Fleet? So, she was military then. Well, there were a lot who were after the Alliance war. Course, that meant she'd probably served on one side or t'other, and she didn't look like no Browncoat ... although she'd laid in to them Alliance thugs fair sweetly, back in the last place.
So, did he trust her? Hells, did it make any difference these days anyway. "Sounds like you've not had much luck. What was your Fleet? You don't look like no Alliance spacer, and you don't sound like no-one I ever heard." He tried to cover the appraising look he was giving her by starting in on the beer, which was better than you'd expect in this place.
"Colonial Fleet; or at least what's left of it. One battlestar, one gunship and sixty or so civilian vessels containing the last of our civilization" She downed some more beer, licking her lip as she set the jug down.
"Civilization? There a lot more than that of your folk originally?" She looked ... grubby. Wholesome, too... a lot like Zoe. Same tough look, same feral charm. He'd probably find her attractive, if he wasn't half dead. Now, she was more ... companionable. He reached out and topped up both glasses, and looked down at himself for the first time in a week, in clothes that'd stand up on their own for sure.
"Twelve colonies, 60 billion people, reduced to 45,000 on a handful of ships in a matter of hours
"Wuh de tyen ah! What happened? Star go nova?" The barman was giving the pair of them funny looks. Mal was used to that, but lookin' as he did... damn.
She shook her head. "Nope, nothing so nice... cylons mounted a surprise attack, took down our entire defense network with a virus. Last I saw the fleet they were locked in combat with two basestars and a pile of raiders. Frakkin jump drive misfired and I wound up here. Betting they thought the bird was lost in combat.... so there won't be anyone looking for me
"Cylons? I hope they never come anywhere near here. Sound as nasty as the Alliance... what was it, border war? Settlement conflict?" Another war victim, then. More broken people.
"They're machines... we built them, before I was even born... they were supposed to make life easier, do the dirty work no one else wanted to do... they got smart, started thinking for themselves, they rebelled and fought for independence... eventually it was granted and they took off. Didn't hear a word for 40 years... then one day they showed up and blew us out of the water. Smarter, faster... frak some of them even look like us..."
Independence. Same damn word again. He felt himself closing down and tried to cover by shifting back in his seat, sitting up straighter and drinking hard. "So these things could be round here, waitin' to do the same to us?"
"Doubt it, from what's left of my jump computer... we're not anywhere near the Cyrannus system. Nothing even registers in my star charts
"So at least we've got a state of grace for a while then. Hells, maybe them and the Alliance can get together, wipe themselves both out and leave honest folk free." The damn barman was watching them again. "Name's Reynolds. Malcolm Reynolds."
"Kara Thrace..." She picked up the jug of beer "And I'll drink to that... cant say I've heard anything about the Alliance since I've been here that I like
Drains his three-quarters full mug down quickly, and puts it on the table. "In case you'd not noticed, the barman here... that squirrelly looking feller by the bar ... he's been watchin' us since we came in. Look familiar?"
"Never seen him... you?"
"Not him exactly, but I know the type. He's a spotter, hunts out likely lookin' folk for the local gangs to pick up. This bein' such a nice place, it ain't like we can just shoot him and throw him out the back, though."
"So what do we do?" She asked, eyes, tracking the bartender.
"Well, we fight our way out, or hole up. You see the blue border on the sign outside?" He sloshed half the remaining beer into his glass, taking pains to look comfortably drunk.
She thought for a moment. "Yeah... didn't think much of it though... seen a lot of signs like that back on the colonies"
"Means this place is, amongst other things, a bathhouse. Uptown, you get just that... a bath. Down here, its baths, booze... obligin' company... all the comforts of home." He poured the last of the beer into her glass.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I'm thinking we grab a large room with a couple of big baths, and hole up. They'll bring up food and booze, I can get some sleep and you can shoot anyone as tries to bust in."
"Gods that sounds good right about now... Deal"
He nodded, and rose up from his seat, staggering a little. "Don't look to dangerous ... they might think you're a spotter or runner yourself." He ran a hand through his hair roughly, and started to amble towards the bar.
She nodded, her smile softening as she followed him to the bar.
"Barkeep!" He called out a little too loudly, looking all bright and cheerful. "Me and the missus fancy usin' one of your fine bath rooms... with separate baths, mind. We're decent folk."
She gave the barkeep a charming smile as they waited, all the while paying close attention to him and the others in the bar
The barman looked a little surprised at them, but started scratching around behind his desk. He started to fumble with a key when Mal hauled a stack of notes out of his purloined wallet, letting him get a good look as he dropped a few down on the bar. "A decent room, mind... nothin' sleazy or cold for my darlin' wife. And we'll need some laundry done... damn horse sports get you so all-fired muddy."
Kara had to stifle a chuckle at the sudden change in the bartender's attitude when his eyes lit on the money. Within seconds they had a key and a room number and were on their way.
The room was better than Mal expected ... looks like the barman was that kind of corrupt honest that meant he stayed bought. Centre of the room was, of course, two large bathtubs... but handily, with a screen to divide them. "Could be a lot worse... more comfy than a slit trench."
"Looks damn inviting..."
He moved the screen carefully in between the two baths, and slowly levered his boots off, waiting for the knock at the door that'd be the barman or his staff come to take their clothes away. "Make sure you tip big ... else they'll steal your clothes and anythin' in them."
