Happy fandom swap, underlucius!
Happy fandom swap, underlucius!
Title: Five Roads; Less Travel
Author: destinylight
Fandom: Firefly
Summary: Inara and Kaylee are together, Mal's bitter, Mal's drunk, Mal's kinda nekkid in bed with Jayne.
Pairings: Mal/Jayne, Inara/Kaylee, Canon Pairings
Rating: PG/PG-13
Warnings: Goes AUish after the series. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be writing this fic. I know I didn't get any of the character's voices right, but hey, I tried. Don't hate me too much.
I.
It's funny. Mal's never been lonely in space before, but in this crowded bar, he feels like parts of his soul are missing, scattered throughout the moons. He raises his glass in a half-tribute, and drowns. Across the bar, he can hear Jayne's wailing, like an animal in heat and pain.
"Our love for me now, ain't hard to explain! The hero of the Canton, the man they call meeee!" Jayne staggers back and forth, and falls on his bed of whores, raising his glass in pleasure and chugs. A reflection of simpler times, Mal'd say, if Jayne wasn't Jayne.
II.
Mal doesn't remember when it happened, just that it did. Just that Kaylee and Simon split up, and Inara gave up, and subtly they became together. He doesn't remember the first moment he realized that, just that he always knew. He knows that Kaylee still loves Simon, just not in the way that either of them hopes to be loved and he knows that Inara still loves him with something that consumes them both.
She doesn't act on this instinct, and she knows how much happier she is with Kaylee than she could ever hope to be with Mal and for that, he's glad. He's not sure what he'd do if Inara ever broke Kaylee's heart. Would he throw Inara out? Would he make Kaylee live with the shadows of Inara's love in her face?
Mal knows that he's lucky; he's never going to have to deal with that situation.
III.
Simon is sulking (although secretly he's a little relieved), River is protective (although secretly she knows that Simon is relieved), and the rest of the crew is uncertain. None of them want there to be more than there are already is, and if Simon becomes resentful, or if Inara loves Mal, their home will erupt. For the most part, they keep quiet.
None of this applies to Jayne, however. Jayne's bunk is next to Kaylee's, and he can hear them.
Kaylee doesn't move in with Inara, but Inara starts sleeping in Kaylee's room more often than not. They don't sleep together in Inara's shuttle, not because Kaylee's jealous (she's never had a problem with sex and she won't start now). It's more intimate when they do it in Kaylee's room, and Jayne happily agrees.
Mal realizes this, but he doesn't do anything about it.
Instead, he starts drinking with Jayne. Its roots are completely random, like a game of dice as they pass through a cloud of butterflies. It stems because he exists physically, Mal suspects. Flesh and warmth (and sometimes searing pain), and really, there wasn't any other particular reason. He couldn't trust Jayne (except for when he can).
IV.
He wakes up naked next to Jayne sometime between the third and fourth month they've been drinking together and a part of him knew that was going to happen eventually, so he didn't make much of it. He tells this to Jayne, who is somewhere between a crisis and a love of sex.
As a general rule, nether of them really fuck men. Jayne thinks he may or may not have fucked a man before, but he can't remember when so he's really not sure; Mal's situation was somewhere along those lines.
After the next few times they fall into bed together, Mal's starting to think he likes sex with Jayne, and Jayne's starting to think he likes sex with Mal, something neither of them quite expect. Bottoming doesn't seem like an enjoyable idea in theory for either of them, but in practice, it could probably be worse.
Mal tops more often than not, and Jayne complains far less than either of them expect. Mal doesn't like blowjobs though (somehow, he doesn't trust his dick in anybody's mouth), but he gives them, so Jayne thinks it's fair.
They don't discuss this addition to their already tentative companionship (no pun intended), but Mal knows the whole crew knows. Their routines don't change much, with the exceptions of nights they spend in each others' rooms, and Jayne's higher tolerance of Mal. (Mal doesn't have to worry about Jayne withholding sex, but Jayne knows that Mal's spent long periods of time celibate before.)
V.
Three months past living life that way, and Mal wonders how long it will last. Eventually, they'll go their separate ways, even if there's nothing tearing them apart. Jayne'll eventually settle when he's made enough money and he's tired of the life. Mal will go down with Serenity, there is no doubt about that. Until she's said she's had enough, Mal will be in the sky forever. One of them - both of them - could die any day now, will die any day now. Neither of them really cares one way or another. Neither of them will drop their future for a man they couldn't claim to like half the time.
They're sitting at the table, when Wash suddenly speaks up.
"You know Mal, I think I like you a lot more now that you're sly." He throws an arm around Zoe, who snorts but says nothing. Jayne bristles, like a cat.
"Hey, neither of us here are sly, got that? If a woman-" Jayne looks a meaningful glance at Inara, "-were ta walk up to me all naked-like, I'd have her on her back in a second, Mal or no Mal." Mal had no doubt about that statement, but he has no doubt about Jayne's loyalty.
They're not a couple. They don't buy trinkets of affection for each other the way Wash and Zoe do, they don't even show affection the way Kaylee and Inara do; they’re Mal and Jayne with sex added. They’re mutually exclusive, despite Jayne’s protest that they weren’t, but that’s as far as it went.
And when the Shepard dies, when the Tam siblings make their peace, when Inara and Kaylee leave, when Wash and Zoe settle down, nobody is surprised that Jayne and Mal park Serenity on some isolated moon, and settle into her.
