Fic: Ghosts in This (Mal/Inara)

[xfirefly9x]

Title: Ghosts in This
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Mal/Inara
Prompt: E: Everything
Word Count: 569
Rating: PG
Summary: Few words could be exchanged now. Not after all they'd been through.
Notes: Written for petitemachine for an Alphabet Meme.

Few words could be exchanged now. Not after all they'd been through. Not after all the loss. All they could do was stare at each other across the table and wonder how the other was faring. Mal's eyes met hers for a moment, steely blue on brown, and she had to look away.

But the moment she did turn, it felt wrong, and she forced herself to look at him again.

He smiled quietly, but offered no words of anger or of comfort. She would have been happy to get any sort of reaction out of him, if she were completely honest with herself. Anything would be an improvement from the dull, empty existence they have all been living since Miranda, and the loss the crew endured.

With the rest of the crew appearing as ghosts, shifting about the ship only for things of utmost importance, like eating and completing their assigned duties on the ship and for heists, it was easy to forget there were other people aboard Serenity. It was rare that more than a few of them were in the same room at the same time, except for meals which were eaten in stony silence.

Inara took the quiet this night to be a good thing. She wasn't willing for any more company than Mal. And even spending time here, with him not talking, was almost too much. What was she to say or do? How was she to act? She had no answers.

So, when he smiled at her, she did the only thing that she could think of. She smiled back. It was a small smile, and without much joy in it at all. There was a time for joy, and Serenity and her crew were as far from it as could be. But it was a start. It made her hope that one day soon, they would all find a reason to smile again.

She reached across the table and took Mal's hand in hers, rubbing her thumb gently over the back of his hand. And then she let go, retrieved her mug of tea and took it to the sink to wash. The moment over - or so she thought - she began to wash the dishes that the rest of the crew had let pile up; it was high time they do something about the mess.

Gentle footsteps and the musty, dirty scent of Mal were almost unnoticeable until he was right beside her. This time, he reached for her hands, and stilled her motions. The wet cloth in her hand slid from her grip and splashed back into the water. Mal guided her hands until she lowered the plate she'd been working on, and then he turned her to him.

He said nothing, but he didn't need to.

She could see the unshed tears in his eyes and the way his shoulders hunched. She could see how much pain he was in. And so, she was obliging when he pulled her into his arms and hugged her. He didn't let go for almost a minute, and then, when they pulled apart, he gave her another smile. This one seemed brighter, more genuine.

In the sink behind them, the few bubbles burbled. Serenity hummed along to an unheard song.

Mal ducked his head and left Inara to the dishes, the memory of his vulnerable moment fresh in her mind to ponder.

Comments

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Aww

[xfirefly9x.livejournal.com]

Thanks (:

[ncb1.livejournal.com]

Love it!

[xfirefly9x.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *beams*