DISCLAIMER: See profile
SUMMARY: Inara/Mal + too close for comfort.
WORDCOUNT: 593

Written for goddess_loki at Christmas Drabbling

PAYING PASSENGER
by Leni

“How long will it take until we reach our next stop?”

Mal straightened, surprised that he hadn’t sensed her entry. “Two weeks.” It must be her shoes, he thought. Inara floated more than walked in her silken slips. “Do you need us to make a detour?” The words sounded okay. Very professional, not judgmental at all. They were a captain’s words to a paying passenger. Behind them, Mal felt empty.

Inara shook her head.

That made him notice another reason not to have heard her a moment ago. “What happened to your jewelry?” He couldn’t remember her without intricately woven earrings dangling from her earlobes. Gone were also her usual bracelets and necklaces. Like this, Inara looked almost normal, like a stranger.

“It’s in my room,” she answered quietly.

That hadn’t been the question and she knew it. Mal looked for explanations and once he found one, he braced himself. But something stronger than reason made him step towards her. “Packing already, Inara?” These words were foreign to his lips. Not acceptable on a captain. Not to be said between them. He tried to rein them in and instead he reached for a ring-less hand and held onto it. “Will you grace us with your company for only two more weeks?”

She gave a small gasp. He almost retreated; he hadn’t meant to hurt her.

Inara wouldn’t look at him, though, no steel eyes and that defiant expression he always faced during their arguments. Dammit! She looked at their hands – their still linked hands – instead. Maybe she couldn’t snatch hers away either? “That would probably be for the best,” she said slowly.

Mal nodded.

What is silence? The absence of words. What is silence between a captain and a companion? A truce.

…and between Mal and Inara? Unasked questions and truths never said.

Finally he sighed, crossed his arms defensively over his chest. One hand burned, but he ignored it. “Should I tell the others?” He wondered if it really was for the best. It was. It was not. He still didn’t have an answer. Inara’s presence confounded him; every time she came too close, all sense of comfort was sucked from his thoughts and body. But he didn’t know how not to want her. She’d become as part of Serenity as Kaylee’s tools and Wash’s skill. Mal had no idea what to make of it.

A soft laugh. A giggle. “You jump to conclusions like others jump over muddles, Mal.” She still wasn’t looking at him. The hand he’d touched was kept out of his reach.

He hated that laugh, the one that meant that she’d imposed control over herself while he still felt unsettled. He refused to think of her eyes or her hand.

“I don’t want to leave. I merely needed to know for how long I’d need to stretch some supplies before I could buy new ones.”

Her condescending smile hurt worse than a slap. Forget, it said. They always forgot, didn’t they? Mal recovered quickly and smiled back. He could be a captain. A captain and his paying passenger. “Make sure to take someone along. People in Eolai aren’t as respectful of your station.” Her eyebrow rose, and he read the ‘are they ever in these places?’ in her look. He lifted his shoulders. “Just a suggestion.”

“I appreciate it.” She turned around and walked back the way she’d come.

If he wasn’t watching her, he wouldn’t notice her departure either, so soundless were her steps.

If he closed his eyes, Mal thought crazily, she’d never really go.

The End
06/12/06

:) Hope you liked it! You can find some other stories in this fandom at Lenidrabbles.