Soundtrack To A Sixpack

Posted on Sat Oct 29th, 2022 @ 8:06am by Alden Loxley & Jonas Bailey

Mission: Home Sweet Wonderful Home
Location: Three Hills - Some Bar
Timeline: November 15 After the BBQ and Before Manly Heroic Reasons

With Echo securely locked down for the evening, Drake safely away on his own turf, and both Shepherds on board the Firefly to watch over her, Alden had taken the opportunity to steal a little alone time with his oldest friend. Just a couple of drinks and some lazy conversation, offload some, onload a little and just clear their heads before the new day came a'calling. Sounded every bit as perfect as it could be, given all that was currently going on around them.

The bar was dark enough to be comfortable and lit well enough to not raise any concerns with a multi-coloured strip of lights along the bar and a mixed bunch of friendly clientelle scattered about small tables and side booths. A redheaded cowgirl was playing acoustic guitar on a triangle of space that might be called a stage if someone stretched the term some, just alto, gently friendly, country music.

"I'm missing Ali already," admitted Alden after he'd sated his thirst with the first long inch of cold beer from a tall pint. "Real bad." Dark blue eyes regarded Jonas, emotions clear and sharp and easy to read. "You think I'm crazy to keep Daiyu on board too?" Honestly, he wouldn't blame his buddy if he thought that, but Alden was eternally grateful for the unconditional support. "Still glad you decided not to take that contract and just kill me?" Alden teased, giving Jonas an easy out if levity was a preferable option of voicing an opinion for or against the troubled girl and the absent pilot they both knew and cared for in their different ways.

"Yeah, I miss her, too. She was good." Jonas took a long drink of his own beer before continuing. "Man, I couldn't shoot my blood brother no matter the cost. We've been through hell and back over the years. Seen a lot of crazy crap, done a lot of crazy crap, and met our fair share of crazy-ass people. But we've managed to stay alive through it all."

He took another sip. "As far as Daiyu, hard for me to say, really. I haven't spent that much time with her to get to know her in the least. Damn good fighter, though, from what I saw in the bar that time. Glad she's on our side for the time being. As far as you being crazy for keeping her on board, hell Alden, look at the crew you've got. A mercenary, a hired killer for your First Mate. A couple of weird wandering Shepherds taking a ride. A Deckhand that might as well be a ghost...kid scares the shit out of me every time he just pops up. A quiet Engineer that keeps to herself and a new Doc. You're out of your mind for keeping any of us onboard." He laughed and took a sip this time.

"Me and you, Alden, we're going to have our disagreements...everybody does. But I've got your back."

"Dangerous, deadly, but definitely a good one," confirmed Alden, expression wistfully examing some distant point above the bar as he considered Ali and their differences. "Sure we ain't seen the last of her either though," he said, optimism shaky but still lurking somewhere down in his soul. "Hey, thanks, brother, I'm appreciating life all the better for the not being dead," Alden noted, with a flash of a tenuous smile.

"We have been through a lot of crap, huh?" He took a long drink and nodded as if that statement needed extra recognition, then chinked his glass against Jonas' and listened to his friend reel off a whole bunch of good reasons to be grateful for being alive against the odds. A dry chuckle, a downward look and Alden fidgeted, nudged the toe of his boot against the table leg and met Jonas' eyes again. "Here's to staying alive a good while longer, but mebbe the Verse could see fit to share a few less sanity-challenged folks with us for a week or two though, you and me included, huh?"

Jonas wasn't lying, they made a curious mix for sure, but Alden couldn't really ever recall having anything other than a misfit bunch of folks around him.

"I'll always have your back too, brother," he confirmed, seriousness in zero doubt wrapped about those words. Then there was silence for a little while as the cowgirl guitarist sung like a husky voiced angel and everyone listened to the song lift the overall mood just a notch of three all through the bar.

"You forgot Kindra," Alden noted, in the relative quiet after the round of scattered applause as the star of the tiny stage took her last bow and exited left. "She has to be a little bit crazy to be staying with us, right?" He tested the waters, wondering what Jonas' view was on this front.

"Oh yeah," he said, with a smile. "I never really figured her for being too crazy. I mean, I can see what you're saying...a little on the crazy side to be with the likes of us." He chuckled as a memory came back. "She was the one to clean this mess up and take me to a fancy ball in a three-piece suit. So I guess that might make her a bit crazy." He took another swig and let out a relaxing sigh.

