209. Tien Tang
Jul. 18th, 2008 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catkoRated: PG
Category: Firefly—Gen. River and Mal.
Words: 200
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.
Summary: On board Serenity, anytime.
Note: For prompt ‘heaven’ #209 onff_friday. Thanks to the lovely www.definingcharacters.com for the translation.
Category: Firefly—Gen. River and Mal.
Words: 200
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.
Summary: On board Serenity, anytime.
Note: For prompt ‘heaven’ #209 on
ff_friday. Thanks to the lovely www.definingcharacters.com for the translation.River sits at the table, brush in her hand. Smooth wet movement over black stone, then quick, light strokes on paper—actually, back of a label off a can from the galley. In her concentration, she is calm.
Mal happens by. "Whatcha doing, nyen-ching de?" he asks, tilting his head.
"To be as a feather, it needs to be done, over and over again."
"Hmmmm?" Looks down, sees the shiny, graceful lines. "Ahh. Inara teaching you calligraphy?"
"Learned once, long ago. The brain forgets, but the fingers remember."
"O-okay. What’s it say?"
The brush pauses. "Heaven." She stares at him, intently.
He shifts, defensive, like any time something gets mentioned at all God-like. "No need to be thinking about that, hear? Got enough just to get through the here and now."
Her hand passes over the ragged scrap, the graceful swoop of one character, then the other. "Tien. Tang. Means 'sky' and ‘room.' Room in the sky." She fixes him with a look, from the corner of her eye.
He moves his head in surprise, and catches sight of the stars through the window above. Room in the sky. Nods consideringly. Now there's a thing a man might believe in.
Mal happens by. "Whatcha doing, nyen-ching de?" he asks, tilting his head.
"To be as a feather, it needs to be done, over and over again."
"Hmmmm?" Looks down, sees the shiny, graceful lines. "Ahh. Inara teaching you calligraphy?"
"Learned once, long ago. The brain forgets, but the fingers remember."
"O-okay. What’s it say?"
The brush pauses. "Heaven." She stares at him, intently.
He shifts, defensive, like any time something gets mentioned at all God-like. "No need to be thinking about that, hear? Got enough just to get through the here and now."
Her hand passes over the ragged scrap, the graceful swoop of one character, then the other. "Tien. Tang. Means 'sky' and ‘room.' Room in the sky." She fixes him with a look, from the corner of her eye.
He moves his head in surprise, and catches sight of the stars through the window above. Room in the sky. Nods consideringly. Now there's a thing a man might believe in.
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Date: 2008-07-19 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 07:34 am (UTC)