[Table three] [Firefly] [Mal]
Titles: Prickly, Ghost, Faith, Snake in the Grass, Amendment
Author: twilightsrain/edenbound (ficjournal)
Fandom: Firefly
Character: Mal (with Mal/Inara in Prickly and Amendment)
Table/Theme: III, 16-20
Rating: G
Word Counts: 91, 177, 125, 95, 109
Warnings: Angst, spoilers for the BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
16 -- Evergreen -- Prickly
"Get out, Mal."
Mal raises his hands in surrender and steps back out of the shuttle, raising an eyebrow slightly at Inara and trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "You never let up, do you? I had a perfectly legitimate reason to come into your shuttle, since you didn't come for dinner with the rest of us, but seems you're prickly all year round no matter what."
Inara raises an eyebrow, disbelieving, "A reason?"
"I was worried," he says, softly, and then hurries up and leaves her shuttle like she asked.
17 -- Keeping in touch -- Ghost
Sittin' in the pilot's seat feels odd, now, with all that happened, and still like he could just reach out and touch Wash and hear his suggestions and the steady pace of his breath as he flew their ship with the most expert touch in the 'verse. It's Wash's place, ain't his, and reaching out lets him brush his fingers over those gorramn dinosaurs and for the first time in ever (or a long, long time, anyway) there's a sharp edge in his throat (not at it) and tears stinging his eyes.
"What'd you want to do now?" he asks the ghost of Wash, thinking about his mental map of the 'verse, and all the places they can go, and all the places they shouldn't go for Simon and River's sake, and all the places they shouldn't go for all of 'em's sake.
"We all need a break," River says, coming in, and Mal looks up and smiles at her with the tears still stinging his eyes, because she might be River but she says what Wash always did.
18 -- Absence of fear -- Faith
"You afraid, Zoe?"
"No, sir," she says, grinning at him and shifting her gun in her hands -- movin' easily, like it's a part of her, "not if you ain't."
And he ain't scared, even if he's got the baddest of bad feelings, 'cause the name Serenity Valley is pretty darned pretty, like them, and God'll protect 'em like He has so far, so he grins at Zoe, "I certainly ain't scared."
Zoe grins again, and it comes to him that he loves her -- not like he's loved other women, but like she's a part of him, like he loves his gun, and he knows he can't function without her standin' there, helpful an' unchallengin', to back him up with whatever he gets up to. That's reassurin'.
19 -- On the radio -- Snake in the Grass
Minutes stretch long before Jayne answers, and Mal shifts uncomfortably in his hiding spot and glances across to the spot where Zoe lies concealed. He knows discomfortin'ly well exactly how easy it is to offer Jayne a better deal and he's half expectin' a knife at his throat, especially with how long Jayne seems to be takin' to get to his spot. Discomfortin'ly long.
Somehow, his luck holds, though -- seconds after he thinks that, the radio crackles.
"Still not enough money to make me turn on you, Mal," Jayne says, with a grin in his voice.
20 -- Stretching the truth -- Amendment
Inara's on his thoughts again, even when he should be concentrating on Serenity, thinkin' only of her. It doesn't help that River takes easy control of Serenity, needing only the tiniest hints of thoughts to correct whatever she does wrong, everything becoming as reflex to her as it never did to him. He's thinkin' of Inara and her pretty face, and her pretty body and her pretty dresses and how when she leaves again, it'll hurt. River looks up at him, questioning, but not saying anything.
"I don't love her," he says, firmly, defiantly, and River snorts softly, all knowing and smiling and he amends, "leastways, I ain't supposed to."
Author: twilightsrain/edenbound (ficjournal)
Fandom: Firefly
Character: Mal (with Mal/Inara in Prickly and Amendment)
Table/Theme: III, 16-20
Rating: G
Word Counts: 91, 177, 125, 95, 109
Warnings: Angst, spoilers for the BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
16 -- Evergreen -- Prickly
"Get out, Mal."
Mal raises his hands in surrender and steps back out of the shuttle, raising an eyebrow slightly at Inara and trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "You never let up, do you? I had a perfectly legitimate reason to come into your shuttle, since you didn't come for dinner with the rest of us, but seems you're prickly all year round no matter what."
Inara raises an eyebrow, disbelieving, "A reason?"
"I was worried," he says, softly, and then hurries up and leaves her shuttle like she asked.
17 -- Keeping in touch -- Ghost
Sittin' in the pilot's seat feels odd, now, with all that happened, and still like he could just reach out and touch Wash and hear his suggestions and the steady pace of his breath as he flew their ship with the most expert touch in the 'verse. It's Wash's place, ain't his, and reaching out lets him brush his fingers over those gorramn dinosaurs and for the first time in ever (or a long, long time, anyway) there's a sharp edge in his throat (not at it) and tears stinging his eyes.
"What'd you want to do now?" he asks the ghost of Wash, thinking about his mental map of the 'verse, and all the places they can go, and all the places they shouldn't go for Simon and River's sake, and all the places they shouldn't go for all of 'em's sake.
"We all need a break," River says, coming in, and Mal looks up and smiles at her with the tears still stinging his eyes, because she might be River but she says what Wash always did.
18 -- Absence of fear -- Faith
"You afraid, Zoe?"
"No, sir," she says, grinning at him and shifting her gun in her hands -- movin' easily, like it's a part of her, "not if you ain't."
And he ain't scared, even if he's got the baddest of bad feelings, 'cause the name Serenity Valley is pretty darned pretty, like them, and God'll protect 'em like He has so far, so he grins at Zoe, "I certainly ain't scared."
Zoe grins again, and it comes to him that he loves her -- not like he's loved other women, but like she's a part of him, like he loves his gun, and he knows he can't function without her standin' there, helpful an' unchallengin', to back him up with whatever he gets up to. That's reassurin'.
19 -- On the radio -- Snake in the Grass
Minutes stretch long before Jayne answers, and Mal shifts uncomfortably in his hiding spot and glances across to the spot where Zoe lies concealed. He knows discomfortin'ly well exactly how easy it is to offer Jayne a better deal and he's half expectin' a knife at his throat, especially with how long Jayne seems to be takin' to get to his spot. Discomfortin'ly long.
Somehow, his luck holds, though -- seconds after he thinks that, the radio crackles.
"Still not enough money to make me turn on you, Mal," Jayne says, with a grin in his voice.
20 -- Stretching the truth -- Amendment
Inara's on his thoughts again, even when he should be concentrating on Serenity, thinkin' only of her. It doesn't help that River takes easy control of Serenity, needing only the tiniest hints of thoughts to correct whatever she does wrong, everything becoming as reflex to her as it never did to him. He's thinkin' of Inara and her pretty face, and her pretty body and her pretty dresses and how when she leaves again, it'll hurt. River looks up at him, questioning, but not saying anything.
"I don't love her," he says, firmly, defiantly, and River snorts softly, all knowing and smiling and he amends, "leastways, I ain't supposed to."