Firefly Friday - 100 to 1000 word weekly fan fiction challenges

Not Wrong

zoewarren — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:58:43 GMT

Title: Not Wrong
Author: zoewarren
Rating: all ages
Characters: River, Mal, Kaylee, Inara
Challenge: #053 - River
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 550
Sequel to: in the same 'verse as all my stories, but stands alone very well
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: After Miranda, River finds her balance
Author's Note:
I'm working on the next in my ongoing Mal/Inara saga, and found that River is becoming a more pivotal character. I always meant to include her in the stories (and Kaylee, for that matter), but the style is so sparse, there was nowhere to wedge them in. So this is a little bit of me catching up with River, learning what she's been up to in the year or so since the events at Miranda.

Not Wrong

After Dinner

zoewarren — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 01:12:32 GMT

Title: After Dinner
Author: zoewarren
Rating: all ages
Characters: Inara, Mal
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #008 - love
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 814
Sequel to: all my other stories, but can essentially stand alone
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: a quiet moment after dinner
Author's Note:
I very much wanted this to be just a quiet moment. An affirmation, more than anything, and not at all fraught. Also, it's pure sugar, but that's exactly what it's supposed to be.
On a side note, this will probably be the last of my drabbles for a while. Work is once again eating my life and I just don't have the time or the mental real estate for regular writing any more. I have really enjoyed spending my summer in the 'verse, though, even if it does have me mourning the show all over again.

After Dinner

Aftermath, part 2 of 2

zoewarren — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:45:10 GMT

Title: Aftermath, part 2
Author: zoewarren
Rating: ages 16+
Characters: Inara, Mal, Kaylee, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #007 - something stolen/something given
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: I clearly suck at this
Sequel to: Not a Place and Aftermath, part 1
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal is recovering, but Inara is having trouble letting go.
Author's Note:
Part one was about something that is stolen, part two is something freely given.

Aftermath, part 2

Aftermath, part 1 of 2

zoewarren — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:19:12 GMT

Title: Aftermath, part 1
Author: zoewarren
Rating: ages 14+
Characters: Inara, Mal, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #007 - something stolen/something given
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 536
Sequel to: Not a Place
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal is recovering, but Inara is having trouble letting go.
Author's Note:
Part one is about something that is stolen, part two will be something freely given.

Aftermath, part 1

Practicalities

zoewarren — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:43:47 GMT

Title: Practicalities
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Zoe, Mal, Grace
Pairing: Zoe/Wash
Challenge: #110 - colour
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 220
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Zoe can occasionally be too practical.
Author's Note:
Back when I wrote Going On, I spent a lot of time thinking about how Serenity might be baby-proofed. I came up with all sorts of neat ideas, 99% of which never made it into that story or any other. Since Grace is now hitting the age at which she will start crawling, then walking, I thought I'd play with one or two of them. This is set probably not too long after Coming Home.

Also, this week I should technically have written for the "something that is lost" challenge. The last two stories posted in that category are mine, however, and it's starting to feel like overkill. This one could fit that challenge, if you squint at it a little, but I'd rather file it under "colour", if only because it's a little less sad.

Practicalities

Between Two Thieves

zoewarren — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:08:10 GMT

Title: Between Two Thieves
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Simon, Inara
Pairing: Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee
Challenge: #005 - "What do you want?"
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Caveats and Addendums
Word Count: um... I'm not telling.
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Inara struggles with coming and going, and Simon is creating a reason to stay.
Author's Note:
This one is set back in time a little bit. The first section comes right after Leave of Absence, and the rest of the story happens just long enough after Caveats and Addendums that the dust has had time to settle somewhat.

Not only did I overshoot the word limit again, this time I also fudged the challenge a little bit. I really am very bad at this. The exact nature of the challenge was to include a prescribed snippet of dialogue in the story. It turns out I have a bit of a philosophical objection to having the dialogue written for me, so I compromised. This is the story inspired by that dialogue. Let's say I followed the spirit of the challenge. Or something.

(And, if anyone is wondering, the title comes from a quote by Fulton Oursler: "Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future." Seemed apt.)