"Not much in them to be honest..." She slipped behind the screen, peeling off the flight suit.
He carefully avoided looking - or listening - too closely, instead concentrating on peeling off his clothes, grimy with days of dirt. Finally, he managed to lower himself into his bath, trying to sound at least a little like he wasn't doing something unhealthy.
Kara peeled of the rest of her clothing, climbing into the warm, soapy water, not caring what sound she made as she did so. "Gods this feels good...."
He sank back against the back of the extended wooden tub, feet running out under the water, and sighed gustily. "Feels pretty damn good over here, too."
"Gods, its been months since I had a good soak... only showers on a battlestar..."
He grunted, starting to work himself over slowly with the soap. "Better than a helmet full of hot water in the field, I'll say that."
"So say we all..." She leaned back, just letting herself soak for a while before very carefully starting to clean various scrapes and bruises.
He soaped as much of himself up as he could reach easily; naturally, the hired help waited until he was covered in foam before arriving to take their clothes away for cleaning.
Kara kept carefully submerged beneath the soapy water, hiding the mottle of bruises as they collected hers. "This is quite the place...
He nodded at the short serving staff as they started to scatter food and liquor around, and then pretended to be ignorant when he tried to stop them moving the screen. "Gorram it!" He sank back beneath the water until it was up to his chin.
Kara chuckled, staying beneath the water herself. it was all she could do to keep from busting out into a full out laugh.
"Tu de ma. Sorry about this... they're pretendin' they don't speak honest English." He glanced sideways. "Although they did leave food."
"Don't worry bout it... spend the last 3 years living in a sardine can and sharin a bunkroom with 9 others..."
"Yeah, well I didn't." Sits up a little, to where he can hike a tray of food over to himself, reaching down the side of the tub to snag most of a chicken. "I'm hungry enough to eat your share, though."
She laughed. "Careful, I may have to wrestle you for it..."
He chuckled, snatched up a boiled egg still in the shell and tossed it over. "That should be plenty, I think..." He started chewing his way through the chicken, relaxing enough to sprawl back again.
She reached over and took hold of one leg of the chicken, giving it a yank, nearly losing her balance before sinking back into the water, prize in hand.
"Now that ain't fightin' fair..." He hunched protectively over the chicken, pretending to hide it behind his hands. "You'd steal a bird from a starvin' man? For shame."
"Only to feed a starvin woman" She countered back, taking a bite.
"Well..." He pretended to consider it. "In that case, I'll be stealin' half your mo shu pork straight back when I've done tryin' to eat this bird whole."
She winked at him. "Not if I get to it first..."
"Darlin', I'm a highly trained and independent soldier. That makes me a better thief than you'll ever meet..."
She laughed heartily. "How bout we call a truce, I'll even agree to split that fluffy looking desert
"Well, alright... provided it extends to the booze as well. I've got this rule about staying sober ... I don't." He dropped the remains of the chicken back onto a handy plate, and pushed his head under water to start lathering the rats nest that was his hair.
"Copy that..." she finished off the chicken leg and dropped it back to the plate, working on her own hair.
It took him three attempts to grind the dirt of two worlds out of his hair, his head feeling pounds lighter when he finally lifted it out of the water. "I think I brought half the gorram valley back here with me."
She smiled over at him. "You clean up pretty good..."
He snorted, head lying back against the side of the tub. "Wait til you really get to know me, then you'll see just how annoying I am ... assumin' I don't just get you killed first."
"Or I get you tossed in hack, have a knack for that myself‚"
"Hack? Doesn't sound like fun." The water was cooling a little, but still damned comfortable. He reached out blindly, searching around for a bottle.
Kara reached for a bottle at the same time, their hands brushing.
He gripped the bottle before he realized it was her hand up against it, at which point he let it go sharply, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I ... oh, damn and blast..." The freed bottle fell over sideways, straight onto the dessert.
She grabbed for the bottle, managing to get it before the entire contents spilled. "Frak me..."
He looked down at the somewhat soggy remains of the pudding. "Well... at least most of it ended up in that bowl. I'm not sure I'd normally mix it with custard, though..."
"Better mixed than gone...." She grinned
He grinned easily. "Well, just makes it harder to share evenly. Been a long time since I had to drink my booze with a spoon..."
"I've honestly never tried..."
"You've obviously not had to boil shoe polish to get alcohol out of it." He picked up the dessert bowl, turning it around and trying to work out if there was anyway to pour out of it.
"Careful you're gonna wind up wearin it"
"but it's so pretty." He shrugged. Maybe he wasn't so thirsty after all. Carefully, he set the bowl back down. "At least I didn't knock the beer over as well."
She chuckled, slowly getting up out of the water, a soft film of bubbles sliding over her skin as she did. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself, snagging a piece of fruit from the basket.
He caught a glimpse of Kara rising up out of the tub, and quickly turned to look at something ... anything ... else. "It'll be a while before they bring our clothes back up dry ... there should be a pull down bed somewhere, if you want to get some sack time in. I can watch the door."
"Sounds like a damned good plan... give me 30 then it's your turn..." She looked around, finally finding the bed and tugging it down, sprawling across it. Thoroughly relaxed from her bath.
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