jedibuttercup

I think you're right on track with the Mal story arch. I didn't see it as what little emphasis on story arch during the series was focused on River, but I think you're right that Mal's character had one as well.

As for Mal/Inara and their talk? Can I say that if you're going to shift it to Mal/River having him offer and her twist him into a pretezel and boot him out the door sounds kinda nice, but my Mal muse is unruly as a bear woken during hibration these days so perhaps that wouldn't be best.

So, it seems in "Heart of Gold" like Mal hasn't really realized how Inara feels for him, or else things that although she might like him her feelings do not run that deep. And if you think about it, Mal being a man and thus dense, as well as Inara being skilled at hiding her true feelings, it makes some sense he really might not have known she was falling in love with him as much as he was with her. But after this, and between the series and movie he's had lots of time to think on it, look at it as Inara had feelings for him.

So, how hurt was he that just as he knows that she leaves him? How important has his love of her, and her love of him, mattered to his pieced together self? Might help with what his next move would be. Also, being calculating, he would have thought about other things, and he's had time to play 'what if' he got her back, would he want her and how would he win her. So, could he deal with sharing her? Because to be fair he can't ask her to give up her career if he won't give up Serenity. Has in the meantime of them being apart he pieced together much of what you mentioned in your Mal/River support post that they wouldn't work out in the long run? Because the evidence is there.

Has what happened in Serenity made him willing to throw that to the wind and follow his passions rather than logic? And does he think he's really pieced back together enough to risk Inara tearing him apart again, especially with a threat of war looming, and the events that Book's knowledge could lead them into? Is she now a risk he can't juggle with the rest? Would he be willing to think instead of putting it to the backburner to mess with after things are past, when he's more put back together, and in the meantime fall in love with River (which then could lead to a nasty Inara jealousy subplot).

Lastly, if she wants to stay to be part of the crew again, as given what she just lived through with them is likely part of why she is thinking of staying, could he function with her around? Will this reopen too many freshly mended wounds? Can he convince her because of that she has to go? Or instead, can he really take a step back from them being romantic to make her work as crew and not drive him crazy? And just what is his hair-brained scheme on doing that?

Damn that was a lot of questions. But maybe a few of the answers will drive you on where and how to make the scene work.

And now I must go plot very dark and nasty orig fic if only to purge my mind of poor Mal and his deconstrution.

(Oh and Serenity is Mal's Zoe. Machines are much more relable than people anyway, and much more fixable as the movie shows.)