Life Onboard Serenity: #40 - Burnt Stew, Dinner and a Job - Let's Celebrate!
POSTED BY: EnglishIvy
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 19:54
VIEWED: 23027
PAGE 7 of 11
Having ingested as much food as his shrunken stomach could hold, Isahiah set his plate atop the pile by the sink and left the galley. His head was still racked with a painful throb, and he doubted his weakened body would see him through the day after a night without sleep, so he set out for the infirmary, hoping a round of medication would lessen his misery.
As he descended the stairs from the aft hallway, he ran into captain Reynolds. The man was moving up the stairway towards him, treading heavily, his shoulders hunched forward.
"Good morning, captain," Isahiah said. "I hope your night was of the restful kind."
Mal's head jerked up at the sound of his voice. "'Been lookin' for you," he said as he climbed the steps at a steady pace, the gap between the two men closing rapidly.
"And so you found me," Isahiah replied, smiling amiably. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
The answer came in the form of a fist plowing into the side of his face, sending him reeling. He lost his footing on one of the steps and wound up flat on the ground, his head pounding with renewed intensity.
"Right," he started, fingering the area Mal had struck to spot a narrow cut under his left cheekbone. "You want a man's attention, nothing like the tried and true method of brushing a closed hand against his face..." he paused as Mal's fingers curled into the forepart of his shirt, ensuring a firm grip. "For the record, I feel compelled to specify that you do have my undivided attention at the moment..."
Mal manhandled him to his feet and forcefully pinned him against the nearest bulkhead, the force of the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. "Well seeing as we're touchin' upon the subject, I gotta confess I've been a wee bit restless of late," the captain said in a subdued voice, his face literally a breath away from Isahiah's. "Got a lot on my mind at the moment, what with the travelers creating all manner of problems, my crew refusin' to fall in line and you parading around my ship like you just did conquer it now listen up 'cause I'm only gonna say this once: I am sympathetic to your little struggle. Fightin' the good fight, stickin' it up to the Alliance an' everything, that's all music to my ears. I'm even willin' to put up with you bein' perhaps the second most obnoxiously self-important individual I've come across in my entire life. But I need some insurance I'm not walking into a kill zone here. You don't start talking, deal's off."
Isahiah remained mute, trying to assess whether the man was bluffing or not. "Wrong answer," Reynolds decided. The captain clenched his hand in a tight ball and thumped him in the stomach. Isahiah bent over in pain, making a sour face as he felt his breakfast move up his bowels.
"You're lucky I don't just shoot you where you stand for wasting my time," Mal said, eyeing him with a mix of anger and disgust. "Not to mention the fuel..." That thought seemed to stir him more deeply than the rest. "Ta ma duh!" he muttered, drawing his pistol and holding the barrel against Isahiah's temple. "You know, I think I'll take that back," he said. "I might just end up shooting you after all!"
Isahiah got a hold of his breathing and darted a furious look at Reynolds. "Fine!" he spat. He straightened his stance and let go of his gut, letting his arms hang by his sides. "You have questions? Ask them."
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BigWolf18 "Way i remember it, you said you was leavin', dare say that saved us a whole peck o' trouble. now i gotta wonder what could spur on a fine disreputable man like yourself to show your fine disreputable face here again."
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Pain and Tommy entered the infirmary and found it empty.
"I'm sure Simon will be here shortly," Pain said as Tommy hopped up on the table. "He knew we were coming."
"I don't mind waiting," she said as she pulled him towards her.
Pain brushed a stray piece of wet hair off her face.
"Me neither."
She leaned forward and brought her lips to his as she pulled herself up against him. His arms wrapped around her as he kissed her back, the passion from the shower not yet sated.
"Hey Ivy," he said as he pulled just an inch away from her lips.
"Hey," she said softly before starting to kiss him again.
He responded to her, as his hands started to roam.
"You better watch out or we'll need another shower," he growled into her ear. "Or Simon might get a rude awakening when he shows up."
"Oh, no!" said a voice from the door. "This is more than enough."
Pain and Ivy froze and looked over.
"Hey Simon. How's your day going so far?" Pain said as a grin spread over his face.
