Rico and Carina arrived at the
Dust Devil’s cargo by without much interference. Luckily for them, it was mostly empty…most of the crew were probably already done with the loading procedures and joining the rest of the crowd in the mess. The Red Hill’s cargo bay was fairly large, seeing as it
was a transport vessel, but Rico was certain the ship would be transporting medical supplies to the
NSS Acadia. All he would need to do is find out where they were keeping said medical supplies and find a blood testing doohickey…and Rico didn’t need some asshat medic to do that.
“Aight Carina,” Rico said in a hushed voice as they both entered the cargo bay. Most of the room was occupied with storage crates and the like, a few small pathways in-between the goods for traversing purposes. “I’m gonna look for somethin’ to do this test with, you stand next t’ that door there an’ tell me if anyone’s comin’.”
Carina nodded, knowing full well what they were doing. She'd done similar things in the past, in the city, and on Nepleslia. The girl trotted over to the door, pressing herself against the side, but close enough to peek out.
Rico double-checked to make sure Carina was in position before skulking through the mess of boxes and canisters. Before long, he was able to spot some metal containers labeled with that crazy little red cross…and after a few minutes of rummaging, Rico pulled out his well-earned reward; a blood test doohickey…or at least what Rico THOUGHT to be a blood test doohickey.
The mechanism was little more than a syringe system attached to a hand-gripped injection apparatus. The syringe was empty, and the whole device came attached to a small case of replacement vials. Rico gave it a once-over…no blood stains from previous use, and since the syringe was empty it meant that he wasn’t going to be shooting himself with any strange chemicals.
‘…unless it’s like some…invisible drug or some shit…’ Rico thought grimly, swallowing hard as he shook the device to make sure there
really wasn’t anything in there.
“…anyone comin’ baby?” Rico whispered, not daring to take his eyes off the blood sampler.
Carina meanwhile peeked out of the corner, and out of the door. A pair of men walked by, talking loudly to each other, and in general just "having a good time" as they joked. One of them however let out a rather large belch as he passed. "Shouldn'ta ate that damn food they made, looked like shit on a plate..." He muttered, his friend roaring laughing as the rushed sound of boots hitting metal deck plate could be heard as the man with the stomach issues ran towards the latrine. Thankfully, Carina had made a shooing gesture to Rico during this, and the girl hid behind the bulkhead.
Rico immediately hit the floor when he saw Carina’s gesture. In the hurried process, he knocked his head on the corner of one of the cargo containers.
”Fffffffffffffffffffffffff!” Rico hissed, wincing and holding his forehead with his free hand, belly-down on the cold deck.
"Just two big men walked by, papi...one got sick and ran...the other followed him. They're gone now." Carina whispered, still using the fatherly honorific on Rico as she looked to him, then peeked back out.
“Yeah…great…” Rico groaned as he sat up, rubbing the afflicted area of his head vigorously. After a minute or two Rico moved out of sight behind some crates and hopped up onto one of the larger ones, out of sight from the front of the room near the bulkhead doors. “Aight sweetheart, over here, we’ll do this quick an’ get the hell outta here,” Rico called Carina softly from his lofted position.
The girl blinked slightly at her father's acrobatics, but nodded along to his command. After all, it was one of the rules he'd said to follow, and to trust him on. Carina soon peeked around the door again, seeing no one, she promptly trotted towards his position, careful to keep her footfalls as silent as possible until she came up on where Rico was. She was...well, short, standing at a mere four feet, and some odd inches, and held her arms out for him to lift her up.
Rico stared down blankly at her…he had no idea what she was doing. “…what? What’s that mean?” he said, eyes narrowed inquisitively.
Carina couldn't
believe her father didn't know. The girl repeated the gesture, and whispered. "Lift me up."
“Ooooohhhhh…” Rico said, nodding slightly at the realization. Instead of doing as she asked, however, Rico grinned down at her slyly. “Try an’ get up here yourself. Common.”
Carina made a sound of small protest at this. She gave her father a slight pout, but nodded glumly. The girl looked around her, noting all the cargo containers around her father were taller then she was. The girl frowned at this, and looked behind her, finding a small plastic container. Carina walked over to it, and scooted it over to one of the cargo containers, and climbed on top, and having to "hop" to get a leg up on one of the containers, and managed to climb up on one, then one of the lower ones until she managed to get to her father's side.
’Heh, it’s like havin’ a pet that actually does what I say,’ Rico mused silently to himself, grinning widely as he watched Carina’s antics. “Alriiiiight, now,” Rico said, holding up the blood drawing device. “Hold out yer arm, gotta get a bit a’ your blood for the pretty captain.”
Carina looked at the needle, her eyes rather wide. It wasn't so much the whole syringe, but that pointy metal bit...oh, she knew it hurt, and had the child's fear of it. Carina shrinked back a little from it and made a little sound of protest. "But...I don't like those papi...they hurt..." She said nervously.
“Hmm…” Rico said, leaning back a bit as he watched his daughters reaction. Her reaction was expected, in a sense; Rico, like any little boy at her age, had the same fear of syringes…but over time he had grown calloused against the fear. “Yep, needles do kinda suck,” Rico said before quickly reaching out without warning, grasped her arm, set the needle in and hit the trigger. Almost immediately, the syringe began filling with the crimson fluid. After the container was half-full, Rico pulled back and snapped the device off again.
Carina had not been fast enough to react, and bucked as the needle pierced her tanned skin, making her squeal in panic, fear, and the pain. After it was over, she cradled her arm to her, making little sounds as she drew ragged breaths due to being so surprised and scared at the same time.