Between Two Thieves

Not a Place

zoewarren — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:16:39 GMT

Title: Not a Place
Author: zoewarren
Rating: Ages 18+
Characters: Inara, Mal, Zoe, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #004 - Home
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: set an indeterminate amount of time after Made to be Broken
Word Count: 1,674
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Calling Serenity home means things don't always go smooth.
Author's Note:
I, um, slightly overshot the 1,000-word limit. Oops. Since I'm playing with the challenges, though, and since traffic on ff_friday isn't all that high any more, I'm going to post it anyway. I hope no one minds.
This is fluff at heart, buried under a slightly darker theme.

Not a Place

By Virtue Fall

zoewarren — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:53:51 GMT

Title: By Virtue Fall
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Simon
Pairing: Simon/Kaylee
Challenge: #003 - Right and Wrong
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 355
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: spending some time with Simon
Author's Note:
I've been wanting to play with some Simon/Kaylee stories for a wihle, now. I kept meaning to give them a subplot in the ongoing saga of my Mal/Inara stuff, but it never quite worked out. The problem is, though, Simon and I don't talk much. So, since the challenge seemed to suit him so well, I thought I'd take the chance to get to know him a little. Set post-BDM, and for the first time in a while, this one stands very well alone.

By Virtue Fall

Made to be Broken

zoewarren — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:22:41 GMT

Title: Made to be Broken
Author: zoewarren
Rating: Ages 18+
Characters: Mal, Inara, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #002 - A First Kiss
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: pretty much everything, but can theoretically stand alone
Word Count: 671
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal breaks his own rule
Author's Note:
This is set several weeks after Caveats and Addendums. If you haven't read it, I think this can pretty much stand alone. All you need to know is Mal's one rule: no touching in public.
Also, I wrote this somewhat in reaction to my overdose of angst during Coming Home. This story was intended to be pure candy floss - nothing but spun sugar and air. It got a little moodier than I intended somewhere in the middle there, but still, you may want to keep your insulin handy. Just sayin'.

Made to be Broken

The Swan

catko — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:23:29 GMT

I want to get in the swing of things, but was out of town, not much time. So, hope it's okay I'm reposting a story from a while back...wow it's actually been three years...and sorry about the spacing; I see others are having the same glitch today?

Category: Firefly--Gen, Kaylee

Words: 404

Summary: Kaylee discovers life.

Rated: PG

Note: For ff_friday prompt #001: Childhood. Originally posted to ff_friday prompt #207: Extinct Animals

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Dialogue is from Safe.

KAYLEE: It looks like it was made with...you know, longing. Made by a person really longed to see a swan.

INARA: Perhaps because they'd only heard of them by rough description.

(She'd never seen one, of course...)

A Summer Evening

zoewarren — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:09:10 GMT

Title: A Summer Evening
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Inara, OFC
Pairing: none
Challenge: #001 - Childhood
Spoilers/Timeline: pre-series (no spoilers)
Sequel To: This one is a standalone, but in the same 'verse as all my others.
Word Count: 828
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: A little glimpse of where Inara comes from.
Author's Note:
I wanted to make sure I kept writing while I've got the time this summer, so I've gone back to the ff_friday challenges. I'm going to do one a week until either I get bored or work eats my life once again. Anyone who feels so inspired is welcome to join me.

A Summer Evening

zoewarren — Sun, 22 May 2011 01:39:40 GMT

Title: First Days
Author: zoewarren
Challenge: appearance vs. reality
Rating: PG-14
Characters: Inara
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Leave of Absence, Absence Makes the Heart...
Word Count: 117
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Author's Note:
Another drabble in the series. Follows Absence Makes the Heart..., which follows Leave of Absence. Best to begin at the beginning.

First Days

Absence Makes the Heart...

zoewarren — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:48:01 GMT

Title: Absence Makes the Heart...
Author: zoewarren
Challenge: Something that is Lost
Rating: PG-14
Characters: Mal
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Leave of Absence
Word Count: 209
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing

Author's Note:A friend of mine once said she could never 'ship Mal/Inara because they were too different and too inflexible, and that it would always be doomed so long as neither of them was willing to change. I seem to have taken that as a dare. This is just a wee drabble and it picks up where Leave of Absence left off.

