71) And I'm Hearing What You Say
Mal looked up as Rick came into the galley, rubbing his hand over his scalp and grimacing slightly, "Take it you feel the need for a shave?"
"Yeah," The huge man nodded as he grabbed mugs and put the coffee on. "I get…antsy you could say, when my hair gets over a quarter inch. It's been noted more than once that if I don't shave, I'm more irritable."
"He snarls over stuff he wouldn't normally," Jack contributed as she entered from the aft stairs and began to set the table. "Should've seen him on the Mirabelle, thought he'd kill somebody before he got a shiv sharp enough to shave with."
"Their whetstones were shit," Rick agreed. "Felt like crawlin' out of my skin."
"Jack, go on an' get Zoë, let her know breakfast is almost ready," Mal jerked his head towards the airlock door.
"I'll do it," Bea had followed Jack in and headed for the door.
"No," Mal pointed at the table. "You sit. Jack, you go."
Thankfully, Jack was already on her way to fulfilling Mal's order. Mal really needed to find a place to set Bea down. She wasn't part of his crew, he wasn't (and hadn't ever been) comfortable with her on board, especially now that he was aware of Rick's criminal history. And despite the awareness, he'd developed a real fondness for said criminal. Said somethin' about Serenity and her crew that Rick fit in so well.
"Mornin' Cap'n," Kaylee called cheerfully as she and Simon entered the room. "You makin' us breakfast?"
"Always the tone of surprise," Mal teased her. "I can manage egg mix and protein waffles."
"And genuine imitation bacon," Carolyn teased as she came in the room.
"Emma, you want some genuine imitation pig," Jack asked Emma as Zoë carried the baby in her basket to the table.
"She's a little young for pig yet," Zoë shook her head. "What's the occasion sir?"
"Can't a man do somethin' nice for all the folk on his boat," Mal did his best to sound affronted.
"Can," Jayne muttered as he followed River into the room. "But you gen'r'lly don't."
River giggled and went into the pantry, taking out the protein powder, canned formula and dried milk to make up Emma's bottle for Zoë to feed her daughter. "Man called Jayne is not a morning person," She remarked as she came back into the galley.
Jayne grumbled at her in his usual 'girls are too gorram cheerful in the morning' manner that Mal had been hearing since a month after Jayne had come aboard the boat the first time around.
Rick turned and seemed about to give Jayne a glare when he heard River giggling with Kaylee and gathered (rightly) that this was simply Jayne's way, smirking as he asked. "River, how much coffee does it take before he can talk in full words?"
Mal had pretended he didn't see River boost herself up onto the counter to plant a kiss on her tall boyfriend's smirking mouth. The idea of River having a nán péngyǒu wasn't something he'd gotten used to yet (not that anyone had asked for or cared about his opinion or how used to it he was), let alone it being someone as lethal and big as Rick.
Jayne just muttered irritably and scrubbed at his face with his hands until Jack put a cup of coffee in front of him with a laugh. Soon enough everyone was around the table with food and caffeine in front of them, except for Emma who was enjoying her own liquid refreshment.
Mal considered Jayne for a moment recalling his old gunhand's half joking suggestion after dinner the night before, "Oughta have Zoë teach Jackie girl, God knows she's dangerous enough. Might could help Zoë too, fightin' 'thout havin' ta kill someone." Now and then, Jayne had good ideas and Mal had spent a good part of the night considering that one. It went along the same lines as the thoughts he'd been having since Jack's lessons with River had ceased so at least it wasn't an entirely new idea.
"All right," Mal looked at his crew and guest. "Now we've got a full complement of crew again, we've got cargo to drop on Hera. Carolyn's worked out a nice little run for us takin' manure from Jiangyin and Triumph out to Dyton to improve their soil. So, we're gonna stop over on Persephone, pick up some seal down crates on the cheap." He looked down at Bea, sitting next to Jack at the other end of the table, "Bea, need you to start thinking of where you want to set down, can't just fly with us forever. You can do that in your bunk or the lounge. Jack'll show you down to the cargo deck."
She nodded, though he got the impression she'd delay that decision as long as she could in an attempt to continue her campaign of him joining the New Resistance. Which she hadn't let up on much (actually not at all). Well, he'd deal with her when she started really pushing again. And by that he meant when she started in about the New Resistance while he was busy with something more important (which seeing as it was his boat could be anything). "River, I'd appreciate you looking into how often we can get away with usin' those skins you made for us on Dyton. Rick, you an' Kaylee, go over the engine, make a list of the parts we need. Carolyn, you're with me on the bridge. Jack, want you to go with Simon, make a list of anything we need in the infirmary."
Zoë looked at him after the crew had scattered to take care of their assigned duties and Bea gave him a glare which, frankly, compared to River or Rick's darker looks, was less effective than she might have hoped. And when it had no effect, she left the galley with Jack who'd waited for her in the doorway. Mal shook his head, and met his oldest friend's eyes, "She's part of what was hunting us." He told her quietly. "Warrants came from Atherton Wing, an' River's got somethin' in the works to quash 'em, but Bea an' her crew, they're part of the reason why we were on the edge of the 'verse."
"With the warrants we'd've run into trouble at any hospital we went to," Zoë reminded him.
"Don't mean I like this notion she has that I owe this 'New Resistance' somethin'," Mal shook his head. "And then there's the little fact that she led Jubal Early right to us."
