thoughts | [ ic; contact: ataraxion ]

[ for her part, river gave a flinch to smiley's video. just a jerk, away, which is proper. right.

but it didn't scare her. there might be something about that. bothers her more than blood on fingertips that weren't meant to touch; she's still staring at them when she answers, kind of distractedly. ]

It's loud.

[ but wait - he's asking. there's something about that too. her voice gets closer, like she's trying to find him inside the comm device. ]

Are you?

Whole ruttin' ship is loud, [ he agrees; it's not, most days, eerily quiet when you move by rooms that no one occupies, but the network is. People are in an uproar, both on and off the communicators. Jayne's smart enough to know that. ]

Guess we know the captain don't fuck around on this boat, [ he adds after a moment, surprise lingering in his voice. He had asked, but he hadn't expected her to ask back. Core politeness, maybe. ] Ain't like we didn't know this place weren't right. Ain't like we didn't know there'd be blood, neither.

[ There's always blood, the places they go. That's what makes them different from the rest of the crew. ]

The blood's not right.

[ they're all going to die here, this is a fact river knows ( thinks? are they the same anymore? ), but it's not right. ]

They changed it, you know. The blood. And then they all die screaming. Is a city still a city when the people are all dead?

Changed the blood? Didn't know blood could be changed.

[ He'll just play along for a bit. Jayne had been the one to ask after her, after all. ]

Guess so. Just ain't a city with people in it, 'less the planet takes it back, but that takes a while, don't it?

It - can't. It's not supposed to.

[ it confuses her. this entire ship confuses her, because it's not supposed to work that way. they broke something somewhere along the way, and now the blood is different. ]

Can take several centuries to lose the buildings, but that doesn't get rid of the ghosts. History leaves stains.

[ Jayne just grunts, quiet for a moment as he puzzles over her words. ]

Well, wait. [ There's a bit of a noise, like he's scratching at his facial hair. ] Ain't a blood transfusion kinda like changin' blood? Since it's not yours, an' all that.

It's a blood type. Has to match or the body won't take. The cells are different and they'll attack, force it out. It's not pretty.

Ain't there them universal [ you-knee-versal ] types, though? Them don't match exactly.

[ someone's got a cheeky smile on, if you can't hear it. ]

Been listening to Simon? [ so cute. ] It's not the same. It's a blanket, not a wrench.

Been patched up once or twice. [ That doesn't count as listening. ]

So the blood's changed for real, then. [ He had hoped he could find some way to reassure River, because then that might reassure him. Unfortunately... nothing, and there's a note of concern in his voice. ] Ain't gonna be fought off like no infection, are we?

[ if she could be anything but honest, jayne, but she tells the truth even when she lies. ]

Have you asked? About before.

No. What about before?

[ He had tried to read the FAQ before realizing it was a whole lot of words and then fell asleep using the text-to-voice option on it several times, so he's gotten bits and pieces... sort of. ]

Everything is about before.

[ she says it a bit aggressively, near frantic, the way she clings to simon and begs him not to go, don't go around the corner, the end is waiting for them.

it's still waiting. only thing one has no face and no name and river doesn't understand it. they changed the blood. ]

Ask. You have to ask.

[ and then she ends the feed. ]

[ ic; contact: ataraxion ]

audio; you are awful and i love you

audio; :3 i love you too

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