Jayne worried the small scrap of paper in his large palm. It had been handled so much in the past month it has lost the feel of paper and started to feel more like cloth. The numbers in pen were clear as ever though and Jayne had already punched them into the Wave screen in front of him. He sat alone on Serenity's bridge.
It was late enough to be early and he had been stuck with the graveyard shift as punishment for Kaylee muckin' up a bit in the last job. Although Mal typically assumed that it was Jayne's fault. She'd slipped up in the tellin' of their story to the buyers and it'd tipped them off that Serenity's crew wasn't really legit. It weren't too big a deal though. He didn't mind takin' some heat for little Kaylee. Matter o' fact, it was doin' him some good, cuz it meant he got to be up here alone to finally make some time to call up River.
He'd deny it 'till after his last breathe, but he was nervous. What if she'd forgotten, what if she was just being nice, what if…? He fingered the piece of paper and grunted in frustration. Just be a man about it. Hit "send" already would ya? Big gorram pussy, ya can't just call the ruttin' girl? The mercenary took a large breathe in and hit send. Immediately he regretted it. Those seven or eight seconds it took to connect were downright terrifying. He shook himself, Gorramit, he was a merc. A big bad, nasty, scary, vicious, mercenary and no little slip of a girl was gonna get him all nervous!
The screen in front of him flickered into life and he was greeted by River's living room… empty of River. Quickly though, she appeared in the screen. A frown of confusion on her pretty face. When she saw him though, she lit up.
"Jayne! Hi." She said, smiling that smile he thought he'd forgotten and it swept him away all over again.
"Hey there, girl. How are ya?"
She shrugged. "I'm fine. I just finished with rehearsal."
There was a moment's pause. "That hun dan still giving you trouble?" He asked. She giggled a little bit and Jayne raised an eyebrow.
"I cut him from the show. He was a minor part anyway."
Jayne smirked. He hadn't really gotten to know her all too well that night, but so far he was liking her. "Good work, darlin'." She blushed a little bit when he called her darlin'.
"Are you…" She ducked her head down and her hair swung forward to hide an embarrassed grin. "Are you back on Osiris?" He smiled and because the screen only showed her from the waist up, he couldn't see her knees shaking a tiny bit.
"No, in 'bout a week I will be, though." She bit her lip and suddenly Jayne wanted desperately to do the same.
"Um… that's… quite a coincidence." She murmured.
"Why?"
"That's when my show opens." Jayne's heart dropped into his stomach. She'd be so busy, she certainly wouldn't have time for him.
"I take it you'll be awful busy." He said, scowling.
River frowned at him. "Well, obviously during my performance, yes. But… afterwards… if you would like to meet up I don't see why we couldn't meet" She ended hopefully. Jayne grinned.
"That sounds… a'right." River was glowing. Even over a Wave he could see how she just radiated light.
"Actually, if you'd like to come to my performance, I certainly have tickets. No one but Simon ever comes."
Simon? Who the hell was that? River saw his snarl of worry and giggled a little. "He's my brother, the trauma surgeon."
"In Capital City, right." Jayne grunted, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"So, would you like to come?"
"Uh… I aint never been to a ballet thing before." He admitted gruffly. She shrugged and the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile.
"Experience in these matters is irrelevant. Participation will only lead to knowledgeable instances." Jayne frowned. What?
River's cheeks instantly turned pink. "Um… sorry. I meant… that there's a first time for everything." Jayne looked down at his scuffed boots, waiting out the awkward moment.
"What do I wear to a shindig like that?"
"It's a black tie affair."
Jayne groaned. "I don' wear monkey suits…" her face fell and he almost kicked himself "all that often. You gon' force me ta get all fancified, Miss Tam?" He finished in a rush, playfully ribbing her.
She giggled in response. "Only if you want to come."
He sighed a little bit. "Sure. I'll be there with bells on." With BELLS on? He wanted to slap himself just for saying it.
She clapped her hands in girlish delight. "Thank you, Jayne! You'll love it, I'm positive! And you won't even have to go to the after party, I can easily duck out of that. And I'll get you box seats with a perfect view of the stage, and I'll ask Simon to be nice and I can even reserve tickets for the rest of your crew!" Jayne watched the girl babble like a champ, he was pretty sure she hadn't yet taken a breath. She was so… excited. He wondered if anyone ever came to watch her, just for her. Maybe that brother of hers.
"Uh… I mean, I'd have to ask them, I dunno what they'd say."
