Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these wonderful characters, or even the setting and world of Firefly. They all belong to Fox/Universal and Joss Whedon.
James Norrington and related belongs to Disney, Gore and Ted and Terry.
Setting: Takes place right after Down the Aisle
Pairings: Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara
Can’t Stop the Music
Chapter 3: Vivace
-
Inara had told Mal she would return to Serenity around ten in the morning and Mal had decided to wait until after breakfast before he sent out another wave to confirm she was keeping to her promised date. He should also mention the fact they were taking on five more passengers as part of a new job, since he failed to mention it last night, then again, Inara did say she enjoyed surprises.
It was Simon’s turn to prepare breakfast and he did a fairly good job combining the protein packs, dry ingredients and water to create scrambled egg whites, bacon and toast along with coffee and the little cups of instant applesauce. He still needed to work on his seasoning, but he was getting better.
“Just remember what I asked of you,” Mal said as he stared into Cynthia’s light brown eyes while they ate. “You seem to be the leader of the group.”
“There is no leader,” Cynthia said before her before she blew off the steam over her cup. “No leader and no front person, we are all equal.”
“Even if that may be,” Mal tried not to allow the disbelief creep into his voice. Such idealists tend to annoy him with their "everybody is the same" fluff. Reality tends to sink in and soon they realize there is a social order, some folk tend to be leaders and others tend to be followers. Cynthia might not think of her as the leader, but as Mal saw it she was the captain of her band.
“It is,” Alfie answered.
“Of course it is,” Mal rolled back his shoulders. “How ever I want to make sure you and your crew understands the rules, Miss Driscoll.”
“Cyn,” Cynthia answered. “There is no Miss.”
“See?” Jayne pointed at James. “Some people don’t like it.”
James glared briefly at the mercenary before he picked up his fork. “It seems there are people who don’t like manners and to be treated with respect.”
“Formalities are nice when we have just met,” Cyn explained. “Now we all know who we are you can call me Cyn. If the others want the formalities then they are welcome to them.”
“We got that all nice and settled,” Mal said. They still haven’t addressed the main point. “Just trying to see if you all remembered the rules.”
“We are not allowed near the bridge or the engine room,” Amistance spoke up. “And only go near the infirmary if we are sick or hurt.” She took another bite from her toast.
“We eat when the crew eats,” Alfie said. “Breakfast and dinner are always together, other times we are on our own and have range of the galley.”
“Stay out of the way of the crew,” Dustin added in after he had swallowed another bite from his food. He had been too busy stuffing his face to talk.
“No playing our instruments after bed time,” Cyn finished.
“Shiny,” Mal nodded at the band. The only one who didn’t say anything was Ray; then again, Mal couldn’t remember the last time he spoke. “After we finish we are going to make preparations for take off.”
“You won’t mind if I help with the dishes?” Amistance asked.
“Mind?” Mal blinked. “You want to help with the dishes?”
“She and I will do them,” Ray finally spoke up.
“Does anyone object?” Mal asked. The rest of the crew shook their heads no. “You don’t need to ask to do something that nobody wants to do.”
-
As soon as River had finished eating and placed her dishes in a neat stack next to the sink she had slipped away and headed straight for the bridge. There were too many voices and even though she had turned the volume low to a dull whisper there was still too many. She was at the point where she could almost turn it off by focusing on her own thoughts, but with the passengers she had lost control. She needed to be away until she would be able to focus on a few voices at once.
“The dinosaurs are wrong.” The stegosaurus was right next to the triceratops. They were from two different eras. How many times had she explained that? She set the stegosaurus next to the brachiosaurus and put the triceratops next to the tyrannosaurus, horns facing the predator of course. The next time she was in a toy store she would find an allosaurus so the Jurassic era would have its predator.
“You are in here darling?” The captain called from the entrance.
“I am just tidying the dinosaurs. They were in the wrong eras again.”
“Maybe it can be like that film?” Mal stepped inside. “They are cloned.”
She shrugged. “I have to be here.”
“You don’t have too,” Mal slipped into the copilot’s seat. “Not yet.”
“Too crowded out there,” she turned to the entrance. “Too many voices, couldn’t hear my own.”
“I thought you had that under control.”
“Almost,” she knew her voice made her sound ashamed. She was. At first she tried to hone in on their guests, try to find more information, but then that was rude and Mal hadn’t gave her the order.
“You got any new info?” He raised his eyebrows. “Any new development that I should know about?”
River shook her head. She hadn’t found anything that would cause trouble. “Just expansions on what I have already read.”
“And what would that be?”
“Mrs. Woolong is the leader of the house. She does most of the work while her husband works on his book. They allow Amistance to play because she finished her lessons.”
“That is all you got on the keyboard player.”
