See Chapter 1 for disclaimers, etc.
Author's Note: Once again, sorry for the long delay. The good news is that I'm getting around on crutches now, my husband's visa issues are sorted, and three of the four kittens have found good homes. The less-good-now-but-hopefully-good-later news is that I've finally admitted that yes, a Complete Rewrite is required on Part Two. Hopefully having made that decision, I will be able to move forward. Remember - feedback is the crack-habit that keeps writers writing!
Jayne didn't have a hope of keeping all his nieces and nephews straight, he'd realized that right off. Jen, the ten-year-old who looked just like him, belonged to Sora. He'd seen her enough on Serenity to pick her. The younger of Bella's two, Ace, was identifiable through having both a silly name and a permanent smear of dirt on his nose just like Kaylee's. Lou, the one kid Tigh had had before he passed, had long black hair and her mother's pale grey eyes, so she was noticeable. Both his nieces were tough little scrappers already, and he liked that, and Ace had the true Cobb stubbornness, even at five.
The others more or less blurred into a crowd of kids, tots to teenagers, who were somewhat wary of their big, gruff new uncle. Jayne was fine with that. He wasn't overly keen on kids at the best of time, at least not until they got old enough to conversate and so forth, and having a whole herd of them about made him feel a mite wary himself.
He'd forgotten how big his family was. How there was always someone underfoot. Always someone asking questions. Always people watching him, for good reasons or bad. It itched him more than he'd expected it to. He wasn't used to it no more.
On Serenity, the only person who watched for him like that was River. Mal would get mistrustful on occasion, but most times, especially out in the black, he'd pay no real mind to Jayne unless Jayne did something to annoy him, being too busy fretting on Inara. Inara returned the favour. Zoe and Wash were mostly taken up with each other and their captain and ship respectively, ditto for Kaylee and Simon with their engines and infirmary.
Even before he and River had been paired official-like, he realized, they'd been settling into being one of the four pairs on Serenity. He'd played with her and minded her and soothed her when she had a scared or angry fit. He missed that. Mal and Inara, Zoe and Wash, Simon and Kaylee... they were always around, but they weren't Always Around. They didn't follow him to his bunk or make him talk when he didn't want to or anything like that, they were just there. And it'd been a long time since he minded having River want his attention.
"Underfoot," River said quietly, sliding up beside him. He was sitting up on top of Serenity, his feet dangling down into the upper airlock. In theory he was checking the seals. In practice, he was hiding. "Too many. Lots of yapping."
He snickered at the way her pointy little nose was all wrinkled up. "Yeah, that's why I'm up here, too." The younger kids weren't here today, but there were more nieces and nephews than usual, and the noise was getting overpowering. Kaylee and Simon had already fled to 'buy equipment', and even Zoe was looking set to abandon her suffering captain.
"Big family," River said quietly. "I counted. Eleven nephews, eight nieces. Would be more, but Bella cannot have more, and Mattie has none because he's sickly, and Tigh was lost."
Jayne had never mentioned Tigh to her. Didn't talk about it at all. "Yeah. Most folk have big families, hereabouts."
"Must factor in mortality rates," River said, and it woulda sounded cold and uncaring if her voice hadn't been so sad. "Bear too many young, so enough will survive to continue the line."
Jayne nodded, tucking his arm around her shoulders. It was kind of a cold way to look on it, but he'd been a merc long enough to know about odds. Of his ma's eleven pregnancies, only seven had lived to adulthood... and of those, only five had had kids. "Kaylee was sayin' something about Wash and Zoe wantin' to start. Getting anything on that yet?"
River nodded, cuddling up against his side all warm and kitteny. "A little Washling impends. Can feel the possibilities threading. And Simon will help."
Jayne choked. "Simon will what?"
River poked his ribs. "Give her vitamins and shots," she said, and he just knew she was rolling her eyes. "Do doctor things. Not help help."
"Well... good." That had just been an unsettling mental image.
"Ah!" River squeaked and grabbed her head. "Don't think that!"
"Well, you brought it up!" Jayne pushed the image away, thinking hard about stripping and cleaning Lux.
