Hide yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima had already deduced which neurotoxin Crow would use, there was a higher than average probability that the black Mamba would be chosen and from that Karima gathered all the data she knew to calculate exactly how many seconds she would have to contend with the girl. Her resources were limited and she would have to resort to using the environment. Any collateral damage she causes she will gladly repair herself, she could probably rebuild this entire building in one night and one days worth of time.

Just as the ground beef on the stove began to sizzle and the vegetables began to boil, crow whispered her words to Karima. Karima heard them, but so did Donna. Donna went to speak some word of question, she opened her mouth, but nothing but screams came out. Behind them, a commotion was forming. The sound of metal popping and bending. then a whirring sound of it being whipped through the air. Fast.

"Crow. Duck."

Assuming Crow can Duck in .65 seconds, she'll narrowly avoid being jack hammered by a hand rail that Karima just tore from the wall in the short hall way between the kitchen and the former area. Unfortunately, Donna was reeling from pain and betrayal and will not be so fortunate, instead, she took the brunt of the force straight to the face, which sent her sprawling back against the counter top with a broken jaw, but Karima didn't stop there. Her savagery was rivaled only by the eeriness at which she approached it.

She held the hand railing weapon with one hand, her other hand reached down into the 200 pound stove/oven combo Donna was cooking on top of. Her claws are already extended, they sliced through the metal like a knife through paper quickly, allowing her to grip a hold of it and pull it up to throw at Donna, who was already preparing a counter attack. Donna fingers sparked, but the volts didn't leave her hands and instead her voice cries out in a pain a second time as she is sandwiched with tremendous force between the wall near by and the oven that was just thrown at her. The wall actually caves quite a bit, but the support beams are fairly close and only one of them actually cracked. So for a brief moment, Donna is wedged into a wall, the oven thrown at her falls free onto its side in front of her and she is stunned, but only for a moment.

But Karima isn't done. Donna's arms are still free, and she can still see the two of them and Karima takes the precious few seconds she has to finish the job. On the counter is a knife, it had previously been used to dice up vegetables, which are actually now strewn across the floor, Karima snatched it as soon as the oven left her hand, which she then threw at Donna just as Donna was raising her hand to fire a bolt. It connected with the girls hand, which whipped back, the knife plunged in through the flesh and the sharp pointy end buried itself solid into a support beam under the thin drywall, the girl screams in pain again, but she still has one more hand.

By this point, around 10 seconds into the altercation, the toxin is starting to take it's toll hard. The girl can't think right, her vision is blurred, she is drooling and shaking. This combined with the savage trauma Karima just inflicted on her is enough to take her out. Karima was poised to break the girls remaining hand with her hand rail melee weapon, but she withdrew it when she saw the girl drop the hand limply and pass out as she succumbs to the fierce dose of neurotoxin. Donna's body hung limply out of the hole in the wall that it was smashed into, her head hung low, and only the right hand which was literally nailed to the wall with a knife, was up. She probably would've fallen into the floor if not for that.

"Clear."

Karima said mysteriously. But the point of the word became immediately apparent as a dozen armed shield agents came rushing into the scene. All of them ignore Crow, they pretend she isn't even there and they even give her a wide birth, two of them are wheeling a gurney with several straps and one of them looks like a medical tech. They see to the girl quickly and in no time she is strapped to the gurney and being wheeled back out. The Agent in command shares a few hushed words with Karima, but Crow can probably hear them, something about excessive force and collateral damage to which Karima simply responded some snappy but completely legitimate reasoning which was perfectly well within Shield protocol which she also quoted to the agent. Karima told the Agent to keep the girl completely restrained and sedated and then suggested how to keep her suggested with some kind of potent and excessive dosage of a fairly common tranquilizer.

When they asked if Karima would be returning with them, She declined and said she would call them if she wanted to return to the helicarrier and then after things began to die down, Karima simply stood in the church, staring up at the crucifix. Clearly the mission is over and Crow is of course free to go and do as she likes. Karima owed Crow a few favors, but she would wait for Crow to seek her out for them.

