Iiii... can't particularly say that I was trying, but, uh... I'm... glad to hear you're doing well, anyway. [ An awkward beat. ] Hmm.

[ He found Akechi close enough to a set of tents arranged in a half-moon around a small cooking fire, it's no wonder he'd assumed there was actual food on somewhere. He peers down ruefully at a bright red crispy critter plopped in the sand a couple feet in front of him. There's a whole like, shallow pail that's gone untouched right nearby and everything, leaning up against one of the tent supports. ]

I'm sorry to say it doesn't look like our difficulties stopped when we left home.

[ Slowly, like he's trying not to aggravate a rabid animal, Maruki bends down and begins delicately shaking the sand off of the roasted crabs in the immediate vicinity and then laying them into the bucket. ]

I hope you don't mind; I was told recently that it can be hard to find food that isn't... w-well, you know.

[ He peers up and over at Akechi from his place down on one knee sunk into the sand, white toga fluttering in the sea breeze. In a way, it isn't all that dissimilar from the last time they saw each other.

Then he's silent for a spell, momentarily bereft of any fight at all. ]