Notes: This was written for Secret Holiday Fic Exchange CobbandTam, LJ. Prompts provided by Sandwichzombie. Betaed by my dark lord, Elsibet34
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A perverse curiosity had finally gotten the better of her. Like a mock shadow, faint and noiseless as a whisper, she plummeted down below into the darkness of Jayne's lair, into the underworld itself. River was drawn to its cold space by the mutual frigidness hidden deep inside the ghost of herself.
Touching with well-manicured hands and looking with dilated eyes, she explored every nook and surface, analyzing and dissecting the meaning of the inanimate. There was something darker than her floating in the air, fused within the objects, imprints of the past making her soul shudder with excitement.
River slowly ran her hand over Jayne's simple dresser, fingering the smooth wooden knobs and hesitating before pulling the drawers open and peeking inside.
The odor of bittersweet cigars and metallic bullets assaulted her senses and grew stronger as she pushed the objects aside to investigate. Fingering through faded memories, she picked up a photograph of a sad little boy sitting alone by a tree. The image made her heart heavy with a familiar sorrow, one irreversible and fixed in time.
Tucking the photo next to her heart, just beneath her dress, she figured she could think of a way later to make the phantom boy smile.
Next, she floated to the bed and climbed up, crawling like a cat over its surface and stretching her limber body over the rough blankets. Gently, she laid her head onto his pillow, turning her nose into its feathered center and drinking in deep the heavy, musky scent of a dangerous man.
A chill made up of primal fear worked its way up her spine as she thought of all the things the giant might do to her if he caught her in his domain.
These feelings became confused, intertwined in the moment as they transformed from fantasy to reality. Her primal abilities screamed at her to run, but it was too late.
The hatch door was hurled open and shut in a blink of an eye, heavy boots descending in synchrony with her pounding heartbeat. Scampering off the bed, she pushed herself against the wall, wishing to be apart of the solid mass, but as the thunderous weight of him hit the ground and turned, he spotted her. Even if he hadn't, the light, feminine scent of young girl cut unnaturally through the dank.
Jayne fixed his eyes on the trembling girl just across the room and bellowed his surprise. "What the hell? Ya best have a good reason fer bein' down here!"
River squeezed her eyes shut and slid down against the wall, blindly holding her arms out in defense. "Don't hurt me. Please, I'm sorry!" She was sobbing, braced for the punishment that usually followed when she misbehaved, wandered beyond her restricted parameters.
The red faded and the tightness in Jayne's clenched jaw slackened, his anger at catching the girl in his bunk dissipating at the sight of such a pathetic creature. He let out an annoyed huff and growled out his orders. "Git up off the ground, girl. I ain't gonna hurt you."
River shook her head frantically, refusing to look up at the beast. If she met its eyes it would surely attack. "It's a trick. You wish me obsolete."
Jayne paced back and forth like a lion. What in the rutting hell was he supposed to do? He had a ball of crazy huddled in his bunk thinking he was going to…what exactly did she think he was gonna do? Huh. Maybe he could use that. "You have to a count of three ta git yer skinny butt off the ground, crazy. Got a bunch of shiny toys down here, don't make me use 'em."
He smirked as he watched her scamper up to stand at attention. Her head was hung like a misbehaved child, her long brown hair sheeting her face.
As much as her large, mysterious eyes freaked him out, always watching and burning holes straight through him, searching for his secrets, it made him that much more uncomfortable not being able to see them. They were like a concealed weapon. "Look at me, crazy. Wanna know what it is yer up to."
Red-rimmed eyes met his own sharp blue ones, piercing the dim bunk with their sternness. Her chin quivered a bit under the weight of his stare and her body was failing to keep her upright. This was it, the end. She had ventured into hell and now she was going to burn there for eternity. Black fuzzed in and out before taking over completely and then her world went dark.
If he hadn't thought to panic before, the feeling was now inundating him at full force. Blankly, he stared at the passed out girl at a loss for what he should do next. No way could he go get help, the situation had it looking like sin and hellfire for him.
Stumbling backwards, he found his bed and sat down, not taking his eyes off his foreign invader, his unwanted guest. He rubbed his large hand back and forth across the stubble on his chin, the scratching sensation mechanically soothing as he contemplated his next course of action.
Figured first, he should get her off the dirty ground. Didn't much care for the feng le girl but she somehow looked out of place lying there amongst the steel and grime. She might be a freak, but she was a fancy core bred freak and them types didn't belong passed out on the floor of deadly mercenaries' bunks.
Bending down, he gently scooped the limp girl up and easily curled her to his chest, her head rolling against him with the motion. Readjusting his grip, he stood up and looked around for a moment before deciding to lay her on his bed. With more care than he would like to admit he possessed, he carefully slid his massive arms from beneath her and took a step back.
Jayne just stood there towing over her like a clueless oaf, scratching his head at how uncanny it was seeing the girl there. He couldn't remember the last time he had a female down in his bunk, let alone in his bed, and this one in particular weren't one he'd ever imagined winning that coveted arrangement.
Girls and beds carried his mind away to the place it often dwelled as he raked his eyes up the girl's long, bare legs to the tops of her tender thighs where her dress was hiked up. His thoughts lingered on the dark wonderful place just beyond and he wondered what it would be like just for a moment, all shiny and new.
The pleasurable tingling of such a notion quickly prompted him to reach over and pull the hem of the girl's dress down, out of sight out of mind.
Pacing again across the small space, he impatiently waited for her to wake up so he could tell her to get the hell out. Seconds ticked on by, fading into minutes until he found himself once again staring down at full, pouty lips, long black lashes, high cheek bones, and all the other womanly type attributes he spent long months alone in the black itching for. The visible swell of the girl's breasts, the soft curve of her hips and the graceful curve of her slender neck all taunted him with their proximity.
