Falcon's Stealth *Plot thread 4.1*

[Bast]

"A four for comfort," she said, "but, surprisingly, a five for sentiment. Hmmmm." She gave him a critical glance upwards that was spoiled utterly by her grin. "4 and a half for height. I'm taller than you, sadly, but it only gets half a point off because I'm taller than everyone. Five for personality. And you haven't once complained about me being taller than you, so that's a five-plus."

[Monthu]

"I'm Chinese." He said bluntly, raising an eyebrow "Do you really think that height is the sort of thing that bothers me?" He gave a one armed shrug, aiming to keep the shoulder her head was resting on relatively still.

"I can settle for a five plus, I guess, at a stretch..." He teased with a small smirk as the sun started to fade behind the hills of Unda.

"I'm glad I took on this mission..."

[Bast]

She snuggled a little closer.

"Me too," she admitted.

[Monthu]

"Speaking of which..." He said with a rueful smile. "We have all night to complete the mission..." He chuckled softly before reaching up and moving a stray lock of Bast's hair.

"We could easily put the well down at say... I don't know... 4am and spend the rest of the night all comfy up here?

[Bast]

"Hmmm," she agreed. "That sounds like a good idea." She snuggled a little closer. "THe later it gets, the less likely there are to be unwelcome intrusions."

[Monthu]

"Of course! It's basic logic, is it not? As such, it's pretty impossible for Ra to complain if we don't get back until morning, don't you think?" He poked his backpack rested near him with his free hand, the well device slipping out into his waiting palm, placed it next to him almost like a reminder that eventually they'd have to finish their mission. In the meantime, he tightened his grip on Bast slightly and looked up at the now dark sky.

[Bast]

"Hey, Monthu," she murmured, watching the sky. "You ever thought about finishing the mission and just... ditching Ra?"

[Monthu]

"I have..." He admitted with a frown, seemingly conflicted. "And after meeting you? I'm strongly tempted to, but..." He smiled softly, as if finding some inner peace. "That would go against everything I stand for, as much as it may seem unlikely, I have some shred of honor. I may lie, kill and steal to make a living, but I always finish what I've started. I refuse to back down until I've done that..."

[Bast]

Bast nodded.

"But what if, when it's all over, when we've set up Ra's wells for him, we just... don't go back..."

It was something she'd been thinking about for a bit, now, but she'd been too afraid to speak out loud.

[Monthu]

"You mean... Stay here..?" 

He frowned, the thought had never really crossed his mind, but now that he thought about it, it seemed a logical option. His family thought he was dead and he wasn't allowed to see them, and after having galivanted off onto this mission without his handlers permission, he'd suffer severe consequences anyway. Maybe staying here was for the best..?

"It's... It's a lot to think about, Bassy..."

[Bast]

"I don't know..." she said. "WIll anyone over there miss us? Someday, I'd get caught. You'd be caught and executed. The others have places to return to... but who else would miss us if we were gone? I keep trying to think of one person... just one, who I would go back for... and there just... aren't any...."

It was heartbreaking, in a way, when she'd first realized it. That she couldn't think of a single thing to tie her down to her old life. She had no friends, just people she could use and people she couldn't. And it had taken her a trip away from the known universe to realize that the reason she had never been able to fill the hole for very long was that her life, itself, was empty.

[Monthu]

Monthu leaned his head back to look at the moonlit sky, as if he hoped to find all of the answers written there in the stars, but he saw nothing. Or so he thought.

He saw the stars.

China was so vastly populated, so crammed full of people and pollution that the light pollution of the cities had always blocked out the stars. For that brief moment, he saw them and everything seemed to be clear, the only things that seemed to exist were him, the stars and the woman sat beside him.

"Let's do it." He breathed, almost in a whisper, a sad smile spread across his features as he spoke.

[Bast]

"Yeah," she said quietly, watching them too. "And we can be whatever we decide to make ourselves..."

[Monthu]

"Speaking of which, we may as well get started." He gave a sigh of disappointment, it seemed a shame to cut off the wonderful time that they were having, but they still had a mission to complete. Picking up the well that he had placed next to him in his free hand, he gave a small smile.

"Our ticket to freedom, here. How about we go cash it?"

[Bast]

She came to her feet, grinning. "Sounds alright by me. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can go about exploring some of these ideas we keep having..." She winked at him.