"TENC" - Rough
Firefly TENC beta vers. of chapter 4
Simon, Mal, OCs + Rayne
THIS IS STILL VERY, VERY ROUGH!
The Emperor's New Clothes
“So," Mal asked lightly, "how'd the outin' go?"
Simon sat down wearily at the table, running a hand through his hair and smiling tightly. "It was... Fine. I suppose. River talked to one man, but... that came to nothing, and she didn't seem interested in anyone else."
Mal stared at him.
Simon frowned, getting a little uncomfortable at the captain's intent look. "What?"
"Ain't that what you wanted? Her to go out but not find anyone?"
Simon winced. "No. W-well... Yes. That would be the perhaps best possible outcome, I think, but - "
Mal exhaled in a huff. "This is about Jayne, ain't it? You want 'er to be happy, I'm sure, but you wouldn't 'a worried 'bout her love life if she hadn't started gettin' closer to Jayne." Mal shook his head and laughed. "You jus' want her to find someone to distract her from him."
A bit shocked at the captain's perceptive reading of the situation, Simon could only nod dumbly. "I... Yes. Yes, that's right. I told you I was worried and I stand by that. I want to... to help introduce her to a man that... that could override any romantic inclinations she may have towards Jayne."
"You ever think o' his feelin', doc? Jayne ain't gonna let nothin' romantical happen unless he wants it to."
"Have you ever watched them together, Mal? Really watched them? They flirt, they find excuses to touch each other, they spend more time together than they do with anyone else. It... I don't understand how I'm the only one to see it."
Mal shook his head. "Wish you had never noticed they was friends - you been harpin' on this ever since." Simon started to speak but the captain held up a hand to interrupt him. "Fine. You want me to watch 'em? I will. But I can just about promise you I ain't gonna see anything."
"You... If you watch them, Mal, I just don't see how you can miss it."
True to his word, the captain started his observations the very next day. Much to Simon's dismay, he was not subtle. "Would you... Stop staring," Simon chastised under his breath, leaning in towards the captain.
"I figured you'd appreciate the close scrutiny, doc," Mal retorted, never taking his eyes off his hired gun and his pilot.
"Well if they notice, however close that scrutiny may be, it won't do any good, will it?"
"Hey doc!" Jayne called loudly. Simon sat up, his features gone slack with surprise. The mercenary smirked at him, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Li'l Kaylee's goin' t'get jealous if you keep cuddlin' up to the captain like that."
Simon scowled and moved a little away from Mal. "Jayne... No one here is cuddling. We were talking. And... and what are you doing anyway?"
"Huh? Oh. Me an' the moonbrain got gun-cleanin' duty."
"Yes," River agreed, gesturing to the large number of guns laid out before them on a dirty piece of canvas. "Forced into hard labor - trumped-up charges."
"Yeah," Jayne said, pointing harshly at Mal. "Ol' Cap'n grumpy here said she was dancin' too loud 'r some go se like that."
Simon's eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Dancing too loudly?" he asked Mal quietly. "Really?"
"Well I had to get them together somehow. They weren't cooperatin' on their own."
"Yes, but they know you're watching now," the doctor explained through clenched teeth. "Of course you won't see anything telling."
"Maybe I ain't gonna see anything, doc, 'cause there ain't anything to... see."
Mal's attention left Simon and quickly the doctor looked over to Jayne and River to see what had caught Mal's eye. River was smiling up at the large man, looking more than a little besotted. Jayne's eyes flicked back and forth for half a second between the guns and the girl before he cleared his throat and gave her an awkward, tender pat on the head.
Simon met the captain's eyes.
"That," Mal said deliberately, his voice barely above a whisper, "Don't mean nothin'."
"Mal..."
The captain sighed. "Fine," he said defeatedly. "I'll help ya."
xXx
"Sir, what the hell is going on here?"
Mal's smile faltered a little under his first mate's stare. "Now Zo, don't go accusin' me o' nothin' 'til you here the whole story."
"I'm not accusin'," she told him, her arms crossed and one elegant eyebrow raised. "I'm perfectly willin' to give you a chance to explain." She paused, unable to stop herself from smiling at little at Mal's discomfort. "So start explainin'."
