Set six months after the BDM, with standard pairings: Simon and Kaylee, Mal and Inara angst. And, it is pg-13 with the exception of a Jayne scene in chapter 8, I’m not telling you more it would ruin the fun.

Of course - It all belongs to Joss. His world and his characters, but I sure am enjoying playing with them.

Thanks to Mal4prez for the wonderful Beta type advice and thanks to Valeriebean for helping me figure out how to make an ice planet.

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Snowball – chapter 1

Simon felt as though he could hear the captain’s complaints all the way from the galley. In truth, he did not notice the noise emanating from the bridge until he came down the hall past the crew quarters. Perhaps it was his certain knowledge of the likely bad end to this particular errand that led him to dread its completion. But the moment he heard the grumbling, he knew that without a doubt this was not going to go well. Long strings of Chinese curses assaulted his ears as he walked down the hall towards the bridge, each step becoming slower and slower as he neared. He couldn’t let the captain’s issues distract him, his errand was critical and time was of the essence.

Simon had spent the last half hour cooking the crew’s evening meal. He realized his cooking was marginal at best, even when the food was fresh and was eaten immediately. Cold and stale, his cooking left a lot be desired. Inedible would probably be a more apt word for it. There was a time when he wouldn’t have thought twice about tossing a poorly cooked meal into the trash, but not now. Food cost money, and they didn’t have money to waste. The crew needed to eat, and if anyone was going to be able to stomach this meal, he needed to call them to dinner as soon as possible, which meant getting to the main com unit on the bridge.

As he placed his foot on the first of the final five steps leading to the ships control center, his sister spoke, coming to his rescue, saving him the trouble of interrupting the captain. It