Request-ficlets: Four Firefly
ancarett wanted anything Mal.
As far as Mal was concerned, some things were constant. Serenity was going to get the hiccups every so often and Kaylee would have to half-take her apart to fix them. At least once a day, he was going to say something that would make Zoe look at him like he was a complete idiot. And playing cards against women was never a good idea. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Especially a deceptive woman whose face he couldn’t read at all. And a cheerful woman who could lie right through her teeth while grinning at him like she’d just come in from picking flowers. And a tiny, dangerous woman with brain that could cause interplanetary conflicts.
This was not the best plan he’d ever had.
“It’s your bet,” River informed him, slowly fanning her cards in front of her face. “But probability is against you.”
“Where there’s life, there’s hope, little one,” he muttered, frowning at his own hand. She had a point, unfortunately.
She tilted her head to the side. “Where there’s life, there’s energy conversion and independent reproduction, actually. You need to bet.”
“Yes, Mal,” Inara said, smiling sweetly across the table at him. “Don’t keep us all waiting.”
“You’ve already won all the money I had to spare and the shirt off my back,” he said sourly. “I think you can stand to wait just a minute.”
“Speaking of which, if she won your shirt, how come you’re still wearing it?” Kaylee asked.
“She let me write her an IOU.”
“I have no need to see that, Kaylee,” Inara said, wrinkling her nose delicately. “It’s for the best if Mal remains clothed at all times, I think.”
“That’s a lie,” River murmured, and Inara blushed.
Mal smirked at his uncooperative cards. Well, maybe hearing that made it almost worth the fact that he was dead broke and about to lose his pants to Kaylee. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be willing to take the IOU.
grav_ity wanted Jaylee linked to the infirmary-scene from Serenity-the-pilot.
He’d kissed her once, just a few days before that last job for Badger, just a few days before the passengers came on board.
It had been late at night, in the dining room. She was up late nursing a sick engine (when had he started saying things like that, like she did, instead of busted or broken like a sane man?) and he was just...restless. Couldn’t sleep. Needed to move around.
They wound up trading stories back and forth across the table, drinking some kind of bittersweet tea she’d picked up planetside. Not war stories like Mal and Zoe, or fighting stories like he and Zoe might’ve or whoring stories like he and Mal might’ve if he and Mal or Zoe ever sat around and talked. Not with Kaylee. Somehow she got him telling life-stories. Old-time stories. Family stories and stories from when he was a kid. Stuff he never talked about with nobody.
And then finally she’d told him to get himself to bed, and that she was going to check her engine one more time and then do the same. She leaned across the table and kissed him on the forehead. He caught her wrist and tugged her back and kissed her properly. She tasted like that tea, but more sweet than bitter.
Then she ran off and he went to bed and maybe they would’ve picked it up later but everything went to hell.
And now he’s sitting up there on the catwalk looking down into the infirmary and wishing as hard as he can that he’d kissed her more than just the once.
spuffyduds wanted Jaylee and "spelunking in the dark." Hee.
“Why the rutting hell are we crawling around in a gorram cave?”
“Because this is where Mal says the contact hid the goods.” Kaylee lifted her flashlight higher and peered into the darkness. “He didn’t know it was gonna flood.”
“Bet he did. Bet he’s having a good laugh at us right now.” Jayne grumbled and kicked at the ankle-deep water. “Can’t believe Mal sent us to find this crap.”
“Wasn’t his first plan,” she said, smirking a little into the shadows so he couldn’t see. “I had to do some persuading.”
“Are you out of your gorram mind? You wanted to come down here crawling around in the dark and the wet trying to find a box of junk?”
“I didn’t know it was gonna be all wet. I thought it would be...cozy.” She glanced back over her shoulder, angling the flashlight so it would illuminate her face and meaningfully arched eyebrow.
It took him a minute to get it. She knew the instant it all came together, from the way his eyes lit up and his mouth opened a little bit, and she grinned. That was her boy.
“Might be some higher ground a little farther back,” he said, lifting his own light up higher. “A little dryer, anyway.”