Absence Makes the Heart...

Prompt #165 : Reunion

jackwabbit — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:20:19 GMT

Reunion
Fandom: Firefly
Rated: PG
Category: Vignette (704 words), Mal/Zoë Friendship.
Spoilers: None. Set after Serenity the valley and before Serenity the ship.
Summary: "You know, we really do have to stop meetin like this."
Note: Written for the “End of the Year Crazy Fest” on whedonland , using an old ff_friday prompt: #165 - “Reunions.”

XXX

A handful of random shouts rang out in the night as a man ran down a deserted alleyway. His footsteps echoed in the empty space, but only for a moment. Suddenly, he cut to his left, disappearing down an second dark alley. When he spotted a pile of stacked wooden pallets, he dove behind it without bothering to investigate it first.

Cover was cover, and he needed it fast. He glanced behind him quickly before throwing himself into the small alcove the pallets made against the neatest building wall, fully expecting his pursuers to be hot on his tail.

But somehow the men following him missed his hard turn into the alley and ran straight into the road ahead of them instead. Malcolm Reynolds grinned. He was in the clear. Sometimes you get lucky, he thought.

And that’s when he heard the sound of a gun cocking directly behind him.

Then again, sometimes you don’t, he amended.

Mal slowly turned around with his hands raised, prepared to either talk or fight his way out of his now-even-more-precarious situation. As he realized who had gotten the drop on him, though, his smile returned, and he slowly lowered his hands. His would-be mugger (or killer) did the same with her gun, then greeted Mal with one word.

“Sir.”

Mal nodded. “Zoë.”

Neither word was a question, and nothing else was said for a long minute. Both Mal and Zoë remained hidden behind the pallets during the entire exchange in case Mal’s pursuers returned. After a while, when it seemed clear that they were truly off the hook, Mal gave Zoë a pointed look.

“You know, we really do have to stop meetin like this,” he said.

Zoë nodded her agreement. “Absolutely, sir. It’s become a problem.”

“And stop callin me that!” complained Mal. “I ain’t nobody’s ‘sir’ no more.”

“Whatever you say, sir.”

Zoë’s voice had a teasing tone, and Mal sighed. “You really are impossible. You know that, right?”

“Uh-huh,” grunted Zoë. Her attention was clearly elsewhere.

“See? Was that so hard?” asked Mal, turning his head to see what Zoë saw.

He noticed it immediately. A broken light bulb above a door. The perfect spot for a stealthy entrance to the building across the street. The building that just happened to be an old Alliance arms depository and was rumored to still be well-stocked.

“Not a problem, sir,” answered Zoë, still focusing on the doorway.

Mal snapped back at her. “You just can’t let it go, can you?”

Zoë was quiet for a second, then she quietly challenged her former sergeant. “Can you?”

Mal sighed. His answer was long in coming, but honest. “Not so much, no.”

“Thought so,” said Zoë. “Now, we gonna sit here all night or we gonna get some work done?”

“We?” asked Mal, eyebrows climbing.

“Seems to me another hand might be useful in this one is all,” mused Zoë, nodding her head toward the depository.

Mal grinned. He’d known immediately what Zoë was up to. Hell, he’d thought about it himself a time or two. And having her on his six for a job did seem a bit of a comfort. Still, though, two were easier caught than one, and having a partner opened up all sorts of areas for exploitation by enemies. He wasn’t sure about this. He bit his lip for a moment, then shrugged and muttered an answer.

“Well, seein as we keep runnin into each other anyhow…”

Zoë chuckled. “Exactly. You thinkin what I’m thinkin, sir?”

Mal nodded. His eyes narrowed and a mischievous glint appeared in them. “Reckon I might be,” he said.

“So, what’s the deal, then?” asked Zoë, all business.

Mal shrugged again. “Split down the middle?”

“Seems fair enough,” agreed Zoë.

“So, it’s partners, then?”

“Yeah. It’s partners… sir.”

Zoë moved then, and the scrape of her boots on the pavement covered Mal’s sigh.

