A Little AU story: Scoundrels and Pirates
Right, trying to sum up- wrote this months back, held onto it, tweaked a time reference (Everything happens after the War (terimaru gets credit for noticing the vague wording there).
So, barely beta'd, happily crossed over, and all characters shall remain blameless. It does clunk along abit like an old jalopy since I name no names, but where would be the fun in giving it away? Besides, I am having fun seeing if I am the only one out there enough to see it...I do try and use language that can be placed in the proper 'Verse for our visitors. I love my Captain's, both of 'em...
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words...
Avery was a small moon on the Rim that had as a main claim to fame an apple moonshine that couldn’t be beat, and Abel was the man to see about purchasing it. Abel liked using Serenity and her crew as his transport for the liquor. He was fond of Mal in a way that resembled fatherliness, although neither man would ever admit that. This time though, he had a run that had to be done faster than Serenity would be able to fly.
“I know you don’t like to use anyone else for these runs Abel, but I ain’t gonna be able to get this shipment where it needs to go in time for the contract. My friend, I waved him, he can be here tomorrow and get the shipment to Persephone by the time the contract indicated. I would be more than two days late…” Mal was trying to sooth the visibly unhappy shopkeeper and apple moonshiner.
“Trust me, he won’t do wrong by us, I promise.” Mal finished, thinking to himself that his old buddy had better not do wrong by him. Or there would be words, maybe more to be traded.
~~~~~
The two men were of a size and coloring except where one had sapphire blue eyes, the other had honey gold. Otherwise, the men were close enough to be brothers. In reality they were closer than most brothers in temperament and attitude.
“How are ya, you old pirate?” Mal approached his friend, arms wide, broad grin on his face. His old friend returned both gesture and expression in kind. The men embraced in the fashion of old comrades who had nothing left to hide from each other. Behind Mal was Zoë, stoically silent as the men pounded each other on the back and laughed.
“Hey there Zoë! How has this man been treating you?” The Captain asked, laughter in his tone, “You can always come fly with us if you get tired of his old stories. There are still places in space where a good gun hand can be useful.” He indicated his First Mate, also standing silently some steps behind him. The First Mate gave the term man-ape a whole new level of meaning, his vocalizations confined entirely to almost grunts and guttural utterances. And he made Jayne look positively petite by comparison.
“Thank you, sir, for the offer, but I think I will be settling here with the Captain for a spell yet. I will be sure to send you a wave if I decide to leave him to his own devices.” Zoë answered coolly.
“Zoë, I am wounded!” Mal held his chest theatrically, “You would leave me for this húndàn?” his laugh took the bite from the insult.
“Sir, as I am not with you, then I would hardly be leavin you.” Zoë replied, tilting her head just slightly and raising one brow. Mal shook his head and chuckled.
He turned back to his friend, “How about a drink, before we load up the cargo and you hit atmo again?” Mal asked.
“Sounds like something I could agree to. Ain’t we hauling something like that?”
“Yup, apple moonshine in fact. Best drink you never had.” Mal answered. His good cheer was obvious, and unusual unless he was dealing with a friend he actually trusted. Zoë had turned to leave after her rejecting the offer to go flying with Mal’s friend and his First Mate.
~~~~~
She went to join Kaylee and River who were loitering around the small transport. It was built on a different basic platform than Serenity. Rounded, wide engine exhausting wrapped around her tail end, starboard side entrance ramp and a protruding cockpit similar to Serenity’s excepting in placement. The most glaring difference was the presence of a top turret gun and a bottom turret gun. This was more than a small freighter, and Kaylee was itching to get a look at her engines to see what powered this boat.
“Kaylee…” Mal called back over his shoulder as the men headed towards town, “You can look, but don’t get no shiny ideas about upgrading to what they got, takes cashy money I don’t got.”
“Shiny Captain, I’ll just look!” Kaylee smiled sunnily, it was almost enough to be able to just poke around and look. She went up the ramp to the inside of the freighter, nearly skipping along. Inside was cramped, curved corridor from the entrance ramp to the cockpit and a common area. Living areas were further along the curve. There were no direct sight lines inside the ship. And the common room was small by comparison to Serenity’s. This boat was barely one third of size as the Firefly. She wasn’t a fighter or a freighter, but a combination of raw speed and incredible handling with just enough room to move around inside. No large cargo loads for her, not enough room in the hold for that. Mostly engine, barely room enough to transport anything of any size. Course, in her line of work, small goods often paid more to be moved under the Alliance nose.
