RP: "Adventures in Gunrunning" - Act 13
POSTED BY: Channain
UPDATED: Monday, April 5, 2004 14:04
VIEWED: 19436
PAGE 7 of 11
Rowan's Move:
LOCATION - GALLEY
Entering from the aft hallway, Rowan steps inside the Galley to find Jayne has moved along and Book sitting eyes closed in the corner. Softly as she can, she moves into the kitchen grotto and takes a cup down from the cabinets to pour herself some of the Shepherd's robust brew. Taking a long whiff of the rich aroma, she sips carefully and nods in appreciation. Something to be said about a fella that can make decent coffee - the kind that tastes like it smells, rather than like hot water with brown food coloring in it.
Starting for the side couches, she's aiming for the same chair Jayne was schlumped over in when she looks up and sees the Shepherd's dark eyes are open and looking right at her.
Resisting the urge to lift her hand to cover her eyes, she gives him a nervous smile.
ROWAN: "Mornin' Shepherd." (lifts the mug) "Good coffee."
At a complete loss for words, she continues to the chair and settles in. Slipping off her sandals, she folds her legs under and holds the mug close, carefully avoiding the Shepherd's gaze.
ROWAN (to herself): "Even if he doesn't say anything, how long before someone figures it out?"
EOM
We have art so as not to die of truth ~ Neitzsche
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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THORNE's Move:
Location: Laundry/Galley
[First load done, THORNE pulls his dry clothes, dumps in the whites with soap, sets the machine to 'cot' and starts it. He takes a moment to neatly fold the clean clothes. Smelling fresh coffee, he heads up the aft stair for the galley, where he finds BOOK and ROWAN.]
THORNE: "Good morning, ROWAN, Preacher. Guess I'll grab some coffee. Anyone need a warmup?"
[He fills a cup and waves the pot toward the others, but no one seems interested in more so it goes back on the hotpad. As he walks past ROWAN on his way back downstairs, he comments:]
"Glad you decided to lose the lenses. Your natural color suits you better."
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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Slights move:
Slight shakes his head, trying to clear the fogginess of the chemicals coursing through his veins. As he shifts his neck and shoulders, dozens of pops can be heard. He moves his hand up to his head, realizing the splitting headache that has nested into his brain.
With a sigh and a mental urge, Slights armor shifts, injecting into his body some painkillers and stimulants. It's time to wake up.
As he stands, the armor makes several clicking noises, arranging itself into a simple, fishnet-like "shirt" that reaches up to his wrists. It won't garner too much attention, if seen, besides the numerous tattoos across his back and chest.
He smiles as he moves back, looking for a waterjug. Those tats had been part of his rejection of the Blue Sun. It was practically blasphemy to mar a perfect body like his with primitive ink. As he had delved into the underground of the Core, he had done what he had to in order to blend in. As a result, the black wings across the his shoulders had appeared, as well as a celtic knot on the back of his neck. The raven spread onto his chest, beak open in fury. What made the raven special, though, was the white edge running along each of the wings.
Slights smile widened, remembering that choice. The black sheep went white on the edges that no one would see, were the wings folded. No one ever had seen him defecting from the Sun.
His smile dropped, as he remembered why.
It was a simple enough mission. Rape the girl, and wait for her child to be born. Slight had felt niether proud nor disgusted by it. It was a mission, meant for the betterment of the 'Verse, it was preached, but he didn't believe that. He didn't believe anything.
He went with one other. His partner, Angel, was to have no part in it. Angel was a fool, a zealot, the worst kind of fool. He stood at the door, as Slight overrided the controls and slipped inside. He never spoke as she screamed, he never smiled as he finished. But he did do the one thing he ever enjoyed. He stretched into her mind, finding memories and pulling them as he pleased.
As he headed towards the door, he heard the girl whisper. "You're a monster."
He chuckled. "As will be your child." She shook her head, even as tears ran down her face. "Not about that. When you were. . .here." She tapped her head, not sure how to describe what she had felt.
Slight blinked. She couldn't be able to feel that it was him. "When you were in there. . .it was worse than what you did. This body is just a body. But you played with my soul. With my f---ing SOUL!"
