[fic] Get Miles - 1/3
Title: Get Miles
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Nightmare, Firefly
Pairings: Ni~ya x Sakito, Mal x Sakito
Disclaimer: People belong to themselves, Firefly belongs to Joss Whedon.
Summary: Evicted from their home and strapped for cash, Niya and Sakito decide to risk a move to a new world in the hopes they would be able to find honest work. During the trip, Sakito unexpectedly meets with a part of his past that he's been trying so very hard to hide from Niya.
Comments: For josietries. ♥ I was going to make it somewhat slapstick, but my muses had other ideas. :x The title is taken from a Gomez song I absolutely love and think kind of works here.
“This one’s as good as any, Saki. It’s not like we have the money to afford anything nicer.” Niya was clearly exasperated with his dithering. Everything about the boat screamed petty crime; Sakito knew what Firefly-class vessels were for, but Niya didn’t, and he wasn’t about to inform him. He eyed the dirty steel and dents and scrapes of the well-worn hull with a twinge in his gut that he didn’t quite care for. But there wasn’t much to be done, what with how little money the pair had between them and the itty-bitty problem of being evicted from their rented room in town. Niya was already counting the coins from his pocket on the palm of his hand, tight-lipped and clearly anxious about the trip. It would be his first.
With a sigh, Sakito patted his arm comfortingly and wandered, resolutely keeping his eyes from seeking out all the nooks and crannies for smuggling he’d have to be an idiot (or a Fed, but the terms were often synonymous) to miss. Inside, the ship wasn’t in much better shape than outside. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and for a second he hoped they weren’t looking for passengers at all and had merely forgotten to close the door. That was an entirely absurd notion, of course.
A female voice that reminded him of sunshine and daisies interrupted Sakito’s slow stroll up the loading ramp, “Hi! You look like you need a ride.”
“One might say. Where are you going and how much?” Sakito’s response was easy and automatic, drawn out of him by this young woman in greasy coveralls that seemed to have nothing in the universe to hide. She blinked, and looked more than a little surprised.
“Wow, I really thought you were a girl!” She gave a laugh with a hint of a snort and looked apologetic. Sakito’s lips twitched in half embarrassment, half amusement, and she tried to say something else.” “I mean….just…wow. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I get that a lot.”
“We’re not going anywhere in particular.” The first evasive thing she’d said. Or maybe she honestly had no idea. “I’m Kaylee and this here is Serenity.”
“Sakito,” he returned with his most charmingly shy smile. “As long as it’s somewhere cheap and you have room for two, I’ll buy a spot.” He trusted the girl for a reason he couldn’t say, despite his misgivings about the transport. Familiarity, that’s what he was feeling, Sakito realized. It must have been Kaylee’s chirpy attitude.
“Shiny. We’re leaving real soon, so you come on and get settled.”
“I’ll be right there, I have to get my…er…friend.” Turning, Sakito walked a little faster than he intended back to where Niya was standing unsure at the bottom of the ramp.
“Have you been on one of these before?”
Therein lay a small problem. Niya never asked and Sakito never told much about his past before they met. He decided lying wasn’t the best possibility, but fudging a vague answer would be appeasing enough. He slipped his hand discreetly into Niya’s and shouldered his bag. “Once or twice… Come on, they’ll take us.”
Prying the money from Niya’s clenched hand, he handed it to Kaylee once they were inside. “I hope that’s enough.”
She glanced at it, but didn’t count. “I’m sure it’s fine, but I’ll go ask the Cap’n. First I hafta show you were you can sleep.”
Beside him, Niya didn’t seem to be relaxing in the least, but he shook the girl’s hand anyway when she introduced herself. Kaylee led them down a dim corridor to the guest rooms, comfortable enough behind the sliding doors. Better than others Sakito had seen; he tried not to think about it too much. After Kaylee left, Niya sat down heavily on one of the twin beds, tired after holding himself upright in spite of a strong desire to faint at the thought of going into space.
“You know…I’ve never been offworld before…” he began unevenly. Sakito knew that was true, that Niya had never even traveled far from the town he was born in.
Himself…well, that was complicated. “I know, Ni. But really, there’s nothing to worry about. You can’t even see outside from most of the ship. It’ll be just like being on the ground if you can’t see, right?” He smiled gently sitting next to the other man, shoulder to shoulder, and patted his leg.