"Uh-huh," Alden said without really using actual words. Jealousy involuntarily grabbed him briefly, though clearly Kindra had danced with plenty of well-dressed men in her time. "She bought you a suit *and* took you fancy-pants dancing huh?" Eyebrows were raised. Both of them.

"Yeah, you remember when she brought that up when we were playing strip poker? Alison was still here, I think." He wasn't anywhere near drunk, but he was a bit slower to catch subtleties. "Ohhh, hey now, lemme clear something up. That was back when we first met, before the Echo. I was still a gun-for-hire. Saw a couple pieces of filth following a nicely dressed woman in a spaceport. Scared the piss out of 'em and ran 'em off. Took her to a safe place. And then she hired me as her bodyguard. Called in a favor and got us off-planet. Traveled with her for a while after that, being in her employment." He paused a second to catch his breath. "Got to know her a little. But that's it, brother. I swear."

"I remember," Alden admitted. He did, he'd been intrigued at the time too. He let those unnecessary emotions ease down a notch or two as Jonas explained that past story some and smiled wryly at his brother-in-trouble-and-blood. "You rescued Kindra," Alden noted. "She mentioned it several times as I recall. Looked at you real happy-like too," he chided, goodnaturedly. "I can see that she really likes you. Trusts you." He paused as if considering something very serious then adopted a mischievous expression.

"Bodyguarding though," Alden pushed with curious amusement, any jealousy buried for the moment. Hell, Kindra was her own woman and a Companion no less, she was free to have relations with whoever she wanted. Jonas said nothing happened, Alden believed it, but he couldn't resist pushing some for fun. "That can get real... up close and personal, right?"

Jonas caught his buddy's mischievous expression and took another swig as he listened. "Well, that favor I called in to get her off planet? My contact set us up on a cruise ship leaving port the next morning. We had to pretend to be Mr. and Mrs. Caldecott, a young couple on their first cruise. As such, we had to share a room on the ship. So, yeah, it was up close and personal at times. Especially outside the room when we had to keep up the ruse." He paused for a second to wet his throat with some more beer and give Alden a good-natured, mischievous look of his own. "But I'd be a liar if I said I didn't try to sneak a peek once in a while."

Alden was slowly drinking down that tall, cool pint glass as Jonas spoke, until he wasn't. He choked on a mouthful of beer and spat it down to the ground as those words landed hard in his ears. A young couple on their first cruise. Then, as he came back up for air, face red and expression struggling somewhere between amusement, horror and recovery from both, Alden paused to reboot his lungs.

With that fresh inhale of real air rather than beer, the elder of the two drinkers rebalanced his ego and grinned at his oldest friend.

"Yeah, that must have been awful for ya," he noted. "Sleeping on the sofa? Kissing in the corridors? Looking at all that lavish lingerie in situ?" Each mock question was a little harder to ask, but Alden pushed on through because this realisation was something he needed to face head-on, and Jonas was a trusted, safe pair of ears for all the questions - dumb or otherwise. "Y'know, brother. I think I might really love her," Alden admitted, a little awkward in his manner and tone. "But I ain't sure if I can...." he ended that sentence early and switched tactics. "You ever known anyone have a real honest-to-goodness relationship with a Companion?"

Jonas had grinned and shook his head at Alden's questions. The two went back a long way and had been through a lot together. It felt good to be able to be honest with someone and lighthearted all at the same time. He took another drink and swirled it around his mouth before swallowing hard at Alden's next comment.

"That's a big word to go around using, brother," he said. "Ya might wanna make sure everything is settled before tossin' it out. But no, never heard tell of anyone having a real relationship with a Companion. Seems to me like both sides would have to be a whole lot more than comfortable with it."

It was a big word, especially as Jonas knew, from Alden's point of view. He'd been there before and in the aftermath of that fateful marriage. "Yup," he said, humbly. "You're right. It's fast, huh?" Too fast? Nothing was settled, that was for sure. "Yeah..." Alden continued, word exhaled on a long breath that summed up the amount of thinking he was trying not to do right now. "That's what I figured."