River followed more slowly, running her fingers along the ship's railing and walls as she went. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, head tipped in a posture of listening intently. The huge First Mate shadowed them in. Kaylee smiled perkily to him as they went.
“Real shiny boat you got yourself here.” Her compliment had her inimitable ring of truth to it.
“Hrrrmmm.” Was the reply. Kaylee nodded and looked quizzical.
“He agreed with you… not shiny though, to many storms… deep space granular objects… twisting and turning…” River spoke for the big First Mate, still concentrating on her fingertip examination of the freighter. It really wasn’t a freighter or transport at all as Kaylee found when she discovered the engines. They took up more than half the inside space in the ship. “Shen sheng diyu momma!” She exclaimed softly, eyes searching over the massive engines, memorizing everything she saw. This was the most impressive amount of raw engine power she had ever seen.
Zoë trailed them all, quiet, observant. She didn’t not trust Mal’s pirate friends, but she didn’t trust them either.
River continued her tour of the small boat, bare feet stepping lightly forward- toes touching down on the metal grating softly; rapt expression on her face. The cockpit was similar to Serenity’s, two seats, and consoles all around. She slid into the pilot’s chair with a rustle of fabric. Her hands reached out to the control yoke. Just before her fingers made contact, she flinched back, eyes going wide. Slowly, tentatively, she touched the console.
“Leaves blow through… speed equates to joy… soaring along lines of force…” Zoë came in behind River as she talked.
“What you feeling honey?” She asked, almost scared of the answer.
“The pairing of one soul to another does not diminish either… nor does the spatial time frame during which it happened.” River turned to face Zoë at, eyes clear and bright. “Here is where he decided to ask you to marry him.”
Zoë felt herself sag against the doorframe, all the air going out of her.
~~~~~
The two Captains went to the bar in Paraiso for a noontime shot of the moonshine.
“How’d you end up here Mal? Last I heard you were flying where ever and when ever work was to be had?” The Captain asked as he tipped back the liquor.
“Well, got a nice situation here, fine folk, solid work, and a crew that needed to have some peace in their world, dong ma?” Mal answered, semi serious tone. No need to be hiding the truth from one of his oldest friends. Even Zoë didn’t know how much these men had in common.
“And did I hear right, a wife?”
“Yeah,” Mal answered with an almost surprised micro laugh, not unhappy sounding more shocked to realize his good fortune in truth. “She decided to come along with us…” Mal stopped to take another drink, eyes watching the colors of the light swirl in the alcohol for a moment.
“She decided to come with you then.” Was the reply, a statement of fact, not a question.
“Yeah, can ya believe that?” Mal sounded incredulous.
“I can buddy, I can.” He raised his glass to Mal’s and they toasted silently before downing the drinks. “I got that same surprise myself. Someone decided to come with me as well.”
“Nah?” Mal shook his head at that, eyes going wide in surprise, “That girl decided she could live in the Black with you?”
“Well, she does come along now and then when she can get away, but I got a home with her, far from prying eyes, but a home.” Both men drank quietly for a moment.
“So did that wild man pilot ever really marry Zoë?” The Captain asked with a big smile.
“Yeah, he did actually. Zoë went against my direct order to marry him.” Mal shook his head wistfully at the memory. ” He, ah… gorramit… we lost him at Miranda… was a bad time of it. Zoë ain’t really ever let me know how much I let her down on that one.” Mal took a long drink from his glass. His face betrayed his depth of sadness.
“He knew how to fly, that boy did. Sorry to see him gone. Remember that blockade we ran back on that smuggling run? That was some amazing flying.”
“Right sure it was, never seen a man more in his element than Wash when he was flying. A ‘course, your boat was the fastest he had ever flown.”
“Hell, my ship is the fastest ship anyone has ever flown!”
A refill or many followed as the men whiled away the lunchtime hour.
