Hours later it seemed and Kali awoke suddenly. Her eyes flew open fearfully, darting about to better get her bearings. It was clear she was still aboard the Firefly though she had been moved to the upper level and secured with handcuffs. The cold floor made her shiver as her head thumped ceaselessly with pain. Kali pulled against the metal cuffs at her wrist and grimaced solidly, trying desperately to get into a seated position before touching a hand to her head. She hissed, gritting her teeth together at the huge lump against her temple and the line of blood down her face.
"Gorram chwen Joo!" Kali muttered angrily, again pulling at the cuff around her wrist before sighing deeply and resting her aching head against her knees.
"Rise and shine, bei bi shiou ren." That voice made Kali shiver and her eyes shot up and she scowled.
"Ta ma duh!" She growled, pulling against her restraints. Mal merely smiled down at her before crouching in front of her.
"You wanna talk now, crazy? Tell me what the hell you think you're doin on my boat." Mal asked, awaiting her reply.
"I already told you, all I wanted was my gorram cargo!" Kali responded angrily, her voice rising.
"You're lyin'." He said simply.
"I ain't lyin', buhn dahn." Kali said and Mal cocked his head angrily, a warning in his eyes.
"Shi ma?" Mal asked and she nodded resolutely.
"Alright then, I'm listenin'." He continued, his eyes never leaving her face. Kali struggled with herself for several minutes, deciding whether it was better to withhold information from this annoyingly arrogant man or tell the truth. She decided if she was going to ever get off this boat, she had better tell the truth of it.
"That ta ma duh, Badger thought he could bushwack the vault on Caranga and hornswoggle me into believin' it weren't him that stole my loot. Damn fool thought I bought his go shi, was the only way to make sure I could get to Persephone unnoticed. I knew he wouldn't settle the cargo himself, he'd hire some folk to smuggle it out of Persephone and to the buyer. I heard talkin' that a Firefly was waitin' at the docks for a delivery. So I went to check it out. End of story." Kali explained before letting out a deep sigh.
"You're lucky I didn't shoot ya. We don't take kindly to folk aimin' weapons at us." Mal explained and Kali nodded.
"All I wanted was to get my cargo back. And maybe shoot that gorram sha gwa." She explained, referring to Badger. Mal nodded, understanding but not letting her off the hook just yet.
"I ain't sayin' what you did was wrong, necessary. But you still ain't got no right to hijack my boat and threaten my crew, dong ma?" Mal said, his voice still holding a considerable amount of annoyance.
"Sure thing, Cap'n." Kali mocked, rolling her eyes. Mal growled and grabbed a handful of hair at the back of her head, bringing his face so close to hers she could feel his warm breath against her cheek.
"Cross me again, girl, and I'll make you wish I'd shot ya. Ya hear?" Mal said, his voice low and dangerous. Kali took in a nervous breath despite herself but her face remained blank and she did and said nothing. Mal got up angrily and turned on his heel, muttering after her, "Gorram rutting whore!"