2 DAYS AGO
Ryan walked slowly along the small passage in a garden on Haven, the crew following him, as he looked at the box in his hand and tears ran down his adorable face.
He died, his first pet…snow-white albino he grabbed from a 'going to die' cart full of rabbits in the pet shop on Persephone. Uncle Simon told him he was sick and that he won't last long but he was the son of Inara Serra and Malcolm Reynolds and stubbornness was in his nature. With all the innocence of a five-year-old he believed the ball of fur would somehow get better.
That was not to be as the boy found him dead in the cage and spend the night crying and when liqil cub's sad – everyone's sad. So before they headed for the sky, it was decided to have a small funeral – can't keep dead bunnies on the damn ship.
After the funeral Ryan was still heartbroken and Mal didn't know what made him feel worse…his son's crying over a dead ball of fur or his mother's Bambi eyes at seeing her son like that.
PRESENT TIME
So here he was squatting down to be at his son's level at they looked at a litter of Shih-tzu puppies. Inara had specifically recommended them, saying she had one as a child and that they was real sweet. Well, he couldn't quite argue, looking at the big-eyed little fellas who were licking his son as though he was an ice-planet.
At one point though one o' the pups pushed the other one aside to get closer to Ryan and since the other one was the smallest, he could do much so he placed his little head between his little paws and whined as he looked at Ryan with big eyes.
Mal kinda took liking to the tiny one and actually felt like smacking the other on upside the head.
Like father like son, seeing this Ryan put the aggressive pup with the others and gently lifted the crying one to his chest. Immediately the little ball began to lick the boy's chin and wiggling his little tail. His brown floppy ears and small patches on his back were in contrast to his otherwise cream covered body.
"Daddy this one! Pleeeease!" Ryan pleaded as he looked at him with big eyes – damn, he had to talk to Inara about teaching their son wiles!
"Well looks like the young'un made his choice. Gotta tell you though, they come a bit pricey…" the kind faced old salesman chuckled, eyes twinkling with amusement as he saw Ryan playing with his new friend. He had a feeling, the man was in for a long week if he didn't buy that pup.
I'm kinda facing a writer's block on the expected so if you got any ideas feel free to private-msg me. In the mean time I thought about Ryan and decided to write this…got the second (and last) part of it. Let me know if you want it!