After a minute, she relaxed. "Thank you. It's bad enough Simon and Kaylee keep behaving like amorous rabbits. I don't need the pictures from you too."
Jayne nodded apologetic-like, although he couldn't help grinning. "Doc's finally worked up the nerve, huh? Kaylee'll be happy."
"She is. Very. But I wish they wouldn't start in the engine-room while I'm in the ducts," River said, making the cutest little 'yuck' face. "Yesterday ranked high on both Simon's and my own lists of Most Embarrassing Moment Shared With Sibling Ever."
Jayne sniggered. "I'll bet. Right there in the engine-room, huh?"
"It's Kaylee's favourite spot. We'll have to knock before going in, now." River grinned. "Also, retaliation would be pleasant. Perhaps if Simon walked in on - "
"No."
"But - "
"I ain't puttin' on a show for your brother and that's final," Jayne said very firmly. "You got an evil little mind, girl."
"I know." She looked at him as innocent could be, all big eyes and tiny pout. "And I'm a crazy killer woman could feed you your own ears before you even knew they were gone, too."
He laughed, leaning down to kiss the pout. Kissing on the mouth was all kinds of nice when it came to River. "Yeah, but I like that in a woman."
"I've noticed. You're very strange." Her arms went around his neck. "More, please."
He kissed her again, since she'd asked so nice. "Crazy killer woman and shameless little hussy," he muttered, grinning against her soft lips. "Like that, too."
Bess knew Jayne was avoiding the conversation. It was typical of him, no less at thirty-six than at fifteen. He knew it was going to be difficult, he knew he'd get put on the spot, so he was trying to dodge it.
She eventually got him by cornering him and flat-out ordering him to start on fixing up the table's two snapped legs while she cleared out the mess of broken crockery and so on out of the kitchen cabinets. He sulked and grumbled some, but he did as he was told.
She watched him for a bit, still trying to understand the big, mean-looking man her little boy had grown into. He worked silently, his scowl relaxing into simple concentration as he screwed in a bracket to hold the snapped leg together. No point in replacing what could be repaired, after all.
"If you got something you want to say that bad, just go ahead," he said after a minute, looking up in time to catch her surprised expression. "I ain't got this old without learnin' a thing or two 'bout womenfolk, Ma. You drag me in here and then stand there watchin' me and not talkin', I figure there's something you want to say but you don't know how to start."
"Well, maybe you have learned a thing or two while you been gone." Bess smiled just a little. Jayne had been mighty keen on girls, when he'd left, but he'd had about as much notion of how to talk to 'em as he did of how to knit. According to his sisters, he'd got his face slapped damn near weekly. "You been gone a long time, Jayne. Don't rightly know where I should begin. Maybe you could start with tellin' me how you took up with these folk?"
Jayne shrugged. "Mal hired me, is all. It's a good job, Ma... pay ain't exactly regular, but my cut's decent and it's a good crew."
Bess frowned. "The captain's a Browncoat - "
"War's long over, Ma, and Mal's a good boss. Looks out for his crew, don't treat us like we're expendable."
"And the doctor..." Bess trailed off, frowning. "He seems kinda... well, he's..."
Jayne blinked at her and then he laughed. "Doc ain't sly, Ma, li'l Kaylee could swear to it. He's just Core-bred, he can't help bein' prissy." He shook his head. "I know they ain't the kind of folks you're used to, 'cept maybe for Kaylee, but I'd trust every one of 'em with my back if things went bad... well, 'cept maybe Wash." He shook his head. "Wash is a good man, one of the best, but he panics."
The blond man in the wheelchair had seemed nice enough, if flighty, but Bess could surely see why Jayne wouldn't want to lean on him in a fight. "Just seems like a real motley bunch, Jayne. Can't figure as to how you'd all wind up workin' together."
Jayne shrugged again, finishing up with the last screw and giving the leg a little shake to see if it wobbled any. "Just kinda worked out that way, I guess. Works for us."
"I guess." Bess nodded. "I know you said you wasn't stayin', but - "
"If you mean stayin' on Beowulf, then no." Jayne shook his head, a familiar mulish look settling over his face. "I'll be shippin' out on Serenity, when she goes."
