Quiet - A Firefly Holiday story
Title: Merry Christmas
Author: bandearg_rois
Rating: G
Character/Pairing: Sheppard Book, brief mentions of Simon/Kaylee and Mal/Inara (neither graphic nor anything but idle conjecture)
Summary: Set during Ariel, when Sheppard Book is dropped off at Bathsgate Abbey.
Prompt: Sheppard Book reflecting on the quiet times on Serenity.
Author's Note: HAPPY HOLIDAY amine_eyes!!!! Hope this is what you were looking for! Also, some of this is taken from Ron Glass's description of his character on the extras for the season DVD. Not word for word, mind... Set during Ariel because of the mention of Holiday during the episode.
Derrial Book hadn't always been a Sheppard, hadn't ever really hidden that from the others, hadn't been able to hide it when he'd gotten shot. He hadn't been lying, that first night, when he'd told Inara he'd gotten on the wrong ship. He also hadn't been joking when he'd talked to Mal about the 'heathens aplenty' on the Firefly that had become his home. He was a trained observer, always watching, always calculating, something not even Seminary could beat out of him, take away like it had so many of his instinctual reactions to trauma, to worry.
Serenity was, indeed, a good home, a broken family, but mostly wonderful people. Never a dull moment with the crew, but there were the quiet times, when most everyone was asleep (River didn't count, since she didn't exactly keep a normal schedule anyway), when he had nothing but time and silence, to think, to pray. He found himself staying up every night, long after everyone but possibly Wash had bedded down for the night, thinking on these people and his situation among them. There wasn't much call for his primary profession, seeing as how Mal had stated quite clearly that while he was perfectly welcome on the ship, He wasn't.
Not much he could say to that, only try his best to help the members of the crew as needed him, like Inara and Mal, whether they knew it or not, manipulating to try and get them together, never succeeding. Not that he'd ever admit to that, since Sheppards weren't exactly the matchmakers of the universe. it was the same with Simon and Kaylee, though he didn't have to do much on that front, seeing as how Kaylee was more than able to get Simon to pay attention herself.
But that's not the point, he thought as he looked out over the gardens of the Abbey. The point of it all was that he had found a home, a family, albeit highly disfunctional, and it was something he hadn't had in a long time, not since he was River's age, long before becoming a Sheppard had ever entered his tired, jaded mind. The other Sheppards were his brothers, yes, but none of them so close as those eight people, even Jayne, in his own way. And wasn't that important? The journey, not the destination? As he looked up to the sky, his thoughts weren't on God, or on the other Sheppards milling about, doing work or meditating or just thinking, like himself. It was on his family, his home, up in the stars, never settling, always moving, but always together, even if they weren't all in the same place. Just as it always would be, until the end of it all.
-FIN-
(short but sweet, hope you liked it! This is actually my first non-crack Firefly story, and i think this was good for me as well! Thanks for the prompt!)
Author: bandearg_rois
Rating: G
Character/Pairing: Sheppard Book, brief mentions of Simon/Kaylee and Mal/Inara (neither graphic nor anything but idle conjecture)
Summary: Set during Ariel, when Sheppard Book is dropped off at Bathsgate Abbey.
Prompt: Sheppard Book reflecting on the quiet times on Serenity.
Author's Note: HAPPY HOLIDAY amine_eyes!!!! Hope this is what you were looking for! Also, some of this is taken from Ron Glass's description of his character on the extras for the season DVD. Not word for word, mind... Set during Ariel because of the mention of Holiday during the episode.
Derrial Book hadn't always been a Sheppard, hadn't ever really hidden that from the others, hadn't been able to hide it when he'd gotten shot. He hadn't been lying, that first night, when he'd told Inara he'd gotten on the wrong ship. He also hadn't been joking when he'd talked to Mal about the 'heathens aplenty' on the Firefly that had become his home. He was a trained observer, always watching, always calculating, something not even Seminary could beat out of him, take away like it had so many of his instinctual reactions to trauma, to worry.
Serenity was, indeed, a good home, a broken family, but mostly wonderful people. Never a dull moment with the crew, but there were the quiet times, when most everyone was asleep (River didn't count, since she didn't exactly keep a normal schedule anyway), when he had nothing but time and silence, to think, to pray. He found himself staying up every night, long after everyone but possibly Wash had bedded down for the night, thinking on these people and his situation among them. There wasn't much call for his primary profession, seeing as how Mal had stated quite clearly that while he was perfectly welcome on the ship, He wasn't.
Not much he could say to that, only try his best to help the members of the crew as needed him, like Inara and Mal, whether they knew it or not, manipulating to try and get them together, never succeeding. Not that he'd ever admit to that, since Sheppards weren't exactly the matchmakers of the universe. it was the same with Simon and Kaylee, though he didn't have to do much on that front, seeing as how Kaylee was more than able to get Simon to pay attention herself.
But that's not the point, he thought as he looked out over the gardens of the Abbey. The point of it all was that he had found a home, a family, albeit highly disfunctional, and it was something he hadn't had in a long time, not since he was River's age, long before becoming a Sheppard had ever entered his tired, jaded mind. The other Sheppards were his brothers, yes, but none of them so close as those eight people, even Jayne, in his own way. And wasn't that important? The journey, not the destination? As he looked up to the sky, his thoughts weren't on God, or on the other Sheppards milling about, doing work or meditating or just thinking, like himself. It was on his family, his home, up in the stars, never settling, always moving, but always together, even if they weren't all in the same place. Just as it always would be, until the end of it all.
-FIN-
(short but sweet, hope you liked it! This is actually my first non-crack Firefly story, and i think this was good for me as well! Thanks for the prompt!)