Prompt 9- Free.
The market place on Boros was as bustling and bright as ever and Jayne smiled as Kaylee dragged the reluctant doc from stall to stall exclaiming over stuff that wasn't worth the asking price. Jayne knew Simon was well aware of this and that made his pained grin only that much sweeter.
They'd stopped so that Inara could renew her Companion's license although that license hadn't been getting much of a work out of late- a fact that had the cap all smiling and sociable.
It was Zoë's turn to shop for food and so Jayne had expected Mal to order him to take care of Crazy—he'd actually been looking forwards to it, not that he'd tell anyone that, of course.
But Mal had surprised and disappointed him by taking River along with him to talk to some guys about a job. He figured that she would look innocent and non-threatening enough and, at the same time, could tell him if they were going to double-deal them.
That left Jayne at a loose end since none of the bars were open for business just yet and Jayne didn't really want to go to a whore house.
It wasn't that he had gone sly or anything, just that he wasn't in the mood for some nameless whore to be touching on him. Jayne was blaming it on Miranda and trying not to give it another name.
He walked among the market stalls and wondered if he should buy some more apples with the last pay he'd got. He could surely use something to crunch on and he had heard Kaylee say he ma had sent her a recipe for a pie.
Course he'd only been listening cuz Crazy mentioned that she didn't know how to cook since she'd had chefs and cooks to do for her.
"Sir, sir, stop you!" some brave vendor called out and stepped in front of Jayne.
Most market vendors tended to see Jayne coming and duck away, so he figured this guy was either new or desperate.
"Move it!" Jayne growled.
"I got something you like see!" The man wheedled and despite himself Jayne slowed down.
"What?"
The man held up a finger and dived behind his stall bringing out a pile of magazines. "See, see, sir, plenty pretty girls."
He dropped the pornographic magazines onto the table and gestured to the covers where big breasted blondes jiggled and giggled on the covers.
Jayne looked down at them. "Huh."
Nothing.
The man frowned as he registered the lack of reaction from the burly mercenary. "Best views in the verse, got more!"
He dived back behind the stall and hauled out more smut magazines- busty blondes, ravishing red-heads, breath-taking brunettes. Women covered in silk, in fur, in nothing. Twosomes, threesomes, orgies.
Nothing.
"Got more!" the man insisted, realising that he had a difficult customer. He grabbed another stack. Women on carts, women on horseback, women in spaceships, women with guns…ooh.
Seeing the light of interest in his eyes the man smirked. "Best views in the verse, cheap price!"
Jayne's eyes drifted over the magazines taking in the promising smiles of the women, the glint in their eyes, the seductive postures and their handling of the weapons.
But the smiles didn't touch his heart the way that little Kaylee's beaming grin did as she smiled at the doc.
Inara's elegant posture was more welcoming then their overt bravado and she made him feel better about himself with the smallest gesture of honest affection than any whore did.
The glint in their eyes paled in comparison to the death-glare that Zoë could give and he wanted that back in Zoë's eyes more than he ever wanted any woman.
But that was all nothing to the thought of little Crazy covered in blood and holding two Reaver blades. Her eyes touched his heart, her smile touched his emotions and damned if her weapons skill touched his body in all kinds of ways.
All he had to do was look around the ship for some of the best views in the verse.
"No thanks, I can get it for free."
