Prompt #30- Smoke

The piercing wail echoed through the hull of Serenity until even the termites teeth ached with the shrill sounds.

Mal hurtled down the corridor, his feet almost not touching the steel grilled floor as he flew faster and faster through Serenity's body.

The shriek of the alarm grabbed hold of his brain and rattled it about in his head with the force of a freight train.

He raced through the cargo bay and past the engine room where Kaylee and Simon were throwing clothes on even as he passed them.

He sped past the lounge area and sprinted into the kitchen where he was met by billows of smoke, flooding through the small room.

Dropping to the floor, he rolled under the clouds of mist and crawls to the oven where the flames were licking higher and higher above the burnt remains of what once were food cubes… possibly.

He switched off the gas and threw the charred mixture into the sink.

With a quick flick of the air conditioning the smoke was soon cleared and he clambered to his feet.

Simon and Kaylee rushed red-faced and panting into the room behind him, followed by Zoë.

He surveyed his crew and glared at the offending party.

"All right, which damn fool idiot swapped dinner duty with Jayne?"

Kaylee timidly lifted a hand and Mal glared at her.

"Kaylee! We been over this. Under no circumstances is Jayne to be left alone on dinner duty with River. I can't afford to have Serenity repainted every Tuesday." He looked at the smoke damage. "Now can someone please haul Jayne and River outta his bunk and get us fixed with some real food?"

The three crew members looked at each other. Zoë folded her arms with a "Just-ask-me-if-you-dare" look on her face.

Kaylee turned to Simon who shook his head. "She's my sister, my baby sister. I can't know she's having sex with Jayne."

Kaylee pouted. "But Jayne threw a gun at me last time I interrupted."

"Then you should have shot him with it," Zoë offered before walking away, a smirk on her face.

Down below in Jayne's bunk River giggled to herself.

"They trying to work out whose gonna come butt in on us?" Jayne asked and she nodded.

"Zoë is too scary, Simon says no but Kaylee is pouting."

"Huh," Jayne ran his fingers up her arm. "Ain't no way Simon's gonna stick out Kaylee's pouting. It'll be him."

River wrinkled her nose. "He is such a boob."

"Yeah." Jayne reached down to kiss her hard. "Wanna freak him out some? See if the Tam scream sounds as good on him as it does on you?"

To his credit, Simon didn't scream. But it was a close thing.