~~~~~
Zoë turned away from River in the cockpit; she couldn’t stand the girl looking at her so intently. It reminded her of Wash when he was deeply serious about something. Like Wash when he proposed to her. Her feet took her down corridors, eyes unseeing as she walked.
“Zoë, who are they?” Kaylee asked as she was peering at the inner workings of the freighter’s engines, grease all down her arms and on her face where she had scratched without thinking of wiping her hands first.
“Old friend of the Captain’s, Kaylee, from the War.’ Zoë answered curtly.
Kaylee recoiled slightly at Zoë’s tone. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ask a bad question there Zoë.”
Zoë looked at Kaylee and saw that her voice had been more cutting than she intended, “He was kind of a freelance fighter if you want to call it that. He never joined the Independent Army, but he fought alongside us, from the air mostly. Fair pilot and a real mercenary, will follow the money usually, was kinda surprised he didn’t stay on the Unification side truth be told.”
The big First Mate took on an expression of saddened surprise. “He thinks that is unfair,” River said, coming from the cockpit, “Just followed where wind blew… calculated priorities,” hand on a panel in the floor, “Hide here… miss the stars…” She stopped talking and sat down, eyes closed, hands resting on the floor beside her hips, legs stretched before her, feet against bulkhead wall. “He was here... never really leaves. Combination of energy and light… light activated… green, blue, bad red.”
Zoë just watched over the two girls as they investigated what their hearts drew them to. She remembered back to wild rides on this freighter, spinning in the turret gunner seat, firing at anything that came into range. Heard whoopin' and hollerin' from the other turret and the cockpit. It was a wild boat to be in a firefight with; she could still bring the sounds and feelings to life in her mind.
~~~~~
“Bring her around Wash!” She heard the Captain holler from the other turret gun as they flew madly past Alliance patrol fighters. She aimed and fired at will anything that moved in her line of sight. There were patrol boats everywhere it seemed but the small freighter was amazingly nimble. Not much more than an enormous engine with thrusters for maneuverability. She flew between the fighters like they were standing still in the air. Nothing was fast enough to catch her, and nothing was agile enough to out fly Wash. That man at the helm of this boat could make miracles happen.
Zoë never forgot the rush she felt after the fight and flight was over. War may have ended years earlier, but there will still worlds the Alliance blockaded and prevented from free trade. Every so often Serenity's crew joined in on a run to one of those worlds. Mal enjoyed sticking it to the Alliance when he could. War may be over, but the fight never truly ended. They were all downing drinks and laughing at a small Independent bar on the far side of the world from the drop point they had made.
Even this long after the War, Mal and Zoë enjoyed putting it to the Alliance whenever the opportunity arose. A drop like the one they just did was all kinds of exciting, especially given the boat they got to do it in. There were tears streaming down all their faces they were laughing so hard. As the night wore on the stories had grown wilder, the bad guys bigger, and the odds steeper. Zoë decided to get some air at one point, not noticing Wash following her until she was well outside.
“Fancy flying today.” From Zoë that was a high compliment and Wash bowed respectfully, smile on his lips. She didn’t see his eyes close as his head was down. He came up with them still closed.
“I gotta ask you something Zoë, so I need you to answer me truthfully…” He said softly. Zoë cocked her head to the side, quizzical expression on her face.
“What are you up about pilot?” She replied.
“Well, as you can see, I can’t bear to look you in the eye for this…” Wash continued.
“I ain’t gonna answer a man who can’t look me in the eye.” Zoë replied shortly.
Wash opened his safflower blue eyes and looked Zoë straight on. She nearly swayed back at the intensity of his expression. She was used to the pilot being mild and goofy, not this 'present' for lack of a better word.
“I am meaning to ask you a question that I am not sure of the answer to, and I want to be sure I am ready either way.’ Wash continued earnestly. Zoë nodded in response, eyes not leaving his.
“OK, been practicing for this,” Wash paused, drew a deep breath, “Zoë Alleyne, I, Hoban Washburne…” He stopped again; it felt like his were eyes piercing into her soul, “Yu ben de..."
“What!” Zoë shot at him, incredulous.
