Willow Danielle Rosenberg. Jewish. Wiccan. Lesbian.
River frowned at Willow. “Apple trees are expensive. Except for the ones that have already been planted as part of the terraforming process, only the rich can afford them. I don’t think you understand how much of our economy is based on the acquisition of food.” Almost all of it, except when you got into the upper class circles. Food and medicine.
“You still might be able to work something out with the Captain.” River froze. Another one had come, and was with Inara.This was getting to be too much. “Why do you people keep coming?!” She clutched at her head. How many was that, now? She’d lost count.
Willow bit her lip, nodding a little. “But… Having one growing faster and making food forever would be good, right?” She watched River holding her head. “River… What’s wrong? Are you alright? I mean, you don’t make sense.” After a moment, she figured it out and sighed. “We don’t want to be here either. Trust me, I’d rather be home with Tara and Miss Kitty.” Pouting, Willow just looked down and crossed her arms. “I was just supposed to get Xander back, not end up wherever this is.”
River shrugged. It was the captain’s decision. “It might work. I know Simon and I aren’t paying anymore. But that’s because we’re part of the crew.”
She considered it some more. “I don’t make the decision, Mal does. You’ll need to ask him. It’s good in theory, but… it took Kaylee being shot for him to make Simon crew. He’s not exactly trusting, and we’re really poor right now. Always, actually.”
River scratched her nose. “It’s a possibility. You need to ask the captain.” She hoped Willow could be a passenger. Things were stirring. They could use another witch on board. A real one this time.
She nodded, biting her lip and playing with her hair nervously. “I guess I can try talking to him. Maybe I can try helping with things around here or something other than just protection? I don’t really know. You totally won’t have to feed me much or anything. Just give me an apple tree or something, I can make it grow fast enough to feed everyone…” Willow smiled, looking down. Part of her was really proud of her magic, just using it reminded her so much of Tara. Her lover was why she’d gotten so advanced, Tara pushed her to learn more and more. Things just got so much better and she was still a little worried she would see the blonde again.
River contemplated Willow’s words. The fact that it was genetic made sense. She wasn’t too sure she liked the idea of a religion that went with it. Those tended to be irrational, and religious myths were always riddled in mistakes. But she did want to find out if she capable of what Willow was showing to her. She hesitated.
“Not now.” Once they took off, there would be plenty of time for shenanigans. But she still hadn’t met everybody, and another had come while she was talking to Willow.
It occurred to her that she was assuming that Willow would come with them, but she had forgotten to find out if she could. “Can you pay? Voyages aren’t free.”
Willow bit her lip, nodding and looking up at her. She wasn’t sure what to do as far as payment. Tara held most of their money because she knew how Willow could get. At most, she had a hundred dollars. “I just have money from my time… But, I’m sure I could be helpful. I mean, I’m a hacker. Like, computers. Sure, I’m off by about a few thousand years, but I can pick up super fast. And I can help with magic, use it to protect the ship and everything. It’d take a lot of power, but I’m sure I can handle it if I focused enough. Would that help? Because that’s all I really have.”