"You been gone twenty-one years, Jayne Cobb, or close to. Ain't you been away from home long enough?" She hadn't meant for it to come out all accusing, but it did.
He tensed up, the way he always had when he was a kid and feeling the sharp edge of her temper. "I'll write more. Maybe come by when I can," he muttered guiltily. "But I can't stay. Anyways, River'd never leave Serenity."
Bess frowned. "Jayne, tell me for true... how serious are you about this girl? Ain't been two weeks yet that you've been together, an' already you're planning your life around her?"
Jayne shrugged, looking down at his hands. To her surprise, she thought she saw a faint blush on that weatherbeaten face. "It's hard to explain, Ma."
"Ain't all that hard," Bess said, trying not to get angry with him. Jayne never had been too bright. "It happens, Jayne, 'specially 'round your age. Comes on sudden, you think you're in love, then - "
Suddenly Jayne was on his feet, glaring at her. "What is it with all you folk actin' like I'm some kinda horny idiot don't know what's goin' on in my own head?" he snarled, and Bess found herself stepping back a pace. She didn't think for one second that Jayne would ever so much as threaten her, he'd never been like that, but it was a shock to see him so angry. "Mal thinks I'm gonna treat her bad, you think I'm gonna lose interest, 'Nara's trying to warn me off on account of how it won't be easy..." He kicked one of the broken chairs hard enough to bounce it off the far wall.
"Well, I ain't gonna treat her bad, I ain't gonna lose interest, and I know it ain't gonna be easy. But you know what? I don't have to explain this to you! Only person I owe any kinda explanation to is River, and we got things worked out just fine!" Jayne seemed to realize he was shouting and he turned away, clenching his fists and taking a couple of deep breaths. "Sorry."
"Raised you better'n to think you can shout at your Ma like that," Bess said quietly.
"I know." He took another deep breath. She heard it whoosh out of him. "'s just... I ain't good on talkin' about this stuff. Makes me all manner of uncomfortable. I've said what needs saying to River, and we got a good understanding. Just don't see why it is everyone else in the 'verse seems to think I got to explain it to them too."
Bess nodded, even though he wasn't looking. She felt almost guilty now, for bringing it up. She should have remembered how awkward Jayne's tongue got when it came to talking about feelings and the like, and how much it bothered him when he was made to. "I'm just worried 'bout you, is all," she said quietly. "Far as I know, you ain't ever been this serious before, an' she's awful young."
"I know. Everyone keeps remindin' me, even if just lookin' at her weren't enough." Jayne sighed, rubbing his hand over his short hair. "Look, Ma... I been grown and independent twenty years now. I don't hafta explain myself to you or anyone else... 'cept maybe her brother, 'cause God knows I'd have words t'say if I found out one of my sisters took up with a mean old bao tu like me. But it's 'tween me and River, and that's where it's staying. If you don't like it, fine."
He didn't look at her, just walked out, his big shoulders slumped a little.
Bess had only ever seen him slump defeated-like that way once before, and the next morning he'd been gone before she woke up. She got to work again, her hands shaking, and while she worked she prayed to God that he wouldn't disappear again.
Jayne had retreated to his bunk. He didn't want to go near River when he felt like this... it upset her when he was spiky.
His bottle of cheap rotgut whiskey had survived the crash.
A few drinks in, he was feeling both better and worse. The knotting tension was gone, but he was annoyed. Everyone kept picking at him about River. Was none of their gorram business if he was crazy in love with his crazy girl. That was between them, wasn't it? He didn't go around asking Mal what his intentions were towards Inara, even if he did like Inara and think Mal treated her like crap. He didn't go bug Simon about his intentions towards Kaylee, who was practically like a baby sister to Jayne, all cute and annoying and teasable.
Come to think of it, why hadn't he bugged Simon about his intentions? Simon certainly did have it coming.
Nearly everyone was gone - the cleanup was now officially done, and Bess had herded the chattering crowd of Cobbs off the boat. Simon was probably still around, though.
And River wasn't around to stop him, 'cause she'd banged on his hatch some time back and called out that she and 'Nara were going out to buy new dishes for the kitchen. She'd also said something about bears hibernating, which he took to mean that she knew he'd be out when he was feeling more sociable.
