Merc Squared (Continued)

(( Continued from the log archive ))

Oriana leaned on her crate where she was sitting, resting her back against the wall. She watched Nar search the crates, twirling one of her curls absentmindedly in her fingers, as Kasai began putting on his armor. “Not a fist fight, per se,” she replied. “But I dunno much about it, if that’s what you’re askin’.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why d’you ask? If you wanna fist fight, I think you have the upper hand at the moment.” She eyed his armor suspiciously. Untrained as she was in anything not sheep-related, she could tell that stuff was nice, and obviously fit him well. Someone had dropped a serious amount of credits on armor that was meant for protection against… well, against Reaver weapons.

Kasai was making her nervous, and she unconsciously began leaning towards Nar. Since she hadn’t really had much experience with Reavers, she wasn’t exactly nervous about flying through their territory. The fear she had just seemed like the fear of a childhood story, and didn’t surface.

The veteran merc paid little heed to the mechanic when he first entered the cargo bay, his attention staying on the less experienced merc beside him. He chuckled softly, shaking his head at her assertion.
"No, it's just crossed my mind a few times." He paused, pulling the second gauntlet onto his other hand. "Working protection for a crew like you are, you should he able to defend yourself and you companions with more than just your gun." He stopped, looking the small woman over for a moment before once again browsing the contents of his briefcase. He was reaching for another piece when the mechanic inserted himself into their conversation.

"What I'm doing?" Kasai spoke quietly between the mechanic's question and following statement. He shook his head, letting a vile grin slip across his lips. "I wasn't giving the girl any pointers on anything." He paused for a moment, pulling out the piece of armor he had his hand on. It could only be described as a helmet, shaped to fit a specific skull snugly and securely. The top was oddly flat, with strange markings on it.
"I obviously wouldn't suggest someone take on a Reaver with their fists. Only a skilled fighter can even think of confronting an armed opponent without their own weapon. Besides, Reavers are no common thugs with a knife and nothing to lose." He spun the helm between his fingers, turning to face the mechanic. "How about you, Narvel? Ever been in a fist fight?" He eyed the mechanic curiously, the helm still spinning in his hands.

[[ I posted this with my phone LULZ ]]

"Yeah I've had a few rough and tumble fights. Just a brawl or two, nothing special. " He said, glancing across at Ori as he felt her shoulder bump against his own. The tool he was carrying was swapped from one hand to the other, and he rested his fingers on her shoulder a moment. "Wouldn't call myself a skilled fist fighter but I can handle myself. Doesn't beat having a shooter or something blunt and heavy." He waved the Wrench under Kesais's nose for a moment for emphasis.

"What is that gear, anyway? That's not Fed armor, that's special issue. Might be only a dozen workshops in the entire verse that could produce kit like that. I'm thinking whoever did make it is probably Alliance, and either you're really friendly with them, or they're going to be willing to do a lot of things to a lot of people to get it back."

His eyes didn't leave the Merc though, staring the man down. Clearly quite unamused now. He had to admit that fist fighting wasn't a bad thing to know, but he didn't really like the way Kesai was going about telling her. "Sure, if anyone is after it they arn't going to be crazy enough to follow us out here. But before you go shooting your mouth off to the rest of the crew, Shai, myself, Xin and the Captain, we've all fought off reavers before. So next time you feel like swanning about the ship like nothing's wrong, just bear that in mind. We ain't jumping at shadows." He let out a sigh, immediately regretting that outburst, but he was seriously on edge.

Ori glanced at Nar as he seemed to lash out at Kasai. She was certainly unsettled by his actions, but thought perhaps they all had a bit of cabin fever, and were a little more (stir crazy) than usual. She touched Nar’s arm with her fingertips and gave him a pleading look, as if to say, “Don’t start anything.” Her tremors would be quite noticeable against his skin, and she quickly returned her arm to her side.

“You boys play nice, now.” She attempted to sound joking, but nervousness was laced in her voice. She seemed to shrink at the possibility of anger between two members of the crew (even though Kasai wasn’t exactly a “crewmember”).

