JENNA: * It's the middle of the afternoon outside Mack's estate when Kalaani comes trotting up the walk, somewhat later than usual. She pauses, panting a little, when she reaches the steps to his house, then walks up them a little more slowly, wiping sweat from her forehead before she rings the doorbell. She likes sunshine, and she likes summer, but it does make the walk out here that much hotter.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie is a little slow to answer, but when he does he isn't the least bit surprised to see her out there. It's becoming an almost daily ritual, and he's finding it hard to keep up a consistant aura of scorn over her continued presence -- it's a lot less stressful to just resort to indifference. "I'm busy," he says boredly, looking down his nose at her with his usual air of superiority, "why don't you come back tomorrow?" He does not, however, sound like he expects her to listen to this.

JENNA: "You're always ... busy," Kalaani says with a faint smile, finally catching her breath. "I'm sorry I'm late.. but I can make you some tea before I go." She treats the phrase almost as if it's a password to gain entry, folding her arms politely in front of her and smiling.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie rubs at his forehead and flings the door the rest of the way open, thrusting a hand out to motion her in with exaggerated defeat. "Late, she says, as though the girl had an appointment to begin with." He starts toward the kitchen with a tired, resigned look on his face. Her passive-agressive invasion of his household over the months has just about sapped his will to get out of bed every morning.

JENNA: * Kalaani steps inside, trotting toward the kitchen cheerfully and tending to the tea-making. The process is fairly smooth and automatic, and it isn't long before she has the tea ready for them both and placed on the table. She does seem to be suppressing something -- almost like excitement -- out of politeness, apparently waiting until after tea to spill the beans, as it were.

JUSTIN: * Her enthusiasm and cheer don't go unnoticed -- they're above and beyond her usual fair, and he watches her with a bland, impatient stare. "Kalaani, if you have something you want to say, just say it and get it over with -- your anticipation is going to give me a rash."

JENNA: * Kalaani blinks at him, then reddens slightly, taking a long sip of her tea as if to calm herself. "Well, I.." She pauses. "I just wanted to finish the tea first, but ..." She sets the tea down and reaches for her satchel, hesitating before tugging out a thin roll of parchment and setting it on the table in front of Mack. "You said.. that you wanted to see that page. I couldn't bring it with me, but I made a copy ..."

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie stares down at the piece of paper with a blank face, obviously not sure what she's talking about at first. Though not a perfect reproduction, the symbols and runes on the page don't take long to become recognizable to him, and he lurches up from the table. "How did you get this," he says sharply, snatching up the paper and looking it over to make sure it is what it appears to be.

JENNA: * Kalaani sits down again with a small smile, taking a sip of her tea. "I.. I said we had it in my church. I pass by the room where they keep it every day.. on the way to the sanctuary." She pauses again, taking another, quiet sip. "They let us look at it when we wish to -- so I went in and copied it." She shrugs slightly.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie thrusts the paper down against the table with a thud, leaning against the thick, polished wood and staring at her with a mix of disbelief and chastisement. "Are you trying to get yourself expunged? Arrested?" His voice is thick with the same mix as his stare.

JENNA: * Kalaani looks at him for a moment, tilting her head in puzzlement. "Nobody saw me ... I was careful." She shakes her head. "I thought that ... you and Mr. Hester were right, and I knew you wanted to read it ..." She hesitates, then falls silent again.

JUSTIN: "Fool girl," Mackenzie growls, taking the paper and holding it aloft to indicate it, "do you know what kind of hellstorm you could have brought down upon our heads with this? Reckless -- stupid!" He only seems to be getting more worked up by her lack of concern.

JENNA: * Kalaani shakes her head, looking at him with surprise -- and some hurt -- on her face. "I didn't say anything to anyone ... nobody knows." She pauses, then gets slowly to her feet, reaching for the page. "I-if you don't want it, it's all right -- I can get rid of it and no one will know --"

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie swats her hand away quickly, face turning a distinctly stubborn -- and almost a little alarmed. "Don't make things even worse," he says, quite a bit softer than his near-yelling from seconds earlier. The bitterness in his tone is unchanged, however. "The damage was already done the moment you put your pen to the paper. Destroying it now would take away the only benefit of your... lack of wisdom."

JENNA: * Kalaani with draws her hand, apparently satisfied, and seats herself, pouring herself a little more tea. She almost says something, but she subsides, taking a slow sip. "I thought it would help," she says quietly.

JUSTIN: "Help," Mackenzie echoes her, voice dripping. "You don't even know what I /do/ for work, and you thought you could help." He sits down solidly in his chair, eyes burning into the side of the girl's face. He seems uninterested in touching his tea. "Why do you persist," he says at last, voice almost neutral, "when you know there is nothing you can do to gain my favor?"

JENNA: "I ..." She looks at her lap for a moment, lowering her hands and twining her fingers together. Then she lifts her head, turning to meet his gaze almost without any sign of intimidation -- only a little sorrow. "I can only do what I think is right," she says quietly, and she shrugs. "That's.. that's all I'm doing."

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie didn't expect anything eye-opening or humbling, so he looks just as neutral and unimpressed when she finishes. "Of course," he says with quiet disapproval -- the worst kind -- and turns his attention away from her as if beneath his concern, taking up his cup and giving the tea a sip before setting it aside.

JENNA: * Kalaani continues to drink quietly, looking a little tired. She pauses, looking over at him, then returns her attention to her tea, apparently unsurprised by his reaction. After a few more moments of silence, she smiles again, setting her cup down and smoothing her skirts.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie notices the smile -- not that he was watching her or anything of the sort -- and he sits up a little straighter in his chair. "Does something strike you as amusing?" He addresses her with a proper amount of agitation, sounding slightly closer to normal.

