[04] Fourth Job

[captain_tightpants]

{A: Action - Open to all}
-location: 848 Goldberg Street
-time: Late morning-ish

[If you happen to be walking down Goldberg Street, look out! Mal pelts a metal cross pendant necklace out the front door as hard as he can.]


{B: Phone - Filtered to Inara Serra}
-time: Midday

Hey, uh, I know we ain't talked in a while but I reckon it's time we did. Elephant in the room an' all that.

Comments

A

[eyesofaserpent]

[A fellow resident of Goldberg (at 852) sees Crowley on the street a lot. So when the demon with a single white feathery wing (and one wing stump) is walking down the street this time and is hit by a cross, you can bet he lets out a loud stream of blessings and a hiss of pain.]

Ow, ow, ow!

[captain_tightpants]

[Talk about aim, Mal certainly didn't mean to hit anybody with it. Although he'd not exactly in an apologizing mood and just before he's about to tell somebody off for getting in the way, he's instead surprised and confused by this person's reaction.]

I didn't throw it that hard.

[eyesofaserpent]

[He glares at the fallen jewelry and then at the stranger who threw it through dark sunglasses. There's a cross shaped red mark on the demon's cheek where it had hit.]

Watch where you throw sanctified objects, mate.

[captain_tightpants]

[Oh, that's... different. For a second Mal considers apologizing but his anger suddenly resurfaces and he dismisses the very idea.]

Just a piece'a metal. Don't mean nothin'.

[eyesofaserpent]

It's not just a bloody piece of metal! At some point someone sanctified it either unintentionally through belief or intentionally with a priest or something and made it into a weapon as well as a piece of jewelry.

Bloody hell that smarts.

[captain_tightpants]

[Blink blink. Mal looks this guy up and down.]

You some kinda hellspawn or somethin'?

A

[sumofallreds]

[Marvelous is trotting by as the piece of metal is ejected from the door of one of the houses. He'll react accordingly and catch the blasted thing before it can catch him in the face.]

Drop something?

[captain_tightpants]

[Mal scowls at the guy. Of course, he'd been scowling before he even threw the pendant so he isn't necessarily scowling at Marvelous.]

Nope. Keep it.

[sumofallreds]

Not my style.

[Though...he doesn't actually have his pendant to show off. So, he'll chuck it back.]

[captain_tightpants]

Small world. Ain't mine either.

[Mal lets it land on the porch without even so much as glancing at it.]

You ever get something from the town'at's so cruel, you think they're messin' with you on a personal level? You know, as opposed to their everyone-gets-tortured-equally way of doin' things.

[sumofallreds]

Nope. They're just content turning every one of my crew into drones.

[captain_tightpants]

[His expression or tone doesn't change but he attempts to express his sympathy anyway.]

Very sorry to hear that.

[Okay, maybe an apology is in order, too.]

And uh, sorry I chucked that at ya. Didn't mean to hit anybody. I was just-...

[Yeah.]

A)

[begintheoperation]

[There's a short yelp as the cross hits Fran in the head as she is walking past. She is not seriously injured but she still rubs the impact spot.'

As a recent return, Fran still looks like a normal 16 year old girl.]

[captain_tightpants]

[Kid or no, Mal is in a very bad mood and he's not feeling particularly sympathetic towards anyone at the moment.]

Best watch where yer goin'. I'm tryin' to throw stuff here.

[begintheoperation]

[Fran rubs her head as she's scolded.]

Ah~ Sorry~ Please be careful of where you're throwing next time though~

[She turns to continue on her way, leaving the cross where it is.]

Action A;;

[combatbutler]

[ Hayate will be walking by like any other day, but lets out a small 'ah!' as something hits him in the forehead. ]

Ow. Man what hit me?

[ He'll rub his forehead. Yep it's throw everything at Hayate day. ]

A-A cross?

Is this yours perchance, mister?

[captain_tightpants]

[Have a scowl, son.]

No it ain't. Just the town's idea of a cruel joke.

[Apology? What's that?]

Watch where you're goin' next time.

[Yup, that's all you get.]

[combatbutler]

[ welp. he'll let out a nervous chuckle. ]

Oh is that so. Why not throw it in a trash can or something?

I'll try to do so, sir.

[captain_tightpants]

[Short pause.]

'Cause throwin' things out my front door just feels real good right now.

whoops sorry for the late reply

[combatbutler]

Then... do you mind if I take it out of your hands if it's that much of a bother to you?

b: Phone

[companioning]

Do you now? [She knows they really do, though between avoiding him and praying he didn't remember certain things, she had hoped it would never come up.

She sighs.]

And what elephant might that be? [Just to be sure they're on the same page.]

Re: b: Phone

[captain_tightpants]

[Mal sucks in a breath-... and holds it. He was just about to lose his temper a little bit and snap at her. However, Mal gave himself a mantra before he picked up the phone to call Inara, and that mantra was to not say anything inflammatory. So, he'll let out the breath slowly, chanting the mantra in his head, and coming up with the most calm and collected answer he can manage.]

Uhm, that would be the, uh,... incident, the town messin' with my memories. Makin' me remember things that never happened. And the subsequent... occurrences that resulted. That elephant.

b: Phone

[companioning]

[She swallows, her grip tightening around the phone. Of course it was that incident. He couldn't just outright call for what it was, it had to be referred to as incident, occurrences, elephant.

When she speaks again, her voice is rather soft.]

You weren't yourself, there's no need to dwell on them.

[Easy way out? Perhaps.]

[captain_tightpants]

We, uh, that's kinda what I wanted to to talk to you about. You know, 'bout not bein' myself.

[Deep breath, deep breath.]

I, uh,... think I mighta been more myself than I let on.

[companioning]

Shén me? [Inara about drops the phone. Surely he hadn't just... Her lips press together for a moment, was he paying games?

She exhales slowly, trying to regain her composure.]

Wǒ bù míngbái... What exactly does that mean?