"Tigger happy dumbass shooting me in the chest. I'm bruised there," Keith replied bluntly, dragging himself to his feet and brushing off.
"Hey, I'm young, I'm not stupid," Hendrik objected.
"Really? I thought those two things went hand in hand."
“I’d hardly call twenty three all tha’ old, officer Gun.” Morrigan said, flexing the fingers on her metal hand. They needed oiled, but it wasn’t like she could exactly get ahold of that oil. “I’m young an’ stupid though. For sure. Otherwise I wouldn’t’a got caught now o’ all times. Not right before-“ She cut herself off, shaking her head and running a hand through her fiery hair.
Keith's head snapped up. "How did you know my age?" he hadn't mentioned it once. In fact they hadn't even spoken about ages until this moment. This girl was much smarter than she let on and it was not looking very good for him right now.
Morrigan just shot him a wink, batting her eyelashes innocently a few times for good measure. “I know things, officer Monto.” She said, eyes sparkling with a dangerously mischievous glint.
Keith eyed her for a moment, before shaking his head, and looking around again. "Okay, here's what I purpose. We take the ship."
"Uh, hate that plan," Hendrik replied. "You are the only one with a weapon here, and it's one weapon. These people have automatics and lots of amo. That's a suicide mission."
"Mmm, I'm pretty positive that I am not the only one here with a weapon on them, and even if she doesn't have a weapon on her, she doesn't need one to take people out," Keith corrected. "Besides I know you still have a knife on you."
"Me, withou' a weapon?" Morrigan placed her metal hand over her heart, faking offense with furrowed brows. Then she reached into her boot, pulling out a gun and waggling it around in the air. "Tha's like a year 2300 Wyvern's Wing withou' a 7000 volt engine an' carbo-fiber wing holds." As though that made any sense to anyone who wasn't a mechanic obsessed with reading and learning about old flight ships, she slipped another knife from somewhere with a flawless sleight of hand, tossing it to Hendrik. "Here ya go, Henderdak."
Keith snatched the knife out of her hand before Hendrik could take it. "As I said, He has a knife, I am not going to give him two, unless we actually run into trouble," he explained. "I don't trust him in anyway. You're a thief and a good one at that, but as far as I've gotten from you, you don't want me dead. He shot both of us, and judging from his skill display from earlier, he has a very good handle on weapon use."
Hendrik shrugged casually. "He in't wrong."
“No hard feelin’s bout the shootin’ me thing. Ya ain’t the first.” Morrigan said with a shrug, patting herself down quickly. “Prolly won’t be the last, either, with how this day is goin’. So what’re we doin’ next?”
"As I also said earlier, we're gonna try and take the ship. Or at least take the bridge, so that we can radio for help," Keith explained. "Unless one of you has a better idea, or like a set of headphones with a mic on them, that seems like our best bet. Eventually we're going to get found, every game comes to an end at some point."
“How naive.” Morrigan cooed almost condescendingly, patting his shoulder as her voice went from that sickly sweet tone to one with an underlying sharpness. “Ain’t no game over till I say it’s over. Now, I don’ have any head sets, but I bet y’all gotta have ‘em somewhere.”
If I had one I wouldn't have asked either of you for one now would I," Keith rolled his eyes. He glanced at their surrounds as a habit. Every few moments he'd glance around and make sure that they hadn't been discovered and were about to die. "Come on, if we stay here we're going to get found. There are people headed this way I can hear them."
“Huh.” Was all Morrigan said, eyeing him carefully for a moment before nodding. She couldn’t hear anything. And her hearing was great, a skill she needed for surviving jobs. “Then what’re we waitin’ for, huh? Got a ship t’ steal.”
Keith had started moving away but stopped and looked back at her. "We're not stealing anything, this was our to begin with so we're taking it back. Not stealing, I know you're not that bad of a thief and all but come on, you should know this."
"See, actually, you're wrong sweetheart." Morrigan said, striding past him and turning to walk backwards, waggling a finger. "Nothin' on this ship but my weapons and my clothes, and even those loosely, are mine. No shuttle or pod o' yours was mine, it was yours, so technically, I am stealin', but you're reclaimin'."
