( text | un: butcher )

[cheapbastard]

yeah, all right, i'm new here. please send your welcome wagon baskets of cookies to my room. i'm hungry.

( but that wasn't the reason he was putting himself out there now. he didn't really want to talk to this lot but seems like that was gonna have to be something he does.

so, he's making it happen. )

what i'm gettin from this place is that i can't go back to where i was, this place is in fuckin' space and those are actual fuckin' stars out there, and you lot like to get fucked up drunk sometimes.

( yes, he'd seen that post of yours, newton. seen it and he was going to remember it for the rest of his life. )

so, since you lot are so ready to offer up advice, i got two things:

one, where can i get a fuckin' good drink?
two, where can i punch the shit out of something? or someone. volunteers? i'm definitely taking volunteers. come on, everyone's so helpful here, right?

Comments

[cheapbastard]

( he almost says 'death' just to see what kind of reaction he gets but bites his tongue at the last minute. probably shouldn't do that in case this guy takes him seriously. )

Can't get up for a count of ten?

( because billy knows he bleeds easily so first blood would probably be his loss. )

That seems pretty fair, yeah?

[blackfire]

Very well. I accept.

（ he gives a polite bow — in lieu of the konoha-specific gesture before a bout — and then drops back into an easy taijutsu stance. the man had gestured to him to begin just moments ago and likely that still stands. when you are uncertain of another's abilities, it is often better to be passive, let them come to you, and learn.

and so, itachi obliges him.

his right arm is heavily bandaged, yet that is the one he leads with — indicating either left-handed dominance or ambidexterity — as he steps in close and makes a right-handed open-palm strike at the man's chest. there is more speed than strength to it, whether it's blocked or lands it will not do more than lightly tag. ）

[cheapbastard]

( while billy likes to talk a big talk, he actually does know how to fight. maybe not in the same way as this bloke but he does and he's more than willing to show it.

when he steps in, billy steps back and manages to block the blow before he barrels in and tries to throw a jab at the other man's chin, trying to jar him enough that he steps back. )

[blackfire]

（ someone who immediately goes for the face is likely accustomed to trying to — needing to, more specifically — end fights quickly. itachi shifts his weight to his back leg and lets the momentum carry him just beyond the range of that punch. his preference will mostly be to dodge — he is still too badly damaged to have any desire to take a direct blow unless there is no other choice.

still, by the gust of focused air that grazes his cheek, there's an impressive amount of power behind it for someone who for all intents and purposes is normal. he's clearly had considerable training, the sort one gets from a fight rather than meted out on a dojo mat. itachi, by contrast, moves with all the calm fluidity of a dancer, every action, every motion deliberate.

he pivots on his back heel into a crescent kick, aimed at the man's side. ）

[cheapbastard]

( when it comes to fighting, billy's used to people who go full bore front and center. he hasn't dealt with a lot of people that use kicks and other graceful abilities.

so, the kick catches him but he manages to absorb it as best he can (though, it does fuckin' hurt) and he steps backward only to pivor forward again to try and drive his fist into itachi's gut. )

[blackfire]

（ and on it goes. blows thrown and avoided — one lands a glancing blow on his cheek when he was half a heartbeat too slow.

(sloppy. he would have gotten killed for that, back home.)

for a normal human, his opponent lasts longer than he'd anticipated, but ultimately it does draw to a close. itachi's breathing is somewhat harder than normal, and his chest clenches around every inhalation like a fist. he can taste blood, acrid and rotten at the back of his throat, and he smothers a cough that feels like his diaphragm lurching upwards. a delicate thumb swipes at the blood that's gathered on his lower lip in a fine mist from the very act of breathing.

(he's pushing himself too hard, he thinks. but it barely feels like hard enough.)

he palms the blood off surreptitiously against the black fabric of his shoulder, and then he offers out his hand to help the other man back to his feet. ）

[cheapbastard]

( billy's used to ending up on his back. he's used to getting beaten up but his strength is that he's resilient and he comes right back.

that or he carries a big fucking gun to take out the other person. but he doesn't have the gun here so he's on his back, sore and aching, and laughing around a split lit.

when itachi offers his hand, billy stares at it for a few seconds. he doesn't even know if this guy should be offering that considering how hard he'd been sucking wind but billy takes it anyway and hefts himself up. )

Not bad.

( no, it was better than that. )

[blackfire]

（ billy's weight, to him, is nearly nothing. hardly an exertion as itachi pulls him up. ）

I've had practice.

（ it's a statement at odds with itself — both polite deference of what is meant as a grudging compliment, and a faintly sassy comeback. ）

[cheapbastard]

Yeah? Couldn't tell that at all.