Or, he thought, climbing the ladder with some care so as not to drop his bottle, more ready to pick a fight. He wasn't drunk or nothin', just... relaxed. Just wanting to make sure Simon was gonna treat Kaylee good like she deserved. At least Simon did try, which was more than could usually be said for Mal, but the boy was prone to some truly spectacular fuck-ups.
Simon was humming - boy could carry a tune, which was surprising - and doing more of his endless tidying in the infirmary. Or maybe he was putting away that stuff he and Kaylee had gone out for today. Anyway, he just about leaped out of his lily-white skin when he turned around and saw Jayne in the doorway. "Gah!" The doc all but clutched at his chest. "What are you doing here?"
Jayne drew himself up to full height and looked down at the doc. "What're your intentions towards Kaylee?"
Simon blinked. "What?"
"You're sleepin' with Kaylee. Gettin' her all set on you. You better not be fixing to break her heart, run on back to the Core and leave her behind all heart-broke," Jayne said firmly. "'cause if you do, I'm gonna hunt you down, hurt you for a while, then drag you back so she can hurt you, dong ma?"
Simon shook his head, making that puzzled face he wore way too often. "Why would I be intending to hurt Kaylee?"
Jayne hadn't actually got that far, so he fell back on feeling injured. "Hell, I dunno. Why would I wanna treat River bad?"
A penny dropped somewhere in the doc's shiny, well-groomed head. "Oh. You're making a point."
"Everyone thinks it's their gorram business why River and I are... just are." Jayne scowled. "Next person asks me 'why', that person's gonna be shittin' hair for weeks on account of me shoving their head right up their pigu."
"Of course." Simon wrinkled his nose. "You've been drinking, I see."
Jayne scowled. "So?"
Simon shrugged. "Just an observation."
"I ain't drunk or nothin'. I just figure everyone's been so busy pickin' at me that nobody's had any words with you on the subject of Kaylee, and how you best treat her right." Jayne felt that he'd lost some of the advantage here, so he tried scowling. "So... what're your intentions?"
Simon opened his mouth.
Simon closed his mouth.
Simon sighed. "Can I have some of that?"
Jayne blinked. The advantage was definitely lost, so he handed over the bottle. "You won't like it."
Simon took a couple of gulps, and didn't even wince. "When I was a medical student, we used to dare each other to drink sake laced with wasabi," he said, smiling slightly at what must have been a damn impressed expression. "If you screamed, cursed, or cried, you had to take another shot."
"Huh." Rich kids did the weirdest damn things. "When I was a kid it was 'if you puke, you gotta put more in'."
"I think I'd have preferred that to having eight incredibly drunk medical students standing around trying to analyse my stomach contents while they were spread out on the ground." Simon grinned quickly, then it flickered away again, like he was embarrassed or something. "Look... honestly? I have no idea what my intentions are. I have no idea what her intentions are. I'm completely out of my depth. Go ahead and laugh, it's the truth."
Jayne did consider laughing. The lost-puppy look on the boy's face was kinda funny.
On the other hand, it put him powerfully in mind of Mattie, all of a sudden, and that wasn't funny at all. He had an uncomfortableness around his youngest brother, a tugging kind of feeling that kept trying to tell him that maybe if he'd been around more, things mighta been better for Mattie. Maybe they coulda paid for more medicine early on, or he could've taken the kid with him when he did take off. Mattie seemed pretty smart - they might've made a good team. Brains and brawn, like him and River... or even like the doc, who wasn't half bad at plotting crime when he saw a need to.
And Simon was River's brother, which if Jayne and River were going to be together as long as he wanted, he better start behaving nice an' brotherly too. So he didn't laugh, just shrugged and took back the bottle, taking a good long swig. "You an' me both. Ain't one of the crew or my family but's prodding at us about where we're goin', when we ain't even talked on it between ourselves yet."
That made Simon laugh a bit, and the boy slouched back comfortably against the exam-bed-thing that was too short for Jayne's big carcase. "Two weeks isn't long enough, is it?"
