wolflord_andain: (Default)
[personal profile] wolflord_andain
While teleporting between worlds is not along the lines of something Galadan would describe as 'difficult', sometimes the simplest means of meeting are the best.

Which is why, he presumes, he will be joining the Tams for dinner in a location that belongs to neither of their worlds.

It seems sensible enough, at least at the moment.

Date: 2011-10-05 03:43 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (ships passing in the night)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
Her father's message was affectionate -- he always is -- but terse. It's hard to read, though, over a screen; even with family, there are fewer tells. River gets less. He was stressed, but -- it's hard to be sure of details.

So when she comes into Milliways, she's looking thoughtful, and maybe a little worried. But not yet upset, as such.

Date: 2011-10-05 04:13 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (i'll see you again)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River glances up at him.

It's a greeting in return, of sorts.

Date: 2011-10-05 04:22 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (wary and waiting)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
"He's worried," River says, softly.

Pronouns are ambiguous! But probably clear anyway.

"The antecedents are obscure. Smiles for the camera."

Date: 2011-10-05 04:39 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (listening unhappily)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
It is useful! It's a tactic River respects, despite being terrible at it herself. (These days, anyway.)

It's more useful when you're talking to the media than when you're talking to your kids, admittedly.

River shrugs, one-shouldered and small. She's not disagreeing; she just doesn't have any more details, either.

Date: 2011-10-06 02:22 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (1408 in blue)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
It doesn't appear that they'll have to wait much longer, however.

Gabriel Tam walks through the front door, already glancing around the room. Despite his effort to appear calm, strain is clear in his expression to those who know him well.

Date: 2011-10-06 02:29 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (gunslinger daughter of all her fathers)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
It's hard for River to pick up extra details over a wave -- and before, her father was on home ground, having taken time to compose himself for the conversation.

In a room, in person, that's not the case.

Her attention snaps to the door as it opens, and as Gabriel steps through, her face sharpens with her sudden focus.

Date: 2011-10-06 02:35 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (business)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
Stressed or not, there's no hesitation; Gabriel starts toward them immediately.

"Galadan," he says, in quiet greeting, even as his glance moves past the other man toward his daughter.

"River."

Something complex shades his tone as he speaks her name, old sorrow sharpened again by something new.

Date: 2011-10-06 02:44 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (whispers in the shadows)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River's gaze flicks in small jitters from Gabriel's eyes to the air around his face, and back again -- always focused on him, but not quite on the him everyone else sees.

Her shoulders are tense, her back a straight line.

Low, and a little sharp, "He can say it."

Date: 2011-10-06 02:56 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
The implicit demand is quite obvious on both their parts, and he nods in response.

"It's Mary Lennox," he says, without further preamble. "She's missing."

Date: 2011-10-06 03:18 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (stand true)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River doesn't move, except the slight narrowing of her eyes. Not when Gabriel finishes his sentence, and not when Galadan's shields slam into place.

That, itself, is notable in its way. Normally River is full of idle motion -- tiny twitches of her fingers, small shifts of weight or gaze, brief moments of distraction.

She doesn't move, and she doesn't speak, and her fists don't clench. But all the same, there's nothing childish about her in that moment.

It's a look Gabriel has never seen, most likely, not so bare and clear as this, but Roland Deschain would know it very well. There's a reason gunslingers were compared to hawks, years and worlds away: strip away the superficialities, the jesses of training and society, and you find the pure and lethally focused core.

Date: 2011-10-06 03:30 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (shadowed by blue)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
If that snarl is any indication, Galadan's furious, and frankly Gabriel doesn't blame him in the slightest.

It's River that he's fixed on now, though; River who's standing so perfectly still, River who's near-frozen and yet with a burning intensity that he's not sure he's ever seen before-- not like this.


"I'm sorry," he murmurs, very quietly, to both of them.

Sorry to bear the news; sorry to have given it in such a fashion; sorry that he hadn't somehow prevented this from happening at all.

Date: 2011-10-06 04:10 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (business)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
"I've prepared a file," Gabriel tells him, pulling his datapad from the inner pocket of his jacket, where it always rests.

"Do you have your unit with you?"

Date: 2011-10-06 04:20 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (i can see you)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River's listening. In more ways than one.

There's a job to do, or there will be soon. But for now -- for now, Galadan is better at sharp and leading questions than she is, and her father is better at being businesslike with Galadan than with his daughter.

(And River's not in much of a mood right now to play along with letting him comfort his little girl. Usually old patterns are a comfort to them both, but not now; not with a kidnapped friend, and a lethally furious Wolflord, and a job to do fast.)

So she's quiet, and watchful, and her eyes flick between them but rest mostly on Gabriel, and the sights around him that only she sees.

Date: 2011-10-06 04:41 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (stand true)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
Galadan's shields are cracked open, just a little, just enough. He's communicating with more than just words, and (as ever) very deliberately so.

River's eyes cut to him anyway, and hold there.

It's not anger; it's not even disagreement. She hears, and she sees very well.

But this is her world. And this is her mission.

And Mary is her friend -- but that's the least of these matters. (Not nothing. Not irrelevant. But less relevant.)

Date: 2011-10-06 04:52 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
Gabriel glances at his daughter, noting the way she's suddenly watching Galadan, and a memory flickers.

In the next moment, he offers his datapad to the other man, meeting Galadan's cool grey gaze directly, without hesitation in either look or tone.

"Dāngrán. I trust your judgement."

The unspoken message in the simple statement is intended for them both.

Date: 2011-10-06 05:18 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (i can win this)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
"It's a collaborative effort," River says quietly, her gaze following the motion of his datapad.

It might even be to both of them. River's never minded ambiguous conversation.