Jayne shook his head, physically trying to rid himself of these weird new urges. It seemed the crazy was catching. No way could he be thinking on doc's zany sister in this manner. She was still green, raw with inexperience and the total opposite of his usual preference, yet somehow the idea of uncharted territory excited him more.
He had to get the thing out of his bunk before he got any more foolish ideas. Sitting down next to River, he leaned over and grabbed a hold of her shoulders giving them a little shake. "Pssst. Girl, you in there? Time to wakey. We ain't havin' a sleep over."
River's eyes began to flutter and slowly droop open as if she were in a drug-induced state. Sleepily, she smiled up at him before realization dawned and her eyes widened in fear at the large man leaning over her. Jolting up, she scampered against the wall like a frightened animal, hitting her head on the gun rack in the process.
"Hey! Watch it! Yer gonna knock my girls down!" He reprimanded as he watched the weapons teeter and still.
River looked at the gun rack in a stupor and then blinked at Jayne before struggling to recall what had happened. The last she remembered was his blue eyes, deep and ablaze like the hottest part of the flame, melting her bones away into nothing.
Jayne could see she was confused and disoriented so he elaborated before the girl thought to have another fit. "You went all schizo and passed out. I put you on the bed an' was just waitin' fer yer crazy ass to wake up."
River looked from the floor to the bed and back to Jayne with uncertainty in her eyes.
"Now that yer done nappin', you be a good little crazy person and leave, ok?" Jayne finished is his smug condescending manner.
River's mind was spinning, this new evidence counteracting all previous findings. The sinister lord of the underworld had taken pains to place her on his bed, rescue the girl from a cold, hard resting place. He hadn't seized the opportunity to break her body or mind, to stick needles in her eyes or slice open her skull. The light of her existence hadn't callously been snuffed out by the bitter dark and blue.
River appraised the mercenary up and down, tracing every muscle with her eyes, noticing every slight imperfection and found she was fascinated by every inch, enthralled by his massive presence. How ever dark it was, it was still beautiful. She was equally excited and terrified of the threat he embodied and now realized that she had been confused by the longing of it, the want of him. There were many who wanted to hurt her, but he wasn't one of them. Her mind cleared as she reached out and touched Jayne's face. "You're just a lonely god."
Jayne wrinkled his expression up in confusion as he looked peculiarly down at the hand touching him, cool in contrast to his skin.
One minute the girl was cowering in fear and now she was stroking his face and calling him a god. Not that he minded being titled as such, but this affirmed the girl was out of her mind and needed to go.
It was then he spotted something familiar poking out the top of her thin dress. Reaching forward he plucked it out and studied it before looking back acutely at the thief in question.
Aggravation billowed just beneath the surface but he did all he could not to look to crossly at her. After all, he reasoned, she was out of it and probably didn't any know better. That and he didn't want her freaking out and passing out again. Straining his voice, he tried to sound calm. "Why'd you take this?"
River shrugged her small shoulders. "He was melancholic down here all by himself. Look." River pointed her finger towards the frown on the sandy-haired boy's face.
Jayne looked back down at the photograph as painful memories of that day flooded his mind. Her small voice cut through his thoughts. "I wanted to take him into the light. Make him happy."
Jayne looked up at River, a strange, pleasant feeling crawling through his insides. Taking in the pretty girl on his bed, smiling that loopy smile, he actually believed she could in fact, do just that.
River cocked her head to the side and added, "Plus it really stinks in that drawer. I wouldn't want to live there either."
He knew he should be mad at the girl for going through his things but a part of him wanted to laugh at the truthfulness of her logic. Looking down at the picture of himself as a boy once more, the day his big brother was put into the earth, he sighed and handed the picture back to River. "Go on, keep it."
Carefully accepting the picture, River smiled a warm smile that wrapped around him like a blanket. Locking their gazes for a moment they silently shared a new understanding.
River scooted closer to Jayne, leaning dangerously close into his personal space as she spoke, an all-knowing smile adorning her face. "You are a man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another." River's eyes were sparkling as she sat back on her feet, wondering what would come next.
Jayne stiffened, suddenly uncomfortable with the girl's change in demeanor. It made him feel all vulnerable and he weren't used to that. She was looking at him as if he were someone important and he wondered if the girl had hit her head a little too hard when she fell to the ground. "You keep that talk up, crazy, I'm takin' the picture back."
River grinned roguishly before pulling her top down a little, exposing the top part of her breast before tucking the photo away. "No take backs."
Jayne straightened up, his eyes still with the picture that had disappeared just beyond view. "Fine. We done here?"
"Yes." River slinked her way past him, sliding off the side of the bed. When her feet touched the floor she turned towards Jayne, dizzied by his heat, and let go the mythical fantasy in her head. "I will leave now, Simon needs me. But you must come and kidnap me later."
"Say what?"
"Take me back to this place. Together we will balance the order of things." River placed her hand on the merc's shoulder and steadied herself as she lifted up on her toes to reach his cheek and place a soft kiss there, sealing the deal.
Jayne watched as the girl disappeared up the ladder. Her words and actions swirled wildly around in his brain as he desperately tried to make sense of it all. He shook his head and lay back on his bed, stretching out his tired body.
No way, he weren't that lonely. He had spent an hour with her and already his head hurt. Except, he could still feel her soft lips against his skin from where she kissed him. Closing his eyes, he could smell her, his bunk drenched with soft, pretty girl.
As he drifted into slumber wearing an unconscious smile, the proposal started to sound really good.
The next morning he awoke after having the most vividly erotic dream that had ever graced his sleep before present. It left his body aching for just a taste of what the pretty pictures in his head had shown him.
In the dark, he lay there a long while wondering if it were still kidnapping if the girl asked him to do it.