Log: Nix Mechanical Malfunctions

[endless_scrolls]

Title: Mechanical Malfunctions
Type: RP log
Fandom: AU!Naruto
Character(s): Tenten, Aburame Shino
Pairing(s): None
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: I own only the part that I played in this.
Note: Log originally started for the nixcore RP comm, but never finished.
Dedicated to: Shino and Tenten. For the awkwardness. ♥

Mornings, like most everything else in the sparkling city of LA, were one of the most beautiful sights in the country. Quite possibly in the world (although she would be reluctant to admit so due to her limited knowledge of said world). Such a shame, though, that Tenten was forced to start most of her days sprinting in from the bus stop.

Aside from the usual disgruntled complaint from the occasional pedestrian, the only sound she could hear was the steady 'clip, clip, clip' of her own footsteps. The winter air was crisp, as would be expected in the balmy paradise of California. Dawn was already peeking over the buildings. And Tenten was desperately trying her best to make it to work on time.

The Metro had been running late -- again -- the new driver still adjusting to the changes made in the bus route. And for what seemed like the hundredth time that week, Tenten found herself curving around corners and dodging around innocent bystanders in order to make up for the lost time. But as the young designer came gliding through the doors of the company, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Pushing the up button, Tenten took a moment to catch her breath while she waited for the elevator doors to open.

Certain people were never late. Perhaps it was that they had a preternatural sense about how long things took, or that they had a sixth sense about what horrible disturbances were going disrupt them. For Shino, it simply involved being half an hour ahead of schedule for everything.

It had been an easier feat back home. The Aburame was still getting his finger onto the pulse of Los Angeles, trying to pace out the ebbing and flowing of bodies and buildings and life. There were so many more lives here than back home. It sent shivers up his spine every now and then, slamming his door on the universe more frequently than not, hiding in the far-too-small confines of his (comparatively) cheap apartment. Bothriocyrtum californicum, as it were.

He had been half a beat late today, which was off-putting. The bus had pulled away half a second later than he'd needed it to, meaning he'd taken an extra half-second signing in when he'd finally made it to the rather imposing building his appointment was scheduled in for the day.

Given the unsettling delay of seconds on top of the general low-grade agitation of being in a new place surrounded by new people, Shino was doing a remarkable job keeping his cool. His pinky finger wasn't twitching and his brow was as unwrinkled as his still-pressed suit. It was the most comfortable one he owned, just broken in enough over the last few months that it crinkled in all the right places to keep his body happy, still new enough not to give him concern about how suitable it might be for work.

He brushed at the fairly innocuous visitor's badge absently as he moved toward the elevators. There was a woman waiting; if he'd been his half-second earlier, he would have been on the elevator she'd just missed, he was positive.

Normally, Tenten was a very punctual person. Sometimes anally so. But even the best laid plans could fall short of circumstances. And so, rather than dwell on the matter, the young woman adjusted to life accordingly. She had made it to work on time without much difficulty. Yes, she was out of breath and it would take a moment for the adrenaline to return to pumping at a steady and normal rate. But personal satisfaction definitely out shined momentary discomfort.

Plus, a little running could only be a benefit for her health, right?

When the elevator doors opened with a light ding, it was with a smile and courteous nod to the other that Tenten stepped inside.

Wrapped up in his own world--an admittedly slightly unusual place for him to be--the intern barely took notice of the woman standing beside him. He'd registered that she was slightly flushed and in the process of catching her breath, and that further investigation would probably find her to be quite pretty. It didn't necessitate any further consideration.

Which meant, of course, that he almost missed the smile flashed his way and the little nod as the elevator doors finally dinged open.

Shaking it off without physically moving, mind still swirling with the brief work he'd stayed up all night plotting among, Shino stepped in after the other elevator traveler. It was hard to catch her attention, eyes still mostly masked by the dark shade of his glasses (buildings with glass lobbies were infuriating that way; the transition to clear glass always took much longer than one would hope, and it was fairly unprofessional to be wandering around in sunglasses), but as the doors slid closed again behind him, he managed to offer the woman a polite little nod.

With the exception of the faint sound of muzak filtering in through the speakers, the cabin of the elevator was relatively quiet. Not exactly unusual as there seemed to always be an unspoken agreement, no matter where she went, that no one was to speak while inside of the elevator. Or maybe that was just simply Tenten's experience on the matter. So it was with little to no concern that the young woman shuffled to one side of the box and waited patiently while it moved smoothly from floor to floor.

She was simply staring at the outline of her shoes, idly toying with the messenger bag strap that laid across her chest when the elevator abruptly stopped with a jolt -- a groan and squeal -- as if someone or something were pulling against the natural motion of the gears. "...What was that?"

There was only thing he even vaguely approved of about elevators, and that was the unwritten code of silence. Everything else about them was highly unacceptable. Close proximity to strangers forced upon him, overly bright lights glaring over his glasses at his sensitive eyes, ineffectively slow motion.

Shino was a stair person, truth be told.

Silently shifting his weight, the Aburame listened calmly to the faint hum of the motors (or hydrolics or whatever it was the fired the cab up and down on the lift), back to ignoring the other passenger. The silence was comfortable enough.

Clunk.

The slight jolt was just enough to send his glasses sliding down his nose, the barest hints of a grimace twitching briefly at the corners of his lips as the world around them groaned with horrible unhappy noises. So much for timeliness.

Shino reached up to straighten his glasses with little concern. "...that? That was some sort of malfunction. There should be a call button for such occurrences."

