Mal doesn't bring it up for two whole days. And then it's as if he can't help himself, like the words are stray and wild and cannot be kept inside.
He barges into her shuttle and says, without waiting for her acknowledgment, "I want to make something perfectly gorram clear to you."
Inara looks up from her screen with a start. She blinks at him dumbly for a second. "Mal, what--"
"I am not, nor will I ever be, your client. I don't care how drunk you are. You'd best be remembering that, or we'll have to have some words." His left hand clenches in and out of a fist at his side; he doesn't look her in the eye, and Inara swears she can detect a hint of pink in his cheeks.
"I never said--"
"You." Mal pauses, clenches his jaw as he scrubs a hand through his hair. "You got your habits and such. I get that, I do. But..."
Inara stands and takes a careful step toward him, her stomach tight. "I apologize, Captain," she says quietly, using formal titles to somehow distance themselves from that night, from her actions. She feels so incredibly foolish; she makes a mental note to check her future clients' drinking habits. "I never meant to put you in an uncomfortable situation, and I promise it will never, ever happen again."
Mal finally looks up and meets her gaze. His mouth twitches while his brow sort of pinches together in that way he has when he's just been offered a horrendously unfair deal. It confuses the hell out of her.
"Well." He nods curtly; his voice is soft. "I guess we're squared away, then." Mal ducks his head and backs out of the shuttle, muttering, "Sorry to interrupt." The door shuts hard and Inara is left with silence.
She sits back down in front of her screen, filled with the faces of potential clients, and does nothing but stare down at her hands. Eventually she turns off the screen.
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(SORRY, I'M ANAL)
He barges into her shuttle and says, without waiting for her acknowledgment, "I want to make something perfectly gorram clear to you."
Inara looks up from her screen with a start. She blinks at him dumbly for a second. "Mal, what--"
"I am not, nor will I ever be, your client. I don't care how drunk you are. You'd best be remembering that, or we'll have to have some words." His left hand clenches in and out of a fist at his side; he doesn't look her in the eye, and Inara swears she can detect a hint of pink in his cheeks.
"I never said--"
"You." Mal pauses, clenches his jaw as he scrubs a hand through his hair. "You got your habits and such. I get that, I do. But..."
Inara stands and takes a careful step toward him, her stomach tight. "I apologize, Captain," she says quietly, using formal titles to somehow distance themselves from that night, from her actions. She feels so incredibly foolish; she makes a mental note to check her future clients' drinking habits. "I never meant to put you in an uncomfortable situation, and I promise it will never, ever happen again."
Mal finally looks up and meets her gaze. His mouth twitches while his brow sort of pinches together in that way he has when he's just been offered a horrendously unfair deal. It confuses the hell out of her.
"Well." He nods curtly; his voice is soft. "I guess we're squared away, then." Mal ducks his head and backs out of the shuttle, muttering, "Sorry to interrupt." The door shuts hard and Inara is left with silence.
She sits back down in front of her screen, filled with the faces of potential clients, and does nothing but stare down at her hands. Eventually she turns off the screen.
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Re: (SORRY, I'M ANAL) (I LOVE YOU ANYWAY!)
*WUBS!!!*
Oh, MAL!!