Disclaimer: All the good is Joss'. Blame me for the rest!

WARNING Spoilers for “Ariel”

RATING – I don't honestly know. Probably not quite an 'R' but maybe a little stronger than an NC-13? Definitely slash y, in a not really doing very much about it kind of way ....

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TRAUMA MEDICINE: Chapter 13

An interesting day.

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Mal's pupils dilate, constrict and dilate again. Sure signs he's awake and focusing. Simon can't move. Can hardly even breathe. The muscles of his face seem to have congealed into an expression of absolute horror. All he can do is look into eyes so deep he could drown in them. Drowning – now there 's a solution to the predicament he finds himself in. Right now he wouldn't turn down spontaneous combustion either. Or perhaps Jayne could finally make good on his repeated promises to end him. Anything rather than have to face the consequences of what he's just done. He kissed Mal . Shit! The best he can hope for now is a lifetime of humiliation – pointed comments, double-entendres. Mal has a cruel streak he knows will revel in being able to make him squirm. He'll probably keep it to himself for a while and let Simon sweat, never knowing when the others will find out. Oh God, he's going to make Simon suffer for this.

Mal inhales and his lips part slightly. Tamade – is he going to start right now?

The waiting is excruciating ....

And then the Captain's lids flutter closed again. His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm and he looks for all the 'verse like a man in a deep, deep sleep. Except Simon knows he isn't.

The medic remains rooted to the spot, not daring to move. Mal can feel him there, hovering, just inches away. He can feel the warmth radiating from him and smell the clean, slightly sharp scent of him. How does he manage to stay so clean when there's so little water on Serenity? A vivid image of how Mal could dirty him up some flashes through his mind and it takes all his control not to reach ou