Author: Lostiawen

E-mail: Lostiawen

Rated: NC-17

Pairing: Mal/Simon

Summary: Mal is gripped by a strange fever after a short visit to an uninhabited planet. 

Archive: My site.  All others please ask.

Feedback: Yes, please.

Warnings: Somewhat crack!ish, post-coital rimming. 

Disclaimer: The characters within are the property of Joss Whedon and Fox 20th Century.  The author does not own, and is not making a profit off of their depiction here. 

Author´s Notes: Written for the 10_cliche_fics prompt "Sex pollen".  This is my first Firefly fic ever, although it´s not my first fanfic.  Hope people enjoy!

Posted Nov.  23rd, 2007

Chinese translations:
Ma shong: Now!
go se: dog shit
Lao tyen yeh: Jesus

Mal´s peaceful morning cup of tea was disturbed by a loud crunch, and the alerts blaring around him. He jumped up from the table and ran to the engine room. Kaylee was rushing around, adjusting cables and frantically pulling open panels. There was no smoke, but the smell of something burning wafted through the air. 

"What´s happening?"  Mal asked. 

Kaylee yanked out a piece of burned out circuitry and squinted at it before she tossed it onto the ground. "Coupler´s blown. I told you we needed to get it fixed." 

That made about as much sense as finding out that the grav boot was malfunctioning. "And this means what, exactly?" 

"I can keep us in the air for a spell, but we need to land now so that I can patch ´er up. Otherwise, we´ll be fallin´ out of the sky." 

"You better hope that there´s a planet nearby."  Mal punched the intercom and barked out, "Wash! Is there anything out there that we can set down on?" 

He heard some clicking, and then Wash replied, "I don´t know...we´re pretty far from anything, since you wanted to fly under the radar." 

"There´s got to be somethin´ out there. We got a fried coupler, so we need to touch down ma-shong." 

There was more clicking and Mal held his breath. He hoped that there was something around, or else they were humped. "I think I see a planet in range. Don´t know if it´s habitable." 

Mal furrowed his brow in thought. He trusted Kaylee´s judgment, and if she said that they needed to land now, they needed to land. He had no choice but to take what he could get. "We´ll have to chance it." 

"Aye, aye, sir."  Wash acknowledged. 

Mal grunted and then flipped another switch so that he could address everyone. "All right, people. We´ve had a spot of engine trouble, so we need to set down for a bit. Things might be gettin´ rough in the next few minutes, so hold on." 

He patted Kaylee on the shoulder before he made his way to the bridge. Zoe was there already, at her usual perch behind Wash´s chair. 

"How much time do we have?"  Mal asked. 

"We´ll be hitting atmo in a few minutes," Wash replied. "I have a nice field picked out, if the sensors are right." 

When they broke through the atmosphere, Mal was amazed at the acres of undisturbed rolling green fields dotted with small lakes. This planet looked more than habitable, and he was surprised that no one had touched it yet. The fields eventually gave way to thick woods, and Wash was aiming for a large clearing near one of the stands of trees. 

Despite Mal´s earlier warning, the touchdown was smooth as silk. He looked around at the waving grass and said, "Where are we at, Wash?" 

Wash flick a few switches on his monitor and said, "This place doesn´t even have a name. But it´s got a breathable atmosphere...and there´s no one around for hundreds of klicks." 

He looked up with a hopeful expression, and Mal couldn´t mistake the silent request. They had not been having luck with finding a job, so they had been in the black for a fairly long haul. Tempers had yet to run short, but everyone was stretched thin. "Well, then. I don´t see the harm in going outside for a spell." 

Zoe hugged Wash from behind and said, "You did a good job." 

Wash stood up and said, "Permission to take my wife to a lake where we can go skinny dipping, sir?" 

"Granted. As long as you´re back in a few hours."  He rolled his eyes when Wash slapped Zoe´s ass on the way out. Watching their PDAs was difficult, especially since all he had for company was his own hand. Oh well, that was his choice, and he had to live with it. 

Simon´s head popped aboveboard at that point and he said, "Have you seen River?" 

Mal almost felt a headache coming on at Simon´s announcement. No rest for the weary, it seemed. "I thought I told you to keep an eye on her." 

"She was sedated, but the mixture seems to have worn off sooner than I expected. I went to check on her and she´s not in her room." 

The last thing Mal needed was River having one of her fits near Kaylee. "All right, we´ll split up and look for her. Meet me in the cargo bay." 

They were about to leave when Jayne appeared at the bottom of the ladder. "Hey Doc! Your moonbrained sister blew past me in the cargo bay and ran out into the field. Might want to go catch her." 