( yes, he could. he stretches a bit, cracking his back and fixing his eyes on itachi. )

Thought you were some wet behind the ears novice.

[blackfire]

Then it seems I need more training.

( there is a faint upwards quirk of his mouth at one corner. )

Or perhaps I hit you too hard.

[cheapbastard]

Head's still on me neck so I don't think you hit me hard enough.

( he pats the side of his head. he'd definitely had his bell rung but it's not the worst he's ever had done. he's fine. )

We'll have to give it a go again, yeah?

[blackfire]

Perhaps.

（ not a yes, not a no. he is not averse to sparring with people with no especial strengths or skills — active improvement, to him, comes at a cost, but there is no downside to keeping his existing skills sharp. ）

I imagine there is considerable benefit to knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses, given what we are here to accomplish and what we may come up against.

[cheapbastard]

( billy gives him a quick salute, then. )

Now, you look like you could use a break. I put you through the wringer.

( he's very good at revisionist history and he's going with it. )

Might wanna take a load off.

[blackfire]

（ you are permitted one (1) revisionist history, billy, use it wisely. ）

Is that a colloquialism in your language?

（ he's bad at slang and slang accessories, okay. ）

[cheapbastard]

Which part?

( because there was a lot of billy just butchering the englis language with his slang in there. )

The wringer or the load off?

[blackfire]

Wringer I understood.

（ he has seen laundry done the old ways, old women down by the river. he is perhaps paler than usual, but he does not expect the man saw the blood mist across his lips. wrung-out indeed. ）

The other seems to translate oddly.

[cheapbastard]

It means sit down and rest. Take a load off basically...take a load off your fuckin' feet.

( he gestures to itachi's body, feeling weird actually explaining something like this. )

Just go with it.

[blackfire]

Ah.

（ y'all be weird. ）

Because you 'put me through the wringer'. I understand.

[cheapbastard]

Right, exactly.

( good job, itachi. you weren't completely hopeless. )

I'm gonna go do that too. Only thing that could make it better was having some actual alcohol 'round this place. I'm thirsty.

[blackfire]

（ he gets a b- on his americanisms, thank u. ）

I suspect liquor is in short supply between missions.

（ yes, he was reading some of those other replies. if u didn't want him to be a creeper u should have privated ur shit. ）

It isn't difficult to ferment rice to make sake, save the investment of time. Individual ingredients would be easier to obtain via supply drops than, it seems, liquor itself.

（ this man has never had liquor a day in his life, but at least he knows what it's all about. ）

[cheapbastard]

You got some rice hiding out in your room, then?

( not that he's had sake anytime recently but he's willing to try new things if it means he gets some alcohol to take the edge off what this place is doing to him. )

I've made moonshine before. Not recently but once upon a time. Shit's strong. Put some hair on your chest. Unless you've got a rug under there already.

[blackfire]

We received a rice ration in the last shipment. While I am not suggesting you be careless with the supply we have, I believe there is enough to accommodate a small batch of sake provided it is carefully done.

（ aka: don't fuck it up, don't waste it, and be aware that it may require a sacrifice of rations on the man's own behalf.

itachi worries at the bandage on his right arm, tucking its edge beneath a wrap where it's worked itself loose in the fray. at that statement about putting hair on chests he raises an eyebrow faintly, equal parts bemused and exasperated.

this man is absolutely going to be his future benchmark for 'earthlings'. ）

I have no interest in liquor, personally.

（ #no. ）

[cheapbastard]

None at all.

( he feels so much sadness for you at that, itachi. but, he's not going to say that because hey, more for him. )

I think I can wait on the sake. It's not something I really even know if I fuckin' like so might as well not waste food.

( see, he wasn't a complete fuck up. he had some kind of heart there. )

Wouldn't want to take away someone's rice feast.

[blackfire]

It was not part of my life.

（ when said life was spent being a double agent more of it than not, the idea of any loss of control, however insignificant, however small, was unconscionable. he could not afford the cost. ）

Very well. Are you dependent on liquor to the point of illness when deprived?

（ there were men like that in the uchiha. war left her mark on their minds and self-medication became the only option — he was not disgusted by it, though he pitied them. but the family tended to sequester them away, to hide rather than heal the sickness. he remembers one cousin, badly injured in the war, who stank of infection and rot beneath the sake that seemed to bleed from every pour in a sweat. a bad injury that never quite mended, and saw him to his death before itachi's ninth birthday. ）

[cheapbastard]

I can function without but it warms my heart that you're lookin' out for me. Really makes me feel good.

( he's teasing and it's probably obvious. he presses a hand to his chest and taps it before snickering and shaking his head. )

No, I'm good without it. I just like a nice drink every so often when I'm not getting tossed around by blokes with bandages on their arms.