Let's do the Time Warp Again

[hand_of_courage]

Who: Howling Sabers
Where: Various islands in the west and south
When: 05/21-06/07
What: Crew catch-all for last half of May, beginning of June
Warnings: None

[Catch-all for Howling sabers.

05/21 will be the end of the official scuttling of the Charming Murderess near Scorpion Reef and we'll have to start using the new Galleon (and name her!) from then on. The Hey! Listen! is still intact and usable. As we sail away, remember to watch out for scorpions and get ride of them.

05/26 Link Jr. returns from his canon update in a 17yr-old-body with the Master Sword strapped across his back.

05/28 - 06/04(dates negotiable) Stopping on Manila for a library visit.

Any other events TBA as they're decided.]

Comments

[thethundersaid]

[... he was joking. Sasuke kind of gives Itachi a sidelong look, not sure if the response is a joke as well.]

None of what we've pulled up in the nets has been sentient enough to function as a summons.

[forthevillage]

Anything sentient enough to work as a summons might be too smart to get itself caught.

[What a funny train of thought. But everything is funny, so he can't tell how much is genuine amusement and that does bother him a little.]

[thethundersaid]

[He keeps staring at Itachi, trying to work out how serious this all is, and finally has to say in something of a cautionary tone:]

I'm not condoning any diving trips, unless you have some kind of jutsu that will allow you to breathe and fight underwater.

[forthevillage]

I... I don't.

[But the mental imagery just becomes a little much and he starts chuckling again, hand over his mouth.]

[thethundersaid]

[He's almost confused by the laughter until he remembers; pink fog, weird mind-altering state, apparently everything is funny. He regards Itachi with more curiosity than suspicion now, though, finally adding:]

We can try fishing for giant squid or something.

[forthevillage]

[That just causes Itachi to laugh more. If only because the first image that comes to mind is Sasuke fishing for a giant squid with a large fishing rod.

He's shaking with mirth now.]

[thethundersaid]

[It's incredibly weird to say something and have someone laugh in a non-creepy way (he'll never really forget how creepy Orochimaru's laughter is). Sasuke lapses into confused staring again for a moment before he ventures, tone testing:]

The main problem would be where to put it once we got it on board, before we could work out whether it was a summons or not.

[forthevillage]

[Tears are welling up at the corners of Itachi's eyes, and he's visibly trying to hold the laughter down now.]

You're... you're doing that on purpose. [It's not accusatory. He still sounds so amused about it.]

[thethundersaid]

[It's actually working, even if this is just the effect of the stupid fog -- Sasuke's mouth twitches despite himself, deadpan not quite holding, before he straightens it out and says as seriously as he can:]

It's a legitimate concern. We don't have any rooms big enough to prevent tentacles from coming out the doors and things.

[forthevillage]

[That's just ridiculous.

All he can do is laugh. It's not loud, uproarious laughter - Itachi isn't the type, even like this. Still, it's as much as is possible to get out of him.]

[thethundersaid]

[It's almost fascinating -- Sasuke's deadpan holds tenuously as he continues, gesturing out over the ship:]

If it's big enough, we'll just have to move Link's sailboat out of the way and stretch it out. Are you going to take responsibility for your summons?

[forthevillage]

We don't... we don't even know if that...

["If that sort of thing exists" is what he meant to continue with, but he's laughing too much to finish.]

[thethundersaid]

We'll just have to fish for it until we find out. What do you think they'll take as bait?

[forthevillage]

[Itachi is fighting to reign in his laughter, tears at the corner of his eyes as he struggles to just stand and breathe for a moment. He has no trouble keeping his balance on the mast despite this. Such training is well ingrained.

All right. Slow breaths. It's not that funny.]

Rather l-large prey, I imagine.

[They could always offer it Draco.]

[thethundersaid]

[This is such a weird thing to watch, and maybe it's taking advantage of the mind-control or something, but it's also impossible to resist.]

Maybe if we had a huge version of one of the chickens. Or -- do you think genjutsu would work on an animal like that?

[forthevillage]

It should, given what else it.... haha... Stop that.

[His laughter has mostly settled back down to chuckling, with no small effort on his part.]

[thethundersaid]

[His own mouth is definitely twitching in amusement to match.]

Even if it's the fog, it's kind of funny.

[forthevillage]

I suppose it can't be so bad... if it's gotten you to smile a little.

[He's in far too good of a mood to keep himself from saying that.]

[thethundersaid]

Ha -- [It's a surprised half-laugh, Sasuke blinking a bit.] It's not that unusual, is it?

[He knows he's not a ray of happiness, exactly, but still.]

[forthevillage]

You and I... We're more serious than not.

[With good reason, really. He sobers up somewhat.]

It warms my heart when you're happy.

[thethundersaid]

[Serious is how ninja are supposed to be, inasmuch as Sasuke has bothered to remember much of the shinobi code. Itachi's second statement makes him blink, though, and then duck his head in a certain amount of embarrassment.]

It's not ... I usually prefer to focus on the tasks at hand, that's all.

[forthevillage]

I understand. [He's spent his whole life being serious, after all. Still, it's Sasuke's childish grin he remembers most fondly.]

You're very capable.

[thethundersaid]

I -- [The praise is unexpected and Sasuke isn't sure what to do with it, almost more than the awareness that his brother is pleased to see him happy.]

... I'm not used to having to work with this many people.

[They're technically subordinates, too, but none of their crew behave like subordinates, even if some of them seem to be weirdly into the formal phrasing of recognizing authority.]

[forthevillage]

It's more than a simple three or four man team, I know. It's different for me too.

But I don't believe you're doing poorly.

[There's no reason to keep praise from him at this point.]

[thethundersaid]

That's ... [It's so weird, the unmitigated praise -- everything about today is weird.]

That's good. [He sounds embarrassed more than anything else.]