"Wo de ma!"  Mal cursed before he and Simon ran from the bridge. It was bad enough when River pulled her disappearing act in a populated area. But on an uninhabited planet... He hoped that it wouldn´t be too hard to track her. 

He breathed a sigh of relief when they disembarked from Serenity. There were three sets of footprints visible in the grass -- one pair veered west, and a single set of small ones went east. Mal and Simon followed River´s tracks, and they stopped when they saw that her prints led off into some nearby woods. 

Simon chewed his lip and he looked even tenser than usual. "Did Wash find any wildlife when he was scanning the area?" 

"Didn´t mention it. Don´t mean they ain´t there."  Mal drew his pistol and kept his eyes peeled. "Let me go first, Doc, in case somethin´ wants to make a dinner out of us." 

Fortunately, Simon understood the need for silence as they carefully made their way through the trees. Mal´s hackles were rising -- it was quiet in this forest, too quiet. A blur of movement about a meter above his head caught his eye and he swung his pistol around to aim at the branches. 

He was about to squeeze the trigger when Simon yelled at him to stop. Moments later, River´s upside-down face dangled right in front of Mal´s and she smacked him in the the face with something soft. 

"Gorramit! What in hell??"  A dusty cloud had surrounded Mal´s head, making him cough. 

His vision was obscured for a few seconds and he heard Simon chastising his sister. "Mei mei! You shouldn´t have hit the Captain with that!"  There was a pause, and then he heard Simon sputtering. 

Mal blinked and saw River bopping Simon with a small bouquet of purple flowers, causing the pollen to drift around in face in smalls puffs. His hair and vest was dotted with the yellow stuff, and bits of it clung to his cheeks and nose. 

"Face is too plain, needs a shower of gold," River singsonged before she grabbed the branch she was hanging from and flipped herself over it. She landed gracefully on the mossy ground and giggled when she saw Simon´s face. 

Mal was glad that River wasn´t having a bad episode, but the fact that she escaped so easily really put him on edge. He barked at Simon, "We´re going back to the ship right now, and I don´t care if you have to hogtie her to one of the crates, but she is *not* allowed out again." 

The angry outburst caused Simon´s face to turn into an icy mask. "Understood, Captain."  He gathered his sister in his protective embrace and started walking towards Serenity. 

River´s giggling and babbling on the way back didn´t help Mal´s sour mood at all. He had hoped for at least one moment of peace, but that wasn´t going to happen now. 

***

Mal tossed and turned in his bunk. He had cut his rounds short tonight because he was feeling more tired than usual. He hadn´t really been sleeping well for the past few days, so he figured that turning in early and having a good night´s rest would take care of that. 

Unfortunately, he just couldn´t relax enough to get to sleep. The sheets just seemed to scratch his skin, or else the bunk felt plain lumpy as hell. No position was comfortable, and he tried everything he could think of to get himself to drift off - a slug of Kaylee´s homebrew, counting sheep, reading something boring - nothing worked. 

The temperature of the room suddenly felt like it shot up twenty degrees and Mal cursed up a blue streak. The environmental controls didn´t indicate any malfunctions, though, so Mal wondered if it was just him. He pressed a hand against his forehead and cursed again when he came in contact with his overheated skin. It figured that he would come down with some sort of flu bug after a short jaunt planetside. 

He hauled himself out of the bunk and decided to raid the infirmary. He was sure than Simon had something around to deal with his fever. He pulled on just his pants, leaving his suspenders down because he didn´t intend to be out long. He was just going to be out for a quick spin, so it didn´t make sense to get fully dressed. As Mal fumbled his way up the ladder, he noticed that even that small effort had caused his skin to get soaked with sweat. 

"Son of a bitch," he muttered as he reeled through Serenity´s decks. He could barely tell which side was up by the time he reached his destination. 

To his dismay, Simon was up and about in the infirmary. But then he noticed that Simon was just clad in a pair of sleep pants and his face also looked flushed and shiny. 

"Hey Doc, you feelin´ as much like go se as I am?"  Mal said. 

Simon took one glance at Mal and shuffled him over to the examination table. "Perhaps. What are your symptoms?"  he asked. 

Mal grumbled and wished that he could avoid this part. He just wanted a couple of pills to help him sleep, but it looked like he wasn´t going to get away with anything less than a shot. "Felt so prickly that I couldn´t sleep for beans. Sheets are scratchy as hell, and I feel like I´m standing in a gorram furnace." 

Simon leaned in and pressed a hand to Mal´s forehead. "That´s what kept me awake, too. My fever´s not as bad as yours is, though," he murmured. 