He looked Jonas in the eyes and spoke quietly, serious all hell, but kinda confused along with it. "Kindra kinda took it the wrong way, got all upset. I didn't really understand why, but I figured it's my fault. Seems to me," Alden genunely didn't entirely understand the young woman's reactions, but he was trying to, and he was okay with taking the blame if it stopped her being all upset. "Like Companioning generally works for single folks, and maybe ain't a simple shift into..." He looked awkward. "Y'know, marrying and all." Then those dark blue eyes looked for help from Jonas as if the younger man could suddenly solve this complicated situation.

"I don't know what to say, brother. Love...and apparently marriage...have never really been a part of my life," said Jonas. "Met a few girls over the years I've lusted after, but never loved. You know me, Mr. One Night Stand. Or two or three...depends. Anyway, I wouldn't know what to tell ya when it comes to figuring out ladies' feelings. Let alone the complex feelings of a Companion. But, marrying? Does she know you feel that way?"

It took Alden a moment to reply as he steadily focused all his attention on finishing his pint as quickly as possible, then waving for another round. He'd needed that. When he looked back to Jonas, his smile was sheepish and his manner slightly more relaxed. "Hey," he said. "You know me better than that. I'm in no rush to get married again. I'm just... I'm trying to entertain the possibility of how that might play out. Kinda torturing myself, on account of Kindra seems to think you can have both, and I ain't so sure. Freedom's more important, you're right, see?" Alden considered the short-term happiness of Jonas' own approach and yet couldn't reconcile this for himself. "Your way is way easier," he admitted. "But thanks," the grin flashed again as he watched more beer travel from the bar to their table via a friendly server. "You're definitely making me feel better. She's complicated for sure." In a good way.

Time for a subject change maybe.

"You gonna be able to make it through the evening without trying to kill me?" Alden joked, signalling he was done with serious chat and seeking jovial conversation and a few more drinks. Old school chillaxing, but not too much, not with Drake about.

Jonas' way may have been easier, but it meant that the big guy would never really settle down. And that was just fine with him. If he ever got a chance at something regular with a Companion, he'd probably take it. So long as she gave him the same deal. But he was currently feeling a little buzz and wasn't sure if that was the booze doing the thinking for him.

Picking up on the cue, Jonas laughed. "You've never forgotten that day have you? The day Wilson hired me to track a Firefly class and kill its captain. Well, I suppose if I work hard at it, I might be able to make it through. So long as you can make it through without getting us into another firefight." He picked up the new mug of drink and poured some down his gullet.

Pint two safely cradled for a second before its crisp cold was tasted, Alden's eyes briefly closed in savouring the moment. Then he wiped his free hand across his mouth and looked to Jonas with a trademark dumb grin on show. "My best buddy - no blood brother! - aims at me through a sniper scope on a planet with more dead buried than most?" The grin only widened. "Hell, dude, I wake up sweating in the middle of the night recalling that particular moment," Alden teased. "And y'know I can get a bit mouthy after a couple of drinks," he added with a feigned shrug thrown in for a little extra theatre. "Spare my life for one more night?" He mock-pleaded. "I'll pay y'all well, promise."

There was a deliberate beer-filled pause as the dark amber liquid lowered another inch or two and Alden looked back to Jonas. "I ain't planning to get us into a fight tonight," he promised. "Not with fire, bullets or fists. Promise."

Jonas let his mug hit the table a little harder than normal and splatter some beer droplets out. He then let out an uproarious laugh and looked at Alden, shaking his head. "Cold sweat, huh? Y'know, my brother, we can both get a bit mouthy after a couple of drinks. 'Member that one time...." Jonas' memory was slightly foggy at this point. "...I think we youngin's had just finished a supply run to Silverhold that actually and truly were supplies...and then the damn ship had a coolant actuator leak? I think? Anyway, we decided to throw back a few pints that night. And then a good hour or two into it, I insulted the barkeep." For better or worse, Jonas was rambling again.

Tah ma duh, but it felt good to just chillax some. Just be idjits, be comfortable in his own skin and let the guards and graces down some. The stupid grin on Alden's face only broadened as Jonas jibed back and then wanted to take a wander down memory lane. Alden was wary of staying more sober than he wanted, but he still launched down that road after Jonas without a second of hesitation.