They didn’t rob the Alliance depository that night, but when every gun in the building went missing a week later, every thug in the neighborhood was up in arms about a new team in town.

Those thugs were only half right.

After all, by the time anyone noticed the theft, Zoë and Mal were long gone.

My FF story submission

sushulana — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:46:04 GMT

An army of ghosts

A mournful silence pressed down over the abbey on Persephone. Not normally given to much talk, the Brotherhood was even less inclined to chatter now.

Word had reached them of the passing of Shepard Booke.

Brother Michael was an exception to the rule of quietude, and after three days of whispers and significant looks, he could no longer restrain himself. He managed to corner Shepards Tseng and Yacob in the kitchen late at night and, by letting his voice teeter on the edge of loudness, convinced them to speak with him.

Tseng was the oldest of the lifetime members, and a confidant to every member here who had advanced beyond the rank of novice. Yacob had been a close friend of Booke, and was rumored to have come from the same unmentionable place in the outside world.

“How did it happen?” Michael blurted out after some barely civil preliminaries. “Booke had left that flying box-car. He had established an outpost in a very quiet community, and yet the crew of the Serenity had something to do with his death. Did they turn on him?”

“Be at ease,” Tseng sighed, “the man who brought you here from that orphanage was not about to be killed by such a collection of bumpkins. He was, in fact, killed because the Alliance suspected he might try to help them.”

Michael closed his eyes and ducked his head, and so missed the look that passed between Tseng and Yacob, and the nod.

“Not by an assassin, the community was destroyed by a Navy gunboat.” Yacob added.

Michael’s pained face came up to meet the careful eyes of both men. “Thank you for telling me so, and thank God that the Alliance can no longer do such things to people.”

Michael was referring to the upheaval in Parliament following the revelation of Miranda. Hundreds of Government leaders had already been hounded out of office, and the investigations had barely begun. Billions of outraged citizens, lead by millions of relatives of the lost colonists, were demanding real changes, and this time it looked as if they were going to get some.

The question was, would the new Government be an improvement?

All the enemies that the high-handed nature of the old Government had earned itself did not seem bothered by that question, but the Brotherhood had been conscious of it even before news of Booke had reached them.

The old Shepards made their way past Michael, touching his arm and making consoling noises. One of these soft noises was made by Shepard Yacob; “Mourn him, but do not forget him. Perhaps one day you will be ready to continue his pursuit or certain mysteries.”

From out of nowhere, Brother Michael felt the words tumble from his mouth, “You mean, Shaitan’s Panzer Brigade?”

Both older men stopped dead in their tracks. Tseng remained facing away from Michael, his only reaction was to bite his lip and stare down the long hallway he so wanted to be walking down at the moment. Yacob whirled, his face pale, and one hand had slipped into his robe… a gesture that Micheal either ignored or failed to understand.

“What,” grated Yacob’s voice, “do you know about that?”

“The most infamous Mercenary band in a war full of harsh men. A ground unit, heavy Armor was their specialty. Deceptive and ruthless, they betrayed the Independants twice, and the Alliance once in between. They left no land or Army they fought in a recognizable state, that was their main selling point, I believe. Their leader was killed just before the end of the war by an operative of Parliament.“

Michael had rattled all that off in schoolboy fusion as if reciting a lesson. Doing that helped cover his excitement…he felt as if he had tossed a stone from 100 meters away and landed it in a teacup on his first try.

“Not that story, anyone knows that pap!” Yacob hissed, his voice creaking with danger. “I mean, how do you know about Booke’s interest?”

Michael swallowed and licked his lips, slightly nervous for the first time. “W-well… Shepard Booke mentioned it to me one day while I was scanning some traffic in the shipping lanes. You see, that Brigade seemed to have disappeared, vanished in the last months of the war. I know it seems impossible, but the amount of gear recovered didn’t match what the Brigade is know to have had, and few of its personnel were ever found. Now… they didn’t have many friends left, and no transports of their own. So, where did they go, and how? It is a mystery, as you might say.”

Tseng relaxed and went on his way. Yacob nodded and asked; “Did Shepard Booke ever mention any theories to you about what the fate of those evil creatures might have been? Aside from the usual ideas in the tabloids, I mean.”