JENNA: * Kalaani looks up at him and blinks, then shakes her head, smiling again and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm just.. just happy, that's all." She hesitates, then thinks better of explaining anything more, turning her gaze back to the table.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie arches an eyebrow subtly, but he's not sure he wants her to explain further, either. "Of course you are," he says with weariness, and he turns back to his tea with a slight frown, sipping at the liquid distractedly.

JENNA: * She smiles again, faintly, then returns to her own tea, watching Mack out of the corner of her eye and looking up when he appears to be nearly out. "Do you want any more?" she asks him, tilting her head, and she straightens in her chair. She'll be serving or preparing to clean up dishes, either way.

JUSTIN: "No," he says simply, pushing his chair back from the table to stand up. "I have work to do." His eyes drift down to the paper lying innocently on the table's surface, and he gives it an almost resentful glare. Of all the ways to acquire it, why did it have to be a gift from Kalaani? He snaps it up and turns this glare to the young acolyte, whom he considers for at least half a second before turning away. "Clean this up, and then be on your way."

JENNA: * Kalaani nods and gets to her feet, quietly gathering the the dishes onto the tray and heading for the kitchen. "Good luck," she calls cheerfully, and she begins to tend to the dishes, this time forgetting to lower her voice when she begins her customary singing.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie nearly crumples the paper in his hand at the sound of her singing, and he grits his teeth before stalking off across the house. He makes for his upstairs office, where he sits at his desk with a long sigh and stares at the penned runes that cover the parchment. "Damned girl," he mutters, then drops it on the desk and leans back in his chair, closing his eyes.

JENNA: * Kalaani doesn't take long about the dishes, having no reason to complain that she was dismissed so soon -- she's already running late. She does put everything carefully away, pausing in the dining room to straighten the chairs, and glances a little wistfully up the hall before starting out the door.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie tries not to waste more than a few minutes collecting himself, mind a little bit scattered by the girl and her unexpected gift -- perhaps more the girl than the gift. He finally rights himself in his chair, however, and puts his glasses on to start looking over the copy she smuggled to him. Much like the other pages, it keeps him busy for some time, and he's unable to translate all of it. It's an especially difficult task to translate something that is completely out of context, and with a language structure far more complex and alien than any of the ancient Midgardian languages he's learned. It will no doubt keep him busy for months.

JENNA: * In the days that follow their arrival on Jawaii, Shane and Jo manage to make steady progress through the uninhabited areas of the island, finally coming to a heavily overgrown cave that looks as if it also served as a temple. It takes almost a day to clear up the brush, but the inside is relatively clear and apparently uninhabited. It's also more relaxing work than a lot of their jobs -- free of monsters, gang wars, and unfriendly natives. It also helps they have a bed and bath to return to -- as well as a steady supply of food. The second day into the cave finds them at what looks like the main sanctuary of the temple, a large cavern with a low pool of water covering much of the floor. The walls throughout the cave have been heavily carved, but none more than in here, and toward the back of the water is what looks like an altar of stone.

JUSTIN: * Shane holds up their lantern a little higher, the shallow pool of water reflecting the light and aiding in the illumination of the sanctuary. The carvings and paintings along the walls look quite different than the glyphs of Morroc's pyramids or the runes on the pages from the Book of Ymir. It makes Shane wonder just how many ancient, long-gone civilizations have graced this world of theirs before they came along. Taking a few steps forward into the water, he happens to notice the outline of a small, dark object on the alter at the far end of the room. "What do you suppose that is?"

JENNA: "Hard to say from this distance," Jo says, peering at the water rather than the altar and trying to judge its depth. "I guess we should try getting over there, hm?" She bends to unlace her boots, kicking them off and stepping into the water -- at least near the shore, it's quite shallow. "Hand me the lamp."

JUSTIN: "I guess we should, indeed." Shane hands the lamp off to her and looks down at her feet, snorting quietly. He doesn't comment, however, and keeps walking -- he's pretty sure his own boots at more than a match for the water.

JENNA: * Jo snorts faintly, holding the lamp ahead of her as she continues. The floor slopes gently down, but there don't appear to be any steep drop-offs, so she just keeps walking as it levels off. It doesn't get any deeper than her waist, and it grows shallower toward the altar. The altar itself is set up on a formation that juts sharply above the water, but the pool slopes up on either side of it, permitting them to exit the water. "I hope this is worth something.. we haven't turned up much else."

JUSTIN: * Shane follows after her, glowering as the pool of water continues to rise until it's past his crotch. It seems like an arbitrary addition to the room that acts as little more than an unpleasant obstacle, and now he wishes he had taken off his boots -- so at least /something/ would still be dry. He's grateful he left his coat back at the cabin. "Well," he answers to her question, "I thought that little flute-looking thing was nice. Even if I couldn't get a decent sound to come out of it." He starts to rub the water from his pant leg as they come out of the pool, but stops when he realizes it's pointless. "I hope whatever this is was worth getting completely soaked for, though."

JENNA: * Jo glances at him and smiles faintly, trotting carefully up the slope and around toward the altar. "I would hate to have to come back and do rubbings on all this crap," she remarks, pausing and peering at the altar. There's what looks like a mid-sized statue sitting on top of it.

JUSTIN: "I doubt some of it would fit on a single piece of paper," he agrees absently, eyes focusing on the item in front of them. "I wonder what it's supposed to represent." He unslings his pack and sets it down on the stone, digging inside of it before pulling out the wooden box and unlatching it. Opening it up, the crystal inside seems absolutely overjoyed to be let out -- glowing almost as brightly as their lantern. "What -- this thing is a magical hot spot? But it's..." he picks it up delicately, making a face at the odd style of the carving's features, "Well, ugly."