"Just thought, since the last little venture with our li'l witch an' the girls didn't go too swift, that maybe I - as a fine, upstandin' captain daddy - might do a good job findin' her a nice fella to take out."
"You have got to be kiddin'," Zoe deadpanned.
"Hey," Mal told her defensively, "I'm just tryin' to help."
Zoe rolled her eyes, putting a hand up in defeat as she sauntered away. "Whatever you say, sir. Whatever you say."
"That talk's soundin' mutinous," Mal called after her. "I know what I'm doin'! It ain't interferin' - it's for her best interests!"
"Whose best interests?" Kaylee asked, coming over. She shook a dirty rag at him. "Y'got to let me stop soon an' pick up some more oil, cap. Our girl ain't gonna last much longer 'less we get some soon."
He frowned. "Thought we had - "
"Nope!" Kaylee shook her head quickly. "That ran dry 'bout a month 'r so ago."
"Oh. Well fine, then, I guess next place we stop I can - "
"Hey." Kaylee touched his arm. "Who's that?"
Mal looked over to the tall, thin young man in blue coveralls standing silently off to one side. "Oh! Forgot he was there for a second. Kaylee, this here's Johnny... well, Johnny somethin'." Mal tilted his head up, smiling proudly. "He's Albatross's date for this evenin'."
"A... date?" Kaylee frowned a little, her eyes still on the boy. "Cap'n, I ain't real sure River's gonna like that."
"O' course she will, li'l Kaylee. Already talked to her brother about it - an' didn't y'all just take her out lookin' for boys? I'm only tryin' to help an' you're gonna stand there an' - "
"All right," she said with a laugh. "Maybe she won't get too mad at ya. Bye Johnny!" she said with a wave. "Nice t'meet you."
"Too mad. Hey!" he yelled after his mechanic, "per-maybe-haps she'll see I'm jus' tryin' to help!" He shook his head. "My whole crew's turnin' against me."
"Um... s-sir?" Johnny stepped forward with a tentative smile. "I don't know if this is such a - "
"It's fine," Mal told him, clapping the boy on the back. "Ain't got a thing f'r you to worry about. River's jus' the nicest girl you'll ever meet an' y'all are gonna have a real good time."
"I-if you say so, sir."
Mal nodded definitively. "I do."
Simon - who had helped Mal find the boy - had been fretting over their decision to set River up the entire day. They were only doing it out of love, but the kindly-meant interference might not go over so well with the girl with whom they were interfering. And making a psychic assassin angry was something that no one really wanted to do.
He gave River a warm smile as he stood in her doorway.
She frowned. "You are up to something, ge ge."
"W-well... River, why don't you come to the hold with me? For just a little while." She rolled her eyes but stood up to follow him.
Trying hard to keep back any stray thoughts about what they were planning, Simon gently led her to the ship's hold. She blinked in surprise when she saw the unfamiliar figure standing next to the captain. "Who is this?" she asked.
"His name's Johnny," Mal said proudly, clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder. The man smiled, wringing his hat between his hands. "He's the pilot on a ship called the Bethany. So y'all probably have a lot in common."
"He's pretty nice-lookin', ain't he?" Kaylee asked merrily. She giggled and said, "Well, best leave you an' River to yourselves. Have a nice time!"
"Have a nice time? What does she mean by this?"
Simon swallowed nervously. "W-well... Mal and I thought that, maybe, you and Johnny would like to go out for a little while. M-maybe on... a date."
"A date." She looked at Simon in disbelief.
"Yup," Mal answered, giving her a somewhat stern look. "Y'ought to just give him a chance, Albatross. 'M sure you'll have a great gorram time."
"Hello Johnny," River said, showing no enthusiasm whatsoever. "Ready for departure when you are."
He swallowed. "Okay, River." After half a second he gave her a tentative smile and said, "You're real pretty. I bet we have a real good time. I..." He swallowed again. "Well, let's go then."
She nodded and they headed out, River leading while the young pilot shuffled slightly behind.
"Goodbye, mei mei!" Simon called. "Be careful. And have a good time!" She only held up a hand in response. He sighed and she walked further and further away. He was beginning to think that letting her go off on her own had been a bad idea.
