InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hail to the Peanut Butter God!"

Malcolm Reynolds Aims to misbehave (intheblack) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2013-11-01 12:49:00

Entry tags:

claire callahan, malcolm reynolds

Who:Mal and Claire
What:Mal bought a costume, acknowledge it pls.
When:Night of the party.
Where:Claires place
Warnings: Uhhh tba

Mal hadn't really heard from Claire since he'd all but kicked her out. He didn't know if she'd be at the party, but he went anyway. He'd bought a ridiculous costume from a ridiculous store, filled with ridiculous children-and she didn't show. He was annoyed. No one else at that party did he give a damn about showing this costume to than her and she wasn't there to see it. If she'd known what he went through to put it on, she'd have been impressed. If she knew what it took to wear it she'd have been floored. His pride suffered putting on so many leather items that were not his clothes. Under his breath he grumbled about women as he left the party early and stomped his way toward Claires.

She was going to see him. She was going to understand what he'd just experienced. People were always going on and on about how great Earth was-Mal was not yet at that point of loving the planet. The things he did for people. He really was a decent guy. Most of the time. At least, he tried. He just wasn't sure how to hold a decent relationship. It wasn't a thing he was used to having. Whatever he had with Inara had been dysfunctional at best, but he really wasn't about to explain any of that to Claire. How many people would really understand that he'd basically dated a whore from space? Hell he barely understood it. Were they actually even dating? What the hell Inara..Mal found himself becoming more and more frustrated.

Finally he was at her door. Knocking at it probably a little harder than he meant to. Damn mask was difficult to see out of. He could not be blamed.

(Post a new comment)

changinghats
2013-11-09 04:19 pm UTC (link)

Going back and forth with drunk Kat was usually a halfway point between amusing and worrying. At least she knew her friend wasn't planning on drunkenly teleporting herself into a volcano. And Simon was with her. Though apparently, he was every bit as drunk. She'd keep an eye on the boards, probably, just to be safe. But she was pretty sure her friend was safe.

She'd been drinking, herself, but nothing like the amounts Kat was apparently consuming. A little whiskey and Coke over ice and she was content. Just something to take the edge off. Something to push back the memories of how she continued to let herself get hurt. She'd never believed in forever, or happily ever after, or any of that. She was a doctor, a scientific mind, and she'd just be happy with someone willing to put her first in their life. Someone willing to say they loved her. Every time she got close, something came up. Or someone. Not that Claire didn't love Audrey dearly, and she was grateful to the show's promos for showing her that her friend was still alive and well. But sometimes it really wasn't fair.

And then there was Mal. A man Claire had told herself from the very beginning she should keep her distance from. But he was attractive and charming and god, could he kiss. Eventually, she'd given in and allowed herself to feel for him. Too much, apparently. It wasn't like she'd wanted marriage or anything. Just some form of commitment might have been nice. Or a slightly classier way of saying he'd needed some space might have been nice.

The knock on the door was loud and jarring and surprised her. She pulled herself away from the laptop, excusing herself from her conversation. Making her way to the door, she opened it enough to see out the chain lock. When she saw who it was, a flood of emotions took over. She was excited, unfortunately, she couldn't shake that. And maybe a little hopeful. But mostly what she felt was annoyance. It was hard enough getting over him, the least he could do was leave her alone.

"Can I help you?" she asked simply, not fully unlocking the door but opening it as far as the chain would allow.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

intheblack
2013-11-11 03:10 pm UTC (link)

He raised an eyebrow at the door as it only swung open as far as the chain. Mal hated to admit needing people, but damnit he did. He needed her, he needed Wash, he even needed Simon. But he wasn't about to admit that part, he wasn't ready to talk to Simon. He still felt back stabbed by the doctor and his ungrateful attitude. Mal's stubbornness could last a while until he finally caved. His people were family, he could never just leave them to their own devices very long even if he said he wanted to. Even if he pushed them all away until he was left standing alone.

It was still his job to watch after them, keep them alive. He didn't mind it, in fact it kept him going.

"Didn't show at the party. Didn't rightly give a damn about stayin for anyone else." He gave her a scruffy little smile, though his eyes were still hardened from war times. He still had laugh lines, that hadn't gone away in all the bloodshed he'd seen. He leaned on the door and watched her through the crack for a moment. "Bought this ridiculous thing and everything." Yes, bought. He hadn't gone to steal it off some poor sap for her entertainment, he'd bought it all nice and proper. With stolen money, but that was beside the point.

"Look I ain't good at this. " A hand motion that was supposed to mean 'being a couple' or whatever. "But nobody in that godforsaken place mattered if you weren't there with em so..I wanted to come here."He looked away from her then, down at the floor as though it were suddenly interesting. The C word was not an easy thing for him to say, neither was the word girlfriend, or was living together. But he could come up with something else. He had to maybe, or risk not seeing her anymore, and frankly his life was miserable enough without adding being alone to it.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

changinghats
2013-11-12 12:45 am UTC (link)

She eyed him through the crack, her expression wary. Only a few days before he'd basically been royally kicking her to the curb and now he was at her door disappointed that she hadn't gone to the stupid party. Well, she wasn't going to cave that easily.

Except then he got all cute at her. And honest. And he did look good in his costume. Ridiculous though it was. She stood for one more moment before the barest hint of a smile crossed her face. "Come in," she offered, unlocking the door and widening it, giving him room to enter.

