"I can bake chocolate chip cookies." River said, pouting fiercely. Jayne looked up from his position in the corner, hardly a foot away from her.

"What the hell ya goin' on about?" he demanded roughly.

River sighed as if she was very put upon indeed. "Captain Daddy insists that we must work well together. We are to be partners in crime, we must get to know each other. You know most of my story from Simon, I choose to offer you facts that no one else knows of me."

Jayne scowled at her angrily. "How come you aint talkin' crazylike?"

"Would you rather I talk in riddles around you?" She said, with a raised eyebrow. The large mercenary shifted his weight in the tiny space and silently cursed Mal for the hundredth time for locking him in the supply closet with River.

"No. Just wonderin' why you aint... dunno... all've a sudden, s'all."

River shrugged. "I've been getting better… since Miranda. If I am solitary or with only one other person, I can shut them out and refuse to hear their thoughts. Before I had no choice, I heard everything. I can be myself now."

Jayne felt a serious uncomfortableness. Girl was actually makin' sense and it was not helpin' his calm any. "So what, now yer sane?" The girl shrugged and the strap of her too big dress fell off her shoulder. Without thinking, he reached over the six inches separating them on the floor of the tiny closet and lifted it back on. She smiled at him.

Jayne wasn't exactly sure about how it made him feel. Sort of… squirmy in his stomach. Restless. Jumpy. He didn't like it. "I'm getting there." She said honestly.

Jayne sighed heavily. And the better she got, the more he would have to work with her. Mal seemed awful set on the idea of makin' him and River into the next Cap and Zoe.

"I play guitar." He offered. River scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What?!" He demanded in an offended manor.

"Everyone knows that! Tell me something just for me. That only I will know." The merc huffed and considered this request. He weren't a man to give away secrets about himself, it took power from him. And that didn't generally sit right with Jayne Cobb. But… if she was gonna be his permanent-like partner, she'd have a hell of a lot o' power anyways. The power to let him live or die. Jayne inwardly seethed. Well, he best get on with this little trust exercise of his beloved Captain's.

"I… can juggle." River's face lit up, and the large man was a little repulsed with himself for finding it kinda not repulsive.

"What?"

"What can I juggle? Damn near anything. Could juggle you if'n there were two more." He said proudly. She laughed and he didn't really hate it. "Yer turn." He muttered.

The small girl beside him frowned briefly in thought. "I like to climb trees."

A brief pause.

"I like to dance."

She stared in wonder at him. "Dance? Really? What kind of dance?" She was eager and had scooted closer to him, their thighs touching. But oddly, Jayne hadn't really noticed that. He was focused on answering her.

"Not fancy dancin' like yer doin' all the gorram time. But if'n I got me a partner and a good song I'll swing all night."

"Two step. Ragtime. Square dancing. Swing dance?"

"Yup, all o' that."

"Will you dance with me?" She asked, her face shining with hope.

Jayne shrugged nervously. "I aint promisin' to be as good as you 'er anything…"

"Irrelevant. Not a factor. Excessive skill is not compulsory only the free will to use it!" She said, beaming. He looked confused. "When I get excited, I babble in large words. I meant… it does not matter if you are a great dancer, only that you will agree to dance with me." She could have been hallucinating, but she swore she saw him blush just the faintest bit.

"Alright. Next time we're dirt side, you wanna go fer a spin, guess I could oblige. That's my favorite word: oblige."

River giggled brightly and hugged his bicep when he agreed to dance with her. She did not think to let go when he reverted back to their exchange of information. But neither did he think to tell her to get off him. "I like math."

It was Jayne's turn to scoff. "Hey now! Everyone knows that! Tell me somethin' intrestin'!" River made a face at him and thought it over. Would she tell him? He'd certainly find it interesting.

"I'm on birth control." She whispered, resting her chin on his bicep, her dainty hands still wrapped around it. Jayne managed to choke on air and spent to next 10.56 second coughing loudly.

"What?! Why? Does the Doc know?" He sputtered. She grinned like the Cheshire cat. Jayne was mildly shamed that it quickened his heart beat the tiniest bit.

"Simon doesn't know. Inara put me on it about a week after Miranda. Said that I was clearly an adult and should be protected like one." Jayne was breathing a little harder than he reckoned a man like him had a right to with a young girl attached to their arm. "You're turn." She sing-songed. Jayne tensed, how could he follow that up?

"Mal thinks I name my weapons an' things after whores I been with. That ain't so… I just got that many brothers and sisters back home. When I ran outta proper names, I started usin' nicknames."

River giggled happily. "I have a tattoo." She said.

Jayne's jaw hit the floor. "That's a fab-ri-cation! I see you naked a'fore, and you aint got no such thing."

River laughed at him. "I'm being truthful!" She said, standing up and turning around. She inched up the hem of her dress and Jayne couldn't help the smirk that wandered onto his face.

"This fictional tattoo wouldn't happen to be in a… naughty place?" River snorted in derisive laughter and presented the back of her knee for him to examine.

"Hardly. And how many years have you accumulated, four? Naughty place, indeed." He didn't even spare her a glance as he pinched her calf in retaliation. She squeaked in protest and Jayne chuckled to himself. They actually got on kinda… nicely if'n they weren't snappin' at each other. His eyes caught something in the fold of her knee. He squinted and suddenly he saw it, tiny numbers only a couple shades darker than her skin tone. R18217T8LV. Huh.

"I'll be damned, ya do got one."

"Was not telling falsehoods. I very rarely, if ever, lie." She said, sighing and plopping down sideways next to him. Her back rested against his folded legs and her head lolled easily on his knee cap and lower thigh. Jayne's mouth became a bit dryer than usual.

"Whadda' ya lie 'bout, when ya do?" River averted her eyes and played with the hem of her dress.

"Mostly when Simon asks if I've been having nightmares." Her voice was soft and sweet. And her bare knees were showing. They were silky smooth, he knew.

"That seems like a right dumb thing to lie about." Jayne said. River shook her head fiercely.

"If I say that I have, he will poke at me with needles and drugs and put me to sleep. Sleep is the problem. I don't even have the luxury of being able to wake myself up. I am trapped." Jayne crossed his arms uncomfortably. He could tell that's all she was gonna say on the subject. And oddly, where he normally would have poked and prodded to fufill his own curiosity, he found himself willing to puzzle it out later so she didn't have to talk about it now.

"My mother makes the best gorram pancakes a soul ever tasted."

"I hate all the clothes Simon's picked out for me."

"I could be nudged into takin' ya linge-rie shoppin'."

River grinned to herself. "You would do that for any woman on Serenity, that is not a secret."

"I'd be content if it was one from yer brother."