Slight felt his breath leaving him, replaced only by a cold frost, covering his heart, his lungs, his skin. "No," he whispered. "Not your soul, just your brain."
"You think it matters?" She was hissing now, covering herself as best she could. He had seen no need to be violent, but she had resisted. "I couldn't control what I thought. That's why we have souls, to know what we think and feel."
He fell to his knees. Right there, at the door. Suddenly he couldn't look at her. "You feeling ashamed? That's your soul," she sobbed. "That's what makes us human. That's what makes life worth living."
"Shut up." Slight couldn't breath. He could see right through her, to her bones. He could see beyond her, into Osiris. But he saw something there he had not before. It was stronger in some than others. A light. Hovering inside everyone. He snapped to Angel. There was no light. There was nothing there. He brought his head around, forcing himself to look at the girl with this new sight. The light there had dimished, was almost gone. But it was still there.
He looked down at himself.
A light began to grow inside of him. It was faint, it was dark, and he could almost feel the scars inside. But it was there.
Slight stood. He could feel himself again. He felt ashamed at himself. Suddenly a rage bellowed through him. He walked out the door. "So," Angel smiled, "you took your time. That much fun, huh?"
Slight smiled in response. "Yes," he replied,
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Books Move
Location: Galley
"It is a good morning, isn't it?" Book remains unmoving on the couch. "Glad to see you've taken out the lens." Rowan's averted gaze can't hide the large gulping sound she makes as she sips too much coffee.
Thorne enters
-------
THORNE: "Good morning, ROWAN, Preacher. Guess I'll grab some coffee. Anyone need a warmup?"
------
As the pot goes back to the hotpad, Book sets down his cup, lowers his voice and says to Rowan.
"Seems everyone can't help but notice your eyes."
EM
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Rowan's Move:
LOCATION - GALLEY
Quote:Rowan's averted gaze can't hide the large gulping sound she makes as she sips too much coffee, subsequently burning her tongue and the roof of her mouth. Venturing a glance up at the preacher, she sees his gentle smile and nearly responds in kind when Thorne enters.
BOOK: "Glad to see you've taken out the lens."
Quote:Obligingly, Thorne refills the preacher's cup before carting the pot back to the burner on the stove where he found it. He doesn't even look at her on his way back out.
THORNE: "Good morning, ROWAN, Preacher. Guess I'll grab some coffee. Anyone need a warmup?"
BOOK:"I could use one, thank you Mr. Thorne."
Quote:Rowan sighs, trying to decide if both men are just trying to win favor by being kind, or if it's possible they're both color blind.
THORNE: "Glad you decided to lose the lenses. Your natural color suits you better."
Quote:ROWAN (to herself: "So now everyone knows, or they will before too long."
FLASHBACK
"You are an ugly little green-eyed troll, and I wish you had never been born!"
Staring up at her beautiful sister in utter mortification, she ran away that day and stayed hidden in the garden until her brother found her. She was eight at the time.
"Come out, baby dragon," he said softly in Chinese, using the same sing-song tone as when they played hide and seek.
"NO! I will never look at the sunlight again!"
She heard him swear colorfully under his breath and wondered where her twelve-year old brother learned to swear like a space pirate. "She is sorry for what she said. She said as much to me."
"She didn't say it to me!"
"Then why don't you come out so she can?"
"NO!"
So he settled down on the carefully manicured grass instead and began telling her stories about the Little Green Dragon. It was hunger more than his persistence that eventually drew her from under the roots of the bonsai tree. She fell into his arms then and he let her cry herself out before he took her hand and led her up to the house. She fell in love with him somewhere between the fountain and the patio.
The lens on her right eye must have slipped or something when she came back on board after getting her ass kicked by Niska. Fafeng mèi húndàn.
Looking at the Shepherd and seeing his quiet regard again, she sighs and nods slowly, figuring an explanation of some kind is in order.
ROWAN: "I've been hiding the color for so long, it's strange to hear anyone mention it." (she waves a hand vaguely in front of her face) "Kids in school, my sister - they all used it to insult me at some point or other. I was so self-conscious about it by the time I left prep school that I spent a little of my graduation money on the lenses. They were a hassle, but at least they made me look more normal. Nobody looked twice at me and I was able to melt into the crowd. I thought it was liberating."
