not alone, but lonely (io, goro, dana, & yuri)

The emptiness of the estate was not expressed through a lack of activity.

ANBU still flickered in and out of his sight. Chizu still offered him wrapped hard candies in the enticing flavors of strawberry and lemon. Princess silently watched the foyer with vacant eyes. Meatball was probably resting in his room, but there wasn’t any noise of… Snuffling, or barking, or whatever noises the dogs made. Er, wolves. They hated being called dogs.

Murata wasn’t here, either.

He ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly, having just come out of the shower. White roots were beginning to show themselves near the part on his scalp.

On some level, he was tired of staining it green. It’s not like he had any siblings here anyway, right?

…

…

It felt like he was suffocating.

He wanted company, but he was too exhausted to leave. Goro swallowed heavily. “Um, excuse me?” he spoke to the empty air, feeling foolish for a moment, and then two, before a faceless ANBU showed themselves in a puff of smoke.

“Yes?” they asked tonelessly, likely humoring him more than anything. He swallowed, looking down. He didn’t know many people in the village. Koutaku might’ve been busy, but…

There was someone else, wasn’t there? Even if they were just acquaintances, she seemed friendly enough. “...Can you get Dana Senju?” he asked. Perhaps desperation seeped through, or perhaps the ANBU had nothing better to do. They vanished just as suddenly as they appeared, leaving him not alone but lonely nonetheless.

[WC: 253]
[Total WC: 253]

Sword at her hip, fully armored Yuri was walking through the estate, having made a quick reporting in to go over all missions completed over her pay period, and to keep track of all her pay she had currently being held. Seeing as she didn't feel the need to collect on it yet. Her headband bounced slightly as it came down partly to cover only her left eye. Headbands were useful for controlling blood flow to the head and focus and all that but keeping it tight all day every day felt like it'd be bad, so off the clock she just preferred to have it like this. 


Walking down the halls of the estate, she looks up vacantly as she goes over some details in her head, talking to herself. A bit too loud to be a whisper but not loud enough to be the voice of someone carrying on a normal conversation.

"Let's see, I need to stop by the store and grab some food for the month. Need to make sure Dana hasn't cooked anything, check the mail, polish Karuma, clean my armor, wash my clothes, wash the dishes if Dana cooked anything, make actual food, wash the dishes after. " 

She gulped slightly, it wasn't meant as an insult to her friend but, despite being older than her, her culinary skills were...creative. She still wasn't sure how Dana survived on her lonesome. Her thoughts filled with worries about other people as she goes to exit through the foyer. It was kind of nostalgic for her even to worry about people.

WC: 263

It looked like, once again, Dana's services were required by someone. This time was a lot vaguer, though, because the cool stoic guy in a mask hadn't really said much. All she knew was that someone had requested her presence at the Mizukage estate.  Her first assumption was Murata, who may have needed Dana for a checkup on the transplanted organs or something, but that didn't make much sense because it wasn't really like Murata to be needlessly mysterious like that. She also got a strange sense that the masked guy was slightly grumpy, which wouldn't be the case if he was following the orders of the Mizukage.

A mystery, then! Thankfully, Dana was renowned for her deductive skills so the mystery would soon unravel itself.

Since Yuri wasn't in the house, Dana elected to quickly make a spot of lunch before she left to the Mizukage's estate. It went about as well as expected, but Dana managed to only burn a hole through one pan this time so she was definitely improving. Newly created sandwich in hand, Dana got dressed into a neon green jumper and flared trousers and left Yuri's house to begin her journey towards the Mizukage's estate. She'd need to clean up her room eventually because she had a habit of just leaving all her clothes on the floor, but 'eventually' was not now so she could wait for a bit.

Upon arriving, Dana was let into the foyer by one of the guards just as Yuri herself was exiting. Upon spotting the familiar person, the Senju's face would crack into a wide grin as she walked up to her housemate and latest friend.

"Yuri! Fancy meeting ye here! Did ye get told to come here by some cool guy in a mask too?" She asked.

WC: 301

Dana had arrived after a few minutes, but there was someone else with her. Goro’s throat clenched as he tilted his head towards the floor, unintentionally showing his unkempt hair for all to see.

He was a little bit out of the way, and it was entirely possible neither saw him immediately. Hopefully, though, they’d put two and two together and learn that the fact that his presence was tolerated in the estate meant he was allowed to be there in the first place.

What was he supposed to say? He barely knew the Senju, and he didn’t know the stranger at all.

Before they could leave, however, he’d find himself speaking up nearly against his will. “Wait!” a pause. Evidently, he had not thought about what to say next. “I-”

He what?

“...Do you- want to do something?” he sounded pathetic, most likely, but if there was one thing he was one hundred percent confident he could do, it was committing to his own faux pas. “It’s, well. You know.”

