Imbalance of Power

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Insert standard fanfic disclaimer thingy here.

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Scene 1:

(Serenity. Kitchen, dinner is being served. Mal enters late from cargo bay.)

MAL: “Mail Call! Ai ya! Don’t even wait for me then. See if I do the post run again.” (Starts passing it out) “Bill. Bill. Bill. He’s a popular fella this week. Here’s one addressed to sweepstakes winner.. guess that’d be you Jayne. Girly magazine cleverly disguised in a plain brown wrapper.. that’d be you again Jayne. Kaylee, one for you, smells funny. Package of thingamahoozies for Simon. Bill, bill, and a catalog for old home furnishing fixtures addressed to occupant. Zoe, you plannin’ on doing any plumbing without telling me?”

ZOE: “Happy with the tub we’ve got, Sir.”

MAL: “New lighting fixures then?”

ZOE: “Prefer it dark, Sir. Makes you prettier.”

MAL: “Hey..”

KAYLEE: “Guess what? I Got a message from Inara!!”

RIVER: (enters from bunk) “She didn’t wave.”

KAYLEE: “She *wrote*, even better!”

SIMON: “Are you planning to keep us in suspense all day?”

ZOE: “Go on, read it.”

KAYLEE: “Let’s see. Says hello to Zoe...goes on to talk about some new dresses..found a song Shanty’d like. Asks how married life’s treating us. Says to let mei mei read this when I’m done. Guess she means River? Sends a recipe for five spice horse and phoenix for Shanty to try if she gets a chance. Sounds exotic! Says she’s having good sex, or was ‘till they called some big meeting or other. Somethin’ odd towards the end here. Says to ask Jayne about his course in astrophysics? PS: Tell the captain it’s good to hear he’s not dead anymore, but not to let it go to his head. (pulls out two more pages) Oh look! There’s a poem too! She’s got such a pretty hand with a brush. Looks funny though, can’t quite make it out.”

ZOE: “Jayne, you gettin’ all learned on us?”

JAYNE: “Not so’s you’d notice.”

MAL: “We hadn’t. River, how’s about you just take a gander at Inara’s little note there & see what you think.”

RIVER: “13th centur