Piece of String Theory
Firefly piece of new fic
OCs - Bonny and Mike; rest of crew
-written 29 July 2008
They exchanged glances. "Um..."
"What? There some reason you two can't tell us who you are?" Mal was getting tenser, obviously beginning to regret allowing the two to get on the ship.
"For your own protection," the girl said earnestly. "My name's Bonny and he's Michael, but... We really shouldn't tell you more than that."
"Shouldn't even have told 'im that," the young man told her angrily.
Mal smiled tightly. "Well I do appreciate that little tidbit," he said, at his most captainy. "And I won't ask for more as long as there's no trouble. Now why don't we go meet the rest of my crew."
He led them to the galley where everyone else had gathered. Bonny grabbed Michael's hand, squeezing tightly. Mal didn't notice. "Everyone," he addressed loudly, waiting for attention. "We have two new passengers. This is, uh, Bonny and Mike."
There were a few half-hearted greetings. River stared at them intently. "Progeny," she said quietly. "What you say buy more than you are - two together to make you." She shook her head. "Shouldn't be here."
"Hey, I didn't sign up to listen to no creepifyin' talk like this," Mike said, looking at River worriedly.
"Yeah," Bonny agreed. "We know we're not s'posed to be here, but we don't mean any harm."
"I..." River frowned, a hand at her temple. "Blocked, built - a wall, warm and strong, cannot penetrate." She looked at captain pleadingly. "They are silent. May I keep them?"
"Silent?" Simon's attention was suddenly completely on his sister. "Mei mei, what do you mean? These... these passengers?"
She nodded. "Silent. No screamin - no minds in turmoil, no thoughts, no feelings, no twists - colors faded, vague. Only warm blankness." She smiled beautifically.
Michael backed up nervously. "Uh... Maybe you better let us off at the next stop. I ain't stayin' on board with some gorram - "
"Mike!" Bonny shook her head. "Don't get us thrown off. We don't have any other choices."
"I... Well, my sister is special," Simon explained, still keeping one eye on River. "She can... She notices any strong feelings and - "
"Oh, you mean she's a Reader." Bonny smiled and nodded in understanding. "Yeah, we have one on our crew, so we understand." She slapped Mike's arm and said, "See? It ain't creepifyin'."
"Jus' 'cause we got one, too, don't make it normal."
Bonny rolled her eyes. "Like you can talk about normal."
Simon's eyes glazed over a little as his mind whirled with what he'd been told. "That... That could be why River can't hear you - or Read you, that is. I... I don't fully understand the implications of the ability, but it might be possible..." He turned quickly to look at the two new passengers. "Did your Reader ever... well, use her psychic ability to... to protect or shield your minds? Because if so, it's possible that shield lingered and - "
"I don't think so," Bonny said quickly, looking worried. "I think she'd o' told us if she'd done anything like that. Mike ain't exactly the brightest star in the sky, and maybe I'm just not feeling anything strongly right now."
Simon seemed unsure. "There has to be something residual, because she's never had this reaction before. So I think that must be at least part of the explanation. River isn't stable enough to build any sort of wall on her own, and if she really can't hear you..."
"As fascinatin' as this all is," Mal said dryly, "maybe our new passengers don't want to be interrogated." He cleared his throat. "Now - ya know River, our Reader. We got Simon, our doctor, who's her brother. Wash, our pilot - next to him's my second, Zoe. You met her. Kaylee's our mechanic and Jayne's our public relations man."
~~~
OCs - Bonny and Mike; rest of crew
-written 29 July 2008
They exchanged glances. "Um..."
"What? There some reason you two can't tell us who you are?" Mal was getting tenser, obviously beginning to regret allowing the two to get on the ship.
"For your own protection," the girl said earnestly. "My name's Bonny and he's Michael, but... We really shouldn't tell you more than that."
"Shouldn't even have told 'im that," the young man told her angrily.
Mal smiled tightly. "Well I do appreciate that little tidbit," he said, at his most captainy. "And I won't ask for more as long as there's no trouble. Now why don't we go meet the rest of my crew."
He led them to the galley where everyone else had gathered. Bonny grabbed Michael's hand, squeezing tightly. Mal didn't notice. "Everyone," he addressed loudly, waiting for attention. "We have two new passengers. This is, uh, Bonny and Mike."
There were a few half-hearted greetings. River stared at them intently. "Progeny," she said quietly. "What you say buy more than you are - two together to make you." She shook her head. "Shouldn't be here."
"Hey, I didn't sign up to listen to no creepifyin' talk like this," Mike said, looking at River worriedly.
"Yeah," Bonny agreed. "We know we're not s'posed to be here, but we don't mean any harm."
"I..." River frowned, a hand at her temple. "Blocked, built - a wall, warm and strong, cannot penetrate." She looked at captain pleadingly. "They are silent. May I keep them?"
"Silent?" Simon's attention was suddenly completely on his sister. "Mei mei, what do you mean? These... these passengers?"
She nodded. "Silent. No screamin - no minds in turmoil, no thoughts, no feelings, no twists - colors faded, vague. Only warm blankness." She smiled beautifically.
Michael backed up nervously. "Uh... Maybe you better let us off at the next stop. I ain't stayin' on board with some gorram - "
"Mike!" Bonny shook her head. "Don't get us thrown off. We don't have any other choices."
"I... Well, my sister is special," Simon explained, still keeping one eye on River. "She can... She notices any strong feelings and - "
"Oh, you mean she's a Reader." Bonny smiled and nodded in understanding. "Yeah, we have one on our crew, so we understand." She slapped Mike's arm and said, "See? It ain't creepifyin'."
"Jus' 'cause we got one, too, don't make it normal."
Bonny rolled her eyes. "Like you can talk about normal."
Simon's eyes glazed over a little as his mind whirled with what he'd been told. "That... That could be why River can't hear you - or Read you, that is. I... I don't fully understand the implications of the ability, but it might be possible..." He turned quickly to look at the two new passengers. "Did your Reader ever... well, use her psychic ability to... to protect or shield your minds? Because if so, it's possible that shield lingered and - "
"I don't think so," Bonny said quickly, looking worried. "I think she'd o' told us if she'd done anything like that. Mike ain't exactly the brightest star in the sky, and maybe I'm just not feeling anything strongly right now."
Simon seemed unsure. "There has to be something residual, because she's never had this reaction before. So I think that must be at least part of the explanation. River isn't stable enough to build any sort of wall on her own, and if she really can't hear you..."
"As fascinatin' as this all is," Mal said dryly, "maybe our new passengers don't want to be interrogated." He cleared his throat. "Now - ya know River, our Reader. We got Simon, our doctor, who's her brother. Wash, our pilot - next to him's my second, Zoe. You met her. Kaylee's our mechanic and Jayne's our public relations man."
~~~