JENNA: "Well, I wouldn't say every artifact I've seen was beautiful," Jo grunts, but she looks at the statue with some skepticism. "But it's certainly ... unusual." She glances at Shane with a faint smile. "I guess we take it back with us, don't we?" She takes a step or two forward, reaching out a hand to touch the figure. Then she blinks. "Shane, it's made of.. wood." Shortly after this statement leaves her lips, however, a raucous voice screeches through the cavern, and she jerks her hand away as if burned.

JUSTIN: * Shane jumps at the sound, dropping the carved idol in the process. It smacks against the ground with a wooden thunk and rolls down the slanted sides of the stone outcropping, directly into the water. Luckily, the wood seems to be treated against wetness, and it simpls floats there merrily, though the noise -- now obviously issuing from the statue itself -- seems highly indignant at the treatement. Shane gets down on his hands and knees to stare at it, equal parts curious and disturbed. "Jo, what... what's it doing?"

JENNA: "It.. it sounds like it's shouting," Jo says weakly, peering over the edge of the altar. "Better go get it ..." She scoots warily around the edge and intot he water, brow knitting. "Sure is loud." The words issuing from the statue are unintelligible -- apparently in another language -- but they appear to be just that -- words. Not spells or curses or anything more dangerous. She wades after it and scoops it easily from the water, glancing back at Shane.

JUSTIN: "W-wait, hold on--" Shane lurches forward to follow after her, but he slows down when nothing seems to happen. Apparently the statue isn't capable moving on it's own, so his worry that it might bite or something similar seems to be unnecessary. "Gods. What are we supposed to do with it? We can't hide it if it keeps shouting like that, and the people running the resort would probably consider this their property if they knew it existed."

JENNA: * Jo shrugs, looking down at the statue again. "I dunno ... wrap it up really tight.. maybe we can muffle it." She scratches her head, frowning, and grimaces when a particularly loud epithet bounces off the walls. "/Shut UP/," she roars at it, and to her surprise it falls completely silent for a moment. When it speaks again, it's in the form of a query. Still unintelligible, but at least quieter. She looks at Shane again. "You got an idea what it said?"

JUSTIN: * Shane arches an eyebrow at it, then looks over at Jo, shrugging helplessly. "No more than you do. I only speak one language." He looks at the statue again, but its solid, carved design offers absolutely no hint about what it might be feeling. "If we can keep it content until we get back to Mr. Malachi's house, maybe he can translate for us."

JENNA: "You think he'll translate for us?" Jo snorts, tucking the statue under her arm and starting for the far shore. "Should we keep going?" she asks. "There's probably not a lot left to the cave, though. I imagine this is the only thing of worth we'll find." The statue makes another query, and she answers with a shrug and a muttered, "Look, I don't know ..." before lifting it slightly to keep it above the water.

JUSTIN: * Shane packs up the crystal and slings his pack back onto his shoulder before following after her, being extra careful not to slip on his way across the pool. "There might be something. I bet /he/ knows what's of worth around here, but that doesn't much help us." He would like something that's more appealing than a mumbling totem to play around with, but he'll probably have to be content with his flute.

JENNA: * Jo grins drily, pausing to shake her feet off before slipping back into her boots. "It's enough for a day's work, though, wouldn't you say?" She slings her pack down, opening it up, and proceeds to set the idol carefully inside. It queries again but otherwise does not seem to object to the treatment. "Since the boat's not due back for two days anyway.. we can check the rest of the cave tomorrow."

JUSTIN: * Shane now takes the opportunity to squeeze some of the water from his pants, shaking off his boots a bit but otherwise having little choice but to deal with the sogginess. "That sounds like as good a plan as any," he agrees with her easily, and helps settle her pack on her shoulders before taking the lantern back from her and leading the way out.

JENNA: * The sun is setting by the time they make their way out, and Jo glances skyward wearily. "Maybe we'll make it back in time to order dinner today -- that'd be a nice switch." She grins at Shane and sets off through the jungle on a now-familiar path back to their cabin.

JUSTIN: "Can never complain about getting a hot meal, no." Shane follows along beside her, ducking the occasional low-hanging branch. He puts out the lamp and attaches it to its place on his pack, then reaches over and takes Jo's hand up to kiss it.

JENNA: * Jo smiles and squeezes his hand. "And only a couple more days here. Almost seems like things are looking up." She looks a head as the cabins come into view, and she's relieved to see no one else is outside. "They're supposed to have some kind of party on the major beach tomorrow night.. fireworks and all. Should keep people out of our way."

JUSTIN: * Shane smiles, setting his hand on top of her head and petting at her hair slightly. "Good. Not that I hate people as a rule, but the kind that visit a place like this tend to be awfully uppity." And surprisingly loose, he thinks, considering they're all supposed to be newlyweds.

JENNA: "I'd hate to have a set of them run into us while we're snooping." She smiles, curling an arm around him as they walk. "I'd hate to see what the resort would decide to use the cave for if they found it." She laughs, reaching for the door of their cabin.

JUSTIN: * Shane helps ease the door open, and he hurries inside to shut it behind them, eager to get out of his wet clothes. "If they'd do anything remotely like they did to the rest of the island, I have to say we did that little talking statue a favor by taking him." He smirks, locking the door and immediately getting his belt undone.

JENNA: * Jo grins and kicks her boots off again, slinging her pack down near the door. "I'm gonna catch a bath and go to bed," she remarks, smiling drily. "Sore." She glances at the pack, which has been silent since they left the cave. "This is gonna be a weird trip," she predicts.

JUSTIN: "I don't doubt it." Shane sets his pack down and finds a place to deposit his wet pants and boots. "I'll see about ordering some dinner. And if you aren't too quick about it, then perhaps I'll join you." He grins a bit and grabs their meal tickets to fill out, standing about in his half-wet shorts with little care.

JENNA: * Jo snorts, pausing in the doorway to the bathroom and looking over her shoulder at him. "I can take my time, if you like," she remarks, bending to shed her trousers. "Takes a while for a tub that size to fill, anyway." She grins, turning away from the door and pulling her shirt over her head as she heads for the tub.

