Thread: Can't Take the Sky From Me (SevenxSorrow)

There was a peculiar amount of grace in the way Mal went through the window, one that seemed to defy the man's height and lanky limbs, his long coat slipping along behind him without ever twisting or catching the way it would have on anyone else. He looked right and left, the coast was clear, and when he looked right again, the skinny Alliance guard was suddenly there, watching him with hard eyes that betrayed his pretty, freckled little face. A tag on his uniform indicated high rank, and a gold pin named him as 'Corbea', Is there something wrong with the door? Corbea asked mildly. You were in front of it. Mal replied instantly. And now i'm here. Which means now there's somethin' wrong with the window. Corbea's mouth twitched a little, and then his hand was reaching for his belt, and before he could even do anything, Mal had suffered a knee-jerk reaction and socked the guy right in the jaw, knocking him right off his feet there was a hesitation, and Mal lingered there for an instant, mouth in a small 'o' of surprise at himself, Whoops. Mal said, stepping over Corbea, and Zoe just nodded and followed along. It didn't take long to get to the Serenity after that, though it involved a lot of dodging and weaving through the crowded city to get there. The little Firefly-class ship stood out amongst all of the latest smooth-looking crafts, the kinds that were made to look pretty Inara was waiting at the ramp, the picture of calm, while Jayne stood beside her with an ice pack on his face. Inara cast her dark eyes over Mal for a moment, and then rolled them, We're on the run, aren't we? Inara asked. Mebbe. Mal replied as he moved past her, climbing the stairs up to the pilot station, where Wash was sitting, re-enacting a miniature dinosaur war with his toys by the looks of it, no one was winning, Wash! Wash suddenly bashed his right hand across the control panel, sending all of the toys flying onto the floor, and he turned in his seat to try looking casual, as though he wasn't a grown man in a tropical shirt, playing with plastic velociraptors. His eyes shifted from Mal, to Zoe, to Hawk, and then without a word, he turned back to his station and pulled the ramp, and boosted the engines. Where's River? Mal asked, turning around and finding her suddenly behind him she had risen from behind the flight panel, where she had apparently been sitting on the ground, passively watching the dinosaur show, Nngh. Mal said, taking a wobbling step back, away from her huge doe eyes, which were currently fixed on him like headlights. There was an instant of silence, and then River slowly looked down at the fallen troupe of dinosaurs, picked up one of them, and then looked back at Mal. Putting her skinny arm out straight, she pushed the triceratops against Mal's nose, and quietly said Roar. Mal was motionless, except for one of his hands, which slowly moved towards his jacket and extracted the chair leg he had taken. River watched, her big eyes following the movements, and she lowered the dinosaur like it was a loaded weapon, and then took the chair leg when Mal offered it out to her. There was a long silence as River stared at the chair leg, and then she wordlessly lifted it, put in on top of her head, and walked away with it balancing there. Sir? Zoe asked, and Mal lifted his shoulders in a shrug, as though unsure himself. Oh-kay, Wash said, and flicked on the speaker system, talking into it like the host of a cheesy game show, Ladies and gentleman, this is your pilot speaking, arms and legs and any other dangly extremities inside the ship at all times please, this is our annual Unification Day emergency take-off, Kaylee, you know what to do.