"Me too," Poppy said softly, following him. "Although, we have to be careful going up here. Remember, this place is crawling with police officers."
"Yeah. We probably can. We're already so close, I'm sure we'll make it out fine." (So, like, made this at 4:30 in the morning. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) Spoiler (File is big I'm sorryyyy)
(Stuffy. Okay, so I was in my bed when I first saw that and I kind of got the idea of the image but I couldn't see it too well because I was on my phone, so I stood up and ran to my computer and now that drawing is my screensaver. It's perfect. You completely nailed what Poppy looks like, and I love the highlights that you did, and I love both of their expressions, and I really love the scene you chose. TL;DR, that's really beautiful.) "It will all be fine," she murmured. They got almost to the top of the stairs, and Poppy peered over, evaluating the room. "Okay," she said, whispering to Francis. "There are two guards at the door, and one receptionist." She glanced down at her pouch. "I have... just enough to shoot them each with a dart, but I can't miss." She pulled out a small cylindrical tube and loaded the first one in.
(The point where I read that it was your screensaver was when I hid under a pillow out of happiness. I don't understand how you're so nice all the time???) "Do you think you can do it?" he asked, a bit nervously. "If you miss, I might be able to take one down before they signal others."
(Haha, well, your artwork deserves a lot of praise. It's really, really good.) She paused, tapping the tube against her chin. "I might as well try," she said. "I think I'm going to go for the receptionist first though. She's probably able to set off an alarm pretty quickly." She raised the tube to her lips, aimed, took a deep breath, and blew into it. The dart made a quick swit sound as it exited the chamber, and it flew straight into the receptionist's neck. The woman frowned and plucked it from her neck before sighing and slumping down onto the desk. Poppy quickly loaded the second dart and aimed it towards one of the guards. "Be ready," she murmured and shot it off. Swit. Her aim was true, and it hit the officer's neck. The dart seemed to take less time to reach his system and he collapsed immediately. The other officer looked down at him with concern, and knelt down, checking his pulse.
Poppy frowned. "It's going to be a little difficult in the position he's in," she murmured. "I can try, but I might not make it." She loaded the cylinder and aimed carefully. There was a moment's pause. Swit. The dart hit his arm, and the officer looked up in alarm. He pulled the dart out and saw Poppy and Francis. He stood up angrily and aimed his gun. There was a small click as it the bullet was lined up into the chamber, and then the man sighed, and passed out on the floor, his gun clattering next to him. Poppy exhaled with relief. "Jesus. That was close."
Francis said nothing, just sighed deeply as the guard fell. "Damn them. Taking us to these stupid meetings without any precautions," he said, his tone irritated. "Honestly, what are they thinking?"
"They're just naive," she said, rubbing his back. "They won't make the same mistake again." She stood up from the stairs. "Come on. We have to go."
She followed him, stepping over the unconscious bodies. She pulled on the door and peered outside. Night had fallen since they had entered the building. The streets were lit up with lights, but the streets were strangely empty aside from the occasional lone pedestrian heading home after a day of work. Poppy frowned. "I'm sure it's very safe here," she said. "But it probably gets pretty boring to live here after a while."
"Yeah. I don't see why anyone would want to live here at all," he said, watching cautiously. "Even before this, I wouldn't. It's bland."
She stared out into the town, her eyes wary. "Yeah, being captured really is bad for morale," she said with disgust. "Come on, let's go."
She glanced back at him, and her eyes narrowed in sympathy. "Oh, my love. We'll get you checked out as soon as we get back on the ship," she promised. "Phos has some stuff for raw skin."
He kissed her cheek in gratitude. "You're really saving the day a lot. Thank you." He looked at the ground, brows furrowed. "I wasn't much help."
She shrugged, pulling the door open wider. "Well, you saved me in the forest," she said. "It was about time I returned the favor." She stepped out into the open and waited for him to come through. "Besides, that little threat you gave Mr. Jeremiah was certainly effective. If you hadn't been tied, I'm almost positive he would have peed himself."
He followed, his dull expression turned into a grin. "Well, that's one way of putting it." He paused. "I meant it in all honesty, though. I would have it we had more time."