[Crow]

Shit, the girl had heard her. Crow adjusted her attack as the girl turned, still catching her in the neck with her fangs. A fraction of a second was all she needed to deliver the dose of venom, and then she'd shifted again, tendons and muscles protesting the sudden change in size. It hurt like hell, but by the time Karima's weapon had struck, Crow was a house fly. To Donna, she'd have simply disappeared into thin air, although the cyborg was likely to see it differently. But although she was effectively invisible, she was still perilously close to large moving things that could squish or electrocute her. As the girl dealt with the impact of the railing, Crow forced herself into the air.

She darted up to the ceiling, wedging herself into a corner against the wall. Safe. From her vantage point she could see the girl's hands sparking, and Crow was very glad she'd gone through the effort of moving off the floor. There wasn't much electricity there, but pretty much anything would be enough to kill a fly. She definitely wanted to stay out of the line of debris fromt his fight. And that was exactly why she was just going to...chill. She'd done her part, and Karima could probably retreat now and let the neurotoxin do its work. Crow would just wait up on the ceiling until this was all over, and take a few minutes to catch her breath. Well, to re-oxygenate, anyway. Flies didn't exactly have breath to catch.

It wasn't long before the girl was stumbling and showing signs of poisoning. It was faster than Crow had anticipated, but this was also a hell of a lot more venom than she'd ever given anyone. Hmm, she'd have to remember that for later; she could think of at least two people with healing factors that could use killing. Even if it was temporary. A few seconds later the girl was out, and Karima called in the SHIELD team that had been gathering outside. Crow decided that it was best to stay up in her corner for a few minutes longer. Just because she was on safe terms with SHIELD didn't mean she wanted to test their relationship. Not when she wasn't in any shape to fight back.

Crow waited a few minutes after the team had cleared out before dropping to the floor once again. Although her senses weren't enhanced as a fly, she was pretty sure they were gone; there was someone with a healing factor that would be occupying their time. If they looked away from her for a few minutes, the girl would either be awake and angry, or dead. Crow figured the agents didn't like either option very much; they'd have everyone watching her. Besides, unless Karima had said something, they had no reason to suspect that the church's kitchen had another occupant.

Reluctantly, Crow forced herself to turn human once again. It was slow, and painful; she could feel the exoskeleton around her retreating into her skin, and her bones forming beneath it. As soon as she had a mouth and vocal cords again, she began muttering words that were highly inappropriate for a church. Yeah, she was regretting this night already. She stayed still on the floor for a long moment after she'd finished shifting, hoping the pain would die down soon. Every bone and muscle ached, and her skin was sensitive to the touch. It felt like she'd come down with a nasty case of the flu. There was no way she'd be able to shift forms again any time soon, even if there was more danger. Well, it looked like she'd be sleeping in a dumpster or cheap motel tonight, not in the park. Something else to look forward to. Amazingly enough, it seemed her nose had stopped bleeding, though. She stared regretfully at the spilled stew on the floor, wishing that the stove hadn't been a victim of the fight. And wishing that the bright spots of light dancing in her vision would stop. It was really distracting.

Crow shook her head to clear it, forced herself to her feet, and limped over to the doorway. She could see Karima by the altar, staring upward. What was she still doing here? Did the robot want to talk Crow, or had she suddenly found religion, or something? She smiled faintly at the thought, and leaned against the doorway. Praying robots. That was a new one.

[Karima Shapandar]

The mission had been a success, of course Karima had calculated it most likely would have been. One thing though, she is going to learn the hard way before to much longer, is that she is probably placing to much emphasis on her own tenacity where her calculations are concerned. She will learn though, one way or another, you can't brute force everything.

"Thank you for your assistance Crow. I am detecting you are in large amounts of pain and may also be hungry. I have one small dose of Morphine which I brought in case the suspect sustained heavy injury and I needed it to subdue any hysterics she might make as a result. Would you like me to buy you some food."

