(no subject)

[flybywash]

"Whoa."

That would be the sound of Wash discovering the present his Secret Santa left him. He's sitting by the tree with his bad leg stretched out and his good one tucked up underneath it, turning the intricate model of Serenity over between his hands with a look of pure glee.

Wait until he gets the ramp to work.

Comments

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

A few feet away, a small girl watches him with interest.

She has never seen even a model of a spaceship; she's currently wondering what, exactly, the oddly-shaped item is.

[flybywash]

Wash finds the catch for the ramp, and it comes tumbling open.

:D!

"Jīngcăi," he breathes, beaming as he peers inside. "They even got the -- you know, this would be kind of creepy if it wasn't the best ruttin' present ever. Wow."

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Lured closer by the shiny presence of toys, Mary takes several steps nearer to Wash, in order to peer at the spaceship more closely.

[flybywash]

And there are lights! It's so sparkly!

Somehow, despite the 'ooooh' factor, Wash spots Mary out of the corner of his eye. He grins a little and waves, holding up the model.

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Mary regards both him and the model seriously.

"It is pretty," she says, "but it is very odd-looking. What is it?"

[flybywash]

"It's my ship! Somebody made it for me. Look, look at this, you can even turn the thrusters -- " He demonstrates, enthralled. "Full one-eighty. This is good."

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Mary frowns.

"That is not a ship," she protests. "Ships are shaped like this -" She cups her hands into a boat.

"And they have masts, and sails."

[flybywash]

"Yeah, but see, this is a spaceship. Not one of those old water ones. It's much more fun." He holds up the ship and makes it bob along as if it's flying. "You've never seen one?"

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

Mary's eyes have gone rather round.

"I have never seen anything like it," she says, honestly, and leans over to take a better look.

"It is an airship? It really flies?"

[speaknoweevil.livejournal.com]

"Huh," says Weevil, leaning over. "That's either a really great copy of Picasso's interpretation of a grasshopper, or a really awful sculpture of a frog. Batteries included?"

[flybywash]

To which Wash dramatically whips out the included packs of batteries and waggles his eyebrows.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," he says, grinning. It fades a little as he turns the package around and looks it over. "These are the batteries, right?"

[speaknoweevil.livejournal.com]

He raises his hands. "Don't look at me, man, I try to stick to people-sized transportation. But if they're not, I have to wonder what Santa thought you'd be doin' wit' tubs of acid."

For the record, his bike is not named Vera.

[flybywash]

"Making them explode, maybe." Thoughtful, as he gives the batteries one more once-over before dropping them back in the box. "I bet he's close, personal friends with Ace and Bernard. He seems like the type."

And then it's back to the model and the :D! face.

"They even got the landing gear right. Wo de ma."

[speaknoweevil.livejournal.com]

Explosions, huh.

Weevil doesn't speak Chinese.

". . . Watermark?"

[flybywash]

"Water-what?"

It clicks.

"Oh! Right. Sorry. Fun with language barriers. More like 'mother of God.' Happy 'mother of God.' This-is-the-best-present-ever 'mother of God.'"

[speaknoweevil.livejournal.com]

He nods. "What language?"

Then, blinking, "Landin' gear? So what's this a model of?"

[flybywash]

"Chinese. And this," he flourishes the model, "is Serenity. My ship."

[undignified]

There's a Wes peering over at the model, and he lets out an appreciative whistle.

"That looks like a vaping good ship."

Well, he's seen worse-looking that fly damn well. Millennium Falcon, anyone?

"So is it, um, some sorta custom to give everyone toy ships for this Earth holiday?"

[flybywash]

"Only the best ship in the 'verse, not that I would ever be biased about something like that," he returns, still gleeful as he continues examining the model. "Whoever made this thing did a great job, look at that, they even got the lights right -- "

He holds up the ship and wiggles it around a little.

"Ain't just an Earth holiday, either. I'm not from Earth and I still get shiny presents. It's more of a 'hey, free stuff!' holiday."

[undignified]

Wes laughs and nods as he studies the ship. "Won't dispute that, it sure looks a little better than the Falcon. Take it you fly the real version, huh?"

A pilot, who also isn't from Earth! But also not from his galaxy, apparently.

"I like that kinda holiday. All sorts of fun." He grins. "Whereabouts are you from, then, if not Earth?"

[flybywash]

"Flown her for almost seven years. Second love of my life." Proudly. "I have no idea how they got all the details here.

"You mean right now? Right about...." He points to the bridge. "There. Born and raised on Tellus if we're talking dirtside, though," a dismissive gesture, "but that place's been a blackrock for years. Now I'm just floating out in the middle of nowhere."

[undignified]

"You don't know who made it, huh? Secret present?" Wes laughs a little. "And I bet you think there's no one knows the ship well as you, right?"

He nods thoughtfully, tilting his head at the ship. "Don't think Tellus is in my galaxy, guess you're from some other. Living on a ship like that though, well, all kinds of freedom. Better'n living on a Star Destroyer, even if it's smaller." A rueful smile, and he waves at the ship. "What's her name?"

[flybywash]

"It's a three-way race between me, my captain, and my mechanic," he says with a laugh. "I'm holding my own.

"Her name's Serenity. Firefly-class, pretty old -- 'bout sixteen years, maybe seventeen -- they don't even make them anymore." Their loss, the tone strongly implies. "What's a Star Destroyer look like? How's it handle?"

[undignified]

"I'll bet," Wes says with a grin. "Could've been one of them, then?"

He rubs at the back of his head. "Firefly-class, huh? Y'know, I think I've heard of 'em. Spoke to a captain of one 'round here -- he yours?" He shakes his head. "Star Destroyer, uh, 's a big triangle. Imp ship, but we use 'em too. Solid, I s'pose, but flying takes far too many people to be fun. Give me a one-man fighter any day."

[flybywash]

"Ugh." Wash wrinkles his nose. "No fighter boats. I got stuck in an atmo-skimmer during the war and the whole 'killing people' part ended up not being my idea of fun and crazy times. Is that what you're flying now?"

There's honest interest there, not condescension. Because, seriously: more pilots! Yay!

"If his name's Mal and he unjustly accused me of almost flying us into a moon, he's the one." He raises a finger. "And I only flew into that moon once."