"Early," Zoë stiffened and rightly so. "So they're still after River or was it us?"
"Well, 'cording to River, Early was the obsessive type, didn't like we'd gotten away," Mal had worried some about that himself until River had explained what she'd Read while she was fighting the man. "Got no doubt he was in communication with whoever hired him initially, but he was on his own."
His oldest friend half smiled, "Take it River dealt with him?"
"Handily," Mal nodded. "Think Rick might've fallen in love with her right then if he wasn't smitten already." He half smiled, "Of course, knowin' who he is, that does explain some his fascination with how deadly our Little Albatross can be."
"Explains quite a bit actually," Zoë agreed and gave her daughter a smile as the baby gurgled at her around the pacifier in her mouth. "You got all the other duties assigned, what've you got in mind for me sir?"
"Want you to see Simon, make sure all your injuries are healin' up," Mal hoped like hell Zoë would understand what he'd ask of her next. "Give it a week or so, rest and recover, get some real meals in you, or as real as our meals get anyway."
"All right," Zoë didn't seem displeased to be told to rest. That prison must've worn her down more than it seemed. "And then?"
"Pilot lessons," He met her gaze straight on. "You've got a daughter now, somebody who's welfare has got to come before me or anyone else on the boat. Some jobs I'll still want you with me, but others, I 'spect we'll all be better served with you on the boat. And that means ready to assist Carolyn when she's gettin' us off world in a hurry."
Zoë's frown wasn't anything he enjoyed seeing but he wasn't going to risk Emma losing her mother. Not now, not ever. "I take it Carolyn's the one gonna be teachin' me?"
"Carolyn's the one's got actual schoolin' on the subject, knows the technicalities in and out," Mal nodded. "She's agreed to teach you the basics. River an' Rick bein' better at evasive maneuvers an' the way the two of them fly can't really be taught. Got no doubt River knows all the technical aspects as well as Carolyn but of the two, I suspect Carolyn'll be the better teacher."
"Just want me to have skills enough to get us off the ground and into the Black if something happens," Zoë understood, thank Buddha and the dear and fluffy lord. "All right." She regarded him with a thoughtful expression, "So what's the rest of it?"
"Might've noticed, or not," Mal wasn't sure how much attention Zoë'd been paying to Jack, River, Rick and Carolyn. "Jack ain't warmed up to our Albatross the way Rick has…an' one's got a lot to do with the other. She don't wanna learn from River and it shows. So she ain't."
"I got that much," Zoë nodded.
"I was thinkin' of teaching her but as you know, I'm better at guns than I am hand to hand," He admitted. "She took to learnin' from Inara pretty well, so the lessons ain't the problem."
"Sir, I'm willing to teach her," Zoë took a breath. "But you know that apart from scoutin' and such, everything I know I learned in the military."
"And?" Mal raised an eyebrow curiously.
"You want me to put her through boot camp?" His oldest friend's stoicism cracked enough to show some actual surprise.
"I ain't sayin' wake her up by blowin' reveille," Mal rolled his eyes.
"Just everything after," She nodded thoughtfully. "All right…" Her mouth pursed slightly in thought. "She still after a shine job?"
"I was plannin' on talking to Simon, seein' how soon it could be done safely," He admitted. "Figured it as something of a reward if she takes to your lessons better'n River's."
Zoë nodded, "Gotta admit. We have those lenses, the tapetum, after walking through the desert in the dark of barely dawn, I'm warming up to the idea of a shine job myself."
Mal nodded thoughtfully, "River mentioned something about that, getting everyone on the crew fixed up so we could work in the dark without problems." He half smiled at Zoë, "Sure would make pullin' salvage jobs easier if we didn't need to carry hand lights."
"Something to think about once our passenger has disembarked," She agreed. "Speakin' of," She paused and picked up Emma when the baby began to fuss a bit, rubbing her back and bouncing her a bit. "Noticed Rick's still wearin' those goggles."
"Asked about that," Mal nodded. "He said he didn't see the point of letting everyone know one of his weaknesses had been remedied. Gives mercs something to fixate on, try to use against him."
"Ready made trap," Zoë smiled wryly. "Sounds like him. The man takes paranoia to new levels."
"Ain't like he don't got reason," The Captain shrugged.
"You really easy with who he is? Bein' aboard the ship, sparkin' with River," His oldest friend knew him too well. Easy for her to see he definitely wasn't at ease about any of it.
"Hell, no I ain't," Mal shook his head. "But he put himself in harm's way more than once for this ship and crew. River trusts him, trusted him before any of us knew who he was. She helped him hide who he was even. Man wants to rejoin the human race."
"River ain't been wrong yet," Zoë conceded and repeated his last statement quizzically. "Man wants to rejoin the human race?"
"'S what River said," He nodded. "Apparently Carolyn issued the challenge when they were back on that rock. He's doin' a pretty good job of it."
"We let him keep on then," She agreed and gave him one of her dry smiles. "He scares Jayne. That ain't a bad thing either."
"No," Mal chuckled. "No, it is not."
Author's Note: So Mal's got a plan. And Zoë's okay with it. That's good. Right? We're not going to really see much in the way of sentiment or overly emotional reactions from Zoë really because she's a very private person and she'd keep that to her bunk.
Chinese Translations:
nán péngyǒu (boyfriend)