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rivendellroseTook me long enough... I've actually had this dratted thing mostly finished for weeks, I just had to go back and polish a bit.
Fandom: Firefly
Title: Shore Leave, Ch. 3
Pairings: Wash/Zoe, Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee
Summary: AU for Serenity's ending - Hiding out from the Alliance, Mal and company find refuge on Jayne's homeworld... and interesting adventures amid his family. This is a long-term fic, and we are (alas) still in the set-up phase. Mostly character stuff in this chapter, hoping to hit bigger plot stuff next time around. ;) Previous chapters: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to Joss and assorted corporations, not to me - I'm just having fun with their toys. No infringement or money-making is intended.
“So. That’s the plan.” Mal looked around the table at his crew. Their reactions matched pretty well what he’d expected when he started outlining the living situations Mrs. Cobb had declared. Jayne was happy, of course - whole trip was like to be nearly a vacation, for him - while Simon remained so busy worrying over the oddly calm River to really notice anything Mal said. Book, Zoe, and Wash closely mirrored Inara’s resigned acceptance. And Kaylee...
“We’re really gonna leave her, ain’t we?”
Well, Kaylee wasn’t crying, at least.
“I mean, I know we gotta hide and all, but... leavin’ Serenity like this, when she’s always done for us... it just don’t seem right!” Her voice hitched unnervingly, and that didn’t bode any kind of well. Wasn’t crying yet, Mal corrected himself.
“We gotta do it, little Kaylee. Won’t be but a short time, if I can help it--”
“Yeah, ‘cause them bounty hunters and all are like to give up real fast if they don’t see us in the first port they check.” Jayne snorted. “Good to know we’re back to the old plan of hidin’. It worked real well, last time.”
“Bi zui. I know it ain’t easy, Kaylee, but it’s this or keep runnin’, no chance to come up with a plan. And I ain’t for runnin’ blind, alright? We’ll make our way, same as we did last time,” Mal assured her with a glare in Jayne’s direction, “but we gotta have time to take stock first. Get our bearings, figure out a plan that’ll get us by. We need someplace to do that where they won’t look for us, and that’s here. Can’t just park Serenity in the fields and visit her every day, dong ma?”
“Hao ba, Cap’n.” Kaylee scrubbed at her eyes a bit.
“No tears. You concentrate on getting our girl ready for a bit of dry-dock, alright? Make sure she’ll last a good rest, be ready to fly again for us when we come back for her. I don’t want my boat getting stuffed up and creaky.”
“I’ll see if I can’t help with that,” Book offered, and Mal nodded, relieved. The shepherd ought to be able to talk Kaylee back to her usual self soon enough, and he was a fair hand with the ship, with her directing at least.”
“Computers and all should be keyed down proper to make sure they don’t accumulate errors while we’re away. I can get working on that.” Wash stood up from the table and stretched a little. “Zoe, you up to helping?”
“Unless the captain needs me for something else...?”
The likelihood of Zoe being much help with the computers was pretty slim in Mal’s reckoning, and the look in their eyes gave Mal the idea she had more than a ‘moral support’ sort of role in mind. Well, no rule that nobody ought to have fun on the ship, so long as the work got done first. “Go on. Jayne and I can load the mule. River, you help your brother get his supplies all packed up.”
“Captain, we need to talk.”
Mal sighed. He’d known this was coming from the moment him and Mrs. Cobb had reached their agreement. Didn’t mean he had to be looking forward to it. He waited until the others had left, then turned his attention back to the boy. “Alright. Say your piece.”
“There’s no reason for River and I to be separated - I can’t let that happen. That woman... I’m sure she has the best of intentions, but I don’t think she fully understands the kind of condition my sister is in!”
“Do any of us?”
Simon shook his head. “No, but you know that’s not the point. I’m a doctor, and I’m her only family left. I need to be with her. She... Captain, she and I haven’t been separated more than a few hours since I rescued her! There’s no telling what kind of trouble she might get into, or how bad an attack might become if I’m not there to take care of her! She could kill someone... or even herself. God knows she’s threatened it before, and I have no doubt she’d be clever enough to do it if no one prevented her.”
Mal took a moment to take this in. “And you think Jayne’s family’s plannin’ to just let her off herself, then?”
“They raised Jayne, didn’t they?”
