xfirefly9x

Title: The Light Was On
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Mal/Simon
Prompt: #002 Light
Word Count: 316
Rating: G
Summary: Mal is startled when Simon joins him unexpectedly on the bridge.
Notes: Written for

slash_me_twice. 27/08/09.
Beta:

alvericff

“I, uh, the light was on.”

Mal, startled, looked around to blink at the figure in the doorway. Course it would be the doc setting him on edge. Of all the crew he was most skilled at that. Well, River was more than a mite unsettling too, but of the normal crew members, Simon was the one to grind on his nerves the most. Removing his hand from where it fell reflexively over his holster, he turned back to staring out at the black.

“I’m sorry if I surprised you,” Simon took his silence as invitation to move inside. He stood beside Mal in the pilot seat and rested a hand on the back of the chair. “What’re you thinking?”

Mal sighed, loudly. “Nothin’. Or it was nothing ‘til you came yammerin’ about the light.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“Don’t suspect you did.”

The night seemed to grow blacker and form a bubble around them. Only the odd star here and there pierced through the darkness. Neither spoke as the ship journeyed onwards, drifting smoothly. If they were to squint the outlines of their destination – a planet named Ruby out on the rim – could be seen, but only barely.

The air was cold. Mal had a blanket; Simon did not. Stepping back, Simon wrapped his arms around his middle.

“Cold?”

Simon nodded.

“Take this.” With no emotion on his face to explain what he was feeling, Mal handed him his own blanket. “Go back to your bunk. Get some sleep.”

“Right.” Simon agreed. “I should do that.”

“Or you could take the other seat awhile,” Mal added.

Without a word, Simon took the second option. He arranged the blanket over his lap. “So what are we looking at?”

Mal glanced at him and then began to explain. “That planet right there. When I was a boy, it was one of the first my ma took me to...”