And sure enough, as the stranger had said, there was a red button located at the bottom of the panel marked 'Call' in bold print. Where she had expected it to be. However, when Tenten tried making a call, there was only the empty crackle of static and then silence to greet her. Typical, she thought to herself. The one day Tenten had been too tired to make the trek up one flight of stairs, the elevator decided to clunk out on her. On them both. "Hello?... Hello, is anyone there?"

Patiently, she waited -- hoped -- for an answer from someone. Anyone that might have been listening. But... there was nothing.

After a long stretch of silence, Tenten gave a sigh and turned to her companion. "I guess that's not gonna do us any good."

For a moment Shino simply stood at attention, watching the woman fiddle with the bright buttons. The harsh static brought the shadow of a frown to his lips. He watched the woman wait, watching the slight signs of tension increasing with every passing second.

Her eventual admission of defeat brought his focus to a point. One hand lifted quietly to his ear, tapping at the Bluetooth earpiece nestled there. It felt unnecessary to explain to the other passenger that he was going to call the police. Instead, as he waited for the unhappy snow to clear out of his ear (waiting a moment sometimes helped his phone gain reception in spotty areas), he simply tilted his head slightly to the side and peered at her through semi-dark glasses.

"...do you have the contact information of a building manager?"

"No," Tenten responded with a stiff shake of her head, "I never had a reason to contact him before so..."

And with that, she left the sentence hanging, trusting that he would be able to complete it himself. There had never been any problems before that required Tenten to call the building maintenance personnel. And so, what reason would there be to have his number in the first place? The more sarcastic and temperamental part of her psyche would have pointed out that this was such an occasion where a number would have come in handy. But as it were, now was not the time to point out mistakes in judgment.

"But maybe we could call someone who can get in contact with the guy," she suggested, pulling out her own phone to search through the list of numbers.

With a barely affirmative inclination of his head, Shino immediately withdrew into the comfortable silence which had not yet been fully shaken from the elevator. The persistent buzz in his ear was comforting for the first few seconds. It sounded vaguely like a wasp's nest, the static bouncing around his ear like so many bees swarming; odd, but natural, the sort of white noise he looked to for support.

Only then the white noise didn't stop.

There was a certain agitation in the way he reached to his pocket to pull out his physical phone, hoping vainly that actually hitting buttons would bring service to his mobile in the metal trap which was the elevator shaft. The phone had been giving out since he'd gotten here, of course, which was frustrating enough, but now that he really needed it... It just figured it had to be in one of the few places even good cell phones tended to fizzle out.

Not knowing, for once, where to turn, Shino glanced over at the woman again. No words, just a quiet look through his glasses, hoping to receive confirmation that her reception was better than his.

Suffice to say, an elevator was not exactly the best of locations for phone reception. A completely metal box suspended by cables surrounded by steel-enforced walls that made up the shaft. It would be a miracle if either one of them would be able to find enough of a phone signal to take their phones off standby, let alone make a call. And as she shifted this way and that, waving her phone around for better reception, Tenten could not help but feel a little ridiculous. But she was willing to forgo her own dignity if it meant being able to reach help.

"I... have one bar, barely," she mumbled softly, mostly to herself though loud enough for the other to hear as well, "But that's hardly enough of a signal to make a call."

It would simply just cut out in the middle of the call. Fade in and out of a sentence while she was trying to describe the situation to the person on the other side. Or perhaps the call would not even get through at all, and then they would simply be left cursing their own luck. But would that be enough incentive for at least an attempt? They would both be stuck there either way, whatever decision she made. "What do you think, should I give it a try?"

It wouldn't help anyone to just stare at the woman for asking the question. It would only increase the tension in the very confined space, which would only lead to the kind of silence which hurt rather than helped. So, instead of staring or snapping, Shino simply tilted his head forward a little, now peering at the other passenger over the top of his glasses.

"...with minimal reception? It's still the best chance we have at the moment." Shino shot a quick glance over the fuzzy edges of the metal room around them. If the call button was shot and the doors were firmly closed, there weren't really option. "I believe our alternative would be to bang on the doors in the hopes that we're not between floors. It would still likely be best to attempt a phone call."

He had to lick his lips as he finished, pushing his glasses back up to sit properly on the bridge of his nose. It was a lot of words all at once in a social interaction.

Social? Social. Being stuck in an elevator with someone was still social.

Right. Stupid question. Of course she should make the call, even if there was little chance that it would get through to anyone outside. But given the circumstances, it was easy to understand why rationale was not exactly at the top of her priorities. Tenten would not call herself a claustrophobic. But the thought of there being no escape, or that they would be stuck there for hours before anyone would realize it was a bit nerve-wracking. So, she was grateful when the other occupant of the elevator simply gave an even response. At least one of them was thinking straight.

Pushing a random button on her speed dial, she held the phone to her ear and listened for the tell-tale ring on the other end... and was thoroughly disappointed -- discouraged -- when there was none. Another glance at the screen told her that the phone was still struggling to connect with a signal. At that, Tenten's brows furrowed with a level of concern. She had hoped they would not have to bang on the walls of the cabin. But as things were going, it was looking more and more likely that there would be no other choice.

Steady and attentively, the young designer began shifting the phone around, searching for possibly a better reception. She may have looked like a fool, but at the moment, Tenten could care less.

She didn't have to say anything. Even if he hadn't spent as much of his life taking facial cues as he had, the expression on her face was loud and clear even before she began the shifting dance: there was no signal.

Carefully avoiding entering the woman's personal space by shifting as she moved (when had the elevator suddenly become so small?), Shino began glancing around for alternative solutions. His fingers ghosted closer to the buttons for a moment, wary of their unlit status, before he began methodically pushing each and every one. The "door open" button he hit twice, nose wrinkling a little in frustration when the elevator barely even made the faintest of noises in response. The cab was non-functional. He was fairly certain they were in little to no danger of falling.

