dumbshow | probably not depressing

[This interrogation is the opposite of what he expected. Knuckle's always up in his face, but wanting to know what Shoot does for fun is so... okay, it's strange. Shoot does wonder vaguely what Knuckle does in his spare time besides pet dogs, but he's not going to ask.

For people who've spent a lot of time around each other, they don't really know much. Although, uh, Shoot may have done that on purpose. Should he not anymore? Now that things have changed, somehow.]

Why, all of a sudden...? [why does he have to do this] I like to read.

[lbr he spends a ton of time braiding his own hair for hours, look at it]

[Reading? At first, it seems surprising, but the longer he thinks about it, the more it fits. Shoot seemed like such a secluded guy, so getting lost in a story all by himself... He could see it now.

And that meant he should probably shift where they were going. It doesn't show. He's still walking in the same direction, but it makes it a lot closer, and a lot more planned out.]

It doesn't matter why! More importantly, you like books, huh... [Hmm, hmmm...] What kind?

[Knuckle, at least answer one question in between all of this grilling. Being put on the spot like this isn't doing Shoot any favors. He looks down as they walk, hunching his shoulders a little like that will stop him.]

Novels. [... It might take a few seconds for it to become obvious that that's all he's going to say. Novels, yes. The kind with pages. And words.

But enough about him.]

What do you do in your spare time?

[Novels... Is this friendship really possible? He lets that awkward silence wash over them until Shoot speaks again, and now it's about him?! This is so awkward. Why are they just now getting to know each other?]

Plenty of things! When I'm not training... [He stares ahead as they walk, looking very, very focused. Maybe like he's thinking too hard.]

I like running.

[Novels. Shoot feels less awkward (minutely) once the conversation is off him, noting only in the back of his mind that maybe that's a thing he should stop doing.

Knuckle is actually trying, after all, so he should as well... Right?

Running, though. Not really a surprise, he expected something physical or loud. He waits a couple seconds, then,] That's one thing.

[This is going well.]

I'm getting there, fool, don't rush me! I can think of tons of things, I'm not having a hard time at all!

[Nothing says back to normal like Knuckle yelling ridiculous things at full volume. It takes him a few minutes to face forward again with his very irritated thinking face on, but eventually, he does come up with more.]

Certain games. Cards or word ones. Going to the park on sunny days [and feeding every animal], the beach, drinking and spending time with friends! Hah, see! There's several!

[Ignore that a few of those are under rare circumstances. How often does he get to visit a beach?]

I was only pointing it out... [Knuckle, chill, it's not a competition. At the very least, Shoot doesn't complain while he thinks about it; the quiet's not bad.

And that's certainly a list. True to form for the sort of guy who can only come up with "novels" for things he likes, Shoot's priority lies in asking about-] You're interested in word games?

[He's sort of surprised... and actually interested, what a dork. Unless it's something like word searches, then he's unimpressed.]

Like what?

Of course!

[He looks very into them, if his expression says anything. Look at him, posing with his fingers in a checkmark under his chin, as if he's cool or something...]

Battles of the mind and reflex alike! To think of one you must have heard of before... Word chain!

[Why is he pointing down the road, no one knows.] You think of a category, like 'food'. From there, one person says the first word, which has to be a type of food, and the other has to think of a food that starts with the letter the first one ended with. There's no repeating words or changing tenses!

[Not word searches, huh— Shoot will allow this. He doesn't actually need the explanation, because who hasn't heard of this one, but he'll listen just for Knuckle's sake. If he actually had friends to... play word games with... maybe he wouldn't patiently endure.]

I don't think food is the most practical example.

[foods don't have tenses Knuckle]

What're you talking about? An example is an example!

[That doesn't actually address the issue, but shut up. How about that. Suddenly, though, he gestures to a building just ahead. A small mom and pop bookstore, from the look of things. What happened to going to a bar?

He holds the door open, pausing just to talk more.]

Come on, check out whatever you want or... whatever you wanna do. [He's so great at this.]

[Maybe 'hobbies' would have been better, but wait, combined they have about 6. Never mind.

Shoot's surprised twice over: first because he didn't think the hospital was this close to any bars, second because it's not a bar but a quaint little bookstore... His eyes go a little wide and he looks at Knuckle, not honestly sure what happened here. That awkward fumbling about liking to read- not even that, but Knuckle is this serious about doing something "fun" with him?

That's kind of touching, and if he were Knuckle he'd probably tear up about it. Instead he just looks at him with that genuinely surprised expression for just a second or two too long, then passes by into the store.]

What happened to drinks?

[No, wait, that's not what he meant to say. But is it weird to thank someone for going to a bookstore with you...? He'll stare at a magazine rack until he decides.]

The hell... Drinks can happen whenever! [He's so annoyed that Shoot is asking this, and it shows in every bit of him. His expression, his posture, the way he's bristling and waves it off even more...

Honestly, he's embarrassed. Who calls out his cheesy move like this?!]

I drink all the time, so it doesn't matter right now! I just remembered there's something I was looking for here, and since you like books it just happened to work out! [Yeah--!!]

[If it helps, Shoot meant to be even more embarrassing but chickened out. At least the outburst is something he can frown vaguely at, at the magazines.

Also, Knuckle is a terrible liar. This time, however, Shoot won't call him out so blatantly. It is a nice gesture, and he does like books.

So with that in mind, he glances aside from the magazines and turns to drift toward the novels. As a whole, all novels.]

Do you want to go later? Running errands all day isn't like you.

You...

[He had automatically been offended by that, but despite trying to find something to yell about it, he goes blank. This, of course, leads to him standing there, pointing aggressively and completely silent for a good few seconds.

When he snaps out of that, he's standing up straighter and crossing his arms again, looking away to a rack of magazines like he cares more about those.]

