Mission 16 (Yenn)

Mission Name: Shindig
Mission Type: Undercover/Assault
Mission Rank: B
Mission Goal: Obtain financing for Serenity and win the duel without killing anyone.
Description: You saved Simon and River, and learned about the horrifying cult of ‘Reavers’. In order to secure funds for their continued resistance of the Alliance, the crew of the Serenity have invitations to a fancy ball where they must woo a local businessman. Part of the festivities include a duel with the businessman’s head of security, a B-Class Kenjutsu specialist with all C-Rank stats.
Payment: 25,000 ryo
Requirements: C-Class, Completed ‘Bushwhacked’

-
Well, this was certainly an interesting party. At least neither Tamwyn nor Yenn had to pay for their clothes. Tamwyn himself was dressed in a simple suit and tie. To be honest his normal clothing would’ve probably fit the bill for this place without the cloak but his hair was combed much neater and pulled back into a loose ponytail, small strands free and giving him a bit more of a ‘roguish’ and ‘devil may care’ look. His bright yellow eyes and pale features made him stand out a bit in the crowd but not in a bad way. Yenn was...well...Yenn was breathtaking, but she always was to him. His arm would be around her waist, almost possessively, although he was worried that might offend her. However if she were to want out of his arm, he wouldn’t object to her stepping away.

The party was for the purpose of impressing a local businessman. If the crew looked like they could handle themselves then they would get financing, and jobs sent their way. Legal and not necessarily legal ones of course. Most of the crew was in attendance, with the exception of Simon and River, who couldn’t afford to be seen publicly given the Alliances attention to them. Apparently Tamwyn was going to be one of the main events tonight as Malcolm signed him up to face off against the businessman’s head of security in a duel. Which of course Malcolm discussed with Tamwyn prior to doing. Except not really. Sighing at the time of the duel came he would take Yenn’s hand if it was available and give it a gentle kiss before moving to the arena. He could hear Mal mentioning that the suit was rented, don’t tear it. Which of course, given how he had signed him up for this without asking was exactly what Tamwyn was NOT going to do.

[Tam 1]

Yenn hadn’t been to a fancy party before, or any type of party. Unless you counted the bouncing work that she and Tamwyn had done before. Which she didn’t. She had stressed about what she was going to wear for far too long and it was only with the insistence of the Serenity’s diplomat Inara that she finally built up the will to wear something other than her usual head to toe leather. In a rare moment of bravery she opted for a black (of course, since that’s all she ever wears) silk gown that showed off her shoulders and upper back, her arms still mostly covered by long black silk gloves. She was nervous as hell, trying to push the thoughts of everyone staring at her scars from her mind. Seeing Tamwyn proved a much needed distraction, as soon as she laid eyes on him all of her worries melted away. He was gorgeous, as usual, but seeing him in a suit with his hair tied back was new and exciting. She stayed on his arm all evening, happy to feel him against her and proud to be seen as ‘his’. She absolutely didn’t belong to anyone, but to be included as one half of the whole that was TamYenn made her heart sing.

Everything was going well until she found out that Mal had signed Tamwyn up to face off again man in a duel as part of some ploy to impress a businessman. She was obviously annoyed and had no problem telling the Captain as much, her violet eyes flashing as she chastised him. She was sure that Tamwyn could defeat the head of security without breaking a sweat, but that really wasn’t the point. She’d had quite enough of people making decisions regarding Tamwyn’s safety and she was beginning to take it personally. But she didn’t want to give Tamwyn any cause to worry so she smiled as he kissed her hand, her violet eyes locking on to his yellow ones. “Be careful out there, I need you to come back to me.”

Yenn was as stunning as he could have dreamed although he knew she must be frantic internally about the visibility of her scars. However the eyes of those around them would view her with a light of desire, they would stare at him with jealousy for the woman on his arm. Her scars could be seen, but most saw them as something exotic rather than disfiguring. A few looked at them with pity or sorrow, but not disgust. Most understood that scars such as that were done to someone, and not by them. They could see that Yenn had been through hell and while they pitied the reminders she had. They did not look upon her with disgust or as if she was weak. In the vaults of his mind, Tamwyn was ecstatic for this. It was exactly the kind of scenario she needed to be in. No one in this room was looking at her with disgust. They were either pitying her for what she had had to go through and respecting her for surviving it. Or they were looking at her curves, her lustrous black hair, her violet eyes, and her bravery with jealous envy.

