Time Turner
. . . fiction by Odyssea
. . .Well-Deserved Soak. . .
Zo� didn't love Serenity, not the way Mal or Kaylee did, but she knew there were worse ships to be stuck on. For the most part, the ship didn't matter - the crew did. 'Course, they would be better off if they had just stuck with the crew and hadn't taken on those passengers. Mal, though, seemed to think that Shepard Book and the doctor were crew now, which she thought was a mite foolish and would probably land them all in trouble in the end. But Mal was captain, and while Zo� might argue, she wasn't going to go against what he said.
So they kept flying, and kept flying, which Zo� didn't mind, 'cept for one little thing: she desperately wanted a bath. Sure, Serenity had showers, which were tiny and seemed to just drip water on top of her head, except when they didn't and she had to shout for Kaylee to come fix it. That was just about the only time Zo� could ever bring herself to really hate the ship, and on occasion, Mal, who wouldn't notice if the ship started looking like a pig pen (or cow pen, she reminded herself) so long as it kept on flying.
She wanted a bath.
It eclipsed all of her other dreams, which included finding a lot of money, getting out from under the Alliance's thumb, finding someplace to settle down, maybe raise some kids (though she wasn't ready to admit that to Wash). Right now, all she could think about was a big white tub filled with scalding hot water, and maybe some bubbles, though she was willing to compromise on that. Hell, Wash could even watch if he wanted, though that would probably defeat the whole purpose of getting clean.
Zo� wanted to take a bath to simply get clean. Sure, she'd been plenty dirty during the war - most of those godforsaken places didn't have running water or anything most folks in the galaxy would consider a necessity. Getting dirty on the ship was a subtle process, breathing recycled air and bumping against the bulkheads and hauling derelict cargo into the hold. Dirt and grease got under your nails, on your clothes.
So that was Zo�'s one obtainable dream: to be able to stop long enough on some civilized planet and part with some of her hard earned cash for a decent room with a big bathtub. She'd tell Mal that she was taking a few days off, drag Wash off of Serenity, and have a very nice weekend. Except she probably wouldn't, 'cause she just couldn't drop Mal that way, and, heaven knows, he'd probably get into some big trouble and either leave them there or require her to drop everything and back him up.
So, Zo� just keeps backing Mal up and keeping her mouth shut, and having little tiny arguments about vacations followed by a lot of great sex with Wash and daydreaming about the day she'll finally get her well-deserved soak.
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