"Don't worry," Kaylee told him, wrapping her arms around his middle. "They'll be fine. An' if they get into any trouble then I bet Jayne'll help 'em out - he said he had some stuff to do while we was here."
"Wait, you mean Jayne is out there? He's not on the ship?"
Mal rolled his eyes. "That's gen'rally what 'out there' means, doc."
Simon groaned, hoping that Jayne had nothing to do with River's easy acceptance of the date they'd set up for her. On one level it was comforting to know that there was someone out there to watch out for her, but at the same time Jayne's presence would be nothing but a hindrance to any blossoming romantic feelings between River and her date.
xXx
Mal sighed. "Let's go through it, then. So you didn't like Johnny because... ?"
"Too shy," River said simply. "Unattractive. Want a man with confidence."
Mal nodded. "Okay, guess I c'n give you that. But Cal? What was wrong with him? Seemed like a nice fellow t'me."
"Nice, yes," River agreed, "but too smart. Could not accept that my intellect exceeded his. Need a man with common sense - but who can accept the girl's brilliance without feeling threatened."
"That's what you get for bein' a gorram genius, Albatross," Mal said proudly, his 'Captain Daddy' mode going full blast. "So I get it. But then Brown weren't too smart. What was wrong with him? He seemed all right."
"Then you may date him," she teased. "He was too small - not physically appealing. Need a big, strong man: large arms to protect and hold, built sturdy enough to match me in a fight."
"Don't think anyone can match you, girl." Mal sighed. "Y'sure are specific. So lemme see. You want a confident, not-too-smart man who's big an' can fight?"
Simon squeezed his eyes shut, pulling on his hair with both hands. 'And let me guess,' he thought caustically, 'he needs to have a girl's name, as well.'
~~~
Well! All right then. That means that chapter 4 has officially been... well, a first, ultra-rough version has been written. I still have a lot (a lot, a lot, a lot) of work to do on it; actually, I probably could have made it a little better right now, but I am lazy and I just wanted to get the darn thing written. Heh. I'll go and do revisions later today, and then I shall try to make it full of lovely and awesomeness. Huzzah. Since I'm still feeling a little icky (and since everyone is gone), I have pretty much the whole weekend to work on this. Oh yeah.
-ILB
Simon, Mal, OCs + Rayne
THIS IS STILL VERY, VERY ROUGH!
The Emperor's New Clothes
“So," Mal asked lightly, "how'd the outin' go?"
Simon sat down wearily at the table, running a hand through his hair and smiling tightly. "It was... Fine. I suppose. River talked to one man, but... that came to nothing, and she didn't seem interested in anyone else."
Mal stared at him.
Simon frowned, getting a little uncomfortable at the captain's intent look. "What?"
"Ain't that what you wanted? Her to go out but not find anyone?"
Simon winced. "No. W-well... Yes. That would be the perhaps best possible outcome, I think, but - "
Mal exhaled in a huff. "This is about Jayne, ain't it? You want 'er to be happy, I'm sure, but you wouldn't 'a worried 'bout her love life if she hadn't started gettin' closer to Jayne." Mal shook his head and laughed. "You jus' want her to find someone to distract her from him."
A bit shocked at the captain's perceptive reading of the situation, Simon could only nod dumbly. "I... Yes. Yes, that's right. I told you I was worried and I stand by that. I want to... to help introduce her to a man that... that could override any romantic inclinations she may have towards Jayne."
"You ever think o' his feelin', doc? Jayne ain't gonna let nothin' romantical happen unless he wants it to."
"Have you ever watched them together, Mal? Really watched them? They flirt, they find excuses to touch each other, they spend more time together than they do with anyone else. It... I don't understand how I'm the only one to see it."
Mal shook his head. "Wish you had never noticed they was friends - you been harpin' on this ever since." Simon started to speak but the captain held up a hand to interrupt him. "Fine. You want me to watch 'em? I will. But I can just about promise you I ain't gonna see anything."
"You... If you watch them, Mal, I just don't see how you can miss it."
True to his word, the captain started his observations the very next day. Much to Simon's dismay, he was not subtle. "Would you... Stop staring," Simon chastised under his breath, leaning in towards the captain.
"I figured you'd appreciate the close scrutiny, doc," Mal retorted, never taking his eyes off his hired gun and his pilot.