"Hell, no." Two months probably wouldn't be long enough. Jayne was figuring to just keep on the way they were - sexin', staying close, dreaming together - until it actually came up. "Sounds like li'l Kaylee's got you all turned about already, though, even 'fore she's started dropping hints about rings and the like."
"I wish she would, actually." Simon looked about fifteen when he made that face, all bashful and confused. "At least then I'd know what to do."
"Which'd be?" Jayne made himself comfortable against the edge of the counter, facing Simon.
The boy flushed. "Uh... buying a ring?" he said, making it into a question.
"Two weeks and you're already thinkin' on getting hitched?" Jayne felt his eyebrows climb. He sure as hell hadn't got that far... River moving into his bunk, sure, but only 'cause they both hated sleeping apart.
Simon held out his hand for the bottle. "Kaylee is... special," he said, taking a smaller gulp this time. "And I'm... traditional. Or stuffy, if you prefer. If I'm..." His thin face went pink again. "If I'm physically involved with someone, then it's a serious relationship. With commitment, and courting gifts, and... everything."
Huh. That was sloppy as all hell, but almost cute. Kaylee deserved it, too - someone who'd treat her nice and court her proper, not take advantage of her liking for a good tumble and then move on. "So why don't you?" Simon shrugged, looking down at his feet. "Because she's not hinting yet. Because... what if I move too fast, and scare her off? Or what if she's not that serious at all? Or what if I say something stupid again?"
Jayne was hardly tempted to laugh at all, this time. If River hadn't been River, all inclined to explain things and tell him just exactly what was on her mind - and his - he'd probably be in just the same fix. Especially the 'saying something stupid' part. "So get River to find out for you. The womenfolk have been gettin' together and talking a fair piece lately - she probably knows just exactly what Kaylee wants you to do."
Simon shook his head. "While I'm sure that's true," he said, and there was a hint in the way he drew out the words that said the whiskey was starting to hit him. Kid never could hold his liquor. "While I'm sure that's very true and probably quite helpful, I am not going to ask River to resolve my love-life for me. I'm just... not. Asking my baby sister how to court my maybe-future-wife is just too..." He trailed off, apparently searching for the right word.
"Pitiful?" Jayne suggested helpfully.
"Pitiful. Yes. I refuse to be quite that pathetic." Simon nodded. "I mean, apparently I'm desperate enough to ask you for advice, which is also pitiful..."
"Surely is, but at least we're both men," Jayne said seriously. "An' I'm all, you know, older'n you. Ain't so sad that way."
Simon looked at the bottle and shook his head. "It disturbs me that that made perfect sense to me," he said, and took another swig before handing the bottle back. "Yes. We are men, speaking of women. It's less pathetic than asking my sister about girls."
"Damn right." This being nice to Simon thing was a lot easier than Jayne had thought. When he wasn't all up on his dignity, the doc wasn't nearly as annoying. "Well, what'd you do if you was back in the Core, makin' up to some fancy lady?"
Simon frowned. "I'd... well, I'm not very good at impromptu courtship, you may have noticed that."
"Im-prom-what?"
"Making it up as I go along. Winging it."
Jayne considered what he'd heard of some of Simon's early attempts. "That's for damn sure."
Simon winced and nodded. "I'd probably have gone with a traditional Jing Ai courtship series... uhm, a series of small gifts and prearranged meetings and so forth, each with certain traditional meanings and... I'm really a lot better with something pre-planned, and it can be quite romantic if you do it properly."
Jayne nodded slowly. "Well, I can't speak to romantical, not havin' any tendencies that way myself, but that sounds like courtin' to me. Why can't you just do that, and explain to Kaylee what it's all s'posed to mean?"
Simon blinked at him for a minute. "You know, it may be the foul alcohol you just gave me, but that actually sounds like sort of a good idea. Except I'm not sure I could explain it to Kaylee. I tend to mortally insult her whenever I try to say something romantic, and Wash hasn't really been available to explain to me how it's done."
Wash certainly was the person to ask, and Jayne nodded. "Well, does 'Nara know all this Jing Ai stuff?"
"I would assume so. Courtship rituals are - "
Jayne shrugged. "So have her explain it to Kaylee."
