"Simon, Captain Daddy, come to the cargo bay!" River called from the hall into the common room.
"We're coming," Simon called back, standing and taking Kaylee's hand as he walked down to the bay.
An ear piercing scream came next as Kaylee walked into the bay and registered what the fuss was about. Next came the loud gasp from Inara, Zoe and Mal.
"Whoa now, what's all this?" Mal squawked as he waived his hands in the air.
Jayne appeared in the bay and was leaning against the wall near the stairs as the crew circled the table in awe of the spread.
He hoped Kaylee wouldn't get all mushy when she discovered that he and Simon were behind it. Relief set in as River spoke for him
"Come and enjoy a Christmas feast procured by our fearless hunters."
"Holy Cow, where did all of this shiny come from?" Kaylee incredulously asked.
River quietly glanced at Jayne, who nervously looked away. However, that was enough for Mal to see and he pounced.
"So, where'd you get all'a this Jayne? I thought ya just lifted a cortex screen from a transport car when you was in town yesterday. Didn't realize you got actual loot. Seems like you both lied to me when you said you was going to get more medical supplies!"
Jayne really did look like a deer in the headlights. He quickly looked to Simon for support, and got it.
"Well, Captain, Jayne and I were having lunch the other day and happened to overhear a conversation between two, very unladylike individuals-"
"Whores, I suppose?"
River harrumphed and Inara rolled her eyes at Mal, as Simon painstakingly told the story, but left out the main reason, involving the insult to both Kaylee and River. As he finished up, everyone looked at Jayne.
"So, you two're doing jobs now without crew to back you up?"
"Naw, Mal, that ain't the case."
"Of course not!" Simon added.
"Sure looks like it to me." Mal looked a tad irritated so it was hard to tell if he was going to take them both to task or was just in a mood to give a little grief.
Jayne almost squirmed under the scrutiny, but defended himself. "The way I..we saw it, was we had to act quickly as it was on a hunch. Know what I mean?"
Mal begrudgingly shook his head in agreement as Simon took over.
"So, we cased the place and realized it was wide-open. We decided we had to act fast, so we did. We were in and out in about twenty minutes."
"And, it was the Doc's idea to lift all of the party food and booze," Jayne added.
Simon stood a bit taller and addressed Mal again. "And, we didn't think there would be time for you to, er, come up with one of your good plans, so we just did it."
"What ya talking about him having a good plan? He don't never have a good plan!"
Jayne's comment earned laughs all around and another stare of consternation from Mal. He found it oddly entertaining that Simon and Jayne would do a job together in the first place, and, even more entertaining to see them back each other up as they explained it to him.
"Simon, yer becoming quite the well rounded crew member aren't ya? Planning crime, and doing it with Jayne!" Kaylee giggled as she took his arm in hers.
He grinned back at her while River beamed behind them both.
Jayne was getting irritated with all the chattering. "So, are we gonna stand around and gab all night or are we gonna eat some of this food before it all goes to go-se?"
That got a reaction. Chairs were brought down from the kitchen and everyone filled their plates and settled in for their Christmas Eve feast. River hopped up and turned on the music as the crew began to fully absorb exactly how much loot Simon and Jayne had actually procured. River made sure she sat next to Jayne, who was still, uncharacteristically chivalrous with her and attentive, while still not being obvious about it to the crew.
Over the dinner converstaion, Jayne divulged the sheer amount of booze and electronics they took in, while neglecting to mention the gun and go-se he personally took for River, and Mal, Zoe and he began to discuss how they would unload the goods. It was decided they'd go to Santos and use their contacts there to find a buyer.
Simon and Kaylee were now dancing, or at least trying to, while Zoe and Inara did the same and shared Simon as their partner. River had coaxed Mal up for a waltz and Jayne decided that now was a good time to disappear for a bit as dancin' weren't his thing.
He heard their laughter and revelry fade as he quickly went to his bunk and grabbed the lavender silk bedspread and pillows he'd snagged for River. He got into her room and laid the ornate covering over her bed and tossed the pillows on top. He went back to his bunk and brought the matching lamp and set it on her table. He'd leave the rest of the stuff under the tree in a sack for she and Kaylee to go through tomorrow morning so he tossed it all back in the crate, but stopped and dug out the silver brush and comb and hand mirror and went back to place them on the table next to her lamp. He thought the room now looked fitting for the pretty little genius/assassin. He whistled as he headed back to the cargo bay.
--
River and Kaylee had danced and drank just a bit too much and were tired out. Inara and Zoe, as well as Mal, who normally didn't lift a finger when it came to anything food related, carried all of the food up into the kitchen and packaged it all up to put in the freezer so they could enjoy it later. Kaylee and River had now made their way back into the common room and were looking on the cortex for movies and settled on "A Christmas Carol." Simon, who'd seen it so many times before was experiencing it like his first time, through Kaylee's eyes. Nobody seemed to notice Jayne's rapt attention towards the film except River. He lowered himself into the large chair as she, Kaylee and Simon lay on the floor. As the movie played, River stood to go grab her quilt on her bed. Jayne was focused on the movie and didn't notice her leave until he heard her running, clap trap back into the galley.
