<div align="center"><strong>-=Griffin Kingston, Captain - moving from engine room to his cabin on The Gamble - en route to Persephone=-</strong></div><br/>Griff flashed a grin that Hayes couldn’t see with his back turned towards her. He knew full well the part was called a “Catalyzer,” he just enjoyed pushing her buttons every once in a while. He got a kick out of Hayes’ hard boiled personality and her in-your-face reactions whenever he got her all riled.<strong> “Catalyzer.”</strong>she emphasized promptly in her correctional tone he’d become all too familiar with during her two and a half years as his mechanic.<br/><br/><strong>“Wong Ba Duhn - I ain't tellin' you again Griff.”</strong><br/><br/>The captain’s eyebrows arched high on his forehead at Hayes’ threatening tone. He raised a hand to calm her as she glared at him dangerously. “<em>Fang Xin Yao Nu!</em>” he interjected before she could drone on further. ‘Sides Hayes, that’s what you said the last time.” He chuckled as grabbed the handset to the comms console. It was an antiquated comms system on the ship, one that the previous mechanic had installed. Griff had found it for a steal of a price to replace the original system that had been fried when the old ship had been caught in a carrion house (http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/CortexLexicon) “Hell, if’n I had my druthers, I’d let you give the whole dang engine an overhaulin’ and there’d be a whole slew of parts whose names I couldn’t remember… but that just ain’t an option.”<br/><br/><strong>“An' if you ask me, t'would make a whole lot more sense if you'd quit bein' so ornery over them credits, an' jus' let me get the darn thing. Jus’ sayin’ s’all.”</strong><br/><br/>Griff canted his head to one side and gave her a look that seemed to say, ‘Really?’ “Best not revisit that episode, not when we’re running so low on creds. It’d just remind me of exactly how<em>Xi Niao</em>I still am at you for blowin’ perfectly good creds, Hayes.”<br/><br/>He quickly switched the topic back to the engine and their current predicament in reaching Persephone. He knew they’d reach Persephone soon, but he wanted to get there sooner rather than later so they’d have time to procure and replenish all the food and supplies they needed before the local establishments closed for business. His remark about reaching Persephone before Meimei had grown into a respectable young woman of character and class was met by Hayes with a curt<strong>“Hah! In a pig's eye.” </strong><br/><br/>Griff snorted in agreement with her derisive assessment and buzzed the flight deck. The exchange was par for the course with Meimei and Vince at the controls. Sometimes Griff wondered if they ever took anything serious, but he couldn’t judge them too harshly as he had always been one to appreciate good sarcasm and humor and had been known to pull off a good prank on the crew members from time to time.<br/><br/><strong>Meimei: “Shun Sheng Duh Gao Wahn are you sure you wanna get that Feng Le?”</strong><br/><br/><strong>Hayes:“Heh, she's right Griff. Twenty percent's a peck too far. Y'all better make it a square nineteen an' not a smidgen more y'hear.” </strong><br/><br/>Griff grinned at the exchange between Vince and Meimei and the chastising administered by Hayes as she handed the handset back to him. “<em>Wo De Tian A, Bai Tuo, Uhn Jin Tee Dien!</em>Can y’all act like you got enough sense between the two of ya to at least<strong><em>almost</em></strong>equal one normal adult?<em>Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian.</em>He looked at Hayes with an amused grin and quipped. “And you wonder why I hired a second pilot…” He flashed a playful wink at Hayes as he continued with Meimei and Vince. “Y’all hear that? Not smidgen more ‘n nineteen percent. Anything over ‘n Hayes’ll know about it and I’ll let her personally come up there to clean both of your housings,<em> Dohn luh mah.</em><br/><br/>Without waiting for a response he ended the connection and laughed. “That should keep ‘em honest for a spell. Just keep us in the sky, Hayes. I know you can do it.” With that he turned and headed through the locker room and into the lounge.<br/><br/>He saw Si sitting at the table in the galley talking with Dani and paused only briefly. “You look nice, Si. I hope you’re not planning on some quality time with a doxy once we touch down, chief? We got some business to tend to and some affairs to get in order before we can think about such pleasantness. I’m gonna need you to keep Sasha company today, watch her six. I’ve gotta go talk to a man about a cata.. about a an engine part.” He knew that Si always dressed nice and fancy and he appreciated the air of professionalism he brought to the crew, but he couldn’t resist the urge to crack wise on Si about it every chance he got. Shifting his attention to Dani, he nodded quietly, a lighthearted grin still on lips. “Dani,” he said simply. "I'm running short on time and I plumb stink. I'm in a dreadful need of a wash, so would you be a dear and round up the crew down in the cargo hold? I wanna holler at everyone 'fore they done gone and run off. 'Specially Meimei. " Switching his focus back to Si, he said in his serious, down to business tone, “We should be touching down directly, so … “ but he didn’t need to finish his sentence because Si was already ready.<br/><br/>Turning again he moved through the lounge and galley at a brisk pace. He still needed a shower and a change of clothes before they set down. He hung a left once out of the lounge and passed by Sasha’s room on his way to his cabin. The smell of jasmine still hung in the air and he knew at once that a freshly showered Sasha had recently headed down this corridor, probably searching for him to discuss the specifics.<br/><br/>As he turned the corner of the corridor that lead to his cabin and the flight deck, he saw Sasha ahead as she was about to step into the cockpit. “Sasha,” he called out to her as he opened his cabin door. Stepping halfway into his quarters he gestured to her to follow him inside. “A word please?” He disappeared inside, leaving the door open and crossing over to the simple couch in his living quarters. He peeled the sweat stained and damp shirt from his body and wiped the sweat from his face once more before tossing the shirt in the hamper. Unfastening his belt, he pushed his combat fatigues down past his knees and sank onto the couch before he began unlacing his combat boots. He glanced up to see if Sasha had entered the room yet.<br/><br/><div align="center">******</div>Fang xin yao nu = Don’t worry demon woman<br/>Wo De Tian A, Bai Tuo, Uhn Jin Tee Dien = Dear god in heaven, We will enjoy your silence now<br/>Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian. = Explosive diahrrea of an elephant<br/>Dohn luh mah. = Are we clear?<br/>