He can't get enough of hearing her laugh.
It sounds nothing like her voice: none of the supple precision, every beat weighed and measured on the tip of her tongue, each syllable enunciated like every word's a work of priceless art, the tone bell-clear and smooth as fresh cream, the way you'd expect a beautiful woman's voice to sound.
It's nothing like her smile, either: the gentle, restrained, polite one for everyday use, or the smoky-eyed, slightly wicked one he's only seen when he's not supposed to be looking at her at all, the one that lingers behind his eyes when the ship's gone dark and he's got nothing but his thoughts to keep him company till morning.
No, Inara's laugh is a complete loss of control: nothing melodic about it, it's warm, spontaneous and true, a little husky, a little breathless and so very, very lovely. And it's not just the sound of it; her whole face and body changes when she laughs. Stiff, ladylike posture goes out the window, head thrown back, eyes glittering, cheeks flushed, mouth open wide showing perfect white teeth.
He can't get enough of seeing her that way, seeing her with her constant guard down, seeing her genuinely happy, not wearing one of the dozens of masks she dons day after day: for her clients, for the crew, for him.
It's like a glimpse of the real her. Not Inara Serra, registered Companion, but just Inara, pure and simple. The woman who occupies so much of his mind. The woman he so desperately wants to allow himself to fall in love with.
Short, I know, but I was watching The Message and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful Inara looks when she's laughing, and I realised how Mal must think the same. Review if you liked it, don't bother if you didn't, there's no room on my boat for negativity!