WE ARE THE RISEN

Happy Birthday, Erica. (Part Two.)

     The barracks in the ship were much quieter than usual. If Snake had to guess, it was probably thanks to the scheduled open-mic night for the bar. Whatever reason it may have been, she was glad for it. Her arm really was killing her. Despite Shifter's newest attempts at fixing the wound, she could acutely feel the burning pain in her forearm. It was her fault, really; she should have watched the window for longer than she did. She was lucky that Duke reacted so quickly. Of course, she knew that she'd had worse, but this injury, in particular, had been a thorn in her side for the past few weeks or so, with who knows how many more to go.

     Snake opened the door to her quarters, flinching at the loud squeak of the hinges. She reminded herself to ask Mailman to fix that later. Technically, this room wasn't entirely hers, but Shifter worked such odd hours that the majority of the time, she just found her sleep on a Med cot. Snake couldn't blame her; Intel workers definitely had the rough end of the stick when it came to their working hours.

     Tonight, however, was different. Shifter sat on the cot on her side of the room, absentmindedly fiddling with her M.R.A, which was happily humming in her hands. Drones weren't things that were normally allowed to be taken back to the barracks, but so long as Davis didn't see it, no one seemed to mind too much.

     "Hey," Shifter gave her a tired grin as she noticed her entrance. "Sorry for the intrusion. I figured I should pop down here for some proper sleep since I got the chance."

     Snake shook her head as she sat down next to her. "This is just as much your room as it is mine, you know. Don't apologize. Besides," she continued with a pat to Shifter's knee, "you look as tired as I feel. You should probably get some rest."

     "Says the kettle to the pot," Shifter laughed."Besides, Garv needed some small repairs. I thought he would be more comfortable if I worked on him here."

     Snake smiled. Of all the people in the organization, Shifter seemed to be the only one that truly loved working with the experimental tech. Sometimes Snake wondered if she thought they were on the same level as themselves, at least mentally. While Snake didn't know much about them, she could respect them for how many times they had gotten her out of a situation. Drones, especially Medical Repair Assistants like Garv, seemed to return the feeling to Shifter. Snake had never really cared much for the technology-focused aspects of the RISEN; she could do a lot more with her brain and her mouth than she could with a machine. But, she had to admit, getting to watch the natural, fluid way in which Shifter fixed something as simple as the drone's steering was surprisingly calming.

     Snake yawned. "I should probably hit the sack then. Don't stay up all night playing with that thing, okay?"

     "That thing has a name, you know. It's rude. And he can hear you," Shifter added as Garv spun around, headbutting Snake's bunk as she crawled in. It would have been intimidating if the M.R.A had been bigger than a loaf of bread. As it was, Garv tried his best.

     Snake did her best to ignore the small thumps of the drone and settled in. "You mind turning off the lights?" she asked.

     Shifter walked over to the switch, flipping it off for a moment before turning it back on. She laughed at Snake's annoyed groaning on the other side of the room.

     "If I had the strength, I would get out of bed and strangle you," Snake threatened weakly.

     "And yet, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be alive in the morning," Shifter teased, making a deep bow to an invisible audience before turning the lights off again.

     The last thing to cross Snake's mind before she fell asleep was a semi-formed plot to steal Garv for a week.