GR RP "Adventures in GunRunning" ACT 23
POSTED BY: CapnRahn
UPDATED: Sunday, November 7, 2004 21:02
VIEWED: 20468
PAGE 4 of 10
Damon's turn:
LOCATION - GALLEY
Damon steps off of the stairs leading down the galley, but before he can get far, Mal’s low voice trailing from the bridge catches his attention.
MAL
"Yep, 'bout that Damon fella, Doc told me some interestin' data about that boy before our Simon went space crazy an jumped ship."
A frown crosses Damon’s features, wondering what the heck the doc could know from removing a couple bullets. He almost stops to look, but doesn’t. He slows to a halt, out of sight of those on the bridge and stands casually by the door.
"First off, Wash, lock down both shuttles NOW, doors and all."... Mal hits the ALL intercomm...
"Book, Mr Thorne would you be so kind to hustle into the cargo bay and secure the sounding charges and the armory. Book maybe you could say a prayer over them bang sticks." The com switches off.
Damon’s frown deepens, now accompanied by a flash of fear. Trouble. There’s going to be trouble… His mind is already racing. There are others in the room, most have noticed him, but can they hear Mal? He starts to move forward again, but doesn’t get far.
"Our Damon is a runner. Doc says he is rabbitin' from ownership. You know how I feel about slavers - their plat is as good as the next."
Damon only barely feels the blood drain from his face. Oh shit… oh shit oh shit oh shit… He stands there, only a foot away from the door, unable to move. Tzao gao, bu hao...
"So a bit back, after I had a yap with him, I got curious and Cortex'd the boy. Now I know who he is, where he popped from and just who wants him back. The other purty bit is there is a hefty bounty on this youngsters head - must be PRETTY rammin' important. This here trip is provin' to be more profitable by the minute."
More blood drains, leaving him whiter than a sheet. He knows… Oh shi… Oh God, I’m going to die… no, I better die. I can’t go back there… Damon moves back half a step, away from the people in the kitchen, his heart pounding in his chest. He looks up at them, fearful eyes on the verge of panic. The com sounds again.
"Jayne, I need you to herd that Damon fella up, step level priority."
Damon’s gaze locks onto Jayne. No. The change is instantaneous. The fear disappears in a wave of lethal rage. His features darken, his posture stiffens, muscles coiled ready to fight. And for the first time since coming aboard, his eyes take on the unbroken savagery that has been lying dormant- the dark look of a man witness to much more killing and brutality than his age would betray. You come near me, you die.
He slowly backs up, eyes focused on the four people in the kitchen, ears focused on the people on the bridge. His hand is already groping at his weapons belt, but the holster is empty. See, now this is why I always stay armed cuz you never know when some hwoon dahn will try to screw you over.
Eyes now mostly on Jayne, Damon continues slowly backing toward the rear exit, keeping the table between them, waiting for Jayne to make the first move.
Knife in my boot, pocketknife in pocket... is that a gun satchel on the table?
Tzao gao, bu hao... = damn, not good
Hwoon dahn = bastard
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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All the while he was spinnin' this particular yarn, Mal was a cogitatin'.
Ever since Damon came on board he reeked of fear and had the eyes of the hunted. That little stunt in the galley underlined the fact that Damon needed to flush that fear out the lock.
Internally Mal laughs ironically, 'His rear iris is so clenched, I bet he could snip fine silk thread.'
Damon was plainly running from something - that look in his eye as he swung his shooter around in the galley was proof of that. A man can't run every day every second - death was always right around the corner. Damon needed to learn to live free, not be bound by another's reach.
'Plus we'll all see how he reacts under the pressure of extreme fear. Need to know if he's got the gumption or not.'
Sometime you had to put pressure on a body to refine it. If Damon could not keep his head, maybe he didn't belong on Mal's ship. A slip of one could put the whole ship in mortal danger. And Mal had had enough of that from the past year. Jayne's betrayal still stung, but Mal was sure that Jayne understood JUST where the line was now. Damon had to be shown too - but also shown that he was accepted and safer with folks to watch your back.
Burnin' out the constant fear should be the first step in that. Damon was carrying around that fear like a bloody letter upon his breast. Live in the now and sort out the future as it comes.
Tracy's face, as he lay dying, flashed into Mal's head.
'I can see a lot of Tracy in Damon. I just hope I ain't carrying the bullet with Damon's name, as well. I don't want ta have ta shuffle off another person I am beginning to care ...'
The word 'care' makes a connection and suddenly the face that swims in Mal's mind is Inara's. His heart thuds six times before he can get it under control. He tries to divert his own attention by concentrating on the prank side of this 'venture.
Mal chuckled inside 'If ole Damon had come into the Bridge and not malingered outside like a whupped puppy, I wouldn't to have ta take advantage this situation.'
EOM
"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION - GALLEY
Jayne nods in acknowledgement. He unlatches the knife drawer and chooses a small blade.