"Well if they notice, however close that scrutiny may be, it won't do any good, will it?"
"Hey doc!" Jayne called loudly. Simon sat up, his features gone slack with surprise. The mercenary smirked at him, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Li'l Kaylee's goin' t'get jealous if you keep cuddlin' up to the captain like that."
Simon scowled and moved a little away from Mal. "Jayne... No one here is cuddling. We were talking. And... and what are you doing anyway?"
"Huh? Oh. Me an' the moonbrain got gun-cleanin' duty."
"Yes," River agreed, gesturing to the large number of guns laid out before them on a dirty piece of canvas. "Forced into hard labor - trumped-up charges."
"Yeah," Jayne said, pointing harshly at Mal. "Ol' Cap'n grumpy here said she was dancin' too loud 'r some go se like that."
Simon's eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Dancing too loudly?" he asked Mal quietly. "Really?"
"Well I had to get them together somehow. They weren't cooperatin' on their own."
"Yes, but they know you're watching now," the doctor explained through clenched teeth. "Of course you won't see anything telling."
"Maybe I ain't gonna see anything, doc, 'cause there ain't anything to... see."
Mal's attention left Simon and quickly the doctor looked over to Jayne and River to see what had caught Mal's eye. River was smiling up at the large man, looking more than a little besotted. Jayne's eyes flicked back and forth for half a second between the guns and the girl before he cleared his throat and gave her an awkward, tender pat on the head.
Simon met the captain's eyes.
"That," Mal said deliberately, his voice barely above a whisper, "Don't mean nothin'."
"Mal..."
The captain sighed. "Fine," he said defeatedly. "I'll help ya."
xXx
"Sir, what the hell is going on here?"
Mal's smile faltered a little under his first mate's stare. "Now Zo, don't go accusin' me o' nothin' 'til you here the whole story."
"I'm not accusin'," she told him, her arms crossed and one elegant eyebrow raised. "I'm perfectly willin' to give you a chance to explain." She paused, unable to stop herself from smiling at little at Mal's discomfort. "So start explainin'."
"Just thought, since the last little venture with our li'l witch an' the girls didn't go too swift, that maybe I - as a fine, upstandin' captain daddy - might do a good job findin' her a nice fella to take out."
"You have got to be kiddin'," Zoe deadpanned.
"Hey," Mal told her defensively, "I'm just tryin' to help."
Zoe rolled her eyes, putting a hand up in defeat as she sauntered away. "Whatever you say, sir. Whatever you say."
"That talk's soundin' mutinous," Mal called after her. "I know what I'm doin'! It ain't interferin' - it's for her best interests!"
"Whose best interests?" Kaylee asked, coming over. She shook a dirty rag at him. "Y'got to let me stop soon an' pick up some more oil, cap. Our girl ain't gonna last much longer 'less we get some soon."
He frowned. "Thought we had - "
"Nope!" Kaylee shook her head quickly. "That ran dry 'bout a month 'r so ago."
"Oh. Well fine, then, I guess next place we stop I can - "
"Hey." Kaylee touched his arm. "Who's that?"
Mal looked over to the tall, thin young man in blue coveralls standing silently off to one side. "Oh! Forgot he was there for a second. Kaylee, this here's Johnny... well, Johnny somethin'." Mal tilted his head up, smiling proudly. "He's Albatross's date for this evenin'."
"A... date?" Kaylee frowned a little, her eyes still on the boy. "Cap'n, I ain't real sure River's gonna like that."
"O' course she will, li'l Kaylee. Already talked to her brother about it - an' didn't y'all just take her out lookin' for boys? I'm only tryin' to help an' you're gonna stand there an' - "
"All right," she said with a laugh. "Maybe she won't get too mad at ya. Bye Johnny!" she said with a wave. "Nice t'meet you."
"Too mad. Hey!" he yelled after his mechanic, "per-maybe-haps she'll see I'm jus' tryin' to help!" He shook his head. "My whole crew's turnin' against me."
"Um... s-sir?" Johnny stepped forward with a tentative smile. "I don't know if this is such a - "
"It's fine," Mal told him, clapping the boy on the back. "Ain't got a thing f'r you to worry about. River's jus' the nicest girl you'll ever meet an' y'all are gonna have a real good time."
