a. wake.
-irishais-
She steps, though the voices tell her that she'll just go falling straight through, into the black.
Her boots hit solid, solid, thunk thunk--ah the pitter patter of little feet, Mal said once. Mal. Bad. In the Latin. She doesn't go falling through the floor; common sense says she should, she should slide straight through the gates like water rushing into sharp, pointy (cliche) rocks below.
River is dreaming--she's always dreaming, never really awake, because the whole 'verse is asleep anyway. She's just got the short end of the stick, the heightened awareness of everything (nothing). Simon tells her that it's time to go to sleep now, mei-mei, it's time to go to sleep and no one will hurt you.
Two by two.
Serenity, calm, tranquil, real funereal-like in the words of Jayne, the big merc with greed running through his veins. Jayne with money in his teeth and copper in his eyes. Jayne, Jayne, the man they call Jayne.
Two by two. Noah's ark--arc, the gradual curve of the doorway. Ark, the ship that Book's god ordered built before he destroyed the world. Two by two, animals of every shape, size, gender--won't they eat each other, she wonders sometimes, and tells the preacher man it should be quantum state phenomenon. The only way to fit five thousand species onto one boat.
River steps, boots thud thudding against the floor and everyone's still asleep.
Two by two.
She glimpses colors as she walks. Colors, light refracting through a prism--everything is really colorless, our mind just makes us see otherwise. Everything's upside down, too--eyeballs, good eyeballs fix that for us.
Two by two.
"Mei-mei? What are you still doing awake?"
Simon, dear brother Simon who always takes care of her, takes her hand and leads her back down the hall, back down past the color-spotted halls. He is colorless in the light, and she thinks that's nice, that's comforting. Color lies. Color tricks and captures and hurts and makes her scream.
Her boots thud thud against the floor.
She keeps a sharp eye out for the blue. Dreaming is too much like being awake and she doesn't think she likes it anymore.