JAYNE: "Whatcha usin' fer glaze? We don't got no Hoisin sauce on board, an' I wouldn't know how to make it from scratch."
The very idea causes Rowan to shudder. She can still hear Fa-Zhou Huan's shrill voice echoing from the kitchen in her father's house, condemning the evils of additives in store-bought sauces. How a woman whose name meant happiness could spend her life causing nothing but hell on earth has always been a mystery.
ROWAN: "Qù tamade--if I used a pre-prepared sauce in my bao, you'd be treated to the vision of a Chinese banshee bearing a strong resemblance to grandmother Fa-Zhou Huan - Zuxian keneng baowei women - rising up from the floor here to strike me down. I can still hear her screeching at the kitchen servants."
Changing her voice accordingly to a pitch that would cause glass to shatter in despair, Rowan switches to fluent Chinese, but keeps the decibel level down.
ROWAN: "Chop this way, not that way - do not stir so fast - you are to knead the dough, not abuse it - shredding means shredding, not pulverizing!" then back to English. "She was a master chef in my grandfather's household. She could make bread out of sand if she had to. Everything I know about cooking I learned from her."
And why exactly is she telling him all this anyhow? Hearing a pan hit the counter behind her, Rowan glances up and sees Damon at the top of the steps leading down from the forward hall. She's about to greet him when the intercom next to her clicks on.
MAL: "Book, Mr Thorne, would you be so kind to hustle into the cargo bay and secure the sounding charges and the armory. Book maybe you could say a prayer over them bang sticks."
What the... what's that all about? Maybe Thorne has finally shown his hand and they've been suckered into a chop shop? She's heard about them, certainly, but never seen one. She isn't all that interested in seeing one up close though. Could be the girl, River, having some kind of fit again--who knew what the workings of an altered mind might conjure up? Rowan has to admit, though, of all the ships she's been on, this one certainly is the first to have such a plethora of entertainment on board.
Then Damon starts acting peculiar. His face goes very pale as his hands flex like he's looking for a tool...or a weapon. As he moves a half a step back as if to flee--and where would he go in space anyway--the hairs on the back of Rowan's neck rise slowly. Glancing at Merz, she can't tell if the smaller woman is perceiving Damon's sudden panic. Troys may not be equipped for that, but can she smell fear?
Then the intercom clicks on again.
MAL: "Jayne, I need you to herd that Damon fella up, step level priority."
Damon's gaze shoots across the galley to Jayne and in an instant Rowan sees the fear turn into something terrible. Rowan has never seen such darkness before, rage mixed with fear and the pure, unadulterated instinct to survive against everything. No matter what.
She's torn. Rowan feels she should jump in, see if she can pull him out of it, yet she's never faced this kind of thing before. She's actually hoping Jayne will take control of the situation. Being bigger and better equipped to handle something like this, even if it's only physically, before Damon does someone or himself an irreparable harm.
EOM
qù tamade = fuck that
Zuxian keneng baowei women - May the ancestors protect us - or Chinese for "Saints preserve us!"
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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LOCATION - DINING ROOM
Temporarily without function, MERZ drifts back into scan mode. She can hear the voices drifting from the bridge. But suddenly MALs voice seems to intensify...
MAL
"Yep, 'bout that Damon fella, Doc told me some interestin' data about that boy before our Simon went space crazy an jumped ship."
His words are serious, his flow is not. What he says, how he says it does not match. Odd. "First off, Wash, lock down both shuttles NOW, doors and all."...
and then over the intercom ...
"Book, Mr. Thorne, would you be so kind to hustle into the cargo bay and secure the sounding charges and the armory. Book maybe you could say a prayer over them bang sticks"
Secure? Secure from what.
Off intercom MAL continues. Merz wishes she were closer, more able to judge his demeanor. But of greater interest is DAMONs reactions. Merz can see and feel and smell his rising panic.
"So a bit back, after I had a yap with him, I got curious and Cortex'd the boy. Now I know who he is, where he popped from and just who wants him back. The other purty bit is there is a hefty bounty on this youngsters head - must be PRETTY rammin' important. This here trip is provin' to be more profitable by the minute."
Apparently Damon can also hear what MAL is saying - his reaction increases - MERZ can all but hear his heartbeat increase. He is going from panic to fear and back again, increasing his own reactions. She does not know what is going on in his head, but his face ... this is not good.
There is still something ... this cannot be what it seems. It is not logical from what she has in her database for Captain Reynolds. She must trust him. She will trust him. She has promised.
The comm sounds again. "Jayne, I need you to herd that Damon fella up, step level priority."
That was the last straw. Merz knows what she sees/smells. DAMON has found his predator place. His eyes go cold and flat. Ah, she knows that look from the inside. NOW he is dangerous, to himself, to this crew. She will NOT allow any injury, she has promised.
