly. She's stuck in here aaaaall day and... ]

#2: The drop test

[generalflirt]

[ Their team was a seemingly hap-hazard one. Two of them Masoami didn't know particularly well (yet), one of them was Shikamaru's friend fro ma few other missions, and one of them Masaomi knew from a few missions and didn't get along with very much. There were six members dropped out with them, and they are as follows:

1) Masaomi himself, obviously

2) Shikamaru, obviously

3) Kelskat Kelmeraz, from O'Connell a man who was nearing six foot and looked like some mix of perhaps Turkish and Eastern European. He was a demolition expert, and from a futuristic society. He also was an outspoken communist, and tended to get in arguments with Masaomi over his undignified clothing choices and mannerisms. Despite this, he was actually the highest scoring of any of them on a lot of the exams they had been put on over the last few days, particularly all the weapon ones. So in that respect, he was there to compensate for the other's problems, and seemed to think he would make a good team leader in their initial chats.

4) Jox. A Space-smith from Wyoming and Shikamaru's friend. Jox is more your NPC than mine so I leave it to you to describe him

5) Salmon. Salmon was a man with a fedora over his standard issue Malnosso trainee uniform and insisted on it despite everything else. The Fedora covered his light pink hair, and he spoke with some sort of American accent that Masaomi couldn't quite place. He'd scored moderately well in everything, though he was visibly uncomfortable with how light the gun he'd been given for some of the exams and/or this drop was. Curiously, despite being from Excenn, he had a pin badge with the symbol of the now-defunct SOS-Brigade pinned to the left breast of his uniform. Neither Shikamaru nor Shikamaru knew him well but, like many from Excenn, Salmon had some blanket respect for them by nature of their enclosure.

6) And finally, Andi Tabula. Visibly younger than anyone here, she only seemed like she was fifteen. She had scored terribly in every weapon exam, but had worked hard to compensate. Despite this, she was in the top three for the hand-to-hand tests and when giving running drills, she regularly scored first. Her skin was very pale, and made even more pale by the excessive amounts of sunscreen she always wore. She was very frustrated by their uniforms, remarking she'd much rather be working in a skirt, because it would have allowed her to be more flexible. Oh, and she was a vampire. Or at least her fangs implied this. She was from Deese.

Their landing happened without much incident, save for Andi's parachute not deploying properly and her breaking her landing in the form of falling into a tree. She was fine by the time she hit the ground, though. But then... well, now the initial re-introductions had to start, so- ]

We didn't get much time to talk on the chopper, so should we knock out a skill-check here?

[endgames]

[(Jox, for the record, looks something like a less-caveman and more toned version of this. He's half Thark, a species well-known for the height. Though he's far shorter than a full-blooded relative would be, he still stands a good ten feet tall. It bothers him little, in part because he's never once set foot on his home world.)

Teamwork being his element, Shikamaru had gone to check on Andi soon as he was able. She's a bit too chirpy (read: troublesome) for his tastes, and the fangs are weird, but this exercise would go much more smoothly if they all work together. Turns out she didn't need his help in the slightest however. As they both backtrack to the group, he notes she must be quite strong.]

Probably. This is a survival exam, so why don't we start with skills that would be most beneficial to that, eh? We can go from left to right.

[He jerks his thumb to the person most leftwards, which would be Salmon.]

[generalflirt]

[ Well, first things first, Salmon takes off his hat for Andi, putting it over his chest to show that he's glad she's okay. But then he puts it right back on and tilts it a little so it looks proper on his head. He seems to reac into his pocket, but then gives up on it and sighs. ]

"Find myself really missing a smoke, for one." [ That draws a short laugh from Masaomi and a few others here, but he waves a hand before pressing on.] "Dunno how much the skills I got work for a big buncha trees though. You want me to what whack a guy or schmooze it up, I got this, but out here..." [ He frowns a little ] "Wasn't even no scout, honestly. Sorry gents, 'n sorry to you too." [ last one is specifically at Andi ]

[endgames]

[Even if he's not bringing much to the table, Shikamaru finds himself taking a liking to this guy all the same. He doesn't think he'll be entirely useless though. If they run into any animals, he might be good to help hunt.

Jox is next in the lineup, and looking quite jovial about it. He gives Salmon a short round of applause with his lower two hands before starting himself. His accent is probably best described as Russian or maybe bizarrely Italian, either had space aliens.]