Wasn’t much to say to that, now that Mal thought of it. “Good point. But I expect that Mrs. Cobb is a bit different than her boy - she strikes me as a woman of her word, and she’s as good as sworn to watch over your sister as kith and kin. That’s as good as we’re gettin’, Doc. As for you bein’ apart from her, I don’t see any other way this can go. Them that are looking for you both are lookin’ to find you together, and the best way I can see to prevent that is keepin’ you apart, hidden separate. If they find you, you don’t want that to mean they’ve got her, too, do you? You’ll be gettin’ a lot of notice down there, Doc. I got a sense there’s gonna be plenty of call for your work.”
Simon’s brows drew together. “You think the settlement is dangerous? I knew it, I should never have agreed to let River stay separately from me...”
“Hold up, Doc. It ain’t any more dangerous than any other settlement like it. But I’m bettin’ they don’t get a doctor ‘round very often. Once every year or so, maybe... that was the norm back where I came from, if not worse.” Mal let that sink in, then continued. “Sure, they’ll have herbs and stuff, bandages, things like that, but we’re talking an entire population what might not’ve seen a real doctor in whole lifetimes of kids River’s age or younger.”
Simon looked appalled, exactly as Mal had expected, and the panicked look drained out of his eyes like water down a spout. “I’ll just... get everything together, then. Innoculations, and... I’m going to need a lot of innoculation kits.” He headed toward the infirmary, too distracted now to even think about revisiting his complaints about housing.
“He’ll remember, you know.” River appeared from the shadows where she’d apparently been hiding for the whole exchange. Mal shivered a bit, reminded once again of exactly what kind of creepy-ass little girl they were all risking their lives to protect. “When we go back, and I stay with Jayne’s mother, he’ll remember everything that upset him about this. And he won’t be happy.”
Mal smiled at River. “But I’ll have some peace ‘til then. And once he’s out there, he’ll be too busy thinkin’ about his patients to worry too much.”
“Diversionary tactics. Look at the shiny light, and the pain will go away for long enough to take the shot.” River nodded, and Mal wondered, not for the first time, just what kind of things they’d done to her while she was at that school of hers, and how much she remembered. “I’d better go help him.”
“Good idea.”
* * *
Mal spent a good part of the rest of his day ferrying the crew to their various safe harbors. Kaylee and the doc would be spending the first night at Mrs. Cobb’s place, making sure River got settled in without any trouble. As a personal favor to the lady, Shepherd Book would be spending his first night there, too - Mal had a feeling he’d be keeping busy, with as excited as Mrs. Cobb seemed to be at the thought of having a real preacher-man in her household. Once a few trips on the mule had seen them and their sundries unloaded, Mal circled back to the ship for Wash, Zoe, and Inara. Since they’d already met Eddie Cobb over the cortex, Mal didn’t waste much time in feeling her out on the plan. If there was trouble, Mal was certain Zoe could handle it, so he just helped them to unload their things, and set off to the last stop, the house of the eldest Cobb daughter, where he and Inara would be living for the time being.
Henrie’s house was small and spare by Inara’s standards - the boards outside were unpainted, and the old gingham curtains in the window had faded to the point that she couldn’t quite be sure what the original colors had been. Rambling blackberries climbed the fence around the house, and the garden seemed... disorganized at best. Beans climbed the stalks of struggling maize, and some kind of squash rambled around the roots, happy for the bit of shade provided by the taller plants. A big metal tub and wash-board sat in the middle of the dirt courtyard, and chickens pecked around it looking for bugs and grains. All in all, it lacked the determined and hard-earned play at elegance that Nandi had pulled together in her home, which had been Inara’s one close experience of life on the Rim.
She caught Mal glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they walked up, as though he wasn’t sure whether or not she might embarrass their hostess with a show of disapproval. He was always willing to think the worst of her.
“Y’all must be Captain Reynolds and Miss Serra. I’m Henrie.” Where Eddie had obviously been build on the same general plan as Jayne, Henrie was more clearly patterned after her mother. The eldest Cobb daughter was shorter and more rounded than her sister, but looked no less sturdy and work-worn. Her skin had been tanned to the color and texture of a nutmeat, and her coarse braid was mostly gray. More surprising to Inara was the state of her arms - her sleeves were rolled up to reveal impressive biceps and shoulder muscles, and forearms roped with muscle, over which the skin visibly sagged. Mrs. Cobb clearly had not been joking when she said her daughter was in need of another strong pair of arms around the house - it looked like Henrie Cobb had been doing most of the work herself for years, and for a woman of her age, that couldn’t have been easy.
“That’s us.” Mal leaned forward and shook Henrie’s hand. “But the name’s Malcolm. No sense standin’ on ceremony when my ship’s buried in a cave at the bottom of some valley.”
