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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 13, 2009 23:47:08 GMT -5
Laying low in a Blackout Zone wasn't exactly one of Kaylee's favorite places to be. She was normally confined to the ship, which as much as she loved Serenity, she found she wanted to go out for a bit when they docked. She'd wanted to go out and take a look at the extenders but didn't want to chance Mal getting angry with her. Besides...it was rainin'. As much as she would have enjoyed playin' in the rain at the moment she wanted to stay dry.
They were all trying to lay low after the incident. Reavers, the Alliance and the weird guy that had been hunting them, that Bounty Hunter (who still scared her though he was probably space junk by now), Book and his people and all their contacts dyin', Wash dyin', Mr. Universe dyin' Add that all up and you got what Kaylee now called the incident. After all the action they'd had in the past few months laying low seemed like a good idea. They all needed a chance to recover. Of course this meant she also wasn't saying anything about needing parts. A blackout zone wasn't exactly the best place to buy anything.
Laying down in the engine room she was playing around with some wiring. It would probably be alright for another few weeks but she wanted to try extending it's usefulness. Serenity wasn't whining about it yet but she wanted to help the old girl out by taking care of it before she was hurtin'. She seemed to be running very well since the rebuild. There had been so much to do since then.Kaylee sometimes wondered if even all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't be bothered puttin' the ship back together again. They couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together so she didn't trust 'em none touching her ship. She prided herself on the job everyone had done. Take that Reavers.
Grabbing a pair of wire cutters out of her box she set to work on carefully cutting a plastic covering from around a few wires. Perhaps if she attached the black one to the green one over there it would help the power flow.
She hummed to herself as she worked, her mind wondering as she did what came natural. They were on Osiris. Simon has said that he'd been born and raised there when they'd first picked him up way back on Persephone. They'd picked up Book then and Inara had joined them as well as the scary man that'd shot her. She still felt a twinge in her stomach when she thought about that. She had a twinge of sadness when she thought of Book as well. Kaylee found she was twingin' a good bit recently.
Thinkin back to Simon and Osiris she wondered what he and River were thinkin' of themselves; bein' on their home planet an all.' They wouldn't chance makin' Mal mad and contacting their folks would they? She figured it was a no considerin' how the parental units hadn't agreed with takin' River out of the weird school she'd been sent to. Well the crazy lab was more like. They'd want to stay under the radar just as much as the rest of them.
Twisting two wire ends together she let go quickly as a shock surged through her hand. "Hun dan!" That had hurt somethin' aweful! Perhaps Serenity was telling her that was enough meddlin' for the day. Popping her hurt finger into her mouth for a second she silently scolded the wires for hurting her. Waiting a moment or two she took her finger out and looked at it. She was used to a little shock here and there. Kaylee quickly started to wrap some electrical tape around the wiring.
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Post by River Tam on Aug 14, 2009 0:15:15 GMT -5
River was wandering through the ship as per normal for her lately, some things had changed from Miranda, but others remained utterly and completely the same. River was more coherent yes and even logical, but in the long run she could no longer be that River Simon wanted back. She was still his little sister but what she wasn’t the little sister that he knew and loved so much. She loved Simon but she knew his ideals were else where, he wanted preacademy River, the River who was so young and innocent, hadn’t done anything with anyone.
The memories of what happened at the academy were mostly all bad but she had one or two good ones. Like the boy she’d slept with while she was there, he was her first and her only but they didn’t know each other well or anything when they did it they had just met and gone at it for a while like rabbits. It was an odd fleeting sensation for River to remember that because her memories were so much clearer now than they were before, the world was hers now and she didn’t want it. She wished she could be the fourteen year old sister that her brother wanted back, she wished she could be easy going and smart without a care in the world.
River loved Serenity though, something was very comforting in the odd collection of people that made up the crew. How the crew despite everything they’d been through, the different reasons everyone got onto the ship made the ship beautiful and loving. There was nothing but love spread through out the ship, Zoe and Wash as a married couple, Mal and the ship in general, Zoe and Mal and the loyalty they had for one another because of war, Simons love for Kaylee and for her, but they were two different loves, River more than understood that, Mal and Inara even if both were too pig headed to admit it to themselves and to each other.