“Easy for you to say…” Niya muttered and hunched forward with his arms crossed protectively over his chest. “I’ll still know what’s out there.”
“There will be nothing out there, dear,” Sakito replied patiently.
“And that’s the problem. No air.”
Sighing inwardly, Sakito tried to come up with a better way to reassure him. Nothing came to mind. Fatigue and worry lined the face of his land-loving boyfriend, tugging at his heartstrings. He was right, and that was exactly the sort of anxiety Sakito had had on his first trip across the black when he was small, but the wonder eventually outweighed the worry. Children believe much more easily than adults. Sakito moved his hand from Niya’s leg to his back, stroking lightly up and down his spine, though he refused to be soothed.
“How about…you take a little nap with me, and when you wake up you won’t have even noticed the take off? We probably won’t be leaving just yet, so you’ll have plenty of time to relax.” It was more of a question than a suggestion. He had no clue if it would help, or if Niya would even be able to fall asleep despite his exhaustion from the previous sleepless night.
“I guess…” he agreed after a moment. “It’s not going to work, though.”
“But it might,” Sakito said simply, and moved to take off his boots. After a moment of doubt, Niya followed suit, and stretched out in the narrow bed next to Sakito. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, Sakito hopefully and Niya with eyes narrowed resentfully, then Niya’s arms locked around the slim form of his lover in a tight bear hug. He was using Sakito like a stuffed animal which made it a bit hard to breathe, but if it helped then he could stand being crushed for a couple of hours. Within minutes, Niya was snoring gently in his ear.
** * *
Sakito hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep too until he opened his eyes. Through the dull haze he could hear a light tapping on the door, which he realized must have been what woke him up. Disentangling from Niya’s still sleeping limbs was easier said than done, but he eventually stumbled the few steps across the floor to open the door. Kaylee looked at his tousled hair and wrinkled clothes as a mother would, but Sakito was too groggy to reassure her.
“Cap’n Reynolds wants to meet the new passengers for dinner…if you’re up for it,” she told him with a smile. The flick of her inquisitive eyes toward the inside of the cabin was not lost on Sakito, regardless of how sleepy he was.
Rubbing his eyes with the heel of one hand, he blinked a few times and nodded in agreement. “Sure, we’ll be down in a few minutes. Thank you.” And he felt slightly guilty for closing the door so quickly again.
Reynolds? That was familiar. A little too much so…. But it was a common name, and Sakito laughed quietly at himself for having such silly, improbable thoughts. Half-conscious dreams did odd things to one’s mind sometimes. He moved back across the room and knelt next to the bed, resting his chin on the mattress. Niya hadn’t even stirred when Kaylee came knocking - he must be dead asleep. Sakito almost felt he shouldn’t wake him. Reaching over, he traced his fingers delicately over his lover’s face. Lucky…he felt lucky and in love and only a little bored. Not that Niya was boring, but his life was so different from anything Sakito knew. Even after two years he still wasn’t used to the calm plodding speed of a regular town life.
Niya’s cheek twitched under his touch, and he rolled into the flat, overused pillows with a groan of discontent. “No.”
“Yes.” Sakito stood up, the spell broken, and pulled the threadbare cotton blanket off of Niya’s prone form. “It’s time for dinner.”
“I don’t like spaceships,” he protested. Or rather mumbled in protest.
Another ten minutes passed before Sakito was able to get his grumbling bear out of bed and looking half decent. For the first time since they left, Niya was interested in his surroundings, stealing glances to the sides when he wasn’t staring pointedly at his feet. By the time they reached the kitchen (without any uncomfortable questions about how Sakito knew the way), he was much more at ease. The various furniture and utensils around the room were homey and invoked less of a feeling of being somewhere dangerous than the bare innards of the ship’s corridors. The smell of cooked solidified protein was almost tantalizing. Sakito took an empty seat near Kaylee, since she seemed to be the only person interested in them for the moment.
“Sorry, that took longer than I thought. This one is impossible to wake up,” Sakito apologized to her, quietly so that Niya wouldn’t hear the slight on his sleeping habits.
