Re: Gunslinger

by **Vash** Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:22 pm

Vash squeezed her arms. "Now you've seen. You can steer us if you need to, but now you've seen."

Sometimes, it was necessary to stop and smell the roses. Even if the roses were far and few between, that made it all the more necessary when you came across them.

Despite himself, he leaned forward and sniffed lightly at her hair.

Smell the roses indeed.

by **Sarah Yadin** Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:46 pm

Sarah felt her cheeks burn again. Part of her actually wanted to stay that way with him, standing close together watching the view, and taking a moment to relax.

She hadn't taken a moment like this for herself in...since that time on her roof in Jerusalem.

She'd been 10.

Abuse and responsibility made you grow up...fast.

Sarah sniffed back tears but quickly recovered.

"Right...flying...my brother is the lehizden pilot, not me."

She shrugged off his hands and winced almost falling over with the flash of pain.

by **Vash** Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:51 pm

Vash all but carried her back to the pilot's chair, not commenting on the sniffle he'd heard. Everyone was entitled to privacy for their tears.

"Did he tell you anything about flying?" Vash propped himself up on the back of her seat, leaning over her shoulder to look at the panel. "What does that button do?" He pointed, careful to not actually touch said button.

by **Sarah Yadin** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:13 pm

Sarah didn't complain about his help, though the scooping her off her feet like a new bride was a little jarring.

He reached for a button and she smacked his hand.

"Now might not be the time to mention I've never actually been on a ship like this--not one that was flying anyway and I don't hink running through the corridors with Yaffa on my tail counts. Also, Elijah flew jets--inside the atmosphere. I think the term he used was 'way cool'-- not very helpful."

Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Beni Elohim, where is the autopilot?!"

She could feel the tension in her shoulders mount like a tightening bowstring.

Wasn't reentry into the atmosphere something only well trained pilots with extensive trajectory calculation ability could do?

"Anu azav l'met."

Her hands shook, but that could be the blood loss, or his breath on her neck where her hair spilled over one shoulder to keep it from being a bloody mess.

by **Vash** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:17 pm

"Hey, you can do it! I know you can!" He gave her a wide grin that may or may not have been prompted by blood loss of his own. "When you get home, you'll be able to one-up your brother by telling him about flying this ship through space. That's way much better than flying through air. That's pretty cool, too. This is cooler."

Yeah. He was going with the blood loss theory.

by **Sarah Yadin** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:39 pm

She really thought the planets were bigger than this...and further apart. Saturn was gone far behind them and the massive orb of Jupiter engulfed the view screen.

"Um...this is going to be interesting."

She checked the console as lights began to flash. More sirens added to the intruder alarm which added to her headache.

An image of her shooting the zat at the console crossed her mind and made her smile. Instead she did the sensible thing and tried to massage the back of her neck without aggravating her shoulder too much.

by **Vash** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:45 pm

Vash brushed her hand away and kneaded at her neck. "Don't aggravate your shoulder. Interesting how? Is it like that ancient curse? May you live in interesting times?"

by **Sarah Yadin** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:50 pm

Sarah wasn't sure how to respond to his hands working her neck. It felt somehow...peaceful? She decided not to kill him for it at the moment and just enjoyed it.

"Um...something like that. More like, oh god-oh god we're going to die."

She said it in such a dead pan tone that she almost burst out laughing but stopped herself as large rocks came into view in front of them.

Their next stop on the tour of the solar system from hell--asteroid belt.

by **Vash** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:54 pm

Vash yelped at the sudden appearance of the rocks in front of them. "I don't think I like your version of interesting!"

by **Sarah Yadin** Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:57 pm

Sarah jumped up from her seat and immediately missed the massage.

"Look for anything that says 'shields' on it!"

As she searched a soft pitter-patter of rain echoed off the hull followed by louder thuds that shook the deck and made her instantly sea-sick.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:00 am

Vash flailed his arms. "It's not in English! Why would there be one button with Engli- oh. Like that one?" He pointed to the one button that he could understand.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:11 am

Sarah shook her head in disbelief and mild amusement. If they were going to die she couldn't spend all their last moments mad at him, right?

The sound of rain stopped suddenly and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Sarah walked back over to her seat at the helm and waited for him to follow. When she felt him behind her she took his hand and returned it to her neck.

If Elijah saw he'd have a heart attack.

Between shock and blood loss and pain she just didn't care right now. She wanted to die feeling something good for once, dammit!

She locked in a course for what she hoped was somewhere remote on Earth--she hoped the Nevada desert, but with the speed they traveled and the fact that she didn't know anything about trajectory when it wasn't bullets flying--she didn't hold out much hope.

"Alav HaShalom" This time she translated for him. "Peace or grace be on us...we're going to need it. We reach Earth in about three minutes."

