The Quarry

The Quarry - Part 4

Thud.

His entire chair jolted forward. He ignored her.

THUD.

"What do you want?"

"I gotta pee."

He rolled his eyes under his helmet, heaving another deep sigh. "You shouldn't have drank all that water."

"Oh, come on, I'm pretty sure 'stay hydrated' was one of the first things they drilled into our heads as foundlings."

"So now you're following the creed? Funny I didn't see your helmet anywhere when I picked you up."

"There's a big difference between 'drink water' and 'keep a helmet on for the rest of your life and never show anyone your face or you're unworthy of our entire culture'. Pretty sure one of those things is just good advice."

"Unless you're caught by a bounty hunter who now gets to decide if he's going to let you use the 'fresher."

"Din, I will pee right here. Don't think I won't. Might even be an improvement to whatever's coating this seat right now."

He stared at her before getting up and hauling her to her feet. "Fine."

He helped her down the ladder and stood in front of the refresher door. She turned to face him, holding out her wrists expectantly. He just stared at her.

"Are you serious? You're really going to make me go with these things on?"

"You seem to think you have some sort of negotiating power here."

"Oh come on!"

"Don't whine. Just do your business."

She huffed and he heard her stomach rumble. She looked up at him again. "I don't suppose I could ask for something to eat when I get out of there."

"You can. We'll see if I'm feeling generous."

She rolled her eyes, stepping into the tiny room and slamming the door shut behind her. He could hear her grunting and muttering from within as he walked over to his food stores to see what he had to give her. He opted for a ration bar and stood, waiting for her to finish up. After what felt like an eternity, the door clicked open and she stumbled back out. There was a sheen of sweat on her face and she looked even more annoyed.

He extended his hand with the ration bar, and she snatched it away, tearing it open with her teeth before biting into it. He leaned against the wall and she stared back at him as she munched.

"You do realize it's creepy when you do that," she said around a mouthful. "No one can see your eyes, and it's weird."

"That's the point."

"I don't like it."

"You're not meant to."

She watched him as she finished her bar and handed the wrapper back to him. "So, you gonna let me sleep in your bunk? A nap would be nice."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight unless you want to get chained up to the truss again."

"But I'm tired."

"Maybe you should have actually slept instead of trying to sabotage my ship."

"I could kick a single panel too hard and sabotage this ship, Din."

He gently started corralling her back towards the ladder to the cockpit. As she hauled herself back up with his hand bracing her, she turned to talk to him over her shoulder. "If you were me, you'd do anything to get off this bucket of bolts too. Especially if you were getting turned over to Boros Farr."