“No sir, just general ideas about unregistered cargo ships, smugglers and maybe criminals. He seemed to be lacking a working knowledge of how smuggling ships could… oh…. oh my Lord.“

Yacob did not miss the light going on behind Michael’s eyes. “My boy, how would you feel about taking a journey into the Black with me?”

Malcolm Reynolds blurted out “How much?!” before he could stop himself.

“What, you don’t think that’s enough?” Zoe asked. Just from the tension in her voice, Mal could tell that something about the latest job offer was bothering her.

“Enough? Oh, you mean the money? No, that’s fine…” More than fine, it was the first chance they’d had to make some real money since the Miranda affair had made his Firefly and crew famous.

Famous was a bad thing to be if your lifestyle depended on being able to sneak around a star-system.

“… what I’m talking about is the load they want us to carry. Six vehicles, they said? What gorram six vehicles weight in at 500 tons?”

To be continued… ?

Rubber Gloves

zoewarren — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:14:26 GMT

Title: Rubber Gloves
Author: ZoeWarren
Rating: PG
Challenge: Pair of Something
Characters: Inara, crew
Pairings: none
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm only playing
Note: x-posted to FF_Fanfic

Rubber Gloves

The Morning After

zoewarren — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:04:10 GMT

Title: The Morning After
Author: ZoeWarren
Rating: PG
Challenge: The Morning After
Characters: Inara, Mal, crew
Pairings: none
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm only playing
Note: x-posted to FF_Fanfic

The Morning After

Don't Panic

innocent_alice — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:07:30 GMT

Title: Don't Panic

Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Simon, Kaylee, Cameo by Mal
Prompt: #075 "Falling Asleep on the Job"
Word Count: 242
Rating: PG
Summary: Simon's first thoughts upon waking up during the events of "Jaynestown".
Spoilers: Jaynestown

Mm.

A jolt. The smell of mud, and spilled alcohol, and the slightest pleasant tang of engine oil. Almost awake enough to wonder when engine oil became pleasant. Just awake enough to wonder why his neck was in this awkward position.

Positions. Mm. This position was nice. It was warm. Something warm pressing on his chest, something warm under his arm. Tickle of feathery hair on his neck. Not something, someone. The curve of a thigh under canvas in his palm, pressing the warmth closer to himself. Someone. Kaylee.

Kaylee.

"Kaylee-" Tongue felt heavy in his dry mouth as his eyes slammed open, blurry memories of people toasting to Jayne and the sight of a blurry-eyed mechanic smiling contentedly in the glare of the morning light leaving him speechless and breathless and really hoping the fluttering in his stomach was butterflies and that he wasn’t about to vomit on the pretty girl laying on top of him.

Laying on top of him. Fingertips pressed right above his collarbone. Top of her coveralls peeled back, revealing a wide stretch of skin where her thin shirt had hiked up. Warm thigh pressed against his. Oh god. Did he…?

There was nothing blurry about the stormy face of Captain Malcolm Reynolds looming over him, nor about the set of his jaw, nor the way his fingers flexed on the back of the bench he – they – were laying on. Simon knew he was about to die.

Fic: Not Really Living

lexus_grey — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:21:58 GMT

Title: Not Really Living

Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: River/Zoe
Prompt: #005 "What do you want?"
Word Count: 940
Rating: PG-13
Summary: River invades Zoe's solitude. Zoe POV.
Spoilers: Serenity (the movie)

"What do you want?"

The phrase that had begun the deconstruction of my reality.

"We all came back except Zoe," River said, tilting her head and staring at me. She was in my bunk. My private bunk. Didn't even knock. Just came right on in.

"What the hell are you talking about, River? I'm right here," I said irritably, not in the mood for her riddles.

"Time passes, blood moves in veins, heart still beating but not the right way."

"River--" I started to raise my voice, caught off guard when she suddenly reached forward and laid her head over my heart. I froze.

"Still beating," she announced, picking her head up.

I wanted to slap her. Coming into my bunk, trying to tell me I'm not really living. She wasn't really living either, and there was nothin either of us could damn well do about it. "Go back to your brother," I said as calmly as I could muster.