She knew she was letting him off too easy. And maybe, given time, she wouldn't. Maybe she'd hear him out and then tell him to go anyway. Or maybe another few drinks and she'd be asking him to throw her up against the nearest flat surface. The thing with Mal was, she couldn't ever tell. Not only what he would do, but what she would do in return. She was crazy about him, but in some ways, she really just wanted to punch him in his far too perfect face.

Letting him into the hotel room seemed both problematic and inviting. She was worried. All she needed was to be hurt again. But at least he'd admitted that he sucked at being a pair or whatever his little sign language moment was supposed to be. "Can I get you a drink? I'm afraid it's just whiskey tonight."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

intheblack
2013-11-14 03:43 pm UTC (link)

He bothered to wear every bit of it, from gloves to sword and stupid mask. And she was going to see it. He didn't put it on to impress Robin Hood, or any number of highly amused friends that he'd bothered with the silly Earth custom. Just her. The fact that she hadn't been there angered and concerned him all at once. Was she actually taking what he'd said to heart? If so..he felt a need to fix it. He'd been hurting, and hell half the time he was always hurting these days, but she'd stayed. No matter what harsh words came out of his mouth she stuck around. Not many would do that, as per obvious with Simon, so to let her go would have been stupid.

To let her believe he didn't care would have been foolish, and when it came to women he often was. She deserved to be told at least that much from his own mouth. Kat had caught him off guard trying to give him a chat..but he really wasn't interested in involving others in his relationship issues be they friends or not. Actually he wasn't even sure what Kat was anymore thanks to Simon, and just thinking the medics name he could feel his blood boil. That wasn't why he was there though, he hadn't shown up at Claire's door to bitch about Simon.

That could happen later maybe, if she decided to forgive him for being an asshole. "I'm okay thanks." He shook his head at the option of a drink, he didn't always need one and he was going to show that to her. He could have regular conversation while sober. Even if it did involve relationships. And he really really wanted one.

"Last one..ended horribly." He admitted with an awkward shrug, he was incredibly uncomfortable with the topic of Inara. He wasn't even sure it had actually 'ended' was the thing. But she was there, he was in Kansas. He was pretty sure where they'd left off, her wanting to leave was a clear cut sign of it ending. But with her, she was nearly impossible for him to read. That was what he loved and hated about her all the same. One minute she'd be flirty at him and the next she'd tell him to get off her shuttle. He couldn't tell what she wanted. He couldn't tell what Claire wanted either.

He couldn't just ask her though..women were confusing.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

changinghats
2013-11-24 09:45 am UTC (link)

She almost wished he would accept the drink. Because she'd already had two and she felt like she was on uneven footing with him now. If she started spouting off the wrong things, she'd feel ridiculous. But it couldn't be helped now. She just wouldn't have another was all. Hopefully she was still sober enough to have a conversation. The Irish blood was good for something, after all.

The last one... Oh. The last relationship. Well. They were going to have 'that' talk. Hell, maybe it was about time. Maybe it was past time, considering where they stood now. And the fact that she hadn't seen him in weeks. "So, what? You're just going to compare me to some past woman every time you're around me?" Oops. That was a little snippy, wasn't it? Well, maybe she had a right to be snippy. He'd been kind of a jerk.

She took a breath, though, and started over. Because if they were going to have a serious talk, one he'd even bothered initiating, then he deserved a slightly more mature response than that. "Look, I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment here. You weren't entirely wrong, you know. It's still pretty damn early on to be living together." Though if asked, she wouldn't deny that she'd liked it. Having him around. Having someone around. Someone who depended on her and cared about her.

Or, at least, she'd thought he did.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

intheblack
2013-11-30 10:56 pm UTC (link)

"That ain't..."Women, he didn't know how to talk to them. So he just grumbled under his breath something in Chinese and folded his arms uncomfortably giving her a look. He was trying. "Only got the one to compare anythin to and I wasn't even sure it was anythin to begin with. It was..complicated. Mostly just fought till the other turned blue." He said with a shrug and remained standing. Maybe he should have accepted the drink for his sanity, but he didn't always drink. When he did, it was stuff a hell of a lot stronger than what she was sipping. He wasn't aiming for getting smashed at the moment. As much as he felt like it after throwing on that ridiculous Halloween costume.

Ridiculous Earth Holidays. He really didn't enjoy them much. Specifically the upcoming few. Though to be fair he'd never really bothered celebrating any of them. The last time he'd done Christmas was back home on the ranch as a kid. Before he'd ended up how he was now. "Guess I didn't exactly handle it right.." He admitted in response to her statement of living together too soon. "Only ever really given anyone orders mostly." He was still trying to get used to not being in a constant captain frame of mind.

Simon had made it plainly clear he didn't need his captainy protection, and Claire made it clear she didn't need orders either. But he wasn't used to being just another guy. It would take him a while to get it right. If he ever got it right. At least he hadn't called her a whore yet? He was doing pretty well on that front. It helped that she wasn't a 'companion'. He'd often had issues with Inara's so called profession. Made him all kinds of paranoid and maybe now that he looked back on it a little jealous.

He'd had flings with women sure, even got married once apparently around the camp fire on a boarder moon. But actual relationships were alien to him. He had no clue what he was doing. "Guess it ain't so bad havin you around. Nights don't suck as much. Nightmares ain't as bad." He wasn't exactly a Casanova when it came to words, but he tried.

(Reply to this) (Parent)