[Introduction] Where'd my boat get to?

[mal_badinlatin]

Comments

[johnny_rockfort]

Johnny's done with working on the bar - he's given it more energy than anticipated, and is taking a well-deserved break outside, on the porch. He's watching the red leaves outside and though it's not the sunniest day, he's amazed by the colors.

He's got a cigarette on the corner of his lips and a beer in his hands. If he had a girl on his lap, life would be perfect, just about now.

[mal_badinlatin]

It's been a while since Mal has seen autumn foliage, much less had the chance to linger planet-side and admire it, as he perches one hip on the porch railing. The colors remind him of the cottonwoods behind the ranch house, back home on Hera when he was a kid. He glances over his shoulder at the youngster, who looks like he's almost completely at ease. "Looks like you got it made, fella," he says.

[johnny_rockfort]

Johnny tilts his head so ass to give the other guy a better look. He shrugs, burps loudly. "Not hurting anyone, am I?"

He's always a touch defensive around strangers.

[mal_badinlatin]

"Wasn't implyin' that y' were: wish I could share a drink for y' but I got enough painkillers in me to floor a horse," he says, wryly, wincing as a twinge of pain jabs through his torso.

[johnny_rockfort]

Eyebrows. "Early start in the day?"

Johnny's not about a bit of conversation with someone who looks badass enough, which Mal does.

[mal_badinlatin]

Mal would be the first to say he's played the big damn hero more than once, and he's "Could use a drink after all the crazy stuff I seen today," he says. "Woke up in a lab in the basement, found a crazy passenger from my boat had beat me to this place, an' then she tells me this place ain't any known planet or country. Not sure if I can trust her, as she ain't th' most reliable at details." He pauses. "Tell me she was wrong about there bein' no way outta this place. I'm enjoyin' the chance to rest and mend up, but I gotta get back t' my ship sooner or later, with 'sooner' as the time I'd pick to leave."

[johnny_rockfort]

"Mate," Johnny drawls, before he pauses and takes a sip of his drink. "If you ever find a way out of purgatory, then you let me know."

He's taking his time saying it, too.

[mal_badinlatin]

"Someone gotta do it, an' this place seems pretty quiet," he says, crossing his arms on his chest. "No point in goin' t' seed hangin' around here."

[johnny_rockfort]

Johnny laughs, half-bitterly. "There's no way out. Unless you know a way to revive the dead."

[mal_badinlatin]

"Huh?" Mal asks, genuinely confused now. There's no such place as heaven, hell or purgatory in his mind, at least not the way the Shepherds preach it, though he's seen hell on earth. When you die, you exist only in the memories of those who knew you, as far as he can tell.

[johnny_rockfort]

Johnny rubs his face. "Hold on. You're new here, aren't you?"

[mal_badinlatin]

"If wakin' up in a surgery in the basement about three hours ago counts as new, yeah, that'd make me the new guy in the place," he says, wryly.

[johnny_rockfort]

Blink. "--- there's a surgery in the basement?" That -- actually strikes home. Amber may or may not still be involved, she may or may not still be his girlfriend, but he's been keeping busy with the bar.

In the basement.

[mal_badinlatin]

"Yeah, neat an' orderly, or 'least it was before I dug through th' place lookin' for fresh bandages. Kinda quiet-like, too," he says, finding it odd that this guy lives here and doesn't know there's a lab down there. But it is a big place.

[johnny_rockfort]

Abruptly, Johnny stands up. "If you show me where it is, I'm sharing my best whiskey with you."

[mal_badinlatin]

Pain pills or no, Mal could use a drink after all the weird things he's seen today. "Sure thing," he says, stepping away from the post he's been leaning against and leading the way inside, then down a hallway to a door opening onto a flight of steps leading down to the basement.