JUSTIN: * Shane watches her disappear with a satisfied smile, a gleam of something in his eyes. He hurries with the tickets, getting them outside the door in a matter of seconds, and then ambles on over to the bathroom. "Shouldn't be too long, hopefully." He positions himself in the doorway and leans against the frame, watching Jo as she fills the bath. "I don't want to miss out on the festivities, after all."

JENNA: * Jo glances back at him with a faint snort. "Festivities, he says." She ambles over to pull him into the room, grinning as she closes the door behind them both. In spite of any festivities, Jo manages to be up with the sun the following day, absently attempting to roust Shane from slumber as she gets her gear ready.

JUSTIN: * Shane isn't too terribly difficult to wake, despite the excitements of the previous day -- and more specifically, evening. He rolls over onto his stomach to watch Jo getting ready, eyes still half-closed and obviously groggy. "What's the matter... heart-shaped bed not good enough for you?"

JENNA: "I was thinking we might just.. spend some time walking on the beach before we head into the cave," she remarks, glancing over at him. She kneels and flips her pack open, removing the idol and peering at it a moment before getting to her feet and setting it on the table. "You know. Just.. something relaxing." She arches an eyebrow at him. "So hurry up and get your pants on."

JUSTIN: * Shane glances across at the wooden statuette, which is apparently content to be silent for the moment, and then back over at Jo. "Something relaxing... I suppose I can do that." He stretches mightily, letting out a groan and a yawn before he manages to finally get himself removed from the bed. Fishing out a fresh pair of pants, he tugs them on with slow, deliberate efficiency, then falls back on the bed again with another yawn, scratching at his bare chest.

JENNA: "MIght put out an order for breakfast before we go.. they'll leave it inside the room, right?" She pulls her pack onto her back and looks at him steadily. "Up, get up." She ambles over to the bed and nudges his leg with her foot. "We've got work to do!"

JUSTIN: * Shane snorts, sitting up in a slow, lazy motion and grabbing her foot in the process. "Work, she says, as if it were difficult." He grins, tugging on her foot and walking his hands up her leg as he scoots off the bed, until he's standing on his his own two feet and moves his hands to her waist. "But to answer your question, yes. I'll leave a note with the tickets."

JENNA: "Good plan." She leans up to kiss him, then ambles over to the table where the idol sits. "Been kinda quiet. Maybe we should hide it somewhere ..." She prods it lightly, and it utters a short, indignant phrase. She tilts her head and peers at it. "I hope he doesn't accuse us of buying him a cheap knick-knack."

JUSTIN: * Shane tuts, stepping closer to eye the statue. "Have you ever seen a talking statue for sale? Especially in a place like Jawaii." He shrugs his shoulders and steps away again, getting an eerie, negative feeling from the idol. "Besides, if he doubts its authenticity, we can show him how excited the crystal was to see it." He grabs a couple meal tickets and begins to fill them out by the door, whistling quietly as he does so.

JENNA: "I hope he's disappointed," Jo remarks, and she ambles into the bathroom, snagging a towel and walking back to the idol. "Sending us to this place." She grumbles, tossing the towel over the idol and wrapping it up, then tucking it behind one of the chairs. That finished, she joins Shane at the door, waiting for him to finish before pushing the door open.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head, grabbing his shirt and boots before following her out. He hooks their tickets outside the door and shuts it behind them, then hunches down to get his boots on. "I'm sure he didn't send us here just to spite you, Jo. Whatever his motivations are, they aren't the desire to see you suffer." He stands back up with a grunt, tugging his shirt on and not bothering to button it up -- it's fairly warm for morning, even as summers go. Smiling tiredly, he brushes some of her hair back behind her ear. "A person can be plenty grouchy without being a sadist."

JENNA: "I'm sure if he knew, he'd take particular pleasure in it." She turns away and ambles off down the path, heading for the beach nearest their cave. "Either way -- ship's due tomorrow." Their relaxing walk is brief, unfortunately, as some of the newlyweds are also early risers, and the quiet beach is occupied.

JUSTIN: * In the presence of other people, Shane is modest enough to button up his shirt, but before long they're on their way to do their last day of spelunking anyway. "Would be nice if we had at least one more thing to bring back," he notes, though he doesn't sound too optimistic of their chances. At the least, he'd like something else for the mantle back at their own house. "For all we know, that statue is nothing more than a knock-knock joke machine."

JENNA: "Maybe there's some pottery in one of the back rooms," Jo says absently, lighting their lantern before they start into the cave. "I think the idol's more than enough to compensate him, though." The route through the cave temple is almost familiar by now, and she starts back confidently, bypassing the tunnel that took them to the sanctuary and its idol and instead heading for some of the smaller rooms nearby.

JUSTIN: "I was hoping for something shinier, but I suppose pottery is better than nothing." Shane follows her down the familiar corridors until they finally reach some of the chambers they've yet to fully investigate. "These look more like bedrooms," he notes, walking over and crouching down to poke at a worn grass matt. "You suppose people lived in here, too? Or maybe they used them for something else."

JENNA: "Maybe the priests lived here." Jo shrugs, moving past the bedrooms and looking boredly into what appears to be a storage closet. Not much seems to be intact. "I don't guess he'd want us to bring back one of the beds .... I wouldn't want to transport it."

JUSTIN: * Shane makes an amused noise, straightening again before he goes to poke around in another corner. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing of scholarly value in a bed, but I could be wrong." He bends down to pick up what looks like a small piece of bone, likely fallen from a necklace.

JENNA: * Jo ambles back and leans in the doorway, glancing around the room. "Too bad they didn't leave anything written," she remarks. "Though I guess if they had a talking statue it could remember everything for them." She looks down at Shane curiously. "Find anything else?'

