"Alright, I think I'm almost done with the lighting here," Dashi said, playing with the lightbulb one last time. She was on a small step ladder. Shellington sat in the chair, patting his legs as he waited. His eyes wandered around the room, looking at the equipment Dashi had for the photo shoot. There were lights on stands, and these umbrellas that would reflect the light. He remembered seeing those whenever his school photos were taken. Of course, there was also the tripod and camera. Dashi got off the stepladder.

They were in his lab. Dashi said that it would look much more natural, and that it showed much more clearly what he did on the crew.

It was kind of awkward in the quiet, and Shellington didn't really like that, so he asked, "How long have you been taking pictures?"

"I've been doing it here and there for a few years now," she said, tightening the last lightbulb. She plugged the cord into the wall then put her paw on the switch. "Look away," she said cheerfully.

He thankfully did at the last second before the light turned on and blared at him. He looked back as Dashi casually walked to the other light.

"Look away."

FLASH. Scree.

He looked away just in time. When he looked back towards her, his eye twitched at the brightness. "Is this all necessary?" He asked.

She glanced at his face, and her cheerfulness deflated a bit. "Sorry," she said. "The lighting in this room isn't that good, and we need to see your face clearly on the camera."

The lab's ceiling lights looked fine to him, but he didn't really feel like questioning the professional. The sooner they got over this, the better. He looked longingly at his counter of tools. He was itching to try an experiment on the growth rate of algae in the area.

"Don't worry," she said, then winked. "I'll get out of your fur soon."

He looked back, surprised, then chuckled. "It's that obvious, huh?" He asked.

"Yep," she said, then picked up her camera. "Smile."

His laughter made it easier for him to smile naturally, which he was grateful for (he wasn't too good at this sort of thing). It's almost like she did that on purpose.

Huh, she's good.

She took several more pictures, asking him to do different things (use the desk behind him as if he was doing some experiment, bring out his algae and rock samples, etc.). Then she thankfully turned the horrid lights off.

"Now it's just the questionnaire part of this interview," she said, setting up a chair and sitting across from him. The light stands were still there. When he opened his mouth, about to ask, she replied, "The lights are too hot for right now. I'll take them down afterwards, once they're cool - And no, I'm not reading your mind. You're just very expressive." She said it in a teasing way, in this joking way that seemed like she was having fun.

Where was the overly professional, I-don't-pay-attention-to-others creature that he met before? He had noticed her over the past few weeks, how she wouldn't spend time with others, how she would always hide herself away on the evenings. While he was concerned during that one time when she was missing during an OctoAlert (who wouldn't be concerned, in that situation?), he didn't think that they would truly be able to become friends. But... things were slowly changing. He started to realize there was more to her than the professional pooch.

He laughed out loud, and started to talk to her in earnest at the interview, and then talked about any topic in the world with her later that evening.

Maybe there was more to this canine after all.