Karima spoke the first sentence while looking at the crucifix, the second as she turned her head to look at Crow, and the third as she walked towards Crow while also pulling a small capped syringe from one of the pockets on her pants. Being able to see the surface neural activity in others made for a very unique outlook on humans. She was steadily training herself to use it to detect lies as well, though that was a much more complex process. Some humans are good at lying, they can fool even themselves, and yet some give away countless tells that Karima can see that others may not notice, she has very little conclusive data to employ this sense in a way that will help her discern lies from truth, but maybe some day. But what does all this say about how she views other living beings in the first place? Could it be that she struggles to understand humans so much because of all her fancy sensors and data collection sets? Is she failing to see the forest, for the trees?

"If you would like, I can administer it. Hold out your arm."

Karima didn't even really need a tourniquet, though she wouldn't guess, she prefers to know things, rather than guess. So if Crow does offer her arm, Karima will use one hand to pinch off the blood supply around her bicep with her thumb and index finger, and the other to methodically inject just enough Morphine to take Crow's mind off the pain. It probably wont make her high as a kite, but who knows, some people have different tolerances.

[Crow]

Unsurprisingly, Karima seemed to have noticed Crow's presence as soon as she appeared in the doorway. Well, to be fair, Crow figured that the robot had probably noticed her long before that. Still, almost as soon as she appeared, Karima began speaking to her. She was thanking her, that was nice. Almost like she'd actually needed Crow's assistance in the first place. Crow smirked faintly, but stayed silent as the other female continued talking. Her next words were almost as entertaining, just for how obvious they were. Yeah, Crow was hurting and hungry. She'd had a rough evening, and it was entirely the robot's fault. It wasn't like Karima could do anything about—oh. She was. And she was walking towards Crow, and she was armed with a syringe.

Yeah, no. Crow trusted Karima about as far as she could throw her. She worked for SHIELD, she was faster and tougher than a baseline human, and it was impossible to tell if she was angry or scared, much less lying. Even if they'd been on the same side a moment ago, the robot's task was done now. She had no reason to be nice, but plenty of reasons to be hostile. The syringe could have had anything in it. Hell, even if it was just morphine, Crow would rather deal with the pain than risk having her reactions slowed. She was already partially incapacitated, and morphine would probably make her an even easier target. The last thing she needed was to be vulnerable around someone who collected mutants for SHIELD.

Instinctively Crow took a step back, tensing. Putting as much space as possible between her and the robot was her best bet. She knew there was damn little she could do right now to prevent Karima from jabbing her, if she so desired, but that didn't mean she was about to go down without a fight. Even if it was a very brief, one-sided fight. Crow growled quietly in warning, hoping that the robot would take a hint and back off. She gave Karima a heated glare as she offered to administer the drug, but didn't move. “No thanks, I'm good,” she replied. The words were deceptively calm, given her demeanor; Crow was still willing to give her a chance, even if she knew it was dangerous. Damned if she knew why.

[Karima Shapandar]

When Crow began to behave oddly Karima simply observed. She had seen similar behavior before, but this was fresh and different, there was clearly something more feral about it and Karima soaked it up as she always did. When Crow finally spoke her protest, Karima did nothing to continue. She recapped the Morphine and put it back into her pocket as if it were nothing. She was not insulted, she had no alterior motive, and just like that, the subject was dropped. Of course, Karima had asked two questions and Crow only answered one.

"Very well. Have a good evening."

It wasn't that Karima was so dumb she couldn't differentiate between one answer for two questions, but a lot of what Crow had answered with had been in her body language that Karima didn't fully understand. As far as she knew, Crow had just said no to both the morphine and the food. She knew now that Crow could contact shield easily, and if Crow wanted, she could get in contact with Karima directly. Todd had Karima's number too, so there was no need to waste time giving Crow the information. Unless Crow stops her, Karima will walk past her and head towards the exit of the church.

[Crow]

Even though Karima had seemingly dropped the subject, Crow remained tense as she approached. Even as the girl passed her and continued on, she kept her guard up. It could easily be a trick; a way to get Crow to drop her guard. She really hated being unable to determine the robot's motives. It made her unpredictable. Dangerous. Granted, Crow was exceedingly familiar with the tactic, but even she couldn't pull it off quite to the extent that Karima could. Being a cyborg did seem to make intimidation easy. She was almost jealous, but the quiet whirr of machinery was definitely a downside. And being four hundred pounds was pretty much a deal-breaker.