JUSTIN: "Not really..." Shane rolls the small, carved bone over in his fingers, looking at the patterned etchings on it, then turns around to face her. "They probably just had oral histories and records, aside from the pictures and designs on the walls." He walks toward her and places the small bit of jewelry in her hand, smiling some. "Other rooms left to search, might as well move on to the next."

JENNA: * Jo glances at the jewelry with an arched eyebrow and tucks it away in her pouch. "I didn't see much past here," she says, but she leads the way, peering boredly from room to room. "I wonder if they got looted.. or if they cleared out and moved somewhere else. Sure didn't leave much behind."

JUSTIN: * Shane shrugs his shoulders, peering into the dark rooms as they pass them. The majority of them really are pretty spartan, a couple nothing more than blank walls and bits of dried grass. "The statue would probably know what happened. Too bad we can't communicate with it."

JENNA: "Not our problem," Jo says almost cheerfully, stopping at the last room and lifting her lantern above her head to get a look inside it. "It's obviously magical, after all, and it's related to the culture here, so ... it fulfills the requirements he gave us." She looks back at Shane, arching an eyebrow. "Good thing we found it.. otherwise we'd be going back with a whole lot of nothing."

JUSTIN: * Shane leans agains the stone of the entranceway, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just because we're here for a /job/ doesn't mean we can't be /curious/." He pushes from his spot to walk into the room, tracing some of the paintings on the wall. "I might fancy myself a scholar, one day, you know." He looks over his shoulder at her and smiles cheerily. "Solving the mystery of the disappearing Jawaii natives could be my big breakthrough."

JENNA: "As long as you don't end up a crotchety old goat," Jo retorts, shaking her head. "And so long as we don't spent the next six months /here/." She smiles faintly. "See anything else? We'd probably better get back to the cabin, otherwise. Food's probably cold by now."

JUSTIN: * Shane sighs lightly, kicking a stray pebble across the floor and scratching at his cheek. "Yeah... I guess we might as well go back." He seems mildly disappointed that they didn't find anything interesting, but then, there will probably be other ancient, long-dead civilizations for him to pilfer things from during future jobs. Walking back to join Jo near the entrance, he motions for her to go ahead. "After you, madam."

JENNA: * Jo snorts faintly and ambles ahead, dousing the lamp and giving a long stretch as they walk back into the sunlight. "And now we can lie around until the ship comes," she says, sounding unsure of whether that's a good or a bad thing. "And hopefully we haven't gone over our deadline by too much." She pauses in the sand, glancing at Shane, and shrugs, starting back for the cabin.

JUSTIN: * Shane grins a bit, catching Jo around the waist as they walk and squeezing. "If he complains, we can just tell him our ship was delayed. I doubt he'd go through the trouble to check up on it." For his part, he's looking forward to relaxing before they go. He might not even mind so much travel if more of it was actual vacation and less tomb raiding.

JENNA: * In contrast, Jo is trying not to dread the empty hours ahead, though she's comforted by the fact that she and Shane won't be spending them in the company of irritating newlyweds. She leans comfortably against him as they approach the walkway to the cabin. "Guess we can play cards for the rest of the trip," she says drily.

JUSTIN: "Cards?" Shane laughs, looking down at her, but he shrugs his shoulders lightly and tugs her a bit closer against him. "Well, I suppose we haven't in a while, anyway." He scoops her up in his usual manner, completing the last several yards to their cabin with her slung in his arms. Shifting her to one arm (grateful that she is small and light), he turns the knob with his freed hand and nudges the door open. Breakfast is sitting on a cart just off to the side, everything covered on metal serving trays.

JENNA: * Jo leans over to nuzzle him agreeably, though not enough to unbalance him before he's ready to set her down. "Hope it hasn't gotten too cold," she remarks, realizing all at once that she is quite hungry after a morning's hike. Even if it has gotten cold, food is food, and she's bound to have had worse.

JUSTIN: * Shane walks past the cart to gently toss his cargo onto the bed. "One way to find out for sure." He steps back to the food and rolls the trays over to the bed, removing the covers from their food. The smells roll up to meet them immediately, and it would seem the food hasn't gotten completely cold yet. "What do you think?" He walks around to drop onto the bed beside her, grabbing a piece of bacon and offering it to her. "Look safe?"

JENNA: * She snags it and shrugs, popping it into her mouth. "I've eaten less safe things in my life," she remarks, bending to remove her boots. "As long as it's food, I'll eat it." She pauses then, glancing over at where she hid the idol, and gets to her feet to retrieve it, setting it on the table again as a fairly ugly centerpiece.

JUSTIN: * Shane arches an eyebrow, watching her return the statue to its place of prominence. "Couldn't wait until after we finished eating?" He grins, dragging her back to the food again before the talkative idol has a chance to distract her. "Now I'll feel like we're being watched," he says with mock disappointment, but he's already poking around at the food.

JENNA: "I'm sure it won't affect your appetite nearly as much as you think it will," Jo grunts, snagging a piece of toast and munching on it silently, eyes flicking once in a while to the idol. "It seems to have figured out we can't understand it, anyway ... hasn't bothered saying anything in a while." She finishes her toast and reaches out for a piece of sausage.

JUSTIN: * Shane glances over at it and makes a face, then turns back to the food and pops a bite of toast into his mouth, washing it down with some juice. "Maybe it's sleeping. Or thinking about how to escape... not that it has much of a chance, unless it can fly." He still has an uneasy feeling about it, but he can't really be sure why. It's usually the type of feeling he gets about guys who don't know how to control their eyes around Jo.

JENNA: * The statue doesn't seem inclined to disturb them through the meal, and Jo, not bothered by Shane's uneasiness, eats in her usual, ravenous fashion, finally flopping backward on the bed and stretching lazily. "And we never have to go back to that cave," she says with apparent happiness.

