[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/473274049829535754/565087733781889025/dbd4839941caeb5d0b9a10c215553d45.png[/img][/center] [hr] [hr] Tick tock, tick tock. Dirt was being kicked up as the thief made a brisk sprint towards the lab, counting down the seconds they had left, [i][color=92278f]"fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six..."[/color][/i] Thankfully, he was swift enough to find himself at the crossroads to the labs, catching his breath for a brief second as he scanned each lab. Aurels eyes darted between each of the doors leading to their labs, traversing down the path as he began biting away at his finger. He honestly couldn't believe how inane this situation was as he looked back down the path and sighed, still counting down, [color=92278f][i]"forty-five, forty-four, forty-three..."[/i][/color] Despite looking no different than a crack addict needing their fix at the moment, he managed to narrow it down to two labs - Maiya's and his own. Aurels eyes continued to drift constantly between the two, never staying more than a hairs length of a second, but time was running short; the decision was nigh. Without much thought, he bolted towards Maiya's lab and, almost like his pounding heart, he burst through the door, throwing it open with a reverberating slam. Inside was a person rummaging through one of the containers, the edge of her long coat draped across the floor. In response to Aurel’s sudden entrance she cocked her head back, meeting him with a smirk. “Yo. Took you long enough. Managed to find a new lighter in that time,” Momoe cheerfully told Aurel, holding it up for him to see. A basic, translucent green lighter. “Almost out of fuel, though. Pretty worthless; even my old one will last longer than this thing.” [color=92278f]"Good to know that you value a lighter more than your own life,"[/color] he duly responded as his breath began to abate. [color=92278f]"You do realize we have-,"[/color] Aurel began to murmur something to himself before shoving his thoroughly chewed finger into his pocket, [color=92278f]"around thirty more seconds or so before we bite it, right?"[/color] “Sounds like plenty of time to me,” Momoe said as she pushed herself up from her crouch. She let the lighter roll into her sleeve, then pulled that very same sleeve back to inspect her bracelet. “More like twenty seconds by now…” the girl noted, idly fiddling with the device. She pulled out the cord, but didn’t make any moves towards Aurel. Instead she just looked inside of the part they were supposed to link up with. “Pretty unique shape, if you ask me… I bet these things would jam if you tried to forcefully shove someone else’s in here.” [color=92278f]"The shapes are all the same,"[/color] he grumbled, pulling out the cord from his own cuff before holding it out to her, [color=92278f]"more like there's an I.D. or something in the cuffs... now, anyways."[/color] Aurel looked up to her, seconds still on his mind as he jabbered out, [color=92278f]"How about you reconnect us since you were the one who disconnected us in the first place."[/color] “The same, huh?” Momoe muttered, coiling the cord around her thumb as she rummaged through her coat with the now free hand. She pulled out the same green lighter from before, flicking it on and holding it close to the opening. “Don’t see any kind of chip, though… don’t you need one of those or something for that? Ah, I’m bad with all this tech stuff anyway,” she casually commented, releasing her grip on the cord and letting it sink back in. “I’m fine though, thanks. I’m not in any rush,” Momoe told Aurel, a shit-eating grin plastered all across her face as she continued to stare at the bracelet. “Six… five… four…” She didn't even get the chance to say three before the cord snapped back out, in due part to Aurel snatching and ripping it out. It only took a second before the thief reattached them back to one another with a resounding *click*. From what he caught on the time, if he was a second too late, the duo would probably be gunned down, maybe gassed in this lab, or some other horrible end he imagined. But one thing was for certain as he looked up with a scowl at this dumbass standing here with a grin on her face. [color=92278f]"Are you trying to get us killed?"