So…guess what I've been watching over for the fifth or sixth time…don't remember which lol, FIREFLY. The series, just love it, hence why the fanfic lol. I don't own Firefly characters, just Ayme, Gavon, Ted, Roy. Oh and thanx for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS ARE EVER SO NICE! THANK YOU TO LEAMARIE, Irresistibly desired, avaleighfitzgerald, mistymixwolf aka Perch, Skychaser, me (whomever you might be:)), eli, charlotte temples, PseudonymA1and angw for giving me reviews! I LOVE YOU PPL! If you didn't review then I would've thrown this story out the window lol. ONE MORE THING! THIS IS MORE SAPPY STUFF JUST AS A WARNING! But it helps explain a lot later, hence why I have to put it in lol.
What Is Human?
Chapter 11-----Gifts A Plenty
"Where in the hell did you come from!" Mal half yelled as Ayme stepped with Inara. "I need to talk to—"
"Mal, please," Inara interrupted, smiling at him. "After she's dried off you can yell and scream all you like."
"I am NOT waitin' another—"
Inara sent a glare towards him that made his spine shiver.
"Once you come out dry, you and I are gonna have a proper talk, dong-ma?" Mal said, changing his words so Inara wouldn't send him the look any longer. "Now go upstairs and get dry before you get sick!"
Ayme stared at Mal with a slightly amused look.
"That's an order, now get!" Mal yelled, turning back out into the rain to check on the rest of the ship. "I am never gonna get to talk to that kid…" Mal mumbled to himself, but Kaylee heard his words and tried not to laugh.
"Come along," Inara laughed, leading Ayme towards the stairs and taking her into the lovely decorated shuttle.
Jayne peered down the hallway as he had just left his bunk, raising an eyebrow as he watched the two enter.
"I meant to tell you earlier I think Ayme is a lovely name," Inara said lightly, starting conversations was always easy for her. "What does it mean?"
"Mean? Nothing…really," Ayme stated carefully walking around not wanting to wreck anything in the warm area. "It was just made out of words associated with me."
"What words?" Inara questioned, pulling out a long length gown of hers, thicker fabric and laying it out on the bed.
"A.Y.M.E.—the middle two letters are from the name of my creator, Yaven Markson, and the A.E.—well you can assess what that is," Ayme responded with a slight laugh, her eyes shifting from a strange blue to a yellowish gold. "Yaven said it was a way to make him immortal."
"Oh, I see," Inara responded, finding a thin towel like cloth and draping it over her arm. She beckoned Ayme further inside with a hand gesture, Ayme stepping in carefully, her body beginning to feel the shivers and the cold as the water evaporated from her skin. Inara gently wrapped the cloth around Ayme's shoulders, setting her onto one of the couches inside.
"Do you know what your name means?" Ayme questioned.
"Nothing as elaborate as that," Inara laughed. "But it means Ray of Light."
Inara sat next to her, feeling her fore head to see how cold she was. She noticed something shimmering on Ayme's neck, a thin chain with a small key pendant dangling out of her shirt.
"What a beautiful necklace," Inara inquired, lifting it up with her fingertips. Ayme grinned and set her chin against her neck. "Did you get this from Ted?"
"No, no," Ayme responded, shaking her head.
"Then from who?" Inara questioned, noticing the color change in Ayme's cheeks.
"Gavon," Ayme sighed, her face blushing worse.
"Well at least I know one way to get you warmed up," Inara laughed. "You and he are close, then?"
"I s'pose so," Ayme answered, her eyes still un-able to meet Inara's, knowing that she would be able to read them within a second.
"He seems to really care for you," Inara said, standing back up and pulling out another bunch of the fabric.
"He's had to take care of me," Ayme said in a quieter tone. "For Ted's sake."
"I have to say I think it's more about you than Ted," Inara responded, sitting back down and gently beginning to dry Ayme's hair, pulling gingerly down the white strands. Ayme let out a large sigh.
"You should get out of those, you can wear that gown I let out for you," Inara stated, drying her hair further.
"That?" Ayme said in a slight amount of shock. "I can't wear that…"
"Why not?" Inara laughed. "It won't hurt you."
"I—just---I've never worn…a dress before…" Ayme commented.
"Well now is the time you'll try it," Inara said happily. "Don't worry, it's actually quite warm, and it is better than those wet clothes you're in now."
Gavon walked out into the crowded atmosphere of a small market, crude tents over tables to cover them from the down poor as the rain seemed to bring out more people than stop them. His bag was already half full of things he had found already, good prices for good things on these outskirt fueling stations. Gavon stopped and stepped farther to the side to let others pass behind him, glancing around at some of the shops to see what he could find there. Out of all the noise and chatter a single sound rung out near him, his head darting towards it in the heavy crowd. He heard it again, before realizing it was below in the busy legs, a small kitten wandering trying to find its way through the people and the rain.