That didn't mean they might not be stuck in here for a few hours before anyone noticed they (or the elevator) were missing.

Without waiting for any more confirmation than the look on the woman's face that they needed to move on to plan b, Shino carefully set down the briefcase he'd been holding. He tapped at the firmly closed door lightly, then rather suddenly slammed his fist against it, getting a gratifyingly loud noise like a 'BLAM.'

Most of the time, Tenten would consider herself to be a even-minded and observant individual. But on certain occasions and under extreme pressure, she was susceptible to having a narrow focus. She was human, after all.

And at that moment, her mind was wholly fixed on dealing with the call and struggling with a fading phone signal. So much so that Tenten had not been paying much attention to what the other was doing. His shifting was noted, and she could still see blurred movements from the edges of her visual field. But the young designer had only marked it down for nervous fidgeting while they both waited to see how Plan A would pan out.

So it was with a startled jerk at the interrupted silence that all attention went to him and his efforts. And it became obvious that the man was not willing to wait.

"Are you ok?" She was not certain just how hard he had slammed his hand against the metal doors. But judging from the resounding sound that had came afterwards, it had been with a great deal of force. And although the situation might very well call for them to take such measures if the phone did not connect with someone on the outside, she would rather he not hurt himself extensively because of this.

It was an odd question. Of course he wasn't okay. Neither of them were. They were both trapped in an elevator with only the vaguest chance of making it to their appointments in a timely fashion. There was a vague line of annoyance across Shino's brow as he glanced over his shoulder at the woman, looking for a sign that she was joking.

She wasn't.

Giving a slight shake of his head, Shino proceeded to pound at the door again. It made a much louder noise than one would have thought. Thankfully that meant his knuckles and wrist were safe and secure as he continued to bang as hard as he could.

"Keep trying with the phone."

Opening her mouth to comment in return, Tenten paused and thought better of it. He already seemed near the limits of his own patience, and things were bad enough with being stuck inside of an immobile elevator. She did not need to add to the experience. Instead, the young woman decided to simply do as he said and continue her attempts with reaching someone on the other side of the phone. It was becoming more and more of a hopeless battle, but at the very least, it was something that Tenten could do other than obviously bothering the man with her questions.

Definitely not giving a good impression here, she thought to herself.

While waiting for any tell-tale sign that salvation was at hand, the woman let her gaze wander around the cabin for something -- anything -- to take focus away from the impending realization that, indeed, the two of them would be there for an unforeseeable amount of time. And that was when Tenten's eyes focused on the lean lines of his suit. As a costume designer for the company, it was in her sphere of consciousness to regard such things. Analyzing. Tearing apart the details and piecing it back together.

She wanted to comment in the quality and his choice of style, how it complimented his frame fairly well. But again, thought better of it. Better to stay on the man's good side in this matter.

For once, the young Aburame didn't want to be buried in silence. He wanted to stop banging on the door in front of him; he wanted to hear the woman's voice as she finally spoke into the phone(she would be relieved, maybe gush a little before getting to the important information). Another few minutes of banging steadily--short short short long long long short short short--and he needed to pause in his efforts, hands moving calmly to his wrists as he began undoing his cuffs.

It was frustrating. A lesser man would have made noises, grunted or muttered or even simply licked his lips unhappily. Shino simply let out a breath almost silently, glancing around the cab again with a largely blank expression on his face, hoping he'd missed something useful. It would be better to have been wrong about something's utility and to be able to fix things now than to have accurately guessed that they were stuck and remain stuck now. His cuffs undone, he reached up to loosen his tie a hair.

There wasn't even anywhere convenient to hang his jacket. That meant he couldn't take it off, which meant he needed to continue taking a minute to cool down before pounding on the door again. On the bright side, he was fairly certain from the way the woman was holding her body (slightly away from him, eyes lower than his face) that she wouldn't be likely to start making idle chatter while he was focused on his task.

Which, unfortunately, he wasn't. Men's dress shirts really should come in other colours than white without looking unprofessional.

Several times, Tenten waited, hung up, and punched in a random number only to wait once more. Thus was the perpetual cycle of desperation that steadily grew to hopelessness. All the while, there was nothing but the constant and stead bang of the other's fist against the thick metal doors of the elevator to fill in the silence. And it was beginning to become maddening, especially when the other seemed to refuse to show any sort of reaction to their situation.

At this point, anything would have been welcomed.

Huddled in the far corner of the elevator, she could only find comfort in the strong walls of the cabin pressing against her back. An ironic twist of fate, the young woman thought, as it was those very same walls that kept them both trapped there in the elevator shaft with no hope of escape. A serious matter, to be sure, but not the worse case scenario. After all, things could have been far worse. Still, the waiting starting to wear on even her patience.

Turning to the young man, Tenten could only look on with a level of concern. The consequences of his effort were already beginning to show, a light mist of sweat building along the crest of his brows. And as he drew back the sleeves of his shirt, she could not help but notice the redness in his skin where it impacted against the doors. Even if he were not placing much force behind each hit, eventually, it would still begin to wear on his hand.

"Maybe you should use something else to bang against the door," she offered, her voice soft and hopefully calming, "So you don't hurt your hand."

At least she was speaking softly. People tended to raise their voices when they panicked. This meant two things. First, that the woman was not in a state of immediate panic. Second, that they might be able to get along passably well, because she had the ability to speak at a decibel he could comprehend. Lots of people he'd encountered since coming LA seemed to completely lack what even small children were able to achieve-- an "inside voice."

He didn't turn around right away, instead spending a moment making sure he was in complete control of his breathing before glancing over his shoulder. The look on her face was concerned but not yet unfathomable. If he conceded to her briefly, it would most likely save them both from stress in the foreseeable future.