“Let’s hope,” she giggled, splashing deeper into the cave. “At least I know you know what to do with a girl in the dark, Jayne Cobb.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said solemnly, following a pace behind her. “More or less the same thing you do with her in the light.”
jebbypal wanted Jayne and a puppy.
“Get rid of it,” Mal shouted as he stomped up the stairs to the catwalk.
“Can’t,” Jayne told his back, causing the captain to stop, turn, and stare.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I mean I can’t, Mal. It followed me back here and it’s snowing something fierce out there and I can’t just throw it out.” Jayne looked down at the motley bundle of fur in his arms. “It would freeze to death. Can’t have that on my conscience.”
“You’re a mercenary.” Mal was pronouncing each word extremely distinctly, like he wanted to make sure that no part of the thought stayed behind in his mouth.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
They stared at each other in honest confusion for a moment while Kaylee covered her mouth with both hands and shook all over trying not to laugh, and Inara failed in the same attempt and had to feign a coughing fit until Wash pounded her on the back in concern.
“It probably belongs to some kid in town,” Jayne went on, gently jiggling the creature until it stretched up and licked his face. “I’ll walk back up there tomorrow if the snow stops and try to find out who.”
“Jayne, we’re supposed to leave tonight!”
“Well, if you let me keep it, we can!”
Wash raised his hand at that. “Um, what about the poor kid in town, then?”
“Aw, they’ll find another.” Jayne rolled his eyes. “Dogs are a dime a dozen, places like this.”
“Not on my boat, Jayne!”
“It won’t be any trouble, Mal, come on.”
“It is a boy,” River announced from her perch atop a stack of crates. “For the record.”
They all turned to stare at her. “How do you know?” Mal demanded. “Reading its tiny little mind?”
She snorted. “No. He has the requisite body parts. I noticed when he followed Jayne in.”
They stood in silence for a moment. “So can I keep him, Mal?” Jayne asked.
“No!” Mal threw his hands in the air. “You can’t!”
“For one thing,” Zoe said, “it would put the males on this ship at far too much of a numerical advantage.”
“We could keep the dog and get rid of the doctor,” Jayne muttered, scowling at the floor and hugging the animal closer to his chest.
To his credit, Mal only paused for a few seconds before rejecting that.
As far as Mal was concerned, some things were constant. Serenity was going to get the hiccups every so often and Kaylee would have to half-take her apart to fix them. At least once a day, he was going to say something that would make Zoe look at him like he was a complete idiot. And playing cards against women was never a good idea. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Especially a deceptive woman whose face he couldn’t read at all. And a cheerful woman who could lie right through her teeth while grinning at him like she’d just come in from picking flowers. And a tiny, dangerous woman with brain that could cause interplanetary conflicts.
This was not the best plan he’d ever had.
“It’s your bet,” River informed him, slowly fanning her cards in front of her face. “But probability is against you.”
“Where there’s life, there’s hope, little one,” he muttered, frowning at his own hand. She had a point, unfortunately.
She tilted her head to the side. “Where there’s life, there’s energy conversion and independent reproduction, actually. You need to bet.”
“Yes, Mal,” Inara said, smiling sweetly across the table at him. “Don’t keep us all waiting.”
“You’ve already won all the money I had to spare and the shirt off my back,” he said sourly. “I think you can stand to wait just a minute.”
“Speaking of which, if she won your shirt, how come you’re still wearing it?” Kaylee asked.
“She let me write her an IOU.”
“I have no need to see that, Kaylee,” Inara said, wrinkling her nose delicately. “It’s for the best if Mal remains clothed at all times, I think.”
“That’s a lie,” River murmured, and Inara blushed.
Mal smirked at his uncooperative cards. Well, maybe hearing that made it almost worth the fact that he was dead broke and about to lose his pants to Kaylee. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be willing to take the IOU.
grav_ity wanted Jaylee linked to the infirmary-scene from Serenity-the-pilot.
He’d kissed her once, just a few days before that last job for Badger, just a few days before the passengers came on board.
It had been late at night, in the dining room. She was up late nursing a sick engine (when had he started saying things like that, like she did, instead of busted or broken like a sane man?) and he was just...restless. Couldn’t sleep. Needed to move around.