[/color] Momoe raised her one free eyebrow at Aurel, letting her hand fall to the side of her arm, the sleeve covering it whole again. “What? Where’d you get that idea?” she said, purposefully exaggerating her tone of voice. “If I was trying [i]that,[/i] I’d be over in the bathrooms or something. I said I’d be here, didn’t I?” The girl turned her back to him and started to haphazardly pick up some of the trash she’d littered all over the floor, sloppily tossing the junk back into the container. Momoe continued to talk while turned away from Aurel, saying: “I mean, come on. Saying I’d planned to kill us both is like saying the thought of letting us die crossed [i]your[/i] mind. Well, I guess you did come about a minute later than I’d expected you to… props for that, yeah?” Aurel blinked, staring at her with his mouth agape, making a multitude of facial expressions conveying one emotion - exasperation. Puckered lips, slit eyes, raised eyebrows, the whole kitchen sink, as he looked at her dumb grin. The longer he stared, the more he went between facepalming with his free hand and looking at her, the cycle constantly continuing. It was like watching a mime put on a show, the kind where he acts like he's screaming, stuck in an invisible box. [color=92278f]"What are you getting at,"[/color] he murmured, silently looking up as he tilted his head, [color=92278f]"playing around with our lives like it's some sort of friggin' game?"[/color] The room went silent after Aurel’s question, save for the odd sound of junk slapping against more junk. The dead air hung around for a few moments, as if to let the both of them ruminate on those words. Once her job was finished, Momoe stood up and dusted off her sleeves. “Y’see,” she started. “I don’t know what you were expecting. Isn’t you surviving [i]your[/i] concern? I’m not going to let this motive suddenly change the way I’ve been doing things, not for you. If you don’t want to risk your life, why not be quiet and just follow along, yeah? Seems like the best option for both of us,” the smuggler smugly stated. An exaggerated shrug reinforced how unconcerned she was about the whole thing. [color=92278f]"Why are you such a bitch?"[/color] A flat retort followed a split second after she finished her short monologue, his own words having as much tact as her own. He wasn't shying away from glaring at her either with a mildly visible scowl; if looks could kill, he would have probably been the first blackened by now. She met his stare by not looking away, though her face was much more relaxed than his. “Is that your big comeback?” Momoe asked him, her voice a dull monotone. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “I just know what I want out of people. Someone who doesn’t waste my time asking me pointless questions. How about you actually [i]give[/i] me a reason to be nice, Aurel? Because I’m not going to waste my breath.” [color=92278f]"Decreases your chances of getting targeted, you don't impede everyone's progress, one of them could help you without you asking-"[/color] he started to list off, before being caught off-guard and off-balance by Momoe suddenly yanking the chain. “Good attempt, but I don’t care,” she told him, before saying that “I’m going to your lab next. Haven’t checked much there yet.” Momoe walked past him as soon as she finished talking, but after taking only a step or two out the door, was stopped by her arm being locked in place. She turned back, looking as the cable had reached its outer limit with Aurel standing his ground. “Oh?” she let out with curiosity, her lips curling up with slight amusement. Aurel stood there motionless, aside from his cocking his head and giving the cable a light tug before looking down at it and clicking his tongue. [color=92278f]"Yeah, no; we can come back later to look at my lab, but you've wasted some of my time making me look for you,"[/color] he gave the cord a rough tug for emphasis before walking towards the girl. [color=92278f]"We can either go back to the amphitheater, finish our discussion and attempt to make a plan and then come back to look at my lab, or we can test another feature of these cuffs,"[/color] Aurel sounded more exasperated than anything, especially with his semi-neutral, semi-irate expression as he departed from the lab. Despite his state, he braced himself for how this inane girl would act as he passed by the door to his lab. Like Momoe, though, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the chain’s maximum length being reached. “Sure, let’s test it. Needed a break, anyway…” Momoe commented, shaking her sleeve to let her never-ending packet of cigarettes slide out. “Man, with guys like you I’ll run out in no time…” she complained, clicking it open and taking out one of the sticks. From the look of things, there didn’t seem to be too many left in there. She lit it up and leaned against the side of one of the cabins, not bothering to look towards Aurel. This was going to be a while.