Old School Reasons

Posted on Thu Feb 4th, 2021 @ 4:41am by Alden Loxley & Whit

Mission: Six Days to Santo
Location: Santo - Caster Town
Timeline: Day 24 - Dawn

The bruises on his face stung a little deeper this morning, that wonky cut above his left eye a reminder of the sheriff's deputy's lack of love towards him and if he'd smelled sweaty at the bar, Alden knew he was far riper now. Another sleepless night behind bars with nothing for company but his guilty conscience and the usual low-lifes of the civilised planets.

As he gulped in those first couple lungfuls of clear fresh air, the Echo's captain realised there was someone else standing close by the exit. Alden tensed internally and presented a supremely confident, if a little weary, exterior to this newfound stranger.

"No offence, Shepherd," Alden said. "But I need a hot shower more than company right now." He cracked a half-hearted smile and canted his head. "Unless you ain't waiting for me?"

Whit indeed had been standing before the town lockup as a Shepherd waiting for his charge. "On the contrary, Captain Alden Loxley, I believe it was you who was waiting on me." He grinned at the grungy old spacer. "Seems I was a might late getting to the saloon, though, otherwise I coulda' put in a word for you a might sooner." His grin faded as his brow arched. "A word with one Huck Howson. Seems he's decided to recant his accusation against you, which means the law ain't got cause to detain you." Hand to heaven, Whit said, "You're a free man now, Captain Alden, thank the Lawd!" Laughing at his own outburst, Whit took a bow before Alden. "Name's Lucius Whitaker, your fare to Ghost, and it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

It took a couple of seconds for all this information to be digested by the sleepy brain behind that dirty face, but Alden felt the adrenaline subside as this stranger caught him up on current events.

"Howson recanted?" A quizzical look crossed the captain's face and hung around while Alden's thought process struggled on through the rest of the Shepherd's information. "On purpose?" A flash of an impish grin caught in his eyes and then coloured Alden's entire being as he reached out to rest a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Strikes me as you'll be having an interesting skillset, there Shepherd?" Alden noted with amusement mixed with a dose of underlying concern, gaze searching that other pair of blue eyes.

A flourish of a bow matched Whit's, a bow that stalled only as the Echo's captain found another set of bruises and recompensated accordingly. "Good to meet ya, Lucius Whitaker, and considering the rescue and the paid work, pleasure's all mine."

"I suppose it is," Whit conceded, "on all counts." He winked at Alden. "Why don't we get you back to your ship and get you cleaned up? You smell like you broke every one of the Ten Commandments at the same time."

"Yup," agreed Alden easily enough as a waft of sweaty underarm caught in his nostrils and made him smirk at Whit's choice of words. "Well, maybe five or six..." He countered, then shifted topic. "I'm starving. You wanna grab something en route real quick, we can eat and walk, you can tell me the basics?" He winced. "Drop off? Pick up?"

Whit shook his head. "I just ate, as a matter of fact, but I could break some bread if you can't wait." He took a sigh before explaining his job. "Right now you'll just be haulin' me and my effects to Ghost, and dependin' on what we find when we get there, I might pay ya for a round trip. How's that?"

"Round trip sounds fair, but ya got me all intrigued 'bout this 'dependin' side of things," Alden said with a light frown and a half-grin. Mysterious charter he could handle, if it got them away from civilisation from a bit, with recompense for their troubles. "Don't worry, we'll get you there and back, safe as." He promised recklessly.

"As for food, I'll grab something to-go," Alden noted, and aimed them both in the direction of the town's free market, where the stalls and their vendors had only just begun firing up hot plates and such. "Honestly, I want to get gone too. I'm a little concerned 'bout the crew at this point," he admitted. And Kindra. He was definitely worried about Kindra's involvement in this. "You didn't happen to see a Companion at Howson's place did you?"

"No, sir," Whit said with a shake of his head, "though I did run into one at the general store who walked down to the sheriff's office. Might be the same one you're asking after, I reckon. She mentioned being a friend a' yours."

"Kindra," said Alden on an exhale of breath. He looked as if he might say something else, but used the energy in looking up to the sky wistfully for a moment, then shifted his full attention back to Whit. "Hot beverage?" He asked, as they strolled in amongst the waking market. If Kindra wasn't trying to leverage Howson he'd definitely call that a win, and his curiosity with regards her presence on Santo was something he hoped to solve with a call later.

Whit seemed to mull it over and then shrugged. "Sure. Nothing caffeinated though." He chuckled at the way Alden was trying to piece everything together. "Kindra said she knew you." The way Alden had said her name told Whit that the man had known Kindra in the biblical sense. "Iddnit funny how things work out? The Lord works in mysterious ways."

With a lazy to and fro of politeness, Alden acquired a hunk of bread with far too much meat and a mess of onions squished inside. That allowed him a better means to compartmentalise the whole Kindra Episode from his past, but her name on Whit's lips dragged it all back again. "Yeah, she knows me," Alden admitted. "Too well I think. She came to the jail, made some noise about a rescue. I'm worried about her, I'll give her a call..."

A hot matcha tea and a strong black filter coffee followed, the former Alden handed directly to Whit, and the latter he coddled for a few moments before sipping carefully.

"Not sure if the Lord's looking over me at all, Shepherd," Alden said with a wry frown. "But if he's sent you to keep me and mine just a little safer for a bit? I ain't gonna be unhappy in the least. Definitely had more than our fair share of mysterious lately. So," he tried again. "We're just taking a look-see way out there in the wilds huh?"

"Lost sheep wander far," Whit said as he sipped his tea. "Not bad." The quip gave him a moment to change the subject, but he went ahead and added, "This certain sheep o' mine needs found, Captain Loxley. If you can help me find him, I'd be much obliged."

"They do, yeah," Alden quietly agreed, for some reason thinking of Daiyu for a moment. He shook his head in a soft reboot. "Of course, Mr Whitaker," he promised like any good optimistic provider of paid services, and offered up a genuine smile and nod combo. "We'll find him." He took a big bite of his breakfast, chewed it quickly as if someone was about to steal it from him and regarded the Shepherd again with renewed surety. "We'll find him together."

How, Alden had no idea, and Ghost? Ghost was a messed up glitchy planet in the process of being terraformed and mostly devoid of a even an atmosphere. But he needed a win, and this felt far enough away from their previous troubles to potentially qualify.

"There she is," he said, proudly pointing with his sandwich towards the worn and weary Firefly silhouetted against the sunrise.

"That'll do." Whit smiled with fondness at the sight. "That'll do just fine."

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