“No, no! That is not what I meant…oh I am so chûn.” Wash shook his head vigorously. “Nî hâo mêi I, uh…
Gorramit, Zoë. Will you marry me?” He finally spit it out, looking her straight in the eye, hands wrung together, not daring to hope.
~~~~~
Jayne and the First Mate were loading the hold with the crates of apple moonshine while the two Captains talked with Abel about the trip. The two big mercs didn’t so much exchange words as grunts and body language. They worked together with a rhythm and balance that made it look like some sort of new dance. It was about power and control. Jayne was not as tall as the other merc, but he was more muscled, so they balanced each end of the crates easily.
“Don’t worry, nothing will catch us. Fastest ship you will ever find. She can out run anything the Alliance has, and most everyone else as well. Your cargo is safe with me. Trust me.” He smiled broadly and clapped Abel on the back. Abel looked only slightly relieved.
“Abel you know I wouldn’t a recommended anyone I didn’t trust to do this run for ya. Honest truth, this is the fastest boat in the ‘Verse, no way he will be late or get caught. I’m just glad you don’t usually time runs this tight or I would be handing this fong luh wang bad an all my work.”
Abel nodded slowly, “All right Malcolm. I will trust you on this one.” He turned and shook hands amiably with the other Captain. “There will be money wired to your account as soon as the drop is confirmed.”
“Fair enough, Mal ain’t never led me to someone who didn’t pay his bills.” Was the response. Abel smiled wryly and walked back to his store, shaking his head as he went.
“He seems mighty worried about me getting caught. I don’t get caught.” The Captain said as he turned to Mal, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.
“Well, there was this time I hear you got caught far side o…” Mal started teasingly.
“Hey now, that wasn’t my fault!” Wounded tone of voice, “How was I to know the girl was a Fed!”
“Maybe from the ident card she showed right before she arrested you for illegal transport? And you still owe me money for that one.” Mal finished with a big grin as he clapped the other man on the back.
“It’s not my fault!”
Chinese translations:
Shen sheng diyu(holy hell)
Yu ben de (stupid, foolish, silly)
chûn (stupid)
Nî hâo mêi (you're so beautiful)
fong luh (crazy)
wang bad an (bastard)
So, barely beta'd, happily crossed over, and all characters shall remain blameless. It does clunk along abit like an old jalopy since I name no names, but where would be the fun in giving it away? Besides, I am having fun seeing if I am the only one out there enough to see it...I do try and use language that can be placed in the proper 'Verse for our visitors. I love my Captain's, both of 'em...
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words...
Avery was a small moon on the Rim that had as a main claim to fame an apple moonshine that couldn’t be beat, and Abel was the man to see about purchasing it. Abel liked using Serenity and her crew as his transport for the liquor. He was fond of Mal in a way that resembled fatherliness, although neither man would ever admit that. This time though, he had a run that had to be done faster than Serenity would be able to fly.
“I know you don’t like to use anyone else for these runs Abel, but I ain’t gonna be able to get this shipment where it needs to go in time for the contract. My friend, I waved him, he can be here tomorrow and get the shipment to Persephone by the time the contract indicated. I would be more than two days late…” Mal was trying to sooth the visibly unhappy shopkeeper and apple moonshiner.
“Trust me, he won’t do wrong by us, I promise.” Mal finished, thinking to himself that his old buddy had better not do wrong by him. Or there would be words, maybe more to be traded.
~~~~~
The two men were of a size and coloring except where one had sapphire blue eyes, the other had honey gold. Otherwise, the men were close enough to be brothers. In reality they were closer than most brothers in temperament and attitude.
“How are ya, you old pirate?” Mal approached his friend, arms wide, broad grin on his face. His old friend returned both gesture and expression in kind. The men embraced in the fashion of old comrades who had nothing left to hide from each other. Behind Mal was Zoë, stoically silent as the men pounded each other on the back and laughed.
“Hey there Zoë! How has this man been treating you?” The Captain asked, laughter in his tone, “You can always come fly with us if you get tired of his old stories. There are still places in space where a good gun hand can be useful.” He indicated his First Mate, also standing silently some steps behind him. The First Mate gave the term man-ape a whole new level of meaning, his vocalizations confined entirely to almost grunts and guttural utterances. And he made Jayne look positively petite by comparison.
