River liked watching people when they slept. It was a time of silence and sincerity. No lies, no running, just breathing. Simon disproved a little. She giggled, not to loud or her current subject may awaken. Simon said it was slightly intruding and she had just called it voyeurism. In fact, she liked the word so much she ran around the ship singing it for two standard hours. Simon had eventually settled her to her cabin and soon she slept. Until she woke of course.
The floor of Serenity was cold to her bare feet but it hummed like a gentle beast. Serenity was sleeping. River smiled and hummed little nursery rhymes as she treaded over the grates and into the engine room. She could hear Kaylee sleeping from the door. Kaylee was dreaming because she was murmuring under her breath while moving and turning slowly in her sleep. River smiled down on the little mechanic.
She liked Kaylee's room, the engine room, the beating heart of her beloved Serenity. The room hummed and vibrated and everything hummed with it. River gently placed her hand on the mechanics forehead and brushed a stray piece of hair away.
"Living," she murmured as she absently let her hand fall to her side. The mechanic let out a sigh in her sleep, unaware of the observer above her. "Living," River smirked and slid out of the engine room, away from the heart beat and nearer to the cockpit.
Her bare feet were cold but her heart was warm and her tongue darted out once or twice to gloss over her thin lips. Wet, she thought mildly, but warm. Warm and wet.
Stopping, she turned towards the hatch to Zoe and Wash's shuttle and quietly opened. The heavy breathing of the couple impregnated the atmosphere of the small space and River let her eyes roll back as she breathed in the heady scent. The room reeked of copulation and she stayed hanging onto the ladder from the cabin's entrance enjoying the cold metal between her grasping fingers. The heady smell drifted into her and through her like a powerful tide. She shuddered at the heaviness and swayed on the stairs, closing her eyes and savouring the aroma created by the passionate warrior woman and the devoted pilot. She gazed down on the sleeping couple and flicked her tongue out to lick the surrounding space. "Deep," she ruled quietly and angled herself up the frame of the ladder and glided out of the hatch.
Feet returning to ground of Serenity's corridor she swept out of the tunnel and leapt across onto the other side of the spaceship. She sighed in the still air of the ship and resumed humming as she leapt silently through the emptiness.
Slowing down she stopped outside the door of the companion's shuttle. Smiling at the subtle smell of incense, she pushed the door open and stepped into the red room. The quiet breathing of Inara met her ears and River stepped closer to the companion's luxurious bed. If she had been so inclined she would have quite liked to sleep on it but she wasn't tired so she didn't. Instead she stared with her head cocked to one side and curious expression as she looked down on the lovely women. The incense was quite distracting despite its nice smell and River frowned as it flooded her nostril like a vaporous river. "Complex," she hissed at the sleeping women, with no malice but pity. "Complex," she repeated quietly as she stepped out of the shuttle and away from the incense and the companion with a tearing heart.
She briefly entertained the idea of going to the Captain's cabin but didn't. It wasn't the right time and the man was dreaming of things she didn't want to hear or see. Instead she leapt back towards the corridor and danced across the metal grates above the humming snores of the ship. She eventually stopped spinning at the entrance to the man-apes cabin. Even through the thick metal between them she could hear his deep snores as he slept in the deepest stage of rest.
Giggling slightly she glided deftly into the cabin of the ship's most aggressive dweller and settled down in the cramped space next to the man-ape himself. His breathing was deep and he would often murmur or growl in his sleep to River's amusement. His chest fell slowly and his breathing was deep. The entire picture was fascinating to the young prodigy and clutching the handlebars overhead he leaned over Jayne Cobb as he slept and lowered her face a few inches from his own. He was of course completely unaware of this.
Her lips ghosted over his but did not make contact for she was certain that Simon would surely disapprove and the man-ape may also think so, though his opinion mattered less. Leaning backwards she kneeled beside his bed and narrowed her eyes at the thin and worn out rug that hung over Jayne Cobb's vast array of firearms, each more beloved than the air he breathed. She wondered what his reaction would be if she stole them all and hid them away on the smuggling ship. She giggled softly but stopped when he growled in his sleep and his fingers tightened on the bed. For the shortest of seconds she wondered if he was awake but was instantly assured that he was not by the snore that sprang from his throat and the steady beat of his iron heart.
The atmosphere of the room was shrinking and River felt the urge to escape before it consumed her. Gripping the chilly handlebars leading up to the hatch she climbed up like a monkey in the trees with all her limbs swaying. Just before she left, she turned her head towards the sleeping man once more and whispered, "Strong,"
Once again, her feet felt warm atop the cold grated floor of serenity and feeling a rush of energy, she danced back to her cabins on the other side of the ship. She twirled and pirouetted across the floor all the while thinking they were exactly the same so why anyone thought of different words for the same thing was rather unintelligent.
She came to a graceful stop outside her brother's cabin and smiled at the sleeping form of her Simon. Silently stepping on dancer's feet to the side of his bed she reached down and tucked a stray stand of hair behind his ear. He shifted slightly and rolled on his side further across the bed. River's smile grew wider and she settled herself down gently next to her sleeping brother. Curling up beside him she kissed him softly on his forehead and closed her eyes. Just before she fell into sleep she had enough recollection to whisper one word into her brother's ear;
"Safe,"