( 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

[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.

[blackfire]

（ he glances down at the bandages as if they are an alien thing, and the fingers of his right hand are briefly flexed in against his palm. ）

It does not hinder me.

（ which is not what the man said, but it's what he focuses on. he did not anticipate being given an opportunity to heal from those injuries — death was the only acceptable outcome of a gambit nearly a decade old. ）

[cheapbastard]

Good.

( billy's eyes flick down to the bandages and he eyes it before shrugging. )

Get well soon and all that shit. There's my good deed for the day.

[blackfire]

（ if u think that's bad billy then u should hear about ninja tuberculosis.

but the sentiment is a strange one, and itachi honestly has no idea what to make of it given the man's rough demeanour and earlier hostility. he doesn't recall anyone in his life ever telling him to get well soon, even as a child sustaining injuries on missions, the greater sentiment always seemed to be disappointment that he'd been injured at all.

itachi is not one for idle or unnecessary conversation, but he is never speechless, just silent. that, however, causes a delicate crease of faint surprise in his brow, there and gone near-instantly with the discipline of one well accustomed to schooling his reactions. ）

Hm.

（ hm^TM ）

Your name is Butcher?

[cheapbastard]

That's my last name.

( so yes, that is his name. )

First name's Billy.

( he gives itachi a quick salute before stepping forward and offering his hand in a rare show manners. he does have them. sometimes. )

You can call me whatever the fuck you want.

[blackfire]

（ handshakes are a common thing in the shinobi world. a way to show you aren't holding weapons. they are usually done somewhat differently — a clasp at the forearm instead — but the same principles apply, and he has adapted.

the left hand. hm.

he holds out his as well, and shakes. his grip is firm, his hands are rough and broadly calloused, but he has very few scars. fights did not generally come that close to him, and have not since he was a child. the injuries he bears now are unusual, to say the least. ）

Very well.

（ billy will henceforth be 'billy-san', because familiarity's for rubes. ）

My name is Itachi.

（ no last name. a deliberate choice. ）

[cheapbastard]

Itachi.

( whatever, he can work with that. billy gives his hand a shake before letting go and nodding. )

Thanks for the fight. Nice to know that not everyone's completely fucking useless on this station.

[blackfire]

The others may surprise you.

（ it's mildly said, more a gentle reminder than any species of reprimand. then: ）

Now, if you'll excuse me.

（ he gives the man a respectful nod, but — he's got things to do. other places to be. and, frankly, this fight has exhausted him more than he would care to admit. he's weaker than expected, and he sort of wants to lock himself in a small room before the overpowering urge to cough isn't something he can fight out of sheer force of will.

so on that note, unless billy says anything further, he'll turn to go. ）