Fic: No Power in the 'Verse, Part 5/18 (Firefly, River/Mal, PG-13)
Title: No Power in the 'Verse: V. Seaweed and Pirates
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~1100
Pairing: River/Mal, mentions of Mal/Inara and Kaylee/Simon
Notes: Chapter title and cut text from Rockpools by Martha Tilston
V. Seaweed and Pirates
They've put down on New Melbourne, and even though the cargo bay doors are currently closed, River can smell the salt waves. Closing her eyes, she can sense gulls winging overhead, their calls carrying the sharp pang of freedom.
“Ugh. Gorram planet reeks of fish.” Jayne stomps past her on the catwalk, heading down to help Mal and Zoë load up their cargo for delivery.
“Well, Jayne, it is mostly ocean,” Zoë points out, hefting up another crate of finest quality bait.
Jayne shifts uneasily. “Yeah, and I never did take to things that ain't got legs 'less they're on my dinner plate. Sooner we're back in the air where we belong, happier I'll be. Who wants this crap anyhow, Mal?”
“Pirates,” says River, from her perch at the top of the stairs.
“They are legitimate businessfolk, thank you very much,” Mal says, looking up at her, but he's got on his mock-Captain face and not his serious-now-so-crazy-girls-should-hush face. “Just seems that the fisherman's guild here is mighty particular 'bout who's allowed to buy the best types of bait. If some folk can't be bothered with permits and the like, that's hardly our business.”
“Pirate the catch,” she insists, lying back to stare up at Serenity's hull. “Swoop in, take what they can. Leave nothing behind.”
“Way I see it,” Mal says, putting the last crate into place, “man's got a right to whatever he can get his hands on fairly. All the more so if he's payin' me for it.” Loading complete, they split up to make final preparations, heading out of the cargo bay.
While River knows perfectly well the intended meaning of his words, she finds the idea of Mal getting his hands on her flying to the front of her mind. It hooks itself into her so tightly she nearly forgets to breathe, lost in imagining his hands pulling her up, sliding under her clothes, across her skin.
“What the hell's the matter with you, moonbrain? You got a look on your face like Kaylee when she spots a fresh berry. All...gooey,” Jayne says with evident disgust as he passes her again, snapping her from her daze.
“Jayne, are those grenades? What the hell do you think you're gonna be needin' grenades for on a simple delivery?” Mal says, returning from the bridge.
Jayne looks guiltily at the cylinders in his hands. “Uh...only way to go fishin', Capt'n?” he attempts.
“Nice try, but no. Back they go. Anyhow, just had a wave from our man, they ain't gonna be ready for us for another couple hours. So, 'less someone's got a better idea, I say we head out, take advantage of the beach while we got it.”
“You mean we can go out swimming, Cap'n? Really?” Coming in from the upper regions of the ship, Kaylee is all but bouncing with glee. River wonders yet again at her capability to appear just ahead of good news, files away the possibility that Kaylee can read joy just as River can read thoughts for later consideration.
“Won't that be shiny, Simon? Been an awful long time since I've been in the water.” Kaylee and Simon are at the stairs next to her now, and River notes that continued exposure has not yet made Kaylee's enthusiasm contagious to her brother.
“Swimming, here?” Simon's face is a picture in politely repressed disgust as Mal opens the doors, letting in the full and decidedly fishy bouquet of New Melbourne.
“What's wrong doc, scared of a little water?” Jayne is sure to jostle Simon as he heads back for his bunk; they may be more friendly these days, but they are not yet friends.
“Not when it's clean, no.” But as usual when he's set against Kaylee, Simon knows the battle is lost before he could begin it, lets himself be dragged along to fading chatter about seashells and sand ships.
River and Mal are alone now, and he climbs the stairs to stand next to the dark pool of her hair.
“What about you, little one? You up for a swim?”
She tilts her head back, the better to see his face looking down on her. “No,” she says, “but I'd very much like to go for a float.”
She sees the corner of his mouth lift as he offers a hand to pull her up. “Tiny thing like you, I don't expect that'll be much of a problem.”
Her fingers are cool and steady in his, do not betray her. But inside she is rocked by waves, not only from the sensation of his thumb brushing over her wrist. This is the first time she's seen him truly smile in the month since Inara left the ship. She tallies it as another small victory, soothes the fluttering desire within her with more tiny offerings of hope.
***
River is weightless, adrift on a green sea, sunlight warming her face. The water lapping at her ears mutes sound, envelops her in an ocean of peace. She has always loved to swim, used to play on the beaches of Osiris where she was a mermaid, luring Simon the sailor to his watery doom.
The unwelcome thought that this is truth now, no longer just fantasy is interrupted by a bit of seaweed wrapping itself around her ankle, tickling her. She ducks under to unwind it, tumbling into and then breaking free of the water's weightless embrace. And as she surfaces, her world once again becomes Mal.
He is still, looking out to sea, waves breaking over his shoulders. She can feel each one as they pass her in turn, gently tugging and pushing at her body; but more than that, she can feel the weight washing off his shoulders as he lets himself be absolved, just a bit, for all that has happened.
A gull calls out overhead, and River cannot help but tempt fate, knows she is smiling for the pure sense of peace cresting around them.
Her peace is scattered by a cold splash to her face as Jayne drifts past. “What're you going cuckoo over now, girl?” he says, grinning at her in a big brotherly fashion totally alien to Simon's. He follows her line of sight to Mal, and for a moment her limbs are weighted with dread as he looks back to her with narrowed eyes. “You keep looking at the Capt'n like that, people are gonna think you've gone all moony over him. Gotta be careful what you're lookin' at when you're having crazy times, you know.”
She smiles again, full of relief and mischief both, because he is after all Jayne. She dives under, a mermaid once more, ready to pull the overly curious down with her.