River knew this trip was hard on her, she hated being on Osiris, she’d been hiding herself in the nooks and crannies of the ship to keep away from getting off of the ship. Anything to keep Mal from saying c’mon little albatross. River wasn’t going to step on that planet ever again, she didn’t want her parents to see her she didn’t want her parents to find her and Simon. Although Simon was a little more comfortable with leaving the comfort of Serenity to break into their house to get some stuff that both of the Tam siblings were in desperate need of. River needed some of her clothes from their house and Simon wanted things from their house.
River made her way to the Engine room to hear Kaylee’s curse in her head before Kaylee said it, just as she had felt the shock. River had felt Kaylee’s thoughts about her and Simon and that school. River closed her eyes for a minute avoiding the inevitable memories that flooded her head when Kaylee’s thoughts went to that school. River tried to make the rush of those memories go away, she had to make that rush of memories leave her mind and soul but she’d never talked about what had happened and was pretty sure that she never would be able to run far enough or fast enough for all of that pain to disappear and subside into this dull ache.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 14, 2009 1:02:28 GMT -5
Finishing with wiring she tossed the tape back into her toolbox. Kaylee inspected her work for a moment before nodding with a smile and wheeling out from under the engine. Rolling to her right she arranged her toolbox so the lid would close before picking up a cloth and wiping her hands on it. Pushing herself up off the floor she turned and saw River.
Slightly startled she jumped slightly. She should have been used to the girl's quiet entrances by now but sometimes when her mind was wanderin' she found herself still caught unawares like. "Oh hey River," she said with a smile. "I didn't realize you were here or I would've come out sooner." Kaylee stuffed the dirtied rag she'd been using to try and clean her hands into her pocket. "What's up?"
It seemed these days the other girl was always off hiding in some corner. Seemed like almost everyone was stickin' to themselves actually. Kaylee bein' her normal self tried to brighten the mood but it didn't seem to be workin' all that well. Perhaps she'd paint some more flowers in the dining room. She was certain those had cheered the place up a bit when she'd first come to the ship. Nothin' like a pretty picture to make a room shiny.
Seeing River in the Engine Room she wondered if the girl had seeked her out. You never knew with River. If she had looked her up around the ship it woulda made her plenty happy. She was tired of havin' to find people to interact with.
Upon closer lookin' she saw the other girl's eyes were closed and her smile faulter slightly, slipping into a light frown. "River? Somethin' wrong?"
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Post by River Tam on Aug 14, 2009 2:29:27 GMT -5
River looked at Kaylee when she started speaking, River hadn’t been at all shocked by Kaylee’s prescence. Unlike Kaylee had been with hers, River knew she was sometimes too quiet for her own good and Mal preferred that she wear shoes when she was onboard the ship for general noise level things, but that made no difference in River’s silence she was trained to be that silent when she walked, and she never wore her shoes anyway. She just looked at Kaylee and then watched her.
“My apologies I did not mean to startle you” said River
River looked at her and then just sighed, she didn’t really know how to describe what was going on. She was looking at her friend before deciding what she needed to say to her about what was going on with everything around her. She was still semi off in her own lost memories of her home here on Osiris, she’d never felt more out of place on Serenity before in her entire time on Serenity.
River just looked at Kaylee not really wanting to tell her how out of place she felt in Serenity while on Osiris. Kaylee didn’t know what Osiris was like for the two of them and she’d rather they keep it that way.
“I am aware of feeling insignificant on here at the moment, it is making me quite apprehensive because I am aware of my parents presence here on Osiris” said River
River knew hers and Simon’s parents were there on Osiris, River was more than aware of the fact that they had been by the ship twice asking for her and Simon. River didn’t want to go back, going back to her parents would mean going back to the academy and River would not be able to bear it at the moment. She never wanted to deal with the academy again, she was ready to hide in one of the many nooks and crannies on the ship and not come out until they were well away from Osiris.
River thought about osiris though, how different their childhood was from kaylee's or mal's or any of the people on the ship aside from Inara. River and Simon were born into a high class, alliance bound, very wealthy family. But Simon and River didn't honestly talk to their parents all that much they had nannies taking care of them most of the time, their parents mostly showed up for events and things like that. Or if they were called into the school because River was having a behavioral issues. Well if River hadn't been so bored it wouldn't have happened but River had found herself bored in school all the time.
She was fourteen when she was in college, and she was still bored, she loved theoretical phsyics though because it had and answer for the questions but the answer could be debated. River was pretty typically multitasking, taking notes with one hand and working on other equations with the other hand. She was constantly typing something out on her computer with her stylus.