She judges angles, necessities, and orders. Unaware, she almost crouches, head lowered, muscles tensing. Her eyes are almost a mirror of Damon's; cold as ice and dead. Then she springs forwards. Unmindful of any observers in the area she leaps nimbly to the countertop, one foot set precisely between the bowl of shredded protein and an open bottle of soy sauce. She dives through the opening over the bar and into the dining room, rolling to her feet as soon as her shoulders touch the deck.
DAMON entered through the fore hatch and is slowly edging towards the rear hatch. MERZ sprints towards the aft hatch, rounding the table and placing herself in his path. She holds there, just beyond the edge of the table, arms at her sides but hands raised to defend or restrain if needed. Her knees are bent ready to spring in any direction - but she takes no action. The next move is DAMON's. She will not let him leave the room. She will not let him hurt anyone.
EOM
OOC: This is the one I had to edit. Sorry about that.
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION - GALLEY
Then in the blink of an eye, Merz takes action. Before Rowan is fully aware of how it happens, Merz is out of the kitchen, on the table, then standing poised between Damon and the door, ready for anything. Realizing her jaw is hanging open again, Rowan has only one thought.
ROWAN (softly to herself): And you didn't catch any of that on vid? Cao! Ni shi bai chi!
EOM
Cao! Ni shi bai chi! = fuck, you are such an idiot!
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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JAYNE - GALLEY
Jayne does nothing but nod throughout Rowan's explanation of why she'd never use store bought sauces. His mother was the same, of course, not with that shrill voice, and for entirely different reasons. Jayne never learned those secret recipes since he was a man. That was the legacy of the female line of the family.
The intercom crackles on. Jayne stops his work and listens. His attention is gradually brought to Damon, who stands across the galley looking a little more than surprised and dismayed.
"Jayne, I need you to herd that Damon fella up, step level priority."
Damon's gaze locks onto Jayne, who has been staring at him and shifting himself around the kitchen island. That's the look of a trapped man.
Merz adds to the tension as she springs to take position to block the rear exit. Was she helping? He thinks so. But he wasn't sure about Rowan. "'Nara, wouldja take Rowan to the ladies room or somethin'?" he says quietly.
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Standing tall and relaxed with his hands on each side of his belt, Jayne steps towards Damon slowly. Nice and calm. "I think the captain'd like a word with you."
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION - GALLEY
JAYNE: "'Nara, wouldja take Rowan to the ladies room or somethin'?"
Glancing behind, Rowan watches Jayne move out to follow the order, going slowly toward Damon. She feels Inara's hand on her arm, but doesn't move. She wants to see this through. Ridiculously, she contemplates using the cue stick to fend Jayne off, but once that was done, where would they go? They're out in space, and the shuttles are all locked down, not that they'd get very far. She's no pilot and not sure Damon is either. They'd end up sitting there staring at the controls and each other, feeling like idiots.
The whole thing is playing out like some odd little vid comedy.
EOM
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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Damon's turn:
LOCATION - GALLEY
Before Damon can more than a couple feet, Merz is out the kitchen over the table and standing between him and the door. Their eyes meet. She’s on their side…
Okay, stay cool. Think. All exits are blocked, save one. All flight capabilities are blocked- save one. Gotta get to the bridge. Hostage would be nice… Shit, what am I going on about- I don’t have a chance in hell… Still, gotta try; giving up would be worse than a death sentence.
Damon’s eyes meet Rowan’s for a brief moment and he breathes an internal sigh of relief. She’s on his side- at least for now. Could be she just didn’t hear everything and will change her mind when she does. But now he has a chance- a small one. Merz will likely be a problem…
Jayne starts moving forward, slowly.
JAYNE: "I think the captain'd like a word with you."
“Jien tah duh guay! I see how it goes… let the goushi buru sucker work all day and then screw him over. Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn…”
In one swift movement, he pulls the knife from his boot and grabs the gun satchel from the table- the knife in his right hand, satchel in his left. He slowly backs away from Merz, moving toward the front hall. He glances quickly at Rowan and then the kitchen knives, hoping she’ll catch on.
Jien tah duh guay = Like hell
goushi buru = lower than dogshit/lowest of the low
Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn. = Mother humping son of a bitch
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION - GALLEY
Damon moved pretty fast to pull the knife and grab the satchel all at once. When he gives her that look of expectation, Rowan suddenly gets a bad feeling. He's expecting her to do something - to take one of the kitchen knives and go after Jayne with it? Jayne's twice as big as her and tetchy about her for whatever reason as it is. He's also considerably less inclined to be in any way accommodating.
If he gets it in his head that Damon is going to do something to any of the crew, he could snap Damon's neck like a twig. By the same token, Jayne's faster than he looks and if he were to stop her and grab her arm, doing her some manner of harm, she wouldn't be able to play in the tournament.
Still, it's Damon.
ROWAN: "Hey da jia huo! You ever consider finding someone your own size to pick on?"
Not knowing what in the 'verse she's going to do, she switches the stove off and steps around to the other side of the table, behind Jayne.
EOM
da jia huo = big fella
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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