"...did you have a better idea?"

And even as the words seemed to slip out so easily from his lips -- how was that possible when it seemed as if the young man preferred to live in silence? -- Tenten was reaching into her bag with her free hand in search for something he could use instead. The other was still holding the phone up to an attentive ear, listening for any sort of sign that the call was going through to someone on the outside who could help them. Still no luck.

"Um..." Something hard and solid so that it could stand up to being constantly banged against inches solid metal. That was what they needed. But whether or not either one of them had something that was the true question. Not many things that she knew of in the world could be a match for steel-enforced doors. But at the very least, they had to try. "I don't think I have any..."

Tenten's fingers brushed along the edges of a hardcover book she had been reading. Just as something to pass the time while she waited for the bus to arrive or make its rounds on the route. A possibility. But even the hardened cover would not last long under the pressure or strain of the task. And that was when her fingers closed around the metal paper weight she had brought in, intent on using it to help while measuring fabrics for the costume department. "Maybe... this?"

Not a lot of things caught Shino entirely by surprise.

He had to admit that this girl managed it with quiet grace. Of all the things she might have pulled out of her bag, a paperweight was not among them. Well, no-- a wrapped paperweight might have made sense. She had the vague look of a young professional about her, after all. Paperweights were that sort of gift. But general object to have in a bag on the way to work?

Maybe women really did keep bricks in their purses.

Shino tilted his head back slightly, peering at the elevator's other passenger through his glasses without pushing them up his nose again. The scrutiny only took a moment, and broadcast much louder than words the thoughts running through his head: the surreality of the situation was catching up with him.

"..if you want to try, I supposed it could work." Without further ado, his hand went to his ear again. If she wanted to pound while he tried to reach the outside world, it probably make no difference.

Admittedly, though she would never say it to him out loud, his gaze was somewhat intimidating. There was a weight of judgment that came with the way he simply looked at her and the heavy paperweight she held in her hand. To a point where she began to fill somewhat silly for even having in her possession, valid reason or not. Granted, it was not exactly normal for someone to carry such a thing around. And had the roles been reversed, the young woman was not exactly confident that her own judgments would remain in check. But as it were, Tenten would simply have to live with the consequences of such fortune and hope that perhaps, one day, she would be able to leave a different and better impression on him later down the line.

Tenten was only more than glad that she had refrained from stopping by the weapon shop on the way to work, or the situation would have been a lot more awkward.

"It's worth a try..." Pushing out from where she was pressed into the corner, blunt object in hand, she padded over to the thick metal doors and paused for a moment in constrained thought before beginning. Hopefully, someone would hear them.

Had he been focused on her, Shino would have picked up on the woman's posture. As it was, moving out of the way to allow her access to the door blocked her successful from his ability to scrutinize her. His attention therefore went directly back to his ear-piece, attempting to get what the other passenger hadn't been able to while she did the reciprocal.

The buzz in his ear told him he'd have to start putting a lot more faith in the woman with the paper weight.

Carefully settling himself against the corner, the legal intern continued to tap at his ear, vaguely watching the woman as she took over the pounding. There was so little to say while they waited like this. Then again, if she became horrendously frustrated as well, it would begin to show. Her apparent annoyance would drive him further into his silent lack of acceptance of the situation, and someone would be murdered.

"Don't overexert yourself," he offered absently, hoping his usual monotone had something of a friendly tone. "It will only make the late more difficult."

A nod was all that she gave in response, turning to him for only a brief moment before she began. Needless to say, it felt a bit awkward at first, banging against the door like a delinquent with nothing but a paperweight to use. But it was all that they had. Certainly nothing in his briefcase could be usable. And there had been nothing else inside of her bag that would have been able to stand up to the pressure. So it was with a deep breath to calm her nerves that the young woman began. And proceeded to continue, becoming less strange with each passing blow.

The plan had worked as expected. The constant pound of the door took less of a toil on Tenten's body than it would have if she had been using her own fist. And the sheer force of metal against metal seemed to create a more resounding sound than before. All the better for them if it meant that someone would actually hear and help them get out. Or find someone who could.

Or maybe he was having better luck with the phone.

"By the way," she said in between blows, "My name is Tenten."

At least they were working together. That had to count for something.

The vague buzz in his ear continued, even when he pulled out his phone and held it at strange angles, even when he removed the bluetooth from his ear and pressed the actual phone there in its place. There was a very brief moment when the buzz sounded like it might be the tone of a phone finally finally ringing (at this point he was calling his optometrist back in Manitoba). His eyes had barely had time to light up before the sound was gone, just a continued wash of static in his ear.

He realized half a beat too late that the woman was addressing him again. Blinking himself into a state of concentration, the intern had to rewind his mental tape to hear the question. One slightly uncomfortable moment of dead air later, he gave her a little nod and replied in kind.

"Shino. It's... nice to meet you."

"...Nice to meet you too..." While we're stuck inside of an elevator.

Proper etiquette called for a friendly handshake to complete the exchange. Perhaps even a short but pleasant conversation to get to know the other better. But they were far beyond thinking in that frame of mind at this point. Now it was only about getting out and continuing with their day as if this small inconvenience never happened. "Although... I wish it had been under different circumstances."

It would be an interesting and maybe even comical story to tell later on. But for now, it was simply a minor annoyance. However, Tenten could not deny the small amount of relief she felt at how their voices did well to fill in the silence between the poundings, as well as relieve a bit of the stress that had built up from this experience.

Someone else might have laughed. Shino offered a vague smile, thin-lipped and distant, along with a soft non-committal noise. This really wasn't how he wanted to start his time here.

