MAL AND INARA'S DAY OFF

Mal and Inara decide to spend their day off with each other.

Chapter One – “Raindrops on Roses”

As Malcolm Reynolds paced up and down the cargo bay of Serenity, the unsettling thought that something was not right crossed his mind. Looking back to Serenity’s entrance, where the crew was waiting for his say-so before they left, he tried to imagine what could be making him feel so uneasy.

There was only a simple job they had to pull on this moon, and the rest of the time would be spent getting hold of supplies. He couldn’t see any valid cause for his anxiety.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he made his way over to his impatient crew.

“Now I know that Wash has declared this moon Alliance-free” Mal began “but that is no reason to be careless. I want everyone to stay on their guard at all times and nobody is to go wandering off by themselves. Am I understood?”

At the nods he received from the crew, Mal continued.

“Jayne, I want you to stay with the Doc and his sister, to make sure they don’t get into trouble.”

Seeing Simon about to protest, Mal cut him off explaining “Also you’re going to need some help carrying back those supplies and Jayne here is one of the best people we got to lug stuff around.”

Turning away from them, Mal looked towards his first mate. “Zoe? You and Wash all ready to go?” at her slight nod he continued. “Now if there’s going to be any complications you come straight back to Serenity and we’ll be off. And don’t do letting that husband of yours get into any brawls” Mal said smirking. Wash frowned, but on Zoe’s look, held back any retort he might have made.

“Okay, little Kaylee. So you need to be finding us some synchronizers and that compression coil. Dong ma? Don’t you let nobody push you into getting something you know won’t we don’t need. Shepherd will be accompanying you and I know he’ll keep you safe” Mal said glancing towards the older man.

Kaylee sighed. “Capt’n, we’ve gone over this a thousand times already. We get the compre