Title: Night Visitors

Author: Ana Sedai

Rating: PG

Character(s): Mal, River

Prompt: 062 - Sound

Word Count: 1,115

A/N: 18/100 for Mal/River Joss100. This is longer than 1,000 words, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut any more than I already did. I hope the Prompt Gods will forgive me. Oh, and this takes place before "Stability". I screwed up with the ordering again. Sorry! :(

Oh, and as always, feedback is craved and needed. Thank you.

Summary: River’s dragons finally stop roaring.

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The scrape of his bunk hatch opening was what startled Mal out of sleep this time. For a second, he lay still, listening. All he heard was a soft rustling. Quietly, slowly, he reached for the light switch and his gun, only to feel a small hand close around his, stopping him.

“No light, no sound, just darkness and silence. Too quiet for them to roar.”

To say that he was shocked would have been something of an understatement.

“River! What in the specter of hell are you doin’ down here?”

He couldn’t see her; only feel her move as she slid into the empty space next to him. He was still too surprised to stop her as she curled up at his side. He did sit up, though, but he refrained from turning on the light.

“Stopped hearing them during the day, but they come back at night. More vicious, louder.” She clutched his hand more tightly. “Thought being with you could stop them.”

Her dragons again. Damn it. And here he’d thought they’d all but left. Now here she was in his bed, looking to him to make it better. What was he supposed to do? They didn’t cover situations like this in space captain school.

He felt yet another headache start to set up camp right in the middle of his forehead. Using the hand that wasn’t trapped in hers, he massaged the bridge of his nose. Okay, how to defuse this without raising holy hell?

“Darlin’, I want to help flush out them gorram [