"I'd feel almost as pitiful going to Inara to help me with this as I would River, she - " Simon stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the wall for a second. "Unless I went for the formal version and... that's a great idea, Jayne. Thanks."
"Welcome." Jayne frowned. "Wait, did I just help you get things goin' with Kaylee when I come in here to yell at you? How the hell'd that happen?"
"I took shameless advantage of your slight inebriation." Simon grinned suddenly. "And River wants us to get along."
"Well, yeah, there is that. She gets powerful pouty when we fight." Jayne nodded. "Hey, it's gettin' late. We should get goin' back to the boarding-house, or we'll miss dinner."
"Of course." Simon looked around the sparklingly-clean infirmary. "And Jayne?"
"Yeah?" Jayne took one more mouthful then put the cap back on the bottle.
"What are your intentions towards my sister?"
Jayne couldn't quite muster up a proper 'annoyed', after they'd talked about how Simon wanted to do right by Kaylee and all, and anyway, the boy's little grin said as he was stirring Jayne up on purpose. So Jayne gave him the honest truth. "Gonna take good care of her. Make her happy."
The little grin turned into a sudden, warm smile. "Well... good." Doc patted Jayne's shoulder as he passed. "If you ever need advice on the same subject, feel free to ask."
Jayne would sooner ask even Zoe for advice, since at least she'd managed to get married without help, which argued for her being significantly better at it than Simon even if she'd laugh herself silly at Jayne if he asked her for romantical advice. But saying so wouldn't have been tactful, so he didn't.
Simon would never have anticipated forming any kind of bond with Jayne, even a brief one over a bottle of whiskey and talk of women. He'd almost forgotten a moment shared in a room on a nameless moon, when Jayne had done exactly what he needed done without question or argument, and offered to do what he thought Simon might not be able to.
But for that brief space in the infirmary he'd once again seen a different side to the gruff, crude mercenary. Jayne was no genius, but he was forthright, and observant in his way. He had a way of getting to the heart of the matter that Simon almost envied - and a capacity for listening to other people's problems that he never would have suspected.
Was this what he'd been doing with River, that had brought them together? Listening to her incoherent rambling and offering straight-edged, simplistic solutions that nevertheless somehow worked? Simon had wondered lately exactly what Jayne had been doing while he was 'watching' River. Listening hadn't been high on the list.
Now he followed Jayne - walking steadily and showing no sign that he was at the least mildly drunk - and pondered. Stone. River had called him stone. Layers of meaning there, as there often were with River these days... stolidity, certainly, but also security, reliability... no softness, but maybe warmth...
Thinking, he almost walked right into the very stone he was considering when it stopped abruptly. "Fight," Jayne said succinctly, pointing ahead - two doors down, a fight had overflowed from the bar where it had no doubt started. Two men, by the look of them too drunk to aim a punch, staggering in circles with one man's head lodged under the other's arm. Then another man, coming through the door with a bottle in his hand and shouting something unintelligible at the sight of the two fighters.
"I can't see," Kaylee complained, leaning on Simon's shoulder as she stood on tiptoe.
"I hope he ain't fixin' to break that bottle," Jayne muttered, clearly watching the third man. "He's gonna... oh, yeah, there he goes..."
Simon saw it too, as the man lifted the bottle and brought it down. He'd never seen it done, but he'd seen the results of a number of attempts by amateurs. In theory, it left the bottle-swinger with a jagged-edged glass weapon. In practice...
"That's gonna leave a mark," Jayne said smugly, as the man found himself with a handful of broken glass and started howling in pain.
Simon nudged Kaylee in Jayne's general direction - Jayne would look after her - and headed for the man bleeding copiously from the hand. He would almost certainly be fine, but a little care now might prevent some permanent damage later. The man wasn't quite as big as Jayne but he was taller than Simon, clutching his wrist with his undamaged hand and gasping in pain as he sat propped against the wall.
Simon was already opening his medical kit. He never went anywhere without it, hadn't since Miranda... something deeply psychological, no doubt, but since it didn't interfere with his functioning he'd decided to wait until they were on Serenity again, when he could consult with Inara in private. She was a good counselor. She'd be able to provide any assistance he needed in working through it.
