trans_9 | Dogs gotta hunt..

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Dogs gotta hunt..

So do hunters, and Dean had some time to get past the Nightmare King business. The routine of Security duty helped a little, but he was starting to get itchy to do more again. He missed the familiarity of seeking out a new case, and putting down an evil fugly. Even a simple salt and burn would be soothing to him. At very least he wanted to keep his senses sharp, so he set up a combination hunting practice simulation and an obstacle course in the Sensoriums.

This way, he had a variety of monsters to look for, and take out. At the moment, he was seeking out a black dog.

EDIT: For a moment, Dean grasped his head, and staggered. Something was wrong, something was really wrong, and he didn't have any idea why. But it felt like the emptiness in his gut just widened a bit further, and it took him a moment to focus on the hunt again.

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Echo does not like the sensoriums. Something about having your consciousness manipulated to see things that weren't there? Rang kinda close to home for her. Still, after lots of exploring the ship and general pounding-the-pavement, she got curious, despite her better judgment. She was dimly aware that the crew used the place a lot more than it was likely they should, but she still wasn't at a point where she was little miss know-everybody. (unusual, but she'd had other things on her mind, as of late.)

When she tentatively poked her head into the Sensorium, though, the scene she was greeted with piqued her interest enough that she stepped in further, looking around for whoever the owner of the simulation was.

Currently the surroundings suggested forest setting in the Midwest somewhere, the leaves on the ground marking the season as fall. A little ways ahead, there were barely heard footfalls as Dean tracked his target. There was a small flashlight rigged on his shotgun as he stepped forward.

And somewhere not far from Echo, there was a sudden growling noise.

The wilderness survivalist in Echo was listening for sounds of other people and/or wildlife, despite the situation being simulated, it felt real enough. She, however, was distracted from hearing the sound of another human by the growling noise.

Silently she swore, but instincts kicked in easy enough and she turned towards the noise, moving slowly, trying to get a better feel of where the creature was.

"Eaaaasy Fido, I'm not here to do any hurting." Why there would be a random growling dog in someone's simulation was anyone's guess, although her mind very briefly flashed to the nutbar who had brought her into the woods with the sole intent to hunt her down and kill her.

Which, well. Wasn't anything she couldn't actually handle. Neither was an aggressive dog, but she would rather not punch a puppy in the throat. People were one thing, but wild animals, as far as Echo was concerned, were not the most dangerous creatures on earth.

There was a highway not far from the location, and that's where the growling noise could be heard, growing closer. Two gleaming glowing eyes in the distance were one sign this was no ordinary animal.

Dean drew closer, and noticed another arrival in the Sensoriums.

"Don't move," he warned her, briefly noticing her looks, but more focused on the hunt at the moment. He then sighted the target, and shot a few rounds of rock salt cartridges at the distant apparition. There was a yelp, and the eyes vanished in the air like smoke.

"Can't be too careful, I tried to set the limits but you still wouldn't want one of those attacking you. They're a bad omen besides." he added, now that he could get a better look at her. Definitely hot by his standards, but then again, his standards were broad when it came to good looking women.

Edited 2010-03-27 19:08 (UTC)

Dean was lucky Echo didn't actually have a weapon on her, because she'd likely have it pointed at him, now. Simulation or not he'd come out of nowhere, there was a dog that had been there one second then it turned into smoke, and she and all the soldiers in her head were not fans of being jumped.

She had tensed up, but when he spoke she stared at him for a beat before exhaling and rolling her shoulders back. She glanced where the dog had been a moment before, jerking her head minutely in the empty space's direction.

"Yeah? The hell was that?" She had a paranormal buff in her head who was screaming theories at her, but she was getting used to this whole expect the unexpected bull this place loved throwing out. Used to, but she didn't like it.

Dean wasn't expecting visitors to his simulation either. He still wasn't used to people stopping in randomly.

He lowered his gun, and commented, "Black dog, ugly son of bitch spirits. You all right?"

"Black dog?" she repeated, ignoring the question as to if she was all right. She did nod her head slightly, but her curiosity was piqued again. "Like, English folklore? This is kinda out of its element, isn't it?" She didn't know how much stock she put in malicious spirits, but she did have a lot of faith in the human soul. It was hard to say how far after death that may extend. Glancing over to where the dog had been again she looked thoughtful for a moment before looking back at the man.