“Her favorite candy is licorice and she thinks about Briscoe Terran, but not because he is attractive, because he is a talent actor who takes on unique roles and plays each one well.”
“What about the others?”
“The two cousins still think the same, playing music and women. Alfie hates spiders. Dustin’s father died from the Gray Fever when Dustin was eight. His mother raised him, wanted him to be an electrician, but Dustin wanted to play in a band. He did Kaylee’s job on their ship.”
“What of the drummer?”
“Nothing more than before. He is still depressed. He loved his old ship. He still doesn’t know who killed it.”
“The Salisbury Authorities haven’t a clue?”
She shook her head. “I did not see. I only know they have contacted them.”
“Have they made mention to the authorities on where they will be?”
“Ray had sent a wave last night,”
River knew her captain might feel a bit on edge about that fact. Local
authorities do not feel compelled to contact
Mal tapped his fingers against the edge of the console. “Can’t let them know cops and feds tend to have us on the edge. What of Miss Driscoll.”
“She feels the most connected to the music. It is her life. I only caught a few more glimpses.” River had seen a few images of an adolescent girl with her two younger siblings. One image was in a small kitchen, watching a person cook; another was of the older sister pushing the younger in a set up swing, made out of a tire and rope. She had seen a few images of the older girl at the age of fifteen cleaning a house and coming across a guitar. “I think her family may have been colonists and she once was paid to be a maid.”
“Colonists,” Mal furrowed his brow. “It has been over eight years since the war ended. Could have been a part of the first group since the battle ended.”
“Miranda,” River reminded him.
“As I recollect, they tried to settle there just before the war really started.” Mal pressed the button to activate the Com box. “Going to send a wave to Inara, don’t know why I am explaining it since you already know it.”
“No I don’t,” She pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. “It is just the two of us. It’s quiet.”
-
Inara leaned back in her seat while her hands caressed he controls of her shuttle. She almost was reluctant to return to Serenity. Alexander was a favorite client of hers, always well mannered, had the utmost respect for all women, and he served her breakfast in bed.
“I hope I didn’t keep you long,” Alexander’s handsome face appeared on the screen. White polished grun connected to the two dimples in his cheeks. His brown eyes were framed by thick lashes and golden hair were combed back neatly.
“I do miss the conversation with the rest of the crew.” Inara did not lie when she mentioned that fact. She missed the sound of Kaylee’s sweet voice when she had a question, the calmness and eloquent tone of Simon, the suddenness of what River might say, even the brash words from Jayne that caused her to roll her eyes was missed, and for some reason she missed the sound of Mal’s voice the most.
“I hope I didn’t bore you with what I had to say.” Alexander’s smile faded slightly.
“I love hearing about your horses and your fishing ships. I almost disembarked on New Melbourne once for a new life and the crew did have a protection job once.” She chuckled at that memory. The job was almost similar to the one on Triumph except Mal did not don a dress.
“You had other reasons?”
“I went to a training house instead. I was needed there.”
“I will look forward to your next
visit to
A second later, Mal’s face appeared. “It is almost ten.”
“I didn’t know I had a curfew, dad.” She tried not to roll her eyes. “I’m almost there.”
“You missed breakfast.”
“I have eaten.” She did miss the conversations but she did not miss the food, why have protein packs when you can enjoy fresh baked pastries, sliced fruit and plump and juicy sausages as well as fresh brewed tea?
“Good, Amistance and Ray are doing the dishes.”
“What?” Inara nearly released her hold on the controls. “Mal, who are talking about?” She glanced at the blank screen. “Damn you.” She could hear his laughter in her head.
-
It would have been pointless for her to shout out Mal’s name as soon as her shuttle had docked into Serenity’s Side. Yelling would not bring him to her, and the rest of the crew would think something was wrong with her, and not too mention how she came off in front of the new people.
“Mal,” she pressed the com link for the cargo hold. “Are you there?” She waited a few seconds and received no answer. She could try to contact him in his cabin, the dining area, or the helm, but she didn’t want to waist any more time. “I will speak with you in person.”
She knew there was something off with the cargo bay when she stepped out of her shuttle and onto the catwalk. She could see a few strange boxes, the belongings of the new people? She could also hear music, guitar music. She heard various twangs and and chords, not a song, but more like practice.
“Mal?” She grabbed the edge of the railing and leaned forward.
“Not him,” a young man with red hair answered her. He was lean, not scrawny and wore a pair of khaki cut offs, slip on shoes with no laces, or buckles, Velcro, or even zippers. And a button down shirt, he was seated on the floor with a guitar resting on his lap.
“Hello?” Inara greeted him. What were the names, Mal had mentioned. “Are you Ray?”