Thankfully, Karima continued onward through the kitchen, towards the door out. Crow watched the girl contemplatively, slowly relaxing out of the defensive stance she'd taken. She wasn't attacking. Hell, as far as Crow could tell, the robot had given up entirely. Wasted opportunity, if she was being honest. Crow would have incapacitated an injured opponent, given the chance. Even if they'd just helped her out. Hell, any good SHIELD agent would have jumped all over that sort of opening. Karima was something entirely different, and Crow still couldn't figure out her her motives.

Crow leaned back against the wall, and let out a quiet sigh. Sticking around the girl any longer than absolutely necessary was probably a really bad idea. Naturally, that was exactly what she intended to do. “Dinner would be nice, though,” she finally spoke up, as Karima had almost reached the door out. If Crow wasn't able to read the cyborg's body language, then the least she could do was get to know her a little better.

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima stopped her motions rather mechanically. There was not a jerk or a idle twitch, she just stopped dead still as if a tape had been paused, right mid stride. She did not turn to look at Crow as she began speaking. Her voice was this dead pan emptiness that it usually was. For Karima, she knew crow had decent enough hearing she could hear her speak even if her voice was projected into another room entirely and it was simply a waste of resources to turn her head.

"I have no preference for food. You pick. I will buy unless you prefer to buy. I have very little use for money and shield has given me a lot of it for this mission and not given any additional parameters under which it may be spent, so I have assumed the money belongs to me to do with as I please."

After that she assumed a more idle stance, arms at her sides, feet beside one another, standing upright without much more than the occasional blinking to animate her. Though if Crow didn't immediately start walking after her, she would probably turn her head to investigate. She hadn't sensed any ulterior motive in Crow's demeanor at all. She hadn't given thought to the idea that Crow might be analyzing her for malicious intent. Paranoia wasn't something Karima was really capable of. She had calculations, and made decisions based on those calculations, if something was literally unlikely to happen, then she did not consider it a possibility and most of her decisions would not reflect an unlikely event as possible. Still she can not tell the future and her inability to predict human behavior has given her a significant disadvantage in previous predictions and this is something she also understands.

She knows crow is analyzing her, but she knows this is something most do. She herself analyzes every iota of data given to her by a person, so she has concluded it's simply second nature to do so, even for normal humans. Even if Karima could feel fear in any sort of meaningful way, she probably wouldn't fear Crow despite the fact that crow knows one of her deepest weaknesses. Crow is injured and even if Crow wasn't injured, Karima's advantages over her are almost beyond the merit of counting.

Crow simply isn't a threat.

[Crow]

Karima stopped dead in her tracks, but gave no other indication that she'd heard the comment. Crow tilted her head as the girl responded. Was that a yes? She wasn't entirely sure. Maybe. It wasn't exactly an enthusiastic response, but Karima hadn't been personable up until now, either. Probably fine. Hey, she was even offering to pay for the meal. Nice of her, if completely unnecessary. Maybe it was something like guilt for landing on her face, or payment for the assistance.

Normally Crow had qualms about other people paying for her food—or hell, other people around her when she was eating food—but this was different. Karima already had ample chance to poison her, so that wasn't an issue. The girl didn't smell like she'd eaten recently, and Crow wasn't sure she even did need to eat. The possibility of someone stealing her food usually got her feral sensibilities all riled up, but Karima wouldn't be much of a problem there. Hell, her instincts had absolutely no clue how to handle the cyborg; for the most part, the voice in the back of Crow's head had been telling her to growl at Karima until she went away. She'd settled on politely ignoring it.

Besides, it was SHIELD paying for her food, even if it was indirectly. Completely different. And Crow knew exactly the place that she wanted to show up on their bill. It wasn't too expensive, unfortunately, but the location would probably raise a few eyebrows if SHIELD was watching. Crow had absolutely no doubts that they would be. Besides, it would be...fun. Or, at the very least, a good test of the girl's reactions. She smiled faintly, pushed off from the wall she was leaning on, and strolled over to Karima. “Wings sound good. I know a place nearby.”