“Not a problem, dinner’s not even ready yet.” She looked like she wanted to ask something, then changed her mind. “Might as well tell ya who everyone is since the Cap’n and Zoe ain’t here yet. That’s Shepard Book cooking over there. He’s a long-term passenger, I guess you could say. The big one is Jayne…”
Sakito didn’t have to follow Kaylee’s finger to see who Jayne was. He made a mental note to stay away from that man. “And Wash next to him.” The blonde man waved and Sakito waved tentatively back at him. Harmless.
One the other side of Kaylee, a smartly dressed young man stretched out his hand on his own accord, “Simon. Pleased to meet you. This is River, my sister.” He nodded toward a wisp of a girl at the end of the table.
“Ghosts are dancing in the cupboard,” River said lightly with a sage nod at no one in particular. Everyone who heard cast her an odd, patronizing look except Sakito, who merely blinked in confusion.
“I think that means ‘hello’…” Simon clearly had no idea what his sister was on about.
Kaylee decided to break in at that moment with the intent of clearing the awkwardness. “And that’s Zoe, coming through the door there. She’s married to Wash.” The dark woman took her seat at her husband’s side; she seemed the strong silent type, while he was as bubbly as Kaylee. What an odd couple, Sakito thought, but they must be mad for each other to stay together during such hard times. He couldn’t help but think of his own Niya, and wondered if they could survive as well. The mere thought left a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, the future was too uncertain.
The Shepard began serving the meal he’d cooked, stopping to chat with most of the crew as he moved around the table placing bowls of hot food. While certainly not gourmet, it piqued Sakito’s hunger and he reached for the closest dish to spoon some out for himself and Niya. Book seemed like a pleasant and experienced man, nice to talk to. Sakito wouldn’t mind a little spiritual guidance on this trip, and he made note to be sure to seek out the other passenger later.
The sharp clang of boots in the hallway alerted the diners to a new arrival, but no one bothered to look up until the captain stood in the doorway and said something unexpected. “Tyen shiao duh! Fancy seein’ you here.”
Mal’s eyes were on Sakito, the crew’s eyes were on Mal, and Sakito dropped the bowl he was holding all over the floor when he looked up to stare like everyone else. “…Oh, hell.”
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Nightmare, Firefly
Pairings: Ni~ya x Sakito, Mal x Sakito
Disclaimer: People belong to themselves, Firefly belongs to Joss Whedon.
Summary: Evicted from their home and strapped for cash, Niya and Sakito decide to risk a move to a new world in the hopes they would be able to find honest work. During the trip, Sakito unexpectedly meets with a part of his past that he's been trying so very hard to hide from Niya.
Comments: For josietries. ♥ I was going to make it somewhat slapstick, but my muses had other ideas. :x The title is taken from a Gomez song I absolutely love and think kind of works here.
“This one’s as good as any, Saki. It’s not like we have the money to afford anything nicer.” Niya was clearly exasperated with his dithering. Everything about the boat screamed petty crime; Sakito knew what Firefly-class vessels were for, but Niya didn’t, and he wasn’t about to inform him. He eyed the dirty steel and dents and scrapes of the well-worn hull with a twinge in his gut that he didn’t quite care for. But there wasn’t much to be done, what with how little money the pair had between them and the itty-bitty problem of being evicted from their rented room in town. Niya was already counting the coins from his pocket on the palm of his hand, tight-lipped and clearly anxious about the trip. It would be his first.
With a sigh, Sakito patted his arm comfortingly and wandered, resolutely keeping his eyes from seeking out all the nooks and crannies for smuggling he’d have to be an idiot (or a Fed, but the terms were often synonymous) to miss. Inside, the ship wasn’t in much better shape than outside. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and for a second he hoped they weren’t looking for passengers at all and had merely forgotten to close the door. That was an entirely absurd notion, of course.
A female voice that reminded him of sunshine and daisies interrupted Sakito’s slow stroll up the loading ramp, “Hi! You look like you need a ride.”
“One might say. Where are you going and how much?” Sakito’s response was easy and automatic, drawn out of him by this young woman in greasy coveralls that seemed to have nothing in the universe to hide. She blinked, and looked more than a little surprised.
“Wow, I really thought you were a girl!” She gave a laugh with a hint of a snort and looked apologetic. Sakito’s lips twitched in half embarrassment, half amusement, and she tried to say something else.” “I mean….just…wow. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I get that a lot.”