“And please, call me Inara.” Training that had long since become habit fell over Inara, and she offered a smile calculated to ease nerves and soothe tension. “You’re very kind to take us into your home, Henrie. We’re grateful for your hospitality.” The older woman’s hands were rough and hard between hers, but Inara squeezed them gently and bowed over their joined hands.
Henrie looked at her a bit oddly, but nodded. “Now, I know y’all are used to livin’ on a ship. What kinda’ work you used to doin’, land-side?”
“I grew up on a ranch, ma’am,” Mal assured her. “Shouldn’t take much for me to remember how to run whatever equipment you got, mend fences, do whatever other labor you got needs doin’.”
“Sounds mighty fine to me, then. And you, Miss Inara?”
“You don’t want her doin’ any of her kind’a work,” Mal put in before Inara could stop him.
“I’m afraid my skills aren’t as practical as Captain Reynolds’,” Inara agreed through gritted teeth. “But I can sew, and cook a little, and I ought to be able to find other work around the house that’s within my abilities. I have no intention of living off your generosity alone, Miss Henrie.”
The older woman looked her over long and hard, then let out of ‘hmph’ of breath and turned back to the house. “Well, come on with it, then. Let’s get your things stowed ‘fore we lose the light.”
* * *
“And... you say that all these children need to be baptized?”
Twenty pairs of bright young eyes all stared at Book with something close to awe. Five older heads, grown sisters and nieces of Jayne Cobb, the mothers of the various children lined up in front of the shepherd, nodded in unison.
“Ain’t been a preacher ‘round these parts in well on twenty years, Shepherd,” Mrs. Cobb told him. Her niece, Joey, approached holding a worn and weathered old Bible, and passed it reverently into his hands. “The names are all down in the back pages... with a little star pencilled in next to them that was named in the faith last time we had somebody by.”
Book opened to the back and looked down the list. “Alright, then... oldest first?”
Joey stepped shyly forward and knelt at his feet, and one of Jayne’s sisters held out a big old washbasin.
“After this, sir, would you mind reading for us?”
Book smiled athe tall girl as she tilted her head up to check his reaction, biting her lip to hold back her eagerness. t
“Of course.”
It was going to be a long night... but it would be a worthwhile one.
* * *
Outside, a different kind of meeting was well in force. Jayne’s nephews and brothers-in-law, as well as a few of the older nieces, circled a ratty old mule that’d been outfitted for farm work.
“Ain’t run since three years ago. Tires got all gummed up in some bad mud, and we cleared it all off, but ever since... I told the damned kids we shouldn’t’a brought it out in that rain.”
One of Kaylee’s feet, sticking out from under the mule, bounced up and down as she shimmied further under the machine. “Naw... wasn’t the mud that didja’ in, Dell. Lookie here - nothin’ worse than some wiring got chewed by something. You get rodents ‘round here?”
“Yeah... but I didn’t think...”
“Sure, they’ll settle in there during the winter if you let ‘em. Used to happen to my daddy all the time, back home. You got cats?”
“A few.”
“Get more. And let me see ‘em before I leave,” Kaylee added.
“What, they gotta be special somehow?” one of the younger men snorted.
“Nope.” Kaylee grinned. “But I ain’t petted a real cat since I left home, and I miss the ones my mama kept like crazy.”
* * *
By the time Mal came in from the fields the next afternoon for a lunch-break, his muscles were sternly reminding him of how a few years of space travel could leave a man less than prepared for ranch work again, even if he’d grown up with it. He walked up the path to Henrie’s house still trying to stretch out a crick that had ambushed his neck while he worked on the fence posts, then stopped short in the doorway as his brain seemed to lose track of how to make his body breathe, let alone walk.
Standing there in the sun with a basin at her feet and the water pump by her side, was a vision that bore at least a strong resemblance to Inara. Had to be her, in fact, because none of the Cobb women had half that kind of delicate beauty to them, handsome and nice-seeming girls though they might be. But this was Inara as he’d never seen her before. She’d rolled the sleeves of her borrowed gingham dress up above her elbows, and her hair hung in a simple braid under a plain red kerchief as she bent over the washboard. Water had plastered the dress and apron to her skin, and the afternoon sunlight burnished her skin to a pale, brilliant gold.
She glanced over at him, and stood up straight when she realized who it was. “Oh... Mal. I wasn’t... Henrie put me off the baking. Apparently I wasn’t kneading the bread right.”
“Not surprised,” he managed. “Don’t suppose you did much baking back at that school of yours... Nor much cleaning, either, to be fair.”
