Give me a B, Give me an E...
Posted on Sat Sep 16th, 2023 @ 5:58pm by Alden Loxley & Jacy Wright
Mission:
Oh, Give Me a Home on The Range
Location: Blue Cloud Ranch, Ezra
Timeline: 18 November 2517 (evening)
Out beyond the vast ranch house and sitting all alone in close (but not too close) proximity, Fortune's Echo sat at a jaunty angle, locked up tight in the still evening darkness. She was quiet, systems powered down and resting, just the filters running on eco-mode and some solar panels linked up to trickle charge in case of emergencies. Until they got the VTOL engines back up and running no one was about to steal her, but Alden was understandably cautious of leaving an open invite.
That was why he walked out to the ship with Ms Wright when the doctor asked if she could grab some more medical supplies from the infirmary. She'd been looking after Arca Loxley and keeping an eye on Kindra, so Alden didn't question the need, but he didn't like anyone walking outside alone when they were on his crew and under his watch.
He covered his hand to hide the pin number he entered at the cargo door, not through any mistrust of Jacy in particular, but pure force of habit, then he turned around to smile at the young woman as the hatch slowly opened.
"All yours," Alden said, his tone and expression warm and friendly. "Thanks for taking care of Kindra and my mum," he added, with obvious gratitude. "Means a lot to me." A pause, and he waved forwards to indicate Jacy enter the Firefly before him. "I'm just gonna check a few things on board too, so give me a shout when you're done okay?"
It felt...surreal, walking along with Alden. Walking along with a man she barely knew, and - and, was about to attempt to break into the quarters of. Obviously there was no one watching out for her on some higher level, in the grand scheme of things. Because if there was, she wouldn't be walking towards the ship with the man she was about to steal from. And-and, if there was, she wouldn't be in this position to begin with.
Yet, here she was.
She was nervous. Something she hoped no one, had noticed before the two of them had started off on this little jaunt, and, something she hoped Alden hadn't noticed either. Maybe he was preoccupied? Couldn't something go her way for once? Her gaze flickered away from the hand he held up as he put in the code, and she fought back the sting of not being trusted. If only he knew.
"Thanks." she returned, her gaze swinging away and towards the hatch. "Isn't it what you hired me for?" Though, truth be told, his mother wasn't crew, but...she was his mother and Riley wasn't the type of person to not do treat someone. Well... maybe. If Alistair Ford suddenly appeared with a splinter sticking out of his finger, she'd let the thing rot. She blinked, shaking the thought away, and moving forward. She was through the hatch eager get this overwith, before she responded, "Oh. Is everything alright?" It wasn't like she could just come right out and ask if he was going to be anywhere near his quarters.
The young medic was anxious and unsettled, that was painfully obvious to Alden, but he put this down to Jacy's newness in their crew, her shaky arrival in the midst of the madness at the station and the mixed emotional states of everyone since they'd left. He didn't dwell on reasons deeper than those overtly obvious (to his mind) ones, instead projecting his calm, friendly confidence that grew each moment he stood on his home ground, close to both family and friends. Alden missed Ali, still, their unpleasant 'break-up' haunting the middle-ground of his mind, but he knew her too well to expect anything different. Their paths had often wandered away from each other and back towards again. Some day they would reconvene, he knew. Or hoped. Or hoped he knew.
"Yes," Alden answered Jacy. "It certainly is what I hired you for. But you're doing your job well, and for that I am thankful. Wouldn't be right not to say so, now would it?" The pilot beamed a grin back up at her, giving Jacy a moment to get ahead of him up the ramp and into the ship.
"Well, we're missing some pretty important parts of an engine," came the wryly amused response to Jacy's question. "But don't worry we'll get her fixed up." He mooched up and into the Firefly, headed behind Jacy to then stop at the far end of the cargo bay. "Well, go on," he shooed her gently with amusement. "I'm sure you don't want to watch me count inventory or check the comms lines..."
Seemed then, that he had plenty to do for the moment.
The smile he flashed was contagious and before she knew it one was gracing her face as well. “I guess you’d be right then. You’re welcome. And thank you as well, for giving me the opportunity -the job.” Even if I’m about to steal something from you, she thought, the smile fading away as she made her way up the ramp and into the belly of the ship.
She didn’t get very far, debating on how she was supposed to handle this and needing to know where he was going to be. He was probably expecting her to be in the infirmary, so she’d need an excuse… and she’d need to do exactly what she’d told him her reasoning for coming to the Echo as well. What a tangled web she was getting herself into.
Laughing, she shook her head, “No, that just doesn’t sound appealing.” Maybe if he did it shirtless… She turned suddenly, angling herself away from him and any such thoughts, he was with Kindra and well, she was about to prove herself untrustworthy. “I’ll just be going, then.” She gestured and started walking away. First things first…she needed to visit his quarters.
It was good to see her smile - laugh even! - after her sudden and unexpected entry point to their little band of souls. Alden trusted Ali's word, just as he did Kindra's, and so Jacy was welcome in his circle, but he didn't know her yet either. Benefit of the optimistic doubt had gotten him intro trouble more times than he could count, but also, there was no way he could simply switch that part of him off. Jacy, like most folks Alden encountered, was trusted until she gave him reason not to. And he liked her more with each encounter, so saw no reason for that trust to fail either of them any time soon.
"Happy to have you with us, and no problem, catch up with you in 'bout half an hour," Alden said, and he headed directly up to the bridge without looking back or worrying himself about his new medic.
