Mal stood on the bridge to Serenity. His ship. His home. He was the Captain. That's with a capital C, for all you illiterates out there in the black. He thought. They said a man was a God on his own ship. That's why he wanted one, after the war - God had betrayed him, and so it was time to make himself a god of his own. The truth was, if there was a deity among them, it wasn't him.
It was Serenity.
The name had been a curse, a hated thing for him at first. He named her ironically, a defiance for losing the war and watching the Brown Coats lie down and die for the gorram Alliance. But over time he had started to feel like she was the goddess he'd been wanting. Sure, she had her problems. But she was their home and their companion.
But no God, no Goddess, not even him could keep her on the ship.
She can kill with a smile She can wound with her eyes She can ruin your faith with her casual lies And she only reveals what she wants you to see She hides like a child, But she's always a woman to me.
Things hadn't been the same since he'd slept with Nandi. Then she'd gone and died and couldn't rightly set things right between them, which he knew was a thing with women. Women. They complicated things. He liked them simple. So he'd just let her go. She could go, and he'd wave from up in the bridge.
He told his feet that, but they didn't listen. Clad in a simple spun shirt and the breeches with the suspenders always falling off, he momentarily checked his reflection as he passed a window and then cursed himself. Women made things complicated.
She can lead you to love She can take you or leave you She can ask for the truth But she'll never believe And she'll take what you give her, as long as it's free Yeah, she steals like a thief But she's always a woman to me.
His feet carried him all mobile-like toward the cargo bay, and he tried to figure out what to say to her. His boots made their telltale 'Clat-clat' sound as he descended the metal stairs. He adopted a boneless sort of pace, acting casual. Casual, that was it. He'd act like it was nothin' big.
It was easy to do, right up until he saw her. Why'd she have to go and look so damn pretty so easy. Her scent hit him a moment later, and he paused, mouth suddenly very dry.
She is frequently kind And she's suddenly cruel She can do as she pleases She's nobody's fool And she can't be convicted She's earned her degree And the most she will do Is throw shadows at you But she's always a woman to me.