Inara straightened, apparently insulted. “Companions in training have to do quite a bit of work. Our teachers are very strict about discipline. First year students do all sorts of chores, intended to weed out those who don’t have the determination to stick through training.”
“Right. Laundry?”
A little smile touched her lips. “No. Not laundry, exactly.”
“That’s heavy work,” he commented, regarding the pile of wet clothes hanging in front of her. “You tell Henrie if it’s too much for you... I’m sure she could find something lighter for you. Something more suited...”
“To my profession? Let’s not start that, Mal. I’m in no mood to hear more of your opinions about my work.”
“That’s not what I...” He trailed off, powers of speech momentarily lost as a droplet of water trailed down the flat of her chest and directly between her breasts. Ohhh, yeah. It’ll be the Special Hell for me. “Inara... you look...”
“I’m really not interested in hearing about it. I know I must look awful. The work--”
“No.” Without consciously making the decision, Mal found his hand brushing a wet trail of hair out of her eyes and then, since she hadn’t slapped him yet, smoothed his thumb gently down her cheek. “That ain’t it at all... Inara, you never looked so beautiful… so real before.”
She blinked up at him, then lowered her eyes to the soapy water and swirls of wet cloth in the basin. “It’s not real, though, Mal; this isn’t who I am. That’s the problem with... That’s why it wouldn’t work.”
“Ain’t what I am anymore, either, ‘Nara.” Mal gave an awkward laugh. “Boy that used to do this every day died on Hera seven years ago. Can’t help if it makes me a little... nostalgic. Figures it’d take hiding out undercover for me to see you without the masks on. You and I... we’re nothing if not contrary.”
“That’s you, Mal, not me.”
But she still wasn’t moving away, and he couldn’t resist pressing his luck a little bit, touching her arm lightly through the thin, wet fabric of her sleeve. “’Nara. No more games. We’ve come too close to losin’ everything, lately. I’m not asking for anything in return, but I--”
“Girl, you done with that laundry yet?”
Mal pulled back as though stung, moving a decent few steps back before Henrie rounded the house, but he gave Inara a look he hoped properly communicated this wasn’t over just yet - he wanted to have his say sometime soon, while they were still on a planet where she couldn’t immediately run off from him again, before he finished.
* * *
“Wash, baby? Are you... Wode tian, what happened to you? You know you’re supposed to run the plough, don’t you, not the other way ‘round...”
“Ha ha. Ploughing is messy work, it turns out.” Wash peeled off his muddy shirt, inspecting the bright print with a slightly worried expression. His hair was plastered to his skull with mud, and aside from a clear patch where he’d apparently wiped his face with his shirt, he was practically covered in a fine layer all over. “I hope it’ll come out all right...”
Zoe smirked. “From what I saw of Jayne’s nieces doin’ laundry, it will. Whether or not the shirt’ll still be there is a different story... I think Kaylee uses the same stuff they use as soap to clean off the used engine bits she buys.” She paused, taking a moment to appreciate the view Wash’s shirt had obscured. “You’re getting a tan, husband.”
“I’m getting burned, you mean.” Wash poked at his arm with a grimace. “I’ll be red as a lobster before we leave this place.”
“Mm. Never had lobster. Heard it’s good eating, though.” Zoe’s fingers traced the line of the farmer’s tan he was developing along his bicep, then moved downward, trailing across his mud-spattered chest and stomach.
“Eh?” Wash’s eyebrows climbed a few inches. “Honey? I’m covered in mud?”
“Mhmm.” Her hands crept steadily lower, working at the zipper of his pants as she nuzzled his neck.
“I look like that creepy statue of Jayne?”
“Much more handsome.”
“You planning on explaining this sudden obsession with dirt? I mean, I’m all for whatever kinks you want to look into, but I gotta admit, this is a new one...”
Zoe laughed softly, and Wash closed his eyes, breathing out in a sigh of pleasure at the way her breath tickled his skin. “Ain’t the dirt I’m thinking of, Husband. Didn’t you see? Jayne’s sister must’ve given us the best room in the house - it comes with a real, working bathtub.”
“Really?”
“Just in there.” She grinned and pushed the trousers slowly down his thighs. “Got real plumbing and everything. I checked it this morning. Makes a hell of a racket when it’s running, but the water’s good and hot. Big, too. Should fit two, if they’re cozy. And you,” she informed him, backing him toward the door she’d indicated, “have just given us the perfect excuse to test it out.”
