Work Text:
“THIS IS BAAAAAD” a muffled voice yelled from above the field in the science shed.
A heavy sigh flowed from the new chief of Ishigami Village, as he knew his work was about to be interrupted, “What is it Chrome?” He asked without looking up.
Chrome scurried down the ladder with an empty basket in hand. He dropped the container in front of his leader and fell to his knees, “We’re completely out of calcium carbonate for our projects!”
Senku stirred the mixture he had in hand together and looked up at the former sorcerer. “That might be a problem for you,” he said without a second thought, “The water level rose some after those storms rolled through. We can’t access the beach now.” He thought for a moment while he continued mixing various fluids together. “I guess I’ll send Kohaku there since she can dive for more seaweed while searching for shells underwater.”
Chrome huffed and crossed his arms as he mumbled, “I can dive for shells just as good as she can.”
“But you can’t carry back all the materials like she can.” Senku added.
“Well, I mean, t-there has to be something I can do to help!” Chrome sputtered out.
Senku finally offered a glance up at him. The look of determination and willingness to put his life-long collecting skills to work was nearly killing the new scientist. Senku returned his gaze to his work and sighed again. “I suppose we can settle on gathering some limestone for now instead of shells. Gen mentioned something about “broken stones” by the beach reaching into the cliffs. We can get him to show us where--” he was cut off by Chrome slamming his fists on the table.
“I’ll go get straps for the baskets, you convince Gen to show us where these stones are!” with that, Chrome hurried back to the shed to gather the afternoon’s materials and make his way to the edge of the forest to wait for the pair to arrive.
With a great amount of convincing, and a promise of 2 more colas, Gen was willing to show the science pair where these stones were. “I just don’t understand why you need a mentalist to show you where these are, Senku-chan; they aren’t hard to miss on the coastline.” Gen muttered as he led the two forward towards the sounds of the ocean.
“The first time it’s good to have a guide.” Senku answered while taking in the new scenery. “It also lets us keep an eye on the traitor of the Tsukasa Empire.”
“How ean-may, still don’t trust the one who saved your life?”
Senku smirked and turned slightly to speak, “I trust you enough to lead the only two scientists of the stone world away from the village. I say that’s enough.”
A look of surprise crossed Gen’s face before he settled on a smirk himself. Looking ahead, he cleared his throat and stepped in front of the science pair. “Gentlemen, we have arrived.” He gave a theatrical bow and graced the land with a waving arm as he rose up and cleared a tree branch from the edge of the cliff. Beyond the clearing were smokey-white rocks, creating level shelves along the coast. They were practically begging an explorer to find its hidden treasures.
Chrome barely waited for Gen to finish his mini show before climbing down the first landing and brushing away gravel to pick up his first chunk of limestone. “Hey, Senku. How do we know if this stuff is really what we need? It looks like any other white stone I’ve seen in the forest.”
“Well, we can test it by dripping some hydrochloric acid on it. If it reacts, we’ve found the real deal.” Senku dug in a bag for a tube of said fluid and pipette. Chrome placed the stone on the ground and his teacher dropped the acid on top of the rock. White bubbles began forming over the surface, and Chrome’s eyes widened.
“That’s so baaaaaad!! I’m gonna gather a whole load to test and crush tonight in the lab!” He scrambled back down the cliff side and began his hunting spree under the watchful eyes of the modern-timers. He broke some limestone against itself, watching it nearly crumble in his hands, deducing it must be softer than the shells they had been using- meaning less work to break later on. The scientist giggled and continued searching for the best specimens to pack away.
A few hours had passed, and Gen looked towards the setting sun, sighing to break the peaceful silence between the two on the cliffside. “It’s been nice to get away from all that grueling work today. Chrome seems to be enjoying himself too. He hasn’t stopped looking at these stones for a minute.”
“Well, he’s a full blown scientist now. He runs field experiments and makes sure to bring back what he determines is best for our projects. He’s surprisingly thorough now that he’s been taught a few things.” Senku leaned forward off the tree he’d been leaning against. “As for you, it’s back to work tomorrow. We still need a ridiculous amount of iron to finish our roadmap.”
The mentalist dropped his head and whimpered. “So uel-cray.” He picked himself up and stretched before setting his eyes on the falling sun again. “I suppose I can deal with it for now. How else am I supposed to earn those colas~?” he teased with a glance down at the straight-faced man beside him.
“With hard work and a little luck is what I would be betting on, mentalist.” Senku choked out under his surprise. “In any case, we need to be going back before we’re hiking in the dark.” he stood beside his partner-in-crime and pulled a deep breath. “CHROME! TIME TO GO!”
Chrome perked up from the bottom of the stone structure and made his way up to meet the two waiting for him. They made small talk of the nature around them and Chrome’s adventures on the rock face while hiking back home. The village was dimly lit with the torches and fires on the main island, and the trio settled just outside the lab to go through the day’s treasure.
“What the hell are these?” Senku asked with confusion weaving in his voice. He placed two palm stones on the table: one half black, half white, the other with a mossy-green top and white underneath.
Chrome stood proud on the other side of the two and smiled. “Those? They were some of the last stones I found. They kinda reminded me of the two of you, the color scheme at least.” His face softened as he spoke again. “I really enjoyed getting out with you two today. Collecting rocks reminds me of the happy times before prepping for a war and making antibiotics against the clock.”
Senku and Gen looked at each other and softened their own looks. Gen, speaking first, mentioned again how relaxing it was to get away from work and watch Chrome in his element. Senku had to agree, though it took away from his work, he enjoyed watching Chrome perform science in his own way and relax on the cliff with someone who knows the value of silence.
Chrome, happy to hear everyone’s day was made a little better because of him, made his way to the shed to begin his journey to dreamland. The two modern men stayed in the lab, discussing the next day’s tasks side-by-side, and teasing one another for the work they would need to single-handedly perform. Eventually, they each manage to forget to make way to their own beds, and fall asleep leaning against each other in the candle-lit lab.
End~