"Tick tock, tick tock, time flies but not as fast for Simon as for the girl. Minutes are hours."

Funnily enough, that made sense to me. Time dragged on without Wash. Minutes for him, hours for me. That still didn't explain what the hell River was doing in my room. "What do you want?" I asked again.

"She hurts." River put her hands on her head, fingers threaded through her hair.

"So do I, little one, but life goes on." I wondered how many times I would have to ask what she wanted before I got an answer I could decipher. "Why are you here, honey?"

"He was part of her soul. He's gone, he took it with him. She's left empty, can't get the piece back because she doesn't believe in ghosts. They cut the girl's brain, took it out, gone. Understand?"

Of all the things in the gorram 'verse, she was trying to tell me that we're the same. My first instinct was to deny it - rally the troops and defend my right to be alone and unmatched in my misery. I didn't feel like sharin that with anyone else. That pain was mine, and it hurt like hell, but I'd rather hurt like hell than pretend I wasn't missing half my soul. Wash deserved better than that. "We ain't the same, honey."

"Same is exact. Even identical twins aren't the same. Nerves fire at different speeds and reach different places, they say different things. Same is impossible. Both missing pieces make a whole puzzle."

"I'm startin to think you want somethin from me," I said, getting tired of this game. "I'm fixin to go to bed, so say what you need to say and leave me be."

"Words fill the air. Easy to blow them away, one breath and they're gone."

"Right," I said, shaking my head. "I'm too tired for this. Go on to your r--"

I'll be, that girl is slick. Before I got my sentence out, she was kissin me. I shoved her off roughly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and I turned right around, leaning on my bed for support. Couldn't breathe. Her lips felt too good. I choked back a sob, the last time Wash kissed me surrounding me like a blanket.

"He wants you to be happy." River's voice was small, sounded far away. But I heard her.

"You don't know what he wants!" I screamed, pounding a fist into the mattress beneath me, and the dam broke. I slumped down onto the bed, feeling sick in my stomach as I cried for the first time since Wash left me. River was right - we both had missing pieces that we couldn't get back.

I felt a weight on the bed behind me, then a warm body against mine, River's arm over my waist, pulling me tight. Felt her cheek against the back of my shoulder, then wet. She was crying too. Felt a little bit good to cry. "I was gonna let the Reavers have me," I said, my voice gravelly and thick with grief.

"I know," River said, kissing my shoulder. It was the first thing she'd said all night that I didn't have to wade through layers of code and metaphor to understand. It was just me, talkin to a girl, and a girl talkin to me. "Tough man said no."

I could still feel the concrete under my body as Jayne dragged me back behind the line of fire. I was a weak soldier, I gave up. Soldiers never give up. In the shiny light of day, I felt a disgrace to my crew. My friends. Family, really.

River was the last person I'd expect to seek me out and push me to confront my reality. She was scattered, fragile, unpredictable and volatile... and so gorram sweet it made my teeth ache. She held me all night long and refused to let me go, and in the morning when I woke up, I was alone in my bed, and she'd left a note on my night table.

Zoe,

Sometimes we have to walk before we can crawl. Sometimes the thunder comes before the lightning, and sometimes we have to scream before we can talk. I feel you inside me like a song.

Love, River

And what response could I give to that, besides a smile? She was so confusing even when she made sense. But I knew what she meant. She had a funny way of sayin things, but I understood most of 'em once I got to know how she ticks. And right now, it was time to start livin again.

Fin

Fic: Comfort (Jayne)

emilykin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:51:42 GMT

Title: Comfort

Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Jayne,
Prompt: #036 No Dialogue
Word Count: 518
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jayne goes whorin’ and finds some comfort.
Note: This is my first time posting here. Please tell me if I did something wrong and I will do my best to correct it.

</div>

The planet was a patchwork of green, amber, and chocolate brown; fields of grains, all ripening in the sun, blowing in the wind. The planet smelled of damp earth.

Jayne took his leave of the ship to find some tail.

He asked one of the men in the marketplace. The man pointed him towards the only whorehouse in town.