“We’re not going anywhere in particular.” The first evasive thing she’d said. Or maybe she honestly had no idea. “I’m Kaylee and this here is Serenity.”
“Sakito,” he returned with his most charmingly shy smile. “As long as it’s somewhere cheap and you have room for two, I’ll buy a spot.” He trusted the girl for a reason he couldn’t say, despite his misgivings about the transport. Familiarity, that’s what he was feeling, Sakito realized. It must have been Kaylee’s chirpy attitude.
“Shiny. We’re leaving real soon, so you come on and get settled.”
“I’ll be right there, I have to get my…er…friend.” Turning, Sakito walked a little faster than he intended back to where Niya was standing unsure at the bottom of the ramp.
“Have you been on one of these before?”
Therein lay a small problem. Niya never asked and Sakito never told much about his past before they met. He decided lying wasn’t the best possibility, but fudging a vague answer would be appeasing enough. He slipped his hand discreetly into Niya’s and shouldered his bag. “Once or twice… Come on, they’ll take us.”
Prying the money from Niya’s clenched hand, he handed it to Kaylee once they were inside. “I hope that’s enough.”
She glanced at it, but didn’t count. “I’m sure it’s fine, but I’ll go ask the Cap’n. First I hafta show you were you can sleep.”
Beside him, Niya didn’t seem to be relaxing in the least, but he shook the girl’s hand anyway when she introduced herself. Kaylee led them down a dim corridor to the guest rooms, comfortable enough behind the sliding doors. Better than others Sakito had seen; he tried not to think about it too much. After Kaylee left, Niya sat down heavily on one of the twin beds, tired after holding himself upright in spite of a strong desire to faint at the thought of going into space.
“You know…I’ve never been offworld before…” he began unevenly. Sakito knew that was true, that Niya had never even traveled far from the town he was born in.
Himself…well, that was complicated. “I know, Ni. But really, there’s nothing to worry about. You can’t even see outside from most of the ship. It’ll be just like being on the ground if you can’t see, right?” He smiled gently sitting next to the other man, shoulder to shoulder, and patted his leg.
“Easy for you to say…” Niya muttered and hunched forward with his arms crossed protectively over his chest. “I’ll still know what’s out there.”
“There will be nothing out there, dear,” Sakito replied patiently.
“And that’s the problem. No air.”
Sighing inwardly, Sakito tried to come up with a better way to reassure him. Nothing came to mind. Fatigue and worry lined the face of his land-loving boyfriend, tugging at his heartstrings. He was right, and that was exactly the sort of anxiety Sakito had had on his first trip across the black when he was small, but the wonder eventually outweighed the worry. Children believe much more easily than adults. Sakito moved his hand from Niya’s leg to his back, stroking lightly up and down his spine, though he refused to be soothed.
“How about…you take a little nap with me, and when you wake up you won’t have even noticed the take off? We probably won’t be leaving just yet, so you’ll have plenty of time to relax.” It was more of a question than a suggestion. He had no clue if it would help, or if Niya would even be able to fall asleep despite his exhaustion from the previous sleepless night.
“I guess…” he agreed after a moment. “It’s not going to work, though.”
“But it might,” Sakito said simply, and moved to take off his boots. After a moment of doubt, Niya followed suit, and stretched out in the narrow bed next to Sakito. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, Sakito hopefully and Niya with eyes narrowed resentfully, then Niya’s arms locked around the slim form of his lover in a tight bear hug. He was using Sakito like a stuffed animal which made it a bit hard to breathe, but if it helped then he could stand being crushed for a couple of hours. Within minutes, Niya was snoring gently in his ear.
** * *
Sakito hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep too until he opened his eyes. Through the dull haze he could hear a light tapping on the door, which he realized must have been what woke him up. Disentangling from Niya’s still sleeping limbs was easier said than done, but he eventually stumbled the few steps across the floor to open the door. Kaylee looked at his tousled hair and wrinkled clothes as a mother would, but Sakito was too groggy to reassure her.
“Cap’n Reynolds wants to meet the new passengers for dinner…if you’re up for it,” she told him with a smile. The flick of her inquisitive eyes toward the inside of the cabin was not lost on Sakito, regardless of how sleepy he was.
