Skinny

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world." – Ada Louise Huxtable

Jayne was starting to get impatient.

He plucked at his now-sticky t-shirt, and wiped the sweat off his brow.

Of course Mal had to have business on Ezra, in the middle of summer, on the hottest day the planet's ever seen. Jayne thought, annoyed.

Don't get him wrong though, it was nice that the captain got some work that didn't necessitate him or River or their guns. That very fact gave him the idea for some Secret Jayne n' River Time, which had been a mite scarce lately what with the sudden increase in their workload. So when River told him about the stream she spotted while she and Wash were setting the ship down, he got all manner of excited. Except now he'd been sitting under this stupid tree in the middle of gorram nowhere, waiting on the gorram moonbrain who was supposed to be here twenty gorram minutes ago.

Then Jayne remembered what his mama had taught him when he was boy and used to wait for his pa to come home from the mines, with his face pressed against the window panes.

"Just close your eyes, Jayne, and count to a hundred real slow, and he'll be home before you know it."

Jayne closed his eyes and started to mutter, "One Londinium, two Londinium…"

Jayne and River's secret courtship had been going on near around six months or so, and Jayne had to admit that was really something considering his track record. The whole thing took him by surprise. Seriously. One day River was passing him on the way to the bridge, and as he moved to get out of her way, she reached up and planted one on him for no reason at all. It became a game, kissing on the sly and trying to catch each other off guard at the same time. Sure, maybe he was older than her by a lot, and she was somewhat addled in the brainpan, and there was no way in hell the rest of the crew would approve, but Jayne liked being with River. She was real sweet on him, and he found that it was easy to be sweet on her too.

Plus the idea that she could knock him on his ass with both hands tied behind her back was kinda sexy.

Jayne had just reached seventy-eight Londinum when he heard someone coming through the trees. He opened his eyes and saw his crazy girl loping down the path with a big ol' smile on her face and a towel thrown over her shoulder. Jayne got up and tried to suppress his own grin, opting instead to scowl down at her until she reached him.

"Yer late" he growled.

But River kept on smiling because she knew that was just Jayne-speak for "I'm real glad to see you".

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly. "Contrition. I was unavoidably detained."

Jayne forgot about being mad at her and kissed her right back, putting his arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground. "By what? Space monkeys?"

River laughed as she leaned in to kiss him again. "Baby Tam kicked for the first time. Kaylee requested my presence until she gave an encore."

"Well, then I guess it's all right." He said setting her down. "But let's hurry and enjoy our secret swimmin' time before we gotta head back. You brought yer suit, right?" Jayne stepped back and pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it over by his towel under the tree, and then set to taking off his boots. By the time he got to working on his belt buckle he heard a splash in the stream. He turned around to ask River how the water was when something caught his eye.

On the ground he spotted River's dress, followed by her combat boots, her socks, her bra, and her unders. His eyes followed the trail, leading up to the stream where River bobbed up and down in the water with that crazy girl smile on her face.

In less than ten seconds Jayne was buck naked and jumping into the stream after her.

"Try and catch me!" He heard River shout gleefully when he resurfaced.

Jayne immediately began to swim after her, struggling to keep up with her speed. Then, letting out a growl of frustration, he launched himself in her direction. He caught her wrist, and quickly pulled the rest of her in his arms.

"Gotcha now, Riv. What're you gonna do about it?" He growled low in her ear.

River tilted her head up and their mouths met, and Jayne relaxed his arms. As soon as Jayne loosened his grip, she broke free and took off again.

"No fair! You cheated!" Jayne shouted. River splashed water at his face in response. "Yer gonna get it now, girlie!" He called after her, grinning.

For the next hour, Jayne and River splashed around; drunk with delight. Finally they had time all to themselves, with less chance of getting caught. Jayne almost forgot that they had a crew back on the ship that wouldn't hesitate to tan his hide if they found out about his regard for their resident genius, but he was soon reminded when he saw how low the sun had gotten in the sky.

"I guess we better be gettin' back, honey girl." He said reluctantly.

But then he felt River press herself into his back and placed her cool hands on his shoulders. She whispered, soft and low, in his ear. "Ten more minutes?"