Now it was time for the duel though and Tamwyn stood in a circle made by the crowd across from a man wielding a sword. Tamwyn eyed the blade carefully, how it moved, the gleam upon the metal. That blade wasn’t sharp enough to cut him, at least not well at all. He eyed the man wielding it, how his muscles moved beneath his shirt. This man with this blade could not injure him. That meant he had an opportunity to really impress the businessman. At the start of the duel the man would swing down, intending to take the initiative and put Tamwyn on the offensive. Tamwyn however would simply open his arms invitingly and take the swing on the shoulder, right on the clavicle. The blade would impact and blood would spill, hardly at all.

People blinked in surprise, the security man had a horrified look in his eyes for a moment before seeing that his cut had done nothing. The lightning nins physical constitution was such that a blade such as this couldn’t do any real damage to him. Raising a hand, Tamwyn would take hold of the blade and physically lift it up against the man’s strength. Lightning crackled around him before he elbowed the man hard and sent him flying across the room, the sword still in Tamwyn’s hand, held by the blade. The pale haired man dropped the blade and turned to the crowd. Shock was all encompassing and everyone stared silently for a moment before clapping. Mal looked annoyed at the suit, but overall happy that he had done what he’d done as the businessman was already talking to him animatedly. Tamwyn moved back over to Yenn, his hair not even out of place. The extremely minor trickle of blood legitimately ignorable. “Mission accomplished, shall we enjoy the rest of the party?” He would ask, with an insufferable smirk on his features. The evening would go on and they would get the businessman on their side.

[Tam 2]


Exit

Yenn could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and at first she was filled with panic. With Tamwyn at her side though she slowly stopped trying to look away and instead would look up at the faces that surrounded her. It took her several minutes but she finally was able to see that they weren’t looking at her with disgust or hatred, but with things she’d only seen from Tamwyn. Sympathy, this was the most unpleasant, she didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her, but it was a far cry from the repulsion she had been expecting. And attraction? She would look questioningly into Tamwyn’s yellow eyes and was surprised to see the same gaze, far more intense in him, but she saw that same attraction to her. Needless to say, this left her confused. Tamwyn had always looked at her like that, and so while she had found it strange that he would want to, she didn’t find it strange that he did it.

She would press against him just a tiny bit more, drawing from him the strength she needed to stay in the room and not run away and hide. She wasn’t quite brave enough to address any of the glances or interact with anyone that had made them, but just allowing them to occur without hiding was a huge step for her. When the circle formed around the two men as the duel started, she placed herself squarely at the edge so she could have a clear view of Tamwyn as he fought his opponent. She wasn’t truly worried that anything would happen to him, there was always a bit of worry in the back of her mind, but she had seen just how capable Tamwyn was and she was starting to think nothing could touch him. But when he opened his arms wide and accepted a direct sword hit to his clavicle she would gasp as sparks flew from her eyes and she fought back the urge to fire a bolt of lightning at the security guard. Tamwyn was fine, of course, but her heart had leapt into her throat as the sword had connected. After the duel was finished and everyone was praising Tamwyn for a good show, she was still glowering, torn between which man deserved her ire more; the guard with the sword, the beautiful idiot who’d taken the blow, or the man who’d set the whole thing up, Captain Tight Pants himself. She decided it was all of them and gave them each a death glare before returning to Tamwyn’s arms, shaking her head as he smirked. “Don’t do that again.” She muttered as she squinted up at him in mock rage. “I need you, remember. And preferably in one piece.” She leaned her head against his chest and listened to the slow and steady beat of his heart, sighing happily in his embrace. “Mission accomplished indeed my dear. And even though I’m still mad, you did look really hot.”

{Exit Thread}