Broken Time Laws

What's this? and this? and this?

"No." Shi's voice came out squeakier than he intended, and part of him wanted to hit this smug, entitled man. He had no business pushing his way in like this. Then there was the fact that this tent was absolutely not big enough for the both of them. Shi, being rather on the short side, usually found it quite comfortable, but combined with Itzal, who had to have hit the six foot mark and was having some difficulty not bumping his head on the ceiling, the place was definitely too small. He didn't like the close proximity of Itzal, knowing that he was going to have to do something about what the man knew, and it was like he was afraid that by being this close Itzal could pick up on his plan. Eventually the two of them managed to arrange so they were sat cross-legged opposite each other with the candle in between them.

Itzal gave a snort of laughter in response. "Believe me, you are going to tell me, because otherwise I can make sure the whole village knows about your... whatever this is. None of them like what they don't understand. I, on the other hand, am just an innocent curious wanderer, wanting to know what the deal is with you and your fancy things. So, are you an inventor or something?" Itzal ran his finger along the edge of the tent, and Shi had to make himself as small as possible to avoid getting accidentally (or even on purpose) hit. "Never seen anything quite like this, I have to say."

"I can't tell you, its classified." The hard stare he recieved made him squirm. "I-I can't! I really can't! It'll break-" He shut his mouth before he could finish as Itzal's eyes widened slightly. Shi shook his head violently. "I can't tell you." He said much calmer than before. He would prove he had control over this situation. Or at least, he was going to try.

"What would it break? Come on, tell me..." When Shi looked away, Itzal pulled his head back to face him with a finger under the blonde's chin. "You have to tell me." Shi tried to pull away, even more stressed than he'd been before, and refusing to meet his eye. The more he pressed Shi for the answer, the less it seemed like he wanted to tell him, so with a sigh Itzal released him. "Fine. Have it your way then. But I'll have to follow you until I can figure it out for myself. That's fair." He raised an eyebrow. "Tell me now, and I'll be on my way."

"No! You can't go! T-That's even worse!" He snapped. Itzal raised his eyes in surprise, but didn't interupt. "Y-You've seen this, so you can't go. If you do, it... you'll..." Shi frowned, staring into the flickering candle flame. "Okay, I can tell you, but then I'll have to make you forget this ever happened. T-That's the best I can offer. No one can find out about this. It's too dangerous." He knew even that was still wrong, and Itzal could deduce that from his shaky voice.

"That's better than nothing I suppose." He rested his elbows on his knees, then his chin on his hands. "So, what's this mini house? What's your special quill?" Shi had barely got the answers out of his mouth before Itzal's attention was elsewhere. His eyes fell on the bag that Shi had been slowly and subtly pulling towards him, and snatched it off him before the blonde could protest. "What else is in here?" The bag was suddenly cast aside, leaving Shi to grab it before it hit the tent floor, as his eyes fell on Shi's open journal. "Well, well, what's this?" He picked it up before Shi could, and flipped open a page.

"NO!" Shi yelled, and made frantic grabs for it, but Itzal just laughed and pushed him away. Shi could only watch helplessly, hugging his bag, as Itzal read. His efforts were futile to get it back, and he knew it, so all he could do was rummage through the bag for his memory gun. Where was the damn thing? Itzal cast a glance up over the notebook, his face now a concerned frown.

"Looking for this?" He waved a silver and blue gun-like device in front of Shi's face, before pulling it away again. "I'm afraid you can't have this back just yet." It wasn't like Itzal actually knew what it was, except that it looked dodgy, and he didn't want it aimed at him. Shi lunged for it, but Itzal was faster. "I said no!" Shi slumped back into sitting again, looking defeatedly at his memory gun in the man's hand, so close but still too far away. Itzal pitied him, but he wasn't going to take any risks yet. The more of Shi's journal he read, the more a concerned look spread across his features. "Are you a writer, or this the truth?" It all seemed to click into place if it was.