milliways_bar | (no subject)

A young man with tousled hair and a mostly-buttoned collared shirt appears sitting on the arm of the chair opposite her. He tilts his head to one side.

"You look to be in fair spirits."

Kaylee startles a little -- and smiles. "Suppose I am. What about you?"

Puck smiles back, showing relatively few fangs, really.

"Always-- so it isn't really news."

That's good. Fangs are scary!

"Ain't really news for me, either, I guess. But it's shiny, though." Still smiling. "I'm Kaylee."

His head tilts in the opposite direction, smile faltering momentarily in confusion.

"Shiny?"

Did we mention that the Fair Folk like shinies?

"Yeah -- means it's good. Sorry. Guess you ain't from our 'verse -- it's a word we use."

He grins.

"No, I've never heard that word used in quite that way-- enchanted to meet you, Kaylee. I'm Puck."

A curious pause.

"Exactly what sort of 'verse is it you come from?" He gets the shortening of "universe" to "'verse": After all, he comes from a world in which scansion is important.

"One of the ones that had Earth in it, only we're a long ways out time-wise from most everybody else -- year 2519. And Earth-that-Was got used up, so...we terraformed a bunch of planets, and now folks are scattered all around."

He listens to this with great interest.

"Quite a ways out ..." he agrees. "We had only gotten somewhere into the seventeen-hundreds on my own world, last I checked."

Kaylee nods. "Yeah, so -- words're a little different. And that's what shiny means."

"Shiny ..." he says thoughtfully. "I do like the sound of it."

He smiles again. "Do you come here very often, Kaylee?"

"Pretty much every night." Cheerful. "It's a good place to come toward the end of the day, you know?"

She is either oblivious or willfully oblivious.

Sadly, Puck is used to this. Havelock has him trained well.

... Mention the leash and there will be death.

"Not trapped here, then?"

"Nope. Get to come and go as I please. And so...I please kinda often, you know?"

Her smile is bright.

He shrugs in a faelike sort of way: sharp shoulders and smooth motion. A bright smile in answer to her own is on his face.

"I must say that you're the first I've known to do so-- not that it isn't lovely here. The Lady Bar is a charming hostess."

"She is." Beaming, now. "And I guess -- ain't such a bad place to be stuck, you know? Lots of places worse."

"I could think of a few," he says ruefully, before flashing Kaylee a winning smile.

That tiny strangled noise you hear?

Is the sound of a Simon who has just seen Puck --

-- also known as Robin, also known as the hundan who turned Simon into a penguin --

chatting up Kaylee.

"Yeah? Like where?"

Kaylee is having an innocent conversation with a friendly young man.

Utterly unknowing.

Puck might just spot Simon out of the corner of an eye. And may make some rapid deductions regarding him, funny noises, and a certain charming young lady in the immediate vicinity.

To Kaylee, he says with another shrug, "Oh, here and there. All places have their charms, of course, but upon occasion those charms aren't quite enough to counteract ... other factors."

Options: (1) Run find someone from Security. (2) Run find the captain. (3) Try to distract Kaylee. (4) Try to distract Robin. (5) Stalk over and confront Robin.

Disadvantages: (1) and (2) both mean taking your eyes off the current situation, which could be disastrous if Robin is feeling ... whimsical. (3), (4) and (5) could all wind up making you look like a jealous twit (if you don't get the chance to explain to Kaylee), or getting you turned into something even less fun than a penguin (if Robin doesn't want to give you the chance to explain to Kaylee), or getting Kaylee turned into something, or quite possibly all three.

Current tactic: stay where you are and watch them like a h -- watch them like a person who wants very much to keep an eye on what happens next.

"What kind of factors? I mean, I know this place ain't exactly the safest all the time..."

Did Puck just wink at Simon?

Why, I do believe he did.

"Oh, not here," he says, shaking his head. "My world, I meant. I'm sure you know how it is. One isn't welcome everywhere."

Scrap current tactic -- Robin already knows you're here.

Simon takes a deep breath, and starts making his way over to Kaylee's table.

Kaylee looks up...and smiles.

Like nothing's the matter.

Because it's not. Right?

"Wei." She turns to Puck. "Puck, this is Simon. And Simon...this is Puck."

Puck smiles sweetly.

"Delighted, Simon." A pause. "My, you're looking less-than-shiny."

A bit thinly: "We've met."

And then a pause, and just the slightest misgiving.

"...Unless you have a twin brother named Robin."

Kaylee is now sitting up straight...and holding very, very still.

Her eyes go from Simon to Puck.

She's...scared.

Puck blinks.

And deadpans: "Has he been coming around here?"

Simon's voice is thinner, and transparently skeptical. "Oh yes. Two nights ago."

She watches this, and doesn't say anything. Doesn't move.

(Ain't nothing but a body to me. And I can find all unseemly manner of use for it.)

Puck spares Kaylee an unreadable glance, then turns back to Simon with a smile.

"I see you've molted."

"Yes. And if you'd like to make the joke about herring heads next, by all means feel free."

Simon has not missed Kaylee's tension, but he doesn't dare glance at her again.

(Maybe I come down the chimney, Kaylee. Bring presents to the good girls and boys.)

She draws back. Can't not.

(The path before you has been prepared.)

He shrugs.

"I could-- but that would, as they say, be far too easy. Besides, I was only trying to help." A tilt of the head. "Did it work?"

"That would depend," says Simon coldly, "on what you were trying to accomplish."

Her eyes are wide.

(You throw a monkey wrench into my dealings in any way, your body is forfeit.)

He leans towards Simon, a little, and says, "Was she pleased to see you?"

"Not until she figured out it was me--"

His eyes flicker involuntarily to Kaylee.

(run)

(Turn around and put your hands behind your back.)

She's not moving.

If she relaxes even a little, she'll start to tremble, and she can't do that.

(Deeper. Go...deeper.)

Puck frowns.

"Well, that's a pity. Must be losing my touch."

He turns to Kaylee and-- stops, for a moment (aught amiss?)-- before smiling again.

"He did make a lovely little penguin, sweet."

(That's her beating heart, isn't it? Pull off any one of a thousand parts she'll just die. Such a slender thread.)

"Like him just how he is."

Her voice is choked.

His smile gentles, sweetens. There's a hint of sharp teeth.

"Well, then. That's something."

Simon edges around to Kaylee's side, and reaches for her hand to pull her to her feet.

His own hand, like his voice, is cold but perfectly steady.

"If you'll excuse us, please."

And slowly, not running, drawing Kaylee with him, he heads for the front door.

Puck frowns at the pair as they go.

Twitchy and twitchier ... well, they're well-matched, sure enough.

Should've turned them both into penguins.

The door shuts behind them.

For a moment, Kaylee can be seen turning back to make sure it's closing...and that Puck isn't following.