Mal was angry. Actually, angry was too mild a word for what he was feeling. He felt livid, furious, so much so that he could rip his holster to bits with his teeth and spit out lead bullets.
It had been a while since he had felt so much of any emotion. He had worked for years to contain his emotions, he was an expert, best friends, as it were with the numbness. Numbness let him function normally. Some might say, dysfunction normally, but Mal was okay with that.
The worst thing was, Mal was not sure where his anger was focused. On the boy, whose eyes and skin and mouth and words had caused him to let down his armor? Or on himself, for letting the opening occur?
That leather was looking tastier by the minute.
The biggest problem was that he couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Mal was convinced if he had never kissed Simon, none of them would be in this mess. Of course, Simon had kissed back, and a lot more besides. Then when it was all over, the boy had dashed out of his bunk, and straight back into the arms of little Kaylee.
No ruttin' way in hell was he going to blame his mei mei for this one. It was either him, or Simon. And Mal was damned tired of blaming himself for everything.
Dinner was a strained affair.
Inara, whose skills at smoothing conversations would have been welcome, was of course, absent, entertaining a client. Which meant that there was no work for anyone to do. And Wash, ever dai ruo mu ji was at the table making his yunchun jokes to try and relieve the tension.
Mal shot Zoe a pointed look. She caught his meaning, and quieted Wash with a gentle touch on the arm. Thankfully, the babble stopped. Of course, now it was too quiet.
Jayne opened his mouth to speak, but glowers from every corner of the table shut it before any choice words had a chance to fall out. River looked trapped, and really, Mal couldn't blame her. Lil' sis was stuck between her brother and Kaylee, who looked like her puppy had been dropped down a well. Simon, on the other hand, alternated between looking pained, embarrassed, and concerned.
Even through the simmering anger Mal nurtured, he had to admit, on Simon, it was a very sexy look. He shook his head, and abruptly left the table. There would be time to talk to the doctor later.