Wash grinned back. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”
Fandom: Firefly
Title: Shore Leave, Ch. 3
Pairings: Wash/Zoe, Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee
Summary: AU for Serenity's ending - Hiding out from the Alliance, Mal and company find refuge on Jayne's homeworld... and interesting adventures amid his family. This is a long-term fic, and we are (alas) still in the set-up phase. Mostly character stuff in this chapter, hoping to hit bigger plot stuff next time around. ;) Previous chapters: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to Joss and assorted corporations, not to me - I'm just having fun with their toys. No infringement or money-making is intended.
“So. That’s the plan.” Mal looked around the table at his crew. Their reactions matched pretty well what he’d expected when he started outlining the living situations Mrs. Cobb had declared. Jayne was happy, of course - whole trip was like to be nearly a vacation, for him - while Simon remained so busy worrying over the oddly calm River to really notice anything Mal said. Book, Zoe, and Wash closely mirrored Inara’s resigned acceptance. And Kaylee...
“We’re really gonna leave her, ain’t we?”
Well, Kaylee wasn’t crying, at least.
“I mean, I know we gotta hide and all, but... leavin’ Serenity like this, when she’s always done for us... it just don’t seem right!” Her voice hitched unnervingly, and that didn’t bode any kind of well. Wasn’t crying yet, Mal corrected himself.
“We gotta do it, little Kaylee. Won’t be but a short time, if I can help it--”
“Yeah, ‘cause them bounty hunters and all are like to give up real fast if they don’t see us in the first port they check.” Jayne snorted. “Good to know we’re back to the old plan of hidin’. It worked real well, last time.”
“Bi zui. I know it ain’t easy, Kaylee, but it’s this or keep runnin’, no chance to come up with a plan. And I ain’t for runnin’ blind, alright? We’ll make our way, same as we did last time,” Mal assured her with a glare in Jayne’s direction, “but we gotta have time to take stock first. Get our bearings, figure out a plan that’ll get us by. We need someplace to do that where they won’t look for us, and that’s here. Can’t just park Serenity in the fields and visit her every day, dong ma?”
“Hao ba, Cap’n.” Kaylee scrubbed at her eyes a bit.
“No tears. You concentrate on getting our girl ready for a bit of dry-dock, alright? Make sure she’ll last a good rest, be ready to fly again for us when we come back for her. I don’t want my boat getting stuffed up and creaky.”
“I’ll see if I can’t help with that,” Book offered, and Mal nodded, relieved. The shepherd ought to be able to talk Kaylee back to her usual self soon enough, and he was a fair hand with the ship, with her directing at least.”
“Computers and all should be keyed down proper to make sure they don’t accumulate errors while we’re away. I can get working on that.” Wash stood up from the table and stretched a little. “Zoe, you up to helping?”
“Unless the captain needs me for something else...?”
The likelihood of Zoe being much help with the computers was pretty slim in Mal’s reckoning, and the look in their eyes gave Mal the idea she had more than a ‘moral support’ sort of role in mind. Well, no rule that nobody ought to have fun on the ship, so long as the work got done first. “Go on. Jayne and I can load the mule. River, you help your brother get his supplies all packed up.”
“Captain, we need to talk.”
Mal sighed. He’d known this was coming from the moment him and Mrs. Cobb had reached their agreement. Didn’t mean he had to be looking forward to it. He waited until the others had left, then turned his attention back to the boy. “Alright. Say your piece.”
“There’s no reason for River and I to be separated - I can’t let that happen. That woman... I’m sure she has the best of intentions, but I don’t think she fully understands the kind of condition my sister is in!”
“Do any of us?”
Simon shook his head. “No, but you know that’s not the point. I’m a doctor, and I’m her only family left. I need to be with her. She... Captain, she and I haven’t been separated more than a few hours since I rescued her! There’s no telling what kind of trouble she might get into, or how bad an attack might become if I’m not there to take care of her! She could kill someone... or even herself. God knows she’s threatened it before, and I have no doubt she’d be clever enough to do it if no one prevented her.”
Mal took a moment to take this in. “And you think Jayne’s family’s plannin’ to just let her off herself, then?”
“They raised Jayne, didn’t they?”
Wasn’t much to say to that, now that Mal thought of it. “Good point. But I expect that Mrs. Cobb is a bit different than her boy - she strikes me as a woman of her word, and she’s as good as sworn to watch over your sister as kith and kin. That’s as good as we’re gettin’, Doc. As for you bein’ apart from her, I don’t see any other way this can go. Them that are looking for you both are lookin’ to find you together, and the best way I can see to prevent that is keepin’ you apart, hidden separate. If they find you, you don’t want that to mean they’ve got her, too, do you? You’ll be gettin’ a lot of notice down there, Doc. I got a sense there’s gonna be plenty of call for your work.”
