Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation.

**Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Mal had awakened that morning staring at the ceiling of a strange room, it took him a moment to recollect where he was and why he was there. Then he remembered the events of the night before; the emotional and soul-baring conversation with Alex in the infirmary, which had culminated in their lovemaking. A right pleasuresome end to the evening, he thought with a slight smile, turning to look at her sleeping form next to him. She was on her stomach, sprawled across the bed, still dead to the world. He looked at the time. It was still early; best he get up and around before the crew caught him coming out of the wrong end of the ship. That could surely lead to some awkwardness at the breakfast table. He rose quietly and slipped into his trousers without disturbing her. He felt, physically and emotionally, better than he had since—well, since he could recall, frankly. The only regret he could come up with at that moment was biting her in the heat of passion. Truthfully, he could not remember doing that at all—but, then, he had been slightly preoccupied at the time. The second regret came to him a moment later when he couldn’t find his shirt. He began tossing things about, expecting he’d unearth it any time. Then he remembered. It was in the infirmary. Oh, gorramit! he thought, heading for the door. It was at that moment he heard voices outside. “ Ta ma duh !” he muttered, feeling suddenly trapped. “I tried my best to do that already,” came the sleepy murmur from the bed. He turned to see Alex awake, propped up on her elbows and smiling at him. “Trying to sneak out on me?” He walked back and sat down beside her. “Was tryin’ to get out before everyone else got up,” he admitted. “Sadly, that ship seems to have sailed.” The voices grew nearer; Simon and River, passing them and heading toward the stairs. He waited for them to go up. The voices got fainter, but did not depart. “Prob’ly in the infirmary findin’ my shirt,” Mal grumbled. He sighed and flopped back onto the bed, hands behind his head. “I guess I can wait ‘em out.” Alex stretched out beside him. She was still naked, covered only with a corner of the sheet; and not a very big corner at that. She ran a finger down his chest. “I wonder what we could find to do while we wait?” she mused thoughtfully. He jerked his head up and looked at her. “You ain’t suggestin’ what I think are you? With the others right outside?” She raised an eyebrow at him, and smiled wickedly. At least Mal assumed it was supposed to be wicked. It came off looking more endearingly sleepy than anything. “Oh, rung tse fwo tzoo you are a bad woman!” Mal murmured with a laugh, as she began kissing the side of his face. Before long the trousers Mal had just put on were off again, and he and Alex were entwined once more. It didn’t take long before she had him gasping for air and invoking yet more gods he didn’t believe in. With last night’s bruise still clearly visible on her shoulder, he was mindful, even in the thick of it, not to bite her again. Afterward, they leaned limply against each other on the bed, listening to the voices in the corridor. “Sounds like they found my shirt,” Mal slurred into her hair, his voice thick, not much caring at that moment if they had or not. They listened as the voices moved very close to the door, then moved away, then close again. Then they finally faded out. After listening to the silence for a time, Mal started to get up. “Let me go first,” Alex said. “I’ll make sure the coast is clear.” She slipped into her robe and slid the door open a crack. The passenger dorm was empty—and Mal’s shirt was on the floor in front of the door. Alex picked it up and closed the door again. “Well,” she chuckled, tossing it to him, “Looks like we were worried about the wrong person.” Mal snorted as he put on his clothes. “Yeah, ‘stead of frettin’ ‘bout the preacher, I guess we shoulda been mindful of the mindreadin’ girl across the way!” He shook his head and they both laughed.

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After that came the walk of shame, and the breakfast table, which had been a minefield to navigate, that was a fact. But it had ended with them having a laugh, not only at his expense, but also at Jayne’s, which, admittedly, was always fun. And it ended with Mal once again being dumbfounded at something Alex did or said. She had big ones for a girl, that was for sure. After getting a shower and change of clothes under his belt, Mal headed up to the bridge. “Wash, how long before we hit Zargon?” he asked, trying to be as casual as he could. “Two days if we stay the course we’re on now,” was Wash’s reply. He grinned a cockeyed grin. “Would you like us to get there faster, sir? Or would slower be better?” Mal chose to disregard the comment. “Just stay the course.” Feeling restless, he wandered into the cargo bay, which, for some reason, was devoid of crew. He looked up at what was the entrance to Inara’s shuttle when the shuttle was docked. He caught himself wondering what last night would have been like if it had been Inara with him instead of Alex. He allowed himself, just for a moment, to let his mind wander to that forbidden place, to put Inara’s face where Alex’s had been. He wondered if the night would have had the same naturalness to it if Inara was in his bed. Certainly being with a beautiful woman who was experienced in the ways of love had its appeal. But, then, so did being with someone who just so plainly wanted him, and with whom he shared some pretty extraordinary common history. He quickly decided it would be in his best interest to free his mind of all these unbidden thoughts. But he was feeling good for the first time in quite a while, and that led to his next move being distinctly out of character for him. He headed back up to the bridge. “Wash, what’s the closest world that amounts to anything here?” Wash looked at him curiously and began checking his coordinates. “Define ‘amounts to anything’.” “Someplace there ain’t no Alliance about, that might have some recreational possibilities. We’re on the rim, so our options are prob’ly limited, but see what you can find.” Wash gave him a what’s crawled out of your butt? look, but he also had a sparkle in his eyes that Mal had not seen in awhile. “Looks like...” he said, searching, “...the closest place is Beylix. Can’t imagine there’d be much in the way of recreation there, but there’d certainly be no Alliance about.” “How far?” Mal asked. Wash shrugged. “’Bout two hours, tops.” Mal squeezed his shoulder. “Set course and gather the crew.”

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With everyone assembled in the dining area, Mal stood to address them. “Well,” he said, “Seein’ as how, it’s been pointed out to me, I’m the lucky one who got my brains, you know…“ he gestured at Alex, “…what she said…“ Alex held up two fingers. “Twice,” she mouthed at him. “Twice,” Mal echoed. “Anyhow, I guess I’m duty-bound to be in a good humor or somesuch now. So, that bein’ the case, I’m proposin’ we all take a little break for the rest of the day and stretch our legs. Maybe spend some of that money we made. We could all use the rest.” A frenzy of enthusiasm greeted his suggestion, with everyone chattering at once. Mal held up a hand. “Now, the closest place we got to stop is Beylix, which, I know ain’t fancy, but we can set down awhile, maybe find us a place to get some fresh air and have a picnic lunch. Kaylee, since it’s pretty much the junkyard of the ‘verse, maybe you can forage for parts or somethin’.” Kaylee’s eyes didn’t light up at that suggestion as much as Mal thought they would, and he realized when he saw her looking at Simon that she was much more interested in the “somethin’” than in the foraging for parts. “Well, okay then,” he said to no one in particular, since they were all talking amongst themselves. “Wash, get us there.” He walked off toward the cargo bay, and Wash called jubilantly after him, “Mal, you need to get lucky more often!” “I’ll see what I can do,” Mal mumbled as he walked away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHINESE: Ta ma duh! = Fuck me blind! rung tse fwo tzoo = merciful Buddha ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 19.

Back to Chapter 17.