Joan

Chapter XVII

You know where the past lies? The past. It's a pretty self-explanatory answer, easy to get and all. But for some reason, Nimu's slogging it up again. If she's the kind of person to hold onto things there's going to be a problem with that since my philosophy is, well, the past is behind you- whether that's fifteen years or fifteen minutes ago.

"Look, if we're going to work together on this then we need to communicate more efficiently," She begins.

The region here must mainly be tropical because the scenery is like being stuck in the jungle, though not as thick and overgrown as before.

"Uh-huh, cool, communication."

Again, I can't really hear any wildlife which I find kind of odd since back home on good ol' planet Earth there's usually a chorus of animal noises, especially in the jungle.

"I just don't want us to become flustered or lost or anything, especially if there's an emergency, like back there."

Leaping over a fallen tree, I start to hum the tune to Oh! Susannah, of all songs (I would have expected Into the Labyrinth or something like that).

"-you aren't even listening!"

"Huh?" Honestly, didn't even realize she was talking to me still.

Her tail flickers back in forth in fuming annoyance as her left ear twitches in subtle anger. Now we have to stop and drop everything for her to vent. How peachy.

"I said we need to start communicating more effectively-"

"Yeah, I heard that."

Wish I could say this is a new record for me, but I've annoyed the shit out of people way earlier than this. Right now, we're only twenty minutes out of the gate and she looks ready to ring my neck.

Lan attempts to calm her down which she brusquely brushes off, though she does take a breath of recollection before speaking to me again.

"We need to start hearing each other out," She begins. "We can't leave each other in times of crisis because we need to be unified when going against Tymos. You seem to have trouble working with others, judging from the lack of communication you use."

It's only fair that they're annoyed with me, they simply don't understand how I function.

"Okay, I get it, you're right, I don't always work the best with others- I'm mostly a competitive runner so I don't always do groups like that. Little tidbit about me, though, I leave things where they belong: in the past. So if it seems like I don't care, I probably already shoved it into the past which means it's forgotten."

Me taking the blame for our faulty communication causes her to chill a bit more.

"Okay, well, that helps me better understand. We just have to work in tandem now."

"Sounds good."

Sounds easier said than done. I know my communication skills could be a bit better, but like I stated, I'm an athlete and that's a cut-throat business right there.

"Can we continue?" Chasan grumbles.

Ah, so I've checked off annoying people, now I need to move onto the other list- the getting them to tell a truth checklist. I don't know whether to do it in a group or individually, but knowing my lazy ways it's best if I just kill three birds with one stone.

How to be subtle, though, that's the hard part...

Glancing heavenward in thought, I take in the jewel-blue sky overhead when it hits me- God hits me over the head with His scepter sometimes, I've just learned to live with it.