They probably didn’t know what he meant (neither did he, but that was beside the point), but credit where credit was due: it didn’t take someone skilled with social cues to tell that Goro was really not having a good time.

A thought occurred to him. “I mean, unless you’re busy, I don’t want to interrupt any important jobs or missions or anything, am I doing that, or do you have time to spare, that you WANT to spare, or…” his rambling trailed off.

“...Yeah.”

[WC: 256]
[Total WC: 509]

Speak of the demon and she shall arrive. A slight smile on Yuri's face as Dana shows up. Though the mention of a masked stranger was kind of odd. Maybe Dana was getting called in for important business. It sounded like a decently ranked shinobi, though she didn't get why, but Dana was her superior really so it wasn't really Yuri's place to question too much. 

"Huh? No I was just doing some reporting in. Speaking of you didn't-" 

She was going to ask, 'You didn't cook anything right?' when someone interrupted her. The slight pause, and widening of eyes as she turns to notice someone suddenly showing up. Her curiosity quickly turning to amusement as she just looks at him. That slight smile widening little.by little as they go on with their rambling. Holding in her enteetainment until finally Goro had finished speaking. 

The dam burst, and giggling was slipping out of her mouth like gas out of a faulty pipe. It had a slight whistling quality to it as she tries to hold it back, first covering her mouth, then when that failed, her eyes. Just accepting . There wasn't anything mean in her expression though, unless it was misunderstood. It was just a sudden, unexpected enjoyment of honest and earnest sentiment. Letting out a relaxed sigh when she finally regains control of herself. Beaming with a smile. 

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first or something? Thanks for the offer, it sounds nice, just that I don't even know your name so wouldn't it be a little odd?" 

She already wanted to say yes, everything else was just a formality. It'd be a bit weird to hang out with someone without even knowing their name. Though, did they live here? It made her even more curious about who they were.


WC: 563

Dana's face lit up with a gentle smile when Goro suddenly spoke up, the white-haired Senju turning gently to face him. She remembered this guy; he was really cool and kind of reminded Dana of Saya in the most roundabout way. He didn't seem to possess Dana's fellow Senju's boundless energy and capacity to break the laws of nature on a whim, but he did have the same attention span. She didn't get what he meant by 'wait' though, it wasn't like they were going to be leaving yet. Dana had only just got here and she still needed to figure out what that masked guy wanted, maybe Goro would know?

Dana's smile widened as the poor boy stumbled over all his words, and she stepped forward to get close to him, putting herself next to Yuri as she completed the movement. She waited for the others to continue speaking and, after Yuri finished speaking, Dana would nod with a big grin.

"I'd love to! Anything you want to do in particular?" Dana began, halting herself when she remembered her reason for being here, "Actually I need to do something first, do ye know why I was needed here? Does Murata need something?" She asked, not quite piecing together that Goro was the one who had requested her presence. Evidently, her deductive skills weren't as top-notch as she had proclaimed them to be.

WC: 233
TWC: 534

Goro shifted in place, looking down towards the floor. Perhaps if he focused hard enough, he’d forget he was being looked at.

“Oh, um. Goro. It’s-” he listened politely as Dana spoke up, flushing awkwardly as she finished. “...No. Sorry, um. That was me. I wasn’t feeling well and you’re basically the only person I know here, not that your friend isn’t invited or anything or anyone else but they’re either busy or think I’m annoying-” he rambled onwards, continuing for a few moments as he drifted off into total silence.

“...I don’t know. Sorry to bother you- I just wanted company, I guess.” he finished, looking at the two of them for responses. Truth be told, he was surprised the ANBU listened to him at all. Perhaps they were bored, it was a slow day, or they assessed that he might cause more havoc if left unattended than would otherwise occur should they take a brief step back from their post.

He remained quiet for a couple more moments. “I’m not actually sure what people are supposed to do when they meet up, to be honest. I’m, uh. Not that used to having friends at all.” beat. “Unless you don’t want to be! Sorry for assuming.”

[WC: 207]
[Total WC: 716]

Yuri starts a small fit of giggling again. It was hard to contain that slight good natured entertainment at the guy's constant awkwardness. Still, she was at least trying to come off as nice. She knew what it was like to just be estranged from people, with no friends, or anything of the sort but to still have that desire to reach out to someone at least. To be a little less lonely, even if it was uncomfortable. Even if she'd closed that gap for herself a little bit, there were still many other people like that. So she couldn't make fun of him, honestly it was the opposite. Nodding slightly before finally managing to catch a moments focus to respond.


