TITLE: Tame Species
AUTHOR: Dechant
PAIRING: Unrequited Inara/Mal
TIMELINE: Pre-BDM, post-series.
DISCLAIMER: Joss owns them. I surely don't.
Inara receives her very own black panther from a satisfied patron. This is where Mal draws the line.
"I'm sorry, 'Nara. Ain't no way we can keep him." Mal scratches the big cat's ears. "Even if he is one o' them tame species, there just ain't room, 'less you've got a kitty bunk in your shuttle."
"I don't have the means to care for him now," says Inara. "However..." Leaving the cat with Mal, she rustles off in a storm of satin, no doubt waving a rich friend for a favor.
Mal glances down at the Companion's companion. "Looks like it's just us, ol' boy."
"Girl."
"Wha-?" He clutches his chest, rolls his eyes up -- and sees his Reader peeking down from Serenity's innards. "Wo de ma. Give a man some warnin'."
"Will move more loudly next time." She slips out of the ceiling, replacing the panel. Graceful, bare feet touch the seat of a chair, then the deck; she springs around the galley as lithe as if she moved this way everywhere -- which, he supposed, she just might, given how weird his crew tended to be.
"Pretty, ain't he?" asks Mal.
"She. Weren't you listening?" River slips her fingers underneath his, deep into the panther's ruff. "Missing her babies. Left them a long time ago; doesn't know how long. Tells time by the passage of seasons. Not enough weather where she's been." She glances up, attention focused behind Mal. "I should go."
River slips into the shadows just in time for Inara's eclipse: gold-sequined headband, bright brassy hoops in her ears, an orange-and-black catskin robe draped over a cream silk gown.
"What kind of go se's this?" Mal asks. "You takin' him on jobs?"
"In a way," says Inara. "I know we're headed for some of the more luxurious planets. In order to supplement my income, I might give the stage a try. Free advertisement for my services and money for pet supplies. You can't possibly object to extra cash."
"Well... no."
"And when we near Sihnon, I can leave him at House Madrassa."
"Kaylee would like a pet." This from River, wedged into a corner with a protein shake. "Even a temporary one. Zoe will walk her, Wash will give her exercise, and Jayne... won't shoot her."
"I assume yer brother's willin' to play vet?" Mal rolls his eyes. "Never could say no to li'l Kaylee. All right, 'Nara, the kitty stays."
River dashes forward, shake and all, somehow not spilling a drop. "Thank you, Captain," she says. "Got to tell Kaylee."
He turns to Inara, only to find her usual enigmatic smile plastered on her face.
"Very gracious of you, Mal," she says. "I suppose I should give her a thorough grooming." With a slight nod, she leads the panther back towards her shuttle.
He leans back in his seat. Once she's out of earshot, he says, "I can't hear you, but I know you're there."
"I forgot to leave my glass," says River, padding over to the sink.
"You mind tellin' me, just this once, what-all goes on inside that woman's head?"
She gives him the same damn smile. "Misses her babies. Adventure is nice, but we don't have seasons. Nothing cycling to new. Energy is stagnant."
"Thought as much," says Mal.
"Barren place." River rinses and dries her cup, replacing it in its cabinet. "Needs to be a mother again, if she cannot be a mate." She climbs onto the same chair, loosens the same panel. "Prefers the cage of her own making to the leash you hold." Springs and catches the edge of the next panels over. "Even if she is one o' them tame species, there just ain't room."