What we're doing right now isn't an errand! I can't believe you... You think I'm that cold? [...Ah, how does he word this, though.] We can drink later, or we can find something else. It's your big day, isn't it?

[Knuckle, people can see this!! Shoot pauses and looks back at him, like, Don't make it sound like an errand, then? He can tell he must have crossed a line, or stepped very close to a line - there wasn't any yelling - but unfortunately isn't sure what to do about it.]

'Big day' is pushing it. I've been fine for a while. [no he hasn't] Besides, you were busy with something this morning.

[Errand! But no, that's not... He shrugs and looks away again, which is honestly more an attempt to take cover behind his huge collar than a dismissal, because after a pause he adds,] Knuckle.

I know you're not cold.

"Fine" my ass, you idiot! You've been in the hospital this whole time!

[There's only one other customer in this quiet little bookshop, and she's by now cowering in the corner with her nose deep in a book hoping this strange man doesn't start yelling at her, too.

But he stands there, huffy and trying to justify himself in his own mind when Shoot says his name. Startled, he looks over.

And... that's not what he was expecting. His mouth stretches a little further as he stares, not sure if he wants to smile or frown or just be all around confused.]

Uh, thanks. [Awkward. ...But it's a nice thing, he thinks. He doesn't feel bothered by it-- wait.

Was Shoot trying to make him feel better??]

[He may have been in the hospital, but he wasn't- uh- no, he was sort of the worst off aside from Gon... Never mind. He only has a slightly guilty hmm in response to that.

Why he feels guilty for feeling fine, he doesn't know. Habit.]

Hm. [stop humming, Shoot] That is- it's nothing. I'm going to browse the fiction section.

["I'm going to hide behind a shelf." Bye, Knuckle.]

Sure...

[Knuckle stares after him for a few good seconds before looking back to the magazines in front of him. Sports, celebrity news, something about Leorio punching Ging... Okay. But more importantly!! Why was Shoot running off to hide again?!

He realizes this so belatedly that he visibly stiffens before sneaking over along the aisle next to the fiction one. Maybe he's trying to read something gushy?? It's a secret?? He wants to know...

He'll step out into Shoot's aisle suddenly.]

Hey, Shoot! What kind of book are you looking for? I can help! [He knows nothing about book shopping. Hence asking a question like this.]

[Meanwhile, Shoot is- not happy, exactly, but less nervous once he disappears into the rows of shelves. Whatever he just said back there about Knuckle not being cold went as poorly as he imagined it would and now he wants to just be... elsewhere.

This isn't hiding, though. This is most definitely avoiding, but it isn't hiding.

His conversation fumbles are actually bothering him enough that he's not really looking at books as Knuckle creeps up. Well, he's facing books, and he is making eye contact with books, but he isn't really seeing them. Which is why it's exactly when he finally reaches for one at random, just to look busy, that Knuckle pops out of nowhere.

Shoot drops the book.]

Knuckle-? [Please go look at bookmarks, this is ten times the Knuckle he's precariously used to.]

I hadn't picked anything specific to look for. Why don't you look for something that looks interesting?

Hmm...

[Interesting? Interesting. He's not sure why Shoot is dropping books, especially when he has like four hands, but he'll keep that to himself for now along with other speculation. Something interesting, though...

He's going to hang out here, in the same area, and start skimming the titles. Eventually, he pulls out something that looks to be the equivalent of Twilight and skims the back of it. Is this something Shoot would like?]

Here, what about this? [Shoving that at him, he abandons it there and moves a few steps down the aisle, crouching. From here, he'll skim through some more, and--

Oh, one of the titles grabs his attention, and so he pulls it out. Some type of fantasy Kung fu book...]

[Okay he only has one hand right now because he only needs one hand to pick up books, come on.

Now Shoot is in a tighter spot than before (as if he can actively pick up books he might really want to read with Knuckle hovering around like this!!), and simply goes back to staring at the shelf in front of him... Occasionally he'll shift a few inches to the side, like he's really looking.

They should have gone to the bar. They should have. Shoot isn't mentally prepared to casually hang out somewhere it's not too loud to hear anything clearly.]

What? [Oh, a book shoved at him, thanks. He doesn't drop this one, to his credit. He turns it over to look at what it is, although-]

Knuckle, this is for children.

[YA is kiddie lit when you're pushing 30, clearly.]

Huhh?

[He looks up briefly from his little squat, eyeing the book in Shoot's hand.] No way is that for kids, it's a novel! Look at it, it's like 400 pages.

[What Knuckle pictures when Shoot says children: 5 year olds.]

Don't be embarrassed by the whole werewolf thing! Think of it like it's Meleoron or something. [Because that helps.]

[That's... not how books work! Shoot frowns down at him, like he might even put forth the effort to explain, but why is Meleoron suddenly involved?]

What? No, Knuckle- [knuckle??] I'm not embarrassed, it just isn't to my tastes.

[It's not novel enough, clearly.]

... Like it's Meleoron, really? [No, he's stuck on this.]

Not your taste? So you're too good for it, now?

[What the hell!! He's trying here, since Shoot didn't tell him anything he did like, so--! Standing up with the Kung Fu book in one hand, he moves over to snatch that Twilight wannabe away.]

But yeah, like him! Part human, part something else... [Shut up he's embarrassed and he feels its unjustly so.] What's wrong with it, anyway?

That doesn't make any sense.

[Seriously, not liking a book doesn't mean he's too good for it, what? How?? Take the vaguely defined parody, take it all.

And Meleoron isn't anything like a werewolf... Don't say that too loudly, what if he's here somehow.]

There's nothing wrong with it, in any case, I just don't think I'd like it... Why don't you read it? [Is he serious, is he "please shut up" serious, who can say.]

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