Mmm, well, okay. Maybe he should have kept his goddamn thoughts to himself, because now she was looking at him with a strangely sympathetic expression that made the whole situation that much more awkward. To Shae, who very much was unaccustomed to this kind of dialogue, her encouraging words had more of a pitying effect, and if there was one thing he absolutely despised, it was having someone pity him. He puffed away at his cigarette and waved a hand to disperse the smoke, a gesture more for her sake than his own.
Time for a little misdirection. Think, think, think....
What happened next was not only unnerving, but also timed to such perfection that Shae almost couldn't believe it had happened right when it did. From the corner of his eye he noticed a faint flicker of light, but as he turned his head to glance over the woman's shoulder, it disappeared. He frowned and leaned around her to get a better view, and as his eyes searched the treeline of the small, somewhat distant island in the center of the bay, the light suddenly flashed into existence once again.
It was unlike any sort of light Shae had ever seen, either natural or artificial, and it seemed to pulse with an even, tempered glow. The beacon had most definitely originated from the island, but this was no simple reflection of light. Shae could feel the prickling response as his skin pimpled with goose flesh, and he unrolled the sleeves of his flannel shirt to their full length.
"...what you s'pose dat is?" he murmured to his companion, strangely hesitant to break the silence that had settled between them.