I am'ma spacesmith. Stars, meteors, nebula... Space! [He rubs two fingers together in his upper right hand, before spreading all four wide to indicate the area around them.] I'm used to the working of finer materials than the likes of this.

[That gets a smirk out of Shikamaru, who has heard some of these stories, if not the others.]

But I have'a crash-landed many times in my days, and I am good with my hands. I can make shelter and your rafts; things to carry supplies? I will build it.

[Four thumbs up!]

[generalflirt]

[ Masaomi is next, looking a little bit uncomfortable at Jox but trying to play it cool. Having clapped for Salmon, Masaomi claps for Jox. Andi, on the other side of him, joins in. Masaomi winks at them all and then puts a hand over his heart ]

Masaomi Kida, a man from Tokyo and with a few skills I've picked up here and there besides! I was, after all, a bit of a scout when I was younger. [ He winks. Not sure what he should go on with--

Which is when the girl next to him chimes in, giving a little cheer and laughing ] Oh, oh, oh!! Me too! I used to be a girlscout, and I got aaaaall of the merit badges you could picture. I'm also a cerified lifeguard!

[endgames]

That's kind of impressive. [She reminds him a LOT of Ino. Miss Popularity, and over-achiever. He looks between her and Masaomi.] What does being a scout actually entail? This is the third time someone's mentioned it.

[Enough to make it sound Distinct. And hey it's not like they have it in ninjaland okay. Or space for that matter, seeing as Jox looks equally intrigued.]

[generalflirt]

Well, back home, it's a sort of thing that a lot of kids go through to- [ And then he's elbowed in the side by Andi, cheerfully. Despite it seeming to be a light tap, it makes Masaomi bend over a little, slightly winded. Clearly, her strength and speed is beyond even what Shikamaru might have been expecting from that fall. She gives a cheery grin and holds up a V-sign ] Come on, MasaMasa, you're being too rigid! The scouts are these groups you join when you're young to learn about how you camp and make friends there. All sorts of skills and stuff like that!"

[ And at the far side, Salmon coughs and chimes in ] "Y'learn to make laniards and such. That sorta jack."

[endgames]

[Shikamaru thinks the more rigid the understanding the better, for these circumstances. ON THE OTHER HAND he's afraid for Masaomi's health if he were to ask for more elaboration... He'll just ask him to explain it later.]

So knots, fires, Camping 101. I think I get the gist of it.

[He waits for some confirmation of that before moving on.] Anything else either of you want to add?

#3: Their night of rest

[generalflirt]

[ Rest, please. Early itno this so-called night of rest, Andi had produced a small fountain of booze and snacks from God knows were. While some people in the barracks who weren't on their squad had failed the exam, many more had passed. As a result, a party quickly developed. And despite his usual misgivings, both Masaomi and Linda (who was glad to see her trainer again) were more than happy to join into it all. He would live it up, and make sure Shikamaru does too (if Jox didn't force him to first )

[endgames]

[Ew, parties, no. Shikamaru had been trying to avoid it, and trying to avoid Jox as long as he was able. From the moment they'd gotten back and the Thark had realized they had hours yet before they'd be sent back, he'd gotten a gleam in his eye and gone scrummaging for something, proposing another "trade".

Shikamaru had quickly made himself scarce, thank you. 8| Unfortunately food might be his undoing because in spite of that he is kind of hungry, and comes out to try and ninja some of those snacks...]

[generalflirt]

[ But he is intercepted... by Andi.

...Was she supposed to be in here. Either way, she has a bright smile for him and shoots out a hand to grab a snack before he can ]

"Oh, guess you were going for that, huh?!"

[endgames]

[Oh joy.]

I can take whatever. Potato chips are just as good.

[Reaching for those instead then...! 8|]

[generalflirt]

"Oh! You're right, they would!"

[ And her hand darts out faster than he can blink to snatch them up too. ]

[endgames]

[WHICH IS ALL WELL AND GOOD BECAUSE HIS TRUE OBJECTIVE WAS THE PRETZELS. MWAHAHA. Though given how fast she is and that they reached at the same time, she might still be able to intercept.]

[generalflirt]

[ More than fast enough. She's just messing with him by now, her hand having gotten hold of the pretzels by the time his hand is there, with the other hand already putting a chip in her mouth. Grinning impishly ]

[endgames]

[What cockery. Shikamaru looks from the empty space his prize once was to where it is in her hands now, face crafted in deadpan expression.]

How troublesome.