"Oh, my gosh, you two seriously sound like my grandparents arguing," Hendrik snapped. "Will you please just stop it. This is getting ridiculous."
"Shut up Carl- I mean, Hendrik," Keith snapped looking back at him.
"Were you about to call me Carl?"
"Old habits die hard." Keith continued moving forwards.
"You were about t' call him Carl." Morrigan said, snickering. "His name is Hendiver. Not Carl." The names she was using instead of Hendrik's actual name were getting more and more ridiculous. "An' please, like I'd date a cop."
Keith was quiet for a moment before turning to look at Morrigan. A half smile on his face. "Yeah, despite the stereotype, cops don't like bad girls. We have much better taste in women than that. Besides, I personally would rather let the woman decide if she likes me or not."
Morrigan actually laughed at that, a real laugh, the sound musical and boisterous but quieted just enough. She fell back to match paces with him, tossing an arm across his shoulders and tugging him down so it wasn't as uncomfortable for her. "It ain't hard t' be a better woman'n me, y'know. Hell, Henderoni back there's probably a better woman. So sweet o' you t' let the lady choose though."
Keith tensed under her arm when she grabbed him, and then he ducked away. "I appreciate the idea, but don't touch me," he said holding up his hands. "I've never done hugs before, and I don't plan to start now."
"Fair enough, fair enough." Morrigan held her hands up as well, taking half a step away from him as she raised her eyebrows, showing she wasn't going to touch him. "I don' do hugs either. Tha' right there's the closest thing. Getcha on that."
Keith looked at her for a moment before continuing a few steps, then stopping and looking back at her again. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then didn't, and just continued. They moved through the shadows, Keith stopping every once in awhile to make sure the other two were following.
Morrigan missed Keith's looks, too busy playing with the hatchet she pulled from her boot. That might have been the best thing for both of them, though. They'd made it a little ways along when there was a noise ahead of them, too quiet for anyone but Keith to hear.
Keith came to a stop and listened again. He was sure he'd heard something but he couldn't be sure what. He glanced back to make sure the other two were following as well. Morrigan, and Hendrik who was silently struggling in a cable. Keith turned his attention back ahead, listening closely now.
It was a low hissing, coming from somewhere up. The vents. There was something coming from the vents, a sickly sweet smelling gas that hadn't quite reached them yet, but would eventually. Soon, actually. Hydrogen sulfide, a high concentrate that smelled sweet and would light at the smallest spark, and halothane. For putting people to sleep.
Keith came to a stop and tipped his head oddly too one side to listen more closely. He glanced at Morrigan and then back towards Hendrik… who was gone. Nowhere to be seen, and Keith hadn't heard anything, so either Hendrik had been playing dumb, or someone else on the ship was really good at sneaking.
"Somethin' up?" Morrigan asked, looking up from her hatchet and arching a brow. She looked exhausted, honestly, but was somehow sporting that permanent grin like it was some sort of fashion statement. "Ya look like you're-does somethin' smell sweet t' you?"
Keith glanced around. "Yeah, that's what I was noticing. I also noticed that mister Hendrik dipped out on us," he commented. "I'm also hearing some sort of hissing sound. From up ahead. But I can't figure out… Hydrogen sulfide…"
"Hydrogen sulfide, and somethin' else." Morrigan said, her accent softening a bit as her eyes widened. "Halothane. Fuck. They're tryna put us to sleep." She hissed, a bandana appearing in her hand as soon as she made the realization. She had plenty of experience with the sweet smelling sleeping gas. A little too much. She shoved the fabric towards Keith, pulling out another scrap to tie around her face, looking around. "Hendire ain't gonna make it long without coverin' his face. Don't breathe this shit in, trust me."
Keith was already tieing the bandana over his face. He was looking for an exit as well as Hendrik. "Move backwards away from the vents," he ordered. His voice muffled by the bandana, as he started moving around.
Morrigan rolled her eyes, nodding anyway. "No shit." She said, slipping past him and motioning for him to follow. "This way. Most ships from this year all had the same damn layout and pod bay." She pushed her fiery hair back out of her face, tying it back with a hair tie, metal arm catching the light thanks to her sleeves being pushed up.