"I'm a doctor," he told the man, who was staring at him through watering eyes. "I don't think this is too serious, but if you'll let me take a look at it, I'll see what I can do."
The man nodded, holding out his bloodied hand pathetically. Something for pain, first, and then the torch he'd learned to carry pulled out to inspect the damage. Somewhere behind him the scuffling stopped, and he assumed Jayne had caught up. Just the sight of Jayne tended to stop fights, just in case he decided he wanted to join in.
The hand wasn't too badly damaged, and the bleeding wasn't as severe as it could have been. "You'll need to go to a clinic or a hospital to get the glass removed," he told the man, who still seemed reasonably alert. "I've taken out the larger pieces, but - "
From nowhere, something hit his shoulder, knocking him from a crouch into an undignified sprawl. Simon looked up to see two men standing over him... the two who had been fighting? Another two? He didn't know. But they were both glaring down at him, and one spat, the spit landing on the grimy pavement by Simon's knee. "What're you doin' around here, Core-boy?"
Simon shook his head, bewildered. "That man is hurt, I was - "
The non-spitter grabbed him by the front of the shirt, dragging him to his feet. "You see the Miranda clip, Core-boy?" he growled, and this one was nearly as big as Jayne. "We did."
The spitter nodded, flexing his fist. "Comin' around here, talking all fancy, dressing pretty like a girl," he growled, squinting as if he couldn't quite pull Simon into focus. "Think we should be grateful, huh?"
Both drunks were significantly bigger than Simon. And there were more of them now, standing in the doorway of the bar, watching. He could hear a quiet murmur that didn't sound sympathetic, not at all...
Then, none too soon for Simon's taste, Jayne did catch up, Kaylee clinging nervously to the back of his coat. Jayne separated Simon from the non-spitter by the simple expedient of taking hold of the relevant arm and twisting until the non-spitter had no choice but to let go. "What the hell you playin' at?" Jayne asked, accent noticeably rougher than usual. "Boy ain't but half your size, an' tryin' to help your buddy besides."
"He's Core," the spitter said, pointing accusingly. "Alliance's pretty, shiny best. His kind ain't welcome here, not after Miranda. Gonna show him he ain't welcome."
Jayne blinked, and then his eyes went cold. "He's a doctor, dumb-ass!" he snarled, straightening Simon up with one hand while he gave the spitter a shove with the other that nearly knocked the man over. "They all talk fancy, goin' to them schools an' all. An' you may be all set for nice folksy-soundin' doctors here, with the Alliance clinics an' all, but out on the Rim we take as what we can get, dong ma?"
"What's a pretty-boy like him doin' out on the Rim?" the spitter asked, sounding confused.
"Doctorin', you moron!" Jayne smacked him upside the head. The spitter wound up on the pavement this time. "Works a transport, gets around to the outer planets that way. I seen him do everything from stitchin' up smugglers to goin' to a whorehouse to deliver a baby. Don't you try'n git all uppity on him 'cause he sounds prissy! He can't help it, an' he's done more for folk like them on Miranda than you ever will, so shut your mouth!"
There were more men out on the street now, and Simon wasn't sure hitting the drunks and shouting at them was a good idea. As surreptitiously as possible, he eased in front of Kaylee and hefted his kit. It was pretty heavy. If he swung it hard...
Someone - greying hair, but not too old - helped the spitter to his feet. "Solomon, you get your drunk ass back in the bar and have Chie sew your lips shut 'fore you get in real trouble," the greying man told the spitter, giving him a good shove in the right direction.
The non-spitter was inclined to protest. "But Chen, that guy - "
"That guy's standin' for his crewman, just like you oughta," Chen said, shoving the non-spitter towards the bar as well. "We ain't none of us feelin' any love for Core-folk now, but goin' after a boy as just stopped to help a man was hurt don't make you no better'n them." He looked at Jayne, then jerked his head meaningfully towards Simon. "You oughta keep him off the streets, times like this. He's too young t'know better, but you ain't."
Jayne nodded. "Didn't figure he'd go runnin' into any fights," he said, giving Simon a reproving look. "Thanks."
"No charge. You're right about needin' every doc they can scratch up, further out." Chen shrugged. "I don't gotta like it."
