Disclaimer: Don't own, don't profit.

A/N: This story, along with Madness, was written for language class using stupid vocabulary words that everybody knows. Our wonderful educator seems to think that the advanced class can't handle words like 'nemesis' or 'subtle.' I will underline the vocab words so that you, too, can laugh at the stupidity of this assignment. At least I could get a bit of fanfic out of it...


River lay curled up in Jayne's bed, cocooned in an intricate quilt that his mother had knitted for him. A soft sob escaped her throat. Just when her life had gotten better, it had to fall apart again. She should have seen it coming. It was Murphy's Law. A nonscientific constant, with too much evidence to ignore.

It was a bit ironic that Jayne had left her. Everybody thought that her interest in him had been feigned, that she didn't really care about him. But she did.

Nobody understood why. Why would they? River was from a very affluent family on Osiris, while Jayne was raised on the Rim in a family of working-class welders. River was happy and taken to fantasy. Jayne was the textbook definition of aloof. River often garrulously prattled on, while Jayne remained obstinately silent. River was congenitally intelligent, whereas Jayne, in all veracity, was an imbecile.

Their differences were not simple nuances. They were quite far from subtle. However, the two shared things in common. River thought them a perfect match, two sides of the same coin. Jayne would good naturedly chortle when her insanity induced reveries carried on into her speech. She would roll her eyes and giggle at his rude jokes and uncouth behavior. They were two sides of the same coin.

But Jayne's timing was impeccable. As River opened her mouth to tell him that she she loved him, Jayne told her that he was leaving her. He was leaving with one side of the coin.