“I’m Dustin,” The young man smiled. “Are you the ambassador?”
“That would be me,” Inara smiled slightly. She was glad they still used the nickname and Mal hadn’t referred to her as a whore. “Did he tell you what I do?”
“I don’t really remember it being brought up.” He raised his eyebrows. “Were you looking for him?”
“You know where he is?”
“I think he said something about talking with your pilot.” He pointed to up.
“Thank you,” Inara turned to the nearest stairs. “He did not hire new crew?”
“We paying for a trip to Beaumonde.”
“Ah,” Inara nodded. Mal hadn’t
mentioned taking on passengers as they neared
There were some familiar faces near the stairway that lead to the galley and dining hall. She could see both Simon and Zoë in the infirmary, either cleaning or organizing, she wasn’t certain.
“Morning,” Inara stuck her head through one of the windows.
“Welcome back,” Zoë greeted with a smile. “I take it; you have met some of our guests?”
“Ah yes, the guests,” Inara refrained from crossing her arms across her chest. “It was a nice little surprise.”
“Mal didn’t tell you?” Simon set down the tray with syringes.
“Not once when he sent out both waves, just mentioned a few new names that are doing dishes.” She pointed back to the cargo bay. “I have met Dustin already.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t met Cyn,” Zoe said. “She is right there on the couch.”
“I didn’t really look in the common room when I cam to speak with you.”
“She has been quiet,” Simon said. “I nearly forgot she was there.”
“Where is everyone?”
“River and Mal are at the helm and Kaylee is in the engine room.”
“Jayne said something about going to his bunk,” Zoë added, “and James is talking with Alfie.
“That is all I needed to know,” Inara turned around and stepped outside. She paused when she saw a young woman stretched out on the couch with a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. “Hello.”
The pad of paper flattened against the other woman’s chest. “Hello.”
“I didn’t see you at first,” Inara explained. The guests may be a surprise but she wasn’t going to ignore them, or be rude.
“I probably didn’t hear you either.” She sat up. Dark fringes framed her face and her multi pierced ears. There was something familiar about her. “When I start writing I tend to get lost in my words.”
“Poetry, a story, an essay-“ Inara tried to guess.
“Song lyrics,” the other woman
blinked. “I know I have seen you somewhere. Weren’t you with James on Lady
“You were one of the three musicians,” Inara nodded once the memory had returned. “You were performing that song when I had to leave that meeting.”
“That would be us, except we added a couple more.”
“And Mal has two of them doing the dishes,” Inara crossed her arms.
The woman shrugged. “They offered.”
“I met Dustin and Alfie is speaking with James?”
She nodded. “Alfie needs to oil the keys on his sax. You must be the ambassador.”
“That would be me,” Inara felt a slight tremor under her feet, the tell tale sign Serenity was taking off. “And it looks like we are off.” She didn’t care if they were leaving the planet’s atmosphere; she needed to find Mal. “I have to go now.”
-
As much as she wanted to she could not stop and talk with the other band members in the dining are, she ran across the cargo bay and took the other stairs, the ones that led right next to crew’s quarters. She climbed the stairs and marched right past the closed bunks.
“Malcolm Reynolds,” she called out at the top of her lungs.
“Inara?” Mal answered.
“I need to speak with you.”
“Did I do something?” He feigned innocence as he stepped away from the co pilot’s seat.
“Why didn’t you tell me we were taking on passengers?”
“Because I thought you liked surprises.” He smiled and held out his arms. “Did you not like the surprise?”
Inara just stared at him; almost wishing her eyes could cut holes through his flesh.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Were you planning on taking on
passengers on
“That part was a surprise to me,” Mal held up a finger. “We can thank the Commodore for that, but from how I hear they came to him.”
“They are musicians.”
“Musicians with money and that is what sits with me.”
“You are going to let them practice?”
He nodded. “They know the rules, as long as they are out of the way and stop playing at bed time.”
“You are not going to feel compelled to join in?”
“What?”
She had him. “You are not going to borrow one of their guitars and play?”
Mal shook his head. “I don’t play.”
“You played just fine in that music shop.”
“I wasn’t planning on playing,” his smile had completely disappeared.
“Funny how it happened then.”
“Yeah, listen to the sound of my laughter.”
“What is wrong with you? So what if you did play? It was good, there should not be shame in having a talent.”
“It was a useless talent,” he turned around and entered the bridge. “Don’t mention it again.” He closed the door behind him.
“Mal?” She tapped her knuckles against the door. She hadn’t wanted to make him angry, but she had succeeded.
-
Replies:
Spawn of Kong: Thank you, yeah, River is gradually growing up in her own way.
Glazed Amber: Thank you. River has grown on me.
Ogreatrandom: Thank you
Dreamflight: Thank you.