Part 4 - Master Post - Part 6
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~1100
Pairing: River/Mal, mentions of Mal/Inara and Kaylee/Simon
Notes: Chapter title and cut text from Rockpools by Martha Tilston
V. Seaweed and Pirates
They've put down on New Melbourne, and even though the cargo bay doors are currently closed, River can smell the salt waves. Closing her eyes, she can sense gulls winging overhead, their calls carrying the sharp pang of freedom.
“Ugh. Gorram planet reeks of fish.” Jayne stomps past her on the catwalk, heading down to help Mal and Zoë load up their cargo for delivery.
“Well, Jayne, it is mostly ocean,” Zoë points out, hefting up another crate of finest quality bait.
Jayne shifts uneasily. “Yeah, and I never did take to things that ain't got legs 'less they're on my dinner plate. Sooner we're back in the air where we belong, happier I'll be. Who wants this crap anyhow, Mal?”
“Pirates,” says River, from her perch at the top of the stairs.
“They are legitimate businessfolk, thank you very much,” Mal says, looking up at her, but he's got on his mock-Captain face and not his serious-now-so-crazy-girls-should-hush face. “Just seems that the fisherman's guild here is mighty particular 'bout who's allowed to buy the best types of bait. If some folk can't be bothered with permits and the like, that's hardly our business.”
“Pirate the catch,” she insists, lying back to stare up at Serenity's hull. “Swoop in, take what they can. Leave nothing behind.”
“Way I see it,” Mal says, putting the last crate into place, “man's got a right to whatever he can get his hands on fairly. All the more so if he's payin' me for it.” Loading complete, they split up to make final preparations, heading out of the cargo bay.
While River knows perfectly well the intended meaning of his words, she finds the idea of Mal getting his hands on her flying to the front of her mind. It hooks itself into her so tightly she nearly forgets to breathe, lost in imagining his hands pulling her up, sliding under her clothes, across her skin.
“What the hell's the matter with you, moonbrain? You got a look on your face like Kaylee when she spots a fresh berry. All...gooey,” Jayne says with evident disgust as he passes her again, snapping her from her daze.
“Jayne, are those grenades? What the hell do you think you're gonna be needin' grenades for on a simple delivery?” Mal says, returning from the bridge.
Jayne looks guiltily at the cylinders in his hands. “Uh...only way to go fishin', Capt'n?” he attempts.
“Nice try, but no. Back they go. Anyhow, just had a wave from our man, they ain't gonna be ready for us for another couple hours. So, 'less someone's got a better idea, I say we head out, take advantage of the beach while we got it.”
“You mean we can go out swimming, Cap'n? Really?” Coming in from the upper regions of the ship, Kaylee is all but bouncing with glee. River wonders yet again at her capability to appear just ahead of good news, files away the possibility that Kaylee can read joy just as River can read thoughts for later consideration.
“Won't that be shiny, Simon? Been an awful long time since I've been in the water.” Kaylee and Simon are at the stairs next to her now, and River notes that continued exposure has not yet made Kaylee's enthusiasm contagious to her brother.
“Swimming, here?” Simon's face is a picture in politely repressed disgust as Mal opens the doors, letting in the full and decidedly fishy bouquet of New Melbourne.
“What's wrong doc, scared of a little water?” Jayne is sure to jostle Simon as he heads back for his bunk; they may be more friendly these days, but they are not yet friends.
“Not when it's clean, no.” But as usual when he's set against Kaylee, Simon knows the battle is lost before he could begin it, lets himself be dragged along to fading chatter about seashells and sand ships.
River and Mal are alone now, and he climbs the stairs to stand next to the dark pool of her hair.
“What about you, little one? You up for a swim?”
She tilts her head back, the better to see his face looking down on her. “No,” she says, “but I'd very much like to go for a float.”
She sees the corner of his mouth lift as he offers a hand to pull her up. “Tiny thing like you, I don't expect that'll be much of a problem.”
Her fingers are cool and steady in his, do not betray her. But inside she is rocked by waves, not only from the sensation of his thumb brushing over her wrist. This is the first time she's seen him truly smile in the month since Inara left the ship. She tallies it as another small victory, soothes the fluttering desire within her with more tiny offerings of hope.
***
River is weightless, adrift on a green sea, sunlight warming her face. The water lapping at her ears mutes sound, envelops her in an ocean of peace. She has always loved to swim, used to play on the beaches of Osiris where she was a mermaid, luring Simon the sailor to his watery doom.
The unwelcome thought that this is truth now, no longer just fantasy is interrupted by a bit of seaweed wrapping itself around her ankle, tickling her. She ducks under to unwind it, tumbling into and then breaking free of the water's weightless embrace. And as she surfaces, her world once again becomes Mal.
He is still, looking out to sea, waves breaking over his shoulders. She can feel each one as they pass her in turn, gently tugging and pushing at her body; but more than that, she can feel the weight washing off his shoulders as he lets himself be absolved, just a bit, for all that has happened.
A gull calls out overhead, and River cannot help but tempt fate, knows she is smiling for the pure sense of peace cresting around them.
Her peace is scattered by a cold splash to her face as Jayne drifts past. “What're you going cuckoo over now, girl?” he says, grinning at her in a big brotherly fashion totally alien to Simon's. He follows her line of sight to Mal, and for a moment her limbs are weighted with dread as he looks back to her with narrowed eyes. “You keep looking at the Capt'n like that, people are gonna think you've gone all moony over him. Gotta be careful what you're lookin' at when you're having crazy times, you know.”
She smiles again, full of relief and mischief both, because he is after all Jayne. She dives under, a mermaid once more, ready to pull the overly curious down with her.
Part 4 - Master Post - Part 6