[Karima Shapandar]

It didn't take long for Karima to pull up a map of the area, or rather, she already had one handy, and cross referenced a few minor variables to acquire several locations that might be the one Crow had meant. Near by was also very relative, and so Karima couldn't say for sure which place they would use, since walking distance for Karima was several hundred miles if she so desired. Of course, she knew Crow wouldn't want to walk any where most likely, so the closest place was probably most likely. Unfortunately, the -closest- place to eat did not have an online menu, which narrowed it down to two other places. One of which might prove very interesting.

"I have never been to a place where women openly objectify themselves for the customers benefit. I look forward to the experience."

She said rather blandly as the pair walked on out of the church on their way to a place that could be considered, and indeed likely was, the antithesis of the church. Karima's statement was in earnest effort to probe for conversation. This was nothing new though, she always did this kind of thing. She knew that most of the time, what she said threw people off, but she was learning. Just think, if she is this bad now, imagine how unusual she must have been two months ago when she first arrived in New York.

[Crow]

Crow gave a hint of a smile at Karima's response. “So do I,” she remarked blandly. That was really the entire point of the place, wasn't it? Enjoying objectifying women? It was a pity that she'd managed to get herself roughed up tonight, though; it would make getting the waitress's number more difficult. Especially with Karima sitting across from her; the cyborg was better looking and less covered in blood. And in uniform; some girls liked that. Dammit, she was going to be the worst wingman. Maybe Crow could just get her number, instead. That would probably be easier, considering they were already going out for dinner together. Besides, she'd never had sex with a robot before.

Still, Karima's ability to pick out their destination so quickly was impressive. A little intimidating, too, but Crow wasn't about to let her know that. It had to make tracking people a whole lot easier. As they exited onto the street, Crow kept as close an eye on Karima as their surroundings. She wasn't particularly in the mood to trust either one right now.

Although it was now later in the evening, the street was a little busier than it had been earlier. This type of neighborhood didn't pick up until nightfall, and things would get more exciting the later it got. The Hooters would probably be pretty busy, but Crow didn't mind that too much. It would keep the staring to a minimum. She scanned the street warily, but found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary; there were a few police cars outside of the building they'd come from previously, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. Drug and prostitution busts were fairly common business here, after all.

[Karima Shapandar]

The things that Karima could do inside her minds eye would probably boggle Crow's mind. Even as they walk now, she's committed to some three or four hundred other fully tasked thought operations. Virtual experiments, training simulations, video games. One of the most unfortunate features of being who she is, is that she will ever be perpetually distanced from humanity simply because of the foundation on which her mind operations from. If she were even the slightest bit more robotic or if those fist few hours after she escaped the complex that made her had gone even slightly differently, she could've just as easily come to the conclusion that Humanity was a plague, a cancer that needed to be cut out. How terrifying would that have been. The hard fact of it is. She's further from humanity than she is closer to something else entirely. But that's why it's taking even a being like her so long to devise a full proof way to return to something more ... normal.

"Oddly, Sex appeal, contrary to other forms of socioemotive human interaction, effects me nearly as much as it does others. The truth is, I do feel emotions like any one else, but they are so muted and miscommunicated to the majority of my brain, that my internal error checking systems identify the emotions as errors and purge them almost in the same instant that I feel them. Emotions relating purely to sex do not typically cause these errors how ever. I have not yet discovered the reason for this, but I theorize it has something to do with the literal framework of the entire system is still mostly in tact. From my vagina to the anterior pituitary, all the organic constructs that make sex, as it is commonly understood, possible are still intact to some degree, and functional. Which is not true for any of my other systems, which are all hybrid between organic and machine in some way. Still, I am usually so busy thinking about literally thousands of other things, sex is a distant concept to me and I have never actually done it and pornography holds no interest to me, as does most fiction, even though I suppose Pornography is not strictly fiction, it still lacks what you might enjoy in a first person experience with the topic. The pheromones, the heat, the touch. Roughly forty eight days and seventeen hours ago I decided that my preference in sex was for women when a prostitute that I rescued from a gang of thugs concluded the only way she could return the favor was by offering me sex. I have sense given thought to going to places where women are sexually objectified, but have been to busy to do so. So I am quite sure I will enjoy this is as much as it is possible for me to do so."

