futurology | text; username: SHIKI

[Max decides it best to put that subject behind them; so she's already gathering her purse, eager for the excuse to roam.]

I'll find it.

[Too bad this thing doesn't do selfies . . . or does it?]

I'll be the one with the camera, trying not to fall in.

[Shiki, busily trying to fix another worm to his line, did so right by the lantern he had on hand so he could talk and work at the same time.

Really, the magic jewel was ridiculously handy for that reason.]

Alright. Be careful, it's no joke how scary this dock is.

Thanks :)

[. . . A final message, since Max automatically thought it anyway. She otherwise leaves it at that and makes her way out slowly, careful to use her stealth.

It takes a while. Despite what she says, she actually wants at least one of her hands to be free, so her camera is tucked safely in her purse (for now) while she sneaks around. Her other hands hold the lantern with the blueish glow, if only because, given the hard work she went through to get it, she was damned well going to use it.

Her eyes flutter from one direction to another, and eventually she walks her way along the water, breathing heavily until she comes across the dock in question.

And a certain someone.]

Are you . . . Shiki?

[In that time, Shiki had gotten fairly acclimated with his surroundings. There were a few risen posts along the edges of the dock for setting down equipment and a few notches set to rest a fishing line against. Shiki had his fishing rod poised between his legs, relying on them in the event that anything he caught was too strong for him.

He could dream.

When Max came around, he lifted his head and looked around to her, his glasses casting the better reflection off of him than even the water. He smiled, albeit with a waver, greeting her.]

Yeah, that's me. That makes you Max, right?

[Phew.

. . . Well, his voice is gentle and kind enough. Max answers by slowly sitting down next to him, watching the way her light catches his glasses. She's quiet, studying over his setup, the fishing rod in particular.]

Yeah. [She nods quietly, attention wandering from his face to the blackened water.] Doesn't look like you've had much luck.

[Following Max's look, Shiki returned to the fishing rod. He didn't know what sort of person to expect, but she seemed closer to his age than others. There was Leo, but it was clear enough to him that he was a teenager, too. Everyone else seemed to be much older--or, they were old people wearing young skins. Oddities like that made his skin crawl.

Looking into the dark, dreadful water seemed more pleasant.]

I guess it's fair. I'd probably make the local fishermen upset if I caught anything in my first hour, right?

[So he's only been out an hour . . . though in the dark, alone, that could feel like an eternity. Just like her nightmare. She can't pretend like she knows what the fishermen are like, but what he says makes sense.

She thinks.]

I don't know how long it's supposed to take.

[Admittedly.]

There was this guy back home . . . He was a fisherman, and I always passed him on the way to my favorite diner. I'd ask him, "How're the fish?"

. . . Kinda wish I'd listened to him more now.

Well, you know what they say about hindsight...

[Admittedly, Shiki made a few mistakes. He hadn't put the bait on properly last time and it fell off of the hook. The next time around, he kept jostling the line. When he saw the other fishermen had stayed still, he realized his mistakes.

But, that was only twenty minutes prior.]

--But, it's tough to go without neglecting things like that, right? Experiences we don't think we need get passed by all the time.

[Shiki offered Max a sardonic smile, just before he shifted the pole just enough to scratch his nose. Staying still wasn't going to be easy enough for him.]

Yep. [Max turns just in time to see him smile, tone just short of sarcastic.] Hindsight is 20/20--however that goes.

[For most, that's the end of it. You make your choices, you abandon the others, and you move on without ever knowing the what-ifs. Most people do, anyway.

That's how it should be.]

We're better off looking forward to the future. Like whether you'll get something in time for dinner or not.

[She teases him, but only a little to lighten the mood. Of course, without the sun, her sense of breakfast, lunch, dinner is all distorted anyway.]

[Something in Shiki slacked for a moment. It was a deathly blow that he took and he could have sworn he was seeing stars from it. Hanging his head a moment, Shiki steadied his fingers on the fishing rod and cleared his throat.]

Well. In the event that I don't catch anything, I really hope I could sustain myself on impatience and irritation by themselves...

[It wasn't anyone's fault but his own that he hadn't learned how to fish. With so many convenient creeks behind the Tohno mansion and by the Arima household, he should have been able to try it a few times at the very least.]

And if not that, I could probably just eat my own words.

[If nothing else, the cough gives it away. On the surface, however, he seemed to be taking it well and Max actually seemed amused before catching on.]

Sorry . . . but I never said you wouldn't.

[God, Max Caulfield, you are so awkward. And stop smiling--!]

Are you mad?

Huh?

