Life on this boat. A Firefly story. #fanfic

The first meal

Lou smiled at the disappearing girl thinking she may not be a normal girl, but there was something about her that appealed to Lou's maternal instincts.
So far she had met a few new people, in addition to Shepherd Book who surprised her by being onboard such a shabby looking fleet. All the same though, he looked like he belonged and behaved as if he was home.
The captain, Mal, looked like a serious kind of man, true to his word and honest. She would have to show her respect and gratitude in action rather than words to gain his goodwill.
Zoe on the other hand would be harder to win over. Simple formal respect would not be enough. Even so, she liked the woman and understood her sceptical attitude. She hoped the socks would help as a start.
Kaylee however had been a ray of sunshine all the way through town on their little food-grab. That level of optimism and life-joy was a rare quality in the outer rim planets where life was tough, but Lou appreciated having such a source of genuine positivity in her proximity.
That big burly man tho. Jayne. She had met a few like him and even been in relationships with some of them. Not knowing this specific one she could only assume that her week on board would be best spent out of his way, while at the same time showing him that she had no intention of letting him intimidate her. Some home-style cooking should do the trick if she could find out what planet he grew up on. Lou was widely traveled and had mastered quite a few planet-styles of cooking.

Suddenly a panicked looking, rather handsone young man burst into the kitchen. Seeing Lou he obviously went through some priorities while he ran his hand through his hair, choosing wether to keep running or to greet Lou properly.
Evidently being a well bred young man he pulled up a polite smile and shook Lou's hand the way inner-planet people tended to do. Lou gave him a friendly smile, wondering if his posh upbringing would have a bearing on his food preferences.
"I'm sorry for bursting in like that. My name is Simon. I was looking for my sister and thought she might be here," he said politely enough and in a clipped accent.
"If that skinny young girl is your sister, then, yes, she was here a minute ago," Lou said stirring the vegetables.
"Ah.." Simon said, obviously trying yo figure out a polite way of leaving without offending Lou.
"She went out that door, but I don't know where she went from there," Lou told him and indicated the door.
The poor young man looked so lost, it was almost comical.
"Thank you," he said and rushed out the doorway.
Lou shook her head thinking that young man obviously needed something to help him relax some.
"How long 'till grub?" Mal asked from another doorway.
"Almost done, sir," Lou answered. "You may tell your folks to wash up."
"Did I hear my name?" the redhaired man she had briefly met in the cargo hold said.
"I forgot that they call you Wash," Lou grinned.
"That would be me," he grinned back heading for a seat at the table.
Mal shook his head and walked over to a com-link on the wall.
"But your name does not excuse you from washing your hands before meals," Lou smiled at Wash, determined to set a standard from the start. Wash stopped and studied her for a second.
"Sure thing! You'll get nicely along with my wife," he said heading for the washroom.
Mal grinned at her.
"You are going to find some resistance on that rule, but I like it," he said before hitting the com link button.
"This is your captain speakin'," he announced with exaggerated formality. Lou smiled at him and started loading food on the table.
"Our new chef has requested that we all wash our hands before a meal, so get cleaned up and come get yourselves some grub," Mal announced before going to the small handsink in the kitchen.
He smiled and Lou noticed that he was a rather good looking man when his scowl was off his face.
"I ain't washin'for no one," Jayne said heading for the table.
"In wich case you will sit at this end of the table, eatin' ptotein," Lou replied dryly, pointing to the chair furthest from where she had placed the food.
Jayne looked her in the eyes, walking up to her menacingly. Lou stared fearlessly back, while to her own surprise feelig a slight tingle at the pit of her stommach. She decided to be bold, straightened her back and without a word raised an eyebrow at him and smiled as sweetly as she could. Jayne had her backed her up against the table and was almost touching her.
"Now, then. If you want to get any closer, I suggest you find some way to make it into my bunk at some point.... If not, there is a handsink in the corner available to you," Lou said in a voice as sweet as she could.
Baffled, Jayne stepped back and hurried over to the sink, sloppily rinsing his hands off. Behind him Zoe was trying to suppress an amused smile, while Wash grinned widely showing his appreciation. Mal sat in the captains seat closest to the food studying Lou with a puzzled look on his face. Lou shrugged back at him before gesturing for Wash and Zoe to sit. Slowly the other crew trickled into the room taking up seats at the table. Lou waited till last to see how the rest of them arranged themselves.
She took a seat next to River, hoping to get to know the girl a bit better while at the same time avoiding Jayne's sulky glares.
As she was about to sit, Mal held his hand up, signalling her to stay standing.
"As we are all here, and about to eat her cookin', I think we need to introduce our newest member of the crew. Lou will cook and mend clothes for the journey, so I hope your eats is as good as it smells," Mal said.
Lou nodded gratefully at him, noticing from his plate that he had sampled the food allready.
"Thank you, captain," she said. "I have travelled some and picked up some recipes, so if anybody has requests for food, I might be able to cook it, or an aproximation for you. She offered, knowing that with upper classers, such as Simon onboard she was taking a risk. She had also noticed the beautiful companion at the table, and hoped she knew enough to impress any clients of hers, should the need for that arise.