fic post (at last)
Apr. 19th, 2006 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseI'm still working my way through requests and a back-log of birthday fics and such, but my filing system sucks, so this got finished first.
Title: "Of All the Virtues"
Fandom: Firefly
Disclaimer: No money being made, no infringement intended, they all belong to Joss and associated companies.
Characters: Mal, Zoe, Patience
Rating: PGish for language?
Summary: Watching "Serenity" a while back, it struck me that there was history and some interesting levels behind Patience's interaction with Zoe and Mal, and this is what came of a little too much thinking on that subject. Patience's POV.
She remembered the first time she met Reynolds - of course she did, wasn't an easy man to forget even if he was dumber than dirt too dry for seed - but it wasn't him that caught her eye. That boy reminded her straight off of her youngest nephew, the one who never could figure his way to being anything useful, just pestered everyone with all manner of impractical ideas. Easy to predict, easy to trick. No, Malcolm Reynolds wasn't worth a second look. The woman next to him, though. Now she bore thinkin' on.
Zoe Alleyne walked a step or two behind Malcolm, but she carried herself in a way that said it wasn't any kind of statement on what she thought of her own place in the world, and Patience respected that. She didn't stand like the kind of woman would let anybody tell her she wasn't worth more, didn't look at him like she was the kind of fool who'd fall in love and let it carry her away. Steady hand, steady eye. You could pull the wool over old Mal, and Zoe'd stand by him sure as shit on your boots, but it was just as clear that she'd warned him before-hand. The girl saw clear, no matter what kind of fool she'd let hire her on.
Patience wasn't a fool, and she hadn't gotten where she was by letting a good thing pass her by, whether or not it wanted to be passed.
"Y'ought'a leave that boy," she told the girl, nodding at Mal as her guard counted over the boxes of feed Mal was selling. "Got plenty of room on this moon for a woman knows how to use a gun, hold her own. Following a man like that'll get you an early grave and tears you don't deserve."
"I'm fine where I am."
Patience grinned. "Sure y'are, honey. Just keep in mind, it don't do nobody good to hitch a wolf to a horse - 'specially not the horse."
Most people would've got insulted, maybe make a snide comment in return. Zoe just gave Patience a long, measuring look that made Patience all the more impressed, then continued right on with business. "Your boy's done countin' our cargo."
Fine. That was the way she wanted to play, they could go that way. "All there?" Bondi gave a sharp nod, and Patience nodded, too, more slowly. "Good. Figure you've got some sense in you, Mal. Not enough sense, though. You get off my world, maybe I'll think about dealin' with you again some day."
"Sounds good, once we've had our pay."
She smiled. Just like her nephew - dumbass boy couldn't even see the trap closing 'round his ankle til it bit to the bone. "See, there's the fly in the beans, Malcolm. I think we ought'a get this one on faith, seein' as how we dealt with you without a good rec. Call it payment for a new contact you've made."
"I don't see how that'll help me and mine."
"Don't think that's my responsibility in all of this. I got my own people to think of, same as you've got yours. And I know how to care for folk that stay loyal."
"You implyin' something, Patience?"
Patience just smiled at Mal and turned her attention back to Zoe, waiting. "I'm guessin' there's history 'tween you two, but a clever woman's gotta consider what's best for herself. You could have a place here. Set you up with a nice piece a' land if you like, plenty a' work better than gun-toting for this hundan. I don't plan on playing second fiddle to the big hats 'round here forever, and when I raise myself up I mean to take my friends with me."
"Not in the way of looking for a job just now," Zoe replied calmly.
Patience nodded, then pulled her pistol and shot Mal. He moved a bit faster than she'd expected, got hit in the shoulder instead of the chest, but it sent him on his ass in the dirt like a toddler, and that was a mental image she could savor later. It didn't have quite the effect she'd hoped for, but it'd do to get the message across. "You sure about that?"