Staring at a point past Book's shoulder, her smile turns more melancholy.
ROWAN (softly): "Xiang was the first who accepted it. He said they were stunning. How can you not love someone who says something like that?"
EOM
Fafeng mèi húndàn = crazy little asshole
We have art so as not to die of truth ~ Neitzsche
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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THIS POST IS RATED R or TV-17
FOR: language, adult situations and gore.
LOCATION - GYRFALCON: IN TRANSIT
As ...
... SLIGHT's smile widened, remembering that choice. The black sheep went white on the edges that no one would see, were the wings folded. No one ever had seen him defecting from the Sun. His smile dropped, as he remembered why.
Lost in his reverie, SLIGHT did not notice the sleeping Doctor beginning to shift uncomfortably in his chair.
Dream Location - Serenity's Engine Room
As ...
SIMON
with a small sigh and in a deep breathy whisper, barely heard...
"It is time for me to be honest..."
KAYLEE's face tenses in a quick grimace of concern. Fear washes over her and starts her 'run-away response' to begin to spin up. As she struggles with herself to allow SIMON to say his piece, she hears these painful phantom voices in rapid succession...
DAD
from when she was 10
"Can't play today, Kaylee-girl.
PERRY
from when she was 12
"Sorry, I think of you as a sister, nothing more."
ENISS
from when she was 15
"I'll love you till the stars burn cold!"
ENISS
from when she was 17
"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FREAK!!! I could have NEVER LOVED any ... THING like you! GO AWAY AND PLAY WITH YOUR TOOLS, YOU LITTLE GORRAM WHORE!"
BYRON
from when she was 18
"It is time we went our separate ways, this just isn't working for me."
GOBSHITE
from the morning after her hellraising 19th birthday party
"Shiiiit lille gurl, it wasn't real"
KAYLEE shakes these ghosts away as she sees that SIMON is looking at her. His calm expression filled with questions. He squeezes her hand gently and with a warm caress that sends a pleasant fiery tingle up her arms, obliterating the shades of her youth with its cleansing flow.
SIMON
with jokingly feigned resignation and a honest quick sweet grin
"Around you, I lose my words ... "
On impulse, SIMON begins to move his head forward slowly. He keeps his eyes on KAYLEE's as he tips his head at THE angle. She looks almost as stunned as she did when SIMON kissed her in the infirmary. And in truth, KAYLEE was immobilized by the unreality of this situation.
SIMON stops his slow approach when they are the barest of spaces apart. His eyes bore into her with an exhilarating intensity. His need for her to connect with him is pouring forth from him. As the waves of radiance sweep over her, KAYLEE is swept up in this gently passionate emotional tide. Their breath mingling and making it feel like both of their thudding hearts were keeping tempo with each other.
She knows he is very different ... her feelings are very different from anything she has felt before ... her 'run-away drive' falters in its power up and is rendered silent in the flood of possibilities. KAYLEE lets go and lets her eyes drift close.
Sensing no barricades between then, SIMON closes the last few millimeters between their lips.
As their lips caress in the fluttering velvet brush of a butterflies wing, a build up of electricity softly makes its presence known. Both move closer as the power of the electricity builds and overflows from SIMON to KAYLEE with each brush and probe of exploration. The thunderous energy flows back again in spasms of heated flashes and bursts of light. They abandon all sense of self and surrender to this emotional coupling of self into one entity. KayleeSimon shares a unity with the stately sensation of overflowing, warm clover honey from one being into the other.
Then from outside, a small frigid voice shatters the connection and blasts the dreamscape ...
VOICE
with a Baltic accent
"Time to bleed..."
SIMON suddenly feels like the ship has spun out of control, images whip about him in a frenzy of color and a crash of sound and fury. KAYLEE's wrenchi
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Book's Move
Location: Galley
"They are stunning. I'm not just saying that to get you to love me either." Book's face breaks into a smile, and he hides most of it by taking a sip from his cup.
EM
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Kaylee's Move
Location: Engine Room to Galley
Kaylee jerks upright in her hammock, heart pounding and eyes wide. Simon's in danger. She knows he is.
