Wash had been waiting to get back into real space for a long time - last time he'd been stuck on the ship by the General's orders, so this time he'd spent a couple hours convincing her that it was tactically more advantageous to have Serenity on the planet's surface.

He ran his hand over the console and then began the startup, flipping the switches in the order he knew by heart. Light bathed the inside of the cockpit and Wash grinned, settling his hands on the controls.

Wash reached up to grab the comm and his smile only got bigger at how familiar it felt in his hand. "You ready down there, Kaylee?"

As soon as he felt the rumble of Serenity's engine turn over, they would be out of this hangar and flying again.

Once Billy was situated on the merchant planet and brow-beaten with the concept of relaxation despite certain threats, there was nothing left to do but shop. Shop. And shop some more until he found the perfect present. That was an important part of relationships, right? Surprising loved ones with something special. There were things for his friends as well, of course, but the gift for her was critical.

What to get, what to get? It took hours of agonizing, studying the other shoppers, odd jobs, and haggling, but eventually a weary Billy returned to their accommodations with a bag that required both hands to carry. There, he made several attempts to open the door. It wasn't possible to do the finger scan with a bag in his hands, so it was set down. The finger scan was successful then, yes, but at the cost of the bag rolling back down the stairs. Cursing to himself, he chased it down. Of course this would happen. How on earth did regular shoppers juggle all these things?

Finally, after some jiggling of the handle with his hip, he managed to tumble his way into their apartment.

"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting an extraordinarily long time, Ronnie. As you can see, I encountered some difficulties." The man sprawled over his bag hadn't had the time to check his watch.

Phillip pulled the HardBoiler to a halt, putting the kickstand in place as he stepped out into the quieter districts of the trade planet. Quiet meaning that it wasn't full of people selling at maximum volume, but a more respectful level since the roads were cluttered by an impenetrable wall of people selling what appeared to be holy knicknacks.

It was quite literally a lot like a scene you'd find in the Vatican, with people of all cultures wearing different robes, symbols and selling many for a cheap price. A few people sat in quiet reverence, signifying they were from some local or near-local order and Phillip paused to purchase one of the items.

The woman there, which appeared to be a nun, looked at him with silver eyes. "You have a good eye," she said as Phillip traced a finger over a filched cross placed against what appeared to be a sun. "That is the symbol of the Tallest."

"The Tallest?" inquired Phillip as he looked at it.

The old woman nodded. "The Tallest is the symbol of Life and Rebirth, the holiest of holy in our culture. He is dark haired and symbolized by green." She gave him a look that made Phillip feel like he was being searched to his core.

"Take it," said the woman. "Our order does not need the money, but a good symbol knows where it is meant for."

Phillip nodded respectfully, taking up the item and storing it into his book before bowing.

Walking away, he turned to thank her - but she was gone.

"... that was odd." he remarked to the air.

He kept his eyes closed the entire time, once he regained control of them. It wasn't that he didn't want to see, it was just that there was some sort of childish belief that if he opened his eyes, the entire thing would pop like a bubble and just be a dream.

He really didn't want it to be a dream.

About the time his eyes closed, hands closed tight around his shoulders, holding him firmly in place. Iniss didn't really need to, but the Yeerk was weird about control at times. Weird about physical dominance even though the fake host was really about the same size as him.

There was a sharp pang in his chest as the Yeerk pulled away for the final time-something he didn't want to call loss, something he couldn't quite label relief. "It's done. Now what will you do?" The words were soft, hushed, pressed against his ear in a mockery of an intimate embrace. "You'll miss me. You'll miss being able to yield control and not fight back. You know you will. You'll miss the utter certainty that someone else is there to clean up your messes."

He kept his eyes closed, arms hanging lose at his sides. "It's going to be scary, isn't it? Being all alone in your head, you've never done that before. No one to talk to when you have doubts, no one to watch your back or protect you from repercussions when you screw up- and you will, you always do - I bet that terrifies you, doesn't it?" He swallowed, lips curling into a smile. "I have friends, family. They'll help me. They'll be strong when I can't be. Who's going to help you?"

It took a lot of effort to pull away, not opening his eyes to look at Iniss, not opening them at all until he was sure he was facing towards Sam.

He managed to not look back. It made him feel oddly proud.

ooc: Tag under the headers of person you want to talk to.

As you enter the Sensorium today you find a most peculiar sight.

A large black wall with a 8-bit logo reading "Monsters and Mazes"

And two simple words.

"Start Game."

Upon choosing this a new menu appears showing a series of options:

Fighter
Paladin
Hunter
Rogue
Wizard
Cleric
Bard

What to do what to do?

He'd gone back to the ship and spent a day in preparation, contacted the ship about transport, made the purchases...  And so now he had a couple cages of swine -- the individual in the ridiculous fur cap had called them targs, but the seemed quite boar-like.

There were cattle -- six-legged cattle, but cattle all the same, and the individual in the ridiculous broad-brimmed hat had assured him their milk would be safe for the consumption of the humans.

And he had some actual deer, on the oath of yet another man in a ridiculous hat. Skittish, but he was going to get them situated one way or another.

After everything that's happened, after all the crap she had been through, Sasami could finally admit one thing: she was home again. True, the palace was her home, but this, the little home that she moved into after being stranded on Earth, was her home. Thanks to the money she had gotten for all those memories, Sasami was able to utterly refurnish (and even upgrade) the house a bit. The bedrooms were fitted with new, comfy beds over the usual futons, the kitchen was filled to the brim with real food (and a few extra fridges to stock up extra), and with a batch of seeds ready to be used for gardening (most of them carrots, but still...!)

It felt nice to be home and, as Sasami relaxed in the living room, she couldn't help but let out a relaxed sigh.

"This... this feels great...!"