Meeting of the Minds

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The dining hall was bustling today, making it a little hard to find a spot alone. But somehow Shiloh managed. It wasn’t that she wanted to be alone exactly. There were a few delinquents she knew would have let her join them. But she needed some space to think. Something wasn’t right here, something tugging at the very edge of her awareness. It had been small at first. Ignorable, like mist fading on a mirror. But now Clarke had disappeared, and the unmistakable feeling that something wasn’t right was slowly getting stronger. If only Shiloh could figure out why.

There didn’t seem to be any obvious danger in the mountain. Certainly not in the dining hall with people laughing and children playing games. And Dante Wallace seemed like a genuinely good person. Shiloh was confident he had no intention of hurting his guests. But there were too many pieces that didn’t fit. If the people here were allies, why kidnap Monty? Why knock all the delinquents out and bring them in by force? For that matter, why wait so long before making contact? Why not help them defend themselves against the Grounders? The pieces just didn’t fit with the cheery puzzle of paradise laid out before her. So for now, Shiloh was left to turn them over and over in her head like a broken record.

She was still trying to puzzle it out as she poked at some sort of vegetable with her fork. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the food. If these people had wanted to kill the delinquents, they would’ve done it at the dropship. But her mind kept distracting her from eating. It was frustrating, to be honest. Usually Shiloh could easily see how all the pieces of a situation came together. This time though she was missing something, some bit of information she hadn’t been given. It didn’t feel urgent necessarily. Just vexing.

The chair across from her was suddenly pulled back, and Shiloh looked up to see an unfamiliar face sitting down across from her. Not one of the other delinquents. Interesting. The curious residents of Mount Weather tended to approach the more lively teenagers like Monty or Jasper. Shiloh was more the sort to fade into the background. But right now she could use a break from the vicious cycle of her own head. So she smiled shyly at the boy who had sat down. “Hi.”

Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@shiloh Life in Mount Weather felt crazy. Maybe it wasn't for a lot of the other residents but for Isaiah, the guy who had decided to try his best to investigate the new members of the mountain, he felt like nothing would be calm ever again. From the intensity of talking to Clarke, to the lighthearted conversations had with Theo. Isaiah had even made new friends of mountain residents through the Space Peoples' arrival, particularly a younger kid called Alastor. Looking back to his life before, nothing had ever felt so busy, not the worst of harvests or even his final school exams. But it wasn't bad. No, not at all. Isaiah was in love with this new mountain and the life that these new teenagers brought to it. He couldn't imagine going back to how things had been before. He shivered at the thought, wrapping his arms around himself as he walked into the dining hall. It was expectantly busy, although it seemed to be busier than other nights. Isaiah grabbed a plate of food and began moving around the hall, trying to find a place to sit. His dad was working, his mum with her own friends. His friends were nowhere to be seen. Once he came across a small table with only one girl sitting at it, he already knew that it would be the best place for him to sit. Saying that, he might have sat there even if he could find his friends. Seeing someone sitting alone wasn't something that Isaiah liked, especially seeing it was one of the teenagers. Isaiah had no idea if he was growing past his curiosity because his face had already settled into a smile and his mind racing with questions he could ask as he pulled the chair out and sat down at the table. From those first few seconds, Isaiah gained an impression that told him this girl was shy. Or, at least, that she tended to be quieter, especially when compared to a lot of the louder teenagers that Isaiah could still hear even at the edge of the hall. "Hi," Isaiah said in reply to the girl's greeting, smile still on his face. He placed his cutlery down next to his plate. "I'm Isaiah. This seat isn't taken?" It probably would have been more polite to ask before he sat down but the girl hadn't looked like he was waiting for anyone else, and he could just as easily stand up again if he had been wrong. "You looked like you could use some company," he added on, as he picked up his fork and twirled it between his fingers a couple times, just waiting to see that his company wasn't unwelcome.

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Shiloh certainly wasn’t the most social of people. Some of the kids in school had even nicknamed her Shy, although the taunt had lost its sting over the years. But this particular young man seemed nice enough. He even asked if the chair was free. Shiloh shook her head. “It’s all yours.” If he turned out to be just another curious person wanting to drown her in questions, she could always pretend she was finished. Otherwise though, company might be welcome. “I’m Shiloh.”

His next comment was a little unexpected. People didn't tend to seek Shiloh out unless they knew her or wanted something. Maybe because she was quiet. It was a bit of a nice change. “Yeah, I guess I could,” she admitted with a small nod. "The food isn't very talkative today." Okay, that was a dumb thing to say. A hint of embarrassment touched her face as she looked back down at her plate. The sentiment behind her words was genuine though, despite her awkwardness. Her brain was certainly getting tired of spinning itself in mental circles. And Isaiah seemed kind, interested in her person instead of just whatever she could tell him about life outside. Although the questions were sure to come. They always did. But she got the feeling he wasn’t sitting here just so he could pick her brain, and that was nice.