“Thank you, sir, for the offer, but I think I will be settling here with the Captain for a spell yet. I will be sure to send you a wave if I decide to leave him to his own devices.” Zoë answered coolly.
“Zoë, I am wounded!” Mal held his chest theatrically, “You would leave me for this húndàn?” his laugh took the bite from the insult.
“Sir, as I am not with you, then I would hardly be leavin you.” Zoë replied, tilting her head just slightly and raising one brow. Mal shook his head and chuckled.
He turned back to his friend, “How about a drink, before we load up the cargo and you hit atmo again?” Mal asked.
“Sounds like something I could agree to. Ain’t we hauling something like that?”
“Yup, apple moonshine in fact. Best drink you never had.” Mal answered. His good cheer was obvious, and unusual unless he was dealing with a friend he actually trusted. Zoë had turned to leave after her rejecting the offer to go flying with Mal’s friend and his First Mate.
~~~~~
She went to join Kaylee and River who were loitering around the small transport. It was built on a different basic platform than Serenity. Rounded, wide engine exhausting wrapped around her tail end, starboard side entrance ramp and a protruding cockpit similar to Serenity’s excepting in placement. The most glaring difference was the presence of a top turret gun and a bottom turret gun. This was more than a small freighter, and Kaylee was itching to get a look at her engines to see what powered this boat.
“Kaylee…” Mal called back over his shoulder as the men headed towards town, “You can look, but don’t get no shiny ideas about upgrading to what they got, takes cashy money I don’t got.”
“Shiny Captain, I’ll just look!” Kaylee smiled sunnily, it was almost enough to be able to just poke around and look. She went up the ramp to the inside of the freighter, nearly skipping along. Inside was cramped, curved corridor from the entrance ramp to the cockpit and a common area. Living areas were further along the curve. There were no direct sight lines inside the ship. And the common room was small by comparison to Serenity’s. This boat was barely one third of size as the Firefly. She wasn’t a fighter or a freighter, but a combination of raw speed and incredible handling with just enough room to move around inside. No large cargo loads for her, not enough room in the hold for that. Mostly engine, barely room enough to transport anything of any size. Course, in her line of work, small goods often paid more to be moved under the Alliance nose.
River followed more slowly, running her fingers along the ship's railing and walls as she went. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, head tipped in a posture of listening intently. The huge First Mate shadowed them in. Kaylee smiled perkily to him as they went.
“Real shiny boat you got yourself here.” Her compliment had her inimitable ring of truth to it.
“Hrrrmmm.” Was the reply. Kaylee nodded and looked quizzical.
“He agreed with you… not shiny though, to many storms… deep space granular objects… twisting and turning…” River spoke for the big First Mate, still concentrating on her fingertip examination of the freighter. It really wasn’t a freighter or transport at all as Kaylee found when she discovered the engines. They took up more than half the inside space in the ship. “Shen sheng diyu momma!” She exclaimed softly, eyes searching over the massive engines, memorizing everything she saw. This was the most impressive amount of raw engine power she had ever seen.
Zoë trailed them all, quiet, observant. She didn’t not trust Mal’s pirate friends, but she didn’t trust them either.
River continued her tour of the small boat, bare feet stepping lightly forward- toes touching down on the metal grating softly; rapt expression on her face. The cockpit was similar to Serenity’s, two seats, and consoles all around. She slid into the pilot’s chair with a rustle of fabric. Her hands reached out to the control yoke. Just before her fingers made contact, she flinched back, eyes going wide. Slowly, tentatively, she touched the console.
“Leaves blow through… speed equates to joy… soaring along lines of force…” Zoë came in behind River as she talked.
“What you feeling honey?” She asked, almost scared of the answer.
“The pairing of one soul to another does not diminish either… nor does the spatial time frame during which it happened.” River turned to face Zoë at, eyes clear and bright. “Here is where he decided to ask you to marry him.”
Zoë felt herself sag against the doorframe, all the air going out of her.
~~~~~
The two Captains went to the bar in Paraiso for a noontime shot of the moonshine.