JUSTIN: "No, we never do," Shane sets a bit of unfinished biscuit on the cart and leans down next to her, prodding at her ribs. "Or come back to this island, which should please you immensely." He grins a bit, walking his fingers up her side to her shoulder, then flicks her hair.

JENNA: * Jo grins agreeably, scooting over to nestle against him. "Hopefully we just cleaned out the only artifact worth having on the entire stinking island." She stretches again, then settles against him once more, nuzzling him comfortably. "Maybe our next job will be more interesting ..."

JUSTIN: * Shane kisses at her temple, combing her hair back with his fingers. "Or at least less commercial," he adds, leaning over again to kiss her nose this time. "I'd like to go somewhere that isn't hot, for a change." As if reminding himself, he sits up and works off his boots, unbuttoning his shirt before he flops back again.

JENNA: "There's always Lutie," Jo remarks, opening one eye to look at him. "It's not hot there at all, from what I understand." She grins widely for a moment. "Then again, any ruins in that area would probably be buried in snow ..." And, thinking on it, neither of them have a lot in the way of winter clothes. She considers shedding some of her sweaty clothes, but for the moment she's feeling too lazy to do so.

JUSTIN: "Well, I don't necessarily want to go the other extreme, either," Shane says with a smirk, rolling over to face her again. "Besides, I don't know how well you'd survive in all that wintery weather. You're delicate." He plucks at her shirt, the fabric stubborn about letting go of her slick skin. "And I'm not sure you'd look good in a wool coat."

JENNA: * Jo snorts. "But I'd /survive/ in a wool coat," she points out. "And I'm about as delicate as a farm horse," she grumbles, burrowing against him. "Don't be silly.. if it's a job, it's a job. We go where the work takes us." In spite of her words, her tone isn't really lecturing, and after a moment she continues. "I'd just as soon not go to Lutie, though."

JUSTIN: * Shane nods his head, curling his arms around her to cuddle up. "Well then, we can agree on that part, at least." He gives her a squeeze, then idly explores her side with his fingers, poking and stroking in random places. "So... what about that game of cards, again?"

JENNA: * Jo wrinkles her nose at him and grins. "I can fetch them if you like. They're usually in my bag." She waits for an answer, however, before moving, as she's fairly comfortable where she is. "Should I go easy on you, or should we play something you might actually win?" Her grin becomes somewhat predatory.

JUSTIN: * Shane snorts, giving her a mock glare. "Oh, be nice." His lips quirk into a grin before his act is up, however, and he scoots over to get off the bed. "Let's think of a game where we'll both be winners, hm?" He snags her pack from where she left it and tosses it onto the bed beside before rejoining her.

JENNA: "I don't know of many games like that," Jo says comfortably, sitting up to fish through her bag until she locates the deck of cards. "Most of them seem to involve a winner and a loser ..." Tossing the cards to Shane, she shoves her bag off the bed and leans back again, arching an eyebrow. "Or do you have some way around that..?"

JUSTIN: "Solitaire?" Shane snickers, crawling around until there's a decent amount of playing space between them. "Or we'll just have to think of something with mutual benefits for both winner and loser, yes?" He scoops up the deck and unbinds the cards, then begins to shuffle them lazily.

JENNA: "I suppose there are things to bet besides money," she says archly, pushing herself into a sitting position. "If you wanted to make things interesting." She rests her hands in her lap, watching him shuffle the cards for a moment, then turns an inquisitive look to his face.

JUSTIN: * Shane's eyebrows arch, and he turns his eyes up to give her a scrutinizing look. "Oh, are there?" He sets the deck down in front of her for her to cut at her leisure. "I suppose more interesting is always better than less interesting... have something in mind, do you?"

JENNA: "Mm, I might." She leans forward to take hold of the deck, but instead of cutting it, she completes the motion by catching Shane in a lazy kiss. "Will that do in place of coins?" she asks lightly, pulling away and tending to the deck as she settles back into place.

JUSTIN: * Shane leans after her a moment to let the kiss last, and his lips curl in a pleased smile when they separate from hers. "I think that just might be better than coins," he says quietly, then leans back and straightens his shirt. "So, for every point you get, I give you a kiss... and for every point I get, you kiss me? I think we've found a way for everyone to win afterall."

JENNA: * Jo grins at him. "That's about what I was thinking ... so do you want to go points per round or tally up at the end of the game?" She hands him the cards to deal. "Either way.. let's get on with it, shall we?"

JUSTIN: "As we play, by all means," Shane says with obvious enthusiasm, beginning to deal out the cards. "Because you know we aren't going to want to wait." He grins, setting the deck down between them and surveying his hand. "Hm. And by the look of things, you'll be getting an awful lot of attention."

JENNA: * Jo snorts, laying down her first card. "We'll see." The card game and its consequences manage to keep them occupied well into the night -- with only one major interruption when the statue decides to comment raucously on their activities. Stuffed hastily back in Jo's pack, it is quickly forgotten, and the next day dawns to find them asleep on top of the covers with the cards, uncollected, on the bed and on the floor.

JUSTIN: * Shane wakes up with a quiet snort and looks around, eyes bleery and unfocused. He apparently can't remember falling asleep, but he's not entirely uncomfortable with the setup -- if a little surprised to be the first one awake. He turns over to drape his arm over Jo and yawns, nuzzling into her neck and nibbling liberally.

JENNA: * Jo squirms, burrowing into him at first to escape the attention, then waking completely and prodding at his ribs. "Why are you awake already?" she mumbles, drawing back enough that she can look at him. "I can't have slept in that much ..."

JUSTIN: * Shane murmurs some nonsense into her neck before she pulls away, then he looks up at her innocently and shrugs. "I don't know. I didn't realize we went to sleep. Until now, that is." He leans back over her and pecks her lips, then sits up stretches with another yawn. "It's still early. I don't think the ship is supposed to leave for another few hours."

