(no subject)

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly's wearing the brown coat again. And the boots, the tight pants, and the holster. She's out by the lake, eating an apple and waiting for Mal.

Comments

[awesome_lilly]

Telling Lilly to relax is generally redundant, but this time it has some effect. She looks at the tin cans and thinks, suddenly, of water pistol fights during long Southern California summers. It makes her smile.
I aim with my heart
Still smiling, she lifts the gun and squeezes the trigger.

[badinlatin]

Damn.

Mal walks away from Lilly to find the tin can that has disappeared since Lilly fired her first shot into it. The tin can finally comes into Mal's view, as it had rolled behind its neighbor to the right, following the gentle slope of the grassy area.

The logo of the can had a hole clear through it.

"Ok, so...beginner's luck."

[awesome_lilly]

"That and a misspent youth," Lilly agrees. "I used to hang out in arcades and they're big on the shooting games."

She grins.

"I have to say, this is way more fun than Duck Hunt."

[badinlatin]

"You're right," Mal grins. "Huntin' birds is awful. 'Less you get 'em just right, the bullet explodes an' ain't nothin' left to eat cuz the meat's tainted with the spent stuff from it's organs, and..."

...

"Yeah - do that again."

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly makes a mental note to introduce Mal to the joys of Nintendo and then turns her attention back to the cans. It's easier if she doesn't overthink it, just relaxes and lifts the gun and squeezes.

[badinlatin]

Mal watches the cans go down one...by one...by one. Until all ten have disappeared. Normal speed, normal stance, normal everything.

Except a very good shooting eye.

"Feel okay with things?"

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly looks down at the cans and the gun and then smiles at Mal.

"I feel pretty good about this now, actually. I mean, I'm not very fast but I think I can pull off looking like I know what I'm doing."

[badinlatin]

"And the best part is you most like won't have to pull it at all."

"I think we're done with the gun now. If you want, you can keep hold of it 'til you go and do the thing. Are we up for Chinese, or are you good there too?"

[awesome_lilly]

"I've been practicing, Captain mu ji," Lilly says with a smile. "But I could probably use some more, if you've got time."

[badinlatin]

"Ok then." Mal takes off his jacket, sitting it on the ground next to him as he plops down, waiting for Lilly to ask The Great Mal a question.

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly holsters her gun and sits next to him.

"I want to make sure I have this right: tāmāde is basically fuck, tāmāde húndàn is fucking bastard, and qù tāmāde is like fuck him or fuck that?"

[badinlatin]

Mal quite possibly sporfles. Manly sporfling. Yep.

"You might be ready I'm thinkin'. Yup." -insert more sporfling here-

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly laughs happily.

"Thanks, Mal. I'm glad I have rogue spaceship captain approval."

[badinlatin]

"Can I get a rubber stamp with that on it or somethin'?" Mal asks, mostly to himself. "Might come in handy."

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly makes another mental note, this one about what to get Mal if a gift-giving occasion comes up any time soon. And that makes her think...

"Hey Mal? When's your birthday?"

[badinlatin]

"August 30," Mal responds, leaving off the ordinal number suffix, military style.

"Why?"

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly smiles.

"No reason. Just curious."

[badinlatin]

I need to stop opening my mouth.

"Good to know, Miss Lilly."