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:17 am

When she placed his hand on her neck, Vash's eyes widened, unseen by her.

Interesting.

He resumed kneading her tense muscles with his fingers and thumbs, trying to give what comfort he could. "And try to not burst into flames and die in a fiery death?"

The skin beneath his fingers was soft, and Vash realized that maybe, it wasn't just about giving comfort, but receiving it, as well. Nothing like a possibly-going-to-die experience to bring about epiphanies.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:21 am

Mars flew by and she was pretty sure it took about a month to get from Earth to Mars--what, she read science journals sometimes. She wasn't always focused on work.

However when Mars faded like a red marble and the half crescent silver of Earth's moon came into view she knew they were doomed.

"Uh, hold onto something?" Like it would really help upon disintegration.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:23 am

"Can I hold onto you, Flower? How about that kiss for luck?" Vash pursed his lips comically, leaning towards her but making sure to not actually kiss her.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:31 am

Sarah groaned. Of all the...oh what the hell. They were dying anyway.

An evil sparkle entered her eyes as she grinned. The Moon was coming up fast as they stood there, not leaving them much time. She was certain Elijah would make a silly comment about space stations right about then--and she'd of course smack him for it.

She pinched that nerve in his arm again both to keep memories of a home she'd never see again at bay in her final moments and to punish him.

"That is for being such an idiot."

As the moon came into full view and the Earth shone like a dazzling blue and white gem she did something else.

Sarah leaned in and very quickly, almost shyly, brushed their lips together.

"And that is for saving my life."

She pulled away and pretended to check the console, her skin hot and her head swimming.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:34 am

Vash yelped when she pinched his arm, rubbing the tender spot.

When she brushed her lips against his, he pretended to swoon, clutching his hand to his chest. "Flower kissed me!" He spun around in delighted circles, sighing happily.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:38 am

Well, at least she'd only have to put up with him for a few more seconds.

Sarah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as best she could, falling back into the defensive posture in their last seconds.

"Don't get used to it--and don't call me flower."

Earth grew bigger by the moment. Right now she stared at the looming Indian Ocean. It seemed as if she'd get to see her home one last time after all.

It really was beautiful.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:41 am

Vash was still for a moment, before taking a deep breath and opening his mouth. "Flower Flower Flower Flower Flower FlowerFlowerFlowerFlowerFlowerFlowerFlower-" He repeated the name as many times as he could before she stopped him or he needed to breathe.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:46 am

Sarah fingered the zatnikital on her hip but hesitated.

She didn't want to die alone, however satisfactory shooting him would be.

A small gasp escaped her lips when he quieted down and her home came into view.

"That little strip of desert by the sea--that's my home--or it was before..."

Her voice broke. She turned to him with wide eyes that screamed for him to shut up and be the serious man she needed one last time.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:48 am

Vash shut up, the grin dying on his lips.

"It's still your home. Even if you don't live there now. You'll go back there. You're not going to die on this ship with only me for company. I won't let that happen."

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:54 am

Sarah just rested her face in his red coat. She could face death in the eyes of an executioner, but her home hurtling at her at thousands of miles an hour was too much. There was no one to mock, no final words to say.

Not the way she'd ever expected to go.

The ship began to shake violently in the gravitational pull of the planet and its moon. She was pretty sure hitting the atmosphere would vaporize them, so they couldn't have hit it yet.

Unless Val could get out and push the ship into a safe path or slow it down somehow--which was impossible--there was nothing either of them could do.

She hated feeling helpless.

It took a few moments buried in his coat before she realized they'd slowed down.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:58 am

Vash looked at Sarai, pressing her face into his coat, before he awkwardly patted her back in an attempt to be comforting.

The ship seemed to be going slower. This was good. This was really good. It meant they might just stay alive, after all. Not that he really cared for his own sake (he wasn't the type to go out and seek his own death, but, well, he'd lived for a long time and it seemed like he'd hurt for even longer) but Sarai deserved to live. She didn't deserve to die with him.

The ship seemed to screech as it slowed still further, a racket that made his teeth ache, and he held Sarai tighter.

by **Sarah Yadin** Wed Apr 10, 2013 1:02 am

Sarah's fingers clutched him as her eyes screwed closed. It was suddenly very hot and breathing felt like inhaling fire.

As quickly as the heat came it left. The ship rocked violently, tossing them around worse than any tempest at sea.

Finally there was another jarring screech and she felt herself flying, still holding onto him.

Apparently the Snakes never thought of seat belts.

by **Vash** Wed Apr 10, 2013 1:06 am

Vash twisted themselves as they flew through the air, managing to get himself around her in time to smash into the far wall before her, so that he took the brunt of the force.

Ow.

And again, ow.

"Are you alive, Sarai?" His arms were still around her, though he'd slid bonelessly down the wall.

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