“How’d you end up here Mal? Last I heard you were flying where ever and when ever work was to be had?” The Captain asked as he tipped back the liquor.
“Well, got a nice situation here, fine folk, solid work, and a crew that needed to have some peace in their world, dong ma?” Mal answered, semi serious tone. No need to be hiding the truth from one of his oldest friends. Even Zoë didn’t know how much these men had in common.
“And did I hear right, a wife?”
“Yeah,” Mal answered with an almost surprised micro laugh, not unhappy sounding more shocked to realize his good fortune in truth. “She decided to come along with us…” Mal stopped to take another drink, eyes watching the colors of the light swirl in the alcohol for a moment.
“She decided to come with you then.” Was the reply, a statement of fact, not a question.
“Yeah, can ya believe that?” Mal sounded incredulous.
“I can buddy, I can.” He raised his glass to Mal’s and they toasted silently before downing the drinks. “I got that same surprise myself. Someone decided to come with me as well.”
“Nah?” Mal shook his head at that, eyes going wide in surprise, “That girl decided she could live in the Black with you?”
“Well, she does come along now and then when she can get away, but I got a home with her, far from prying eyes, but a home.” Both men drank quietly for a moment.
“So did that wild man pilot ever really marry Zoë?” The Captain asked with a big smile.
“Yeah, he did actually. Zoë went against my direct order to marry him.” Mal shook his head wistfully at the memory. ” He, ah… gorramit… we lost him at Miranda… was a bad time of it. Zoë ain’t really ever let me know how much I let her down on that one.” Mal took a long drink from his glass. His face betrayed his depth of sadness.
“He knew how to fly, that boy did. Sorry to see him gone. Remember that blockade we ran back on that smuggling run? That was some amazing flying.”
“Right sure it was, never seen a man more in his element than Wash when he was flying. A ‘course, your boat was the fastest he had ever flown.”
“Hell, my ship is the fastest ship anyone has ever flown!”
A refill or many followed as the men whiled away the lunchtime hour.
~~~~~
Zoë turned away from River in the cockpit; she couldn’t stand the girl looking at her so intently. It reminded her of Wash when he was deeply serious about something. Like Wash when he proposed to her. Her feet took her down corridors, eyes unseeing as she walked.
“Zoë, who are they?” Kaylee asked as she was peering at the inner workings of the freighter’s engines, grease all down her arms and on her face where she had scratched without thinking of wiping her hands first.
“Old friend of the Captain’s, Kaylee, from the War.’ Zoë answered curtly.
Kaylee recoiled slightly at Zoë’s tone. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ask a bad question there Zoë.”
Zoë looked at Kaylee and saw that her voice had been more cutting than she intended, “He was kind of a freelance fighter if you want to call it that. He never joined the Independent Army, but he fought alongside us, from the air mostly. Fair pilot and a real mercenary, will follow the money usually, was kinda surprised he didn’t stay on the Unification side truth be told.”
The big First Mate took on an expression of saddened surprise. “He thinks that is unfair,” River said, coming from the cockpit, “Just followed where wind blew… calculated priorities,” hand on a panel in the floor, “Hide here… miss the stars…” She stopped talking and sat down, eyes closed, hands resting on the floor beside her hips, legs stretched before her, feet against bulkhead wall. “He was here... never really leaves. Combination of energy and light… light activated… green, blue, bad red.”
Zoë just watched over the two girls as they investigated what their hearts drew them to. She remembered back to wild rides on this freighter, spinning in the turret gunner seat, firing at anything that came into range. Heard whoopin' and hollerin' from the other turret and the cockpit. It was a wild boat to be in a firefight with; she could still bring the sounds and feelings to life in her mind.
~~~~~
“Bring her around Wash!” She heard the Captain holler from the other turret gun as they flew madly past Alliance patrol fighters. She aimed and fired at will anything that moved in her line of sight. There were patrol boats everywhere it seemed but the small freighter was amazingly nimble. Not much more than an enormous engine with thrusters for maneuverability. She flew between the fighters like they were standing still in the air. Nothing was fast enough to catch her, and nothing was agile enough to out fly Wash. That man at the helm of this boat could make miracles happen.