Simon’s brows drew together. “You think the settlement is dangerous? I knew it, I should never have agreed to let River stay separately from me...”
“Hold up, Doc. It ain’t any more dangerous than any other settlement like it. But I’m bettin’ they don’t get a doctor ‘round very often. Once every year or so, maybe... that was the norm back where I came from, if not worse.” Mal let that sink in, then continued. “Sure, they’ll have herbs and stuff, bandages, things like that, but we’re talking an entire population what might not’ve seen a real doctor in whole lifetimes of kids River’s age or younger.”
Simon looked appalled, exactly as Mal had expected, and the panicked look drained out of his eyes like water down a spout. “I’ll just... get everything together, then. Innoculations, and... I’m going to need a lot of innoculation kits.” He headed toward the infirmary, too distracted now to even think about revisiting his complaints about housing.
“He’ll remember, you know.” River appeared from the shadows where she’d apparently been hiding for the whole exchange. Mal shivered a bit, reminded once again of exactly what kind of creepy-ass little girl they were all risking their lives to protect. “When we go back, and I stay with Jayne’s mother, he’ll remember everything that upset him about this. And he won’t be happy.”
Mal smiled at River. “But I’ll have some peace ‘til then. And once he’s out there, he’ll be too busy thinkin’ about his patients to worry too much.”
“Diversionary tactics. Look at the shiny light, and the pain will go away for long enough to take the shot.” River nodded, and Mal wondered, not for the first time, just what kind of things they’d done to her while she was at that school of hers, and how much she remembered. “I’d better go help him.”
“Good idea.”
* * *
Mal spent a good part of the rest of his day ferrying the crew to their various safe harbors. Kaylee and the doc would be spending the first night at Mrs. Cobb’s place, making sure River got settled in without any trouble. As a personal favor to the lady, Shepherd Book would be spending his first night there, too - Mal had a feeling he’d be keeping busy, with as excited as Mrs. Cobb seemed to be at the thought of having a real preacher-man in her household. Once a few trips on the mule had seen them and their sundries unloaded, Mal circled back to the ship for Wash, Zoe, and Inara. Since they’d already met Eddie Cobb over the cortex, Mal didn’t waste much time in feeling her out on the plan. If there was trouble, Mal was certain Zoe could handle it, so he just helped them to unload their things, and set off to the last stop, the house of the eldest Cobb daughter, where he and Inara would be living for the time being.
Henrie’s house was small and spare by Inara’s standards - the boards outside were unpainted, and the old gingham curtains in the window had faded to the point that she couldn’t quite be sure what the original colors had been. Rambling blackberries climbed the fence around the house, and the garden seemed... disorganized at best. Beans climbed the stalks of struggling maize, and some kind of squash rambled around the roots, happy for the bit of shade provided by the taller plants. A big metal tub and wash-board sat in the middle of the dirt courtyard, and chickens pecked around it looking for bugs and grains. All in all, it lacked the determined and hard-earned play at elegance that Nandi had pulled together in her home, which had been Inara’s one close experience of life on the Rim.
She caught Mal glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they walked up, as though he wasn’t sure whether or not she might embarrass their hostess with a show of disapproval. He was always willing to think the worst of her.
“Y’all must be Captain Reynolds and Miss Serra. I’m Henrie.” Where Eddie had obviously been build on the same general plan as Jayne, Henrie was more clearly patterned after her mother. The eldest Cobb daughter was shorter and more rounded than her sister, but looked no less sturdy and work-worn. Her skin had been tanned to the color and texture of a nutmeat, and her coarse braid was mostly gray. More surprising to Inara was the state of her arms - her sleeves were rolled up to reveal impressive biceps and shoulder muscles, and forearms roped with muscle, over which the skin visibly sagged. Mrs. Cobb clearly had not been joking when she said her daughter was in need of another strong pair of arms around the house - it looked like Henrie Cobb had been doing most of the work herself for years, and for a woman of her age, that couldn’t have been easy.
“That’s us.” Mal leaned forward and shook Henrie’s hand. “But the name’s Malcolm. No sense standin’ on ceremony when my ship’s buried in a cave at the bottom of some valley.”
“And please, call me Inara.” Training that had long since become habit fell over Inara, and she offered a smile calculated to ease nerves and soothe tension. “You’re very kind to take us into your home, Henrie. We’re grateful for your hospitality.” The older woman’s hands were rough and hard between hers, but Inara squeezed them gently and bowed over their joined hands.
