Wild Eyes Blind

[wildeyesblind]

Characters: Milaila, Kage, Meth, B, Gambler, Stewardess, Meifeng, Guy, AMU [closed]
Location: All over the boat.
Date: present
Rating: PG-16, for violence and implied violence

Comments

[shenghuanzhe]

Here, Bait.

[Kage's stretched out on a lush chair, his booted feet up on some priceless mahogany table, a leftover candycane he found in his room stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

Around the table are some sushi bears, and everyone assembled has a hand of cards in their grips. One of the sushi bears slaps down a three of diamonds and the other bears groan and start shoving chips around. Kage leans forward, then looks at the bear.]

You clever bastard. Deal me out this hand. I gotta take care'a this one.

[The bear yowls and Kage tosses his cards down on the table and rises to his feet. The sushi-bears begin to deal the cards out again, immersed in their game.

Kage sucks on the candycane as he ambles over and picks up a spare comm. He flicks it on, ignoring Mihaila and calls up a certain list.]

Bait. You know why you're here?

[wildeyesblind]

[Yes.]

N-no, sir.

[Her eyes flicker nervously to the bears, then back to Kage. This is all completely different, she has no idea what to expect.]

[shenghuanzhe]

[Kage just grunts. He wants to get back to the card game, and this shouldn't take too long at all. He turns the comm around and extends it for her to take.]

What's missing from this crew manifest?

[wildeyesblind]

[Some of the tension bleeds out of her shoulders, and she sighs. So it wasn't what she thought.

She takes the manifest and idly scrolls through it.

FIRST MATE: Kage
SECOND MATE: Wei Meifeng
CHIEF ENGINEER: Baijznyherglert'allalax Sempotyllallalligrfturg
RENOVATION HEAD: Meth Rezza
SHIP DOCTOR: Autonomous Medical Unit 92-XG-3
SHIP PSYCHIATRIST: Dr. Guy Mann

... wait a minute. She frowns and scrolls back through. Her eyes widen and she reads it again.]

[shenghuanzhe]

[Kage watches her eyes move back and forth as she reads, watches her breath catch as she realises, watches her read it again and he can imagine that she's got some panicked hope that she was mistaken.

He's not even aware of the smile spreading across his mouth, the cruel way his eyes are narrowing to slits, the way that the cardgame fades out behind them as his attention is riveted to Mihaila and the horror growing in her eyes.]

Bait. You're fired.

[wildeyesblind]

[No. No no no no no no no no ...

Her mouth opens and closes in horror and her eyes dart frantically looking for an escape.

They won't let her go back. You don't get fired from Redd's ship. Swallowing hard, her face suddenly twists into fury. Winding her arm back, Mihaila hurls the communicator at Kage before breaking into a run for the exit up to deck 16.]

[shenghuanzhe]

[Reflexes instantly bat the communicator away from his face.

Kage doesn't even blink.

Blood makes noise in his ears, and behind him the sushi-bears look up as Mihaila runs out in a panic. It's really none of their business, Kage knows, but they're gentle things. He silently lifts his hand and waves at them over his shoulder and he can hear them resume the game without him.

Maybe another time.

Kage breaks into a run after her. He doesn't call after her, he doesn't taunt her. He's hunting. The time for talking is long-past over. There's just the bright, burning objective of catching Mihaila in him, and Kage gains on the woman rapidly before another idea percolates through him.

He comes to a stop, turns and slaps his hand over the rectangular box outlined on the wall. A weapon's locker. He could catch Mihaila pretty easily, given how he's faster and stronger than her, but why not make it fun?

She may as well serve some sort of purpose now that Redd has given Kage the order to terminate her.]

[wildeyesblind]

[Her heartbeat pounds in her ears and her vision tunnels in abject panic as Mihaila runs down the hall. She's fast, but she knows Kage is relentless and oh god she will NOT die here!

Wait ...

Skidding to a stop, she fumbles with her keycard and swipes it into the elevator reader, slapping the call button and darting inside. The ride feels like it takes forever, and she leans back against the wall and lets out a choked sob.

As the doors chime and slide open, she bursts out into the deck way down in the bowels of the ship, slamming through the door into the mess hall.

SOMEONE has to help her!]

[metharchy]

[Meth was hanging out in the crew-only mess room with a plate of ponk in front of her. She heard Mihaila slamming doors and rushing down the hall before she even saw her. The renovation head raised an eyebrow at the other woman as she popped a large piece of ponk into her mouth.]

Don't tell me someone blew up one of the kitchens again.

[youdbettertip]

[The Stewardess is there, and she's eating with Meth in small, measured bites. She chews when Mihaila bursts into the mess, swallows.]

What has you in such a lather, Mihaila?

[wildeyesblind]

[Mihaila chokes the words out between gasps for breath.]

Kage ... he's ... he's ...

[Sob.]

You have to help me!

[metharchy]

[This warranted putting her fork down. Meth leaned forward with interest. Was Kage after Mihaila? A predatory gleam entered Meth's eyes, wondering whether she'd get to watch Kage deliver an ass-kicking to the bitch.]

Help you?

[Is she serious?]

What'd you do?

[youdbettertip]

[The Stewardess sighs softly and rolls her eyes. Just what exactly does Mihaila want them to 'help' her with? What, intercede on her behalf? Mihaila's been nothing but an insufferable thorn in the crew's side since day one.]

Yes, Mihaila, what did you do?

[wildeyesblind]

[More sobs.]

I didn't ... it wasn't ...

I just talked to a passenger, I didn't tell him anything, I swear!

[metharchy]

[Meth looked over to the Stewardess, her expression clearly saying, "Can you believe this shit?" and then turned back to Mihaila.]

Yes I'm sure. You never tell them anything. What do you want from us?

[youdbettertip]

[The Stewardess flicks a piece of gristle off her plate to serve as her comment on the situation. She returns the look Meth is giving her, then looks back at Mihaila expectantly.

This should be good.]