Calm down, Riley, She chastised herself, making her way towards her destination, towards Alden’s quarters. If she was caught…She didn’t want to even consider what would happen. As much as she didn’t want to do this, her safety depended on this. With a gentle rub of one hand along the other one, the one Arlo had bent, she sighed and pushed through, entering the captain’s bunk and wondering just where to start.
It hadn't been locked, which spoke volumes about the way Alden felt about his current crew. So, as Jacy dropped down the ladder from that main accessway and put boots on the metal floor, she stood in the captain's innermost private sanctum. His home, such as it was. An acoustic guitar lay on the bed, atop covers that were neatly folded and pulled over the pillow. A jacket hung on the lefthand metal door of the tall cupboard/locker/wardrobe and a couple of travel posters, worn and aged, adorned the plainer walls. A map of the Verse, printed and earmarked with multiple annotations mostly covered the long side of the cabin and a couple of threadbare rugs made the metallic floor panels look a little more homely.
Letting out a shaky breath, her blue gaze slowly meandered around the Captain’s quarters. Or was it a room? Cabin? She wasn’t too sure about the correct term for it, but it didn’t matter, not really. The only thing that mattered, currently, was finding what she was here to get and getting out of Alden’s personal space - before he happened to catch her at such a betrayal. But what choice did she have? None.
The guitar was a pleasant surprise, as was the fact that his bed was made. It certainly looked more like an actual room than hers did, but she’d learned not to get too at home in a place. Made all the more true by the fact that she was on the Fortune’s Echo. Being on a ship had never been her idea of a good time. No, she rather liked her boots firmly planted on solid ground. But yet again, here she was making a choice she didn’t want to make just to keep herself safe.
Now. Where to start?
With a quick glance up the stairs she moved over to the wardrobe and pulled it open, rummaging around in search of the box Arlo had told her to get.
Jacy was greeted by a very small selection of clothes - a few shirts on hangers, two pairs of trousers, a side section of smaller shelves/compartments that held underwear, socks, a wool sweater and a couple of t-shirts along with a spare pair of boots. Everything was neat, smelled clean and was folded and in its place. She could see everything clearly, and moving it about some to be sure revealed no hidden panels or items beyond the obvious.
This was going to take too long. Hands on her hips she straightened and pursed her lips, staring at the contents. This was definitely going to take too long and she couldn’t be caught here if Alden came looking. Not if she wanted to keep herself safe…and not get caught. Think, Riley, think... What had Arlo said about the box?
She spun around, blue eyes sharp and curious as they landed on the bed and then dropped to scan the floor around it. How could she have forgotten such a detail? With a quick glance towards the door, she crossed over and knelt down. Hidden under a floor panel. That was what he’d told her, and once she recalled that, finding it was easy. She tossed a hasty glance over her shoulder, towards the hatch before hurrying to pry the panel open. And there, right where Arlo had said it would be was the small box with the bright stickers.
With the box securely tucked away, She gave the room one last glance before climbing up the ladder and heading off back to the infirmary. Her heart raced, pounding in her chest with each step that she took which didn’t stop once she reached safety. Was she safe? Riley gripped one of the counters, her head hanging low, and tried to control her breathing, to calm herself. It took a few minutes but she got herself under control.
Her job was done, both the fictional one and the one she’d come to do. The only thing left to do was to find Alden and see if he was ready to head back to the ranch.
I'm gonna need another mile, 'nother song on the radio
Driving too fast, let the wind help me let ya go
Find a back road remedy with no speed limit
And forget ya for a little while
I'm gonna need another mile
Alden was easy to locate, he was covered in the kind of filth a person only found underneath consoles and floor panels and yet, he was still singing an old country song with enthusiasm. He'd found one problem, fixed two he didn't know existed and created a whole new bunch of questions about the inner workings of Firefly craft in general and this one in particular.
"Hey!" he called out as Jacy approached, lifting his head up and directing his face so as to look her in the eyes. "Mind your footing, I've been lifting some of these up chasing down the comm-links, if anything feels wobbly just give it a hard thump with your boot for me?" Alden grinned, wiped grime from his face with a dirty glove that only spread the problem further. "Y'all sorted, Doc?"
Riley heard him long before she found him, the sound of him singing had taken her by surprise. But she followed his voice, and the lyrics she knew very little about, and realized that it didn’t sound all that bad. No, it was actually pretty good, and brought a faint smile to her face.
“Not what I was expecting.” she stated, her gaze dropping down to watch where she stepped as if she might accidentally break something instead. Hard as it was she met his gaze, but couldn’t quite hold it, not after what she’d just done. So she glanced back down, “Yeah, believe so. Though, I can find something to do if you’re not ready to head back.”
"The mess?" Alden asked, figuring Jacy's shyness was the cause of her avoiding his eyes. "Yeah, I just kinda got carried away here," he answered himself, a small chuckle accompanying his words. "No worries, I'm almost done here too, take a seat," he waved at the two comfortable looking chairs for pilot and co-pilot. "I won't be long, we can just hang out for a few."
Alden checked the floor panels and leant over the starboard side console to recheck his connections. "Hoping this works a bit better," he noted with the intention of being inclusive. "So much to chase down with this ship though..." A soft sigh and a wry smile. "But anyways, now you know where I'm from, how 'bout you? Where's home?"
But that would have to wait, as an inbound call from the house summoned him back into family life. Alden rolled his eyes, grinned and made a friendly gesture towards the airlock.
"Duty beckons," he said. "Sorry! C'mon, we'll grab a drink and talk once it's done, k."
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