(no subject)
Even with her lack of status with the Companion Guild, if ever there is a wave that gets bounced back to Inara's shuttle in the minute hours of ship's morning, it tends to be for the Companion rather than the captain of the ship. His wake up calls are never as polite as the timid chiming noise Inara's screen provided when a call was incoming.
"Mal, wake up."
"Nnn."
"It's from a bank."
One bloodshot eye opens to stare at Inara, who had thrown a robe around her when she went to see to the news. The text was blurry and illegible from Mal's position still sprawled on the bed, but then Inara opened the attached video file.
Crowley.
"Er. Cào wŏ, this is weird," the recorded Crowley mumbles, and Mal sits bolt upright. In his sleep-fogged brain, he almost thought to reply with a nod, like Crowley could see him. This Crowley.
Cào wŏ.
Mal and Inara just watch, and listen. Somewhere along Crowley's explanation of his travels from Earth-that-Was, Mal is happy. Genuinely happy, if only for (at the moment) the fact that he can now explain what happened. Why the history books get it wrong all the time. The knowledge of it all was more than Mal was ever expecting, even with his encounters with super-normality.
"...Annnd this is what I've put in place for you lot."
"Oh, Mal." Inara's still listening to Crowley's voice, but she has turned to reading the textwave portion from the bank while he is --
From the bank. For the ship.
"I'll see you around."
It's not for Mal. It's for the ship. The captain knows it, and his wife is still reading and rereading the textwave -- details on how to access the monies if and when necessary for expenditures pertaining to oh, Mal didn't care about the details. Not right now. When the video attachment stops, it returns to the last frame of the file, and freezes there. Mal would call it a mug shot capture, with Crowley looking straight into the camera like it owed him something.
Maybe it did.
"Hunh."
"Mal, wake up."
"Nnn."
"It's from a bank."
One bloodshot eye opens to stare at Inara, who had thrown a robe around her when she went to see to the news. The text was blurry and illegible from Mal's position still sprawled on the bed, but then Inara opened the attached video file.
Crowley.
"Er. Cào wŏ, this is weird," the recorded Crowley mumbles, and Mal sits bolt upright. In his sleep-fogged brain, he almost thought to reply with a nod, like Crowley could see him. This Crowley.
Cào wŏ.
Mal and Inara just watch, and listen. Somewhere along Crowley's explanation of his travels from Earth-that-Was, Mal is happy. Genuinely happy, if only for (at the moment) the fact that he can now explain what happened. Why the history books get it wrong all the time. The knowledge of it all was more than Mal was ever expecting, even with his encounters with super-normality.
"...Annnd this is what I've put in place for you lot."
"Oh, Mal." Inara's still listening to Crowley's voice, but she has turned to reading the textwave portion from the bank while he is --
From the bank. For the ship.
"I'll see you around."
It's not for Mal. It's for the ship. The captain knows it, and his wife is still reading and rereading the textwave -- details on how to access the monies if and when necessary for expenditures pertaining to oh, Mal didn't care about the details. Not right now. When the video attachment stops, it returns to the last frame of the file, and freezes there. Mal would call it a mug shot capture, with Crowley looking straight into the camera like it owed him something.
Maybe it did.
"Hunh."