They wound up trading stories back and forth across the table, drinking some kind of bittersweet tea she’d picked up planetside. Not war stories like Mal and Zoe, or fighting stories like he and Zoe might’ve or whoring stories like he and Mal might’ve if he and Mal or Zoe ever sat around and talked. Not with Kaylee. Somehow she got him telling life-stories. Old-time stories. Family stories and stories from when he was a kid. Stuff he never talked about with nobody.
And then finally she’d told him to get himself to bed, and that she was going to check her engine one more time and then do the same. She leaned across the table and kissed him on the forehead. He caught her wrist and tugged her back and kissed her properly. She tasted like that tea, but more sweet than bitter.
Then she ran off and he went to bed and maybe they would’ve picked it up later but everything went to hell.
And now he’s sitting up there on the catwalk looking down into the infirmary and wishing as hard as he can that he’d kissed her more than just the once.
spuffyduds wanted Jaylee and "spelunking in the dark." Hee.
“Why the rutting hell are we crawling around in a gorram cave?”
“Because this is where Mal says the contact hid the goods.” Kaylee lifted her flashlight higher and peered into the darkness. “He didn’t know it was gonna flood.”
“Bet he did. Bet he’s having a good laugh at us right now.” Jayne grumbled and kicked at the ankle-deep water. “Can’t believe Mal sent us to find this crap.”
“Wasn’t his first plan,” she said, smirking a little into the shadows so he couldn’t see. “I had to do some persuading.”
“Are you out of your gorram mind? You wanted to come down here crawling around in the dark and the wet trying to find a box of junk?”
“I didn’t know it was gonna be all wet. I thought it would be...cozy.” She glanced back over her shoulder, angling the flashlight so it would illuminate her face and meaningfully arched eyebrow.
It took him a minute to get it. She knew the instant it all came together, from the way his eyes lit up and his mouth opened a little bit, and she grinned. That was her boy.
“Might be some higher ground a little farther back,” he said, lifting his own light up higher. “A little dryer, anyway.”
“Let’s hope,” she giggled, splashing deeper into the cave. “At least I know you know what to do with a girl in the dark, Jayne Cobb.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said solemnly, following a pace behind her. “More or less the same thing you do with her in the light.”
jebbypal wanted Jayne and a puppy.
“Get rid of it,” Mal shouted as he stomped up the stairs to the catwalk.
“Can’t,” Jayne told his back, causing the captain to stop, turn, and stare.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I mean I can’t, Mal. It followed me back here and it’s snowing something fierce out there and I can’t just throw it out.” Jayne looked down at the motley bundle of fur in his arms. “It would freeze to death. Can’t have that on my conscience.”
“You’re a mercenary.” Mal was pronouncing each word extremely distinctly, like he wanted to make sure that no part of the thought stayed behind in his mouth.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
They stared at each other in honest confusion for a moment while Kaylee covered her mouth with both hands and shook all over trying not to laugh, and Inara failed in the same attempt and had to feign a coughing fit until Wash pounded her on the back in concern.
“It probably belongs to some kid in town,” Jayne went on, gently jiggling the creature until it stretched up and licked his face. “I’ll walk back up there tomorrow if the snow stops and try to find out who.”
“Jayne, we’re supposed to leave tonight!”
“Well, if you let me keep it, we can!”
Wash raised his hand at that. “Um, what about the poor kid in town, then?”
“Aw, they’ll find another.” Jayne rolled his eyes. “Dogs are a dime a dozen, places like this.”
“Not on my boat, Jayne!”
“It won’t be any trouble, Mal, come on.”
“It is a boy,” River announced from her perch atop a stack of crates. “For the record.”
They all turned to stare at her. “How do you know?” Mal demanded. “Reading its tiny little mind?”
She snorted. “No. He has the requisite body parts. I noticed when he followed Jayne in.”
They stood in silence for a moment. “So can I keep him, Mal?” Jayne asked.
“No!” Mal threw his hands in the air. “You can’t!”
“For one thing,” Zoe said, “it would put the males on this ship at far too much of a numerical advantage.”
“We could keep the dog and get rid of the doctor,” Jayne muttered, scowling at the floor and hugging the animal closer to his chest.
To his credit, Mal only paused for a few seconds before rejecting that.