Rapid Fire Ficcing

Camping in Southern Utah sounds like fun to me. Lucky you.

Oh it IS. But the reality is, there's also a lot of sand.

i almost missed the rapid-fic for reading the comments, LOL.

i never will understand sidewalk cafe people - i'm more roof-garden at a push. i guess my general preference in cities is side-alleys, backstreets and cul-de-sacs.
i do have a soft spot for run-down greasy-spoon joints as well.

here my current regular spot is out back behind an Italian place with a view of the river. a mink got loose recently and made a home on the tiny island between the two riverside cafes.
there's a heron that comes there too in the early evening.

Wildlife dinner guests. Sounds cool. Although me, I have enough problems with the cats I live with.

Bytemite wrote:Wildlife dinner guests.

Here is my "open-air dining with wildlife" story:
I was camping with two college roommates. As we sat at the picnic table at the campsite, a very bold raccoon came right up to the picnic table looking for handouts. We tried to shoo it away, but it refused to be intimidated. At one point, it came up and sat itself down upon the boot of one of my roommates. Yes, *that* bold.
Cut to later that night. Sleeping bags, in the tent. We knew you're not supposed to keep your food in the tent, but we didn't have a car to put it in, nor a hard cooler. (We had hiked in.) Most of the food was in cans, so no problem, but there were a few items, most notably a loaf of bread, that we simply zipped into the backpacks. Well. It's the middle of the night, and I'm hearing noises. It's really, really dark, and I can't see a thing. But the noises are close. In fact, really close. Really, really close. Suddenly, a ripping, zipping sound. What the @#$%!? It wasn't until morning that we found that the raccoon had ripped a gash in the tent fabric, reached in, pulled the zipper on the backpack, and made off with the loaf of bread.

They are so rascally. My brother has some raccoons that live in his neighborhood, they skulk around the backyard at night.

Hmm. Encounters with wildlife and the Serenity crew... This could also be fun.

I had an idea where Mal has to transport a puppy for some reason and bonds to it.

What could have been-

Mal Reynolds had noticed ever since Higgins Moon his hired thug getting philosophical. So it was they were both up late sitting at the usual galley table, musing over various truths and mysteries. Or in this case, muses.

Serenity had chased off Burgess from the Heart of Gold, much to the appreciation of the whole of the brothel and the madam in particular. She'd been injured, but Nandi wherever she was from she was the image of the strong and rugged independent rimworld woman, and she'd barely been more than bruised. The laser gun hadn't even left an entry wound, and Mal had his suspicions that Rance Burgess had no idea what he was doing. As it turned out, though, wannabe cowboys and rich land barons had somewhat more pull on the ear of the law than good-hearted prostitutes, and it was for the best if Nandi and the mother and child under her protection left the world.

They'd helped Petaline to a safehouse, and Nandi had decided to stay on after that. Inara hadn't noticed him much since then, the two of them were always talking and laughing and carrying on, catching up on the years. What he couldn't wrap his mind around, and Jayne was having similar trouble as usual, was that both Inara and Nandi insisted that their newest passenger didn't need her own room, and that they could bunk together.

Amid all the speculation, Mal found he couldn't really complain.

don't forget the part where Book marries them in a ceremony aboard Serenity. Hold full of bridesmaids. Kaylee gushing and an over excited Jayne has his life saved (again) by Simon after accidentally inhaling confetti, the exact amount of which is calculated by River in a display of her mathematical super-powers. Since Nandi is now Inara's wife (as well as Mal's) any former trespass is forgiven by the Guild who (not without humour) send her a polished silver dulcimer for a wedding gift.
Saffron will try to steal this later in season 3 where the gift becomes a key part of the series plot-arc and ultimately allows the crew to ascend to a higher plane of existence.
Even Jayne.

I just wanted to do a story where I subvert expectations - I think Inara and Nandi are more likely to permanently hook up than Mal and Nandi. But everyone who writes a Nandi survival story always hooks her up with Mal. They're too similar to be interesting. And then in the middle of this contrived love triangle, Inara ends up in tears and basically gets no sympathy.