Zoe's only response was to glare as she moved (backward, still facing Patience and her people) to check on Mal. A good scowl like that was the kind only another person of power could really appreciate - it spoke of lingering pain for whoever caused the displeasure, and made Patience wonder again why the hell this girl bothered following Mal Reynolds around the 'verse when it was clear as piss that she could handle her ownself and command a good-sized army besides with that kind of spunk. She shook her head. Just like a woman to fall for that old trick of lettin' a man run the show when she could just as easily be ruling over him. Somebody's mother should'a taught this girl better, and damned if Patience wouldn't try to be the one to make it stick.
There'd been a scuffle after that, and Zoe shot one of Patience's boys in the process of them gettin' their money, but she couldn't much blame the girl for it. Boy was a damned fool, always gettin' in her way, anyhow. It stung, though, to watch the girl retreat with Mal (and the money bag). She was more prepared the next time they met up, but eventually they did get the drop on her again, and once again Zoe left Whitefall with her fool of a captain.
"Won't always be opportunities knockin' on your door," Patience warned her as they left. She knew how it was. She'd been young once, confident that the chips would always fall on her side, and she'd played them right to make her place in the world. Wouldn't do to pin your hopes on a ship could break down any minute and a man as like to go crazy and drag you down with him as to do right by you. 'Verse was a hard place, and not many would offer so much help as she'd done already.
Someday, she expected, Zoe would see that. One of these days, she'd get a wave and come to find Mal'd have finally gotten his due and left Zoe wandering. That time came, she just hoped she'd still be in a position to give the girl something more than a pitying sigh and a reminder that she'd warned her as much in times when she could'a done more to help.
Until then, Patience could wait. She knew her virtues.
Title: "Of All the Virtues"
Fandom: Firefly
Disclaimer: No money being made, no infringement intended, they all belong to Joss and associated companies.
Characters: Mal, Zoe, Patience
Rating: PGish for language?
Summary: Watching "Serenity" a while back, it struck me that there was history and some interesting levels behind Patience's interaction with Zoe and Mal, and this is what came of a little too much thinking on that subject. Patience's POV.
She remembered the first time she met Reynolds - of course she did, wasn't an easy man to forget even if he was dumber than dirt too dry for seed - but it wasn't him that caught her eye. That boy reminded her straight off of her youngest nephew, the one who never could figure his way to being anything useful, just pestered everyone with all manner of impractical ideas. Easy to predict, easy to trick. No, Malcolm Reynolds wasn't worth a second look. The woman next to him, though. Now she bore thinkin' on.
Zoe Alleyne walked a step or two behind Malcolm, but she carried herself in a way that said it wasn't any kind of statement on what she thought of her own place in the world, and Patience respected that. She didn't stand like the kind of woman would let anybody tell her she wasn't worth more, didn't look at him like she was the kind of fool who'd fall in love and let it carry her away. Steady hand, steady eye. You could pull the wool over old Mal, and Zoe'd stand by him sure as shit on your boots, but it was just as clear that she'd warned him before-hand. The girl saw clear, no matter what kind of fool she'd let hire her on.
Patience wasn't a fool, and she hadn't gotten where she was by letting a good thing pass her by, whether or not it wanted to be passed.
"Y'ought'a leave that boy," she told the girl, nodding at Mal as her guard counted over the boxes of feed Mal was selling. "Got plenty of room on this moon for a woman knows how to use a gun, hold her own. Following a man like that'll get you an early grave and tears you don't deserve."
"I'm fine where I am."
Patience grinned. "Sure y'are, honey. Just keep in mind, it don't do nobody good to hitch a wolf to a horse - 'specially not the horse."
Most people would've got insulted, maybe make a snide comment in return. Zoe just gave Patience a long, measuring look that made Patience all the more impressed, then continued right on with business. "Your boy's done countin' our cargo."
Fine. That was the way she wanted to play, they could go that way. "All there?" Bondi gave a sharp nod, and Patience nodded, too, more slowly. "Good. Figure you've got some sense in you, Mal. Not enough sense, though. You get off my world, maybe I'll think about dealin' with you again some day."