[Always on auto-pilot when his own commentary, Shiki scarcely noticed Max's smiling. He blinked rapidly, surprised that the question was asked in the first place. Leaning back, Shiki shifted so the lantern wasn't blocking Max as much, tilting his head as if to get a better look.

Was she teasing him?]

Not at you, no. Why would I be?

[Ah.

There's a pause. That's a good thing, she has to remind herself, and she'll shake her head dismissively.]

I just couldn't tell if I offended you.

[She scratches at a spot on the back of her head idly.]

If nothing turns up, we'll figure out something else. Tea still sounds great.

[Or at least, something warm.]

Offended me? [It tickled a smile out of him, at least. Shiki looked back to the line--not sure of what to say at a time like that. He didn't get teased often, but he still had a stomach for it.

Complaining, though--he was just an expert when it came to that.]

You didn't--trust me.

[Shiki shifted the rod between his calves--lifting both hands up to his face so he could blow warmth into them.]

There's tea here, I've heard--it's just really expensive.

Really?

[Now that he mentions it, there's probably all sorts of fancy, expensive tea she doesn't know about. Still, that can't be all they have.]

Nothing cheap for us broke high school kids?

From what I can tell--it's more of a luxury than a staple, which is a pain.

[For someone who loathed caffeine and decaf coffee wasn't at all available, tea would have to suffice.

In lieu of tea, there was water and he didn't trust anything he didn't boil and filter, himself.]

I don't even like drinking the water. I've heard beer is healthier than water in a place like this, just because they have to boil the water in the brewing process, but--I'm not even old enough to drink.

[He said all of that before really processing it in his mind.

Shiki stopped talking, simply staring out at the water and feeling like he just said the lamest thing he could have possibly come up with.]

[Max honestly hadn't considered the fact that the water might not even be safe. That she'd drink beer instead is a laughable thought, but . . . it does make her think of home. Looking amused at his expression now as he stares out at the water, she'll do the same and follow his gaze with her eyes.]

My friend likes the stuff. I'll pass, though.

[If if Chloe were actually there, that might be a different story.]

Have people gotten sick or something?

[Max pulled Shiki right back out of his shame.]

Oh, I don't know...? [He left it hanging, as if it were a question. Shiki generally preferred to avoid experimentation, so when posed with the suggestion that he might want to at least get proof of the danger of the water--he decided simply being biased towards scientific research would have trumped the risk.]

It's really an interesting thing to consider, isn't it? If we weren't living it ourselves, we could probably call this a space exploration story.

. . . Interesting is one word for it.

[Max looks up towards the dark sky. He has a point about space exploration, even if it just feels like another hell hole on earth. Casually, she wonders if she can put "astronaut" on her resume now.

She brushes the idea off, shaking her head, looking almost amused.]

ALASTAIR might turn out to be the villains.

[Barring the realization that he was technically an astronaut as well, Shiki was more concerned with what entailed 'adventures'. In history, adventurers weren't heroes or even good people. They took, burned and destroyed things in their wake, leaving little to nothing for the people originally there.

It worried him, being associated with a group like that.]

...We might be. You heard about it, right--that giant prison break?

[He felt his tone had to hush up, somewhat. The whole situation made him nervous as it was.]

[Max frowns, noting the way his voice became quiet and hard to hear. For good reason, she thinks.]

That was crazy. Were you there?

No.

[He was just as glad that he wasn't there during the fighting. Just meeting some of those people when they were doing something as simple as partying was too much for him to handle.

Supernatural people all around--he was remembering that painful headache all too well.]

I don't know if I'm being too paranoid, but there are tons of scary people in ALASTAIR's group. It seems important to be careful of them.

[. . . Max was. She spent most of her time trying to stay out of everyone's way, though, and helping the stranded and left behind.

She considers his words, remembering all the close calls.]

You can never be too careful.

[She's the one who accused him of wanting to rob her.]

Learning who you can trust . . . it's a process. [Her words seem bitter.]

Yeah. That's tough, isn't it?

[Even with family. Shiki had thought, as a child, that he did something wrong to make his father force him out of the house. He had no idea why he was banished from the household, the lack of an explanation making him feel seriously alienated.

He was the sort of young man who was made to feel distrust too easily, when he wanted to be more trusting, instead.]

But--I guess it's fine when you meet somebody you can really trust. I don't know how many people like that I can meet here, but it would be a relief if it was a good ratio, right?

[The hope in his voice was forced, but it somehow managed to at least make him smile a bit out of reflex.]

[His smile helps return Max's own. She's a positive person at the core, so it's easy to agree with him--though admittedly, she's also used to being a loner. In the end, she wonders how many people she could trust at Blackwell.]

It'd definitely make these missions less shitty.

[. . . And, because she has to ask.]

Think you could trust me?

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