i_misbehave An Uncomfortableness (Open to Inara, Others)
As hospitals went, this one was much more the speed Mal was used to. No big, shiny monolith of glass and plastic.. But still a whole lot cleaner than the sort of folding table chop shops he'd seen in years past. It helped keep his mind off the unpleasant possabilities to mutter imprecautions about how that damned Simopn was never around when he was needed.
Damned doctors had kept trying to shoo him out, but apparently bullheaded and stubborn idiots like him were relatively common things around hospitals, and eventually they'd just ignored him.
She'd lost a lot of blood. Needed a tranbsfusion. And human (or whatever that was) bites tended to infect at the drop of a hat, so antibiotics had been involved.
But in the end, it came down to what Mal hated most: waiting. Inara needed to sleep, for however long it took, and so Malcolm Reynolds had pulled up a chair, set it's back against the nearby wall, crossed his arms, set his head back, and lightly dozed off.
Muttering some to himself about bats, and cramped cars.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/26/2006 13:43:07
Twelve hours is an awfully long time to miss from your life, especially where you were bouncing back and forth from dream to nothingness. Inara felt the lightness of death touch her more then once while doctors worked feverishly over her. She felt the rush of new life as blood not her own was forced into her, something from the bite making that all too apparent. She felt and heard more then she should, she saw without her eyes being open,and then..she simply drifted to off to sleep. The silvery wings of death or angle, whichever had been lording over her took flight and her body slept.
Twelve hours is an awfully long time to think. Even in dreams her mind stubbornly refused to let go of Mal. She'd found him, he was alive and looked more or less fine. Her heart had raced at that, so many things she'd wanted to tell him before this all happened. So much time they had spent arguing over trivial things, being the very worst of themselves to each other. In her dream it was so very clear, likewise clear was the fact that he'd never leave her, right up to the face of death itself.
"Mal."
Single word from the sleeper, layers of foggy dream sliding away to let her wake, she spoke what was on her mind. And when those dark eyes fluttered open like butterfly wings she saw him. He looked cross and weary, but something in the innocence of sleep showed the truth of him. He was beautiful.
She reached out, having to lean as the antiquated IV drip in her arm would not allow much more movement. Backward brush of knuckles softly over his cheek, and up to smooth his ruffled hair. It had gotten longer, a bit shaggy, he'd let himself go wild. reverse of hand to cup his cheek as his dreams of bats and mobiles irritated him.
"You stayed with me."
Of course he had. Inara smiled.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/27/2006 01:50:07
"Hruh?" He stirred with the touch, the first wordless sound of waking being that inarticulate grunt as his head started a bit up from the wall, bleary eyed and blinking while his sight came into focus.
Her face was the first thing he saw. She was still too pale, but that only made those big dark eyes of hers all the more striking.
"You're up-" he observed, keen grasp of the obvious on full display. "Took you long enough.. I've heard of beauty sleep, but- what time is it?" One hand is brought out of it's set on his own arm to rub the sleep from his eyes.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/27/2006 03:04:17
Of course, it went back into the game with them. Her hand withdrew and the dark haired companion eased back to her bed.
"I really wouldn't know. Everything is sort of fuzzy after the gunshots and the biting. I see it went as well as any of your plans."
Not scathing, could have been scathing, more the sort of picking they always did to one another. Could she have been so moved a moment ago to think such gentle thoughts of him?
Her neck ached some, the bandages felt thick and stuffy on her. She knew better then to try and take them off though, scaring alone might be the least of her worries.
"You slept in that chair? For as long as I've been here? Mal... that was stupid. I'm sure they could find someplace more comfortable for you to be."
Fuss fuss, what could he expect from her, the look in her eyes was sending him that silent thanks that words could never have conveyed, despite her chastising.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/27/2006 13:19:33
"Hey now, I had eveything under control until you stumbled along-" Mal accused right back at her, shifting his weight to sit up a bit straighter. "Usually I'm the one that rubs folk the wrong way.. you must be slipping."
Just ignoring the crack about him being stupid, Mal made and kept eye contact muttering, "I suppose you'll be wanting something to eat, now.." Standing up with a little wince, and stretching his back, the lean scoundrel re-set the lie of his suspenders (the coat has been taken off, and the sleeves of his dark red shirt rolled up to the elbow).
"Just set still a bit-" one of those uneven smirks he wore from time to time, "I'd thought for a bit that getting a few holes in your pipes might quiet you down some.. Now was'nt that stupid?"
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/27/2006 14:45:13
.. you must be slipping.
Great dark eyes rolled and she made that noise at him, the one that negated anything he said with such eloquence.
"Too much time spent around you no doubt. I suppose it was bound to rub off sooner or later."
