8) But The Wind Blows Right Through You

Carolyn slanted a cautious glance at Riddick and got a thoughtful nod in return. This ship… it could be a sanctuary, but it was clear that Captain Reynolds didn't like secrets. River's little chant replayed in her mind and not for the first time that day Carolyn wondered if it was a warning or a reminder.

"What do you think," She murmured to Riddick as they followed River and Jack down the stairs to the cargo bay. The rest of the crew were arranging themselves on the catwalks or staircases and she retreated up one step in imitation.

"I think she's made up her mind about whether or not to trust us," Riddick nodded towards River. "Everyone else seems to take her word for whatever reason, but they're still…on the fence about how far their trust'll go."

"But do we trust them," The Pilot frowned. "We still don't know exactly what Jack's running from. And if we make a mistake here…we could be on the run for a while."

"Set up the new accounts under a different name, right? Different than Caroline Miranda," That strong sensual mouth twisted slightly. "So, if we get burned here, still got that safe. Won't last long if we keep making the same mistake but we'll deal with that when we have to."

"Yeah," Setting that concern aside for the moment she watched as River removed more than a few knives from places hidden in her clothing and saw Riddick grin in appreciation. Carolyn gave him a gentle nudge and amused smile, "Think she has almost as many as you do."

"Good blades too," Riddick agreed. "Can tell by how she pulls them out and they're balanced in her hand." He tilted his head, "This could be interesting."

"Rick… your 'interesting' never bodes well," Carolyn reminded him.

"Interesting doesn't mean bad, necessarily. You got interesting once you got a spine." Well, she couldn't really argue that could she? He nodded at the two girls in the cargo bay, "She's starting out with muscle memory. I'll bet if she could manage it she'd like to get Jack into meditating, teaching half in a trance…it helps embed reactions in the mind and the body follows."

Carolyn frowned as she studied them, "People tend to teach others the same way they were taught."

"Yep," Riddick nodded. "It's…well, you might say it's out of the norm." And how in the hell Riddick knew that…whenever they talked, actually talked instead of just flirting, she learned more and more about the man. Cherry trees. Muscle memory. The man had a lot more knowledge hidden behind those goggles than he let on.

"And what's that mean," She tilted her head as River stood directly in front of Jack and began to direct her.

"Mirroring…that's something else out of the norm. Most teachers lead from the front, demonstrate and have students repeat the motions several times so corrections can be made to each individual." He didn't take his eyes off the two girls. "She's guiding Jack through a meditative kata…" He shook his head. "I think we need to keep a close eye on this. The way she teaches Jack will tell us more about her than anything else unless she chooses to tell her story."

"I don't know a helluva lot about combat," Carolyn admitted. He gave her a smirk and she rolled her eyes, "And I doubt you're the one to teach me, fun as wrestling around with you can be."

"No, you need someone more like the First Mate or River," Riddick agreed after a smirk. "You've also got no real weapons expertise either."

"I'm not entirely comfortable with violence, or weapons. Something else to work on now that I'm leading a less than legal existence," She sighed. "Damn rock full of monsters."

"Yeah…" He seemed to be considering something for a moment. "Bet we could find out when the eclipse is over. Go back and salvage from the cargo containers. Even the settlement."

"That would be a good way to augment our funds," Carolyn looked up at the crew on the catwalks. "Or a way to ingratiate ourselves here."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the second," Riddick admitted. "Be a good way of explaining why you're on the run. If and/or when we do actually explain, if we decide to stay and they decide to keep us."

"Anything added to your theory," She wasn't the greatest judge of character (Johns sprang to mind) but Riddick had snap judgements down to a science.

"Just…thinking a few things over," He slanted a glance at her. "Come up with anything?"

"She and the Doctor, they're Core. That accent is pure White Sun," Carolyn murmured. "It's odd enough to have a Companion sailing on a cargo vessel…"

"And the Doctor seems a little green still, for all that he's wearing a gun belt, though it does look like the gun has gotten more than a little use," Riddick nodded.

"And she's…" Carolyn watched the Pilot with Jack, guiding the girl through a kata as if it was something she did every day. "She's a little…off. I can't tell what it is…but she's not normal."

"The quotes are…different," Riddick nodded again. "You caught that at dinner, her brother saying she studied poetry when she was seven."