Then, suddenly, he started hearing things. At least, he assumed he was hearing things, because it was so unlikely that someone was actually banging back on the outside of the elevator to let them know their SOS had been received. Abandoning his phone for a moment, he reached out toward the woman (Tenten, she had a name now), hand stopping just an inch short of actually touching her shoulder. He'd found over the years that moving with the intention of tapping someone was the majority of getting their attention; actual contact was fairly unnecessary. It worked well with his desire not to touch other people or be touched by then.

"Hang on," he breathed, voice even as anything. "Did you hear that?"

Normally, she would have taken notice of Shino's slow approach. Even heard the slight echo of his footsteps against the walls the metal box. Years of practice and discipline helped in her attentiveness to such detail, small as they were. But most if not all of Tenten's concentration had been solely focused on the the task at hand, the not so rhythmic pound of the paperweight almost deafening in the small space of the elevator. So it was only when the young woman heard the other's voice, through some miracle, over the banging that through some miracle that she paused to listen more closely.

It was difficult to hear anything at first, her ears so accustomed to the extreme and amplified volumes produced by their close quarters that normal noises seemed impossibly faint. And Tenten was not sure what exactly they were listening for, only that Shino had believed he did. But sure enough, after what seemed like forever, the young designer perceived a faint 'tap-tap-tap' in response.

At that, she looked to him, baffled at their luck and a bit skeptic of her own rational thought to truly believe it to be real. "You don't think... it actually worked?"

The more complete silence when she stopped banging confirmed it more for him; there was definitely someone tapping back on the other side. It wasn't quite a quest-signal response, but it was a response. That counted for something.

"Give them another SOS."

And then, the waiting game would begin. It wouldn't be fun. Or comfortable. Even if it were the building manager tapping back to them, it would probably still be a while before anyone could get to them. With that unhappy fact floating in the back of his mind, Shino leaned back against the wall of the elevator, bracing himself there lightly for the long haul. If only they could pass the time in complete silence...

After tapping in the code for the SOS signal -- after the world premier of the Titanic movie, she was sure that everyone in the known world knew the code for it -- she gave a long and breathy sigh. The hard part was over. And now it was just a matter of waiting until they were able to get out. How they would spend that time, however, was a matter of inquiry.

True, they had introduced themselves. But that was hardly enough cause to delve deeper into each other's lives. Especially when there was an uncertainty that she would ever meet him ever again after today. Still, the waiting and the impending silence was starting to get to her. A lifetime of friendship around Lee had accustomed her to noise and enthusiasm. And Tenten's perpetual use of her iPod while she worked had only furthered that preference.

"So..." Tenten began after another moment of quiet, using the same soft tone she had before, "How long do you think it'll be?"

The silence was blissful after all that pounding. Behind his still half-tinted glasses, Shino allowed his eyes to close for a moment. The elevator felt cool against his back, his arms felt relaxed now that he wasn't holding his briefcase or pounding on the door, his ears felt relieved as the silence began to reverberate peacefully through the air. He could feel the woman shifting, either physically or mentally (he wasn't paying worlds of attention) but ignored it, instead staying in his calm mental space to recenter himself as long as he could.

Only then she was speaking and he had to blink his eyes open again, peering over his glasses in her general direction.

"...how long? That depends. We don't have nearly enough information to make good estimates from this end."

And the moment the words had left her mouth, Tenten began to regret saying anything. It had been obvious from the way her question had snapped him out of his thoughts that Shino was enjoying the silence. Still, he had been, for lack of a better word, kind -- tolerant -- enough to answer her inquiry without fail or hesitation. And there had been no hint of irritation in his tone. So at the very least, his temperance was in tact despite the situation and everything that had followed behind it.

That had to have been a good sign, right?

"I guess you're right," she breathed, calmly folding her arms neatly, one looping into the other like a fleshy pretzel, "Even if that was maintenance, it's gonna take them a while to get the proper equipment for this."

In a nonsensical manner, the young woman shifted her head to the side, gaze falling where it would with no clear intended spot in mind while Tenten mulled over the thought. She knew nothing about the mechanics of an elevator. But common sense indicated that even with the right equipment to fix the problem, it would take even more time to find a way to get them out. Exhaling her wordless frustration over that fact, it was a simple few steps to the corner of the cabin where Tenten promptly seated herself. "We're probably going to be here for a little while."

"...probably."

It was a strange mix. On the one hand, when she wasn't speaking, the stillness was fairly complete, barely broken by the faint pulse of whatever it was that was keeping them suspended in the column. On the other hand, when Tenten did speak, she had the decency to modulate her voice appropriately, not speaking in the oddly loud awkward tone many people in the city seemed to adopt when speaking with strangers. If she kept it up--the temporary quiet interjections--they could probably survive their time stuck here together.

Time for a strategy.

She was young, not much older than he was, if that. There was not much residual nervousness in her features, just a relaxed sort of acceptance and general wariness of her situation; she wasn't as new in the building as he was. The way she settled in, arms crossed and breathing out a quiet sigh; there was nothing pressing needling her on the inside. It was likely a few deflecting questions would suffice to keep her occupied while they waited.

"Has this happened before? Since you've been here?"

It was... odd how soothing Shino's voice seemed to her, his tone even and calm against the silence. Yet contained. Unique. Yes, very unique. And for one reason or another, Tenten drew some level of comfort in it. Because though she did not show it, the young woman was a bit nervous. And trying her best to retain the same attitude that her more serene and placid outer shell depicted.

"I don't... usually take the elevator," she admitted, drawing up her knees so that they were leveled with Tenten's chin, "But I think I remember hearing about one other incident."

