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[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey sits at the bar tonight, bouncing peanuts off the mirror and catching them in his mouth.

Simple pleasures.

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[gonna_live]

"You know where that thing's been?" inquires Kaylee, settling on the stool beside Monkey.

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey blinks at her, and looks at the mirror again. "Yes?" he hazards. Mirrors don't get up and walk around much. "Hello!"

[gonna_live]

"Ni hao," Kaylee says, grinning. "Been a while."

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"Ni hao!" Monkey thinks about that. "Yes! I think it has."

[gonna_live]

"You get up to anything interesting in the meanwhile?"

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yes," Monkey says, smiling faintly; the kind with the teeth on the inside. "My name has grown a little."

[gonna_live]

Kaylee looks remarkably pleased by this. "Good for you. I guess it's got even more impressive."

Kaylee's name has grown, too -- if you think about it Monkey-style, anyhow. No need to mention it.

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey would say that your name always keeps growing; you can change it, but you can't take it back.

"They call me the Buddha Victorious-In-Strife," he admits, bowing. Ish.

[gonna_live]

Inasmuch as Kaylee lays claim to any kind of religion -- it's faintly Christian in origin.

Doesn't mean she doesn't know at least something about Buddhism -- she's lived with Inara for a while, after all.

"Good for you," she says again, soft. "So -- you got to it?"

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"Yes," he says, and fingers the iron crown that he still wears. It moves, now, though, when he touches it. It's looser.

"We brought back the scriptures to China, and Buddhism will prosper there." There's no I think; he knows. Time is not something Buddhas worry about overmuch. "And for my rewards, and because the journey changed me, I was made a Buddha, and a bodhisattva."

[gonna_live]

"So now what're you gonna do, now you got all that done?" Kaylee swivels a little on the barstool, chin in hand.

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"Achieve the salvation of all souls," he says, solemnly. "And--answering prayers."

From inside his (monkey-smelling) robe he takes a plastic rocket and an extremely small pony. "Will you do a favor for me?"

[gonna_live]

"If I can, yeah -- what've you got in mind?"

Monkey is getting a very curious look indeed.

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

You'd think Mary would have learned by now that marching up to Monkey usually leads to unpleasant things. Like, for example, Cleveland.

And yet.

"Why did you kidnap us?" Mary demands, hands on her hips and a glare on her face.

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey blinks solemnly at her. "It was an adventure."

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

"It was not," Mary says, rather haughtily, "an adventure that we wished to go on. And it did not have any point, either."

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey blinks at her again, in case that will help. "You're very certain."

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

"We did not do anything! You only made us fall down places!"

It was very undignified and Mary did not appreciate it at all, a fact she emphasizes by stomping her foot and adding, bitterly, "I expect you only thought it was funny."

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"I did think it was funny," Monkey admits. "Is it very wrong to think things are funny?"

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

"It is wrong to do bad things like kidnapping to people only because you think it is funny! It is like - like calling people names, or holding your foot out to make them trip!"

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

Monkey also finds those things funny. Or did, anyway.

"Oh dear," he says mildly; it sounds very, very odd coming from him. "What do you think should be done with me?"

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Lake of fire, Mary must admit grudgingly to herself, is probably too harsh for these crimes. Just barely.

"I think you ought to be made to be not able to do those things anymore!"

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"If a man steals, should we cut off his hand so he can't?" Monkey asks. Not lecturing, but with a bright blank naivety.

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Mary is not very good at telling the difference between lecturing, sarcasm, and sincere inquiries.

"No," she retorts, with some triumph, "you put him in prison so he cannot do it and learns not to!"

[forced-pilgrim.livejournal.com]

"So being in prison teaches people not to sin?" Monkey says. He touches his iron crown, and hmms to himself. "Well, maybe. Then perhaps I should be put in prison."