InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Have I taught you nothing? "

Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (i_wearbrown) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2008-04-07 15:55:00

Entry tags:

georgia lass, malcolm reynolds, zz:status complete

Close enough in Mandarin for "What the hell..." [ Mal + George ]
Face down in his pillow, when Malcolm Reynolds shifted his legs to the side he expected them to drape over the edge of his bunk. But they only found the comfort and support of more mattress. That would go on record as the first thing he noticed was wrong. Next was the pillow. It was big and soft and not his. Pushing himself up with his forearms, Mal inhaled sharply as his sleepy mind raced to sort things out.

The room he was in was softly illuminated by the sun pouring in through the windows. Big bed, windows -- this wasn't a prison by any definition he knew. Looking around, this place looked like someone's personal quarters more than a cell. Glancing down, he found that he was still dressed in his own attire. Patting down his side, there was a moment of anger mixed with dread as he found his gun missing. But as he moved to get up, he saw his holster as well as his jacket slung over a nearby chair. Mal didn't waste any time replacing that particular belonging to his person.

"Zhe shi shen me?" Leaving the bedroom, weapon in hand, back pressed to the wall -- Mal crept up to the next corner and peeked around it carefully before stepping out into what looked like some empty parlor. Gun still drawn, he was starting to believe his earlier notion that this was just someone's apartment. But it was so sterile, so empty, it was if it had no resident to speak of. Mal would go on to check the adjoining rooms, which turned out to be nothing more than a bathroom and an obscenely large closet only to turn up empty handed. Ending up back in the living room/parlor, he saddled up next to the window, looking out onto an unfamiliar cityscape. Where was this place? Where were the others? Where was Serenity?

The clap of a door opening and closing from the other side of the wall drew his attention to what would turn out to be the front door to the apartment. Firearm still in hand, he approached the door with caution. The door creaked open after Mal twisted the knob and he stood still -- listening.

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-09 06:34 pm UTC (link)

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

George cursed quietly on the other side of the door as she jiggled picks into the handle. If she'd ever learned Chinese she would still likely swear in English. Her love of the f-word was too great. Meanwhile she peaked around nervously. The door finally opened.

George closed it casually behind her and stared forward. Then she stood there. And stared. Not only had the place been cleaned out, which meant all of her stuff was either in a dumpster or on eBay somewhere, but it looked bigger than before. And nicer. This being The City, George had no idea what this meant.

To be safe, what she needed was a new apartment. Which meant she really needed a post-it note any day now.

"I am so fucked. Fuck!"

But while she was here, not that she could really stay, she decided to take a look around. It reminded her of Rube's place. George frowned.

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-09 08:05 pm UTC (link)

By her outburst, Mal could be sure this girl wasn't at all attempting to use stealth to sneak up on him. As far as Mal was concerned, that gave him the advantage.

"I don't know 'bout that." He said, striding into the hall of the entryway -- his gun aimed at the girl, finger poised over the trigger. "But ya are gonna find yourself with a bellyful of holes if you ain't get right to tellin' me who the hell you are an' what what's been done with the rest of my crew."

She looked awful young to be some kidnapper or ransom holder, but then again, Mal wasn't about to take chances. He had first hand experience with a deadly teenage girl, it made a man rather wary of such things.

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-09 08:35 pm UTC (link)

George froze. Her expression didn't betray her thoughts, unless you considered the reaper's metahuman levels of apathy. The irony of holding a gun to Death wasn't lost on her, either.

"Your crew? Are you like a gangster or something?" she mumbled. Alright, not the most sympathetic approach. She knew instantly that he was new, but didn't make the connection that he might be with Inara or Simon due to his creative use of the English language.

"'Cuz you don't really look like one. I think it's the lack of bling." By now it was quite obvious that George was not impressed. She sighed and dutifully held up her hands as if caught up in a very dull game of pretend.

What kind of City gives up my apartment to a redneck gangster? ....And makes it better? George thought. Simultaneously under her breath she said, "Mother fucker."

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-09 09:05 pm UTC (link)

The appropriate reaction for an innocent teenager who'd have stumbled unwittingly into this kind of situation would have been fear, as Mal saw it. Obviously, that wasn't the case. So it was difficult to dispel the idea that she was somehow involved.

"What I'm lacking is my ship and the warm-type bodies on it." Bling had no meaning to him, the same applied for her otherwise offensive language. Those were words that had long since fallen from common vernacular with the end of Earth That Was.

"An' what I ain't got time for is games, so either you say something helpful or you get right out of my way."

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-09 09:28 pm UTC (link)

"Your ship? So now you're a pirate?"

George stared at him blankly. As if to answer his request she took a step to the side. Though the bullets wouldn't kill her, they would hurt a lot. And unless she could be certain to get Simon at The City hospital, she didn't feel like trying to explain her lack of livingness to the attending surgeon.

But not being completely unhelpful, she decided to list random facts which he could choose whether or not to believe.

"You're in The City. Sorry. I don't know where your crew is. This used to be my apartment. So... I was just visiting. I'm going to go now."

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-10 03:32 am UTC (link)

With each answer, he was becoming less and less sure that she was a part of this. While he kept the business end of the firearm directed towards her, he lowered it down to hold it at his side.

"And just what city are we talkin' 'bout here? 'Cause I've been from one side of this 'Verse to the other and oddly enough, ain't nothin' out there that looks at all on the familiar side. I ain't even seen a ship in the sky." The absence of spacecraft in the air was like looking down a four lane highway with not a car to be found.

