RENDEZVOUS & RETURN. | COMPLETE
By the time Ari arrived, everyone else was gathered. By her slight dishevelment and the fact that she was a little out of breath, it would be obvious that she had been running.
She looked for Aud and Bella first -- good, both present -- before looking around at the others, her eyes finally landing on Miles. She was certain that the fact that she was alone would not be missed. His eyes narrowed, the man straightening as he took in the bard; his gaze flitted to the mouth of the steps behind Ari, watching for another arrival that never came.
“So,” she said, “good news or bad news first, darling?”
“The good. I often tend to eat dessert for breakfast, after all.” Miles’ usual cocky humour – a way to keep the group at ease, confident and unworried – fell flat.
Ari reached into the bag at her waist and drew out the Coeurl. Even in the moonlight, it sparkled quite impressively in her hand. The crew inhaled en masse, all eyes gravitating towards the target of their entire heist. “Mission,” she said, “mostly accomplished. As for the bad?” A sigh. “Somebody got overzealous. I left her fighting a trio of guards -- no doubt they’ll have locked her up and put the call out to the peacekeepers by now.”
“Overzealous?” he echoed, spluttering.
And while Ari didn’t really think Miles had planned it, there was always a chance. Best to let him make the decision. “What would you like to do, fearless leader?”
Pausing and trying to remember to breathe, Miles looked around at his group, taking them all in. Damia, Ash, Rin, Audrey (who looked far too green around the gills for his liking for a second mission), Arabella, and Arielle herself. The temptation to leave Loch there to rot was unmistakable; she’d likely weasel her way out on her own somehow, sometime, eventually. And they already had the prize they’d come for. Anything else was altruistic foolishness, wasn’t it?
Decisions churned through his mind before Miles finally fell on a strategy, though not without a frustrated groan. “Loose lips sink ships, ladies,” he said stiffly. “She could turn us all in in a heartbeat. We leave no loose ends behind. So I say we’re going back in. If you’d rather not participate, speak now or forever hold your peace, my merry lasses.”
And he couldn’t even fault them for not sticking their necks out, for a woman who wasn’t even an official member of their crew.
Faram’s fucking sake, it was going to be a long night.