"When I was seven I was still learning to read," She admitted. "Do you think he was joking?"

"Didn't smell like a joke," Riddick replied absently. She wondered if she'd ever get used to the way Riddick used his senses. One of the first things he did in any new situation was inhale deeply, tilt his head as if listening, as if he heard and smelt more than anyone else.

"They didn't seem to be surprised to find Jack isn't a boy," Carolyn commented.

"It's not a very good disguise," He commented with a slightly derogatory twist to his mouth. "She didn't think it through."

"Considering she only started emulating you recently…" She frowned. Despite Riddick's very pointed rebuttal of any accusation of heroics, Jack still practically worshipped him. "I don't know if she wants to be you or fuck you." That took him by surprise, and he jolted slightly away from her (for once actually showing he was surprised), turning to stare her in the eye (so to speak). Carolyn shrugged at him, "She's a girl. I can't tell how old she is, since she's thin and small."

"You don't think her pretending to be a boy argues for a lack of interest in sex generally?" Riddick clearly had gone to the same conclusion she had about what Jack might be running from.

"If she's wired to like guys, even with a bad experience with a man behind her, who's the best one to belong to?" Carolyn pointed out, "The biggest toughest gǒu niáng yǎng de there is."

"That's just really gǎo zále," Riddick shook his head.

"Won't get any argument from me," Carolyn agreed.


Leave it to Carolyn to fuck with his mind. First the woman manages to wake up (kick it into gear more like) his conscience. Then she argues that he'd been doing it to himself and gave it another nudge. Points out that he's safer traveling with them, instead of on his own, since he's known for being a lone wolf. Asks his advice on how to live with the things she'd done, like she valued his opinion (and that had been a helluva kick in the head). And now… now she implies that little Jack might want to have sex with him, so he'd stay her protector.

He didn't even want to consider the notion. No clue how old Jack was and no interest. Skinny, traumatized, hero (anti-hero? Villain? Whatever) worshiping barely adolescent girls were not his type. The entire idea made his skin crawl. He liked (as much as he ever really liked anyone) women. Strong, intelligent women. Given a chance he'd flirt with and enjoy any contact he could reasonably get.

"Rick," The Companion, Inara, exited her shuttle to stand beside him on the catwalk. Carolyn and Jack had long since gone to bed, but his brain wouldn't turn off long enough to sleep. New boat, new people around, the damned notion of a child wanting to share his bed…

"Miss Serra," He jerked his head in a sort of nod. "Can't sleep?" She still smelt faintly of sex, with who he couldn't tell, wasn't sure he wanted that level of detail in his head.

"Please call me Inara," She smiled, polite and seemingly genuine even to his senses. "And no, sleep seems…capricious tonight. Erratic, unpredictable," She added as if in clarification.

He smirked at her, deliberately wicked, unable (or he just didn't want to) keep from flirting (his version anyway) with her. "Guess you're used to that?" When she stiffened, insult in her scent if not her expression he shrugged, "Planet to planet, daylight hours change alla the time. Plus, you get clients, ain't like you can sleep regular hours. Gotta be available to them."

She relaxed slightly though her expression never changed, "True, life out here is…unregulated to say the least." Funny, she smelt pensive, like he'd prompted some unexpected thought, "Part of why Mal loves it out here."

"You don't?" He turned, putting the rail at the small of his back, leaning against it to look at her. "Gotta say, a Companion…ain't what you'd normally see on a cargo ship. Took me and Caro by surprise some." Needed to practice calling Carolyn by the short name. Easier all around than reminding everyone of the differences between pronunciation and spelling.

"I love this ship," She murmured. "I have since I first saw it." That was the absolute truth.

"You an' Kaylee seem close," Riddick watched her thoughtfully. "And if I'm guessin' there's something between you and the Captain."

"Kaylee's so dear," Inara nodded. "Mal and I… it's complicated."

"Guess it would be," He tilted his head. She did a good job of acting like she wasn't intimidated by his size or bulk. "Last I heard Companions don't have lovers or date or whatever."

"You have experience with Companions," Her eyebrows rose in genteel surprise.

