Day 40: Greenhouse [Fourth Shift]

[toxicspiderman]

Most days, fish and chips (and a cold beer or three) was pretty goddamned high on S.T.'s list of perfect expense-account lunches. Today, the idea of picking at greasy hunks of unidentified bottom-feeder odds-and-ends (politely known as scrod, to the delight of teenagers all across the Northeast) didn't appeal.

He begged off and collapsed into his bed, after using his damp shirt as an excuse to surreptiously check the contents of his closet. Bingo. His nurse watched his little show, unimpressed but (more importantly) unsuspicious. Not that his hairy chest was much of a catch today, pale and sweating from fever. At least she didn't tuck him in.

The intercom woke up up right on schedule, and pulling the sheets back over his head almost won. But a handful of unanswered missives and a vague sense of duty dragged him out to the bulletin, and from there it was easier to stagger over to the greenhouse.

It was warm inside -- a deep, humid warmth that actually penetrated to the aches in more joints and muscles than he could remember the names of. Like a sauna, without the hassle of finding someplace to look that wasn't a mound of pasty middle-management cellulite. Or a sweat lodge, without the opposite hassle of being conscious that he was the only white guy in the room. In fact, besides the nurses in holding patterns, he was the only person in the room.

He located a tray of tomato seedlings going rootbound in their tiny six-packs, and a potting bench whose location was a quick-and-dirty approximation of equidistantly far from anything blooming. He assured his nurse he knew what he was doing, and after a couple of successful repottings, gently sliding the little seedlings out and loosening the tangled roots, she seemed to agree and backed off. It was, by far, the most fucking theraputic thing he'd found in this hellhole so far, and he let himself sink into the rhythm of the task.

[Free!]

Comments

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

Shikamaru nodded, agreeing with Sai's assessment of his concern. However, he considered the explanation, and though he wasn't pleased with it, he was accepting enough to lean back against the table and cast a quick glance to the sky. Looking over Sai's shoulder, he watched Naruto attack a table on the other side of the greenhouse, but with Kakashi a few feet away, there was no reason for him to get involved. Shikamaru cringed and, though fully aware of what a pain in the ass it would be, made a mental note to talk to Naruto later. Naruto had trained with Jiraiya for over two years, so his reaction was natural, especially for someone who'd never been great at compartmentalizing. Eager to look away from the two, Shikamaru closed his eyes long enough to yawn.

"I'm not the team leader," he finally said, punctuating the statement with a shrug. He'd come up with something if Kakashi asked him to, but he expected the jounin to have his own plan for the evening. "We should hear from Kakashi soon."

Even if he'd felt like trying, Shikamaru doubted he could find a way to explain why Sai's aloofness got under his skin so badly.

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

Following Shikamaru's gaze, Sai's eyes widened only slightly as he watched Naruto throw a fit. He was almost jealous sometimes of how much emotion the boy could put into any reaction. Almost.

As the other ninja spoke, he returned his attention to him, nodding once he'd said his piece. He'd paused in his work, and he sat watching him a few moments longer in silence before sighing. "Shikamaru-san. I know we're not very familiar with each other, but I want you to know that I care for my teammates as much as it is possible for me to care for anyone."

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

Shikamaru listened to the words and responded with yet another slight nod, neither emphatically accepting them nor brushing them aside. Aside from the violence of their first meeting, Sai had done nothing to warrant distrust, so he knew his feelings were irrational. Sai obeyed Kakashi's orders without question, even the dangerous ones, and although Shikamaru had skipped out on meetings with Sai, the mysterious ninja seemed to hold Ino and Chouji's trust.

After another series of seconds he lay back down across the bench, this time only using one arm to pillow his head. Despite his closed eyes he could still hear fragments of Naruto's panicked voice and the sound made him queasy, though he made a flimsy attempt to blame his nausea on the fried fish. Maybe that was what bugged him about Sai: he didn't seem to feel empathy, not in any way Shikamaru could see. It was hard to trust someone who didn't feel empathy.

However, it wasn't Shikamaru's call to make. Sai held Kakashi's approval, and that was enough. He knew how to work on a team, and Shikamaru had full faith in his skills as a ninja. That was all that should have mattered, but still, the Shikamaru took a small step away from duty to add one more thing.

"Your team's been through a lot recently," he said, eyes still closed and voice more distant than usual. Sai knew this, of course, but growing up together had given most of the ninja in his generation more insight into each other than Sai had been around to pick up. "Yeah, we all know how to deal with that kind of stuff, but it's still a pain in the ass." Sakura had seemed okay last night, but seeing Naruto in so much pain had to be wearing on her. Shikamaru sighed one more time and started to yawn, but then thought better of it and draped his free arm over his face. "Emotional people make mistakes. Deadly mistakes. If you care about them as much as you say you do, you need to start watching their backs. Your pirate friends can wait."

It seemed like common sense, sure, but Shikamaru would rather offend Sai by stating the obvious than risk letting the obvious go unnoticed.

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

"I understand this." Sai's words might have been slightly more biting than usual with this comment. Shikamaru didn't know him, so he should be willing to forgive the way he spoke to him, but at the same time the fact that he didn't know him made it seem as though he had less right. The ninja shook his head to clear it of such ridiculous thoughts.

He was right. Naruto was suffering. Sure, his pirate friends might not always be the brightest people, but they could take care of themselves. They didn't need him constantly making sure they were well. Yet he couldn't help but believe he owed them at least this much. He didn't like the idea of abandoning Usopp either. There had to be a way to work with and keep track of both.

His attention went to his blond friend again. Whatever Kakashi was telling him, it was likely important. Sai wasn't so sure about divulging events of the future, but if the jounin thought it was for the best he probably knew better than a socially stunted teammate.

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

Shikamaru gave a grunt of acknowledgment, glad that they seemed to be on the same page. As long as Sai understood that his first responsibility was to his team, nothing else needed to be said.

After another few seconds of silence, he stood up and pushed his hands into his pockets. Sure, the greenhouse was closer to the open outdoors than the sun room, but Shikamaru was getting sick of being helpless and if he had to sit around doing nothing while his friend was this upset, he'd rather sit around somewhere else. Or actually do something somewhere else. Whatever. As long as it wasn't here.

"See you tonight then," he said, giving Sai a small nod as he started back towards the greenhouse door.

[go go gadget avoid (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/600017.html?thread=50240209#t50240209)]