Blue Sun Room FICTION - ROMANCE

Sting

Saturday, January 6, 2007

One-shot. After Miranda, Mal and Inara and the moving forward. And jellyfish. And the rest of the crew, too.

CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 1767    RATING: 9.0 (PG)    SERIES: FIREFLY

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Title: Sting (1/1)

Disclaimer: Yeah, not, not so much in legal possession of this here intellectual property.

Pairing: Mal/Inara, and a dash of Simon/Kaylee.

Synopsis: "'Nara, what, what is this that we're doing here?" Hopeful angst. Plus, jellyfish.

Spoilers: All of it.

Word Count: 4, 651

A/N: First post. :) Hi! This was recently posted around on LiveJournal. I'm over there under the username :)

* * * * * *

Hundreds of jellyfish bobbed up and down in the Grand Lijiang River on Persephone, gliding along the current, sneaking in between glints of evening sun. River stood aside the bank, toes dug into the grass, wind whipping her black slip around her knees. She held one leg in the air, foot pointed straight and poised an inch above the glassy surface as the translucent creatures slid past. She lowered a toe into the cool water, slowly, a fraction of an inch, pulled back quickly, then dipped again.

Atop the small slope that lead down to the bank and where Serenity had been firmly grounded for the day, Simon was trying to express his gratitude to Inara for her help, for keeping him sane, after he was wounded on Miranda. It was something he had meant to do sooner but never found the right time. His words were cut short when Inara’s hand brushed his arm, turning him to the river. It was then that he noticed his sister’s flirtation with the dangerous ghosts in the water.

“Mei-mei,” he called out, tripping his way down the grassy slope to where River was standing, “don’t…don’t do that.” River stopped, placed both feet on the solid ground. Simon stood next to her, staring.

“They’re going home, Simon. No time to sting.”

She crouched down, leaning over her knees to peer closer, flecks of sun jumping off the surface and onto her face, into her eyes. She did not break her gaze. The pink jellies continued on, oblivious, as River placed a finger in the water and watched the ripples trail behind

Comments
Saturday, 06 January 2007 22:09
The tone of this is sweet without the sappy. It has all the uncertainty created by the outcome of the movie, but with a glimmer of hope for the future.

love the disclosures that are shared(the sting stories)... and the dialogue on their work week is perfect as is the rent negotiation

Have you considered continuing?
Saturday, 06 January 2007 23:50
Loved this, the awkward, hesitant back and forth of banter with each trying to say what they mean but getting tangled up on the detail until at the end that little bit of give is all it takes to move them both in the right direction. Loved Kaylee being so tuned in to her friends that she arranges for them to have that little bit of time alone to make progress. Yep, definitely need more! Ali D :~)
You can't take the sky from me
Sunday, 07 January 2007 08:17
This was terrific! I think you have both Mal and Inara's voices down. I loved the flashback - although it through me for a bit at first ... and I loved the interaction between both Simon and Kaylee and of course, M/I. Just perfect.

I hope there's more you're willing to share with us ...
Sunday, 07 January 2007 22:00
A truly amazing piece.

The banter, perfect.

The observations, perfect.

The wit - perfect.

The characterisation - perfect, and subtle River's wonder and brattiness, Simon's love and idiocy, Kaylee's little plot.

Just beautiful, the whole thing.
Monday, 08 January 2007 02:12
I *heart* you, Nara223! This was perfect. Perfectly in character and perfectly romantic. It sounds like you have more fic, so off I go to read!
Monday, 08 January 2007 02:20
Oh no! No more fic? =( This is the only one??? Well, best get crackin' on another one then! If you need a beta, let me know! I'd be glad to help.
Monday, 08 January 2007 07:12
Loved this over at LJ (the Mal/Inara shippers' community, predominantly) and I loved here, nara223! Especially how you gave us a nice complex look at Inara's feelings and memories about her attempts to find her way with Mal up to the point of the main story's occurance...lots of perfectly-crafted angst counterbalanced with the right blend of fluffiness and banter:D

Gotta say through...what the cao were the terraformers thinking in have jellyfish - even non-poisonous varieties - rivers? Especially when I thought jellyfish were salt-water lifeforms...

BEB
Monday, 08 January 2007 07:13
Uh...please insert "inhabit" between after the sentence break and before "rivers"...:(

And mentally fix "in have" to say "in having"

:S
Monday, 08 January 2007 11:42
this was brillant
NARA223
Monday, 08 January 2007 17:54
BEB - Ha, I was hoping nobody would ask that. Um, maybe they're near a delta? Previous heavy rains on Persephone pushing them off course? Freaky terraforming incident? Something to do with studying bioluminescence and scientists doing weird genetic experiments? Heh. Can safely say, "I, uh, I don't know." :D

The image of jellyfish heading out to sea actually came from a Japanese film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa called Akarui Mirai (Bright Future). Logic there is also a bit kooky. :)

EVERYONE: Thanks for all the great comments! They are very much appreciated. And to those that asked or went hunting for more, I do hope to write more, though not sure if I'll do a companion piece to this or not.


"What do you call this spinning portion?"
"I call it the 'spinny thing' not the spinning portion. Don't you know any science?"
- Joss Whedon

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