He stood and she winced with him, hand raising to him in concern and quickly falling back to the covers of her bed, some unfinished movement and unexplained emotion.
"You should only be so lucky, might have died and spared you the trouble all together. But mute might have been just as good to you."
Ten minutes out of the darkness and it had all started again, the back biting and quips traded. She couldn't hold that cold edge in her eyes though, she broke contact with his to pull her gaze back to the safty of her coverings.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/27/2006 15:52:48
You should only be so lucky, might have died and spared you the trouble all together. But mute might have been just as good to you.
"Yeah, well.. women never are considerate. Except Zoe, and she don;t count. Guess I'm stuck with an earful of you until I can get Serenity fixed up.." Moving to the foot of her bed, he reached down to fiddle with the blanket a bit, make sure her foot stayed covered.
He turned his back and crossed to what looked like a ciommunication panel on the wall.. pushing a button, and eliciting an audible buzz. "She's awake."
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/27/2006 21:05:14
"What happens then?"
Obviously she meant when he got Serenity fixed, which, by the look of the pieces she'd thought she'd seen was not an immediate occasion. Was he planing on leaving then, and if so.. Something in his words or toned was marked with finality.
The arrival of a nurse spared him having to answer, but not the eyes that refused to give him reprieve. She was questioned and prodded, eyes never leaving him even as she replied to the plump round faced nurse. She was recovering, she shouldn't have a long stay in the hospital. The doctors seemed to feel she'd be alright but her case was being used as a study and it would be passed around to other hospital personnel. Inara was obviously not thrilled with that, and then would come the paper work questions.
The nurse smiled in a practiced way and wrapped Inara's arm in a blood pressure cuff. "And just what do you do for a living, Miss?"
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/28/2006 00:24:44
Mal drew a breath to answer- still unsure what his answer would be.. His eyes flicked to one side as the nurse came in, but eyes locked up again as Mal leaned against the far wall, facing Inara, in her white hospital bed, in this white hospital room.
Like she was the only color in the world.
At that last question though- The gravity slipped from his stern face, and the corner of his mouth creeped upward again.
This is Mal. This is Mal holding his tongue.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/28/2006 01:45:48
She readied herself for what she knew would be one of Mal's finest hours. After all it had been weeks since he'd been able to call her a whore. And then, the moment never came. The look of pained tolerance washed away by one of surprise. Her voice was soft but resonant, only in cases like the one leading her hear did she ever really totally lose her composure.
"I havn't actually worked since arriving. Prior to ending up here I am, was a Companion."
The nurses blank look and large doe eyed blink behind her glasses said she had no idea what Inara was talking about.
"Social services."
That at least seemed to placate the woman, and with a quick check of temperature she was off. Pausing to speak with Mal on her way out.
"You can expect other doctors to stop by, I shouldn't think it will be more then two days before you can take her home." She patted the captains bare forearm in a motherly way and stepped out of the room
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/28/2006 11:09:44
"You can expect other doctors to stop by, I shouldn't think it will be more then two days before you can take her home."
A short nod of thanks, and a wryly muttered, "Oh I imagine it'll be awhile longer than that.." Adding more quietly as the nurse made her way out- hoping against hope that Inara's hearing had slipped too, "She needs anything else, you just let me know."
Turning back to the bed ridden Inara, once the nurse had gone, Mal tucked his thumbs into his suspenders, and regarding the companion with that same uneven smirk. "Well is'nt this funny.. We landed on a world where my jobs the respectable one."
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/28/2006 12:12:41
Well is'nt this funny.. We landed on a world where my jobs the respectable one.
"Oh really? Odd...I must have missed the sign that said 'Petty thievery approved.'"
Always had to come back to something like that, Why did they do this to each other? Her neck was beginning to throb and her headache was setting in again, she as getting irritable. She had no better excuse, well aside from Mal being Mal.
"I didn't mean that, Mal. I'm..." What was the right word to use? "I'm graetful to you, I would have died if you hadn't brought me here. That nobility of yours rearing it's ugly head again I suppose."
Almost got out two civil sentences didn't she? His quiet comment hadn't slipped by her, but how to respond to it?
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/28/2006 13:48:02
Mal hears her out. At the talk of petty thievery, his eyes drop down for a bit, as a faint, dry smile tugs at the captain's expression.
"Yeah.. you did. Mean it, that is," Mal answers without ire, looking back up at Inara. "A petty thief, like you said. With nothing but a couple worn out sensabilities to my credit." A short half chuckle. "Just set still and eat up.. You'll be able to look down on me proper again in no time."
There was a tray of food (what people on this rock might have considered ugly and unappetizing was still a long sight better than proteins) set nearby, which Mal picked up and carried back to Inara's bed.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/28/2006 15:22:49
"When was the last time you ate? You look thin Mal."