Gavon looked as no one seemed to notice or care about the small creature, someone kicking it slightly out of their way. That was when Gavon shoved his was through. He knelt down near the kitten, forcing others to travel around him and stay away from the tiny kitten. He covered it with his arm as it blinked upwards in the rain, its legs unsteady and sneezing out the water in its nose.
"C'mon," Gavon said gently, scooping it up in his hand and sliding it gently in his coat pocket. "You'll be warmer in there."
It meowed loudly, clinging to Gavon's ribs from his pocket and shaking its head of water.
"We'll get you some food in a bit," Gavon strained to say as the small claws dug in deeper. "For now you just sit in there and be warm."
It meowed softer but began to sit quietly, shaking its head again and getting Gavon's shirt wet.
"Yeah, yeah, you just get me all wet," Gavon laughed, standing back up and swinging the bag over his shoulder. "Call you Frog or something."
Gavon continued into the crowd as the rain began to stop and drizzle instead of pour. He saw something along the way that caught his eye, something he didn't expect to see ever, especially not on an outskirt moon…
He stepped over to the vendor, examining the black case from under the tented stand. He opened it and saw inside a pale wooden instrument, a long handle with strings and a wide bottom with a whole in it, empty inside.
"Do you like the guitar?" the vendor, a short, stout man with a dirty face and crooked teeth questioned him.
"Oh, definitely," Gavon replied, touching its smooth face and picking it up from the case. He strung it once, testing the tuning out.
"You can pay, only—"
"What else you got in here?" Gavon questioned, putting the guitar back in its case and locking it.
"Ah, I have just the thing for you, sir," He said lightly, pulling from under the table a piece of plastic rolled up, crunchy sounding, almost like a long balloon.
"Does it work?" Gavon asked excitedly.
"Of course, guarantee, give you a good price for both," the vendor said.
"Here," Gavon said, throwing far more money on the table than both was worth. "Take it, keep it."
Gavon scooped up the slender plastic piece and stuffed it into the bag, its weight beginning to get to him. He lifted the guitar case with his free hand and walked away, the sky still grey but the rain beginning to stop. He glanced inside his coat and saw the kitten had taken refuge and fallen asleep against the inside of his pocket, its body sticky, wet, matted and covered in dirt.
"Hope no one's allergic to cats," Gavon mumbled to himself, continuing on his path as he swung the bag back over his shoulder.
"Gavon Grey."
A voice called to Gavon from behind him, the sound of several feet stepping towards him. Gavon felt his nerves stand on end as the crowd around him seemed to thin. He couldn't reach for his belt…not with all the things he was carrying…
Gavon turned slowly, a group of men approaching Gavon but one of them too familiar to Gavon's eyes. His hair was blondish, his eyes darker brown while his face was slightly tan.
"Roy Beatty," Gavon said, now wanting more than ever to be able to reach in his belt. "Haven't seen you in a long time."
"Well, you're busy, so'm I, it just happens, you lose touch," Roy said.
"That could be it," Gavon responded, adjusting the weight of the ties on his shoulders.
"Goin' shopping all the way out here?" Roy questioned.
"A little here, a little there," Gavon responded.
"Looks like you're gonna start up a band there, that your new line o' work?" Roy joked.
"Might be, but I have to find others to make it a band, Roy, you wanna join?" Gavon questioned.
"Naw, still chasing after jobs here and there, heard that maybe you'd been on one for your brother," Roy stated. The tension between the two of them seemed to be growing even with the kind words.
"Why would you care about my brother? He's off in lala-land by himself tryin' to finish his research," Gavon replied.
"Did you hear about the Alliance ships exploding, Von?" Roy suddenly questioned. "Sent out a signal just before the last one exploded, claiming that…they might have a job for me and mine."
Gavon stayed quiet, before responding,
"You want my help with it or something?"
"Just want to tell you somthin', somethin' I got a feeling is gonna be very important to you and your new little band," Roy said, walking closer to Gavon. "Somethin'…called a frequency."
Gavon caught his breathe in his chest, but didn't let the word change the expression on his face.
"Frequency, huh? You know some music terminology after all," Gavon replied lightly.
"Just to let you know, your brother ain't ever gonna see his new bride," Roy stated.
"My brother's getting married? Why didn't I know about this?" Gavon asked, acting slightly like he was in shock. Roy snickered slightly.
"We'll see you Von, real soon," Roy bid farewell to Gavon, pushing on his shoulder as he and the rest headed on their way the opposite direction Gavon had been heading. Gavon's teeth clenched in his jaw, glancing back to make sure the men and Roy had disappeared. Obviously he knew somehow…he knew something…
Gavon moved before the new crowd would run him over for standing instead of moving.
Before he knew it he was back at the ship's open door, stomping up on the ramp.
