Something To Think On: Chapter 1
Thursday, July 30, 2009
M/I. Post-BDM. On feeling and fighting.
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 2735 RATING: 10.0 (PG13) SERIES: FIREFLY
Something To Think On
by
Chapter One
Nope, he hadn’t been looking for a renter – but there she was, and it seemed like she was there to stay. Kept to her shuttle mostly the first few weeks (came down for dinner when Kaylee occasioned to invite her, but mostly stayed to herself), and he made a point in the beginning of steering clear of places weren’t his business – things weren’t his business. And what she did most certainly wasn’t his business.
Nighttime twenty days to the day she’d come on board. Boat had been docked on Bellerophon a mite too long for his taste. First time he’d stayed so long on a border planet in longer than he could count, and wouldn’t have happened at all if it wasn’t for her and her gorram respectability. Greased the introductions. Wasn’t all she was greasing.
The goods they were dropping were on the up and up, but it didn’t make him none the more comfortable there – and so he was in the galley, bent over the cooker, fixing something hot to ease tender nerves. He wouldn’t’ve noticed her presence at all except for her little gasp come from the doorway. By the time he’d turned she was already on her way back out, black hair and the back of a flowy piece of silk all that he saw.
No fault of her own, he was sure, but the sight of her stirred up a little flash of anger in him. His momma’d taught him how to be polite once upon a time, but he didn’t much remember those lessons now. “Too fancy to be seen with us mere mortals?”
She turned at that, her hand pulling the edges of the flowy silk piece together at her breast. She dropped her eyes. “Captain Reynolds. My apologies. I assumed everyone would be asleep by now.”
He nodded once, quickly. Nonchalant-like. Had he been trying to con
I also like your take on Zoe at first, the dislike and mistrust, and also the seeds Zoe plants here about Mal not accepting help from Inara anymore. And kind of the way he starts to side with Zoe over the "crew vs. Inara" dynamic going on in his head, the reminder of why Zoe's on his side and vice-versa.
Actually, to be honest, this so affected me that it became my perspective on Zoe ever since. There might even be some jealousy on Zoe's part here, about Inara taking Mal's friendship and loyalty away from HER. Much like Mal's reaction towards Wash sometimes.
... Which means I'm totally stealing it. *cough*
Also, love how even here, there's the worry about if she's hurting somehow, yet he never asks. Oh Mal. :(
And here's where the mislead starts that had us all boggled! Poor River, but you have to love what you've done here. Mal's anger, his lashing out, and not knowing what's wrong with Inara, and knowing that's why Mal is acting the way he is. Very good.
"You can't take the sky from me!"
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