Exhume [H.S.]

IX.

A/N: RECAP IF YOU NEED IT (because it has been way too long): Set in 1998, Indy (22 y/o) and Harry (28 y/o) are both treasure hunters trying to find famed pirate Thomas Caldwell's lost treasure. They both work for a retired treasure hunter (who now just coordinates these hunts) named Benny Reyes. Indy has been working for Reyes for a while, but Reyes only just hired Harry for this specific Caldwell job. Indy is a map expert and Harry is a longtime-treasure hunter who is a Caldwell expert. Indy wasn't told she was working with someone on this job so she hates Harry because she doesn't want another partner for some currently unknown reason, and she finds him super annoying and obnoxious. Indy's terrified of water, a reason for which Reyes told Harry was because she almost drowned as a kid but also hinted at something happening with her old partner. Their search for the treasure took them to a fancy mansion party in France to steal one of Caldwell's pirate coins, which pointed them toward a sunken pirate tower off the coast of Jamaica. Harry did the diving to the tower while Indy stayed in the boat (terrified of water, of course). The tower showed a map of another tower on the actual island, by a waterfall. They are on their way toward that waterfall to find the other tower, leading us to now! Also... Harry uses toothpicks to curve his oral fixation due to quitting smoking a few months ago. Okay enjoy!

Nothing provided Indy with more dread than the fact that the drive to the waterfall was over an hour long. Not only had she already spent hours with Harry that whole morning, but now she was having to spend over an hour with him trapped in the confines of a car.

Rows and rows of native, vibrant green trees passed by the windows as they drove further and further inland, away from Kingston. The beautiful nature of Jamaica began to make itself known as they left the city behind, making Indy admire the lush scenery as they grew closer to the waterfall. If the beauty of their surroundings were any indication as to what the waterfall would look like, Indy was honestly excited to finally see it.

Much to her surprise, though, Harry was being mostly pleasant. He went into more detail about the things that he saw on his dive, including the sunken tower itself and the wildlife. Indy, knowing that Harry despised silence and was therefore going on and on to eliminate any silence, just quietly listened and let him talk her ear off. She would hum or murmur, "yeah," every now and then to show that she was actually listening to him, not even realizing that it was probably the most pleasant conversation she had ever had with Harry.

It did not go unnoticed by Harry that Indy wasn't telling him to shut up or showing an outright annoyance at his incessant talking. He figured she would have insisted on him stopping talking from the get go, but she actually seemed to be listening to what he was saying. She wasn't necessarily carrying the conversation along, as she wasn't offering much in responses, but she was listening.

Harry silently welcomed that small victory.

As he drove, one of Harry's hands rested on the gear shift in between them while the other was holding the top of the steering wheel, with his elbow resting on the windowsill. As usual, he had a toothpick dangling between his lips which he occasionally moved from one side of his mouth to the other with his tongue and teeth. His hair was still slightly drying from the dive, the damp curls messily falling in their natural middle part across his forehead.

Eventually, though, Harry's diving story came to an end, which led him onto his next topic of discussion. The topic wasn't one that Harry wanted to bring up, especially with how peaceful their current conversation was going. It would also possibly offend Indy, which was the last thing he wanted to do right then. He knew he needed to ask his burning question, though.

"So," he started, clearing his throat and adjusting his position to sit up straighter as he grabbed the toothpick from his mouth, holding it between his thumb and forefinger with his free hand before continuing, "not trying to be offensive, but just felt I needed to ask... are you going to be okay at the waterfall? I mean, we obviously don't know what the landscape's going to look like, but, what if it's, like, surrounded by water and there's no way around?"