Author's Note: Wash/Zoë fic (pre-marriage) for the LJ ff_friday challenge. May 22's subject: something stolen, and something freely given. Length: 687 words.
Methods of Negotiation
By Trisana McGraw
"Zoë!" Mal called from the open hatch. "We've got some money to pick up."
"Be right there, Sir," she called back tersely. "I can't seem to find my holster." She stepped into the cockpit, where Wash leaned back lazily in the pilot's chair, his back to her as he held something in his hands.
"Wash, have you seen my holster –" She got an answer when he stood, at the same time turning to face her, and held up the leather vest with the gun attached.
His mouth quirked upward in an impish grin. "Don't see a lot of women wearing leather nowadays, and that's a shame. It looks really sexy on you – and the gun just adds another element of danger."
She didn't have time for this, no matter how cute he was acting. Zoë reached for the vest, but he jerked it away. Surprised, she placed her hands on her hips and fixed him with a solemn stare that had proved to unnerve men a million times tougher than her Hawaiian-shirted boyfriend. "Give it to me, Wash."
Wash was unsuccessful at hiding his gulp. The Stare, combined with the command in her voice, was going to make this harder than he had thought. He forced a smile and brought the vest to eye-level as if casually examining it, aware of Zoë's eyes burning a hole straight through him. Finally he said, "I'll give it to you – on one condition."
She tilted her head to the side, still not amused. "And that is?"
"You go on a date with me tonight." Wash swallowed and waited for her reaction.
She laughed, and he felt a small surge of anger that she was giving him the brush-off. "I don't know if I can. Once the captain and I collect this money, we have to be off this planet and headed for the next one in a few hours. You know that."
"I didn't realize that you'd be too busy to discuss our relationship," Wash retorted.
She was tempted to smack him, but after a few moments Zoë understood why he was annoyed; the crew had had several big jobs, one after another without rest, for the last month. It had ceased to bother her long ago, but it still put Wash on edge. "Honey," she sighed, taking a step closer. "You knew when we started dating that we'd both be busy and that it would be difficult to have private time together."
"But isn't it worth a little rescheduling, then?" he countered, placing his hands on her elbows. "Zoë, baby, I really want to spend some time alone, just the two of us, without any jobs or responsibilities. If it can only be one private dinner out of the month, then so be it. But I won't let that get taken over by work."
Her face softened even more. "All right, then. How about tonight we look at the schedule for the next couple of days? Then we can arrange for a night off the ship when we land on Persephone."
"Sounds good to me," he answered, already feeling more content at the prospect of some time alone with Zoë.
"Now I really have to go," she said. "Mal's waiting for me." Before he realized it, she grabbed the vest of out his hands, and Wash's expression darkened both at the mention of the captain and how easily she had taken the vest back.
Zoë's lips turned upward in a smile, and part of his sulkiness drained away. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he was in heaven. As she pulled back and shrugged on her vest, he stuttered, "Wh – what was that for?"
She was still smiling when she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a longer kiss on the lips. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cute when you're assertive? Maybe you should be the one wearing the leather."
With that she left Wash in the cockpit. Still dazed, he dropped into his chair and stared at the dinosaurs arranged haphazardly on the console. "I am a lucky man."