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Infirmary
Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"Hey Simon. How's your day going so far?" Pain said as a grin spread over his face.
"Very disturbing." Simon replied to Pain. Moving over to Ivy, he said to her, "I'm going to need you to lie down now. I need to perform a scan of your brain."
Ivy looked to Pain, who gave her a reassuring nod and a smile. She smiled back at him and laid down on the exam chair, her hands resting on her stomach.
As Simon readied the scanner, he said to Ivy, "Normally I'd ask if you've gotten the recommend amount of rest for one who has suffered a concussion." He gave Pain a chastising look and continued, "But somehow I don't think that's the case."
Both Pain and Ivy blushed a little, Pain looking at the ground and kicking at some imaginary dust monkeys with his foot.
Bringing the scanner over Ivy's forehead, Simon looked at the monitor on the wall and asked her, "Tell me Ivy, how did you get that skull fracture? I want to know how long your recovery from it was and if you've had any problems associated with it." He looked into her eyes, gave her a doctor-y smile and added, "I'm a doctor, it's my duty to ask for medical reasons."
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WWJD: What Would Jayne Do?
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Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
Bringing the scanner over Ivy's forehead, Simon looked at the monitor on the wall and asked her, "Tell me Ivy, how did you get that skull fracture? I want to know how long your recovery from it was and if you've had any problems associated with it." He looked into her eyes, gave her a doctor-y smile and added, "I'm a doctor, it's my duty to ask for medical reasons."
Ivy stiffened up and looked over at Pain with an ever so slightly scared look in her eyes. He picked up on it right away, although Simon was too busy with the scan to notice. He crossed over to her side and picked up her hand and held it tight.
“She told you this before, Doc,” Pain said, looking at her reassuringly.
“I know,” he said. “Just wanted to get more detail on recovery time and all.”
"Tractor accident. I was at home doing some Harvest-time work for my Dad," Ivy explained again, reciting the lie verbatim that she had given them the day before. "Wheels got hung up on something and I was thrown. It was a rocky area."
“How long were you out? A couple of minutes? Hours? Days?” Simon asked.
Ivy’s eyes darted back and forth, searching inward for an answer.
“I don’t really… I don’t really remember much,” Ivy said softly.
Pain looked at her closer and was getting more and more concerned. Something that Tommy had told him before rang clear in his head…
"There are certain things, I cannot, under any circumstances, let her remember."
“Maybe there’s someone I can wave? Your dad perhaps?”
“He’s gone.”
“Sorry to hear about that,” Simon said as he studied the results.
“Simon, she’s really tired,” Pain intervened. “I think she needs some rest. I’ll take her back to our bunk now.”
Before Simon could answer back, he helped Ivy up off the table and ushered her quickly out of the door. As they got out of range of the infirmary, he stopped and turned her to face him.
“You OK, babe?” he asked, tilting her eyes up towards his.
She smiled widely at him.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because of Simon grilling you.”
“Simon!” she exclaimed. “I have the perfect plant for him! I need to get it so we can give it to him when we go to see him.”
With that she trotted off towards her room. Pain stood there in her wake. Did she not remember that they were just there? Was it because of the injury or because of the split? How could he find out?
Tommy. Tommy could tell him. He started walking after her, picking up speed as he did.
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"Wait up, baobei!" Pain called after Ivy.
She stopped and let Pain catch up to her before she asked sweetly, "What is it, Pain?"
"Um... OH! I just wanted to ask Tommy somethin' is all." Pain replied giving Ivy a smile. "Can I talk to her?"
"Sure." replied Ivy while they stopped at her room's door. She closed her eyes and reopened them, letting Tommy surface. Tommy smiled at Pain and brought herself closer to him, her eyes looking into his as her hands gliding down and gave his pigu a squeeze while she asked, "What is it that you wanted to ask me, baobei?"
Pain smiled at the groping and returned the favor as any gentleman would do and asked, "Darlin', is Ivy OK?"
"Yes." she said to him, a bit puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
"Because we just left Simon in the infirmary, yet she said she needed to pick out a plant for him when go see him, when we just did see him." he replied, a worried look in his eyes.
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WWJD: What Would Jayne Do?