Idly, she folded her arms over the bend of her knees, making a nest of sorts and bent forward so that the gentle curve of her chin rested on top of the pile. All the while, the designer tried to recall the information that she had heard milling around the lounge area about what had happened when the elevator had been stuck a previous time. "There were three people in the elevator then, two siblings and an acquaintance... all employees here at Nixcore."

Keep the conversation flowing. It was something you were supposed to do with small children in crisis situations, actually, but Shino found it an effective way of dealing with people of all ages. It probably wasn't the most emotionally healthy or productive thing to do, treating everyone like a child.

Then again, it played to the most basic instincts of the human psyche. When children were worried, they clammed up and shut down. It made crises more difficult; rigid bodies were more difficult to carry or lead out of burning buildings, collapsing tunnels. Talking distracted them and kept their minds buzzing while their bodies did what needed to happen.

In this case, 'what needed to happen' was sitting still until this whole thing got resolved from the outside. Not exactly convincing someone to tell you about their imaginary friend while you attempted to push bone back into their arm, but something.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, someone up in set a couple of weeks ago was talking about it." Or so she believed. It was hard to keep the fictional stories separate from the real ones these days, unbelievable excuses becoming a daily hassle as the month rolled on. The common attitude floating around the department was of a general curiosity and slight disdain for a manager who only came out to give the staff their working orders and then simply disappearing for the rest of the week. It was a sort of 'don't ask, don't tell' policy that had developed among the staff. And the work ethic of the entire department was suffering for this sort of leniency.

And less people working on the set projects meant more work for those who did stay in order to pick up the slack. But in the end, Tenten took satisfaction in knowing that at least her job was secured. "Not sure if it was the truth or just an excuse to make up for being late, though."

Leaning back so that the corner of the elevator seemed to cradle the girl's back, Tenten stared into her lap, fingers interlaced and thumbs twirling around each other in an all too idle manner. Lost in thought, or so it seemed before her head popped up, a faint smile forming at the corners of her mouth. "Not that it would help us in this situation either way, right?"

It was as though she'd talked herself into stillness, which Shino appreciated immensely. It was good to have these lapses, to be allowed to curl in on himself in pauses and stop being part of a greater collective. Because really, that was what conversation tended to feel like: logging in and out of a greater collective consciousness. It was difficult, tiresome, required.

Then Tenten's head snapped up and he had to ease himself back into paying attention. This tactic could only work for so long. Moving his briefcase over a hair, Shino carefully slid down the wall of the cab a little further. In the same fluid motion he pulled off his glasses, tugging a lens cloth from his pocket and carefully wiping at a few specks of dust.

"In this situation? Not much could help us, and what could we've already accomplished. Better to just become accustomed to waiting than to spend time brooding over things that could have been or would have improved the situation."

Conversations were like the careful movements of the waves, ebbing and flowing with the current in a way that just seemed to have its own natural breaks in time. To fill in the silence with unnecessary chatter only ran the risk of saying something completely foolish without proper thought. And under such circumstances as this, the risk of that was more likely. But Tenten held on to her disciplines, and tried as best as she could to remember the years of lessons that martial arts had brought into her life. To panic -- to worry and dwell on what could not be done -- was to lose focus and rationale, something she was sure Shino would no appreciate.

So, it was with that purpose in mind that Tenten took another steady breath and concentrated on steady sweep of her thumbs. "Well, either way, it doesn't happen often. The people here seem to keep Nixcore in tip-top shape and working order most of the time." And for a moment, she snerked softly at the irony of that statement before continuing with her train of thought. "Except for today."

Out of habit and more in line with keeping her attention aimed towards something tangible, the young woman gently pulled up the flap of her messenger bag and began rummaging through the contents inside, quietly so that she would not disturb the other occupant of the elevator more than she already was. Something to take her mind off of things and perhaps help pass the time.

The book was an option, but Tenten was not in the mood for reading. Listening to music was another choice that would certainly keep the girl's mind from wandering, she thought has her fingers briefly got tangled up in the headphone chord. But only useful when there was something else happening to keep her fingers occupied. And that was when Tenten's eyes zeroed in on a packet hidden at the bottom of her bag, nearly forgotten but very much cherished.

It was so strange being a person around other people. By himself, Shino was contained, solid and centered. Around other people, things fluctuated. Sudden changes occurred with some degree of frequency. It was generally unsettling.

When they had first stepped onto the elevator, he had had absolutely no intention of saying a single word to the other passenger in the cab. The sudden jolt had changed the situation; communication had become necessary to complete a mutual goal. And now, now they were in limbo, somewhere between forced interaction and being together but separate. Tenten's sentences were coming in fits and starts, as though she wanted the conversation but didn't know how to take it from him. Most people reacted that way when they first met an Aburame--not quite wanting to get any closer than was strictly within some invisible comfort zone only Shino and his relatives seemed able to understand.

It placed him in a delicate situation, frankly. He could fall in on himself and risk stressing the other elevator passenger (which was sure to end poorly; few animals reacted well to being forced into confined spaces), or he could attempt to be sociable, responding to prompts and cues and generally wearing himself thin (which would take longer to end poorly, but undoubtedly would do so in its own time). Then, quite suddenly, the woman was fussing with her bag and it seemed the decision was made for him.

Settling his glasses back over his ears and using both index fingers to bump them properly up the bridge of his nose into place, Shino let his head fall back enough to rest against the elevator wall behind him. If she could amuse herself, he could take a waking nap, retreating all the way into himself. Araneae Lycosoidea Lycosidae, as it were.