"What we'd say about what?" A voice said from behind him. Jayne nearly jumped out of his skin he was so surprised. He whipped around fast enough that he knew his neck was gonna pay the price later and had his gun on Mal and Zoe before he could find half a second to wonder where they'd come from. He sighed heavily and scowled at them.
"Jesus Mal, don't scare a fella like that. Like to get yerself shot at."
"I'm used to that at this point, Jayne. So, where's this pretty gal invitin' us, and why?"
"How long ya been standin' behind me?" He grumped.
"Jus' walked in now." The Captain said sunnily, waving jauntily to River who looked a little confused but waved back shyly.
"Uh… River… dances… and there are… tickets…." He said, incredibly awkward.
Zoe raised an eyebrow at him and smirked a little bit. "What?" She said.
River gracefully took up the explanation. "I'm a dancer. Jayne says that the next time your crew docks on Osiris, I will have a performance. I invited him and when he said he would like to come I extended the invitation to the rest of your crew."
"A dancer." Mal said slowly. And Jayne could see the wheels turning in his smutty head. He was on the fast track to asking if she was a stripper, and Jayne could see that ending badly.
"Yeah, she's a ballerina." Jayne gritted out, telling Mal with his eyes to keep his trap shut. Never one to pick up on any social cues, Mal's eyebrows shot up exaggeratedly.
"Ballerina."
River frowned a little bit, and Jayne was having no problem with the fact that Mal was coming off like a real idiot.
"Yes, sir. With the OCBC. "
"Beg pardon?"
"The Osiris Core Ballet Company." The Captain looked shocked. He made a face at Jayne. An oh-you-were-serious face. And Jayne made it clear by expression alone what a hun dan he was making of himself. Mal didn't take kindly to that.
"Aw, gee Miss." Mal said, and Jayne wanted to kick in his teeth for that fake and gorram near insulting smile he was smiling at River. "That'd be real shiny. We'd love to." Jayne threw a fierce glare and Mal and the Captain actually moved half a step back, and he lost the smile too.
Zoe looked deeply amused. "How do you and Jayne… uh, know each other?" She asked, keeping a huge smile down. Jayne sneered at her. He got it, how did dumb rim-born Jayne even meet this kind of girl, let alone impress her enough to voluntarily spend time with him? Just because he occasionally wondered that himself didn't mean he was keen on other folks talkin' on it out loud.
"We're old friends." He said, a nasty expression fixed on his face. But he smoothed it out when he turned back to River. "Aint that right, darlin'?"
She surveyed the scene with interest and nodded, appeasing him. "Indeed. So I'll have those tickets reserved in your name at the door. How many are there of you?"
Jayne did a quick mental inventory. Five crew plus Inara, and he figured she'd like that sorta thing, plus Mal would go non-verbal seeing her all decked out for a night at the ballet. Non-verbal Mal was gonna be a key factor in surviving this nightmare.
"Six"
River's eyes widened in delight. Six people coming to see her.
"Wonderful! And… I'll see you in a week, Jayne?" She said, a teasing little smile firmly in place. He smiled at her; she just pulled him right out of his foul mood.
"Yeah, babe. 'Till then." River smiled in that dazzling way once more and cut the connection. Jayne cut his and turned to his Captain and the first mate. They were looking real damn curious. Jayne sighed, this couldn't end well.
Five and a half days later found the crew as they were plus Inara around the table in the galley. Jayne had his feet up on the table with his chair balancing on the two back legs. Wash looked up from his breakfast to address everyone.
"Five hours max. until we're parked on Osiris, guys." Everyone turned to Mal and gave him a look. He'd been mighty secretive about this whole caper and with just five hours to get it right, everyone was a touch nervous. Jayne wouldn't have been surprised if Wash had gotten them there early on purpose, just to get it out of Mal what the gorram plan was.
Mal sighed and stood up. Jayne rocked back and forth idly on the two back chair legs while he started going over their latest caper.
"So we're gonna drop these goods with our middle man, Jameson, yeah? He's gonna hold 'em for two days while negotiations hold up. Once the highest bidder gets these good and he gets paid, we're gonna get paid, dong ma? Now droppin' these off is like to be a mite tricky on account o' this chemical we're pushin' aint 'xactly legal on the core."
Inara frowned and stopped fussin' with her tea cup behind him. She sounded confused. "Chlorotetra Hydride is perfectly legal on Osiris. It's a common basis for medicine." Mal looked irritated.
"They teach you that at Whore School?"