Karima realized she was rambling, and decided to conclude her rather long statement abruptly, but still not in an incomplete manor. The funny thing is, Karima actually contracted herself to a degree. If the hooker had offered her sex, how come she had just finished telling Crow she'd never actually had it? What happened? Well, the truth of it is something Karima doesn't know, but it's actually rather cute. She also neglected to mention how much time she spends masturbating, which is much more than you might expect. The truth is, sex is one of the few normal things Karima can do without her cybernetic parts interfering to deeply, so as you might assume, she latches onto it rather firmly. But if that is true, why is it that she is seemingly still a virgin? The answer is the same as the case with the prostitute, and quite adorable.

She also realizes she is being rather forward with Crow, but she has a distinct hunch about Crow and topics of this sort. It isn't very often she attempts to actually predict human behavior any more, not to this extent, but based on how Crow has been behaving, she has assumed that Crow will not mind. Besides, there was also another variable Karima had not quite counted on. She actually -wanted- to talk to Crow. Though she couldn't directly identify why, but she did. Maybe it was because out of all the hundreds of people she knew and interacted with, she had very few actual friends and maybe she's finally decided that she should attempt to make some lasting relationships.

[Crow]

As Karima began talking, the majority of Crow's attention shifted to scanning the street. She was still listening, but no longer watching the girl. She was fairly confident now that a threat wouldn't be coming from that front, which meant she could keep an eye out for some new danger. Still, her gaze shifted back to Karima briefly as she mentioned how she felt emotions. Interesting. That ]did explain her weird scent, and most of her behavior over the course of the evening. And if sex could bypass that override...that was good to know. If Crow needed to cause a serious distraction to the robot, she'd just need to get naked. That was definitely something she could manage. It wouldn't even be the first time she'd used that tactic. Or second.

Wait. Back a few steps. Karima was a lesbian robot? Oh, Crow's night had just gotten so much better. Her attention shifted entirely to the girl, no longer caring about watching her surroundings. A lesbian robot. Lesbian. Robot. A girl robot that also liked girls. Crow wasn't sure whether she should laugh, or test out that claim. Sure, she might have been sore, and tired, and thoroughly beaten, but she wasn't dead. Crow gave a full-body reassessment of Karima, inadvertently giving her a taste of what being objectified felt like. A hint of a smile played across her lips. Hmm, yeah. As far as robots went, this was definitely the sexiest one she'd met. She could work with this. It wasn't like she hadn't slept with weirder.

Hadn't Karima just said she hadn't had sex, though? Generally being a virgin meant not having sex with prostitutes. Maybe she was of the mindset that it didn't count unless a penis was involved ,though. Crow could work with that; she was a shapeshifter. Or perhaps Karima hadn't actually slept with the hooker, after all. She was hoping on the former. Having sex with someone inexperienced was just...awful. Fumbling wasn't her thing. As a rule, Crow avoided having sex with virgins, and anyone that could kill her while they were naked. Maybe she'd break both of these for Karima.

Although Crow now had many, many questions about Karima, she didn't ask any of them. Right now, there was only one that was entirely relevant, and would determine exactly how far Crow would proceed. Although, to be fair, she probably should have asked it before deciding that they should go to Hooters. Or when they realized that the killer was an underage prostitute. “...So you're eighteen, right?”

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima noticed Crow's differences in mood, they were subtle, but if Karima does anything, it's notice change. Of course she paid attention to every single minor detail of it. Of course she knew Crow was 'checking her out'. From this she was able to assume a number of hypothetical conclusions. One of these conclusions drew her towards a spiraling event which may wind up being the single most hilarious thing Karima has ever done.