Rico flicked the little glass vial, the small red payload jiggling behind its confines with each strike. He hoped that this would be enough, while simultaneously hoping that there was still some food left at the mess. “Well, wasn’t so bad, right sugar?” Rico said, hopping down from the elevated cargo container, landing with a heavy thud against the metal deck with a grunt. After carefully removing the vial, Rico haphazardly tossed the syringe device back into the canister and turned back around, lightly tossing the small crimson-covered glass in one hand as she smiled back up at Carina. “Aight then, ya hungry sweet cheeks? Let’s bounce.”
Carina just looked at the man warily as she nursed her arm, but nodded. "Can you pick me up and put me down, papi? Please?" She asked.
That sly little grin slinked back onto Rico’s face upon hearing Carina’s request. The suave Nepleslia quickly stuck out his foot and scooted the little plastic box Carina had used to get up onto the crate out of the way and stepped back a few paces. “Ya got up there, you can get down.”
Carina huffed. "You stuck me in my arm, and scared me." She said puffing out her cheeks, and giving her father a stern look and pout as she brought these things up in a retort. She did however keep cradling her arm for emphasis, and her knees still shook slightly from the surprise and fear.
Rico simply crossed his arms and started tapping his foot. “Better hurry up or I’ll leave without ya,” he joked with a falsely stern glare.
"Miss Esther would be mad if you did." Carina countered with a huff as she tried to get down, and nearly slipped due having the one arm to use, the other ached something fierce, before catching herself, and was still standing up there.
Rico’s actions came naturally, for the most part; most of his childhood was spent fending for himself anyway, and he turned out alright for the most part. The Nepleslian sergeant started to walk slowly towards the cargo bay door. “Alright then, I’ll catch ya later Carina,” he said casually, keeping his ears wide open for her next amusing (to himself, perhaps) reaction.
Carina huffed again. "I'll tell Miss Esther on you!" She said, in a loud, intentional voice.
By this time, Rico had reached the doorway, but seeing as Carina’s view of the entrance itself was blocked by more freight containers, Rico didn’t actually leave the room…simply ducked out of sight. “Bye bye, Carinaaaa…” Rico let his voice fade as if he were actually leaving into the hall, trying his hardest to resist the enormous snicker he had building up.
Naturally, the girl thought Rico owed her this much, after all, he
had stuck her in the arm, made her scared, and was mean about it. So, she merely sat there, her legs hanging off the side of the container, moving back and forth as they made little 'bang bang bang' sounds that reverberated in the cargo bay.
Rico, perched silently just out of sight, waited with anticipation at what the little girl would do.
’Probably start cryin’ or some shit,’ Rico thought, obviously enjoying the mean-spirited game he had started. However, he heard no crying or so much as a whimper…just little taps against the side of the crate. Rico decided to wait a little longer.
Soon, the little taps progressed into louder "bangs" that reverberated in the cargo bay, making loud echoes.
The seargent, after another minute or two of listening to the soft tapping amplify itself around the cargo room, finally slinked up to the side of the crate and peeked around. Sure enough, the sound was coming from a very calm and obviously very bored Carina. At first, Rico was a bit disappointed; that wasn’t the reaction he was anticipating at all. As far as he knew, all little girls did was cry…and yet, at the same time, Rico realized that her stubbornness in itself was something he could relate to. After all…he was pretty stubborn himself. At first, he
had actually considered leaving her…but then, he recalled her last few words…
"Miss Esther would be mad if you did."
"I'll tell Miss Esther on you!"
Rico had to admit it; the kid made some very valid threats. He had to keep this little twerp entertained long enough to have her dropped off onto Nepleslia…and getting told on wasn’t going to help that at all. Perhaps it was time to sweeten the deal and make sure these little threats were forgotten. Just for now, anyway.
Quietly, Rico squatted and snuck silently against the large crate Carina was perched on, hoping that her attention was elsewhere in the room. He continued to creep along the side of the container until he was directly below Carina’s tiny feet, watching them bang harshly against the crate with a slick, conniving grin.
Carina continued to sit there, her feet banging against the container, her eyes looking at one dead ahead labeled "Flammable Materials" which, more then likely contained contraband of some sort. She didn't notice her father down below her at the time.
“CHOOOOOOOAAAAAHHHH!” Rico yelled nonsensically, and in one quick motion, leaped up and twisted to face Carina, plucking her up from underneath her arms. When the two hit the ground again, Rico raised her back up and twirled her around in circles…but in such a closed confined space, this action was not without its faults. After a few spins, a small container struck him in the shin. Rico’s face immediately lit back up in a wince, and he quickly set Carina down, knelt over and began rigorously rubbing his lower leg, hissing the same “FFFFFFFFFfffffffffffffffff…” as from before.
Carina, had once again been surprised by her father, and gave a startled squeak at being so suddenly picked up, and at the sound. When he twirled her around, she felt dizzy yes...but it was, well...fun to her so, she giggled as her father then hit his shin and was now rubbing his leg she giggled again, and smiled at him. "I knew you wouldn't leave me, papi." She said, going from how she'd acted earlier to more like her affectionate self, as the girl spoke those words it was obvious she believed them.
Rico looked up from his bruised shin (only slightly trumping his bruised ego) and met Carina on an eye-to-eye level and breathed a short little laugh. “Yeeeah, Daddy ain’t so good at leavin’ a young lady in distress. I, uh, guess this lil’ knick here,” Rico said, rubbing his shin again. “…makes us even?”
Carina looked from where she'd been perched, to where she was now, and Rico having stuck her in the arm, and now his shin being bruised. To her, it was a slight bonus, even more so since he'd actually been playing with her, by spinning her about. "Yeah Papi, we're even now..." She said before giving him a light hug, remembering his past distress.
“Hell yeah,” Rico said as he stood back up and ruffled Carina’s hair while attentively running his other hand through his own. “Let’s go get some slop, I’m fuckin’ starved.”
