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Entry tags:
F: Sinking
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Mal/River, Mal/Simon
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: It was bound to happen eventually. Timeline here.
Mal ain't surprised when River sets the auto-pilot but doesn't move to leave, and he doesn't move to leave either. He leans back in the chair, stretches his legs out, watches her until she looks up to watch him watching her and she smiles that sweet smile of hers -- childish, girlish, but full o' all the knowledge of people she has and shouldn't have, all the things she knows.
"Love," she says, softly, nothin' else, and he nods and beckons her over, so she's sittin' on his lap and curling comfortably against him, closing her eyes, her hands clutching in his shirt briefly as she tucks in against him. Feels good to have her like that -- just like this, nothin' more, and he never thought he'd feel that way about anyone. There was 'nara, but that... that was just something he couldn't have, something she couldn't have, a mutal attraction that, in retrospect, was kinda stupid.
This, he can have.
His fingers snag in River's hair a little, even though he's trying to be gentle, but she doesn't protest, just helps him tease loose the knots and then lays her head against his shoulder again.
"Happy," she says, with another one of her smiles, looking up at him, and he grins. Comes to him later that it might be a kinda foolish grin, and that really overall he's been rather foolish, but right then it's just a grin as he shifts her on his lap to hold her more comfortably, not tucked away against him but movin' to kiss him. He probably shouldn't go comparin' one to the other, but he does -- River's kiss is more sure than Simon's, more confident in what he wants and most of all what she wants.
Seems a little strange to be callin' Simon uncertain, with all his conviction and his stubborn ways, but when it comes to kissin', he's all give and no take. Mal kinda likes that, but right now he likes River's way o' givin' and takin' in equal amounts.
After a minute, she starts to pull away, about to say somethin', but that'd sort of ruin the moment and so he tangles his hand in her hair and keeps her close, kissin' her again. She tenses up, pulling away again, and he looks up and --
"Oh."
Simon's expression flickers from curious to shocked to angry and then falls flat into blank. Mal's come to know his angry face quite well nowadays and -- well, this is it. His mouth presses into a tight line and he takes a deep breath. "Oh, Mal? Thought you might've had a bit more to say. Something like sorry, perhaps. And River -- "
River's back is as stiff and straight as a pole while she stares up at Simon, speechless.
Simon swallows hard. "I thought -- I thought you'd know. And... care. That I. I. Nevermind. I'll just..."
Mal pushes River off his lap none-too-gently, standing up. "Simon -- "
"I'll just go," he says, finally, hurt look dartin' from Mal to River and back before he turns on his heel and starts to walk. And then it's not a walk, it's a run -- he's runnin' away and ain't that just ruttin' awkward.
"Simon..." River whispers, and she won't let Mal touch her. She follows Simon like she's in a dream, like her feet are barely touching the ground, and Mal sinks back into his seat, covering his eyes and callin' himself all shades of a bastard.
Pairing: Mal/River, Mal/Simon
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: It was bound to happen eventually. Timeline here.
Mal ain't surprised when River sets the auto-pilot but doesn't move to leave, and he doesn't move to leave either. He leans back in the chair, stretches his legs out, watches her until she looks up to watch him watching her and she smiles that sweet smile of hers -- childish, girlish, but full o' all the knowledge of people she has and shouldn't have, all the things she knows.
"Love," she says, softly, nothin' else, and he nods and beckons her over, so she's sittin' on his lap and curling comfortably against him, closing her eyes, her hands clutching in his shirt briefly as she tucks in against him. Feels good to have her like that -- just like this, nothin' more, and he never thought he'd feel that way about anyone. There was 'nara, but that... that was just something he couldn't have, something she couldn't have, a mutal attraction that, in retrospect, was kinda stupid.
This, he can have.
His fingers snag in River's hair a little, even though he's trying to be gentle, but she doesn't protest, just helps him tease loose the knots and then lays her head against his shoulder again.
"Happy," she says, with another one of her smiles, looking up at him, and he grins. Comes to him later that it might be a kinda foolish grin, and that really overall he's been rather foolish, but right then it's just a grin as he shifts her on his lap to hold her more comfortably, not tucked away against him but movin' to kiss him. He probably shouldn't go comparin' one to the other, but he does -- River's kiss is more sure than Simon's, more confident in what he wants and most of all what she wants.
Seems a little strange to be callin' Simon uncertain, with all his conviction and his stubborn ways, but when it comes to kissin', he's all give and no take. Mal kinda likes that, but right now he likes River's way o' givin' and takin' in equal amounts.
After a minute, she starts to pull away, about to say somethin', but that'd sort of ruin the moment and so he tangles his hand in her hair and keeps her close, kissin' her again. She tenses up, pulling away again, and he looks up and --
"Oh."
Simon's expression flickers from curious to shocked to angry and then falls flat into blank. Mal's come to know his angry face quite well nowadays and -- well, this is it. His mouth presses into a tight line and he takes a deep breath. "Oh, Mal? Thought you might've had a bit more to say. Something like sorry, perhaps. And River -- "
River's back is as stiff and straight as a pole while she stares up at Simon, speechless.
Simon swallows hard. "I thought -- I thought you'd know. And... care. That I. I. Nevermind. I'll just..."
Mal pushes River off his lap none-too-gently, standing up. "Simon -- "
"I'll just go," he says, finally, hurt look dartin' from Mal to River and back before he turns on his heel and starts to walk. And then it's not a walk, it's a run -- he's runnin' away and ain't that just ruttin' awkward.
"Simon..." River whispers, and she won't let Mal touch her. She follows Simon like she's in a dream, like her feet are barely touching the ground, and Mal sinks back into his seat, covering his eyes and callin' himself all shades of a bastard.