River knew that their lives had changed since then, River knew that they weren't going back to their parents place, not that she wanted too, her parents place wasn't happy like she would have liked but there was nothing she could do about it. She was supposed to still be at the Academy at the moment. Serenity also made River happy it was the most at home she'd ever felt anywhere.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 14, 2009 15:11:48 GMT -5
“My apologies I did not mean to startle you” she heard River say. The smile returned to Kaylee's face as she looked at River. "Aw well that's all right. I should be plenty used to it by now don't ya think?"
She simply smiled as the younger girl stared at her. It seemed almost like she was thinkin' about tellin' her somethin'. Well that or else she was caught up in her own little world again. She was about to try and say something to break the silence when River spoke again.
“I am aware of feeling insignificant on here at the moment, it is making me quite apprehensive because I am aware of my parents presence here on Osiris” said River.
"What? Insignificant?" Kaylee said sounding confused. "What ever gave you that impression River? Course you're important. I mean you've been helpin' Mal fly the ship and things like that."
"And as for the thing with your parents I wouldn't worry. Simon ain't gonna let them near you and I'm sure Mal won't either. Hell Jayne would probably threaten' 'em with Vera if they tried to take you aways again."
She lended a smile to her friend. "You ain't got nothin' to be feelin unuseful about. Sure we ain't flyin' at the moment but we'll be leavin' soon. None of us like stayin' grounded for too long."
" 'Sides," she said, glancing around the room thoughtfully. "Serenity seems to be sayin' she wants to leave soon. She's gettin' bored sittin' here."
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Post by River Tam on Aug 14, 2009 15:28:25 GMT -5
River looked at Kaylee she hadn’t expected her friend to understand, being anywhere near her parents lately made her feel insignificant, and just kind of lost. River’s mind was wandering doing ten or fifteen things at a time while talking to Kaylee, she was mostly doing a scan for the crew and her brother to make sure they were ok. River sensed another presence with Zoe, in all reality two presences with Zoe and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it and it scared her that Zoe could be in danger, not like there was much to worry with, with Zoe. She was a strong woman much stronger than River was in spirit. Everyone on Serenity seemed to have a strength that River was feeding off of to try and feel what the others felt.
“My parents would not take to kindly to Jayne” said River
River knew her parents wouldn’t even take too kindly to Kaylee and Simon’s relationship because River and Simon were supposed to be alliance. They were raised to be so, but River had questioned it as a child why were they alliance what did the alliance do that was so great. They modified history in their favor, River was always getting the truth from Mal and Zoe rather than what her home told her.
River was smarter than most text books anyway she’d corrected mistakes in Simon’s books before, and she knew that the teacher got mad at them. River figured out who the presence was with Zoe it was kind of different but yet still the same as the two of them walked on Serenity. River gave one of her tiny half smiles when Kaylee said she was flying the ship.
“I won’t be flying the ship too much longer” said River
River looked at Kaylee and knew that Serenity did want off of the ground, River just wanted to be far far away from Osiris and her parents. She didn’t want to go home to her parents ever again, she just wanted to run as far away as she could from them. She wanted to run away from Simon’s medicines and things for her. She didn’t want the medicine anymore and she didn’t want to go through her life on stuff because she couldn’t filter out emotions or anything.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 14, 2009 16:02:34 GMT -5
Kaylee grinned at River's observation on her parents and Jayne. She had a feeling no one's parents but his own would take kindly to him. "I don't find that too hard to believe," she said letting out a laugh. Thinkin' on the Tam parents she wondered what they were like. She knew better than to say hello to 'em since everyone was hidin' their kids on the ship but she couldn't help but wonder how different they were from her own parents.
When River gave her a half smile she felt a bit relieved. She didn't like the girl lookin' so blank all the time. She had a nice smile, she needed to use it more. “I won’t be flying the ship too much longer” said River, causing Kaylee to once again adopt her confused look. She seemed to be wearin that around a lot near River. (Though so did the rest of the crew so she didn't feel too stupid.)
"Whaddya mean River? You goin' somewhere?"
That was the only reason she could think of her friend not flying the ship. That or Zoe taking over for a while. But she didn't think Zoe would be flyin' the ship much anytime soon or ever. After all Wash had been the pilot and died in the seat. Even the co-pilot seat would prolly be a bit weird for the older woman to be manning. Perhaps Inara was gonna fly with Mal? No. That was a bad idea. As much as Kaylee liked the idea of the two workin' together they'd still prolly kill each other.
