Dawn Of Serenity
Rated: PG
Category: Gen, Ficlet (365 words), Mal/Zoë Friendship (Take It As You Will).
Spoilers: Out Of Gas
Summary: The Morning After… Serenity.
Note: Written in response to the LJ prompt of 'The Morning After' on ff_friday.
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Malcolm Reynolds woke slowly when the woman next to him rolled over.
As she did, the slight dampness of sweat that had formed along his side from her contact was suddenly bombarded by cool air. Mal's skin broke out in gooseflesh under his shirt.
He shivered.
His companion merely smirked at his response and sat up, causing him to burrow deeper into the single blanket they'd so recently shared.
"Can't we sleep just a little while longer?" whined Mal.
A laugh was the only response, and that made Mal's lower lip stick out in a bit of a pout. It was most undignified and most unlike him in most circumstances, but freezing cold first thing in the morning was not most circumstances, and Mal frankly didn't care what anyone thought of his expression if it got him a bit more shut-eye.
"No, really, just five more minutes…" reiterated Mal.
Another laugh preceded a mocking rebuke. "I don't recall you being this much of a child when last this happened."
"That's cuz there ain't nobody shootin at me this time. Bullets are powerful motivation for early risin."
"Times do change, don't they?"
Mal sighed. "That they do."
"Speakin of, last I checked, you bought a ship with no heat."
"And?" Mal tried to make his voice more confident than he was as he looked around the dusty hold where he'd slept and wondered if he was in over his head this time.
"And we should probably get to fixin that so we don't find ourselves in this position again, sir."
"This position kept us warm plenty o' nights on Hera," replied Mal.
"Ain't on Hera no more. Got us a ship to fix."
"I'm not getting any more sleep, am I?"
"No, sir."
"Fine," growled Mal. "We got coffee?"
"No, sir."
"Tea?"
"No, sir."
"Whiskey?"
"Yes, sir."
"That'll do."
Several swallows of shared homebrew later, a first mate regarded her captain for a moment. The captain noticed.
"What?" he asked.
"Just wonderin what you're gonna call her. You said you had a name picked out."
"Serenity."
"That'll do, sir, that'll do."
And just like the whiskey and the company, it did. It did just fine.