Kasai's lip curled as the obviously confused mechanic shook his wrench at the merc's face.
"Mō nidoto shinai₁." He spouted, unhappily but quietly, stopping the spinning helm in his hands. "Why don't you wave your crank around at someone who'd appreciate it, burro₂?" He couldn't help but glance at the female merc for a moment, since she and the mechanic were in such proximity to each other.
The attitude the mechanic was taking with Kasai bothered him, but it didn't show. He turned for a moment, running his empty hand over the leggings to his suite as he listened to the spiel he'd heard more than once about this particular set of armor. He shook his head as the Alliance was mentioned, as well as people coming after it. All of it was just annoyance, until the kid snapped and lashed out at the merc. His face changed, his mannerisms changed. He turned to face the mechanic, and the look on his face could only be described as some kind of lunatical excitement. The mercenary stepped close to the mechanic, leaning his face in close to the younger man's. When he spoke his voice was different. It was a noticeable, yet subtle change. What had become his normal, carefree tone was discarded for a tone that was both serious and yet strangely frivolous; which hinted at the insanity which he normally held back.

"Don't worry, Scott, I only play nice." He responded to the concerned woman without looking at her, before opening up on the kid in front of him. Of course, his definition of 'nice' was most likely completely different from Oriana's.
"Listen here, boy. You may think you're high 'n mighty 'cuz you've survived a Reaver attack or two, but you ain't seen what I've seen. You ain't lived what I've lived." He inched closer, breathing uncomfortably in Narvel's face. "I'll walk around like nothin's wrong if I feel like it, kid; cuz I've fought and killed more Reaver's than you've even been unfortunate enough to encounter. And last I checked I ain't been shootin' my mouth off at anyone 'bout anything." He backed away, motioning and glancing to Oriana. "Just been havin' a chat with a fellow mercenary. She asked me a few questions an' I answered 'em. And I asked her a few questions of my own." He moved closer again, this time sniffing the mechanic in an odd way.

"You may not be jumping at shadows, boy, but you're obviously still afraid of what's hidin' in 'em." He poked Narvel's chest with a finger, pressing into him. "You obviously got it in your head that I'm some kind of threat to you, an' I ain't exactly sure why..." He paused, looking at Ori and then back to Nar. A smirk grew on his lips. "But maybe I got an idea." He chuckled, stepping away and sliding the helmet on.
"You wanna show off, burro₂?" He pulled at the top of the helm, which easily slid down to cover his face. Now that the faceplate was down it was hard to miss that the entirety of the helm was styled after a skull, adding to the already imposing figure the half-armored merc would cut. Any spots that would be open on an actual skull were just blackened, leaving Kasai's face completely covered, and anyone unfamiliar with modern armor confused as to how he could see out of and breath in the thing. When he spoke again his voice wasn't muffled, but almost amplified. His words were doubled by the built in voice scrambler, which chopped up his normal voice and added on a secondary one which was much deeper but still clean. The effect made him sound almost... Demonic?
"I'm right here, mechanic. And I'm all yours." He paused, spreading his arms wide. "Come on, baby, let's blow off some steam!"

-----
1 - Mō nidoto shinai / Do that again
2 - burro / Donkey

Nar had somewhat run out of steam by the end of his tirade, and he ended up backing up some against the crate behind him as the man advanced forwards, prodding him. But Kasai's words riled him deep inside. Funnily enough it was being called 'boy' that annoyed him the most. Who the heck did this guy think he was?

Nar had been pushed back far enough, and he shoved Kesai back with both hands, standing his ground looking confused and angry. He glanced at Ori as she playfully suggested they play nice, but he gave her a grin which he hoped conveyed that it was alright. "We will." He said, then he stepped across to face Kesai as the man fitted the helmet into place.

He was being macho and silly now, but he was ignoring the part of his brain that was telling him so. Most of the rest of it was pretty sure he could put some nice scratches on that shiny armor at least.

"Yeah I'm afraid. I've only got my skin stopping them sticking a thousand knives into it. No fancy pants armor for me. So what happens when they do hit this boat, huh? You gonna hold those doors all by yourself? I figure you have a fancy to." He stepped closer, testing the weight of the tool in his right hand. "So, show me how it's done. I'm a reaver. I wanna chew on your spleen....Yaaahh!" And with that roar, he lunged. A lot of pent up worry and annoyance went into the blows he struck, aiming for joints, the neck and the head in an explosion of whirlwind effort.

