Wash wasn't having the prime pick of days either. Never had such Mandarin been spewed, even on Serenity.
The engine was working fine now, thanks to a particular Godly intervention. It was the wiring that was all mucked up.
It was Maxine's day with Joanna and Ted and that had become a damper as the reason for it was that Wash was still working on the ship and there'd be dangerous electrical stuff. But Wash missed the little monkey when she was gone.
Wires were strung out all over the cockpit as Wash struggled with the hardware and would kiss the screen if the software would cooperate. He had one of his flight suits on (he'd found them all in his and his ex-wife's bunk) and the top was unzipped, arms wrapped around his waist. His white a-line undershirt was slightly discolored with sweat.
A few more colorful words were muttered before he heard the tell-tale sound of a screen blinking into life.
He pushed himself out, with great gusto, from underneath the navigation panel.
"Ai ya! Ha! Yes! That! That is a gorram beautiful thing!" he exclaimed at the blue menu screen. He kissed the glass screen, then, and wiped his print off with a rag.
"Okay, okay, baby. What've you got for me?" Wash asked, the first step being to see if navigation knew where the heck they were. It was his instinct as a pilot to know their location.
"Huh. Not horribly surprising," Wash surmised when the error came back from his search. "It's okay, sweetie. It's not your fault. What's this?"
New software had been added and Wash explored with cautious curiosity.
"Directory?"
And there it was, a directory of all The City's occupants.
He looked up at the communication's screen. It held Zoe's number and a tantalizing button flashing in a very tempting way that begged to be pushed. He had pulled it up after all.
Wash and 'the button' had a showdown for a full five minutes as his hard blue eyes glared at the lime green throbbing rectangle. It couldn't be this easy and it shouldn't be this hard, thought the pilot.
Wash drew a breath in and held it. The button...blinked. Wash narrowed his eyes and huffed. The button...silently beckoned.
"Go sé," Wash whispered furiously. He jammed the button and covered his face with his hands. Quickly he uncovered his face and smoothed out his hair as the video call was transmitted.