Breakdown (Invite Only)

[mugenginga]

Now that neither of the men were "zomg DYING", Zero was able to relax a bit. That came down to grabbing his ribs and wincing. Oh, and a small hiss of pain to accompany it. He'd long considered humans fragile little creatures, and his current condition wasn't serving well to change that opinion of the species. He took in some shallow breaths due to the injury causing the deep ones to hurt. It wasn't that he was intolerant to pain, he just wasn't used to it.

He glanced over at Jayne and had an expression of disgust. Man was bleeding from his visible orifices (and possibly the non-visible ones). One of his eyes even had a small leak of blood, which meant the device had caused some sort of hemorrhaging. Some sort of temporary kind, as the blood flow had stopped. He didn't seem inclined to help the man up. Bit of blood was coming up from some of his fingernails as well, and Zero had already shown his dislike for the substance. He looked towards Mal, one hand still tucked under his jacket and grasping his ribs.

"It won't help much with that tracking device, but we need to leave," he stated, "I don't particularly feel like seeing how many traps are still set here."

[Jilak]

He heard... voices. But he'd been hearing voices for a few minutes, so it was no surprise. But these were... different. Two different male voices, saying two different things. Considering what he'd been hearing for the past few minutes, Jayne made the logical leap. These were the bastards that killed his family. And according to the blood now on him, they'd attacked HIM as well. Probably thought he was dead. Ruttin' morons.

Jayne Cobb had never been a particularly smart man, being ruled by his passions. Therefore he did what his passions felt like at that moment. And they felt like attacking.

It said something about Jayne's character that Mal was always on guard, always ready for an attack for him. Zero might have noticed that when Jayne leaped at the man, Mal countered a bit TOO easily. Especially for someone that had been so easily caught off guard by a small circular device. In any case, Mal spun Jayne, slamming him into the wall behind him. Just hard enough to get him to remember where he was.

"Jayne? You all with us, in there?" Mal asked, indirectly asking Jayne if he was a bloody lunatic.

"...cap'n? I think I'm bleedin'."

"Yes, you are. But we can worry about that later, right now we've got to find our way outta this hotel. Probably more traps waiting for us if we stay." Mal finished, letting go of the man.

[mugenginga]

Zero might have reacted as well. Not because he was prepared for an attack on him, but because the man was aware of his surroundings. Humans were reckless, so they tended to do stupid shit when stressed. It was probably the ribs in this case. While wrapped, and less painful as a regard, it was still a newer sensation to the man. In any case, it was a good thing Jayne had gone after Mal. Zero probably wouldn't have done well for dodging.

The sentient virus was able to step back at least. Grant Mal the room he needed to spin grab the man into the wall behind him. Bar room brawler if Zero had ever seen one. He saw the bulkier man's eyes clear up, as he came back from wherever his mind had been driven by the device and the bleeding. Mal wouldn't have seen that due to the way Jayne's cheek was pressed against the wall, but it was something Zero filed away for later reference. In any case, the voice was enough to cause Mal to relax. Not entirely, Zero noted with dark amusement.