(Sorry for the long delay on this one. It's fun to have Nar fly off the handle though )

Oriana had wisely backed away during their back-and-forth, and watched as Nar was, essentially, backed into a corner. She stayed silent, her eyes trained on the two men, one hand on her pistol. She was more worried about Nar getting hurt than Kasai, and she knew, from their conversation earlier, that a few well-aimed bullets would pierce the fancy armor.

Ori briefly considered running to get the captain, but the tussle had already started, and she figured she’d be more use where she was, if things turned sour. She sat on a crate, one hand still on Bessie, and tried to reassure herself that Kasai just wanted a fight, and wouldn’t actually hurt the mechanic. If he did hurt Nar, he’d have to answer to the captain, who would be mighty curious as to why the only person who knew how to fix the ship was incapacitated.

The merc barely budged when the mechanic pushed back at him, but he did smile to himself in his helmet, knowing he had hit the right buttons enough times.

He scoffed at Nar, "The only thing I've got a fancy to do is kill any Reaver that's unlucky enough to run in to me, burro." The smile under his helm only grew as Nar moved closer, Kas' eyes flickering over the combat HUD inside, watching the mechanic's weight shift on his feet and tracking the weapon in his hands. So that's how he saw in that thing. The merc steeled himself as Nar charged at him, mocking his attacker.
"You want a lesson, boy? Then you'll surely get one!" There went the plan of holding back, for now. If the mechanic wanted to see how to fight off a Reaver, then Kasai would be glad to oblige. Combat with a lesser trained combatant would be easy as cake to the veteran killer, even more so since the attacker was not emotionally centered or focused. His shuffled his feet in place as the mechanic made his first attack.

The first swing was easily dodged, just a quick back step. The second whizzed inches past the merc's head as he ducked under it, following his momentum with a quick jab at Nar's right hip with two of his left fingers. Like a deft stab with a keenly sharp blade, Nar wouldn't feel the strike until after his adrenaline wore off. The damage would be much less significant, a slight bruise at most.
A third attacked was deflected with the bracer on Kas' left arm, followed by another jab this time aimed at the left of Nar's stomach with his right hand.
Kasai would have done something showy for the last attack, like give a firm headbutt as a parry; but since he was teaching the mechanic a lesson he did what he actually would have done in that situation. The overhead strike was simple to dodge for the merc to dodge, but as he pivoted and slid beside the mechanic Kasai did something else. He grabbed a hold of Nar's weapon arm, and using the mechanic's own momentum and weight against him flipped him over onto the floor. Before Nar would have been able to react, a dagger clinked against the flooring of the cargo bay just inches away from his neck. The merc had pulled the dagger from where it was hidden under his jumpsuit as the mechanic was still in the air, bringing the tip of the blade against the floor just as Nar was hitting the floor.

"Bam, said the lady." Kas let go of the dagger and stood up. "You're dead. That's how you do it, burro." He turned around and took a few steps away, sliding the faceplate up. He shot back at the mechanic with his normal voice,
"You're pretty shitty for a Reaver, by the way. They're a lot harder to predict."

[[ Sorry about the wait, I've been having some trouble getting myself to write... ALSO, if you think I took too much liberty with your actions, just lemme know. I can adjust. ]]

Nar hadn't been expecting *quite* such a smooth putdown. After flailing with the heavy instrument and maybe catching a barely glancing blow if he'd been at all lucky, the first blow winded him, probably giving his opponent even more opportunity to flip him over onto his back. He winced sharply as the dagger hit the deck beside his neck, then he collapsed flat and dropped the wrench he'd been swinging around. "Ooof...." He gasped, and decided to lie there for a bit. The Vega's deck wasn't quite so bad. "Okay... you win." He said, wagging a finger in the air, then let it flop down by his side. His stomach hurt, but it wasn't bad. Mostly he was suffering from brused pride.

Nar didn't rise to the insults this time, he'd learned his lesson. Knock down, drag out fights against Kesai were not going to go well.

"Probably.." He muttered, rolling his eyes up to look at the man for a moment. "I still ain't too happy about the idea of them hitting this boat." He said, sitting up a bit to look at Ori. He winced almost at once, clutching his side and wishing he hadn't. "Ow.."

