A little drabbley type thing for you all to enjoy. Please read and review. Any challenges most welcome!
His Girls
They've been his girls for a while now
They've been his girls for a while now. Not that they know that. Inara and Kaylee and River. Couldn't class Zoë as a girl, womanly as she was in all the right places, and he didn't think she's appreciated being called a 'girl' anyhow, probably castrate him or something. And the cap'n sure as hell wouldn't be happy were he to find out. He'd be thinkin' it were all about sexin' and it wasn't. He'd tried it on once with Inara before realising that was a lost cause; River was just too creepifying and Kaylee…well he'd tried to get Kaylee into his bunk on so many occasions that it wasn't even funny. Early on he'd thought maybe, just maybe, she would let him but Reynolds had warned her off. Warned him off too, with threats of the airlock.
Jayne sighs and tilts his head to watch them through the window of the gun shop, as they laugh across the road in the dress shop looking at frippery they couldn't afford to buy. Well maybe Inara could. That woman had more money than was ultimately fair in Jayne's eyes but she was generous, even to him on occasion, so he couldn't begrudge her too much.
Jayne was buying a new trigger for Betsy since Mal's last plan had gone further south than usual and Betsy had been used as a club. Jayne hands over the coin to the shopkeeper and goes outside. He squints in the sunlight and waits for his girls. Kaylee is holding a dress up against herself and twirling in front of a full-length mirror. Purplish, maybe even lilac, he thinks. Would look mighty pretty on the mechanic although not terribly practical. Jayne wonders about buying it for her, jangles the coin in his pocket, and decides that one, it would cost probably his month's cut and two, Simon would like it even less than the cap'n. Since he is crushin' something crazy on the mechanic and all. And Simon has access to drugs, lots and lots of drugs. He could probably murder him and make it look like a heart attack or something.
Kaylee puts the dress back on the rail and waves to him through the window. He raises a hand back. He knows the girls don't really want him tagging along but Mal sent him as their bodyguard of sorts so here he is. St Idol isn't the safest spaceport in the 'verse. Mal and Zoë are off doing business. Simple job…well they say that but Jayne suspects there'll be shooting and screaming later. There usually is.
The three girls come out of the dress shop giggling. Inara has a package under her arm. Jayne offers to carry it for her, which she grudging allows despite telling him it is worth more than six months wages if he loses it. Jayne leads the way to the only decent place to eat in the spaceport, which happens to be a bar. Its dark and dingy but the food is edible and reasonably priced. Even he won't eat from the street vendors in this town.
The three girls settle themselves around a table in a booth while he goes to the bar to order some food. He is gone no more than five minutes but by the time he turns round two men have plonked themselves at either side of the booth effectively trapping the three women. Jayne walks back over and sets the glasses on the scarred table with a bang. The men look up at Jayne's glare.
"No problem friend we were just talking to the pretty ladies here," the one with the scarred face says leering at Kaylee.
Kaylee shudders at the man's breath, pulls a face and looks away.
"I don't think that's a good idea friend," Jayne says leaning forwards towards him with a smile that is nowhere near friendly.
River looks at the two men with a happy smile. "You've picked the wrong girls to mess with chumps."
The other one, wearing black, gives her a look. "You won't be saying that later girlie when you're flat on your pretty little back."
Inara grabs hold of River's hand. "She's a little young for that I think."
The man leers down Inara's cleavage. "You wanna join in Posh Totty you just say so."
"Totty?" Inara blinks at him just as Jayne's fist connects with the man's face. The man goes flying out of his seat and crashes into the table next over unconscious. A few other patrons of the bar look round at the commotion and then look quickly away. Keep your head down and don't get involved. Scarface stands up and Jayne elbows him in the nose. He feels it break and the man's hands go to his face with a yelp. Jayne grabs hold of him by the back of his hair and slams his head down onto the table, face first. The man grunts. Inara looks slightly shocked, while River smiles serenely and takes a sip of her drink.
"You gonna leave the nice ladies alone now?" Jayne says, his voice polite but dripping with threat.
"Ye…yeah…" Scarface grinds out past Jayne's palm.
Jayne releases the pressure on the man's face. "Now beat it." He removes the man from the seat with a heavy boot. "Take your friend with you." He sits in his place next to Kaylee who stares at him wide eyed.
"What?" he asks gruffly. "No one messes with my girls."
"Your girls?" Inara asks raising one perfect eyebrow at him.
Jayne's cheeks go pink.
Kaylee cuddles his arm. "I think it's cute! Thank you Jayne!"
River beams at him. "I think I shall like being Jayne's girl."
The barman places the food in front of them, ignoring the injured men dragging themselves across the room to the door, as most of the other patrons are already doing. Jayne grabs his chopsticks and digs into his plateful. He shovels rice into his mouth. "You tell anyone about this and I'll…" he leaves the threat unsaid, just jabs the air with his chopsticks.
Inara leans past Kaylee and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. "We won't breathe a word. But Jayne Cobb chivalrous, I would never have believed it."
"Chival-what?" he says wrinkling his nose.
"A gentleman," Kaylee tells him smiling her sweet smile at him.
Jayne smiles back. "Now eat, before I swipe your share," he says mock gruffly. His girls were happy, that was good enough for him.