Title: Five Roads; Less Travel
Author: destinylight
Fandom: Firefly
Summary: Inara and Kaylee are together, Mal's bitter, Mal's drunk, Mal's kinda nekkid in bed with Jayne.
Pairings: Mal/Jayne, Inara/Kaylee, Canon Pairings
Rating: PG/PG-13
Warnings: Goes AUish after the series. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be writing this fic. I know I didn't get any of the character's voices right, but hey, I tried. Don't hate me too much.
I.
It's funny. Mal's never been lonely in space before, but in this crowded bar, he feels like parts of his soul are missing, scattered throughout the moons. He raises his glass in a half-tribute, and drowns. Across the bar, he can hear Jayne's wailing, like an animal in heat and pain.
"Our love for me now, ain't hard to explain! The hero of the Canton, the man they call meeee!" Jayne staggers back and forth, and falls on his bed of whores, raising his glass in pleasure and chugs. A reflection of simpler times, Mal'd say, if Jayne wasn't Jayne.
II.
Mal doesn't remember when it happened, just that it did. Just that Kaylee and Simon split up, and Inara gave up, and subtly they became together. He doesn't remember the first moment he realized that, just that he always knew. He knows that Kaylee still loves Simon, just not in the way that either of them hopes to be loved and he knows that Inara still loves him with something that consumes them both.
She doesn't act on this instinct, and she knows how much happier she is with Kaylee than she could ever hope to be with Mal and for that, he's glad. He's not sure what he'd do if Inara ever broke Kaylee's heart. Would he throw Inara out? Would he make Kaylee live with the shadows of Inara's love in her face?
Mal knows that he's lucky; he's never going to have to deal with that situation.
III.
Simon is sulking (although secretly he's a little relieved), River is protective (although secretly she knows that Simon is relieved), and the rest of the crew is uncertain. None of them want there to be more than there are already is, and if Simon becomes resentful, or if Inara loves Mal, their home will erupt. For the most part, they keep quiet.
None of this applies to Jayne, however. Jayne's bunk is next to Kaylee's, and he can hear them.
Kaylee doesn't move in with Inara, but Inara starts sleeping in Kaylee's room more often than not. They don't sleep together in Inara's shuttle, not because Kaylee's jealous (she's never had a problem with sex and she won't start now). It's more intimate when they do it in Kaylee's room, and Jayne happily agrees.
Mal realizes this, but he doesn't do anything about it.
Instead, he starts drinking with Jayne. Its roots are completely random, like a game of dice as they pass through a cloud of butterflies. It stems because he exists physically, Mal suspects. Flesh and warmth (and sometimes searing pain), and really, there wasn't any other particular reason. He couldn't trust Jayne (except for when he can).
IV.
He wakes up naked next to Jayne sometime between the third and fourth month they've been drinking together and a part of him knew that was going to happen eventually, so he didn't make much of it. He tells this to Jayne, who is somewhere between a crisis and a love of sex.
As a general rule, nether of them really fuck men. Jayne thinks he may or may not have fucked a man before, but he can't remember when so he's really not sure; Mal's situation was somewhere along those lines.
After the next few times they fall into bed together, Mal's starting to think he likes sex with Jayne, and Jayne's starting to think he likes sex with Mal, something neither of them quite expect. Bottoming doesn't seem like an enjoyable idea in theory for either of them, but in practice, it could probably be worse.
Mal tops more often than not, and Jayne complains far less than either of them expect. Mal doesn't like blowjobs though (somehow, he doesn't trust his dick in anybody's mouth), but he gives them, so Jayne thinks it's fair.
They don't discuss this addition to their already tentative companionship (no pun intended), but Mal knows the whole crew knows. Their routines don't change much, with the exceptions of nights they spend in each others' rooms, and Jayne's higher tolerance of Mal. (Mal doesn't have to worry about Jayne withholding sex, but Jayne knows that Mal's spent long periods of time celibate before.)
V.
Three months past living life that way, and Mal wonders how long it will last. Eventually, they'll go their separate ways, even if there's nothing tearing them apart. Jayne'll eventually settle when he's made enough money and he's tired of the life. Mal will go down with Serenity, there is no doubt about that. Until she's said she's had enough, Mal will be in the sky forever. One of them - both of them - could die any day now, will die any day now. Neither of them really cares one way or another. Neither of them will drop their future for a man they couldn't claim to like half the time.
They're sitting at the table, when Wash suddenly speaks up.
"You know Mal, I think I like you a lot more now that you're sly." He throws an arm around Zoe, who snorts but says nothing. Jayne bristles, like a cat.
"Hey, neither of us here are sly, got that? If a woman-" Jayne looks a meaningful glance at Inara, "-were ta walk up to me all naked-like, I'd have her on her back in a second, Mal or no Mal." Mal had no doubt about that statement, but he has no doubt about Jayne's loyalty.
They're not a couple. They don't buy trinkets of affection for each other the way Wash and Zoe do, they don't even show affection the way Kaylee and Inara do; they’re Mal and Jayne with sex added. They’re mutually exclusive, despite Jayne’s protest that they weren’t, but that’s as far as it went.
And when the Shepard dies, when the Tam siblings make their peace, when Inara and Kaylee leave, when Wash and Zoe settle down, nobody is surprised that Jayne and Mal park Serenity on some isolated moon, and settle into her.