Eavesdroppers
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A lot of fluff, with a cup full of heart-warming love. Mal eavesdrops on a conversation between Jayne and Little Zoë. Inara uses her wiles. Pairings: M/I. Part 7 of the <a href="http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=16066"Namesake</a> series.
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 3718 RATING: 9.0 (G) SERIES: FIREFLY
A.N. This is part 7 of a series that would have been a one-shot had it not been for all the comments begging for more. To catch up, start with and follow the links until they bring you back here.
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PART 19: HE OVERHEARD
Mal rubbed his neck, glad that River’s psychic ability helped them avoid would-be scavengers, but miffed by the delays that it caused. He longed for the days when he only had to worry about what he saw and not so much about what River could see. He paused outside the door to the galley, hearing Zoë and Jayne talking. Peeking in, he could see Little Zoë cheerlessly helping Jayne wash the dishes, her face pensive. Usually playful to the point of breaking plates, Mal had to wonder what had the two in such a somber mood, so he hung back and eavesdropped.
“Uncle Jayne, how come you don’t talk anymore?”
“I talk all the time, girl,” Jayne protested, batting some suds in her direction, but failing to invoke a fight.
“I mean about jobs. Why ain’t you doin’ your job no more?”
“Who says I ain’t?”
“I just eavesdrop,” Zoë confessed and Mal stifled a laugh, knowing exactly where she got that tendency. The laugh died just as quickly when he started wondering what else she may have overheard.
Zoë continued, “You used to talk all the time over whether a world was dangerous or whether we should keep the ship in the air. Always talkin’ about where us kids would be safest.”
Mal had to admit, the girl was observant. Jayne had been off his game for awhile now, and Mal hadn’t known how to broach the subject. The merc shrugged, concentrating hard on scraping a piece of dried food off the plate he was washing. When he answered, his voice was thick, tinged with guilt. “Guess I figure now the safest place is right where I can see you.”
“We used to have safe houses all over. But you haven’t sent us to any since Boros. Since Mama ‘Nara was taken.”
“I seem to recall the Boros house not bein’ the safes
Mal took the dating a bit better than I'd have expected.
I'd like to see Zoe interact with her brothers.
You can't take the sky from me
Still...this was a deliciously brilliant bit of writing here, valeriebean! Between Inara's subtle use of wiles on Mal and the amazing internal dichotomy of Zoe between mother's daughter and her own personality;)
BEB
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