milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

The door opens, and River wanders in.

She looks to be in a reasonably good mood; at least, she's looking around the room, rather than staring at the floor or the air, even if her gaze doesn't quite settle quite normally. It's the tall boots today, rather than bare feet, under a loose floral skirt, and a couple of shirts in layers.

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And now he looks at River more closely.

"Have you ever used a weapon?"

She looks away.

"No touching guns."

Then, sulkily, "Only an object. They see it wrong."

Guns.

Roland is very interested in this. "How do you see it?"

A sidelong glance at him, through her hair. "Eyes."

She looks away again. "With my brain."

A very small smile, now. Quietly: "She who shoots with her gun has forgotten the face of her father. Is it not so?"

River flinches.

"I don't forget. Remember too much, and... she gets confused. I remember."

"What do you remember?"

Studying her.

"All of it. Before, and, and after, and... some of it's secrets, and... some of it's made up... Can't tell. No, no... She remembers."

Her voice is rising with agitation, and her hands come up to clutch at her head.

Quietly: "No call to be upset, River. No need."

She takes a deep breath, and some of the agitation gradually falls away. Her hands are still in her hair, but clutching less now, and she looks at him sidelong under her fingers.

After a moment, she takes another deep breath and exhales it, and her hands slide down. She stares at the ceiling, face tight.

And after another moment: "You've fired a gun. How did it feel?"

She looks at the ceiling still. Now there's the faint shadow of a smile.

"No power in the 'verse can stop me."

She looks away again. "Scared Kaylee."

Roland doesn't know who Kaylee is. Doesn't care.

He's curious.

"Would you do it again, if you could?"

"No touching guns."

Her head is still turned away from him, gaze turned somewhere across the bar.

"Says who?"

"Mal. Captain. Recipe for unpleasantness."

"Not if you know how to use one, and when to use one."

"Just an object. Doesn't comprehend."

"The gun," says Roland, "ought to be an extension of your body. Use it as you would use your arm. It is a tool, as is your hand. You learn when to use your hand, and how. Is it not so?"

"Means what you want it to mean. Doesn't mean anything."

After a moment, she looks back at him, and nods. "With your brain."

He studies her.

"Your captain is not here." A pause. A long pause.

"If we were to go outside, would you shoot for me?"

She looks at the fire.

"Mal said."

It's not quite clear whether it's a yes or a no. Maybe she's not sure either.

Direct: "Would you harm me, River?"

There's a long pause.

Then she shakes her head, still looking at the fire.

"Then there's no danger in it. You'd not be shooting at living creatures. Will you do it?"

Roland is thinking: born gunslinger.

Stranger things have happened in Milliways.

Much stranger.