"Simon, ge-ge, it's like spring-time in my room! Thank you!"
Simon, having no idea what she was talking about turned to try and get up from the floor as she bowled him over and hugged him, knocking him back to the floor.
"Ooff, River, my goodness, what are you so excited about," he grinned as he hugged her back.
"She lovers her present. It's pretty and even though it doesn't smell, I can still smell it. It smells like peace and love."
Simon stood now, as he honestly had no idea what she was going on about. He hadn't given her a gift yet, as that would be reserved for tomorrow morning. Jayne stood as well and made a quick escape to the head as River dragged Simon and Kaylee to her room.
"Oh, my Simon, it's lovely!," Kaylee gushed.
Simon was flabbergasted. He stood in River's doorway and was amazed at the transformation of her room. What had been neat but very plain, was now a field of lavender. She even had a matching lamp on her table. But River was currently enthralled with her brush and comb set and stood, brushing her chocolate locks.
"Oh, my, River, I don't know quite what to say. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I didn't get you any of this. I would guess this is Inara's doing."
River looked surprised but still happy as Simon continued, "Why don't we go find her and thank her."
The three of them walked down the hall and passed Jayne along the way, who oddly didn't make eye contact with any of them. River stopped in her tracks as she sensed, without reading him, that he was somehow involved with her redecoration project. Simon and Kaylee temporarily stopped and were watching River as she watched Jayne.
"Ge-ge, leave us please," she asked as she smiled at her brother and waived he and Kaylee off. Simon sputtered for a moment but then caught on that she wanted privacy with Jayne. He started to put two and two together and realized it had been Jayne who had given her the bedspread, lamp and armoire set. As he walked off, he saw Jayne's coloring was just a tad red. He slapped him on the back as he passed him, "Nice" was all he said.
River walked up to Jayne and placed her hand on his cheek. He didn't recoil but he didn't say anything to her either. She looked up at him as she held his cheek tenderly and spoke.
"Did you do this for her, Jayne?"
"It ain't that big a deal, moonbrain. When we did that job, this go-se was folded up sitting in the laundry, so I just grabbed it," he fronted.
"Was the matching lamp and silver brush and comb set sitting in the laundry as well?"
He knew she had him and it was pointless for him to try and squirm out of it, so he dropped his head, "Aw, mooney, I just saw all of it and it made me think of you. So I took it. It ain't like I went and bought it or-"
She was kissing him now. She'd placed her other hand on his cheek and gently pulled him down to her waiting lips and kissed him. He was reeling, as nobody had kissed him like this in, well ever. He heard himself groan as he reached for her, letting his arms wrap around her and trail up her back, pulling her to his body. She wasn't holding back and neither was he as they sweetly lost track of time, standing in the hall unaware of anyone but each other.
River heard Mal coming and pulled away from Jayne, who at that second looked like a hurt little boy. She motioned with her finger at her mouth and shushed him as she took his hand and pulled him into her room and quietly slide the door shut. She turned him so his back was to her bed and walked back into his embrace again as he held her tightly and kissed her again, this time much deeper. She advanced them so the back of his knees hit the edge of her bed, causing him to sit and break the steamy kiss. She stood between his knees and leaned down again to kiss him. He grabbed her and pulled her down into his lap and rolled them so they were now laying side by side on the pretty spread. It was like he'd been caged up until this moment and was now finally free. He took his time to savor the sweetness, that was the two of them together.
River panted as sensations coursed through her. She traced his sensitive ear with her fingernail and saw his eyelashes flutter shut. She kissed his ear and whispered hushed words of pleasure and encouragement. Everywhere he touched her and kissed her was set ablaze. She'd never felt anything like the pleasure his kisses were causing her. She ran her fingers through his short hair and heard them both groaning as they spoke with their hearts. As River began to writhe on the bed, she felt Jayne move over her and brace himself up on one arm. She looked up into his shining cerulean eyes and saw vulnerability in them. He'd opened his heart to her and laid himself bare before her. River, exhausted from the whole experience, fell asleep in Jayne's arms on top of the lavender bedspread that had started the whole thing. Jayne left her on top of her bed, fully clothed and laid her old quilt over her as he left her for the night.
He headed off to his bunk and switched on the overhead lights and filled a canvas sack with the high end clothing, purses and shoes he'd taken for River and Kaylee. He topped off the bag with the hair clips, bottles of perfume and costume jewelry so each girl could share the items and enjoy them together. He glanced at the Callahan auto-lock single bore rifle laying on his bed under the more regal Vera and knew it was for Simon, his partner in crime. That made him grin. Who would have ever thought.... He walked out to the Christmas tree in the common room and lay the items under it's old, sturdy metal branches and then headed back to bed. After the events of the evening, Jayne Cobb had learned that giving was definitely much better than receiving.