A short piece of fluff that can be classed as pure pre-Rayne...okay its probably Rayne. Enjoy!
Let it Rayne
Jayne likes the rain. It always puts him in a good mood. He tilts his head back and lets the rain hit his face coolly.
A few metres away River dances in the rain, swirling herself about until her yellow sundress is clinging to her body. Occasionally she reaches down and splashes her hands through the puddles at her feet.
"River, you'll catch cold. Come in out of the rain," Simon calls to his sister, from his position underneath a large red umbrella alongside Kaylee and Inara on Serenity's ramp. The posh people wanna stay outta the rain, why isn't he surprised? Kaylee just wants to stay close to the Doc and muttered something about her hair.
Book is sat inside saying something about Noah's flood. Jayne's heard the story, way back when he was a kid at Sunday school. Something about gathering animal's in twos and sticking 'em all aboard some big ship. He remembers the trouble Mal had with them cows and hopes that this Noah is more patient than the Captain.
Mal and Zoë aren't bothered by the rain. They've been wet before and they'll be wet again. And as long as they don't drown, then all is well. They have no need to take any notice of the rain.
Wash has splashed around in a few puddles but soon the downpour got too much and he retreats to the dryness of the ship and stares out at the rain.
River ignores her brother and continues to dance around. She pushes her hair back from her face with her hands, tilting her head back to the sky. She looks almost sane today. Although to be honest she ain't been so irritating lately. They have even has a proper conversation. And since she got rid of that bounty hunter he's grudgingly got a new respect for her. Although he is still annoyed she didn't wake him for the fun.
"River!" Simon shouts again.
Jayne turns, blinks rainwater from his eyes and shouts back. "Leave her be. She'll be fine Doc!"
Simon frowns but doesn't say anything else.
River dances up to Jayne and plants a kiss firmly on his cheek. Jayne just grins at her. The rain always puts him in a good mood. Makes him less inclined to kill people.
The rain makes him feel grounded. Reminds him that there are other things besides the Black. Sometimes he just likes to feel ground beneath his feet that ain't moving all the time.
River has clambered up a nearby wooden fence and is sat on the top of it staring at him. He moves to lean beside her, and shakes water from his face.
"You're going to marry me Jayne."
"Am I?" he smirks. "Well that's interestin'."
"You are," River says with certainty. "And we'll have a little farm house. And I'll learn to cook, and to sweep, and to knit. I'll knit you hats."
"And what will I do?" Jayne asks still smiling. Her delusions ain't hurting no one, and the rest of the crew is well out of earshot.
"Make love to me," she says. "And glower at the neighbours."
Jayne laughs out loud. "I'm sure I could manage that Crazy."
"Jayne!" Mal's voice comes clearly from the ship. "Time to get gone! Round up our little witch there's a good mercenary."
Jayne pulls a face and pushes himself upright. "Come on."
River looks at him.
"What?" he asks. "You can defeat a big bad bounty hunter but can't get down from a fence?"
She stares at him. Gorram girl actually pouts. Just like Kaylee does. Oh Jayne was gonna have words with the mechanic for teaching her that look.
"Fine," he growls, pretending to be more annoyed than he really is. He grabs hold of her waist and lifts her to the ground.
"Thank you Jayne dear," she says.
"You'll stop that right now!" Jayne snaps walking back across the field.
River hurries to keep up with him and forces her hand into his.
"Wey!" he says trying to extract himself, but she has a surprisingly strong grip for a girl and he doesn't want to hurt her. "Fine."
River smiles at him and for one moment Jayne thinks that glowering at their neighbours might be a sweet deal.
The End