"So does that make you, what, Jason Hawes?" Granted the Ghost Hunters didn't really use guns, but.

Dean was briefly surprised by that, and studied her more.

"Yeah it is, and yeah, it happens to show up in the US anyway. My brother's had a theory about immigrants bringing their beliefs and ghosts over. Doesn't matter, we get them in America now too."

He then snorted, "Never heard of the guy, and bet he's not nearly as good looking or as awesome as me." He then flashed her a charming grin.

Oh, some guy who shoots at ghost dogs and is very self-confidant. Echo smirked at him, arching an eyebrow while cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Never seen Ghost Hunters, I take it. Buncha nerds with EMF machines running around old houses. But you're definitely more attractive than Mr. Hawes." Considering that Jason Hawes is kinda big and bald. Echo had enough of a diverse amalgam of personalities in her head that didn't judge books by their covers that that kind of thing barely phased her, but a pretty face didn't exactly hurt things, when you got down to her core personal opinions.

After a second she steps forward, holding out a hand for shaking.

"I'm Echo. Sorry for walkin' in and crashing the party."

Edited 2010-04-03 05:04 (UTC)

"No, we know some morons with a show called Ghost Facers, but they're just wannabe and tools. And I got a EMF machine I made myself, converted it from a Walkman."

Dean shook her hand, still grinning back, "Hey, not a problem. Just get itchy being on here too long with nothing to do. I'm Dean."

"No kidding? Handy man."

She nodded her head, rocking back on her heels and looping her fingers through the belt loops of her jeans. "I hear you there. Although this place is kinda wiggy for me." She looked around, squinting her eyes a little as she did. "Messing with reality kinda strikes a chord. Only reason I looked in at all is cuz I've been everywhere else on this ship."

Dean gave a grin at the compliment, "Oh I'm good with my hands."

"Yeah, reality messing takes some serious mojo. Glad the bastard's done and gone." He had been on the receiving end of some reality twisting back home several times now. Always at the hands of angels.

Echo wrinkled her nose, shifting her stance a little before starting to walk the clearing a little, looking around.

"Not really what I meant. Although the whole Nightmare King thing was pretty wiggy, too."

Dean nodded and then gestured to their surroundings.

"Yeah you mean this? I usually like something more real, but it's good enough to run a simulation for practice."

"Yeah, I guess." She idly stretched her arms behind her, very obviously keeping her hands off of everything. She was not okay with touching things that weren't there.

"I always figured a shooting range and a gym was all I needed but I guess you're a little more specialized than me."

"Those work too, but I like to keep practice for this stuff. Just in case. Especially for any future missions."

She knew better than to barge in. The last time Kaylee had barged in on Dean in the Sensoriums, it had almost resulted with a lead pipe thrown at her head. It was definitely better, therefore, to knock first and not get herself injured. Not when she still had healing to do from before.

The sling would only last another day or two, she knew. She would get fed up with it, and whether or not the medical staff liked it the gorram thing just got in her way. For now, though, it was still on. Bruises had healed over, at least--her arm was the only indication that she had ever even had an encounter with the Nightmare King's dreams.

Now she just needed to help everyone else heal some, smile some more. A task easier said than done, perhaps, but it was hers to do.

Kaylee raised her fist and knocked on the Sensorium door.

On the other side, there was growling, and then the sound of a shotgun blast reverberating through the room. A short while later, Dean opened the door to stick his head out, his face tense and intimidating.

"Yeah, what is it... oh hey Kaylee," and his features softened a bit into a small smile.

Shotgun blast, right. Kaylee was suddenly very glad she hadn't just barged on in, and was halfway through the thought that she would probably be even happier if she just left him alone completely for now when he opened the door.

Ooh, he was grumpy.

But he smiled, at least, so she smiled back, nice and pleasant. "Sorry if I was interruptin' anythin'...thought I'd check up on you..." Now that she said it, it sounded pretty gorram stupid.

Dean tilted his head, and was about to ask with surprise when he noticed her arm.

"Shit, you get that from the nightmares?" He stepped out of the room to study her for a moment with concern. "They didn't get you anywhere else right?"

She was used to the fuss over her arm from Billy and Jamie already, and shrugged the I'm Fines off for the moment. "Yeah, managed to get myself shot at, but it's healin' up nice. Everythin' else was just scrapes and bruises."

At least the bruises on her neck were gone. She'd have had a hell of a time explaining those and Early.