Mal wasn´t paying attention to Simon´s words. His eyes were drawn to the beads of perspiration trickling down Simon´s pale chest, emphasizing a set of surprisingly well-defined muscles. That chest was close enough so that a faint scent tickled Mal´s nostrils. It wasn´t what Mal expected from a pretty boy -- musky with a hint of spice. 

He had to get closer. Before he realized what he was doing, he pulled Simon against him and was nuzzling the base of his neck, nipping the sensitive flesh. Simon responded with a moan that shot straight to Mal´s cock. He arched back, his porcelain skin glowing under the harsh lights. As Mal continued to suck and nibble Simon´s throat, he could see a large tent forming in the middle of Simon´s pants. 

The sight caused Mal to harden within seconds and he cupped Simon´s crotch in his hand, squeezing the rigid flesh. He was rewarded with another of those sinful moans, and a patch of moisture dampened the front of the soft material. 

That drove Mal even crazier, and he was so hard now that his cock could punch a hole through his fly. He couldn´t wait any longer, he needed to get inside Simon right *now*.

He slid off the examination table and practically yanked Simon´s sleep pants off of his body before he stripped himself down. While Mal was occupied Simon had yanked open a nearby drawer, spilling some of the contents onto the floor. His hand reached inside and pulled out a large tube. 

"Use this," Simon gasped as he handed the slick gel over. His blue eyes were bright and feverish, and his pupils were dilated, almost turning his eyes black. His obvious lust sent Mal´s hunger out of control, and he roughly bent Simon over, slicking his erection up with a only few swipes before he slammed home, burying himself in Simon as deep as he could manage in one thrust. 

Simon cried out at the top of his lungs as he was impaled. Mal didn´t give him much time to recover. The blood was roaring in his ears, and all he could think of was losing himself in the sinful tightness that gripped his cock. He dug his fingers into Simon´s hips and then starting thrusting hard, pounding away like an animal in heat and rocking Simon´s lithe body with each stroke. 

"Oh fuck, yes!"  Simon cried out as he writhed below Mal, hands scrabbling against the surface of the table as he pushed back against Mal´s cock. 

"You like that?"  Mal growled. He wanted to hear more, so he rolled his hips, jabbing Simon in the prostate. 

"Yes! Oh God, more!"  Simon wailed. All of his previous reserve had been cast away, and he reached behind himself to spread his cheeks open, giving Mal a breathtaking view of his cock plunging into that tight little hole. 

It was too much for Mal and he slammed in one more time, coming harder than he had in ages. His entire body lit up like a starfield...hell, it felt like his hair was tingling as he spilled into Simon, moaning out his name. 

He was still hot and flushed when he pulled out of Simon´s trembling body. The smell of sex permeated the air and lust burned through his blood again. He wanted to hear Simon scream, by any means possible. Sliding down to his knees, he placed his hands over Simon´s. A mischievous grin touched his lips before he blew a stream of hot air at Simon´s oversensitized flesh. 

"W-what are you doing?"  Simon asked moments before Mal´s tongue snaked out and stabbed inside his entrance. He let out an earsplitting shriek and convulsed, spurting ropes of white liquid against the examination table. 

Mal continued to lap at Simon´s hot flesh, enjoying the way he tasted. He had intended to continue his ministration and bring Simon down gently, but the other man had suddenly gone completely limp. Mal caught Simon´s unconscious form as it tumbled down and grinned. 

"Huh."  He had never made anyone pass out before. He also had never been up for seconds so fast, but just listening to Simon cries of pleasure had him hard and throbbing in an instant. 

He gathered their clothes, then slung Simon over his back and grunted. They´d have to continue in Simon´s room, because he was way too randy to wait until they got back to his bunk. Assuming that Simon didn´t wake up and start wriggling earlier, because Mal was so keyed up that he´d probably drop Simon right there and then and give him a thrust flat against the wall. 

***

Mal felt like he had a post U-day hangover when he struggled awake the next morning. Every muscle ached and hurt, one side of his head felt like someone had gotten a hold of his brain and was squeezing it as hard as they could manage. And he had the weirdest dreams...he startled when he realized that he wasn´t in his room. And that he wasn´t alone. 

"What in hell?"  Simon was resting on top of him, naked as a jaybird. Bruises dotted his pale skin, especially on his neck and his hips. His exclamation caused Simon´s eyelids to flutter open. 

"Keep your voice down, please," Simon groaned. He tried to sit up, but he stopped, and his eyes widened in shock when he realized that their bodies were stuck together, glued in place with the release from Simon´s last orgasm. "Lao tyen yeh, did we..."

