Mal pays Kitty a visit.

Most prisons, with the possible exception of the cells at Milliways, look very much the same. This is for several reasons, Mal's sure.

None of them Mal feels like thinking about at the moment, as he walks into the one Kitty is currently occupying.

"Wèi," Mal starts, to the room in general and his friend on the cot against one wall.

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It's a cell.

The main things you notice are that the wall has spots of rusty-red dried blood, large ones, the cot is bent, a little, a its foot like it was kicked, and that there's a woman curled up into herself and sitting on a worn blanket.

Her hands are bandaged. There's blood staining those, too.

"I'm starting to feel awfully popular."

"Your turn to do dishes."

Mal's wearing his browncoat, here, and an empty holster. It makes Mal look longer, especially since he doesn't sit on the bed or bend down to Kitty's eye level just yet.

"Any that need setting." It's a question, despite the tone. Mal's looking at her fingers.

"They set them in the infirmary," she says quietly after a moment and glances over at him as she says it.

"Simon took care of 'em pretty well, too. I've been trying not to--"

She shrugs after a moment.

"You can look if you want. I can't tell at this point. One might. But they'll get to it here later if need be."

Mal doesn't want to.

He does move to sit down on the bed.

"Simon told me he did what he could," he explains dumbly. "I was walkin' into the kitchen, and ran into the Doc as he was explainin' things to River.

"Went as well as expected."

She winces with her entire body, briefly, at the thought.

(She moves a bit away from Mal without realizing it, too. Just an inch.)

"Sorry."

An inch is enough, and Mal doesn't move closer.

"Ain't your fault. Last I checked, anyhow."

(They're after this girl with a powerful will)

"Even if I don't do dishes worth shit."

"It was a little."

She's smiling a little anyway when she looks over at him.

"I'll make the dishes up to you."

"Could make it up now, even."

Mal knows, he comprehends all of it -- or as much as he possibly can, from the outside looking in.

"Could walk out with me."

"Yeah, I could."

"I've run away from fights all the ruttin' time, Kitty," Mal states, clearer now, and he has a plan but it's so vague still, even when

aim to misbehave

he's not exactly practicing full disclosure.

"Come back."

"I'm not you. Which does you more good than me, I kinda think, considering where I am and where you are right now, Muji."

"I'm sure I give one good gorram."

Mal's staring at the bloody spots on the wall in front of him.

"Ain't no good to nobody dead."

"Funny, last I checked I'm still breathing."

"And if I knocked you upside your own head so's to drag you out o' here," Mal stands and there's something of the old sergeant there, "you'd take the ruttin' question mark out o' the situation for everyone, wouldn't you?"

There's barely a pause.

And then, "You're not going to be doing that, Mal, so it doesn't matter."

Mal's fast. A normal, every day sort of fast, but fast.

He surprises himself by not flinching as his right hand balls into a fist and aims at Kitty and he waits for the sound of the connection and he stabs "Like ruttin' hell --- "

She wasn't expecting that.

At all.

It's the only reason the fist hits, even as she automatically moves with the blow and softens it.

(Except she was expecting it, she can't not, and saw it coming, saw the minute his fingers formed a fist, and she just thought she thought she thought he wouldn't do it she was wrong and you never trust anyone you shouldn't anyone can throw the punch whatever you thought she knew that and so she wonders if she wanted to be hit and there's something utterly refreshing about this kind of pain oh God I have issues.)

There's a moment and then

(you hit me, I'll hit you back, and I can hit harder and better)

Kitty forgets her hands are hurting, forgets her face is hurting, and she's aiming a kick at Mal's skull and ready to slam him back against the cell wall.

And it's again with the everyday sort of fast, the bar brawl tactics and he'd really like to not swallow teeth today.

Two arms come up to protect his head as Kitty's leg swings with this is gonna hurt and Mal's head is ringing when it almost bounces off the back wall. Mal lowers

more fun to hit than a wall

and throws an elbow jutting outward, hoping to catch a knee off-balance.

He can hope.

But now there's a look in her eyes that's cold and not even quite angry, just calculating, and one leg comes down and

(it's just a dance)

the other leg knifes up and out, sharply, and there's a reason Kitty holds back, and this time she's almost entirely--not quite, not quite, a little voice inside reminds her, this is Mal--lets go.

Mal hits the wall again and there's a crack somewhere important that tries convincing him it'd be a far better idea to stay the hell on the ground.

At the foot of the cot, Mal shoves the footboard toward Kitty with one short thrust.

There's a thing that happens when Endless visit or send visitors; guards don't come.

Especially not after the one.

She's, absently, grateful for that, as the cot's in her way, suddenly, and grazes her one knee.

And then she's holding Mal down, one leg on his solar plexus, the other leg pinning his left arm, one hand on his right, and the other hand tight in his hair, holding it down.

"Don't. Do. That. Again." Each word is clipped.

(Her skin is burning. Her skin is screaming. But her muscles are singing.)

"'Kay."

Mal does not appear to have a problem with this, pinned as he is and panting so that he doesn't breathe deeply and find out exactly where he's going to need to get looked at by someone.

Kitty stares at him for a long moment.

And then her lip starts twitching.

"You dumbshit. I'm torn between kissing you and hitting you again. 'Cept I don't want Inara to hit me."

"Can't imagine 'Nara as precisely caring at this juncture. 'Bout the kissin'. Might have a problem with the continued injuries, but she'll just hit me for those later."

Mal is a dumbshit, yes.

He doesn't feel like one, though. He feels smart like I helped.

"Oh, well. In that case."

Kitty ducks her head and kisses him, best she can, for several seconds.

And then pulls away before kissing him again, just the same, and pulling away after she lifts her head.

"Second's for her to make it fair."

It's good and comfortable (and touch touch it's too much, her skin's screaming, but at least her mind knows that some things haven't changed, that the wham bam thank you ma'am (not that kind, the more fun for Kitty kind) is still there) and it makes her grin a little, crookedly, as she pulls off of him.

"So long as it's fair," Mal smiles back, ignoring various creaks and groans as he peels himself off her (cell block prison) floor.

"Well...looks like Wash gets to pick up extra chores this week."

Mal shifts lightly -- he doesn't want to leave. Alone, at any rate.

He can't do more than he has.

"He'll cope."

She's still smiling.

It's not the same.

If she's honest--she has to be--she doesn't want him to leave.

The adrenaline's still surging through her. But it'll wear off soon enough. She knows it.

She can't ask anyone not to go when she knows they'd take her with them if she let them.

"I know."

Mal knows when to turn around, when to start to head back and away from Kitty.

"Love you."

Mal leaves.

"Love you too."

Mal leaves.

And she stays.

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Mal pays Kitty a visit.

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