Without much thought on the matter, she pulled out her well orn deck of tarot cards. An image of one dragon or another was imprint on each card to depict the various Major and Minor Arcana pieces that made up the deck. A once cherished hobby, they were familiar depictions that had appeared frequently during girl's younger days when time and responsibilities had not taken up so much of her time. To an outsider, possession of such an item probably seemed as out of place and strange as carrying around a random paperweight. But Tenten had always felt the need to keep them close despite a lack of their use in recent years. Simply just in case she found herself with a need to indulge in a bit of childish interest or the occasional bout of nostalgia.

Or, perhaps, when one found themselves trapped in an elevator with little else to do.

And before she realized what was happening, her fingers were already pulling at the bands that kept the deck bound together in the jumble of her bag. Unwrapping the dark and silken cloth that carefully protected the cards from damage and outside elements. In cool and easy glides, Tenten shuffled them in relative silence, only the seamless and muted slap of one card against the other in a steady rhythm disturbing the noiseless cabin. And as always, all the world fell away to its almost hypnotic spell.

Celtic Cross. Horse-Shoe. 3-Card. Star. The Mirror. All simple card spreads to undertake. And although both were very useful in their time, Tenten often favored the Celtic Cross spread over the more direct 3-Card. While quick and to the point, the 3-Card spread was not as detailed as the Celtic Cross, which gave room for more details and better interpretations on whatever matter a person was concerned with at the time.

Little noises carried better in silent spaces, even over the faint hum of electrical white noise. The sound of cards was not a particularly familiar to Shino, making the noise seem even louder in the stillness.

Letting his eyes refocus, he glanced through his glasses at the woman on the other side of the elevator. It took him a moment to recognize the cards shuffling, or at least the idea of the cards. He was sure there were layers he was missing, things he couldn't see because they weren't in his field of knowledge.

They were, however, to the best of his ability to discern, tarot cards.

Tenten shuffled like a professional (if there were professionals in such things--he wasn't sure grumpy women from the old country muttering at strangers in dark little holes in the wall counted as 'professional' so much as 'acceptable'). If the faint smoothing of her brow from its previous disturbed state were any indication, that air of proficiency came from having done this for a long time, perhaps since childhood. It was a unique look people got when something was comforting them nostalgically, similar to the look puppies made when their mothers snuffled curiously at the backs of their neck. Shino watched the woman in silence, studying her face as she studied the cards.

For the sake of saving time, Tenten settled on a simple 3-Card spread for a reading, quickly pulling up and placing down one after the other until three cards was set out before her. The Chariot, reversed. The Three of Coins. Reversed as well. And finally, the Ten of Cups. Upright and ever imposing. Past, present, and future.

The Chariot, normally a sign of adversity and decisions that would be fast approaching in her life, stood as a representation of her past. Reversed as it was, the card told of unsuccessfulness that was rooted in a failure or some sort of unexpected loss instead. That, Tenten could easily place and link with one particular event. But now was not the time to dwell on that matter. So she moved on quickly before any more thought could be spent on it.

The Three of Coins. The set of the Minor Arcana that was linked with money, industry, and material gain. Normally the card predicted good fortune in the form of rewards or success. But in its reversed form, it depicted neglect. Specifically in the quality of her work when it came to her own ambitions. Signs pointed to common or conventional ideals as the culprit for such a result. Or rather, popular trends. Here, Tenten furrowed her brows. This was to stand as an outline for her present.

Both cards looked rather bleak, and the young woman was a bit hesitant to continue forth to the last card. But Tenten had agreed to the consequences when she had begun this reading, as she always had in the past. There would be -- could be -- no turning back now. And so it was with a bit of reservation that she shifted her attention to the last card.

The Ten of Cups. This set of Minor Arcana were used to predict such things as love and happiness. And if what she remembered of that card was correct, it certainly was some form of good fortune. It would be a good future for Tenten.

The cards were little works of art. It was easier to tell with some of them laid out on the floor. They were intricate, lovely images and designs in soothing colours. He could certainly see the aesthetic, even if he couldn't quiet grasp the content.

Shino wasn't quite curious enough to shift forward and examine properly, but he did tilt his head to the side. It was hard to get a good angle with these glasses--it was the sacrifice he had to make to keep the light-related pains appeased. Still, the slightly awkward tilting of his head was enough to get the glare off of the glass and allow him to watch properly.

The intensity of her concentration was calming. It also kept him from having to ask the obvious questions. What did it mean? Had she done this long? Was it really something of interest, or mere idle play? The solid mask of her face kept such questions as bay even without his social ineptitude.

Not many that she had known fully understood the true concept of reading tarot cards. They did not predict the future, so much as gave opportunity for one to look at a situation from a different perspective that had not been so clear before. And most readings were generally situational interpretations, guided and influenced by the things that were currently happening in a person's life. So Tenten did not put much stock into what the Ten of Cups had indicated as her future. All the same, though, it was a nice thought to consider. One she could not help but smile faintly at.

Only after Tenten had picked up the last card and began shuffling the deck once more did she take note of Shino's curious gaze. And then came the realization that he had witnessed her entire reading in perfect silence. If he did not think her strange before when she had pulled out the paperweight, he certainly would now.

"Oh... Shino," she murmured, ever softly in the stillness, "I... forgot you were there..."

It occurred to him, quite suddenly as the woman glanced up at him, that he had possibly just invaded someone's privacy fully. Shino wasn't an expert on card readings, but something about them being intensely personal, even bordering on potentially intimate, crossed his mind as Tenten murmured softly at him through the otherwise silent air. Cue a slightly guilty look.

If the slightest straightening of the lips and an upward tilt of his chin could count as a guilty look.

