Night
Malcolm Reynolds is a very tense man. It's not to be unexpected: he's got a lot of responsibility resting on his broad shoulders. Captaining, thieving – Simon has learned not to call it "petty" thieving; Mal's etiquette prevents him from hitting women but does not extend to any men anywhere, not even soft-mouthed, clumsy-tongued ones who share his bed – and struggling against the shadow of the Alliance leave a man a bit beleaguered during the day. But not at night. At night, as Simon slips the suspenders from Mal's shoulders, as he unbuttons his shirt and removes that, too – he insists on doing these things; Mal's a big boy, but there are certain things that fall in a lover's domain, and it has become a nightly ritual that Simon strips Mal of his clothing and his burdens and leaves him naked and relaxed and his.