Again her attempt at saying something of concern came out like another retort. A deep breath and fingers pressed to her forehead, as if that could cure both the looming pain there and her own inability to simply be nice whenever she was in the Captains company.
She managed to shift a bit, difficult int he stifling white gown and thick blankets, but she made room and a single hand pat of invitation for him to be seated if he liked.
Why was it she could wrap nearly any man or woman around her fingers...but this one....Mal was ever the stone in her shoe. Sh could no sooner forget him then best him, they were too evenly matched in this game they played.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/29/2006 02:29:25
Hell, when was the last time he ate? A bit before this whole mess started, Mal figured.. which made it- most of a day.
But he can't tell her that.
"Just a bit past. While you were sleeping." Right, she'd buy that he was'nt sitting there inside arm's reach the entire time.. right?
If he stood there much longer he'd start fidgeting. Mal hated fidgeting.
Which left either getting out of Dodge.. Or sitting down next to her.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/29/2006 12:01:29
"Mal, I'm in a hospital, wearing this," Fingers plucked at the shapeless white cotton gown around her."I think this qualifies as a time you can humor me out of pity."
She moved further still that there could be no question in her action, one hand patting the bed more forcefully.
"Sit with me, eat something. I honestly don't have much of an appetite." She did select a grape from the obligatory fruit cup and begin chewing on it though. Half way through she began to laugh.
"I must be an absolute mess." She hadn't been able to do her hair or make up since the ordeal began, for someone as fixed in her ways as Inara that was quite funny to her.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/29/2006 12:22:05
"Alright. Pure pity, then.." Mal returned with affected gravity, an edge of amusement coloring his tone, as the lean wanderer took those couple steps around, and settled onto the clearer space beside Inara's hip.
"I must be an absolute mess."
"Well, lets just say that scarf of yours is'nt what most folk would call 'stylish'," Mal smirked as he indicated the thick bandaging at the woman's throat. Picking up some bit of ambiguous melon (it reminded him of a green protein cube), Mal chewed and added, after sharing a moment's laughter, "They say you'll be in here for about two days.. I'll see if I can't track down your shuttle, and get you somethin' that ain't all.. bloodified."
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/29/2006 12:39:25
"Ever the gentleman." She scoffed his tone before that smirk came to him again, seemed it was never far from his lips. She ate another grape and eyed the..gravy covered potatoes? Well that was decent looking.
A hand rose to her throat at his mention of her bandages, sobering moment. Would she be scarred? She shuddered to think of her life being changed so radically, Companions who were disfigured rarely remained Companions.
And Mal, whatever he might bluster about being anything else, and at times proved it to be true, he was capable of amazing gentleness. "Thank you. I'm not sure where we are, but the shuttle came down in a park to the west of the city.I remember it being not far from a bar..." What had been the name of it? It's clientele was certainly unforgettable. "The..Lux or something similar."
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/29/2006 13:41:48
"Lucy's place? Pretty boy, funny accent.. Seems like the sort you might do business with?" Mal queries with brown brows arched a bit. "Hell, that'd make things simple enough.. And before you get your curls in a twist, don't worry none. Doctors said it was a clean puncture. Won't even show after a couple weeks.."
The smirk was gone by the time he added, "You'll be back to work in no time."
For the life of him, Mal could'nt tell why he said that. They were enjoying a nioce spot of talk together- rare enough, between them- especially since he'd been afraid she was lost for so long.. and then being afraid she'd die on him..
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/29/2006 14:59:38
Lucy's place? Pretty boy, funny accent.. Seems like the sort you might do business with?
"I don't know about Lucy, I met a Mr. Lux said he'd run into you. But he was a refined well dressed gentleman if that what you mean." Not exactly her type, he was a touch too charming and far too suave.
You'll be back to work in no time.
"I'm not so sure. It seems these are less enlightened times. The profession of Companion doesn't exactly exist here. I'd be.." Well he'd said it often enough, even if she hated the word. "..a whore. which as I have gathered is as illegal and ugly a business as ever."
No thank you on that, she was too cultured, too refined to degrade herself to that status. She might not have always been as entirely thrilled with her work as she let on, but she at least had self respect about it. From what she'd seen on the streets here it was no more than carnal pleasure and harsh treatment.
"So, I suppose you are the gainfully employed of the two of us. Should keep you busy gloating for a while."
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/29/2006 15:46:45
Mr. Lux "Yeah, that's him." A pause, as the verbal minefield that always seemed to lay between them got a bit.. delicate for a moment.
So, I suppose you are the gainfully employed of the two of us. Should keep you busy gloating for a while.
