Title: She Missed Her Space Monkey
Rating: G
Characters: River, Jayne
Timeline: Post-BDM
River wandered through the passageways of Serenity, looking for something, anything, to entertain her.
Kaylee was busy with Simon, so she had no one to play with. Captain and Inara were fighting over landing on planets where she could find work, as usual. Zoe was on the bridge, lost in memories of Wash, and not wanting to be interrupted.
And River, well, she wandered from room to room, wanting something to occupy her time.
She never expected Jayne's absence to affect her as much as it was. It wasn't like they ever got along, or even acknowledged each other for that matter.
He tended to ignore her, in fact. Since the events on Mr. Universe's moon, he'd stopped trying to get rid of her, but had taken to pretending she wasn't there. When she'd enter a room, he wouldn't even look up to acknowledge her presence. He knew she was there, of course, he always knew, but he would never recognize her being there.
He would still make Simon crazy by tearing apart the infirmary, even when he knew exactly where the thing was that he was looking for. He would still make crude comments at meal times, and tease Kaylee mercilessly now that she was sleeping with Simon. He would goad Mal into arguments, just to have something to do.
But he pointedly ignored River, even when she took to putting herself in his lap to get his attention. He would just stand up and leave the room, dumping her onto the floor or table, not so much as uttering a word.
Then he had left, without explanation or warning. Walked right off the ship on some back-water moon after he had gotten paid from a job that had gone surprisingly well.
And that left River, drifting aimlessly from room to room.
She missed her space monkey.