Rubbing his eyes with the heel of one hand, he blinked a few times and nodded in agreement. “Sure, we’ll be down in a few minutes. Thank you.” And he felt slightly guilty for closing the door so quickly again.
Reynolds? That was familiar. A little too much so…. But it was a common name, and Sakito laughed quietly at himself for having such silly, improbable thoughts. Half-conscious dreams did odd things to one’s mind sometimes. He moved back across the room and knelt next to the bed, resting his chin on the mattress. Niya hadn’t even stirred when Kaylee came knocking - he must be dead asleep. Sakito almost felt he shouldn’t wake him. Reaching over, he traced his fingers delicately over his lover’s face. Lucky…he felt lucky and in love and only a little bored. Not that Niya was boring, but his life was so different from anything Sakito knew. Even after two years he still wasn’t used to the calm plodding speed of a regular town life.
Niya’s cheek twitched under his touch, and he rolled into the flat, overused pillows with a groan of discontent. “No.”
“Yes.” Sakito stood up, the spell broken, and pulled the threadbare cotton blanket off of Niya’s prone form. “It’s time for dinner.”
“I don’t like spaceships,” he protested. Or rather mumbled in protest.
Another ten minutes passed before Sakito was able to get his grumbling bear out of bed and looking half decent. For the first time since they left, Niya was interested in his surroundings, stealing glances to the sides when he wasn’t staring pointedly at his feet. By the time they reached the kitchen (without any uncomfortable questions about how Sakito knew the way), he was much more at ease. The various furniture and utensils around the room were homey and invoked less of a feeling of being somewhere dangerous than the bare innards of the ship’s corridors. The smell of cooked solidified protein was almost tantalizing. Sakito took an empty seat near Kaylee, since she seemed to be the only person interested in them for the moment.
“Sorry, that took longer than I thought. This one is impossible to wake up,” Sakito apologized to her, quietly so that Niya wouldn’t hear the slight on his sleeping habits.
“Not a problem, dinner’s not even ready yet.” She looked like she wanted to ask something, then changed her mind. “Might as well tell ya who everyone is since the Cap’n and Zoe ain’t here yet. That’s Shepard Book cooking over there. He’s a long-term passenger, I guess you could say. The big one is Jayne…”
Sakito didn’t have to follow Kaylee’s finger to see who Jayne was. He made a mental note to stay away from that man. “And Wash next to him.” The blonde man waved and Sakito waved tentatively back at him. Harmless.
One the other side of Kaylee, a smartly dressed young man stretched out his hand on his own accord, “Simon. Pleased to meet you. This is River, my sister.” He nodded toward a wisp of a girl at the end of the table.
“Ghosts are dancing in the cupboard,” River said lightly with a sage nod at no one in particular. Everyone who heard cast her an odd, patronizing look except Sakito, who merely blinked in confusion.
“I think that means ‘hello’…” Simon clearly had no idea what his sister was on about.
Kaylee decided to break in at that moment with the intent of clearing the awkwardness. “And that’s Zoe, coming through the door there. She’s married to Wash.” The dark woman took her seat at her husband’s side; she seemed the strong silent type, while he was as bubbly as Kaylee. What an odd couple, Sakito thought, but they must be mad for each other to stay together during such hard times. He couldn’t help but think of his own Niya, and wondered if they could survive as well. The mere thought left a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, the future was too uncertain.
The Shepard began serving the meal he’d cooked, stopping to chat with most of the crew as he moved around the table placing bowls of hot food. While certainly not gourmet, it piqued Sakito’s hunger and he reached for the closest dish to spoon some out for himself and Niya. Book seemed like a pleasant and experienced man, nice to talk to. Sakito wouldn’t mind a little spiritual guidance on this trip, and he made note to be sure to seek out the other passenger later.
The sharp clang of boots in the hallway alerted the diners to a new arrival, but no one bothered to look up until the captain stood in the doorway and said something unexpected. “Tyen shiao duh! Fancy seein’ you here.”
Mal’s eyes were on Sakito, the crew’s eyes were on Mal, and Sakito dropped the bowl he was holding all over the floor when he looked up to stare like everyone else. “…Oh, hell.”