The look on Inara's face made Jayne chuckle. "Oh Mal, so witty and original. You really keep me on the tip of my toes wondering what you'll say next."
Mal grinned at her in mock-pride. Then turned back to his crew. "But she does got a point. It's not legal cuz the Alliance don't wanna let anyone else transport it, too valuable and they want thems profits all to themselves. So no tellin' folk what we're transportin' right out, yeah? We clear on this?"
There was a chorus of general agreement. "And so, that leaves us two shiny days in the middle that we don't got nothin' to do but sit and wait. And originally I was gonna keep ya'll on this boat like we usually do when we hit the Core. But, it appears our Jayne has now procured us some alternative entertainment." All eyes snapped to Jayne and he got uncomfortable of a sudden, his rocking stilled.
Kaylee looked excited, Inara looked confused, Zoe and Wash looked amused. Jayne shifted in his seat a little bit. "Uh, ya'll wanna go ta the ballet?" There was a shock wave that went around the room that Jayne might have found chuckle worthy if he weren't the cause of it.
Kaylee spoke first. "Oh yeah! Can we get dressed up?"
"Kinda hafta, I think."
Kaylee just about burst with happiness and leaped up to hug Jayne so tight he nearly choked. Powerful grip that girl had on her. "Oh this is gonna be so SHINY, Jayne! I've never been to a ballet before! Oh my goodness what am I gonna wear? What's it about? How did ya even get the tickets?!" Girl hadn't taken a single breathe yet. He found it cuter on River.
"Yeah, Jayne, I think I'm curious too." Wash murmured, for once, not a bit sarcastic.
Jayne came up short on an answer for that. He didn't really have a label for what River was to him… he told Mal they was old friends but obviously that weren't the truth. He could tell the honest truth and say that the best sex of his life was ballerina who was just plain generous, but he didn't like the way that sounded even in his head. River was a bit more than that, even if he didn't have a label ready for her. Mal answered for him though.
"Apparently, he's got a friend what's in the show."
Kaylee smiled even wider. "Shiny! Can we meet him?!"
Jayne scowled. "Her. Woman, not man."
Unmoved, Kaylee pressed on. "Can we meet her?"
Again, uncomfortableness. The merc was sure River wouldn't mind one bit, seein' as she was so happy to have folk comin' in the first place. But he didn't know if he quite wanted to… share her. River Tam was his gem of a discovering and while he had no right viewin' her as 'his', he still did. Inara saved him from that question with one of her own.
"Wait, what's the name of the show?" Jayne vaguely remembered River telling him that in the bar the night they'd met, sometime between the dancing and the sexing.
It was on the tip of his tongue. "Um… Trip Underground? I think." Inara's looked at him with no small amount of doubt.
"Journey to the Underworld?! River Tam's new production?" She enthused.
Jayne nodded, wondering how she knew too. Mal looked at her sideways. "How do you know River Tam?"
Inara shot Mal a completely withering glance, one that seemed to state he was clearly of no importance in the universe at large. "How do I know River Tam? I'm sorry, are you acquainted personally with the Tam family?"
Mal scowled at her. "And what if I am? Tha'd be difficult to consider, would it?"
"Not terribly, I'm sorry what was her brother's name again? And his profession?" Mal glared at her fiercely. Jayne grinned widely. And after a long pause he got the opportunity to do somethin' rare and wonderful, out-do the Captain.
"Simon's a trauma surgeon in Capital City." He said, with a tone that might have been helpful, had it not been uncontrollably smug. Inara looked a tiny bit surprised but spurned her inquiries in favor of throwing an equally smug look in Mal's direction.
"So we've covered that Jayne is indeed a friend of River's. We've yet to determine if you are a friend, however."
Mal looked like he'd just eaten something bitter. "Not as such, but she seemed awful nice over the Wave consol when Jayne and I had a chat with her." The companion looked as if she had immense trouble believing that.
Inara took a seat at the table with a small smile. Kaylee diffused the tension in the room as per usual. "What's she like?" Kaylee asked Jayne.
He got a tad bit awkward. "Well, she's real pretty… um, funny. Nice." Even to his own ears it sounded lame. He realized as he grappled for information how little he knew about River's personality. He could probably divulge in detail every last damn thing about her body, from what spot she was ticklish (just behind her knee) to the sound she made when she came (that gorram sexy gasp). But somehow he thought they wouldn't be too keen on hearin' that. He latched onto the one thing he really did know about her.
