Cut From The Same Stone
Rated: PG
Category: Gen, Jayne Focus, Pre-Series.
Spoilers: The Message.
Summary: We Are More Alike Than Different, Whether We Admit It Or Not.
Note: Written for ff_friday's prompt of 'gift'.
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A small boy with a silly grin plastered on his grimy face held his hand up to a much larger boy. Something blue and sparkly poked out through his filthy fingers.
"Found it in the river. Thought you might like it," said the little one.
The older boy looked at the gift dubiously, and the younger one started to sputter.
"Just thought it was shiny, is all. It's real pretty, and I got one like it, and…"
The young man looked down at the child, sneered, and knocked the rock to the dirt, effectively cutting off any more muttering.
"Yeah, well, it ain't shiny, and I don't care. It's just a rock, dummy. Just a rock."
The smaller boy looked up at his brother, and tears formed in his blue eyes. A shock of blonde hair fell over his forehead and made an attempt to hide those eyes, but it failed miserably.
The hulk of a teenager looked down at the boy and very nearly apologized for his harsh words, but found he just couldn't get the words out. He figured his kid brother had to learn the ways of the world eventually, and now was as good a time as any. You couldn't get by in the 'verse thinkin ordinary rocks were treasures.
That was for babies, and Jayne Cobb was not a baby.
Jayne's brother turned and ran from him, and Jayne sighed.
He couldn't blame the kid for being upset, but he had more important things to worry about.
Jayne was trying his best to be as little like a baby as he could. His ma was struggling, and as much as she tried to hide that little fact, Jayne knew it like he knew he needed air to breathe. He knew she needed help-the kind that came from credits, not strong backs and arms, and he was determined to get her that help.
He'd prove his determination when he left home only a week later to earn his fortune out in the black.
He'd go in the dead of night, in order to avoid messy goodbyes.
He'd never liked goodbyes.
He'd leave a letter to his ma and he'd drop a gentle kiss on each forehead in the house, then he'd linger for just a second at the threshold before slipping out the door.
And then he'd be gone.
He wouldn't be back for a long, long time.
But he would help.
His fortune didn't end up the way he'd imagined, but credits did come his way. It seemed there was a place in the 'verse for a man of his stature who possessed a certain moral flexibility.
And while he liked his booze, and his women, and his guns, enough of his wages always went home to help more than a bit with the family.
He tried not to think of home much, and what his ma would say if she knew what it was he did to get those credits he sent, but there were times when he missed her, and the house, and even his stupid kid brother, who probably still had stars in his eyes.
Tonight was one of those nights. As Jayne lifted a mug of beer to his lips in a seedy tavern on the rim, he reached one hand into his pocket. He jangled the few coins he found there, then smiled wistfully as his hand encountered a smooth, slick surface. He withdrew a small oblong stone from his pocket and turned it over in his hand a few times. It was a deep blue color and oiled well from countless rubs with his thumb. Someone had once called it a 'worry stone', and while Jayne hadn't really liked the name, he had to admit that it fit. He did tend to rub the stone a bit more when he was riled. Especially when he was riled and had to sit still, like when he was waiting on a job.
Like now.
Jayne suddenly sat upright and put the stone back in his pocket. All thoughts of home vanished.
His wait was over. A peculiar looking gentleman had wandered into the bar, and it was time for Jayne to earn his credits.
Later, he'd kill the odd fellow, and he wouldn't bat an eye.
He'd do it because it was his job.
He'd do it so that he could keep helping at home in the only way he could.
And he'd do it so that the spark of magic he'd seen in his younger brother's eyes as he'd presented Jayne with the gift he still carried could live a little while longer.
Jayne's spark had gone out long ago, but he'd be damned if he'd let the same thing happen to Matty after all.
It was the only apology Jayne could offer, and he only hoped that it'd be enough.
XXX
A million miles away, an almost teenager slid underneath his covers. As he did so, he reached one hand into his pocket and retrieved a blue rock. He set the rock on his nightstand and extinguished his light. As a beam of moonlight illuminated his room for a second, the rock seemed to shine.
Matty Cobb smiled as he closed his eyes.
He hadn't run far on that day so long ago when he'd given Jayne the rock's twin.
He'd seen his brother curse, kick the dirt, pace a few circles, and then pick up his gift.
He'd seen Jayne toss the rock in the air once, catch it, and tuck it in his pocket with a smile and a snort.
Like his brother, Matty had never said a word about that day or those damn rocks ever again.
But he kept his near him, and every time he caught himself nervously working that rock between his fingers, he wondered if Jayne knew that he thought of him.
In the end, he decided it didn't matter. It was all he could do, and he only hoped it'd be enough.