"Sounds good, once we've had our pay."
She smiled. Just like her nephew - dumbass boy couldn't even see the trap closing 'round his ankle til it bit to the bone. "See, there's the fly in the beans, Malcolm. I think we ought'a get this one on faith, seein' as how we dealt with you without a good rec. Call it payment for a new contact you've made."
"I don't see how that'll help me and mine."
"Don't think that's my responsibility in all of this. I got my own people to think of, same as you've got yours. And I know how to care for folk that stay loyal."
"You implyin' something, Patience?"
Patience just smiled at Mal and turned her attention back to Zoe, waiting. "I'm guessin' there's history 'tween you two, but a clever woman's gotta consider what's best for herself. You could have a place here. Set you up with a nice piece a' land if you like, plenty a' work better than gun-toting for this hundan. I don't plan on playing second fiddle to the big hats 'round here forever, and when I raise myself up I mean to take my friends with me."
"Not in the way of looking for a job just now," Zoe replied calmly.
Patience nodded, then pulled her pistol and shot Mal. He moved a bit faster than she'd expected, got hit in the shoulder instead of the chest, but it sent him on his ass in the dirt like a toddler, and that was a mental image she could savor later. It didn't have quite the effect she'd hoped for, but it'd do to get the message across. "You sure about that?"
Zoe's only response was to glare as she moved (backward, still facing Patience and her people) to check on Mal. A good scowl like that was the kind only another person of power could really appreciate - it spoke of lingering pain for whoever caused the displeasure, and made Patience wonder again why the hell this girl bothered following Mal Reynolds around the 'verse when it was clear as piss that she could handle her ownself and command a good-sized army besides with that kind of spunk. She shook her head. Just like a woman to fall for that old trick of lettin' a man run the show when she could just as easily be ruling over him. Somebody's mother should'a taught this girl better, and damned if Patience wouldn't try to be the one to make it stick.
There'd been a scuffle after that, and Zoe shot one of Patience's boys in the process of them gettin' their money, but she couldn't much blame the girl for it. Boy was a damned fool, always gettin' in her way, anyhow. It stung, though, to watch the girl retreat with Mal (and the money bag). She was more prepared the next time they met up, but eventually they did get the drop on her again, and once again Zoe left Whitefall with her fool of a captain.
"Won't always be opportunities knockin' on your door," Patience warned her as they left. She knew how it was. She'd been young once, confident that the chips would always fall on her side, and she'd played them right to make her place in the world. Wouldn't do to pin your hopes on a ship could break down any minute and a man as like to go crazy and drag you down with him as to do right by you. 'Verse was a hard place, and not many would offer so much help as she'd done already.
Someday, she expected, Zoe would see that. One of these days, she'd get a wave and come to find Mal'd have finally gotten his due and left Zoe wandering. That time came, she just hoped she'd still be in a position to give the girl something more than a pitying sigh and a reminder that she'd warned her as much in times when she could'a done more to help.
Until then, Patience could wait. She knew her virtues.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 07:22 pm (UTC)loved this especially - wonderful Patience voice, just enough smug self-righteous to know her downfall is coming, but not so much that she's a Fool and 'asks for it.' Thanks for sharing this
no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:31 pm (UTC)Just lovely. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2006-04-19 10:43 pm (UTC)Craziest thing was that by the end I could almost buy Patience's way of looking at things - she's not too far off, in that Mal, well-meaning though he is, probably isn't the best thing for most of the people around him. But they love him. ;)
(I've told you that I love that icon, haven't I? ♥ It's sooooo pretty!)
no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 08:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, you have ... but I like to hear you say it anyway. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 04:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 05:16 am (UTC)I love your Patience voice and turn of phrase. Very nicely done.
I really enjoy Mal and Zoe interaction pieces. Their background fascinates me. Not in a shipper way; but just how they work so well together, and their shorthand way of speaking that suggests a very strong, intimate knowledge of the other.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-20 05:24 am (UTC)