trans_9 | A Reason to be Hopeful Again

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A Reason to be Hopeful Again

In the short time since Mal's arrival, the ship captain had experienced pretty much the full range of emotions; he'd been at the lowest point possible, only to rebound and hit the highest point once he learned that his ship Serenity was on board with him. It wasn't enough to make him forget to worry about his crew, but it was more than enough to get him out of the funk he'd previously been in.

So, being true to his word, Mal showed up at the vehicle bays with Jo, ready to show off his ship. Except she was the real thing, not an imitation projected by the Sensoriums.

Whether he was able to actually let her fly his ship was another matter. Somehow, he thought that Stacy might not like that idea. Either way, Mal was in a very good mood. Having his ship with him was like having part of his crew around. With a large smile, Mal pointed Serenity out to Jo, unable to keep a note of pride from his voice. "There she is. That's Serenity. She don't look like much, but don't be underestimatin' her. She's a good ship, and she's served me and my crew well."

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"All right, so you're going to want to make sure all the settings are right before you do anythin'," Mal started off with. He pointed out a few things on both sets of control panels, making corrections where necessary, and just giving Jo a few pointers about the basics of flying.

"Most important thing to keep in mind, though, is that for a ship to work with you and not cause problems, you need to know how to really love the ship you're flyin'." Mal glanced over at Jo, completely serious. "Numbers have nothin' to do with it; you can know all the figures there are in the 'verse, but if you don't love your ship, you won't get very far."

Jo made sure she paid serious attention to everything Mal had said and pointed out about flying. She pretty much knew she wouldn't be flying anytime soon, but hey - she could get the basics down at least.

"OK..." She could understand needing to love something if you were going to use it the way it was suppose to be used. She totally got that. "So I'm guessin' you must love Serenity a lot if Stacy brought her with you."

While Mal had been explaining things, he was watching to gauge Jo's reaction, and whether she was understanding him or not. He hadn't exactly taught someone about flying before, so he was feeling slightly unsure. "Did you get all that? I can explain again or answer questions, if you want."

A small smile came onto Mal's face. "Sorry if I talked too much about that; it's just I think it's very important. Could be the difference between life and death, if you know what I mean." He rested one hand on Serenity's control panel and nodded. "Love, respect, commitment... All very important things. Like I said earlier, it's been five years since I bought her, and we've learned to get along."

Mal looked sideways at Jo again. "Sounds funny, talkin' about her like she's a person, but after so long of workin' with her, sometimes that's how she feels."

"I think I got it all. But if not, I can always get you to explain again later, right? Unless... Today's not the only day you're teaching me is it?" She didn't think it was, but she just wanted to make sure.

She waved a hald dismissively in his direction. "Don't worry about it really. I understand. I'm kinda the same way about my guns. OK I don't think of them as people, but I completely respect them and take care of them." She frowned slightly. "That kind of makes me sound like a freak, you know that?"

"Of course. Ain't possible to tell you everything in just one day. I don't have a problem admitting that if I did, I'd be a sorry excuse for a teacher," Mal replied, with an easy smile that usually came when he poked fun at himself.

"No, that don't make you sound like a freak, anymore than me seeing Serenity as somethin' of a person does." Mal shook his head. "Anyone who tells you that don't know what respect is. It comes down to the same thing, really. We both respect what we got, and far as I'm concerned, that's somethin' to be admired."

"Great!" Jo beamed and ran her fingers lightly over the top of the controls. "So I'm thinking that we do this every day until I can fake fly her in my sleep," Jo announced, glancing over at Mal out of the corner of her eyes.

"Well yeah to us," Jo chuckled. "But you know, that makes you a freak too right," she teased. But really other people who didn't understand the whole respecting what they had thing, would more than likely think they both were freaks. Jo didn't really mind though.

Mal's response was to laugh and roll his eyes. "That's just what I mean to have happen. You'll be one of the best pilots in the 'verse. Though..." Mal paused for a second, willing himself to keep his tone level, like he did everytime he mentioned someone from his crew. "If my pilot Wash shows up here, I wouldn't be tellin' him that. Might not take it too well."

"'Course it does. Wouldn't have it any other way. Bein' normal is overrated," Mal teased right back. He didn't mind being seen as a freak anymore than Jo did. The opinion of other people had never mattered very much to him, with the exception of a few key individuals.

"I promise I won't say anything to him if he does show up," Jo said holding her hand up with her middle and index finger pressed together. "Scouts honor. Though, I was never a boy scout... Cuz they wouldn't let me since I'm a girl and all, but you get what I'm sayin'."

She leaned back in her seat, and rested her hands behind. "Bein' a freak has it's advantages, ya know. Like people tend not to mess with you. That's a good thing."

"Good. That's real good. If you did, I might have to think up some form of retribution... Maybe no flyin' lessons for a week. Or sparring sessions every day. Though that might get old after the first couple of days." Mal's grin grew wider as he continued joking with Jo.

Mal rested one hand on the panel, his hands idly straying over some of the buttons. "Sure it does. Same as bein' a ship's captain. Long as you play your cards right, people usually figure out real fast that messing with you isn't such a good idea. Of course, scarin' people away ain't good either. It's about finding the right mix of bein' friendly and bein' tough."

Jo's mouth dropped open and she stared at Mal for a moment before she figured he was joking. "You know, I totally believed you for a minute," she informed him before swinging her chair around to face him.

"Though you know, you'd be retracting the threat of daily sparring sessions the first time I kick your ass. You know, when I wipe the floor with you?" She wiggled her eyebrows before laughing.

"You can be tough? I don't believe it. I've only seen your nice side. Which you keep trying to tell me is a lie, which I don't believe."

Mal couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh. "Huh, didn't know I was that great of an actor," he said with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"And, you know, you keep sayin' you're gonna wipe the floor with me, but I ain't seen you in action, so how do I know that ain't just a bluff? For all I know, it could be. Might be you I wipe the floor with, instead." Mal leaned back in his chair, still looking smug. Poking fun at Jo was too easy, but he enjoyed it too much to stop.

"That's 'cause I don't see a reason to get tough with you. Way I see it, you're not part of my crew so I don't have any right to be givin' you orders."

She just shook her head again and chuckled. "I guess we'll just have to fix that, won't we? You just name a time and a place and we'll see just who wipes the floor with who." Oh yes, Jo's totally looking forward to ~~kicking his ass~~ sparring with him.

"Well ya know, you might have to pick a new crew for your ship one day...."

Still laughing, Mal retorted, "You won't be actin' that way when you come back limping. And I imagine a lot of people will be askin' you what you did. You'll have to tell them you got too ahead of yourself and got your words handed to you sparring with me." A decidedly smug smile came onto the captain's face as he thought about how that might go over.

Of course, that smile didn't last long as he heard Jo's next comment. That had never occurred to him. It was not an option, as far as Mal was concerned. Obviously he couldn't crew Serenity himself, but finding replacements? That was unthinkable. "What do you mean, find a new crew? The rest of them might not be here now but isn't there a chance they can show up?" Mal was inwardly beginning to panic just a little, though he gave no sign of it. "Although..." The captain forced himself to take a breath before continuing. "If I did... Don't think havin' you on my crew would be such a bad thing."

"Oh please," Jo said waving her hand dismissively toward him. "You're the one who's gonna have to explain getting your ass handed to you by a woman," Jo grinned finding their banter amusing.

Her smile died and she looked away, feeling a little bad for even bringing it up. "Yeah, you're right - they might be... So, uh. Maybe try to get together a temp crew? I mean, that wouldn't be bad, right?"

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A Reason to be Hopeful Again

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