The Coat Kiss
"I'll be along in a minute," Mal grunted irritably.
"Whatever you say, Sir…" Zoe replied carefully before following Jayne towards the cargo bay.
He had gotten stabbed in the shoulder on their last job. He was moving slower than usual and his coat was fighting back. Everywhere he moved he felt shots of pain surge down to his fingertips.
"Ai ya ju qingwa-chuo mugou waitao!" he cursed harshly after attempting to pull the coat on again.
"Heard you," she said from the corridor.
"Conjure the whole gorram rock heard me," he growled.
River floated over to him and took the coat from him. He didn't argue. He was mad at the damn thing. If it hadn't been snowing outside he would have forgotten about fighting with it and marched on out anyway.
"Arm," she instructed as she held the coat open behind him. He easily slipped his arm, the one attached to the good shoulder, into the sleeve.
She walked around towards the front of his other side. He moved his arm towards the other sleeve painfully. She gingerly took it in her hand and helped it through.
"Thanks," he muttered.
"My pleasure, Captain."
She loved that coat. It was soft and smelled like him. She fixed the sleeves and then the front lightly to prolong the time before he had to leave. He wasn't raring to go, so he allowed the distraction.
"Got a readin' on this one?" he asked while she fidgeted with his collar.
"Nothing substantial."
Her eyes met his. She made a face and started to smooth down some of his ruffled hair.
"Thanks, lil' albatross. I have to get goin' now."
She gripped the front of his coat and pulled him down into a quick kiss on the lips.
"Be careful, Captain."
She smoothed down the wrinkles her hands made and then simply skipped away leaving him confounded. He touched his mouth like he was expecting there to be blood or something on his lips. There had to be something, he figured, since they still tasted like her.
"Sir?" Zoe called.
He walked down to the cargo bay. "Sorry. I had to get my coat on."
Zoe looked at him oddly, trying to figure out what there was about putting a coat on that could make him smile like that.
(Ai ya ju qingwa-chuo mugou waitao: Damn stubborn frog-sucking bitch coat)