river_meimei | (no subject)

Wash is gone. Pretty much every member of the crew has chipped in to help with flying at some point; skill levels vary, of course, but it's not complicated to fly in a straight line through the black, or babysit the autopilot. Every night, Zoe silently takes Naomi and leaves for Milliways, to sleep there instead of in their bunk.

All the same, there's work needs doing. Or, maybe, everyone's got extra reasons to seek out work right now. Keep the hands busy and (maybe) the mind quiet.

Either way, it's been a while since River's guns were last cleaned. Which is why she and Mal are sitting at the kitchen table with rags and brushes and oil, guns in various states of disassembly spread before them both.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

e_delmar

Ennis, on the other hand, can't find nearly enough work to do, nearly enough to keep his brain quiet. Could explain the late night wandering, though not the embarrassed look on his face. He clears his throat, not wanting to surprise either of them.

From:

river_meimei

It's not all that late, not for those that aren't used to having to wake with the dawn to care for horses. But late enough for Ennis, maybe.

River glances over her shoulder, her fingers smudged with gun-oil, and her intent face softens into the beginnings of a smile.

From:

e_delmar

Late enough when you're used to waking early, late enough when you ain't been sleeping much anyway. He doesn't yawn, not quite, as he smiles at her 'n Mal, before looking down at the guns with interest and not a little bit of confusion.

From:

river_meimei

"Maintenance," River informs him.

"It's a midnight snack."

From:

e_delmar

Ennis' face goes a little pale at the mention of a snack, whether he knows what it is she meant or not.

(Which he didn't, but that ain't no real surprise.)

He comes over, leans on the table and looks up at Mal.

"She do this often?"

From:

badinlatin

"Not nearly enough," Mal scoffs, even if his expression is a bit exaggerated.

"I clean mine pretty obsessive-like -- River's don't need as much, 'cause they ain't in too much use."

From:

river_meimei

River makes a face at him behind Ennis's back.

From:

e_delmar

Back and forth and back and forth, Ennis' neck's gonna get tired.

"They're your guns?"

From:

badinlatin

Now Mal's directed at River more than Ennis.

"He didn't know?"

From:

river_meimei

River looks blankly at Mal.

Lots of people don't know, Mal, because River does not make conversation like a normal person.

"These," she says to Ennis, as if it's obvious.

There are two pistols in front of her, one complete and one disassembled, and both of them old-fashioned even for Ennis's day. Colt revolvers, like a gunfighter's in a museum or a Western. One is covered in scrollwork, decorative but deadly; the other, a converted military pistol, has a rattlesnake inlaid in the grip, worn to a patina with use.

From:

e_delmar

Ennis reaches out, looking at River before he'll put his hands on one of her weapons. His voice is low, gravelly.

"'d you get these?"

From:

badinlatin

("Well met, sai Reynolds.")

"Friend o' the crew," Mal replies before River can respond.

From:

river_meimei

River's head is bowed; she's silent for a long minute, while Mal speaks and after he's silent.

Then, low, "It's an inheritance."

From:

e_delmar

Ennis looks up at her for more'n a moment, thinking on the coat, and her reaction to his hat and-

well.

He pulls his hand back, slowly, and nods.

"You know how to use them?"

It's not patro- patri- it ain't puttin' her down, but knowing such things is important.

From:

river_meimei

River gives him a sidelong look, and for an instant her focus is clear and level as it very rarely is.

She's not offended; the glance is, clearly, a yes.

From:

badinlatin

Mal tries hard not to smile. It's not really something to smile about.

But.

"You got any experience with metal, Ennis?"

From:

e_delmar

Nicknames don't always follow from place to place -- or time to time -- so it takes him a second, but he gets it.

"You've gotta, with what I do."

Did.

Though even then he thinks back to Jack and was a half-assed shot he was, and he smiles, only a little.

From:

badinlatin

"I can understand that, but sometimes -- "

Mal thinks about being young, and only worrying about how to skip school that day.

" -- sometimes you need to be in a certain place to learn, and that don't come for some folk."

From:

river_meimei

The right place to learn.

Yeah.

River is focusing very closely on the barrel of Joe's old revolver. Whether she's sighting it for obstructions or just staring through it isn't entirely clear.

From:

e_delmar

Ennis' more'n confused, not that that's anything new. Certainly not around River.

"What'you mean, a certain place to learn?"

From:

badinlatin

"Can't learn shooting holed up in a big city or some such, right? Or at least, not any shooting that matters -- "

Mal casts a glance at River just then, and cuts himself off, probably leaving Ennis more confused than before.

" -- Can't be of use like that unless you've got reason to know what you're doing," he finishes slowly.

From:

e_delmar

Ennis' about seventeen ways more confused than before, but he doesn't ask more questions.

Eyes narrowed, he lifts them to River, watching her move, slow, confident, and not the kind that's for show.

From:

river_meimei

"Not with the hand," River says, to Ennis or Mal or just to the gun she's still holding.

From:

e_delmar

Ennis moves, standing behind her, silent and still, watching.

From:

river_meimei

River stares at Joe's gun, or through it, for a long second. She breathes in, and out, slowly.

And then she picks up the cloth by her elbow, and wipes the gun clean of excess oil with a few deft motions, and sets it down again. She reassembles the gun in a series of rapid clicks -- her hands are quick and sure, and for once her gaze doesn't go wandering -- and only then lifts her eyes to Mal.