"You'd like her, Kaylee. She's really…"
"Sweet." Jayne looked startled as Inara said the word in unison with him. But he nodded anyway. Kaylee looked so excited she might just burst.
"Oh! Tell me more!" Thankfully, she'd directed this at Inara. The companion seemed to light up from the inside. For the first time ever, Jayne saw her mask slip a bit as she gushed.
"River? She's absolutely, without question, the most famous ballerina in the Core. She does choreography, production, dances, sets the music. She's a genius."
Wash laughed. "Tell us what you really think Inara."
Mal seemed in the mood to put Inara down, as usual. "She's a gorram 'genius' cuz she can make up a couple dances and write some songs?"
Inara didn't even pause to consider his snippy tone. "Actually, she's literally a genius. A child prodigy. Well, now an adult prodigy. Her IQ is something like the second highest in the galaxy. For years as a child she went through school after school in which she surpassed everyone, including the faculty. Then for a few months she went to some government sponsored academy, then came back without a word as to why." The companion spoke this in hushed tones, like it was some huge bit of gossip. Maybe on the Core it was.
Jayne rocked more fervently on his chair legs, trying to digest all the information. Second highest IQ in the galaxy? Inara weren't prone to exaggeration so it must have been true enough to share. It's not like he thought River was dumb or anything, but it was a weird sensation to think that somebody with a brain the size of a small moon had the bad sense to take a hun dan like him home. Maybe they were a special case. Inara continued the story despite Jayne's growing inner turmoil.
"After that, she enrolled in the Osiris Ballet Academy. And she was a member of the company by fifteen. That's unheard of. Earning a spot in the company is known to take trained professionals years at best. I saw her first creation, her first ballet that she designed… a reproduction of the famous piece Giselle from Earth That Was. I was astounded. I must have cried for an hour afterwards. I swear she moved me to tears. There is no dancer like her out there. She's already made history and she's only eighteen."
Only eighteen??! Only eighteen??! Jayne's feet fell off the table and his chair came crashing down onto the floor. Inara stopped to stare at him curiously. He waved her off and motioned to continue the story, all the while having heart palpitations.
Eighteen was legal, right? RIGHT? Oh… GOD, thought Jayne, please let eighteen be legal!
"So she's good?" Kaylee asked.
"She's extraordinary. You're all in for a real experience. I'm terribly jealous." She admitted, smiling though.
Jayne was too busy thinking of how he was probly gonna burn in hell or jail or both to give that much more thought than was required. "Yer coming with, got ya a ticket." He said distractedly. "Less'n ya got a client."
Inara smiled brightly. And it was a mark to how distressed Jayne was that he didn't notice or milk it at all. "Well, that's wonderful! Thank you, Jayne."
"Yeah." He muttered in return, getting up and leaving the room. The crew looked after him strangely and Inara voiced the question that was burning inside her. "I wonder how they met." She murmured softly.
Mal looked put out. "No quesitonin' as to if Jayne knows the girl but I gotta get put through the third degree?"
Zoe threw a wry look in Mal's direction. "Sir, he does know her. And you… well, don't." Inara hid her hearty chuckle behind her hand delicately.
"Yeah, but she din' know that." Mal muttered, jerking a thumb in Inara's direction.
"It's obvious that he knows her. He got the tickets and he knows Simon. Or presumably, River had told him about Simon. They're very close. If you know River, it's likely you know Simon."
"Whose Simon? That her brother the doctor?" Kaylee seemed interested. Inara nodded gently.
"Yes, he'll probably be at the ballet. He never misses one of River's shows. Especially not an opening night." Kaylee went off into a tizzy of girly-like excitement.
Jayne jogged the whole way to his bunk and spent a good long time pacing back and forth like a caged animal. What was he gonna do? What was he gonna do? He'd have to talk to her before hand. What had Wash said, five hours until they were parked? Jayne figured maybe an hour at most to deliver their goods. And then he could find her.
"His name is what?"
River sighed and threw a scornful look at her brother over her shoulder as she retrieved some ingredients from her refrigerator. Wednesday morning breakfast was something of a tradition for them. For almost two years Wednesday had been his morning off and her day off. It was always held in River's kitchen. She cooked up breakfast while he sat on the other side of the cooking island and sipped his coffee. Simon was hopeless in a kitchen. The only thing he could make was coffee strong enough to wake the dead, or as the case may have been, stay awake at three in the morning to reattach someone's foot. Trauma surgery never had a specific time range. But that's why when he came to River's, she made the coffee. Simon was looking at his sister in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, River, you met someone and his name was what?"