Ori rushed over to Nar when he went down, careful to avoid that idiot Kasai and his fancy armor and weapons. That blow to the stomach looked like it hurt. She knelt by his side, assessing the damage. Nothing broken, no blood drawn, probably just a nasty bruise. As Nar tried to sit up, she pushed at his shoulder gently, attempting to make him lie back down. “Just give it a minute,” she said. She knew ice for his stomach bruise was probably out of the question, but her hands were pretty cold, so she pressed them against his stomach, hoping he could feel it through his shirt, and that it wasn’t too much pressure.

She glared up at Kasai. “Are y’all done fightin’ now?” she asked with and undertone of annoyance. “I know men gotta be men, an’ all, but one ‘a you coulda gotten hurt.” She turned her gaze back to Nar. Her hands shook against Nar’s stomach, and realizing that she was very close to the young mechanic, she drew them back, a faint blush spreading across her nose. Ori sat back on her heels, then straightened with a small grunt. “I don’t know why I even care, y’all can kill each other if it makes you happy,” she grumbled. She stomped off towards her room, kicking a crate out of the way and cursing under her breath. The words “stupid” and “idiotic” and “men” echoed off the walls as she left the room.

A glance was shot back at Ori and Nar as the mechanic spoke, a light smirk on Kasai's lips. He shook his head as the small lady went off on the two of them. The only way Nar would have been actually injured would be if Kasai meant for him to be, and there was no way that Nar would be able to truly injure the combat hardy merc in a head-on fight. He chuckled as the girl stormed off throwing insults at them while she left.

"Might be a good shot, but she's still a lady." He spoke quietly to himself before turning and approaching the downed Nar.
"Don't worry about it, Narval. You've got that little ship of yours, right? And it's still got a gun or two that works, I'd assume." He stopped over the mechanic and offered him a hand to help him up. "Reavers won't get your boat if we're smart and work together." He pulled the mechanic up whenever his hand was grasped, his surprising strength doing most of the work.
"If we see 'em, if I even feel those things tryin' to sneak up on us, you've just gotta let me in that little bird and I'll keep 'em away from this Firefly, savvy?" He patted the mechanic on the shoulder, to reinforce they were on the same side.
"I may be a little abrasive sometimes, but I promise I've got our best interests in mind... As far as survival goes." He kicked his dagger off the ground and caught it, sliding it back into it's hiding place before he moved away from the younger man. "You're the crew on this ship, and the lot of you need to survive, and trust me to boot, if I've any hope of ya'll helpin' me get my own ship back."

He paused for a moment, glossing over the leg plates that were still left in the armor case. He looked to the ceiling of the cargo bay before turning back to Nar.
"If you ever want some instruction in hand-to-hand, or just someone to spar with, you know where to find me. I can give you a few pointers without throwing you around like that." He winked at the mechanic and smirked before turning his back again and beginning to put his armor back in it's case.

Nar was not expecting her to come across and see he was alright. He'd been winded, but it wasn't as if he'd been knocked unconcious. Hell, the firefly's engine had done him more damage than the brief skirmish with Kesai. Her words did also remind him that he had been a bit of an idiot, but in a wierd way he felt a bit better for having blown off some steam. It was not as if his energy had done much for the poor Vega without the part he needed. Everything that could be fixed up had been fixed up.

Cold hands against his brused stomach were gentle but they still made him wince. "Ori.." He sighed, reaching out to her shoulders. "I'm ok..and yes we're done." But she suddenly pulled away, looking a bit embaressed all of sudden, leaving him awkwardly grabbing at the air. He watched her go, baffled by that sudden reaction. "I don't get girls..." He remarked to Kesai, pushing both his hands into his hair for a moment.

Then he gave up trying to puzzle it out and reached to take the hand that was offered to him.

"Hey now, Old One Eye is my ship. She's a bit rusty around the gills, but all the guns work. If there's trouble she can fix then I'll fly her. 'Sides, with fighting skills like that you're better here, 'case the Vega gets boarded."

He clapped Kesai on the arm in return to the shoulder pat. Grinning ruefully at him for a moment. "Not right now, thanks. But I'll bear it in mind. Not much I can do for the Vega but there's always rigging up that machine gun."

He paused, weighing up his options of what to do next. "Or food would be a good idea too." He muttered, picking up his wrench and gazing the way Ori had gone. He felt he had something to make up for, though he was damned if he could figure out why, or what it would be.