A pair of scantily clad women walked past Jayne and Kaylee. Kaylee glanced over at the younger of the two and smiled slightly as Jayne's eyes dutifully followed the women's passing figures. He even turned his head to make sure he watched them leave and caught them from all possible angles. Then he turned his head forward again and Kaylee sighed.
She and Jayne had been walking on this crowded beach for little over an hour and Jayne had not said one word to her. She had been excited at the prospect of getting off her beloved Serenity for a few hours to explore this tiny planet with its millions of islands and even more beaches. She had been feeling down, not even River had wanted to come with her, but had brightened back up when Jayne volunteered to go on-planet with her, to make sure she didn't come to any trouble. Or, since trouble seemed to like to find the crew of the hapless Serenity, he would be there to see that trouble got a few holes in the kneecaps; maybe even in the brainpan, if it really wanted to fight.
Of course, Kaylee didn't really have any worries about finding trouble on Caspian. She just looked forward to wearing her new bathing suit, something that she and Inara had worked on together, sewing it out of some of the Companion's old gowns. It was a shimmering work of silks that Inara had assured her would be quite safe to swim in. They had stitched glittering gold swatches together at the top and a deep blue at the bottom, trimmed with delicate golden ties at the shoulders and hips. Inara had been content with the outfit there, but Kaylee had protested, so the women had sewn in a glossy green middle section to attach the two pieces.
Kaylee slid off the transparent white gown that Inara had leant her and walked proudly in her new outfit. Jayne glanced over at her and blushed. Kaylee noticed immediately and bit down on her lip. She had no idea why Jayne would be embarrassed, but considered slipping the white gown back onto her slender figure.
"I wonder what the water is like," Kaylee said, hoping to break the tension between her and the mercenary. Jayne looked out over the crowd of human beings and shrugged.
"It must be nice, otherwise no one would be going in," he said with quiet logic. Kaylee frowned. She was hoping that he would say something that she could actually respond to.
"Yeah," she said lamely. She picked at her fingernails for a moment. "Do you want to go in?"
Jayne laughed shortly. "Me? In the water?" He shook his head. "I've got on too much hardware. I'd like as to not ruin everything."
"You brought guns to the beach?" Kaylee asked with a snort of laughter. Jayne shook his head loftily.
"I bring guns everywhere," he replied.
"Mal's right. You are insane."
"You're one to talk, Mrs. Serenity. At least, I'm not married to a ship."
Kaylee jumped out in front of him and prodded him in the chest with her first two fingers. To anyone watching, the sight of the small woman and the hulking man in confrontation would've been alarming. To Jayne, it was something to make him smile.
"Hey! Don't say nothing bad about Serenity. She carries your ass everywhere in this 'verse."
Jayne held up his hands. "Didn't mean nothing bad about Serenity. It's not Serenity that's the nut job."
"Hey…" Kaylee said warningly, then fell back in step beside him again. Jayne shook his head.
"I thought you wanted to check out the water, Mrs. Serenity."
"Oh, yes," Kaylee said, diverted in spite of herself. She looked toward the crashing waves. "Have you ever seen water so blue that weren't painted on?"
Jayne glanced down at her earnest face and shook his head seriously. "Don't think so."
They both paused to look at the water. It was rolling casually up to the shore in waves of clearest aqua, white tips breaking down on the white sand. Further out, the water grew darker and darker until it was a deep, dark blue. Beyond the white breakers, past the piers that stretched into the water's mouth, calmly floating inflatable rafts were where people could be seen soaking in the sun. Further past that, another island was visible. Kaylee pressed her hands together.
"I want to go swimming," she said decidedly.
"Then let's walk down to the pier. There's less people down there," Jayne said. "I don't anyone… touching me."
Kaylee burst out laughing, but nodded just the same. She decided that if Jayne was touchy about being touched, then she ought to go along with his little idiosyncrasy. After all, that would mean she would get the chance to move around in the water more, something she had been looking forward to for a long time; ever since Mal had not-so-casually mentioned that they were making a pit-stop on Caspian to pick up some cargo that needed some quiet off-world shipping. That's what Mal bragged they did best. That and Wash made a mean Western omelet with protein and freeze-dried eggs.
The pair walked and weaved and ducked through the throngs of barely covered men and women. Kaylee plucked at her swimsuit a couple of times, but finally Jayne caught her hand roughly.
"Stop it. I thought you liked that."
"Yeah, but look at what everyone else is wearing," she complained softly, feeling like a child. Jayne raised an eyebrow.
"Look what I'm wearing."
"Yeah, we totally stick out like sore thumbs," Kaylee snapped, suddenly feeling angry and irritable. Without warning him, she began to run towards the shoreline, tripping and tottering through the beach worshippers. She could hear Jayne began to pound the sand with his thick brown boots behind her, but ignored his pursuit.
The young woman reached the water and splashed in, suddenly rejoicing in feeling the cool liquid rush up and around her legs. She closed her eyes and charged in as far as the water would let her before pointing her hands above her head and diving. The water rushed around and above her head, pressing all around her. Kaylee snapped her eyes open and almost exclaimed in happy joy at the bounty of colors she could see waving at what seemed like a mile away from her underwater. She knew those colors were corals and animals, safe beyond the crushing breakers and human examination. She swam closer to the bottom and brushed her hand against the soft snowy sand on the bottom of the ocean's floor. A smile returned to her face as she surfaced.
"Don't do that!" Jayne yelled angrily as she resurfaced. Kaylee brushed the strands of errant hair away from her face and neck before turning to face him. He was standing just on the edge of the water, looking as though he were about to come crashing into waves. She shook her head.
"Do what?"
"Run away then dive under the water." He pouted for a moment before continuing. Kaylee wrung out her hair. "I can't swim."
She smiled her sunny smile at him. "That's all right. I can."
"But, how can I protect you if you run away someplace where I can't save you?" he demanded angrily.
Kaylee stared at him. "Jayne, don't get upset. This is no big deal."
He scowled at her, then stalked over to one of the long beams holding up the pier. Under shadow, his scowl looked a lot more upset than it had in the sun. Kaylee sighed and began to walk out of the water.
"Sorry," she said apologetically.
"Yeah, well…"
Kaylee approached Jayne and stood just in front of him underneath the pier. She was aware that she was dripping wet, but she didn't care. What she cared about right now was that Jayne was so bent out of shape. She had only seen him like this a couple of times before and those times had been after fights with Mal over River and Simon. She wasn't sure it if her curiosity was getting the better of her or if she really was concerned about him. It felt unsettling. She reached out and lightly brushed her fingers over his hand.
"Don't be mad," she chided gently.
Without warning, Jayne grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around so that she was pressed up against the beam beneath the pier. She started to cry out in surprise, but his mouth was over hers almost immediately. Kaylee's eyes widened and she stiffened underneath the surprising gentleness that was his kiss. Then, her eyelids fluttered shut and she felt herself relax against him. She brought her hands up and around his neck. They stayed that way until Kaylee thought she might faint from lack of air or maybe from the insistent press of Jayne's kiss.
When he pulled away from her, his eyes looking down in a rare moment of shyness, Kaylee stared up at him in wonder. Had he really just kissed her so hard and so long, like a lover would? Is that what he wanted?
"Jayne… do you…"
"We should probably get back," he said quickly, dropping his hands from her shoulders and turning away. "Mal'll be wantin' to go as soon as we're loaded up."
"We can stay a little longer, probably," Kaylee replied softly. She stood with her back pressed against the wooden beam. It was smooth, worn down by years of ocean water.
Jayne hitched his thumbs into his pant's pockets. "Yeah, probably."