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-10 03:49 am UTC (link)

"What? Like space ship?"

Because George knew a person or two who were more of the outer space persuasion. She frowned. Maybe they were from different universes. This guy was from the Han Solo Fan Club universe, while Simon and Inara were from the ... other one. Or something. George didn't quite know how it worked.

"The City is just... The City. It kinda just takes people and forces them to stay here. So unless you can find a rocket ship or whatever you fly there's not really a way out of here."

George wasn't a big fan of space stations or ships or rockets. For obvious personal reasons.

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-10 04:13 am UTC (link)

George didn't realize how right on she actually was. The Core worlds versus the rim planets might have well been in different universes. But the two segments of the 'Verse shared one common tongue when it came to expressing displeasure in a situation.

"Cái búshì.." He grumbled, re holstering his weapon. This girl had nothing. She was proving to be as useful as a smudge of cowpie on a fresh set of boots. But he wouldn't settle with her answer.

"Not that a city's got the thinkin' in order enough to force anyone to do nothing -- but neither the Alliance nor no city gonna keep me anywhere." He brushed past her to stand in the doorway leading out to the hall. "I get Serenity back, I get my crew and we're out of here, wherever this is." The hallway was eerily residential. "Zoe?" He called out on the off chance she was being 'held' in a cell/apartment next to his. "Jayne.." No answer. No doors opening.

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-10 04:28 am UTC (link)

George, against her better judgement, followed the space man into the hall. She shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Maybe the other space people will be able to help? Like, there's other people who used to ride around in space ships. I guess."

The reaper felt incredibly awkward. The thought of people flying around the 'verse in space ships sounded completely ridiculous. But then, Dexter mentioned seeing Spock once. And the stranger was much less weird than Spock.

"I think he speaks Chinese, too." She was referring to Simon. George hadn't cared very much for Inara. Her ability to socialized and interact pleasantly with other human beings pissed George off in a petty jealous sort of way.

George tried to remember if Simon swore in Chinese. And if it was the case it would be an odd coincidence. But George had been run over by a car. Twice. She was a little hazy on the details.

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-10 02:25 pm UTC (link)

"Tall fella? Real penchant for gratuitous weapon carryin'?" If there was going to be someone swearing up a storm in Chinese, Jayne was their man. But with the passing of both Wash and the Shepherd -- there was only one other "he" on the ship. "... or you mean a fancy, refined doctor-type?"

While he often kept Simon on the fringe of the "family", as of late (before this change of scenery), the two had been getting along rather well. No punches had been thrown from either party and River's proven ability to take care of herself when she was involved in a job played a part in that. So while Jayne's brute force and skill with firearms would be helpful in a strange place, Mal wouldn't be broken up about finding the doctor either.

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-10 02:34 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, Doctor Tam. He works at The City Hospital. Umm."

George cleared her throat. Loudly.

"If you see him could you maybe not mention me because that might make things kinda awkward and he seems like a nice enough guy but that's probably why you shouldn't say anything about how you saw me, cool?"

If she knew where Inara resided, George might have mentioned her too. But George wasn't exactly sure what she did and it seemed better to let Simon fill the stranger in on just how intelligent The City really was. George didn't do to well with people when emotions got involved. The stranger seemed the type to get real emotional when he learned the situation he was in for.

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-10 07:45 pm UTC (link)

While her initial lack of startling didn't sit well with Mal, the fact that she'd made herself rather useful was enough to inspire the captain to brush back his jacket and slide his gun into the holster strapped to his leg. It was rather impressive what the notion of not being alone in this place did for Mal. Being left for dead in a strange place didn't do much for his memories.

"I'll cut you a deal, little lady. You tell me who you are, like I originally asked and I'll be so kind as to not pass that on to the doctor."

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-10 07:56 pm UTC (link)

"George."

Georgia Lass couldn't very well pass for Millie anymore, so giving out her alias seemed like a bad idea. She would have to come up with a new name. It made her feel a little down. George liked Millie. And she even missed her old boss at Happy Times. Funny how those feelings of loss never really go away, even for the undead.

She thought about asking for his name, but then she would miss the gangster-pirate-spaceman and didn't like the idea of recognizing it if it ever came up on a post-it note.

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i_wearbrown
2008-04-11 05:32 am UTC (link)

Mal had that previously mentioned, six-foot-something, heavily armed reason to be rather used to creative uses of usually gender specific names. So he didn't flinch when it came to remembering this girl's name as George.

"Well, I appreciate you bein' of the helpful type.." Which was a seemingly difficult task considering moments ago he'd held a gun on her. Either she was a great liar of Saffron-like proportions, or she truly didn't intend him any harm. "Don't worry 'bout losing your bunk here. It's all yours, I got no plans on coming back. Ain't the company.. this just isn't my place."

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i_avoidlife
2008-04-11 05:47 am UTC (link)

George decided not to tell him that the keys to the place were likely in his pocket. That his name could very well be written on the buzzer below with the room number next to it. She didn't warn him that the streets moved, or how to best get around town.

She decided to pawn that job off on someone else. Really it was for the best.

"Good luck," she said flatly. It sounded more like an awkward attempt at sincerity than apathy, but could still easily be mistaken for the later. One might start to get the impression that George wasn't the type to get real uppity about having a gun trained on her, or anything else for that matter. Either that or her voice was incapable of anything besides near monotone.

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