"Hell no," Riddick chuckled. "No, my experiences are with plain whores. Companions…couldn't afford one. Not that I've ever met one before you. Just know 'bout what I read." He watched her face, no tell tales there but her scent…no she didn't like even a glancing comparison between her profession and a whore's. "Gotta be honest, ain't really sure of the difference, just know folks make the distinction." That relaxed her some again…like it was the implied disrespect more than the terms that bothered her.

"Most from the Rim, even the Border, don't bother to make the distinction," She inclined her head. "I suppose you could say… a whore is…sex. Only sex. No education or standards."

"You get educated about sex," He doubted it was the same type of education the penal (or foster care) system provided.

"Sex, anatomy, different…expressions of sexuality," She nodded. "We learn to control our bodies, expressions, language, voice…"

"Explains why you don't look it, but I could smell you were irked when I talked about whores," He commented. She tilted her head, surprised and he shrugged, "My sense of smell…you could say it's fine tuned. More so than most. Lots of folks learn to control their body language, but ain't no one can control chemistry."

"That is…unusual," Oh she was surprised. But she actually answered his implied question, so she got points for that. "I… am often referred to as a whore. By many who are ignorant. It can be hurtful. But it's the disrespect the term implies. When someone is aware that I am a Companion but still they call me a whore…"

He nodded slowly, "I can see that'd be pretty gorram insulting." Riddick looked at her, "How long does a Companion go to school?"

"Years," She half smiled, some memory tugging at her lips. "We begin before adolescence, basic education, meditation…" Her eyes were far away, "A Companion must be able to discuss any topic in such a way that her client feels comfortable. He or she must always draw the eye; beauty and poise are paramount. In addition to sexual skills and how to deal with clients… We learn dance, music, art… and also the martial arts. We are schooled for defense and subterfuge so that we may protect ourselves."

"Sounds like it takes decades, not years," He commented. "Most whores I've met, they get into the business to keep the wolf from the door. Not because they want to."

"A Companion could not be a Companion if there was any force or coercion, even that born of desperation, involved," Inara told him with a shake of her head. "And it does take decades. We never stop learning. Like dancers. To be a Companion is to constantly evaluate and train."

"Must make it hard, to keep up your standards out here," He couldn't imagine maintaining the edge that kept him alive without something constantly pushing at him.

"In some ways," She agreed. "But in others…it's the best practice I could get."

"Yeah, I kinda get that," Riddick nodded. He considered her for a moment, "Not to be crude. You might've noticed I ain't overly mannered. Never learned. But how much does a Companion cost?"

Her smile tilted, enigmatic and beautiful, "More than anyone on this ship could afford. Not that I service crew."

He'd figured that much, "Yeah I got that." He leaned over, "But see, I figure you're planning on taking off soon. Somethin' about you says 'gone'. So, I figured I'd save up."

Her scent flared, worry and lust, even if her face didn't show anything, "For an evening, eight hundred ninety platinum. For a day eleven hundred fifty platinum." She likely thought that would put an end to his thoughts.

Riddick chuckled, the sound working her nerves to judge by the deepening of her scent, "Yeah, definitely more than I've got at the moment." He shrugged, "Plus Companions, at least from what I recall hearing, are in charge of who they deal with."

"You would be an interesting client," She conceded. "Not my usual type for certain." He heard steps on the stair down from the opposite side of the ship's upper deck as she continued. "Though as an experiment it could be stimulating."

"Experiment all you like," He smirked at her. "But I'm not the type of man you seduce." The step grew closer and so did Inara.

"Why don't we continue the conversation in my shuttle," She suggested. "I'll make some tea."

He inhaled and knew it was the Captain coming down the stairs, "If you like. Gotta say I'm curious how you'd turn one of the little shuttles into some place you can live in comfort and bring guests. Has to be all fancified I guess but seems like you'd be crowded."

Rage and pain and jealousy clouding the air behind them as she led him into the airlock. He hoped she knew what she was doing. But he'd take any opportunity to learn more about this crew, to learn anything he could through outright teaching or observation. Hell, he might even pick up some manners if he watched her long enough.


Author's Note: So poor Riddick is just a little spooked by the idea that Jack might be attracted to him. Hopefully talking with Inara for a bit will soothe him down some. Though Mal doesn't seem thrilled…

Chinese Translations:

gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch (lit. "raised by a dog mother"))

gǎo zále (fucked up)