Occupying our time by getting hopelessly lost. [closed]

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

Aeneas was very glad that he'd figured out how to work his comm ring.

He was standing outside the Pod Caverns, alone and staring into the seemingly endless expanse of off-color orbs. Against the humans he looked large, but here he was very, very tiny.
And nostalgic, ironically. Aeneas had little to be nostalgic about, and looking at these bizarre pods hardly seemed like a good reason to spur memories, especially from only a few days previous. He was kinda hoping they wouldn't.

Regardless, the pods were not the main things on his mind right now. Aeneas was trying to focus his sense of direction; and frankly, that was taking up most of his efforts.

Although, he was fairly amused by Mal Reynolds's claim that he would not be able to find him here. Unless this person wasn't a human—and his speech patterns strongly suggested that he was—he would find Aeneas quite easily.

Comments

Argh, sorry, I forgot we said we were going to do this

[am-alwaysfree.livejournal.com]

Mal had left the vehicle bays where his ship was being stored, heading towards the Pod Caverns, where he was expecting to meet someone named Aeneas. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect, never having met him before, but he figured this meeting wouldn't be so bad. In fact, it might even prove educational for both of them.

At any rate, he ended up at the Pod Caverns in a relatively short amount of time, and cast a glance around the area, looking for the someone he was supposed to meet. Mal guessed he'd look rather lost, since he'd mentioned not having the best sense of direction. But that was hardly a sufficient amount of information, so despite what he'd thought originally, Mal had no idea who he was really looking for.

No problem--I probably should've warned you somehow?

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the Pod Caverns were huge in comparison to anything roaming around inside them, so there was no guarantee that the two would end up in the same area. Aeneas had taken the initiative and decided that he would stay close to the entrance, next to the Clothing Room, so that neither of them would stray off too far.

This worked well…somewhat. Aeneas had gotten a little curious and strayed off, but not by far. He was at least still on the same level that he had entered on.

The alien eventually heard squishy footsteps nearby, so he assumed that the human was here to meet him. A large head and neck, blue-striped and wide-eyed, appeared from behind a pulsing pod and spotted him.

”Let’s see…” Aeneas examined his quarry, ”Human, male, matured, and looking around expectantly for something. Seems like the guy I’m waiting for.”

A loud rumbling sounded from the creature, echoing eerily off the chamber walls despite its calming properties and the pleasant expression Aeneas wore on his face.
Stacy’s translation of this was noticeably delayed.

“Are you Mal Reynolds?”

Nah, that's fine, I just got really distracted by final exams.

[am-alwaysfree.livejournal.com]

Mal was so occupied with his efforts to spot Aeneas that he almost didn't register the sound of someone saying his name. But after only a few seconds' delay, Mal returned to full alertness.

"That'd be me. I take it you're Aeneas?" was what Mal meant to say. In reality, the words died as they were about to leave his mouth. It seemed that Aeneas was actually some kind of bird. Now, Mal wasn't the type to judge someone by their appearance, and he had seen quite a few things during his travels through space and elsewhere, but he hadn't exactly been prepared for this. "Yeah, that'd be me," Mal responded, once he was able to speak properly again. "I'm guessin' you're Aeneas?"

For someone who'd just had a bit of a shock, Mal's tone was rather level, and only a hint of surprise still showed on his face. Recovering quickly was something he'd always been good at.

Am I the only one who had final exams two weeks ago? oO;;

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

“Correct.”

He stepped out from behind the pod and into full view. At this point the description of ‘bird’ (whatever that was) would no longer suffice, because birds were not covered in long, pale blue fur, did not have six limbs or muscular plates lining their lower body or vertebral processes jutting out from the ends of their tail, and they probably did not stand six feet tall and have a ten-foot-long, worm-like frame.

Maybe it was the gills. Who knows.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Aeneas smiled amiably and, walking with a casual, loping grace that seemed to mirror his overall demeanor, approached Mal and offered a webbed hand in greeting.