"Jayne. His name was Jayne."
Simon set his coffee cup down and leaned forward to stare at her. "Jayne is a girl's name."
River returned his skeptical look with a smug one. "Well trust me, Jayne is not a girl."
Her brother's hand flew to his heart. "River! You didn't…"
She laughed brightly. "Yes, Simon, I did."
His voice was a shocked whisper. "In this apartment?!"
She couldn't stop laughing. "No, in the elevator! Of course in this apartment."
Simon's eyes flew around and he hastily removed his hands from the counter and looked at it warily. "Where?"
River collapsed back against the refrigerator giggling. Simon, her dear, dear ge ge, was SUCH an easy mark.
"In the bed, you pervert." Simon relaxed and put his hands back on the counter. "Then of course on the counter." She added, fibbing to see his face go white. He did not disappoint.
He shot back form the table and then noticed her laughter had doubled. He threw her a harsh look. "That was not funny, you brat."
She stumbled back over to the counter, wiping away the tears of mirth forming at the corners of her eyes. "You don't know what humor is then, Simple Simon." She used her favorite nickname for him. He rolled his eyes and took his seat once more.
"So, he's going to be at the show?"
"Yes." She said, laying the ingredients down and beginning preparation for waffles, which were Simon's favorite.
"And what is his last name?" Simon said, affecting a faux innocent look and averting his eyes as I the subject didn't interest him at all. River could play that game.
"Why should it matter?" She said lightly, measuring out a cup of flour out. Simon twitched under her significantly better played indifference.
"It shouldn't." He said tightly, waiting for her response which never came. He sighed in frustration. "It shouldn't, but you know it does. This can't go anywhere if he isn't from a respectable family, River."
River put down her measuring cup to glare at him. "You are a snob and a half, Simon Tam!"
Simon glared right back at her. "River, this is not a game! Father wants you engaged and settled within the year, you know that."
"What I know is that I am not obligated to do anything! I am completely free to do whatever I please. I have a job, I have an apartment which I pay for and I've paid you and father back in full for everything you've ever given me. There is no one person that controls anything I do. And there will not be, not now nor anytime in the future."
Simon pounded his fist on the table. Not hard, his hands were his career, after all. "River, please!"
"He's not from any respectable family Simon, he's just a man I met that I liked. I'm sorry that doesn't meet your standards!"
"Mei mei, please listen to me. You are the most eligible bachelorette in Capital City. You come from excellent breeding, you are famous throughout the Core. There is no one you couldn't arrange a betrothal to if you had a mind to. I'm not talking about marriage right now, I'm talking about sometime. But it must be arranged soon."
River looked at her very serious brother and held back tears. "And if I refuse to?"
Simon squirmed and looked at her sadly. "Then father will have no choice but to disown you. It's the law of Osiris. The daughter of a man whose income and impact on society is of a certain level must be betrothed by her nineteenth year or she has no place in the family. Father can't stand the thought of losing you, River. Please."
He reached across the counter and took her slightly flour dusted hand and squeezed it gently. River let her tears spill over. Her freedom and her independence were of the utmost importance to her. She hated when he brought this subject up, it hurt to think about that day ahead when she would still not have changed her mind. It was not in who she was to marry someone who she did not love. River let go of Simon's hand and continued to mix the waffle batter.
"Simon, I don't want to have this conversation. We have so little time together as is. And we will have less when you are married. I don't want what time we have left to be spoiled. Let's just have breakfast."
Simon nodded awkwardly and settled back into his chair. He broke into the silence a few moments later with a hesitant tone. "I know that I will have to move out of the apartment complex when I marry Amanda. I won't be a floor away but I hope you know that I will make time for you."
River sighed and shrugged a little bit. "You can only make time from what little time you have Simon." His shoulders slumped in defeat and he went back to staring at his slowly draining coffee cup. They had their breakfast in silence and then he left for the hospital.
River had left over batter and continued to make waffles, needing something methodical with clear steps to follow to take her mind off of her discussion with her brother. When she had finished, she paced nervously for several minutes before grabbing her light coat and slipping on a pair of sandals. She needed a walk. Imagine her surprise when she opened her door to find Jayne on the other side, his hand raised as if just about to knock.
"Hi" She said, smiling.
"Hi" he said.
They stared at each other for a moment. "Come in." She said, completely forgetting about her walk. This was a much better plan.