S’mores Fight

By 2x2

Written for FF_Fridays Challenge #111 – Hair

Pairing: Mal /Inara

Spoilers: None really

Set Post-BDM

A/N This is not at all what I intended to write. I was going to do something introspective, about Mal thinking on Inara’s hair and such, but, well, this is what came out.

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S’mores Fight

Mal hesitated outside the door of Inara’s shuttle, unsure if he wanted to risk entering. On the one hand, he knew that right now she’d probably just want to be left alone. On the other hand, he suspected that melted marshmallow must be fairly difficult to get out of one’s hair, and she might appreciate the help.

Or not.

She’d been pretty pissed off, he had to admit, when the melted goo had landed smack in the middle of the back of her head. Jayne’s explosion of laughter hadn’t helped much either. Truth be told, if he went in there now, he’d likely end up a dead man. Still, he did feel pretty bad for making her so upset, and Kaylee’d been just about in tears after the incident. It was probably better to get it over with so things could get back to normal sooner rather than later.

Warily, he took a quick peek around the hatch and saw her sitting on her bed, her back to him as she tugged a brush through her hair in angry strokes, trying to work the sticky substance from her locks and cursing in frustration. Yep. She was still upset.

Mal drew in a deep breath, steeling himself, and entered the shuttle, making his way across the carpeted floor silently until he came up behind her and took the brush from her startled fingers, eliciting a surprised gasp from her.

“Can’t you ever knock!” she threw over her shoulder angrily, grabbing the brush from him and dragging it through her hair again harshly, wincing as it caught and ripped more strands from her scalp.

“’Came to help,” he said, ignoring her expected reprimand, an apology in his voice. She shook her head, too mad to care.

“The last thing I need is your… you!” she spat