"Afternoon, Gavon," Kaylee greeted as she stood outside in the overcast. Shepherd Book nodded in greeting as well as Gavon made his way into the cargo hold, setting the guitar down and gently removed the bag from his shoulder.
"Kaylee, come on in here," Gavon stated, "Where's the rest?" he questioned Shepherd Book.
"All over, most likely," Shepherd Book said. "Do you need them?"
"I got some surprises for everyone," Gavon said, pulling out from the top of his bag the thin, wrapped up piece of plastic and hiding it deeper in the bag.
"You're late," Mal said coming down. "We almost left without you."
"Sure," Gavon said laughing. Kaylee came inside and shut the door to the outside, before peeking around Gavon's shoulder to figure out what he had in the bag.
Mal grabbed the intercom and said into it,
"We're leavin', headin' into the atmo and onto Newhall."
"Captain, tell them to come to the cargo bay," Gavon said quickly. Mal tossed a strange look at him.
"Come to the cargo hold, somethin' somethin' somethin'," Mal stated, placing it aside. "What's goin' on?"
"Here," Gavon stated, throwing something at Mal wrapped in a thin, dirty cloth. Mal caught it and pulled the cloth aside exposing to the crew an old, dusty gun with a wooden handle.
"What's this?" Mal questioned as Zoe came down from above.
"An antique, as far as I got it," Gavon stated as Kaylee still tried to see. "Just a second, Kaylee, you'll get yours in a second."
"What's this sir?" Zoe questioned the Captain.
Gavon glanced up and pulled out another wrapped gift, throwing it towards Zoe who caught it out of the air as well.
"It's not exactly for you…but…I thought you might need it for later," Gavon stated as Zoe unwrapped hers as well. A small, clean teddy bear with a sewn nose and black eyes sat limply in her hands. Zoe smiled gratefully. "Oh, this is for your husband, I figured he needs to get through atmo so I'll just give it to you."
Gavon threw a plastic, green brontosaurus at Zoe who caught it again and shook her head.
"He don't need anymore of these, but he'll like it I'm sure," Zoe said. "Thank you."
Simon appeared with River from below, Jayne coming from above quickly but Inara and Ayme were still no where to be found.
"Good, kiddo, I wanted to give you and Kaylee's presents at the same time," Gavon stated, pulling out a small blue bag tied with a gold ribbon and a black box with red roses painted on the outside of it. He handed Kaylee the box and motioned for River to come closer. She took her steps carefully from Simon and stood close enough for Gavon to hand her the small bag. Kaylee opened the box slowly and saw four large chocolate truffles inside, almost squealing with excitement.
"Thought you might like chocolate," Gavon laughed, before turning back to River who was slowly untying the thin rope and reaching into the bag. She pulled out a small candy piece, yellow in color before opening the rest of the bag to an assortment of the candies.
"Jelly beans, dunno if you've ever had any but they're really good," Gavon stated.
"You're like a Sandi Clause," Kaylee said happily, kissing Gavon's cheek as River put the yellow jelly bean in her mouth.
"Well, I could be, cept I'm not a big fat man who stalks children at night," Gavon muttered, shifting through his bag further. He found what he was looking for as Jayne stepped down.
"Shepherd Book, you and Jayne gotta share your gifts," Gavon stated, pulling out two sets of dumbbells in either of his hands.
"What's this now? Weights?" Jayne questioned with a pouty look on his face. Gavon handed him the metal, letting go before Jayne almost fell over with their weight.
"Heavier weights," Gavon answered, handing the other two to the Shepherd who strained to hold them with both his hands as well.
"Why're you doin' this?" Mal questioned, slightly defensively.
"Cause I can," Gavon stated, pulling out a box of truffles for Inara as well. "Got no real reason."
The ship jerked and rose, everyone moving but the feeling was natural by now no one paid any attention to it.
"Where'd Ayme get off to?" Gavon questioned, throwing something at Simon who caught it clumsily. He opened it to see a thin stethoscope, shining, clean, and light.
"Upstairs, with Inara," Mal answered.
There was a small noise coming from inside Gavon's coat that made everyone stop their chatter.
"What was that?" Mal questioned as the ship shook a little more.
"What was what?" Gavon requested back, trying to look more innocent. The noise came again.
"That," Mal questioned. "What was that?"
"Ow!" Gavon suddenly flinched and looked in his coat. "You're blowing it, Frog."
"You gotta frog in your coat?" Jayne questioned, letting the weights fall from his hands. "What kinda man are you?"
"It's not a frog," Kaylee said excitedly as Gavon pulled out the small kitten in one of his hands, the creature fitting easily in his palm.
"You bringin' a rat on the ship?" Jayne asked.
"It's a kitty!" Kaylee said excitedly.
"You named a cat, frog?" Simon questioned.