(She's not so much of a fool. And she doesn't, in fact, mistrust Galadan in this. Not unless the situation changes dramatically. He has useful skills, and cool and patient judgment, and an unassailable eye for strategy.

But this is hers.

The word 'jurisdiction,' perhaps, is applicable.)

Date: 2011-10-17 03:22 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
This draws a quick, searching look from her father, followed by a nod.

"Yes," he says. "I've already started making inquiries myself, and Bajian and Magda are doing more, but..."

There's a dry acceptance to his words as he finishes,

"... I think we all know that Galadan has a great deal of skill in this particular sort of area."

Date: 2011-10-17 03:33 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (o rly)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
...

Gabriel might not have previously seen River's taut, predatory intensity of a few minutes earlier, but he should know this look very well. It's the flat, disbelieving stare she gives when someone she's fond of says something extremely clueless. (River's childhood featured a lot of expressions like this.)

Date: 2011-10-17 03:44 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
It's a very, very familiar look, oh yes, but he's not quite sure of the reason for it.

"River? What is it, sweetheart?"

Date: 2011-10-17 03:50 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (i can win this)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei



"It's in the collaboration," River repeats, more slowly.

Her patience here is careful; she's trying to be clear. (She may or may not be succeeding, but she's trying.)

Date: 2011-10-18 03:25 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (gabriel)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
Gabriel gives Galadan a long, long look, then turns his now-wary regard back to River.






"... field experience," he says, at last.

Date: 2011-10-18 03:32 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (born gunslinger)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
"Gonna be okay, Dad," River says softly.

Gently.

She smiles just a little, crooked and apologetic and not quite sad. There's nothing childish in her bearing right now.

"I'll take care of it. Promise."

We is as accurate as I, in this specific circumstance, but in this instant that's not the point.

Date: 2011-10-25 03:23 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (shadowed by blue)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
For once, Galadan might as well not even have spoken, for all the attention Gabriel pays him.

He's staring at his daughter, seeing her bearing, searching her face, even as his own pales and his expression grows bleak.

"Now, if there's nothing further--"

"There is. River is a gunslinger."



Very, very softly:

"Aid and succor, baobei?"

Date: 2011-10-25 03:42 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (gunslinger daughter of all her fathers)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
"No questions," River says softly, but her smile has quirked in assent.

Her eyes flick down, to the floor or to some other sight, and lift back to her father's face.

"Nobody's aiming but me."

"It's okay, Daddy."

Date: 2011-10-25 03:51 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (sideways listening)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
Complex emotion surges through him with the force of a tidal wave, sorrow and pride and love all threatening together to overwhelm him completely.

He blinks back the sudden tears that threaten -- ridiculous, after everything, to find himself on the verge of such a collapse now -- and manages first a single shaking breath, then a nod.

"I know, River." Gabriel's voice is rough, but there's certainty in it.

"It's okay."

Date: 2011-10-25 04:09 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (glancing)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River doesn't shift away from her father even slightly -- if anything, she leans a little towards him, as her head turns away -- but her eyes cut to Galadan, and she nods.

"Got supplies."

On Serenity.

('Supplies' means, among other things, 'weaponry.')

Date: 2011-10-25 04:15 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
The crispness in Galadan's tone snaps him back to the matter at hand, and Gabriel asks,

"What can I do?"

Because of course there's going to be something, one way or another.

Date: 2011-10-25 04:23 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (no power in the verse can stop me)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
If River had to come up with make-work, she probably would. One of the worst feelings in the world is sitting at home and waiting uselessly.

(Of course, River's personality doesn't lend itself well to that anyway, much of the time.)

But as it happens, she doesn't have to.

"You're the distance coordination," she says, with half a smile -- less complicated, now. This is purely cooperation. "Funnel the informational revisions. It's a confluence."

Date: 2011-10-27 03:10 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (serious and solemn)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
He nods, his demeanor firming with resolve.

"I shall. If anything -- and I do mean anything -- comes up where you think I might be of assistance, I trust you'll let me know. Until then..."

Gabriel looks at them; at both of them, addressing them together, as equals.

"... I leave it in your hands."

Date: 2011-10-27 03:36 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (small real smile)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
"We're in Heinlein's orbital coordinates," River says absently to Galadan.

In other words, by current planetary orbits, prohibitively far from Mary's last known location of Aberdeen. Milliways would be significantly quicker even if River convinced Mal to leave right away -- which she could probably do, but this is easier.

Her father gets a bright smile -- quick, and confident, and more than a little startled.

River knows she's capable here, and she wasn't going to accept any attempts at vetoing, but she still expected her father to take longer to come to terms with it.

And -- well. It's different, to know you're an adult, and to know your parents realize it too.

Date: 2011-10-27 03:53 am (UTC)
river_meimei: (stand true)
From: [personal profile] river_meimei
River lifts her chin in a brief nod.

Got it, see you then.

She doesn't say anything like wave me if you see reason for me to bring anything in particular, because that goes without saying. It's just one more facet of share relevant information.

Which is a given.

Date: 2012-01-11 04:28 am (UTC)
gabriel_tam: (shadowed by blue)
From: [personal profile] gabriel_tam
Once River has departed as well -- he trusts, he has to trust that she'll inform Malcolm Reynolds of her intentions -- Gabriel Tam hurries his own steps back to his home.

Twelve hours.

That'll give him plenty of time to consult again with Bajian and Magda, to set searches going through more usual channels, to pursue every possible lead while Regan stands in for him where she can and Mark reschedules everything else.

And, of course, to do one more thing.

He has to tell Simon that in a way, it's happened again.

Profile

wolflord_andain: (Default)
Galadan, wolflord of the andain

July 2012

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 11th, 2025 04:05 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios