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Title: These Walls Between Us
Fandom: Firefly (Wash, Kaylee)
Characters: Wash with mention of Zoe, Mal and Kaylee
Prompt: .038 Touch
Word Count: 948
Rating: G
Author's Notes: Sometimes all you need to break down the walls is a touch.
There were times that Wash would get particularly sentimental--which, for Wash, was at least once a week--and he'd sit and watch the stars, thinking about how, exactly, he still should be thanking Kaylee for his marriage to Zoe. It was an usual circumstance that a man would be thanking a woman for his marrying another woman but, well, Kaylee was not your ordinary woman, either.
For that matter, neither was Zoe.
When he first arrived on board, both Mal and Zoe had been locked up tighter than some of the rusted parts on Serenity. For them, the pain of war and loss was still as fresh as it had been the day of surrender in the Valley. And not a gorram thing in the 'verse would get them to crack open to another body.
Truth be told, Wash was mainly concerned with cracking open Zoe's shell, though he knew to do that he'd need to get through Mal since the two were as tight as thieves. And that, he had started to believe, was a job for someone else entirely. The man was jovial enough, at times more sarcastic than anything else, but didn't let anyone get to close in. No matter how many jokes or stories Wash told, no matter what he did, Mal wouldn't budge.
At least, not where Wash was concerned.
And then, one brilliant, lovely day, Kaylee came onboard and promptly ran complete and total roughshod over the entire crew. Not only was she brilliant, though she weren't one to admit it, but...
She was like a breath of fresh air to folks who'd been in deep atmo for too long. If there was a creature happier than their little Kaylee, Wash would like the chance to meet it just to see for himself that she wasn't the happiest being in the 'verse.
Wash figured it weren't just the smiles or the laughter that won Mal over. It was the touching.
Mal had always made sure to protect his personal space but good, didn't really do much touching except for the occasional slap on the shoulder. But even that was a quick touch, sliding over more cloth than skin as if it burned him somewhere painful.
If anything, Zoe was worse about it, taking pains to skirt around and avoid even the most accidental touch. Really, it was how Wash figured she and Mal weren't hooked up--they didn't even touch all that much, not even in private. And on a ship as small as the one they were on if they had been, he would have noticed.
People in love don't stand around looking like they were at a funeral with each other.
And then there was Kaylee, who had apparently been one of the most touchiest people in the face of the 'verse. The first couple of days it was not really noticeable, she was probably feeling out where she stood with everyone since, well, everyone but him turned out to be a hard read.
But then it was as if she decided that they all needed it, just some touching to remind them that folks existed beyond their personal space and that even included Wash.
Started off when the three of them had gotten together to pull together enough credit to buy some much needed tools for her. She'd brought some, gifts from her Pa she said, but they were used and hand me downs. And Mal was determined to keep this mechanic exactly where she was and to do that he figured she needed better, newer tools. With the three of them, they pulled together enough to get a rather decent set and presented it to her in the kitchen.
Wash would always grin a bit at the memory of her squealing loud enough to probably have been heard in the engine room. And then without so much as a by-your-leave she had thrown her arms around Mal's neck and planted a kiss on cheek.
Before the captain could do more than flail a tiny bit, she'd turned and done the same exact thing to Zoe, who looked as if she was about to fall over from pure shock, and then to him. Of course, he was more used to the whole "hugging concept", and couldn't resist spinning her 'round until she threatened to throw up on him.
This got both Zoe and Mal over their shock enough to laugh as he had quickly set her back down and kept a discreet distance.
From there, it was the little things. Touching Mal's shoulder to get his attention, gently invading Zoe's personal space, kisses on the cheek, leaning against Wash when he was piloting and gleeful hugs. This wasn't something they could defend themselves against, not something that Wash wanted to fight against either, and he watched with amusement as they tried to figure her out, tried to keep those walls up.
One day, Wash had been heading to the bridge when he spotted Mal and Kaylee talking about something. She'd laughed at him and he had shaken his head before sliding an arm around her shoulders to bring her in for a one-armed hug, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head before sending her on her way.
It was kind of like magic how some of the walls melted after that. After he lost the mustache, Zoe had started looking at him in a new light. And then at supper one night, as he had reached for another helping, she'd let her hand brush against his.
Wash grinned.
Yep, he had a lot of thanking to give to their little mei-mei.
Fandom: Firefly (Wash, Kaylee)
Characters: Wash with mention of Zoe, Mal and Kaylee
Prompt: .038 Touch
Word Count: 948
Rating: G
Author's Notes: Sometimes all you need to break down the walls is a touch.
There were times that Wash would get particularly sentimental--which, for Wash, was at least once a week--and he'd sit and watch the stars, thinking about how, exactly, he still should be thanking Kaylee for his marriage to Zoe. It was an usual circumstance that a man would be thanking a woman for his marrying another woman but, well, Kaylee was not your ordinary woman, either.
For that matter, neither was Zoe.
When he first arrived on board, both Mal and Zoe had been locked up tighter than some of the rusted parts on Serenity. For them, the pain of war and loss was still as fresh as it had been the day of surrender in the Valley. And not a gorram thing in the 'verse would get them to crack open to another body.
Truth be told, Wash was mainly concerned with cracking open Zoe's shell, though he knew to do that he'd need to get through Mal since the two were as tight as thieves. And that, he had started to believe, was a job for someone else entirely. The man was jovial enough, at times more sarcastic than anything else, but didn't let anyone get to close in. No matter how many jokes or stories Wash told, no matter what he did, Mal wouldn't budge.
At least, not where Wash was concerned.
And then, one brilliant, lovely day, Kaylee came onboard and promptly ran complete and total roughshod over the entire crew. Not only was she brilliant, though she weren't one to admit it, but...
She was like a breath of fresh air to folks who'd been in deep atmo for too long. If there was a creature happier than their little Kaylee, Wash would like the chance to meet it just to see for himself that she wasn't the happiest being in the 'verse.
Wash figured it weren't just the smiles or the laughter that won Mal over. It was the touching.
Mal had always made sure to protect his personal space but good, didn't really do much touching except for the occasional slap on the shoulder. But even that was a quick touch, sliding over more cloth than skin as if it burned him somewhere painful.
If anything, Zoe was worse about it, taking pains to skirt around and avoid even the most accidental touch. Really, it was how Wash figured she and Mal weren't hooked up--they didn't even touch all that much, not even in private. And on a ship as small as the one they were on if they had been, he would have noticed.
People in love don't stand around looking like they were at a funeral with each other.
And then there was Kaylee, who had apparently been one of the most touchiest people in the face of the 'verse. The first couple of days it was not really noticeable, she was probably feeling out where she stood with everyone since, well, everyone but him turned out to be a hard read.
But then it was as if she decided that they all needed it, just some touching to remind them that folks existed beyond their personal space and that even included Wash.
Started off when the three of them had gotten together to pull together enough credit to buy some much needed tools for her. She'd brought some, gifts from her Pa she said, but they were used and hand me downs. And Mal was determined to keep this mechanic exactly where she was and to do that he figured she needed better, newer tools. With the three of them, they pulled together enough to get a rather decent set and presented it to her in the kitchen.
Wash would always grin a bit at the memory of her squealing loud enough to probably have been heard in the engine room. And then without so much as a by-your-leave she had thrown her arms around Mal's neck and planted a kiss on cheek.
Before the captain could do more than flail a tiny bit, she'd turned and done the same exact thing to Zoe, who looked as if she was about to fall over from pure shock, and then to him. Of course, he was more used to the whole "hugging concept", and couldn't resist spinning her 'round until she threatened to throw up on him.
This got both Zoe and Mal over their shock enough to laugh as he had quickly set her back down and kept a discreet distance.
From there, it was the little things. Touching Mal's shoulder to get his attention, gently invading Zoe's personal space, kisses on the cheek, leaning against Wash when he was piloting and gleeful hugs. This wasn't something they could defend themselves against, not something that Wash wanted to fight against either, and he watched with amusement as they tried to figure her out, tried to keep those walls up.
One day, Wash had been heading to the bridge when he spotted Mal and Kaylee talking about something. She'd laughed at him and he had shaken his head before sliding an arm around her shoulders to bring her in for a one-armed hug, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head before sending her on her way.
It was kind of like magic how some of the walls melted after that. After he lost the mustache, Zoe had started looking at him in a new light. And then at supper one night, as he had reached for another helping, she'd let her hand brush against his.
Wash grinned.
Yep, he had a lot of thanking to give to their little mei-mei.
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