Jayne hustled Simon and Kaylee away as Chen herded the others back into the bar. Simon looked back as they went, and was relieved to see the older man checking on the injured one who'd started the whole thing, and who hadn't said a word the whole time.
"Don't do that again," Jayne said, with a very final sound to his voice.
"He was injured, I couldn't - "
"I can't cover you and Kaylee both in a fight, so don't do that again."
Simon nodded silently, and Kaylee squeezed his hand as they hurried towards the boarding-house. Was she disappointed in him again? She always seemed to think he should be more of a fighter. He couldn't ask, and didn't know what else to say, so they walked in silence.
The minute they reached the boarding-house, Jayne marched into the dining-hall, found Inara and River, and told them they weren't going anywhere, not so much as across the street to the bakery, without him or Mal.
Inara protested, insisting that she could take care of herself. River said nothing, but looked at Jayne with an expression Simon couldn't read.
Jayne told Inara that he wasn't Mal and pouting wasn't going to work on him. It wasn't safe and that was the end of it, and if she didn't believe him she could just ask Simon what happened when you went around being Core-i-fied on the street and getting noticed. Not safe. Not going to happen.
River cut across Inara's spluttering to agree that it was best that those who couldn't conceal their origins to remain under guard. She did it in her flawless mimcry of Badger's accent, perhaps to remind him that she wasn't one of those people.
Kaylee smiled at Simon when he looked at her, and squeezed his hand, and chattered over dinner, but she didn't say anything about the almost-fight, even after Jayne and River had gone upstairs and Inara was complaining to Mal, who'd just come in.
What if she did think he was weak? Simon wouldn't blame her.
Jayne knew he'd been dumb, trying to tell River she couldn't take care of herself, but he knew he was right, too. He was angry all over again, the brief good mood Simon had set gone now, and he got into bed while she was still brushing her hair, turning his back and pulling the blanket up around his shoulders.
It was the first time since they'd been together that he hadn't lain down with her in his arms. First time since they'd hit Beowulf that there hadn't been sex before they'd even considered sleep. Well, time was bound to come, he told himself, angry all over again because he felt wrong without River cuddled up against him.
He heard her moving around, then felt her climbing in beside him. Her breathing was so damned quiet, he found himself having to strain to hear it.
"It's not all right," River said quietly.
He didn't turn over, even though he wanted to. "What?"
"Everything. Miranda caused more wounds to open. Your family don't like me. Simon is afraid Kaylee thinks he's weak. Inara misses her pretty things. Zoe cries when nobody will see because she almost lost Wash." River sighed. "Not a happy ending. Just life going on, with all its imperfections."
Jayne nodded against his pillow, feeling his unfocused anger ease up some. River was right. Miranda had been so big, so final, that it felt like everything should be different, after. But it wasn't. People were still people, family were still family, little things still got bigger than they should be when people got their feelings hurt.
River's arm slid over his ribs under the blankets, and she nestled in against his back. "Misgivings, doubts, fears... all carrying them," she whispered. "All of us. Makes us alive. Makes us human. Nothing to fret on."
He shifted back a little, so she was tucked in nice and close. "'m sorry," he muttered. "I'm just in a foul mood. Don't you pay me no mind."
"All my mind, entirely paid to you," she murmured, lips brushing the back of his neck. "Mind and heart and disparate weapon-parts. Shh. Sleep. You'll feel better."
He went to sleep with her curled against his back, not dreaming, but waking once or twice to feel her breath tickle his neck.
dong ma - you understand? Wu dong - I understand Ba ba - daddy Ju guei - giant tortoise xiao teng - little dragon Da Ge oldest brother Bu Jing Chuan - whale-hunting vessel, whale-chaser Bu Lai - good, fine You Xiu Li - Excellent Repairs Hui zhen - Poisonous filth (I think) Yao guai - monsters, demons luan qi ba zao - a huge mess. d sha gua - fool, idiot, jerk, or 'big silly melon'. (I swear, that's what the translation said!) mei mei - little sister ge ge - older brother Feng Guang - Scenic View, the POW camp where Wash was held during the war. Bao tu - thug Pigu - ass Jing Ai - respectful love