She Followed Me Home (Private RP)

[mugenginga]

Zoe frowned between the two kids as they stared at each other. Makoto was scrunched up against a tree and River was glaring at him. She was sitting too, her legs crossed and just sort of... doing that staring thing. Every once in a while Makoto would try and scooch back into the tree. It had actually been going on this way for hours, and Zoe had allowed herself to relax as much as one would on a battlefield. At rest, but not unalert to surroundings. She was sitting with the gun to her side and within easy reach, trying to figure the kids out.

She had a feeling some kind of conversation was going on, but that Makoto kid was skittish. She felt bad for him, but there wasn't much they could do. As it sat he seemed like he'd be a detriment to the crew. She was running over the wisdom of approaching the boy in her mind again when River's head jerked up. She was on her feet with an impressive moment of smoothness and giving a worried look in the direction Simon had gone hours before. Makoto's eyes widened and he jerked his head up as well, but Zoe could tell just that little bit of action made his head swim.

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Ramona had followed Simon at a slight distance the entire way back. Whenver he stopped to look at her, she'd frozen up, just staring at him with the eyes that seemed a mix of blank and curiousity. She seemed lost, as if she didn't know what to do, but when he moved forward she would at well. She jerked around a lot, and every little sound had her flinching. It was like she had no idea what to do with the outside world.

[Jilak]

Simon sort of awkwardly stumbled into what had become their makeshift camp. After having his heart stopped, he wasn't feeling at his most athletic at the moment. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure how he'd explain Ramona to Zoe. Honestly, when he'd asked her to come along, while he'd been legitimately hoping for her to, he hadn't expected much. Which meant he had absolutely no plan of action here, and with the Captain gone and Zoe holding a tighter ship than ever... it would be a tough point to sell. Plus, people might start to wonder about him bringing barely-pubescent teenagers along for the adventure.

He scanned the "crew" as he entered. Not much of a crew, really. Zoe, his younger sister River, and the ever-terrified Makoto. Big Damn Heroes they weren't. His eyes settled then on Zoe, gesturing towards the piece he'd brought back. Best to try to take hold of the conversation early on.

"So, um... Zero and I found what we were looking for. I can't ascertain its role in the overall device we're intended to build, or... repair, but it's here." That was another loose end. Zero was gone. This was just not Simon Tam's day.

[mugenginga]

River darted forward as soon as Simon came into view, if not a bit before. Well that wasn't out of the question for normal siblings, let alone readers, so that much didn't have Zoe on edge. River threw her arms around Simon and seemed about to bury her head in his chest when she froze up and looked behind him. Ramona just sort of stood there with eyes blinking at her, but River seemed more confused than... well... given her intelligence it was kind of an odd look for her. She didn't seem horribly happy with it either as she just stared at Ramona with that puzzled expression. Makoto's eyes were wide with surprise at Simon's presence, he hadn't even seemed to notice the new arrival.

Nor had Zoe, at least for a few seconds. She took a step forward and paused and had her gun pointed towards Ramona on instinct. The girl reacted by quickly taking a defensive stance and glaring at Zoe. Zoe spoke without turning her gaze from Ramona.

"Simon, as happy as I am to see you in one piece, unless Zero has picked up shapeshifting since we saw him last, I'm going to need an explanation."

[Jilak]

Simon wrapped his right arm around River's shoulders as she embraced him. But then she noticed Ramona. Well, he couldn't say it was exactly unexpected. She was a reader, after all. Ramona had kicked the metaphorical lights out of him. So honestly, he really should have anticipated caution for River. In fact, he had. What he hadn't anticipated was confusion. From Makoto, maybe. Even Zoe, if given the right circumstances. But never his genius little sister. He was so taken aback that, for a moment, he didn't answer Zoe. He quickly snapped to, however, opening his mouth for a brief second before once more closing it. It would probably be best to explain Zero's absence first...

"Zero's... gone. I believe him to have a plan, but I'm not completely certain. He could have killed me back there. He stopped my heart for an almost dangerous amount of time, but... he didn't. But I don't know where he is." Simon said, slowly, carefully choosing each of his words. This was a very... unsteady situation.

"As for Ramona, she... followed me home."

[mugenginga]

All of Ramona's attention was on Zoe, and the usual empty look in her eyes had been replaced by full focus. She wasn't just looking at the gun, but all of Zoe. River, in the mean time, just kept staring at Ramona with a puzzled look. For a few more seconds until her eyes widened and she jerked her head around to look at Makoto, who jerked his head towards her with fear in his eyes. She narrowed her own eyes at him.

"Can you?" she said aloud.

Makoto scrunched up his shoulders.

"Simon, what the hell is going on?" Zoe asked, gun still aimed at a defensive Ramona.

[Jilak]

"We're falling apart." Simon thought, an inaudible response to Zoe's question. Because they were. Mal was with those hands of blue, Zero was off doing who KNEW what, Jayne was banished, and Zoe was doing her best to hold together the shaky remains of a crew. He was out of his element here. He couldn't be sure he could keep River safe, and he couldn't reliably control ANY of the elements at work here. He tossed what seemed to be an apologetic look in Zoe's direction.

"I don't know." Simon said, somewhat quietly, before crouching down a bit to River's level. He put his hands on her shoulders, giving her a rather curious look.

"What is it, mei-mei? Can Makoto... what?" Simon asked. Right. Best to try to figure things out before going into greater detail concerning Ramona's... origin. Or what he knew of it, at least.

[mugenginga]

Zoe frowned at Simon's delayed response, and the answer that finally game wasn't any better. She adjusted the angle of the barrel of the gun upwards, squaring it with Ramona's forehead. The shot would be the type to cause a quick death, and anyone that knew Zoe worth a damn knew she'd be willing to take it. Ramona didn't flinch.

River, however, flinched when Simon grabbed her shoulders. Her head jerked back forward and caught his eyes. Her own were wide and frightened. She spoke in almost a hush, "I can't read her."

[Jilak]

Simon looked back at Ramona for a brief moment before slowly wrapping his arms around River's shoulders and giving her a warm hug. When he spoke, his tone was hushed and cautious. No less warm, but certainly somewhat... worried.

"It's okay, River. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." Simon said, rubbing the back of her head with his right hand. Truth be told, right now, Ramona worried him almost as much, if not more, as the Hands of Blue. River was able to ascertain Zero's nature within, at best, a few moments. River not being able to read Ramona made her, at best, a wild card. At worst, incredibly dangerous.

Simon was distracted from his musings by a small chirping from Zoe's communicator. Someone was hailing them, that much was certain. He looked down at it for a moment, before something seemed to occur to him. Whatever Zero's plan was, he wasn't sure how integral his being dead was. It was probably best not to give away the metaphorical goat just yet.

He grabbed it from his pocket, reaching it out to Zoe.