"I recall you told him he looked like a badger and he couldn't pull a pint if his life depended on it. Foam everywhere, we kept trying to claim free top-ups for short beer change. Didn't he give you a black eye?" Alden suggested, knowing full well how this had gone, but wanting to enjoy the re-telling from Jonas' point of view.

Jonas put the mug down as he didn't want to lose too much of his senses tonight. "Yep. Sure did. Still say he looked like a badger...foam-fillin' filcher. But I got 'im in the end; knocked out some teeth, left some bruises. Oh, and that beer belly sure made it a lot easier to cut his suspenders and drop his drawers. He had such a hard time gettin' up offa the floor...looked like a badger rollin' in the dirt. Funny as hell. As I remember, that didn't help matters, either."

An open laugh, bright and easy, and Alden shook his head. "That's right! Chubby fella standing there in his undercrackers yelling at ya with a missing tooth. You were laughing at him when his momma came in behind us from the back room and tonked me across the back with a chair. Didn't I kiss her on the face?" He asked both himself and Jonas, face wrinkling as Alden sought that shady memory. "I was so drunk I didn't even feel the bruises til the next morning when we woke up in that hay barn..."

"Uhhh, I can't remember exactly. Don't remember too much after that, tuh be honest and truthful." Jonas set the mug down on the table and put a napkin over the top. He didn't want to go beyond what he was feeling right now. But he still loved the ruminatin'. "I still don't remember how we ended up in that barn."

Alden took slow sips from his own beer and promised himself he'd be sober and fine on just the two. They could grab some food, soak up a little of the town, then head back to see what was going down. "You don't remember Maisie?" Alden asked, incredulous grin on his face. "That five foot nothing psycho bounced you back into - well kinda through - the barn wall. I wasn't far behind ya," he added with a chuckle.

"And that'd be why I don't remember Maisie," he said with a laugh. "Damned barn wall."

"I've had worse cuddles," Alden chimed back in. "Don't really 'member much after that though." He nodded to Jonas' mug. "We going easy tonight?"

"I am," he said as tapped the side of the mug with his finger. "'As much as I'd love to lose some memories again, I think I'll wait 'til we're done with this run and out of your brother's back yard. But I ain't stoppin' you. Just know that ifn I gotta carry you back to the ship, I'll make up some kind of real good story to fit." He grinned a real big goofy grin.

That made Alden laugh, the unbidden sound of genuine amusement colouring the air between the two of them for a moment. He clunked his beer against Jonas' grounded pint and nodded. "Nah, you're right. Too much going on for us to let our guards down." There followed a lingering frown in which Alden added. "And Drake... well he's definitely gotta Drake. I tell you Kindra found a set of his keys on Echo? Idjit's up to something. Just not sure what."

But Alden's brief interlude into family fun didn't lower the tone for long. "So if I heard ya right, brother, I drink all this down, mebbe another... and you're gonna carry me back and tell me a story?" He joked, impish grin backlighting his gaze. "How bout I at least buy you dinner, first?

"Well, I like my steak on the pink side of medium." Jonas chuckled. "But naw, I didn't know know about his set o' keys. Ya kept 'em though, right? Insurance? Or if'n we gotta snoop or somethin'?"

Using his cortex, Alden put in an order for a couple of steaks with all the trimmings while Jonas spoke. As he completed the transaction he stretched long legs out beside their table and regarded Jonas over the top of his pint glass. "Yeah, I kept 'em," Alden confirmed. "Now I'm just waiting to see when he asks about them. Either that or he'll be snooping about the ship. I set up a back door access on the old code Drake used to have," he tapped the small screen beside him, "but it'll trip the alarms if he uses it. Guess we see which is easier for him - bit of B&E or fessing up. Should tell us something." Alden sighed, feeling the weight of the world wander back in for a visit. Needed more hoppy goodness, he reminded himself, picking up the pint glass again.

As he finished his beer, the steaks arrived, the sweet aroma of chargrilled meat ending any thoughts of fireflys, brothers and trouble. Alden's genuine grin sparked a brightness in those dark blue eyes as he passed the cutley wrapped in napkins to his brother from another mother and nodded.

"Enough about work," he said. "Let's eat."

Jonas accepted the napkin and nodded. That would be an interesting confrontation and one he wasn't sure if he'd like to be there or not. But probably yeah. "Agreed. Let's eat." Jonas cut into his steak and nearly drooled at the sight of it.


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