Prompt: post-Serenity, She had never hoped for normal, but they weren't really that normal anyway.
Timeline: Established relationship
More Than Normal
It occurs to River, as she looks at the pair of them through Badger's eyes, that they're not exactly normal. Badger is used to Mal being here with Zoe; he sees them as a unit, a pair. People seeing Simon and Kaylee hanging on each other's arms walking through town see a couple. But River and Mal, no – in the eyes of others, they remain individuals, separate, apart. Too many differences; they fit together below the surface, parts of the same whole, but that's covered by flesh and skin and layers of assumptions so people can't see. It's not often she minds this, but here, seeing through Badger's thoughts, she does.
"You know, I think I remember this girl," he says, coming towards her, bowler hat balanced on arrogance. "Pretty little bit of a thing from back home, wasn't it? Crime to keep her hidden away on that piece of crap ship, Reynolds."
"Sad little king," River greets him, the lilt of Badger's accent coloring her words.
"Wait, when exactly did he meet you?" Mal asks, ignoring Badger like he would a gnat.
"Long time ago. You were absent."
"When was I absent that he was on my ship, talking to you?"
"You were playing the misguided hero at the time. And getting yourself stabbed in consequence."
"Gonna have to be more specific than that, darlin', I tend to get stabbed a lot."
"I know, wish you wouldn't. Makes my heart stop. This time was with a sword. Over honor."
"Oh yeah, good old Ath. Least he walked away with as many scars as I got out of it."
"Still, it was an unwise choice."
"Well, now I got you to protect me, don't have to worry none 'bout makin' bad choices."
"You still make them. I just correct you."
Finished, they turn as one from each other to Badger, who's been watching the two of them, eyes swiveling like he was at a ping-pong match.
"Ready to get down to business then?" Mal asks him. "Only you might not wanna try settin' us up this time, cause she'll know if you're lyin' and she tends to get mighty angry when people think about hurting me. And that ain't a sight you want to see, trust me."
River smiles at Badger, partly to be strange and eerie and not quite right, and partly because things have clicked in his mind, and he sees the two of them now as one – a strange and sharp edged pair that he doesn't understand, and doesn't care to, but a pair all the same.
She's never in her life been normal anyhow, really. It would be silly to start now.