VIDEO; UN: HAWKEYE

[strictdiscipline]

[Instead of any person, the scene presently on the screen is of a backpack lying in the snow, overflowing with child leashes in a variety of different colors and patterns. The voice that pipes up has about as much warmth as the chill tundra wind and is just loud enough to cut through the continued wailing of infant squidges nearby.]

It appears that some of our superiors question our ability to properly watch over these small creatures.

[Though if the delivery was sent in earnest rather than as a practical joke, she can't say she disagrees with the assessment, at least not with regards to a certain subsection of Team Audentes. (Fortune might favor the bold, but it certainly won't favor anyone lacking basic common sense as far as she's concerned.)

Regardless, she presses on.]

While I should hope that none of you will need one at the moment [judging u if you put a leash on ur infant squidge tbh] some of you may find them necessary at a later point in this mission. There seem to be enough for each recruit to have one.

[Unfortunately.

A brief pause follows, enough time for a resigned sigh.]

With that said, if you are concerned about caring for a living being, I'm sure there are several of us willing to provide advice.

(ooc: i bought a bunch of child leashes as an ac reward as i was completely out of ideas, feel free to handwave your character grabbed one.)

Comments

[strictdiscipline]

[A little terminator for a kid......thanks, Gintoki.

The words are surprisingly kind, enough to get another faint smile out of her (though one colored by sadness). Her own future isn't one she's discussed with many people, privacy having long been a core foundation of her personality, but opening up is easier the more months that pass.]

It's a personal choice. There are some wrongs I need to correct first. I suspect that course of doing so will take the rest of my life.

[naturallywavy]

_{[ He gets that. Talking about stuff? Yeah, he doesn't like it either, but he doesn't always know when to stop prying, either. ]}

That's an noble thought, good luck with all of that, but listen..
Sometimes family just happen— I don't just mean because some jerk didn't use a condom or something like that— I'm talking about the bonds you make with people.
It just happens.

And it happens to the most broken people.
_{[ He knows this from personal experience. ]}

Guard your heart all that you want to, but when people come into your life and mean it, there's really no backing out of it— no matter how broken you are and no matter how you want to fix all the dirty crap.

..And sometimes, that's exactly what a broken person needs.

[strictdiscipline]

[Broken isn't necessarily the word she'd use to describe herself but the sentiment remains the same, one that she's accepted as an unavoidable part of her life for so long.

The fact that someone might challenge that assumption is strange to her, and keeps her silent for well over a minute on the other end.]

Do you mean it?

[He's in her life right now, whether he wants to be or not, but she'll give him the option of leaving as a courtesy. Even if she's oh so tired of people leaving.]

[naturallywavy]

_{[ almost instantly: ]}
Look, I may not be the grand-star shounen JUMP hero that everybody looks towards when it comes to crap like this. I drink, I gamble all of my money away, and hey— sometimes I even run away from fights, and sometimes I do lie but—

Oi. I don't lie about friendship.

The trust I put in people is as real as the blood that is spilled from those I don't trust.
_{[ Whatever that meant, he doesn't explain it. ]}

[strictdiscipline]

[ It's less his answer than the speed with which he says it that throws her off-guard, and leaves her speechless for the space of three heartbeats.

Never a dull moment with Gintoki, and for once she doesn't mind. Quietly:]

I'm glad to have you as a friend then. [Here she pauses, voice regaining some of her usual confidence.] Even if your hair is atrocious most of the time.

[naturallywavy]

Trust me, if protagonists were allowed to be bald, I would have gotten rid of it long ago.
_{[ just wait until he discovers One Punch Man, but alas. ]}

It takes a strong woman to tame my hair. Glad to know you're brave enough and up for the task.
_{[ which is his way of saying "feeling is mutual." ]}