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Apparently "earliest convenience" did not read very casually when it arrived on Oliver's phone, any text was enough to have him jumping. Partly because Jack had him so well trained for coffee runs, once he had even brought Alistaire coffee by accident after a particularly early text message. Six thirty was not a good time for the kid's brain.

In record time there was the sound of boots on the stairs leading up to the lighthouse dome, both the speed and the weight of each step a clear indication of having run all the way up. When Oliver finally arrived his face was a bit red from the exertion, and his breath was a heavy wheeze.

"Ah... Did... did you... need me?" He gasped, leaning down to rest his hands against his knees while he tried to recover. Jogging in the morning had become a part of his routine, why was it that stairs were still so hard?

"... Oh..." Oliver wheezed, glancing up from the floor uncertainly. A part of him was relieved, there was nothing huge and scary Lex needed his help with. But... Neither was he pleased to have run all the way up those stairs. Perhaps he should have responded to the text and asked what was up before literally jumping to conclusions.

He walked over to the seat next to Lex, and practically fell into it. There was little grace involved.

After a minute he had mostly regained his breath. "Um... Company?" Oliver asked, finally glancing around and taking in their location. He had never been up at the top of the lighthouse before. "What are you, uh... doing up here?"

Although it was not asked, there was enough doubt in Oliver's eyes to make it clear he wondered about the other hunter's choice in company. It was an unusual location for any infirmary-related training...

"Oh... Lighthouse duty..." Oliver said like he knew what that meant. Like off-island missions, it seemed as though this was another job that was best left to others. He could imagine what it entailed though, from up there you could see a lot. If anything was near the walls, or came out of the water, it would be visible from this point, and with the portals, it probably made this some sort of guard duty.

Yeah, not something Oliver was keen to do himself. It made him nervous just thinking about it.

"So you are just, um, watching the island?" He asked after a second.

Oliver had not yet reached the 'bored' stage, and briefly entertained the worrying thought that if anything bad happened right then, it would be his fault for being a distraction. Had he been assigned this task himself, he might have spontaneously combusted from the stress of it all.

"A-are you sure that's okay? Wouldn't you rather, uh... me get you coffee or something?" The kid was not trying to get out of keeping Lex company, it still just didn't seem logical that he would be called up on for the task. But he didn't look like he was going to leave on his own. Although he would probably have a heart attack if someone so much as jumped out and said 'boo'.

Implications went right over Oliver's head. He was not overly experienced in Psychology in general, and his self-image had changed very little over the past few weeks. Deep down he still felt like his only worthwhile task as a hunter would be to die for his team. Assuming he ever left the island at all for a serious mission. His thoughts hadn't changed, just his ability to cope.

Oliver looked out the windows, and although he seemed to calm down watching the sunset and the way the waves sparkled, he made a noncommittal noise. "I-I don't know much about that..."

For a second he looked almost peaceful, and then he suddenly jerked backwards so fast he almost fell out of his chair. "D-d-did you s-see that?" The kid stammered, scrambling to his feet and pointing out towards the ocean. "Th-there was a tentacle there, I s-swear it was right there, close to the beach! I-It can't come onto the beach, can it? Is it going to be dangerous?"

Oliver returned to a shaky seat, his pale eyes watching the tentacles anxiously until they disappeared back under the waves. He seemed doubtful despite the reassurances. Perhaps time, and a few shifts of lighthouse duty on his own, would convince him otherwise, but for now he would have to rely entirely on the word of the older Life hunter.

"Um..." He started, trying to get his thoughts in order as his hair was ruffled. "I-I wouldn't want to... I mean, if they are not dangerous, b-but..." Even the thought left him a little pale, Ripley's rock climbing wall was near the beach, and Arorangi seemed to spend time there too. Better Life trainees than himself were sent there to collect specimens when he was off duty. "I-it's our job to fight dangerous things... "

As afraid as he was of the monster, Oliver was more afraid of failure. He would rather die than let others get hurt because of his cowardly actions, and with his lack of skill it was the only way he could ever justify being woken up and given a weapon. It was almost like being the extra life in a videogame. Or the retry. Giving the main character a second chance was the best he could hope for.

Oliver accepted the cup of water, even though he was not at all interested in drinking. Instead he just held it in his hands and stared at it like it held all the answers his troubled mind needed.

"What if... it's me, or someone else?" Oliver asked, frowning into his glass and still not looking at the older hunter. "What if someone else gets hurt keeping me alive? I don't... I don't think I could stand that." The boy knew what he was made of, even though it had been a weird dream following the whole Wonderland situation his reaction had been automatic. He had run away, while the people he knew stayed to fight.