A small, white washed house, laundry on lines in the yard. Filled with women.

Sturdy women, all calluses and curves. Patches of freckles on some of the girls, patches of tan on others, all pale shouldered. All colors, coffee, tea, and cream. Eyes in shades of sky, grass, and dirt, slanted and round. Hair in plaits or loose, straight and wavy and curls, in every tone; tow-heads and redheads and brunettes. Bright smiles at him, beams of light and health.

They were the daughters of merchants and farmers. These girls didn’t have to sell themselves.

He asked if he was in the right place.

The room filled with tittering giggles. He wasn’t sure what that meant yes or no.

One woman told him they were a Comfort House.

His daddy had told him about Comfort Houses. They were a sect, like Shepherds but they used their bodies. Like Companions in the name of the Lord. They only rarely existed on the Rim, and only when bellies were full and souls were righteous and people were giving. They provided comfort, meals and baths and women to weary travelers so they could spread His message or some such.

You were supposed to leave an offering in the basket in the morning, not for the services rendered, but for the Lord.

Jayne smiled.

He ate beef-and-barley soup with a hunk of hot, crusty bread. He chose a girl with hair like spun honey, dove-grey eyes, pale, freckled skin. She laughed and chatted. She sang as she washed his back, the water was as warm as she was cheerful and willing. The soap smelled of cedar and musk. She was supple and warm when she climbed next to him in bed. He had thought she would be blushing and reserved, but she was flushed, willing, and fiery. They talked after, her curls loose and soft on his shoulder, her head resting on his chest, her fingers twined with his. He fell asleep listening to her soft breathing. She was still there when the light filtered through the windows. His clothes looked a shade brighter folded up on the chair next to the bed. He dressed, kissed her.

He left as much as he could spare in the basket.

On his way back to the ship, he found a small note about the Lord tucked in one of his pockets. The girl wrote that she would pray for him on his travels. She signed it with her full name.

He kept it in the ammunition box under his bed, along with all the letters his mother and Mattie write him. The box he pulls out when he’s been in the black too long and he wants to remember that someone somewhere loves him.

Fic: What Friends Are For (Jayne/Kaylee)

xfirefly9x — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:59:52 GMT

Title: What Friends Are For
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Jayne, Kaylee
Prompt: #001 Childhood
Word Count: 495
Rating: G
Summary: Jayne and Kaylee bond after the events of “Serenity” (BDM).
Notes: Written for ff_friday. March 28.

(What Friends Are For)

Announcement

budclare — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:48:51 GMT

I've been meaning to make this post for several weeks and kept putting it off, for which I apologize.

I've decided to change the format of the community in light of the low participation lately (and in light of the fact that I don't have the energy to keep posting a new challenge every week forever).

From now on, Firefly Friday will be in permanent redux mode. Write a story for any challenge you want, anytime. Please remember to specify which challenge you're writing for, and you can tag it for me if you remember. Otherwise, go nuts.

I will probably keep adding new challenges on occasion, but nowhere near weekly. I may also post special challenges on occasion, i.e. challenges different from the kind we usually have. But we've got well over 200 challenges to choose from already, which should be enough to keep people busy for a long, long time.

I'll be posting an updated challenge list in table form soon, but in the meantime there's the list of tags.

Challenge 234: Asking for Directions

2ndary_author — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:29:46 GMT

Title: To Hold the Cure of Souls (Part 2 of a WIP)
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Book + crew
Rating: pg-13
Notes: Epigraph from 'Serenity' (the episode) . Part 1 (written for the 'faith' challenge) is here.

Challenge 234: Asking for Directions

2ndary_author — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:05:59 GMT

Title: Fair in Love and War
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Zoe, Wash, Mal
Rating: pg-13
Disclaimer: Contains SPOILERS for the episode "War Stories". Epigraph by Richard LaVoie. Summary from "Bushwacked".

challenge the 234th!

budclare — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:46:48 GMT

Challenge the 233rd! is now closed!

Challenge the 234th...
100 to 1000 words about asking for directions.

Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind cut tags.

Example:

<lj-cut text="whatever subject you choose">

your story

</lj-cut>.

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, February 27. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.