"Oh no it's fine we can be friends, I was just wrapping up a bit of official business and doing the slight amount of paperwork that I had to get to. I don't really hang out much but isn't there normally some kind of activity while we talk? Maybe some kind of food right? I'm not that familiar with hanging out stuff but my dad taught me about hosting so I think I get the basics of that stuff."

Nodding slightly to herself before scratching the back of her head lightly.


"I haven't seen you around before though, do you live here or something like that?"

WC: 790

Dana nodded along as the other two people present proclaimed to barely have any idea of what people did when they hung out. This was a bit of an issue, as Dana also had no idea what people did to 'hang out' so to speak. A lot of her friends - and interactions with said friends - had been far from normal. She thought back to her last meetings: Niko had knocked himself out so she could take one of his organs, Daiko was a criminal or something, and Pinochio had punched her a million times in a spar then helped her get a tattoo. She'd had a lot more odd interactions with the denizens of Kirigakure, but those were the most recent that she could think of.

At the mention of cooking, however, the young Senju's eyes would light up with excitement. Cooking! Now that was something that Dana happened to excel at, and something she also enjoyed tremendously. It truly was a shame that a lot of her attempts were shut down by others though. Maybe Goro would be more open to Dana's Wondrous recipes. Weirdly enough, not many people were open to the idea of buying - let alone consuming - Dana's petrol tea.

After Yuri asked Goro about his current living conditions, Dana would wait for Goro to - presumabley- respond. If there was an appropriate gap in the conversation, Dana would clap her hands together excitedly.

"Cooking sounds like an excellent idea! Please can we do it?" Dana aimed the last question towards Yuri, since her housemate seemed to have something against Dana's cooking for some reason. If everyone was up for it, Dana would do a happy hop and then look back towards Goro, "Where do we go"

WC: 290
TWC: 824

"Oh! Yeah. I live here," he responded, grateful to not have been turned down when he was obviously one step away from begging. A pause as he elaborated on his answer. He liked to be as specific as possible! "Sort of? I lived with Murata before the whole kage stuff 'cuz my parents set up this whole thing- I'd go to the village and get an education, and they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. They get a fraction of whatever ryo I make nd stuff too, I think..." He perked up at Dana's excitement at cooking, reflecting her enthusiasm. "The kitchen's through here, you just take a right!" he directed helpfully. Should they follow him through the halls, he'd continue rambling absentmindedly.

"I'm pretty sure this area used to be a lot of little rooms but Saya blew it up." he opened the door to the kitchen- it was expansive, luxurious, and clearly not used too often. Murata and Chizu were ascetic in their dietary preferences, and he often wasn't allowed in the kitchen due to his propensity to do research wherever possible. It wasn't express permission, he didn't think, but an ominously lingering ANBU in the corner didn't stop the three of them from entering.

He tapped his hands on a marble counter, noting how the wooden cabinets beneath it seemed to have literally been grown from the ground. They probably were. A stainless steel fridge was in the back corner- mostly it was filled with various raw meats, eggs, and dairy, due to the dietary needs of Murata's wolves. They were one hundred percent safe for human consumption, though, even if it felt weird to be eating the same stuff as dogs.

There was an in-wall cooler filled with various local and imported produce that he rarely touched, a pantry stocked with non-perishables and spices, and a bunch of various appliances he only vaguely knew how to use.

The microwave seemed like the easiest to not mess up. "Do you guys like coffee?" he asked after a moment. He fumbled in the pantry for a moment before pulling out the grinds. He'd never really had it before- a few times off handedly, but it was too bitter and clumpy for his tastes.

It was like hot chocolate mix, right? You just put it in boiling water and it would dissolve. He scratched his nose- it needed something else, though. He pulled out a ceramic pitcher small enough to fit in the microwave, filled it with tap water, and dumped some grounds in.

"What else do you put in this stuff?" he asked aloud. The ANBU did not respond- either they thought he was doing well, or they were interested in seeing him reap the consequences of his actions in real time. Hmmm... Another attempt to rumage in the pantry, and he pulled out a small jar of honey that seemed to have glued itself shut from years of neglect. He tried to check the date, but the paper was mostly faded.

It likely predated Lord Second's reign, though. He vaguely wondered if Xyxer seasoned his food. Fortunately, his needly twink arms weren't just for show- he could pull of some hefty taijutsu, in theory, and it allowed him to twist off the lid with a few ominous creaks from the jar itself.

Were you supposed to measure this? He took out a spatula and loaded a few globules- and stray honeycombs- into the pitcher with an unappetizing 'plop'.

Oh! Shit. He had guests over. "You guys can add stuff too, if you want," he said. They'd all be sharing, after all. "I'd probably only add one or two more things to keep things easy starting out. I guess that means you can each pick one ingredient?"

[WC: 630]
[Total WC: 1,346]