"Most like," he returned with a dry, edge to the words. Taking a second cube of orange melon this time, Mal draw a deeper breath, and said quietly, "I'll give Lucy a holler. See where the city left him, this time. Get you feeling a bit more yourself." Setting one hand to the white cover over the white bed, Mal made to stand back up.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/29/2006 20:53:02
"Don't."
Too fast, too imploring, but the word was said before she could take it back. She didn't care about her clothing and he wasn't some errand boy to be sent to do things for her. He would have though, complained and muttered every step of the way most likely, but he would do it. That was just how Mal was.
"I.. would you stay just until I fall asleep?"
She'd lost him, the entire crew for so long, she was hard pressed to let him out of her sight if she could help it. And by the feeling of it she was heading for sleep soon enough.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/30/2006 01:08:39
He paused at that, weight pushing his hand into the covers for a moment, before he settled back down.
"Alright," Mal answers quietly, with a small nod, turning his eyen regard back to Inara's dark eyes, as he added, "I'll set for awhile longer."
A slow breath drawn, as his face took on that faintly frowning set it got when he was thinking. "Listen.. Inara," he began with a slowly drawn breath.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/30/2006 01:40:08
"Yes, Mal?"
She eased back to rest her head on the pillow when she saw he was indeed not running off. Her fingertips patted gently at the hand supporting his weight before he retook his perch on her bed.
Was that a smile? Something very nearly like it turned the edges of her lips, still lush and full though lacking the gloss and scarlet hue she was so often seen in.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/30/2006 11:34:49
"For awhile there.." he began, "I was startin' to think that I were'nt going to see you again- any of you," he amended quickly.. Even when he was being honest, there was only so much he could let on..
"It were'nt a good feeling. I guess what I'm saying is.. It's awful nice to find out I was wrong.. Just this once."
Sure, Serenity was still in pieces, and his crew was scattered or dead across a city that keeps changing, and makes finding replacement parts damn enar impossable, but now he was'nt alone.. He felt something like hope again.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/30/2006 14:30:16
"Really?"
Now the smile bloomed fully, reaching right up to her eyes and making them shimmer.
"I knew you were alive, and somehow I'd find you." Her voice was completely sure and honest about it, she wasn't lying. She honestly did know Mal would be there.
"You beat the odds Mal, always. No matter how bad things are, you get through it and those around you have some sort of protection because of it. So..I knew you'd be all right, and if I found you, that I would be too."
She wriggled back more comfortably on her pillow and pulled her blanket up to her chest.
"You're too damn stubborn for it to be any other way."
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/30/2006 16:11:57
"Yeah.. Too damned stubborn," he echoed dryly.
"Odds always do seem stacked against us, don't they?" Mal voiced with a light smirk. "What makes us special."
A short sniff of amuesmetn as he looks down for a moment, "Next thing you know I'll be having you sayin' things like 'aint'. Then I'll know for certain that you're out of your head." He lent a hand to the blanket adjustment, even if it was only to steady the neglected food tray.
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/30/2006 16:27:48
"It would take more then just massive blood loss for that, now head trauma..that might work. It has done wonders for you."
Single tap of an index finger to his temple before her hands folded over her middle and she rested back down comfortably. She tired to fight a yawn but her lids we're getting heavier and sleep would only wait so long.
"Many things make you special Mal." Her voice held the edge of sleepy fog to it. She kept her eyes on him though.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/30/2006 16:43:46
"Sure you did'nt hit your head?" Mal quipped, a dry sniff at her comment. "Cause we've nearly had a full set down without more than little bit of fighting.. Hardly seems right."
A worn grin settled onto the captain's weathered face as he added quietly, "I'll be back to my normal brutish self in no time. Just let your eyes go closed for spell.. And don't you worry none: I ain't misplacing you again."
From: i_amregistered Date: 06/30/2006 19:33:41
"Good."
She yawn indelicately, now move to cover it with her hand, the drugs were kicking in again and she was fading fast.
"Hate to ...think...lost you before.." Some incoherent string of mumbled sounds fell from her lip, but whatever they were they could not be pinned down to any real words. Heavy lids finally falling shut, breathing almost immediately slipping into a calm slow rhythm.
From: i_misbehave Date: 06/30/2006 20:13:21
Mal took another moment, once he stood slowly up, to adjust the lie of the blanket. Pulling it a bit higher to settle under her chin.
Old spacer's story about how one shipe went out to the deep, and another went looking for it. And they'd pass each other by without ever knowing it, for years and years, without ever finding each other.
"Ships in the black," he muttered under his breath, pausing only long enough to set the tray of food to where she'd see it when she woke up, looking over the line of her nose, the curve of her cheek, before turning, and picking up his coat, to step out into the world.