Chapter 5- The Preacher and the Professor
Summary: if the only guy who could ever reach River was the son of a preacher man... well, Book would've married, huh? a little sweet and sour in the kitchen.
Shepherd- When she arrives back in the kitchen, Shepherd Book is reading at the dinner table, a small smile on his face. He says nothing as she peeks into cabinets, asking little questions out loud and seemingly getting no reply. Finally she whips around, hands on hips and head tipped to one side, and asks "And what are you grinning at, preacher?"
He regards her a moment, then closes his book and crosses to the countertop, keeping it between them. "For starts, I'm a Shepherd. Book, if you prefer." Her hands slide down to drop off her hips and clasp in front of her. With her downcast eyes and quivering lips, she looks almost shy. "I have sort of a... love/hate relationship with books." "Oh? Did you scribble in the texts at school?" The side of her mouth that quirks up drops almost as quickly. "No... books are great. Lovely, really. My mother and I... wrote one once and they can," she pauses to finger the worn edge of a blue leather... something in her pouch on the countertop before continuing, "even be useful at times, but the last time I was around a lot of books, it... turned out to be not so good for my health."
The pain in her voice, now practically a whisper, cuts him deeply. This is not the woman who's been a vexing delight to the rest of the crew. Every person he's spotted on the catwalks has been grinning with a little dazed sparkle in their eye, and it seems to be connected to the woman standing before him. It seems only fair someone try to put the light back in hers, and in a hurry.
He walks slowly to her side of the island as he speaks, his voice low, soothing, conversational. "Well, if it helps, I'm the only one here at the moment, and I certainly wouldn't harm you. Wouldn't appreciate getting hit with a charge for the extinction of a rare species." She slides a glance at him, and that ghost of a smile stays out this time. "And what species might that be, Shepherd?" His hands clasp behind his back as he leans in conspiratorially. "Why, the rare River Song. Apparently only found once in a lifetime- if that. I should consider myself blessed to have glimpsed something so special."
Her demeanor is more relaxed and open, despite the arms crossed under her chest, and the smile is shining in earnest as she gives her head a little shake. "I'm nothing special, sweetie. Really I'm not. I mean, I'm unusual in being a time-traveling archaeologist with two hearts married to a 12 year old god I was brainwashed into murdering... and you have no idea what traveling by vortex manipulator does to my hair." He chuckles at that, and it's a warm smooth sound, like steaming hot chocolate in wintertime. "But I am a professor- and someday a Doctor in my own right- and I got to marry the love of my life and grow up with my parents and see things that don't even exist anymore and I'm good friends with a spaceship." Her nose wrinkles as she lets out a quiet sniffle. "And I really like this one, and her crew has been crazy and wonderful... but it doesn't change the fact I ended up on the wrong ship."
"I wouldn't be so sure" Shepherd directs this to the tomatoes he's begun slicing for the sauce. "Maybe you were meant to get on a Firefly. At least for a while."
She handles a knife with a dexterity that makes him a little nervous, but she's presently using it to cut beef into strips with a little frown. "What makes you so sure?"
He rinses the blade and moves onto mushrooms before he replies. "Experience. When I first got to the Serenity, I'd been out of the abbey two days. Within 24 hours, I'd beaten a lawman senseless, watched the captain shoot the man I had sworn to protect- to this day I'm not even sure if I think he was wrong- and discovered I'd fallen in with an outlaw band of space cowboys. I thought I was on the wrong ship. But then I figured out I was-"
"Exactly where you were supposed to be," River finishes with a dazzling grin. They resume chopping and mincing in a companionable silence, until Book turns to get spices from the cabinet.
"And River... for what it's worth?" "Yes?" "I'm fairly certain everyone who meets you thinks you're damn special."
Over the next half hour, they finish prepping dinner, share a glass of wine and have a rousing topological debate about religion. She tells him one of her secrets, he shares one of his. They smile at one another during dinner and she doesn't even mind the less than rabbinical thoughts she knows she's inspired in the man. He doesn't mind either.
A/N: sorry about the wait. the next three chapters are gonna be hot, fluffy, and up soon!
I know it might seem a bit out of character, but I think if she *were* going to open up to anyone, it would be Shepherd. there's no one else around, and amidst the trails of adoring crewmembers she's leaving in her wake, I think maybe she's feeling the separation from the Doctor and her TARDIS. plus the book connection was just... too hard to pass up.
this chapter was originally only the last paragraph. like just those few lines. it developed into this.