"Yes, I am eightee, and if your intent is as I assume, I feel compelled to show you something."

Karima then withdrew a small notepad from one of the pockets on her skin tight cargo pants as they walked, she deliberately prevented Crow from seeing what she was drawing as she drew it. It didn't take her long with her super speed and literal ability to print things with a ball point pin the same way the printer on a computer does. The end result is THIS lovely piece of artwork. She turned the pad over and shows it to Crow as she tucked the pen back into her pocket.

"I have calculated there is an 87% probability that this is an accurate and appropriate application of crude humor. Was I correct?"

She seemed genuinely curious, which was odd, since Karima rarely seemed like anything except a very much alive mannequin.

[Crow]

Craning over, Crow attempted to see what the robot was drawing, but it was too well covered. What the hell was she up to? Mentally shrugging, Crow went back to her wary examination of the street as they walked. At least Karima wasn't playing with that syringe again. Whatever the cyborg was writing could hold off until she felt like sharing it. Besides, Crow could see the sign for their destination at the end of the block. That, at least, was good news; if it had been much further away, Karima would have to carry her there. She was exhausted. More than she'd let on, although she had a feeling that the cyborg had noticed it anyway. Food, at least, would probably help.

It didn't take long for Karima to finish her drawing, and Crow glanced back over. She snorted in response, although several parts she didn't even currently possess retreated further inside her. She suddenly had absolutely no urge to stick anything in there. Still, she was amazed that Karima was even attempting humor. Might as well show that she appreciated the...sentiment. “And I thought being on the bottom was painful enough. Top might be worse.”

Finally, they had reached the Hooters. She was starving. As nice as the service here was, Crow was far more interested in the thought of food and coffee. She'd already had a hot girl on top of her once this evening, after all. Crow glanced back at Karima, whose interests in the restaurant were undoubtedly on the opposite end of the spectrum. “Ready to go objectify some women?”

[Karima Shapandar]

Internally, Karima was mildly disappointed her attempt at humor did not inspire as much laughter as she had hoped. But she knew different people expressed their amusement in different ways. She might've made some comment about accuracy and severity of the intended humor, and maybe even apologized if it was out of place, but Crow's comment inspired something keenly unexpected.

What would basically equate to your computer locking up for a second flashed before Karima's eyes, and in the same moment her nose scrunched up and she snorted out the most adorable, girlish, giggle you could ever imagine. It's the first time Karima has made any sort of noise like that in almost a decade and Crow of all people were the one to inspire it. There was even a slight little smile to accompany it.

Of course the cascade of events to follow were fairly intense. Karima didn't stop walking, she managed to reserve enough processing power to maintain basic functions, but from her perspective, spyware had just caused a million pop ups to interject on what ever it was she was doing prior. Software began crashing left and right inside her minds eye and all her extrasensory applications went offline.

Externally, she went stone faced even more than usual, her eyes were almost glassy, she kept walking near to Crow and as they entered the restaurant and indeed, mayhap even a full minute later, Karima finally stops dead in her tracks and becomes utterly motionless while she attempts to reallocate random access memory resources to mitigate the massive trauma her internal processes just underwent.

Of course regaining her composure takes literal nano-seconds, and she's back right as rain, or rather, as right as she gets. Again, externally, there's only very subtle cues which might explain the trauma she's just endured, crow might be so focused on the idea of food, combined with the smell of it now to boot, she might not even notice.

As far as Crow's physical condition, Karima had been keeping tabs on it, but this isn't specifically out of the ordinary, she keeps tabs on everything. Unless of course she is desperately fending off a system wide catastrophic failure, which she just was. Good thing she isn't responsible for anything major during the time all this was going on or Crow might've gotten to see Karima genuinely fail at something for the second time in one night.

"I am sorry Crow. What did you just say? My systems experienced a fairly traumatic series of glitches just now and I was unable to take note of specific environmental details during that brief time frame. Please Reiterate."

AKA its a miracle she didn't fall flat on her face and pass out. She registered Crow said something, but had no idea what it was. You could've probably shot her point blank in the head and she would have only been vaguely aware of it.