Title: One Hundred Hiding
Places
Characters: Zoe, Kaylee, Inara, River, Mal,
Serenity
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Challenge: #115:
Fireflies
Written for livejournal's ffFriday.
They sit in a knot at the heart of the ship, all four of them. They gather around the scarred table and talk about the captain, the ship, the captain, same thing, four fragile cups in eight hands, four quiet voices lit by a single late night candle reaching a single conclusion.
The thing about Fireflies is this: they have all those troublesome nooks and hiding places.
Zoe figures she knows about most of the hiding places, having been on board the longest. She's seen some pretty tough times between the catwalks and the bridge, and knows that hiding places are just a part of the design.
Kaylee reckons the first mate is probably right about that, but as ship's mechanic she is often privy to some chinks and nooks that the others don't get to see. She's filled them with her loving care as much as she can, anything to keep this Firefly flying.
Inara, perceptive as always, knows full well that there are pieces of the ship that she will never get to see, and some that she has seen and wishes that she hadn't. She fills a teacup for each of her companions and wonders if she can feel secure in this ship, knowing as she does about all the parts that have fallen away over the years.
River sees the parts that have fallen away as well as the hiding spaces. A ship like this one can have one hundred hiding places found, and still have one more that no one ever gets to see. She knows, more than the others, that it is often best to leave well enough alone.
Mal, shadowed, an unexpected arrival paused in the doorway, listens to them talking, quietly and over tea as they sometimes do, swapping womanly stories and talking about man problems. He smiles. There is light reflecting off them like the steam from their tea, curling through the ship and warming its every extremity. He knows that sometimes the thing that keeps a Firefly afloat is the warm air that lingers in one hundred nooks and hiding places, and the eight hands holding tea in its heart.