Conversation wasn’t really her strong point though. Not with people she didn’t know. Get her off on the right subject and Shiloh could actually be quite the chatterbox. But right now she wasn’t totally sure what to say. She started to stick her fork into the vegetable on her plate, only to pause and look up at Isaiah. “This is probably a stupid question. But what is this?” She directed her fork down at the food in question. Plants might be one of Shiloh’s stronger subjects, but most of them she had never actually seen in person. Especially not when they had been properly prepared.

Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@shiloh Isaiah was quite glad to hear that the seat he had sat down at was in fact free. He offered Shiloh a smile and a nod as she told him that, and stopped fiddling with his fork to use it to actually pick up something from his plate. The girl introduced herself as Shiloh, and apart from that being a name Isaiah hadn't come across before, nothing stuck out to him about it. He hadn't overhead it being said by one of the other new people, or even by another Mount Weather resident. This girl wasn't making the rounds in gossip like Jasper or Clarke. "Nice to meet you, Shiloh," Isaiah said, polite as always before he brought his fork to his mouth. As always, in true Isaiah fashion, he knew exactly what was on his plate, where it was grown and even had a good idea who might have cooked it. That tended to be how things were when you were a farmer raised with one parent a chef. At Shiloh's comment about the food not being particularly talkative, Isaiah left out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I haven't quite worked out the secret to getting vegetables to talk," he said, pulling out probably the best joke he had said all week. That was definitely saying something about the level of skill he had in that field. His fork picked up another vegetable, but he held it over the plate for a moment, frowning sympathetically at Shiloh. "Our own company can be the worst, I get that." Isaiah had no idea if that comment would help her and no idea if she would actually believe him. He could hardly believe himself. He never tended to mind his own company but he did know was it was like to not be able to stop thinking, and to dislike his own company that way. Maybe that was the sort of thing she was talking about, or maybe it wasn't. There was a bit of a lull in the conversation, a pause that left Isaiah wanting to blurt out some kind of question just to fill the silence. At the same time, he wasn't too sure what to say. He had already asked so many questions, learnt so many things and while there was so much more he could ask, he felt more like he had sat down with Shiloh to actually talk to her, not just a Space Person, someone from the Ark. So it was a good thing when she asked a question herself, and Isaiah was given a chance to be helpful, as small a thing it was. "That's cauliflower," he told her, glaccing up from the white vegetable to her face. "It's alright, but much nicer in a sauce." And there were times it became really obvious that he was raised by a chef. This may have been one of those times. "It won't kill you," he added, a definite tease in his voice.

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Shiloh was expecting some sort of awkward silence over her lame joke, but Isaiah actually went with it. A grin crept across Shiloh’s face. That did it. She definitely liked this Isaiah person. “Probably for the best. I bet it would be pretty awkward eating something that’s trying to hold a conversation.” Although the concept definitely sounded funny. A small chuckle escaped her as she looked down at her own plate. “Can you imagine the looks on people’s faces if their dinner starting talking?” What would vegetables even have to say? Now there was something interesting to think about. Speaking of thinking. Shiloh shrugged as she nudged a strange vegetable with her fork. “Only when we can’t find our mind’s off switch.” Which seemed to be Shiloh’s constant state lately.

Cauliflower. It was a funny name, especially since the white stuff didn’t look anything like a flower. “Huh.” Vegetable or not, the miniature white trees looked just plain odd. Maybe it was the lack of color. Shiloh’s hesitation must have shown on her face, because Isaiah spoke again just as she scooped up a small bite. “If I keel over, it’s your fault,” she informed him. But a twitch at the corners of her mouth ruined any seriousness in her tone. She slid her fork into her mouth and gave the cauliflower a few experimental chews. It was definitely interesting. Not bad. Just not a whole lot of taste. “That’s… interesting. I’ll have to try it with a sauce sometime.” Shiloh was new to the world of sauces and spices, but she found herself inclined to trust Isaiah’s opinion on the matter.

She started to go in for another bite only to stop her fork halfway as something occurred to her. “Hang on. If you can’t go above ground, how do you grow food?” At least on farm station there had been access to sunlight. But underground there would have to be an alternative. Shiloh tilted her head curiously as she took another bite of her cauliflower. Greenhouses might be a possibility, but that sounded like it would pose too great a risk of leaking radiation. Or just plain crumbling after this many years of being exposed to the elements. Maybe they used some kind of sunlight substitute? It was definitely an interesting problem. One that probably would have occurred to her much sooner had it not been for the overwhelming amount of newness. But really. How did an entire population stay fed without hunting or growing crops the traditional way?

Isaiah Riggs