"...I didn't want to interrupt," he replied evenly, voice at a conversational tone but somehow less than noisy in the quiet space. It was part of being an Aburame, perhaps; conversation happened at a softer level, a little lower than the average human ear was particularly adjusted to. Current thinking was that it stemmed from spending time in laboratories with easily startled subjects.

There was something appreciative in the way her brows crinkled together in the slightest way of Shino's words, telling in how the corner of Tenten's mouth quirked up at the very end. It was not so much the words themselves that generated the reaction, but in the way they were delivered. Respectful and honest in a manner that was not often seen in the fast-pace world that was LA.

Offering him a gentle smile, she lightly shook her head. "It's ok."

Had he been someone she had known and been fairly familiar with, the young woman would have offered further comfort. As it was, they two of them had only met some few moments before -- hours maybe -- when fate had first struck and the machine stopped. And so she was only left to offer some form of assurance from her side of the elevator instead.

Wrapping up the cards back in the silk cloth and bands, Tenten slipped them back into her bag before meekly turning her attention to the other. "You... must think me very strange... after seeing all that."

Tenten was quiet. Not normal person quiet, but the calm respectful quiet of a person who'd grown up with the understanding that the world around you was a temple not to be violated with extraneous noise. Shino could appreciate it more now that she'd fallen into a more restive state. It might have been the tranquility still lingering after the reading which was still tinting the air around them. There had to be something said for superstitions and their calming effect on the human psyche.

"...if we're being honest," and they were, which was nice. It wasn't something typically found in this day in age, particularly in this country. He didn't quite smile as he mentioned it, but it was worth note in the moment, even if she didn't understand the importance of this absurd first impression. "The paperweight was of more concern than the tarot cards. I... didn't think women actually carried... bricks in their purses."

Humour could read when it happened with a vaguely emotionless face and relaxed monotone, right?

Perhaps out of simple embarrassment or mere amusement at the thought, even at her own expense, Tenten gave a soft chuckle. One that seemed to flutter in the silence, flowing with it instead of disrupting it. What was life and its quirks if you could not laugh at yourself, after all? With everything that had happened between then and now, she had almost forgotten about that moment of unorthodox planning - coincidence, rather. "I'm never gonna live that one down, am I?"

It was more of a rhetorical question that needed no answer, although he was more than welcomed to try his hand if he wished. Any further thought on the incident would only generate more amusement to associate with this... traumatic(?) experience. "I assure you, Mister Aburame, that not many women, if any, carry bricks or such items in their bags. You... just caught me on an odd morning."

That was the tipping point. Shino wasn't the type to kiss on the first date or touch people he didn't know or to laugh much when he'd just met another human being. Of course, he also wasn't one to laugh much period. The moment, however, was too absurd and too awkward and somehow also too comfortable for him not to allow himself a little chuckle under his breath, shifting his weight a little to settle more comfortably against the elevator wall.

His mouth opened just a little, likely to quip back, when a very soft noise distracted his attention. Mouth snapping shut again, the intern tilted his head very slightly, vaguely reminiscent of a puppy attempting to hear someone whistle very far away. It was a low quiet noise like something warming up just beyond their reach.

'You... just caught me on an odd morning.' It was, perhaps, the understatement of the month, if not the year. At least for her. Because certainly, no other morning could have been any stranger than this one, generated through a string of rare occasions and unpredictable circumstances which landed the both of them into this precarious situation. Although, Tenten could not say that she regretted all of it.

Shino's laugh -- or rather, the faint huff of breath that could be considered a laugh -- for one. It was, perhaps, understated. Yet, seemed to fit him perfectly from what she understood of him thus far. Granted, they were little more than strangers, but there were subtle clues to help Tenten along. A business suit gave off the impression of corporate professionalism and seriousness. A rising intern in marketing. Or an accountant, perhaps. Or even a lawyer. Many of those would be required to keep a company such as Nixcore up and running.

Her musings were cut short, however, when she noted a shift in the other's attention. In the angle and tilt of his head. And she could only follow in suit, straining and listening for something -- anything -- telling of what Shino might have heard or noticed. But she could near nothing over the white noise and her own breath.

"What is it?" she whispered softly, "Did you hear something?"

It came from years and years of silence. Shino had never been a talker; he'd come from a family of non-talkers. His mother had, from time to time, gone through periods of tight-lipped constant communication, but then he hadn't lived with her most of his life. His father had never spoken much at all. There were likely lifetime repercussions to be considered. For right now, however, the important thing seemed to be that he could hear things which were apparently beyond the non-strange-upbringing human range.

He nodded quietly, lifting a few fingers very very slightly toward Tenten. It was a precursor sound if he'd ever heard one. It took him a second to start standing up, and another second after that to remember that people often liked their responses out loud.

"...it sounded like a motor," he explained in his calm quiet tone, offering the designer a hand after a moment of hesitation. "We should be getting ready."

It was as if Tenten were trying to look through the ceiling of the elevator the way she was staring at it. Focused. Brows furrowed in concentration. Listening for the tell-tale signs that Shino had obviously noticed. And now that she knew what to look for, the young woman could hear the phantom whine of gears and crescendo of a motor coming to life once more.

Quite an acute and sensitive sense of hearing, that Shino, she could not help but think with a faint smile.

And even as she huffed out a small wisp of breath -- a singular laugh laced with a collective of emotions -- Tenten could feel the overwhelming relief flow and engulf her body. Almost to the point where all else was shifted and pushed into the background of her conscious. It was only when the designer looked to share in the release of tension that she came face to face with his outstretched hand. And hesitated for just a split second of thought before giving a nod of thanks and taking it to help pull herself up from the floor of the metal box.

"I'll give them one thing," she murmured, almost as an afterthought, "The maintenance workers at Nixcore are nothing if not quick."