JENNA: "Then that gives us enough time to clean up." Jo scoots off the bed, rubbing groggily at her eyes, and shuffles around to retrieve her clothing before attempting to gather up the scattered cards. "I'm tempted to steal the soap again.. not that we need it." She sighs, straightening, and grins at Shane. "It's the thought that counts."

JUSTIN: * Shane tuts her, reaching over to tug her hair gently. "We're technically stealing a statue, though I suppose it doesn't belong to the resort." He gets up and looks for his pants, pulling them on before he helps her collect the cards.

JENNA: "Somehow I don't think the natives much care ..." Jo smiles ironically, then returns to the task at hand, stuffing the cards back into their box (hoping they found them all) and packing the rest of their gear. Breakfast has come and gone by the time they make for the docks, shuffling carefully around the other couples to wait for the ship back to Izlude.

JUSTIN: * The ship is only slightly less crowded for the trip home, but the wind is with them and they're back in Izlude before they have time to get too antsy. Eager to finish the job and move on to other things, Shane ops to forego an overnight break in Izlude and sets a brisk pace to Mackenzie's cliffside mansion. It's a quiet, early morning when they finally arrive, and much to their surprise, Mackenzie is already outside, standing on his front steps.

JENNA: * The sight of him causes Jo no small amount of surprise, but she masks it by unslinging her pack as she walks up the steps and dropping it at Mack's feet. This elicits an angry squawk from the statue, which has commented once or twice (they assume) on the indignities it's suffered over the trip. "Hope we're not late this time," Jo remarks.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie doesn't seem nearly as surprised to see them. In fact, he seems rather distracted, only turning to look at them when Jo's pack lands on the step in front of him. "Oh, you likely are." He sounds far more tired than the've ever seen him before, and not in the mood for the usual banter. "I trust your search wasn't a complete waste of all our time?"

JENNA: * Jo scratches her head, finding his mood a little odd, then she shrugs. "You'll be a better judge of that than us," she remarks, bending to open the flap and removing the statue with a slight frown. "It set off your pretty rock, but as far as we can tell all it does is talk." She thunks the statue in the side, and it suddenly utters a litany of its usual nonsense, most of it probably directed at her.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie arches an eyebrow, now knowing what the earlier sound was. "Unusual," he notes, and takes the statue from her to give it a visual inspection. "I don't recognize the stylings, but it's similar to ancient Utan design." He looks up from the idol to eye Jo and Shane. "Where did you find it, precisely?"

JENNA: "Well, we found the major temple the book kept talking about .. it was a cave, actually, but they'd carved it up and decorated it." She glances at the statue, which has subsided to grumbling. "It was on an altar in one of the bigger chambers." She then glances at Shane. "We didn't find a whole lot else."

JUSTIN: "Nothing the crystal liked, anyway," Shane agrees, and Mackenzie turns to open the door with a quiet grunt. "Its language is undoubtedly related to that of Umbala, but it's a distant dialect. If I can manage to decipher it, I may be able to gleen some useful information from it, but that is yet to be seen." He steps inside, then pauses, looking somewhat hesitant before he looks at them over his shoulder. "I suppose you'll want your pay."

JENNA: "I imagine we do," Jo says drily, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow at this behavior. "There some poisonous animal loose that you don't want us coming inside?" she asks, assuming that if there was a poisonous animal loose he would have invited them in.

JUSTIN: "I can deal with poisonous animals," Mackenzie says without further explanation, leading them in the direction of his office, as usual. He seems extra cautious, pausing to look down an adjoining hallway before making the climb up the steps. "You still have my crystal?" he asks abruptly, setting the satue down on a table before turning to face them again.

JENNA: * Jo nods, nudging Shane, but she's clearly more interested in what Mack's so worried about. "No dings or scratches, either," she says drily, leaning against the wall to begin her customary wait for their paycheck. She makes a mental note to explore that hallway before they leave.

JUSTIN: * Shane quickly fetches the box from his pack and steps forward to place it in the sage's waiting hand. Mackenzie opens the box to confirm Jo's claim, then, apparently satisfied, goes to his desk and sits down. "While I have no way of knowing if this talking trinket will be worth anything at all, I'll make you an offer of fifty-thousand."

JENNA: * Jo glances at Shane and shrugs. "That's fine," she says agreeably. It more than covers travel to and from Jawaii, and the only reason she even wants pay is as acknowledgement of work done. "Hopefully it'll make more sense to you than it did to us. Screamed bloody murder whenever Shane tried to pick it up, though."

JUSTIN: "It certainly didn't seem to mind you touching it, though," Shane remarks sourly, still having his suspicions. Mackenzie stopped listening after getting an agreement, however, and is busy writing out the slip for them to take to the bank. He rips it from the pad sharply and gets to his feet again, apparently in quite a hurry to get them out of his house. "When I have another job, I'll contact you in the usual manner," he says simply, and thrusts the slip into Shane's hand. "I have a lot of work to do, so if you'll excuse me." He holds a hand out, gesturing for them to take their leave of his office.

JENNA: "Right, right ..." Jo ambles out of the office, starting down the stairs at an unusually quick clip. At the bottom, she waits for Shane to join her, grinning. "What say we go find out what was bothering him so much?" she asks cheerily, in a tone that indicates she's going to whether he likes it or not.

JUSTIN: * Shane turns Jo a lecturing stare, folding the piece of paper in his hand and slipping it into his pocket. "Jo, this isn't our house, and we should know better than to stick our nose in Mr. Malachi's business." He seems to think this is all the reason they should need to spend as little time in the house as possible.

JENNA: * Jo gives him a long look, but she doesn't answer, instead tracking her way back to the hallway that earned so much of Mack's attention on their way up. Without stopping to ask Shane's opinion, she starts exploring, poking her head in each room as she comes across it until she finally stops in front of the library, a highly amused expression on her face. "My, my," she remarks. "No wonder." Sound asleep on a couch in the room is a young girl in priestess garb.