"It´s lookin´ like it."  Hazy memories flashed through his mind. "Six times."  Mal was stunned -- his personal best had been four in a row, and that was when he was a teenager. 

"WHAT? That´s physiologically impossible for a man your age. Twice in a short period would have been a stretch..."

"Well I did," Mal snapped. Leave it to Simon to insult his prowess in bed. "And I didn´t see you protestin´."

Simon´s entire face turned red. "I...it did feel good." 

"Good? That was the best damn sex that I´ve ever had," Mal said with a shit-eating grin on his face. He hadn´t figured on breaking his dry spell with Simon, but now that he thought about it, the boy was downright easy on the eyes. 

"My whole body felt like it was on fire last night. Every time you touched me..." Simon blinked and looked at Mal. "It must have been the flu we had!" 

"Really? Then we should bottle the stuff. We´d make a mint."  He groaned when Simon started wriggling frantically. "What´s the hurry?" 

"I need to make sure we haven´t infected anyone else. What if we were contagious?" 

Mal stilled Simon´s movements. "Judgin´ by the racket you were makin´ last night, I think we´d hear it right now if anyone else got hit. Calm down and let´s see if we can get unglued without losin´ a chunk of hair." 

It took a bit of creativity, but they managed to separate themselves with a minimum of pain. Simon bemoaned the state of his sheets while they got dressed, which caused Mal no end of amusement.  Since he didn't have a shirt handy, he settled for borrowing one of Simon's. It was a snug fit, but he was fine as long he button ed it only about halfway up.

They were barely decent when River popped her head into the room. "The importance of the human sense of smell has by far been underestimated in the past. Humans and other primates have been regarded as primarily ´optical animals´ with highly developed powers of vision but a relatively undeveloped sense of smell." 

Simon almost jumped out of his skin. "River! You should have knocked!" 

"Several studies indicate that humans indeed seem to use olfactory communication and are able to perceive certain pheromones; pheromones may play an important role in the behavioral and reproduction biology of humans."  She paused and the usual glaze from her eyes faded. 

"You were too tense, dummy," she said before she darted off. 

Simon was about to follow her, but he kicked over something that had been left in the doorway to his room. It was one of the flowers that River had bopped them with yesterday. It was wilted now, and only a few grains of pollen remained on the petals. Mal noticed that Simon had sunk deep into thought, and he was rotating the blossom between his fingers. He suddenly got up and dashed towards the infirmary. 

Mal followed as fast as he could, but by the time he reached the infirmary, Simon was bustling around, yanking supplies out of a drawer. 

He looked up when Mal entered. "Roll up your sleeve, I need a blood sample." 

"Ain´t no way you´re poking a hole in my arm this early in the morning," Mal grumbled. 

"Captain..." Simon said. Mal knew that tone of voice, it was the one Simon always used when he made a fuss. He knew from experience that if he didn´t agree, the next time he was in the infirmary, Simon might be less than gentle with sewing him up. Grumbling, he let Simon extract what he needed. The blood sample was placed in a tube, and then Simon drew one from his own arm. 

Simon placed the tubes in a scanner and said, "Just as I thought." 

"Care to enlighten me on what´s so interestin´?"  Mal said. 

Simon looked up. "Our testosterone and cyclic GMP levels are elevated. My guess is chemical stimulation from an outside source." 

Mal crossed his arms and frowned. Leave it to Simon to get overly complicated. "Come again?" 

Simon´s voice took on an exasperated tone. "We were both exposed to something that acted as a massive aphrodisiac. It not only enhanced sexual desire, but it also increased erectile functionality by a drastic degree." 

It took a moment for Mal to process this. "So are you sayin´ that my six times..."

"Were caused by the pollen from this flower."  Simon finished. "It somehow was able to produce phermones that made us want to...you know..." Now that he wasn´t using clinical terms, Simon blushed and couldn´t finish the sentence. 

He looked downright edible, and Mal pulled him closer. "Hump like animals?"  he purred. He was now remembering everything they had done last night and it was causing a more than pleasant tingle in his groin. 

Simon trembled at the sound of Mal´s throaty words, and he let out a gasp when Mal nuzzled a patch of skin just above one of the hickeys decorating his pale throat. 

Mal growled,"I don´t think the stuff has worked it´s way out o´ my system. Maybe I need more treatment..."

Simon´s eyelashes fluttered and Mal could feel him growing hard against his thigh. "I do need to study the affects of this pollen further. Perhaps in your bunk, Captain?" 

Mal chuckled as he put his arm around Simon´s waist. He made a note to himself to touch down on that planet again, so that he could get an entire gorram vase of purple flowers. 

THE END