But as she comes fully awake, the urgency fades away. Too much excitement the day before. Mind's playin' tricks on her.
Scrubbing at her eyes like a child, she gets up and follows the aroma of fresh coffee to the galley. Giving a hello nod to Book and Rowan, she rummages around for the last muffin she hid.
Maybe she should share it, but sweets are her weakness. Let the others fend for themselves. Snickering softly, she pours some coffee and heads to the table. Rowan seems nervous; Book seems somewhat amused. Glancing over at them, she catches a quick glimpse of Rowan's eyes.
Her natural curiousity getting the better of her, she moves around the table and gently lifts Rowan's chin up.
"Well now...those have got ta be the prettiest eyes I ever saw. I thought Inara had the best eyes ever, but ya've managed to pass her right by."
Smiling at Rowan's shocked expression, Kaylee wanders back over to the table and gets down to the serious business of demolishing her breakfast.
End Move
BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."
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MERZ move
LOCATION – LANDSCAPE OF THE MIND
MERZ pauses outside of her door, caught in a memory. Triggered no doubt by associations of wrongdoing.
Quote:
She must have been, oh fourteen, the first time they caught her. She slipped away from the mess early, missing a meal to tear down one of the air exchangers that was making a strange noise.
She was wrist deep in the interior of the thing and had pretty much narrowed down the problem, when she heard/felt/smelled/sensed the commander behind her. MERZ came to attention in a flash, aware it was already far too late.
‘Mercedes. Missing a meal is questionable, but you are within your rights, depending on your activities. This activity is not a valid excuse. And missing a training session is unacceptable. We have people here to take care of such mechanical duties; you are not to waste your time in such pursuits. Follow me.’
She follows, unsure of what is to come. It has been 10 years since one of her team rated punishment. He leads her to the gymnasium – acrobatics was the session she was missing. But no one is training, they are mustered, in rank and waiting for . . . her discipline. Rare enough that it becomes an object lesson for all.
He leads her in front of the ranks and leaves her standing there. She is still at attention, staring straight at the team’s ranks in front of her. No one has the slightest expression on their face, no more than she does. But the air smells of excitement and anticipation.
‘Team. We found this unit engaged in deviant behavior. I had believed this to be a thing of the past; it is most annoying to have been mistaken. You will witness her punishment to strengthen your knowledge that difference will not be tolerated.’
He nods and two of her team separate themselves from the ranks and lead her to a corner. Waiting there is a 19-foot I-beam. Merz is puzzled. But not for long.
She is instructed to stand with her arms over her head, palms parallel to the roof. The other two lift the beam onto her hands – it does not take two of them to lift it, but it does to properly balance it for her. Then they stand back leaving her with the weight.
‘24 hours, Mercedes.’ He does not say that she should be standing when he returns. He does not have to.
She shakes her head. “Water under the bridge Mercedes,” she says. “Time now to learn how to cope in the real world.”
She collects her thoughts, finding herself still standing motionless in the hallway. Roosevelt Thorne has definitely put her in a remembering mood. Having a hard time deciding where to go from here, on one hand she needs to report to Captain Reynolds, on the other she definitely can smell coffee. Hasn't had coffee for - over a month. MERZ is spared the decision by a chime from her quarters - sounds like a message alert. She goes on guard at once - no one knows where she is. Better see what it is.
MERZ enters her room once again.
EOM
OOC: if you are interested I looked it up. A steel I-beam 19 feet long, 4 inches wide, 12 inches deep weighs approx 16 pounds per foot and a little over 300 pounds at this length.
OOC2: Having once again put myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, edited last paragraph to correct.
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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MAL'S MOVE:
Location: Bridge
Damon nods. "Sounds fine. Is there anything you want done in the mean time?"
MAL: "Not much to do for a while, an' you'll wanta take it easy after all that floppin' around durin' the Ivan yesterday. Too much floppin' 'round all round. Hey, wait a minute! There's some cam-lock cargo straps down in the cargo bay. Get a couple sets and see if you can rig up some kind'a restraint belts on the seats in here. Seems gorram dumb for the pilot and gunner to be flyin' all over the bridge if we overload the grav generators. Just look in the bin marked 'straps'."
EOM
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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