JUSTIN: * Shane peeks around the corner, visibly nervous about wandering around areas of Mack's house that they've never been before. The sight before him is enough to make him at least momentarily forget his unease, however. "What in the world is a girl doing sleeping in his library?" He stares at her for a moment, the young priestess looking awfully peaceful and content where she lays, then steers his eyes over to Jo. "You don't suppose she's his... No, that's just..." He makes a face.

JENNA: "Robbing the convent cradle?" Jo smirks, then shakes her head. "I doubt the old goat even has a sex drive," she mutters, still peering at the girl. "Maybe she does his cleaning for him or something." This strikes her as odd, as she hasn't known the church for lending out acolytes for anything besides spiritual fulfillment.

JUSTIN: * Shane tips his hat up to scratch at his head, half-frowning at the girl. "From the way he behaves, I'm not sure he'd tolerate a maid." He looks over at Jo and smirks. "Or the other way around, for that matter." Shane just barely hears the footsteps, but it's already too late to do anything about it. Looking over his shoulder, sure enough, Mackenzie is stalking down the hall in their direction and looking particularly displeased. "What do you think you're doing wandering around my house," he snaps visciously, sounding almost desperate -- after all, it isn't the snooping that bothers him so much as what they've found, and it's too late to take back what they've seen. "Is this the respect you show an employer?"

JENNA: "Sorry," Jo says, unable to hide an amused grin. "We're just, you know, nosy by nature." She attempts to scoot around him, looking not at all contrite, but the noise has woken the young girl on the couch, and she sits up groggily, rubbing her eyes. "Oh.. did I fall asleep?" she says vaguely. "I'll go make the tea now, Mr. Malachi ..."

JUSTIN: "You can expect your next paycheck to reflect your nosiness." Mackenzie shoulders his way past Shane and Jo roughly, looking down at Kalaani with no small degree of infuration -- even if it isn't the girl's fault his dismissed guests went snooping around and found her. "I don't need any tea," he grumbles at her, waiting with great impatience for her to right herself. "If you want to make yourself useful, you can show these two--" he motions at them with a harsh cut of his hand, "and yourself out the door, and maybe I can finally get something done around here."

JENNA: * The girl blinks at him for a moment, looking surprised, then gets to her feet and brushes her robes off, smiling at Shane and Jo. "Oh.. I didn't know you had guests." Jo looks at her blankly for a moment, then shakes her head, and Kalaani wastes no time trotting out and motioning for them to follow her. "Did you get lost? It can be hard to find your way around at first."

JUSTIN: "Lost. Right -- we got lost, didn't we Jo?" Shane seems to find the notion somewhat amusing in spite of himself, but he does send a last wary glance in the sage's direction before they're ushered around the bend. Mackenzie puts a hand to his face and rubs liberally, doing his damn best to ignore the stupidity flowing out of Kalaani's mouth as she leads his "guests" out of the room. Once they're out of earshot, he sighs and makes his way back to his upstairs office, where he intends to spend the rest of the day in seclusion.

JENNA: * Jo swallows a snort, rubbing her nose and arching an eyebrow at Shane. "Sure. Lost." Kalaani glances between them, looking slightly puzzled, but she smiles nevertheless and leads them to the door. There she hesitates, bobbing her short curtsey, and smiles again. "I've got to go make that tea -- it was nice meeting you," she says with an air of distraction -- possibly born of the fact she just woke up. Jo glances at her and manages a short grunt. It seems to be all she can get out without laughing.

JUSTIN: * Shane tilts his head and considers the girl, rubbing at the back of his head and looking mildly perplexed. "Didn't he tell you...? Well... Nevermind." He tips his hat to her and grins, turning to head down the steps. "Certainly not my place to question."

JENNA: * Kalaani doesn't answer his question and bobs again, closing the door behind them both and trotting hurriedly back to the kitchen. She isn't long in making tea, in spite of Mack's objections, and it's with quick, careful steps that she carries it up the stairs to his office. She hesitates in front of the door, knocking, then stepping inside without waiting for a response. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I didn't mean to sleep so long."

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie fumbles with the papers in his hands, nearly dropping them, and looks up with a completely exasperated look on his face. "I thought I told you to leave!" He almost growls, but stops himself, dumping the papers onto the desk and sinking back in his chair in sudden silence. He brings a hand to his face, eyes closing while he takes several deep breaths. Once he's sure he's in control of himself again he lowers his hand, looking up at her with distinct diappointment (not that it's anything she shouldn't be used to by now) and simply watches her, waitng for her to make her move.

JENNA: * Kalaani doesn't answer him, walking over to set the tea down on a clear space and calmly pouring him a cup. That done, she takes it to Mack and sets it gently on his desk, stepping back. "I'll leave the rest where it is, unless you want me to wait and take it all back to the kitchen," she says.

JUSTIN: "Just leave it..." Mackenzie answers her in a tone that can only mean resignation. He stares at her for a moment with a surprisingly neutral expression -- though neutral for him is still fairly intimidating. Apparently making up his mind about whatever he was thinking, he turns from her to return to his work, ignoring the cup of tea on the desk for the time being.

JENNA: * Kalaani nods, then makes her way to the door and pauses, turning to face him again. "See you tomorrow," she says cheerfully, then turns and trots down the steps and out the door, closing and locking it and heading back to Juno.

JUSTIN: * It isn't until Mackenzie hears the front door shut that he finally reaches over and takes his cup. He looks down into the dark liquid residing within, and despite his best efforts, finds himself getting lost in thought. It's at least a few minutes before he finally shakes himself out of it and lifts the cup to sip at the hot, pleasant drink. Someday he'll find out how her tea is so much better than his own.