Shakin' her head to get back on track she looked at River. "You're not leavin' are you?" They'd already had enough people leave lately. Book and Wash...Inara had only just come back. Also, if River left then Simon was sure to leave as well. They're little crew of now 7 would be down to 5. Kaylee began to grow sad. She didn't want River to leave or Simon.
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Post by River Tam on Aug 14, 2009 20:57:43 GMT -5
River looked at Kaylee when she asked if she was leaving, River wasn’t going anywhere Serenity was her home. River gave Kaylee one of those classic little sister looks that she gave Simon when he was totally missing what she thought was obvious. The presence she’d felt was comforting and warm, it was quite different from before though, but still the same calm but crazy personality that came from the man. River couldn’t help but give Kaylee that don’t you know look. She had given Simon that look allot and it was a look that he liked to see from his sister because it meant she was like a normal person.
“I am not going anywhere, Serenity is my home, it is who is coming back to us” said River
River knew that she wasn’t going anywhere, but Wash was part of the ship and he was coming back to them. She could feel him outside of the ship even with the fear he felt she could tell he was home. She tilted her head to that one side that she did when she was hearing things that other people couldn’t hear, thoughts and memories, River knew that Wash didn’t remember them, and slowly but surely he would remember them and River could help she knew more information about any of the other people on the ship. She knew more about most people than they knew about themselves.
River would gladly step down to let Wash have his rightful position as the pilot as the ship. River knew Simon wasn’t as at home on Serenity, he didn’t love the ship, but he did love being a doctor, he did love Kaylee, he did love her, and that was what was keeping him on Serenity. The love for Kaylee, for River and for his job if it weren’t for that he’d probably still be in some hospital in Osiris with their parents trust fund, and River would still be in the academy being experimented on and tortured. If River loved Serenity then Simon was making an effort to be able to care for her and love what she loved.
River knew what Kaylee was thinking about and she smirked at what came up with Inara and Mal. That would work well someone would die if that was the way things were going to work out and River would be really upset if anyone else died on the ship. River gave one of her half smirks at the thought rather than just that blank look she’d wear on her face most of the time.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 15, 2009 8:06:31 GMT -5
Hmm. Well by the looks on River's face Kaylee had completely missed the point. She was so used to seeing the look directed at Simon and laughing at it that she felt funny havin' it directed at herself. She'd rather the 'you're clueless' look over the blank stare any day though.
“I am not going anywhere, Serenity is my home, it is who is coming back to us” said River
Who was coming back to us? Kaylee scrunched up her oil covered face tryin to think who in the 'Verse her friend could be thinkin' of. Who could replace her for flyin' that they'd had before? The only person she really remembered flyin' ole Serenity was Wash and he was dead. Killed by the Reavers. She watched as River tilted her head to that one side that she did when she was hearing things that other people couldn’t hear. Who could she be hearin?
River changed to one of her half smirks confusing Kaylee even more. As happy as she was that River was actin a bit more normal, not that she minded too much most of River's oddities, the smirk wasn't helpin her confused state.
"River there anythin' you care to share with the rest of the class? 'Cause I don't think I'm catchin' your drift."
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Post by River Tam on Aug 15, 2009 22:40:57 GMT -5
River knew that Kaylee thought her look was funny, well what could you say, River had some interesting looks that crossed her face from time to time. River couldn’t help but sit there and think that Kaylee should know better than anyone who rightly flew Serenity and who would always be Serenity’s pilot. River knew Wash would always be the pilot for Serenity. She was just filling in until he’d decide to step in again. River looked at Kaylee again.
“It is not that hard to figure out who the pilot of Serenity” said river
River knew that Kaylee would figure out that Wash was the only person who deserved to fly Serenity. River had left the cock pit exactly how he liked it. Never changing an thing on his area, and that wasn’t only for his benefit, but it was for River’s, Zoe’s Kaylee’s, Mal’s, and the rest of the crews sake. They needed the familiarity of wash’s stuff on the helm, they needed the thought that he was still there. That they’d run into him when they’d turn a corner, when they’d come out of their bunks, and all of that.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 17, 2009 0:10:47 GMT -5
It seemed that River was just going to keep on talkin' in her riddles today. “It is not that hard to figure out who's the pilot of Serenity” she said.