Zoë never forgot the rush she felt after the fight and flight was over. War may have ended years earlier, but there will still worlds the Alliance blockaded and prevented from free trade. Every so often Serenity's crew joined in on a run to one of those worlds. Mal enjoyed sticking it to the Alliance when he could. War may be over, but the fight never truly ended. They were all downing drinks and laughing at a small Independent bar on the far side of the world from the drop point they had made.
Even this long after the War, Mal and Zoë enjoyed putting it to the Alliance whenever the opportunity arose. A drop like the one they just did was all kinds of exciting, especially given the boat they got to do it in. There were tears streaming down all their faces they were laughing so hard. As the night wore on the stories had grown wilder, the bad guys bigger, and the odds steeper. Zoë decided to get some air at one point, not noticing Wash following her until she was well outside.
“Fancy flying today.” From Zoë that was a high compliment and Wash bowed respectfully, smile on his lips. She didn’t see his eyes close as his head was down. He came up with them still closed.
“I gotta ask you something Zoë, so I need you to answer me truthfully…” He said softly. Zoë cocked her head to the side, quizzical expression on her face.
“What are you up about pilot?” She replied.
“Well, as you can see, I can’t bear to look you in the eye for this…” Wash continued.
“I ain’t gonna answer a man who can’t look me in the eye.” Zoë replied shortly.
Wash opened his safflower blue eyes and looked Zoë straight on. She nearly swayed back at the intensity of his expression. She was used to the pilot being mild and goofy, not this 'present' for lack of a better word.
“I am meaning to ask you a question that I am not sure of the answer to, and I want to be sure I am ready either way.’ Wash continued earnestly. Zoë nodded in response, eyes not leaving his.
“OK, been practicing for this,” Wash paused, drew a deep breath, “Zoë Alleyne, I, Hoban Washburne…” He stopped again; it felt like his were eyes piercing into her soul, “Yu ben de..."
“What!” Zoë shot at him, incredulous.
“No, no! That is not what I meant…oh I am so chûn.” Wash shook his head vigorously. “Nî hâo mêi I, uh…
Gorramit, Zoë. Will you marry me?” He finally spit it out, looking her straight in the eye, hands wrung together, not daring to hope.
~~~~~
Jayne and the First Mate were loading the hold with the crates of apple moonshine while the two Captains talked with Abel about the trip. The two big mercs didn’t so much exchange words as grunts and body language. They worked together with a rhythm and balance that made it look like some sort of new dance. It was about power and control. Jayne was not as tall as the other merc, but he was more muscled, so they balanced each end of the crates easily.
“Don’t worry, nothing will catch us. Fastest ship you will ever find. She can out run anything the Alliance has, and most everyone else as well. Your cargo is safe with me. Trust me.” He smiled broadly and clapped Abel on the back. Abel looked only slightly relieved.
“Abel you know I wouldn’t a recommended anyone I didn’t trust to do this run for ya. Honest truth, this is the fastest boat in the ‘Verse, no way he will be late or get caught. I’m just glad you don’t usually time runs this tight or I would be handing this fong luh wang bad an all my work.”
Abel nodded slowly, “All right Malcolm. I will trust you on this one.” He turned and shook hands amiably with the other Captain. “There will be money wired to your account as soon as the drop is confirmed.”
“Fair enough, Mal ain’t never led me to someone who didn’t pay his bills.” Was the response. Abel smiled wryly and walked back to his store, shaking his head as he went.
“He seems mighty worried about me getting caught. I don’t get caught.” The Captain said as he turned to Mal, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.
“Well, there was this time I hear you got caught far side o…” Mal started teasingly.
“Hey now, that wasn’t my fault!” Wounded tone of voice, “How was I to know the girl was a Fed!”
“Maybe from the ident card she showed right before she arrested you for illegal transport? And you still owe me money for that one.” Mal finished with a big grin as he clapped the other man on the back.
“It’s not my fault!”
Chinese translations:
Shen sheng diyu(holy hell)
Yu ben de (stupid, foolish, silly)
chûn (stupid)
Nî hâo mêi (you're so beautiful)
fong luh (crazy)
wang bad an (bastard)