The Tutor
Gorram. Damnit. Go se. Ah hell! He cursed as he looked over the ship documents. Somewhere his math had on awry because he knew the figure he reached was definitely not the amount of money they had.
It could be confusing because they had to keep at least two sets of documents at all times. The fake ones to pass inspection and avoid suspicion around Feds and the real ones that had all of their money calculated to the very last cent.
So, when all of the numbers, even the fake ones, got extremely messed up he didn't know what to do. He wasn't stupid, but he wasn't the brightest guy in the 'verse either. He poured over his work trying to find the mistake. Sometimes he hated being the captain.
Oh he was thinking it. Debating with himself. He knew that she might hear him, but he was too angry to think about turning the volume down in his head. And he was right. She heard him and showed up like the little genius slip of a girl that she was looking all sorts of cute as she sank in the chair beside him.
Without a word, River took the papers from him and scanned them. She reached across the table, just barely brushing her hand with his, to retrieve the pen. She scribbled something down and then looked up at him pointing to a place on the paper.
"There."
"What 'bout there?" he asked.
"That's where you went wrong. Decimal places got mixed up. You didn't move it correctly. A simple mistake. You're too tired to be working."
She pushed the papers back to him with the correct amounts all written down and circled in perfect girly handwriting.
"How'd you figure them all out so quick?"
"I'm gifted, Captain. Just remember to forget about the decimal places until the end if you're multiplying. Then add up how many there were total."
It felt weird to be tutored by someone that he was three times older than. She smirked and got up.
"Two times. And not tutored, helped. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask. Don't make me show up looking all sorts of cute and take the initiative."
She heard that? He thought while a flush covered his cheeks.
"You think loudly when you're frustrated."
"Well I'm not good at math."
"You understand it, just make little mistakes. Like here," she pointed to another spot on the paper. He didn't see his mistake. "You subtracted instead of added."
"Oh…" he said sheepishly. She patted him on the shoulder with a reassuring smile.
"If you want me to help with the math part of the paperwork-"
"Please?"
She sat back down and they went over the paperwork together.
"Can you…maybe…help again…if you uh…want to…?" he asked a bit awkwardly. He never was one to ask for help.
"Sure."
They exchanged smiles before getting back to work.