Henrie looked at her a bit oddly, but nodded. “Now, I know y’all are used to livin’ on a ship. What kinda’ work you used to doin’, land-side?”
“I grew up on a ranch, ma’am,” Mal assured her. “Shouldn’t take much for me to remember how to run whatever equipment you got, mend fences, do whatever other labor you got needs doin’.”
“Sounds mighty fine to me, then. And you, Miss Inara?”
“You don’t want her doin’ any of her kind’a work,” Mal put in before Inara could stop him.
“I’m afraid my skills aren’t as practical as Captain Reynolds’,” Inara agreed through gritted teeth. “But I can sew, and cook a little, and I ought to be able to find other work around the house that’s within my abilities. I have no intention of living off your generosity alone, Miss Henrie.”
The older woman looked her over long and hard, then let out of ‘hmph’ of breath and turned back to the house. “Well, come on with it, then. Let’s get your things stowed ‘fore we lose the light.”
* * *
“And... you say that all these children need to be baptized?”
Twenty pairs of bright young eyes all stared at Book with something close to awe. Five older heads, grown sisters and nieces of Jayne Cobb, the mothers of the various children lined up in front of the shepherd, nodded in unison.
“Ain’t been a preacher ‘round these parts in well on twenty years, Shepherd,” Mrs. Cobb told him. Her niece, Joey, approached holding a worn and weathered old Bible, and passed it reverently into his hands. “The names are all down in the back pages... with a little star pencilled in next to them that was named in the faith last time we had somebody by.”
Book opened to the back and looked down the list. “Alright, then... oldest first?”
Joey stepped shyly forward and knelt at his feet, and one of Jayne’s sisters held out a big old washbasin.
“After this, sir, would you mind reading for us?”
Book smiled athe tall girl as she tilted her head up to check his reaction, biting her lip to hold back her eagerness. t
“Of course.”
It was going to be a long night... but it would be a worthwhile one.
* * *
Outside, a different kind of meeting was well in force. Jayne’s nephews and brothers-in-law, as well as a few of the older nieces, circled a ratty old mule that’d been outfitted for farm work.
“Ain’t run since three years ago. Tires got all gummed up in some bad mud, and we cleared it all off, but ever since... I told the damned kids we shouldn’t’a brought it out in that rain.”
One of Kaylee’s feet, sticking out from under the mule, bounced up and down as she shimmied further under the machine. “Naw... wasn’t the mud that didja’ in, Dell. Lookie here - nothin’ worse than some wiring got chewed by something. You get rodents ‘round here?”
“Yeah... but I didn’t think...”
“Sure, they’ll settle in there during the winter if you let ‘em. Used to happen to my daddy all the time, back home. You got cats?”
“A few.”
“Get more. And let me see ‘em before I leave,” Kaylee added.
“What, they gotta be special somehow?” one of the younger men snorted.
“Nope.” Kaylee grinned. “But I ain’t petted a real cat since I left home, and I miss the ones my mama kept like crazy.”
* * *
By the time Mal came in from the fields the next afternoon for a lunch-break, his muscles were sternly reminding him of how a few years of space travel could leave a man less than prepared for ranch work again, even if he’d grown up with it. He walked up the path to Henrie’s house still trying to stretch out a crick that had ambushed his neck while he worked on the fence posts, then stopped short in the doorway as his brain seemed to lose track of how to make his body breathe, let alone walk.
Standing there in the sun with a basin at her feet and the water pump by her side, was a vision that bore at least a strong resemblance to Inara. Had to be her, in fact, because none of the Cobb women had half that kind of delicate beauty to them, handsome and nice-seeming girls though they might be. But this was Inara as he’d never seen her before. She’d rolled the sleeves of her borrowed gingham dress up above her elbows, and her hair hung in a simple braid under a plain red kerchief as she bent over the washboard. Water had plastered the dress and apron to her skin, and the afternoon sunlight burnished her skin to a pale, brilliant gold.
She glanced over at him, and stood up straight when she realized who it was. “Oh... Mal. I wasn’t... Henrie put me off the baking. Apparently I wasn’t kneading the bread right.”
“Not surprised,” he managed. “Don’t suppose you did much baking back at that school of yours... Nor much cleaning, either, to be fair.”
Inara straightened, apparently insulted. “Companions in training have to do quite a bit of work. Our teachers are very strict about discipline. First year students do all sorts of chores, intended to weed out those who don’t have the determination to stick through training.”
“Right. Laundry?”