Judging from Mal's reaction to finding out the Councilor in War Stories that Inara has an engagement with is a woman, he might actually be okay with this. Not only are there two attractive women in that pairing, which is an entertaining prospect for Mal's imagination, but Mal knows from personal experience that Nandi probably won't hurt Inara. Maybe, Mal thinks, this is for the best.

Bytemite wrote:
Judging from Mal's reaction to finding out the Councilor in War Stories that Inara has an engagement with is a woman, he might actually be okay with this. Not only are there two attractive women in that pairing, which is an entertaining prospect for Mal's imagination, but Mal knows from personal experience that Nandi probably won't hurt Inara. Maybe, Mal thinks, this is for the best.

Yes i can see that as being not impossible, it's the kind of issue dodge that most of the crew would accept as a problem fix. That's true of them all, Mal is certainly no exception. And like a lot of their dodges, on a practical level it does work.

But i thought Nandi and Inara were already secretly married.

Haha, maybe. After all, Nandi did know exactly where to contact Inara even though she'd been out of contact with the rest of the Guild for years.

Bytemite wrote:Haha, maybe. After all, Nandi did know exactly where to contact Inara even though she'd been out of contact with the rest of the Guild for years.

yep - a lot can be explained about both characters (Inara continuing her business, the settling and fiscal viability of Nandi's place on Burgess's moon) by the magic words; maintenance payments.

Hmm, so Inara is supporting Nandi, that's interesting. I could probably see that.

No wonder she insists that Mal accept payment for helping save Nandi's business, Inara didn't want to show favouritism to either of her love interests.

Bytemite wrote:Hmm, so Inara is supporting Nandi, that's interesting. I could probably see that.

No wonder she insists that Mal accept payment for helping save Nandi's business, Inara didn't want to show favouritism to either of her love interests.

exactly so!

And maybe it was part of Inara's whole deal with her "don't think I'm doing this for you or asking you because I like you or anything. *blatant lies* Ours is a business relationship. *haughty blushing* Look! Money!"

wytchcroft wrote:don't forget the part where Book marries them in a ceremony aboard Serenity. Hold full of bridesmaids. Kaylee gushing and an over excited Jayne has his life saved (again) by Simon after accidentally inhaling confetti, the exact amount of which is calculated by River in a display of her mathematical super-powers. Since Nandi is now Inara's wife (as well as Mal's) any former trespass is forgiven by the Guild who (not without humour) send her a polished silver dulcimer for a wedding gift.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

I must admit that when I read this:

Bytemite wrote:both Inara and Nandi insisted that their newest passenger didn't need her own room, and that they could bunk together. Amid all the speculation, Mal found he couldn't really complain.

I immediately had the image of some kind of three-way. (sorry, Bytemite, if that's not what you intended!) What with the talents of two trained Companions in the mix, I don't think *any* of them would complain. Hooray for AU!

That would also be an acceptable solution to the triangle.

However, this time I wrote that Inara completely forgets about Mal and ends up with Nandi because I wanted to tweak Mal/Nandi shippers a little, because they tend to be a little mean to our Inara.

But I have no real issue with being mean to Mal, sometimes he's just asking for it.

Bytemite wrote: I have no real issue with being mean to Mal, sometimes he's just asking for it.

Isn't he just? And I am *so* mean to him, too. I have beaten him up, shot him, thrown him in jail, tortured him with his darkest memories, broken his heart, and all manner of things, and yet I can't wait to cause him more trouble. He does ask for it. Tough job, being the hero of a story.

Mal takes it and keeps fighting.

Is the fact that Mal isn't breakable the reason so many authors try to break him anyway? Is it like destructive little kids playing with toys?

Suddenly, the universe of Firefly and Joss' relationship to it makes sense. If Mal ever stopped fighting, he would become boring to us and saved from us.

She'd always told him her choice of shuttle decorations were meant to put visitors at ease, which seemed born out whenever one of the girls had cajoled Inara into fixing their hair. At the moment though, Captain Reynolds thought they weren't doing their job properly. He scowled to himself, wondering how many of her clients felt like damn schoolboys around all her refinements. She could put on airs, that one, and not just the head turning perfumes or the incense and calm she that seemed to effuse any space she passed through.