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Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"Because we just left Simon in the infirmary, yet she said she needed to pick out a plant for him when go see him, when we just did see him." he replied, a worried look in his eyes.
“We’ve seen him already?” Tommy asked Pain, looking back towards the infirmary. She looked back at Pain with a confused look on her face. “Are you sure?”
Pain’s stomach dropped. Something wasn’t right. Something was definitely way rutting wrong. He reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Tommy, maybe we ought to go back to see Simon. You’re scaring me,” Pain said as he drew her to him. “Something ain’t right.”
Tommy paused for a second, looking hard inside herself.
“Wait…” she said incredulously. “She’s blocking me…”
“What?” Pain said as he pushed her back far enough to look into her face. His face etched with concern.
“She’s scared. Scared that we’ll move in and…”
“And what?”
Tommy looked up at him, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“And the sex won’t be enough anymore. That you’ll want someone that’s whole,” Tommy told him. “She wants to be whole and she thinks by finding out what happened-”
Tommy’s eyes widened fearfully as her knees buckled. Pain kept her from falling and lowered her to the floor, kneeling next to her.
“Tommy? Tommy? What’s going on?”
“No… Don’t look. Don’t look. Please, don’t look,” Tommy whimpered softly. She looked up at Pain with pleading eyes. “Help me.”
Pain sat down and pulled her into his lap, rocking her.
“Don’t look, bao bei. Do what Tommy says. Don’t look,” he implored softly. “Let’s think this through together. Ask me what I think. Ask me, don’t just assume. Just stop looking. For me, stop looking, babe. For me.”
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Pain continued rocking back and forth with Ivy in his lap, constantly reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. He held her close to him so she could feel his warmth in his words as well as his body. While he did that he wondered what it was that Tommy didn't want Ivy to know. What was it that made her crumple to the floor weeping. He wanted to know so badly that he even wondered if he should talk to Simon about it once he had some away time from Ivy and Tommy. Pain couldn't help but think that maybe the scars on her back had something to do with this.
Ivy had started to calm down now, he could feel it in her breathing. He nuzzled her neck and asked, "You feelin' better now, baobei?"
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WWJD: What Would Jayne Do?
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Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"You feelin' better now, baobei?"
"If you don't want me to move in now, I'd understand," Ivy said.
"I never said that," Pain reassured her. "Hell, Ivy, I want you there. Both of you. I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure."
"But what if later..."
"Listen to me," he said tilting her chin up so she could see his eyes. "I'm not going to discuss what could's and what if's. When I asked you to move in, I knew the score. It's not something you just sprung on me. Nobody is without their issues. You're just different than most. More complex."
He grinned at her.
"And I like complex women," he told her. "Never a dull moment."
Ivy smiled widely at that.
"So you still want me?"
Pain leaned down and kissed her soundly.
"I want you," he confirmed. "Now no more looking, OK?"
"OK."
"And don't ever do that to Tommy again."
"I won't."
"And just talk to me. I will always be there for those I care for."
"I promise."
"Now let's get your stuff," he said as they stood up. "Hope it isn't going to involve me making a million trips getting it all upstairs."
She giggled softly.
"You'd be surprised."
After all, she knew that she only had one bag. A small bag. 3 outifts, one set of PJs, some toiletries, a couple of small *emphasizing small* mementos and two chocolate bars.
And if that didn't shock him, the amount of plants she had stuffed in her room sure would.
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"Where'd you come from?" John had walked into the tail end of the...conversation.
"Good question," Mal said looking back at John. Now that he was here lying would be difficult. "And no short answer either. I want to know how you got to where we picked you up."
johnttf
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Ivy's room
They made it over to Ivy's room without any further incidents happening. Pain decided to be a gentleman and with a smile, opened the door for Ivy.
Ivy smiled in return at Pain and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." came Pain's reply as he watched her enter. Upon his own entrance, Pain's lower jaw almost hit the floor when he saw her plants.
"Tzao gao!" he exclaimed. "It's like a jungle in here!" He turned to Ivy and asked, "Should I be worried about gettin' jumped by monkeys or pounced on by a panther in here?"
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WWJD: What Would Jayne Do?
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