A little smile touched her lips. “No. Not laundry, exactly.”
“That’s heavy work,” he commented, regarding the pile of wet clothes hanging in front of her. “You tell Henrie if it’s too much for you... I’m sure she could find something lighter for you. Something more suited...”
“To my profession? Let’s not start that, Mal. I’m in no mood to hear more of your opinions about my work.”
“That’s not what I...” He trailed off, powers of speech momentarily lost as a droplet of water trailed down the flat of her chest and directly between her breasts. Ohhh, yeah. It’ll be the Special Hell for me. “Inara... you look...”
“I’m really not interested in hearing about it. I know I must look awful. The work--”
“No.” Without consciously making the decision, Mal found his hand brushing a wet trail of hair out of her eyes and then, since she hadn’t slapped him yet, smoothed his thumb gently down her cheek. “That ain’t it at all... Inara, you never looked so beautiful… so real before.”
She blinked up at him, then lowered her eyes to the soapy water and swirls of wet cloth in the basin. “It’s not real, though, Mal; this isn’t who I am. That’s the problem with... That’s why it wouldn’t work.”
“Ain’t what I am anymore, either, ‘Nara.” Mal gave an awkward laugh. “Boy that used to do this every day died on Hera seven years ago. Can’t help if it makes me a little... nostalgic. Figures it’d take hiding out undercover for me to see you without the masks on. You and I... we’re nothing if not contrary.”
“That’s you, Mal, not me.”
But she still wasn’t moving away, and he couldn’t resist pressing his luck a little bit, touching her arm lightly through the thin, wet fabric of her sleeve. “’Nara. No more games. We’ve come too close to losin’ everything, lately. I’m not asking for anything in return, but I--”
“Girl, you done with that laundry yet?”
Mal pulled back as though stung, moving a decent few steps back before Henrie rounded the house, but he gave Inara a look he hoped properly communicated this wasn’t over just yet - he wanted to have his say sometime soon, while they were still on a planet where she couldn’t immediately run off from him again, before he finished.
* * *
“Wash, baby? Are you... Wode tian, what happened to you? You know you’re supposed to run the plough, don’t you, not the other way ‘round...”
“Ha ha. Ploughing is messy work, it turns out.” Wash peeled off his muddy shirt, inspecting the bright print with a slightly worried expression. His hair was plastered to his skull with mud, and aside from a clear patch where he’d apparently wiped his face with his shirt, he was practically covered in a fine layer all over. “I hope it’ll come out all right...”
Zoe smirked. “From what I saw of Jayne’s nieces doin’ laundry, it will. Whether or not the shirt’ll still be there is a different story... I think Kaylee uses the same stuff they use as soap to clean off the used engine bits she buys.” She paused, taking a moment to appreciate the view Wash’s shirt had obscured. “You’re getting a tan, husband.”
“I’m getting burned, you mean.” Wash poked at his arm with a grimace. “I’ll be red as a lobster before we leave this place.”
“Mm. Never had lobster. Heard it’s good eating, though.” Zoe’s fingers traced the line of the farmer’s tan he was developing along his bicep, then moved downward, trailing across his mud-spattered chest and stomach.
“Eh?” Wash’s eyebrows climbed a few inches. “Honey? I’m covered in mud?”
“Mhmm.” Her hands crept steadily lower, working at the zipper of his pants as she nuzzled his neck.
“I look like that creepy statue of Jayne?”
“Much more handsome.”
“You planning on explaining this sudden obsession with dirt? I mean, I’m all for whatever kinks you want to look into, but I gotta admit, this is a new one...”
Zoe laughed softly, and Wash closed his eyes, breathing out in a sigh of pleasure at the way her breath tickled his skin. “Ain’t the dirt I’m thinking of, Husband. Didn’t you see? Jayne’s sister must’ve given us the best room in the house - it comes with a real, working bathtub.”
“Really?”
“Just in there.” She grinned and pushed the trousers slowly down his thighs. “Got real plumbing and everything. I checked it this morning. Makes a hell of a racket when it’s running, but the water’s good and hot. Big, too. Should fit two, if they’re cozy. And you,” she informed him, backing him toward the door she’d indicated, “have just given us the perfect excuse to test it out.”
Wash grinned back. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”
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Date: 2006-11-26 01:12 am (UTC)Book got the best scene, I think. Just the expression on his face is priceless. :D
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Date: 2006-11-26 02:37 am (UTC)Hee! I'm glad you liked that one - I couldn't get the image out of my head.
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Date: 2008-06-15 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-15 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 03:14 pm (UTC)