"I-if you say so, sir."
Mal nodded definitively. "I do."
Simon - who had helped Mal find the boy - had been fretting over their decision to set River up the entire day. They were only doing it out of love, but the kindly-meant interference might not go over so well with the girl with whom they were interfering. And making a psychic assassin angry was something that no one really wanted to do.
He gave River a warm smile as he stood in her doorway.
She frowned. "You are up to something, ge ge."
"W-well... River, why don't you come to the hold with me? For just a little while." She rolled her eyes but stood up to follow him.
Trying hard to keep back any stray thoughts about what they were planning, Simon gently led her to the ship's hold. She blinked in surprise when she saw the unfamiliar figure standing next to the captain. "Who is this?" she asked.
"His name's Johnny," Mal said proudly, clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder. The man smiled, wringing his hat between his hands. "He's the pilot on a ship called the Bethany. So y'all probably have a lot in common."
"He's pretty nice-lookin', ain't he?" Kaylee asked merrily. She giggled and said, "Well, best leave you an' River to yourselves. Have a nice time!"
"Have a nice time? What does she mean by this?"
Simon swallowed nervously. "W-well... Mal and I thought that, maybe, you and Johnny would like to go out for a little while. M-maybe on... a date."
"A date." She looked at Simon in disbelief.
"Yup," Mal answered, giving her a somewhat stern look. "Y'ought to just give him a chance, Albatross. 'M sure you'll have a great gorram time."
"Hello Johnny," River said, showing no enthusiasm whatsoever. "Ready for departure when you are."
He swallowed. "Okay, River." After half a second he gave her a tentative smile and said, "You're real pretty. I bet we have a real good time. I..." He swallowed again. "Well, let's go then."
She nodded and they headed out, River leading while the young pilot shuffled slightly behind.
"Goodbye, mei mei!" Simon called. "Be careful. And have a good time!" She only held up a hand in response. He sighed and she walked further and further away. He was beginning to think that letting her go off on her own had been a bad idea.
"Don't worry," Kaylee told him, wrapping her arms around his middle. "They'll be fine. An' if they get into any trouble then I bet Jayne'll help 'em out - he said he had some stuff to do while we was here."
"Wait, you mean Jayne is out there? He's not on the ship?"
Mal rolled his eyes. "That's gen'rally what 'out there' means, doc."
Simon groaned, hoping that Jayne had nothing to do with River's easy acceptance of the date they'd set up for her. On one level it was comforting to know that there was someone out there to watch out for her, but at the same time Jayne's presence would be nothing but a hindrance to any blossoming romantic feelings between River and her date.
xXx
Mal sighed. "Let's go through it, then. So you didn't like Johnny because... ?"
"Too shy," River said simply. "Unattractive. Want a man with confidence."
Mal nodded. "Okay, guess I c'n give you that. But Cal? What was wrong with him? Seemed like a nice fellow t'me."
"Nice, yes," River agreed, "but too smart. Could not accept that my intellect exceeded his. Need a man with common sense - but who can accept the girl's brilliance without feeling threatened."
"That's what you get for bein' a gorram genius, Albatross," Mal said proudly, his 'Captain Daddy' mode going full blast. "So I get it. But then Brown weren't too smart. What was wrong with him? He seemed all right."
"Then you may date him," she teased. "He was too small - not physically appealing. Need a big, strong man: large arms to protect and hold, built sturdy enough to match me in a fight."
"Don't think anyone can match you, girl." Mal sighed. "Y'sure are specific. So lemme see. You want a confident, not-too-smart man who's big an' can fight?"
Simon squeezed his eyes shut, pulling on his hair with both hands. 'And let me guess,' he thought caustically, 'he needs to have a girl's name, as well.'
~~~
Well! All right then. That means that chapter 4 has officially been... well, a first, ultra-rough version has been written. I still have a lot (a lot, a lot, a lot) of work to do on it; actually, I probably could have made it a little better right now, but I am lazy and I just wanted to get the darn thing written. Heh. I'll go and do revisions later today, and then I shall try to make it full of lovely and awesomeness. Huzzah. Since I'm still feeling a little icky (and since everyone is gone), I have pretty much the whole weekend to work on this. Oh yeah.
-ILB