"Well the only person I can think of really is Wash and we all know he's gone," Kaylee replied, looking a touch sad. "Once your gone you stay dead. Or at least as far as I know. Unless you're goin' by those ole' zombie movies I saw once. But I don't think Wash would come back as one of those even if they did exist." As Kaylee yammered on her hands rested on her hips as she licked her chapped lips.
Frowning she looked off at nothing as she thought. Who could River be talkin' about? The only person she could be talkin' about is Wash. But Wash was as dead as the dinosaurs he'd loved to play with at his seat.
Dinosaurs.
Kaylee looked over at River. She'd kept the Wash's dinosaurs on the bridge. She wasn't too sure why but she had a feeling she was going to find out. "River does this have anything to do with why you made us leave the dinosaurs?" she asked carefully. No doubt River would know what she was talkin about. Kaylee'd just thought that River had kept them there like a normal special way of tribute to their fallen pilot but the more she thought about it the more it made sense for a different reason...or didn't make sense if you went on the fact Wash was still dead.
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Post by River Tam on Aug 17, 2009 2:48:30 GMT -5
River just looked at Kaylee, who was still baffled, River could feel Wash though, she knew he was there, she could feel him. Kaylee wouldn’t understand that River could feel that he was alive and there, how River wasn’t sure yet, but she was going to find out when she got closer to him. River looked at Kaylee feeling the doubt that the other girl was feeling. River was very sensitive with things like that.
River looked at Kaylee when she asked about the dinosaurs, she could see that Kaylee was starting to see River’s way of doing things. River was very capable of knowing what she was doing. River had insisted, even begged Mal to leave the dinosaurs there. After a rather large debate River had won simply because Mal didn’t know what she was saying anymore and had just given in to get out of talking to her since he didn’t understand her.
“Without the dinosaurs, how is Wash supposed to know he is still welcomed here” said River
River knew that she could feel Wash, he was alive and mostly well. She was trying to figure out what the dark presence with him was. She knew she’d figure out more when she got closer to him to see what it was. River knew that it was traumatic for him so she wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew Wash being alive was scientific and something else put together. She was almost hoping the academy wasn’t involved with it they were trying to figure out how to bring people back from the dead.
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Post by Kaylee Frye on Aug 25, 2009 11:26:28 GMT -5
“Without the dinosaurs, how is Wash supposed to know he is still welcomed here.”
Shocked, Kaylee's mouth fell open slightly as she tried to think of something to say in response to that. What could you say to that? She looked at River, her mind racing as she scrunched her forehead and looked at the ground, thinking. Her hands moved from her hips to cross in front of her as she bit her lip.
After a moment she raised her head and looked at the younger girl. "Well of course he's still welcome," she said, still looking a bit confused. "It's Wash. He belongs here. But it isn't possible for him to come back."
She paused and looked at River before looking uncertain, "Is it?"
Kaylee wanted to believe what she thought River was trying to tell her but she didn't know if she could. She bet she knew what that guy Book talked about once, Thomas, felt like when he didn't believe Jesus had come back to life. Doubting Thomas he'd called him. Someone'd made a reference to acting like a Doubting Thomas and Book had set into one of his explainations...the Captain hadn't been around and Kaylee didn't mind too much. Oh Book. He'd be happy she remembered the story.
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Post by River Tam on Aug 26, 2009 0:23:08 GMT -5
"It is possible" said River "The... Academy had it perfected"
River paused before the word academy, her mind was hit with so many memories just thinking it that it scared her, some coherent, others others were dark images and flashes out of the minds of the people who'd made her what she was. River choked back the memories of the place of the experiments that went on there of everything, the people who'd died around her and most importantly the thing she could never tell Simon that the academy did to her.
River had that look on her face still that she was listening to someone that no one else could hear. She had her head tilted still trying to read the other thing off of Wash. She couldn't seem to get it to come all the way forward though. She was still digging in Wash's head when something basically shoved her out of his head. River was almost thrown backwards from the force of it. She kept her balance though and looked at Kaylee.
River turned to Kaylee's mind which was much calmer and comforting than Wash's brain had been for her. She looked at Kaylee. River then let herself try and calm down some and tried to get into Wash's head again see if she could find the dark presence that lingered with him. She didn't want it to be something that would be harmful for them.
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