Early was a dead man walking if he ever woke up on the ship. Not with the army looking after her, Dean included.

He nodded at that, and then shrugged, jerking a thumb back to the room.

"Was just running a simulation I rigged up. Was getting a little itchy for something to do."

Kaylee could definitely understand the need for something to do. It was hard to work on repairs one-handed, for example, and she knew she couldn't have been the only restless person on the ship.

"It's been quiet lately," she agrees. "Not that the downtime ain't nice, but it is a bit...strange. Least you've found a way to keep yourself busy, though!"

Dean nodded, "Especially when the Impala's not due for tune up just yet. She's running good still." He did clean her up a touch, though some of the dings and scratches were just part of her charm. Another scarred hunter, like him and his brother.

"Yeah, used to being able to drive around, looking for a hunt."

"Hard to keep fixin' somethin' when it's fixed already," she agreed. Serenity was running nicer now than Kaylee ever remembered, and there wasn't much else she could do to make things smoother without other materials and tools that weren't available on Stacy.

Kaylee leaned against the wall next to the door. "Normally, we'd be playin' a game of Calvin Ball, right 'bout now, or River 'n me'd have gotten out the jacks."

Dean snorted a laugh at that, "Calvinball? They still know about that in the future?"

"'Course we do!" Kaylee couldn't help but give him a cocky grin. "Gotta have some way to entertain durin' trips between planets."

"That's a good point. How long does a trip usually take?"

"Normally, a couple weeks to a month. All depends on what planet you're goin' to, from where, what kinda hoops you gotta jump through to get from A to B." Alliance cruisers, Reavers, break downs...the list of things that could get in the way were endless. "Gets a crew to bein' like family, though. Don't always like each other, but when you're out in the black, you're all each other's got."

Dean shook his head at that, "Damn, longer than any of our drives on the road. Those only take days. not weeks." Plus being on a ship like that probably make him think it was too much like a plane and freak him out.

"And hell, I don't know any family that gets along all the time. The important thing, it's family, and you stick by them no matter what. Don't just mean who you're related to either."

"Yeah, but Serenity's a bit bigger than the Impala, got a little more room to run about or hide if you need it." Half the crew probably would have gone stir crazy long before if the ship had been much smaller.

Kaylee had to smile at that. Family man, through and through, this one. Even if he didn't seem like he would be the family-type. "Well, my family's certainly gotten bigger, thanks to Stacy. It's nice, knowin' people got your back even if you never would've met 'em otherwise."

"Yeah, but you can still tell you uh, flying right?" Dean was very carefully trying to mask his nervousness at the idea.

But family discussion, he could focus on that. Family meant everything to him, even beyond most family men. He's killed for them, he's even went to hell for them.

"That's the only way we're all gonna get through this. One big, if not exactly happy family. And I never had much family, but I try to do everything I can for them."

Dean made a brief glance to her back, and smirked, "Well it's a nice back, somebody should protect it. Rest of you's nice too."

"Enterin' or leavin' atmo, yeah. Otherwise?" She motioned to Stacy around them. "No different from flyin' about in Stacy, really."

If Kaylee ever had her way, they'd be a happy enough family. It would take some work, but someday everyone would be smiling. "Think you need to teach that philosophy to some more folks. Not everybody looks at family the same..."

Wherever she was going with that stopped with an, "Oh yeah?" and a grin of her own. "Well, at least I know I can trust you to keep an eye on it, hm~?"

"Great." He's still tries not to think about it. Why he doesn't bother looking out the windows on the Obs Deck when he could help it.

"I'll do my best. I know a lot didn't have any families to even lose to begin with."

Dean walked closer to her. Dammit, he was getting smitten, much as he might try to deny it. He was leery of getting too close. People tended to leave when that happens. "Already been, but yeah, you can trust me."

Not everyone liked space. Simon, for example, was absolutely terrified any time he had to don a suit and go outside the ship. It wasn't for everyone, just like dancing wasn't for everyone. Or guns.

"Best we can do to give 'em one, then." They all needed to learn to trust one another. That was the foundation for any family or, in this case, team.

Kaylee gave Dean a playful bat of the eyelashes. "Hope the view's been worth it," she teased. "I'll do my best to watch yours in return."

"Yeah, we sure as hell can."

Dean grinned more at that, "Definitely worth it, and I trust you."

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Dogs gotta hunt..

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