"You get that thing off of my boat right now, we ain't takin' in strays on this ship," Mal stated, glancing at the skinny, dirty creature.
"And into what? Atmo?" Gavon commented.
"No!" Kaylee yelled, taking the kitten from Gavon and holding it against her shoulder. "You can't do that Captain! It's just a little baby!"
"It's a dirty, scrawny, mangy stray," Mal said in defense.
"Well, yeah, but it won't be a bother!" Kaylee said, pulling some of the dried mud from its fur.
"I'll take it with me once I get off," Gavon stated.
"Take what?" Inara questioned from above as she and Ayme came from her shuttle. Gavon's mouth dropped as Ayme approached in a dark, shimmering dress. It covered her neck and had no sleeves except for slender pieces of fabric draped around her elbows and hooked to the back.
"Inara, there you are, I see you've been playing dress up," Mal said calmly. "That's what kept you then?"
"Look Inara! It's a kitten!" Kaylee said excitedly as the kitten meowed again. Inara's face shifted to surprise as Kaylee ran for her to show her, both her and Ayme stepping down to the bottom of the cargo bay. Gavon stepped towards her with the bag in his hand as she looked at the small kitten as well, it meowing loudly.
"Saving animals again?" Ayme commented, touching its small head.
"Where did you get that?" Gavon asked laughing slightly with the words.
"Inara, just for now until my clothes dry," Ayme said quietly. "Do…you like it?"
"I sure as hell do," Jayne said happily.
Gavon pulled out the box of truffles and handed them to Inara before he could give Ayme her gift.
"No one listens to a single word I say no more," Mal commented to himself. "I say no kitten and now we got the thing stuck on my ship!"
"I do, sir," Zoe laughed. "But I gotta say it's only gonna be here for some days."
"Don't worry, Captain," Ayme replied, "Kittens aren't troublesome, it'll be out of your hair in a few days time."
"I got something for you," Gavon said excitedly, holding the bag against his back.
"Again?" she said smiling. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from Inara and Kaylee, dragging her across the cargo hold and setting her on top of a few boxes, letting her legs dangle and her toes just touch the ground.
"Hey, kiddo," Gavon beckoned, River closed her jelly beans and handed them to Simon before jumping over as Gavon patted a spot on the box for her to sit behind Ayme.
"You gotta hold her eyes shut, she's a peeker," Gavon stated, Ayme giving him a sour look before River covered her eyes. Gavon pulled the rolled up plastic out and unraveled it, setting it out in front of her around the length of five feet. On its corner was a small button, Gavon pressing it with his foot and a burst of light appeared, before it formed into a piano, flashing once then becoming solid again. Gavon grabbed Ayme's wrists and lifted them up over the keys, before letting her pointer hit the edge of one of the keys, the note ringing out in the echoing cavern. Her hand pulled back as Gavon let go of her, before she set her hands out on the white keys, playing a cord.
River let her hands fall away, kneeling on the boxes with a smile on her face as Ayme opened her own. Her eyes watered and turned to a shimmering hazel as she pressed it down again. She slid off of the boxes and jumped onto Gavon, clinging to his neck easily.
"Well, now I feel a mighty bit ungrateful," Mal muttered, before the kitten meowed again.
"Let's go get this cleaned up," Inara laughed, beckoning Kaylee to follow her up the stairs with both their boxes of chocolates. River jumped down and ran with them, wanting to see the kitten herself.
"His name's Frog," River said as they stepped up the stairs.
"This day just keeps getting' better and better," Jayne mumbled, grabbing his new weights and going to his bench press. "Shepherd, little help here."
"Right," Shepherd Book said, bringing his new weights as well to the bench press. Zoe grabbed Mal by his upper arm and began pulling him away, the teddy bear and dinosaur hooked under her other arm.
"What?" Mal questioned as she dragged him away. Simon sighed heavily, glancing as Kaylee disappeared into Inara's shuttle with Frog, the kitten. He turned around, heading for the kitchen suddenly feeling the need to eat something, his new stethoscope clenched tightly in his palm.
"Thank you," Ayme mumbled almost crying tears.
"I know you missed it," Gavon said quietly, holding onto her lightly as she almost crushed his wind pipe, a sudden new strength in her that he thought she didn't have. "I have a guitar too now, look."
Gavon pointed to the case behind them, Ayme looking at it over his shoulder.
"Can you play it?" She asked.
"Well, I'm sure as hell gonna try," Gavon laughed. Ayme let go of him finally, even though he didn't want her to, and settled back down on the boxes, tapping the keys of the holographic piano and listening to it again.
End Chapter 11
See? More sappiness, but don't worry, it'll get back to the action in the next few chapters, and Roy's last name is pronouced Beatty (beeedeee) just to let you ppl know! THANX SO MUCH FOR READING! and a special shout out to PseudonymA1! thanx for the advice!