Sounsyy closed her eyes and the sound of her panting filled her ears in the absence of all other sounds. Had there been something there? Or was she losing her mind? There had been something - she was sure of it. By the time Ryanti had shaken off the Allagan lab's influence and exited through the broken porthole, Sounsyy was sucking air through her teeth. She looked very small in the large hallway, alone in the dark. Her knees were tucked into her chest and the Sharlayan rifle rested limply atop her feet in front of her. Her nose was buried in her fingers as if hiding or trying to slow her breathing.
She didn't seem to notice when the other Miqo'te sat beside her and spoke. His words, "Are you okay too?" seemed abrupt to her. She looked at him, eyes wide, and shook her head slowly.
"There was... there was... blood. In the vent, I think, and on the floor," she said, sniffing back the panic, "In there. Beneath the table. And when I came out here... I thought I saw something. Someone. Gods, there's no one here, why am I being so stupid?"
She sniffed sharply again and wiped her nose on the back of her forearm, smearing her nose and cheek with a thin layer of dust that had started to accumulate on her suit. She sighed and reclined her head so that it rested upon the wall behind her, trying hard to hold back tears that she knew would come. Her breathing was finally starting to slow, though she was still anxious over what she had witnessed.
She sat there in silence for a while, collecting her thoughts while she listened to Ryanti's recovering breathing. The fall had hurt him, she knew. But he had saved her life, again. It was becoming a recurring event that Sounsyy was not comfortable with. But what choice did she have? For an agent, he was one sentimental bastard.
It was only after she became calm that her eyes began to water. If Ryanti noticed in the dark, she would simply blame it on the dust. But she twisted her torso so that she faced away from him so he would not see. She reached into her backpack and withdrew a small packet of rations from it. Truthfully, she was not hungry, her stomach was in terrible knots, but she needed something mindlessly basic and repetitive to take her mind off of her emotional state. So she withdrew a square of leavened bread - Lominsan fishtack - and nibbled the edges as quietly as one could chew fishtack in an otherwise soundless environment.
This silence, it was unbearable. Which surprised Sounsyy, as she had long suspected she would do well living in solitude without another soul she could speak or relate to. This venture was making her reconsider her opinion. But she wasn't alone, not truly, though she would not say the young Miqo'te's company was preferable. Still... She passed him a sidelong glance, her eyes still a little red. She realized he'd been watching her. His gaze caused her to become self aware of the square of fishtack held in her mouth like some covetous marmot. She held the cracker steady between her teeth as she dug around for another piece, which she offered him with a questioning, "Mm?"
Her injured hand removed the snack from between her dry lips so that she could form words. They came hesitantly at first and she realized this was perhaps the first time she had addressed him in a capacity that would suggest she thought of him as her equal, rather than her subordinate.
"Before yeh were Seventy-seven, what did yeh do?" Sounsyy asked. It was a rather sudden and personal question, she knew, but she needed something to escape the reality of their current mission. Her eyes flickered about in the darkness, ensuring they were in fact still alone, before resting back on Ryanti, watching the blood trickle down the side of his face as he spoke.
She didn't seem to notice when the other Miqo'te sat beside her and spoke. His words, "Are you okay too?" seemed abrupt to her. She looked at him, eyes wide, and shook her head slowly.
"There was... there was... blood. In the vent, I think, and on the floor," she said, sniffing back the panic, "In there. Beneath the table. And when I came out here... I thought I saw something. Someone. Gods, there's no one here, why am I being so stupid?"
She sniffed sharply again and wiped her nose on the back of her forearm, smearing her nose and cheek with a thin layer of dust that had started to accumulate on her suit. She sighed and reclined her head so that it rested upon the wall behind her, trying hard to hold back tears that she knew would come. Her breathing was finally starting to slow, though she was still anxious over what she had witnessed.
She sat there in silence for a while, collecting her thoughts while she listened to Ryanti's recovering breathing. The fall had hurt him, she knew. But he had saved her life, again. It was becoming a recurring event that Sounsyy was not comfortable with. But what choice did she have? For an agent, he was one sentimental bastard.
It was only after she became calm that her eyes began to water. If Ryanti noticed in the dark, she would simply blame it on the dust. But she twisted her torso so that she faced away from him so he would not see. She reached into her backpack and withdrew a small packet of rations from it. Truthfully, she was not hungry, her stomach was in terrible knots, but she needed something mindlessly basic and repetitive to take her mind off of her emotional state. So she withdrew a square of leavened bread - Lominsan fishtack - and nibbled the edges as quietly as one could chew fishtack in an otherwise soundless environment.
This silence, it was unbearable. Which surprised Sounsyy, as she had long suspected she would do well living in solitude without another soul she could speak or relate to. This venture was making her reconsider her opinion. But she wasn't alone, not truly, though she would not say the young Miqo'te's company was preferable. Still... She passed him a sidelong glance, her eyes still a little red. She realized he'd been watching her. His gaze caused her to become self aware of the square of fishtack held in her mouth like some covetous marmot. She held the cracker steady between her teeth as she dug around for another piece, which she offered him with a questioning, "Mm?"
Her injured hand removed the snack from between her dry lips so that she could form words. They came hesitantly at first and she realized this was perhaps the first time she had addressed him in a capacity that would suggest she thought of him as her equal, rather than her subordinate.
"Before yeh were Seventy-seven, what did yeh do?" Sounsyy asked. It was a rather sudden and personal question, she knew, but she needed something to escape the reality of their current mission. Her eyes flickered about in the darkness, ensuring they were in fact still alone, before resting back on Ryanti, watching the blood trickle down the side of his face as he spoke.