Scenes from a Firefly

Scenes from a Firefly

Part Three—Envy

Authors: justslummin and Midnight Obsidian

Disclaimer: Don’t own ‘em. Just playin’ in Joss’ sandbox.

Rating: PG

Summary: Third in the short series of one-shots. Badger thinks about his newest rival.

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Not gorram fittin’ for a man to be treated this way, after all the jobs I’ve brought in for ‘im. Just not gorram fittin’, Badger fumed, looking at one of his oldest and most reliable clients.

The client, completely unconcerned with Badger’s consternation, continued. “And so, I will no longer be requiring your services,” he said, inclining his head in a clear dismissal.

Badger, swallowing with great difficulty the bile that rose in his throat, said, “No need to be all ‘asty there, mate. Could be you’ll be needing me again some time.” He hated the slightly wheedling tone he heard in his own voice.

“I don’t think so,” the man said with a definite air of finality.

Badger knew instantly what had happened. The gorram client had done what many of clients seemed to be doing of late. He had obviously hired that interloping hundan, Easy Mercury, to handle his jobs.

Badger gritted his teeth as he walked out into Persephone’s midday sun. How such a young upstart had managed to cut into the business of a respectable member of the community such as himself was beyond the crime lord’s comprehension. Badger walked rapidly down the streets, his feet taking him unconsciously toward Easy’s office. He stood for a long moment on the street corner, watching the goings-on with bitter displeasure until he realized that it would look to the casual observer as if he were skulking about.

Straightening his bowler hat and tugging at his lapels with a huff of irritation, he stepped forward and walked onto the street fronting Easy’s office. In moments, Easy himself appeared at the doorway.

Badger looked at him through narrowed eyes, barely containing his disapproval of everything the man represented. Easy stepped forward, extending his hand. “Well, what a surprise,” he said heartily. “Wasn’t expecting to see you this fine day, Badger.”

Badger looked at Easy’s outstretched hand and childishly stuck his own hands in his pockets. “Just takin’ a walkabout on the seedy side of town. Seeing ‘ow the less fortunate live, you could say.”

Easy raised one eyebrow, looking pointedly at their surroundings. “Less fortunate, huh?” he said softly. “Looks as if I need to go over to your little hole in the wall place and see if things have changed since last I saw it.”

Badger bristled. “Ain’t a ‘ole in the wall, Mercury,” he said, putting as much venom into the name as he could manage. “Just ‘cause I don’t flaunt my wealth with showy offices like yours don’t mean it ain’t up to snuff. Some o’ us like to show a little discretion in our business dealings.”

He looked at Easy’s stylish clothes, newer than his own, and sneered. “Ain’t all about flash, you know. Man’s gotta ‘ave some substance.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Easy said evenly, refusing to be baited by the little man. “Like, for instance, a man needs a good relationship with his clients. You know, to build loyalty and the like. Be a shame to lose clients to a young man just coming along, wouldn’t you say?” He grinned widely.

Badger’s pulse beat wildly at his temple. Little cockroach was insulting him, he was fairly certain. Like Mercury thought he was better than him in some way, gorram idiot.

“Quality clients stay with a man as does the job,” he ground out. “Riffraff changes up at the drop of a hat. I got no use for riffraff.”

Easy smiled an infuriating smile. “And yet I find that discerning clients shop around for the man that can do the best job, regardless of the shoddy work they had to accept from lesser men in the past.”

Badger was quite sure that steam might come out of his ears in a minute. “You sayin’ I’m a lesser man?”

Easy feigned surprise. “What would make you think I was referring to you, Badger? You losing clients or something?”

Picturing the satisfying feel of Easy’s nose breaking under his fist, Badger managed to hold back. “I don’t ‘ave the time to stand ‘ere in the middle of this sorry street and discuss business with the likes of you, Mercury.” And taking all the dignity that he could muster with him, he turned on his heels and headed back to his turf.

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Badger strode angrily into his office, still seething from his aborted confrontation with Easy. It wasn’t like he was scared or anything, he told himself. It was just that these things were best handled in a delicate way, a civilized way. He nodded to himself, thinking that sounded almost poetical.

Could be that the younger man was just an exceptionally bright flash in the pan, he thought. Rivals over the years had tended to come and go rather quickly, most without his help to nudge them out. But there was something unsettling about Easy’s demeanor. Something that looked a helluva lot like a genuine threat to Badger’s bottom line.

Badger pulled out the ledger he kept locked in the secret compartment of his desk drawer and thumbed through its pages glumly. No doubt about it, since Easy had infiltrated his client list somehow, Badger had been steadily seeing fewer and fewer profits. Of course, the whole Mrs. Niska debacle had cost him quite a lot, when he considered the cut he’d had to give to the insufferable Malcolm Reynolds on that botched job. But he could have recovered from that temporary hiccup in his cash flow had Easy not breezed into town with his fine clothes and his nervous energy.

While Badger did not see the attraction of that restless nature of Easy’s, it seemed obvious that clients mistook it for an eagerness to please them, which had only worked to Badger’s disadvantage. Had to be some way to stem the tide, he thought. Some way to bring the upstart to his knees with a minimum of effort and expenditure.

Looking balefully at his ledger balance, he realized that the latter would be a necessity as the number was infinitely smaller than it had been in prior years. Cursing the fates that allowed such, he slammed the ledger shut and stomped over to his liquor cabinet, pulling out one of his favorite bottles and pouring himself a stiff drink.

As the fiery liquid poured down his throat, he closed his eyes, pondering elaborate schemes to take Easy out. Problem was, none of them seemed likely of resounding success without an element of danger that Badger was not willing to accept just yet. So, he poured another drink and leaned his head back against the desk chair.

Outside, one of his men peered into the office, observing his boss with a hint of insubordination.

“What’s he doing now?” another man whispered.

“Drinking himself into a stupor again,” the first man replied. “Like he always does after running into Mercury.”

The second of Badger’s guards frowned. “You thinkin’ about taking Mercury’s offer?” he asked quietly.

“Be a fool not to,” the first man said, smiling without any genuine humor. “Offerin’ near twice as much as Badger, and looks to be on the rise in this town.”

The second guard nodded. “Me too,” he said. “In fact, I don’t see any reason not to leave right now. Easy don’t have near the turnover as Badger, and we might not get a spot if we don’t hurry.”

“My thoughts exactly,” the first man said, glancing back once more at the man who’d employed him for four years. Deciding to let sleeping dogs lie, he grinned at his companion. “No time like the present.”

And the two men walked through the stillness of the afternoon, leaving Badger alone in his empty office to cast their lot with the new boss in town.

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