How had she talked him into this? Sitting on the red velvet of her little couch over that fancy end table, pretending like this was something normal for him. Her dark eyes flicked up at him inscrutably over the fan of her hand, lashes done up and lined in some arrestingly sooty powder to add to her mystery. Her face was framed by her curly mane like a cat on the hunt, a kitten with laquered nail claws.

The woman, he admitted to himself grudgingly, had the best poker face he'd ever seen. He folded, his cards down on the table, and appreciated the low cut of her dress as she leaned over and gracefully scooped up her winnings. Ribbons of paper, penned in calligraphy and fortunes and wishes, laid out between them.

Another glance, back at him, lingering and assessing, and only the candlelight betrayed the warmth of amusement in her eyes. And maybe something else, but only if he wanted to delude himself. "Care to make things interesting?"

Bytemite wrote:The woman, he admitted to himself grudgingly, had the best poker face he'd ever seen.

^I like that. And I'm sure she does.
And despite what she might say about putting visitors at ease, there's no way Mal is really at ease in those surroundings. Maybe that's also on purpose on her part, as a strategy for cleaning up in the card game. Careful about making things "more interesting", Mal! That woman will beat the pants off you.

lol yes. Mal can file "strip poker with Inara" under "amazingly bad ideas." OR IS IT?

I imagine the guild teaches card games, high rollers are very likely to want to hire companions. And back in courtly and regency days, everyone was into cards. Plus, imagine all the little companions practicing their skills on each other in card games. Had to happen.

The oppressive heat sweltering into the cargo bay like it owned the place felt like it was going to knock him down, but Malcolm Reynolds wasn't anything but stubborn. This was his ship. The heat could go to hell. Maybe assuming they weren't already there.

They had only a few more crates of cargo to lift from the floating pallets the Brothers had sent their way after the meeting. He wasn't really sure how he'd made it through that. Actually, he'd been feeling off since the morning when they landed, and not in the way that said he was about to get shot, but more like he'd had some shots. Too many of them.

They'd be off world again soon though, to the black where they belonged and where his face wasn't melting off, down his back, soaking his shirt. Just a couple more. He heaved, dizzily, him and Jayne working side by side and suffering in silence. Zoe was standing by, hands on her belly. No heavy lifting for her. Gorramn maternity leave. They set them against a nice pile of clutter he hadn't been able to fence and secured them for travel.

He closed up the airlock, stumbled over to the com, almost called River "Wash" before he remembered Zoe was watching. "Take us out," he told the girl tiredly. Seemed like he was always tired nowadays. He dragged himself up the stairs towards his bunk.

Later, after the obligatory passing out, Mal woke up no less sweaty and he started thinking maybe it wasn't just the heat that ailed him. He saw Inara, wisp of a shadow that she was, looking at him from by his ladder, frowning. She brushed his hair back, hand on her forehead, and quickly withdrew it, like she was burned. She sighed at him, shaking her head. "Someday, you have to learn how to take better care of yourself," she told him, and then called for Simon.

Bytemite wrote:The heat could go to hell. Maybe assuming they weren't already there.

Liked that couplet.

One thing I like about this ficlet is the way that it gradually lets us in on what's up with Mal. He's feeling off. It's the heat! No, it's not just the heat, it's the shots (too many of them) that went along with the meet-up. But no, it's not the shots, it's sweating, dizziness, and grouchiness. And fatigue. And muzzy-headedness. And fever. Gah. The man's seriously ill, and he's been pushing himself (as per character). Good thing Inara and Simon are there to take care of him.

I was reading a story by 2x2 that inspired this one. Mal's sick, Inara takes pity on him and tries to give him some medicine.

In my mind I imagined a scene where Inara walks into the galley and finds Mal passed out with a towel over his head and a head in a bowl from whatever vapours and old fashioned remedy he was trying to use to feel better. But then I think that's more for colds and allergies than fevers?