DISCLAIMER: Same old...not mine ...yadayada
NOTES: I realize these chapters are shorter than what I use to write, but ......it suits this story! Have fun kiddies!
Someday
"Not quite the way I pictured it ..!" Jayne tells her, unable to keep a chuckle out of his voice, checking the gun in his hand while reaching for a shirt with the other.
"Not the way I planned ......either..." River whispers more to herself, looking up at the ceiling again, her eyes roaming over the steel as though she can see the movement above them just as clearly as she can hear the muffled sounds. For some reason Jayne can't help but snicker over it. Of course she'd have a plan for that ....tricky as she is.
He pulls the shirt over his head, securing the gun in his pant- holster, glad he was too tired to bother with completely undressing before he fell down on his bed.
"Wanna tell me what all this is about?"
Having her here in his cabin dressed in nothing but her flimsy, white nightgown that looks so strangely displaced in this century, is more than irritating.......
She's here for real, in the flesh...not some vision from his dream, not some mindbender she set him up on .....
And she looks and smells.....and feels just like in his dreams. Not real ...but true ...
Gorram´girl always has to be right, no matter what the occasion, Jayne grudgingly admits to himself. Moves just like in his dreams too, but he knew that before.
The way she turns to him again with that easy, effortless grace that is so characteristic to all of her moves has him mesmerized for a second. It's a natural thing, not conscious, that's what makes it so much more appealing.....
He snaps out of it quickly at the impatient, no- nonsense look on her face.
"Marauders ...." River whispers, putting one finger over her lips to emphasize the need to be quiet.
"What?"
"Marauders .....Picked us for an easy game."
Jayne snorts at her dismissively, reaching for his knife.
"Well ...they got that one wrong. Pretty sure Wash picked them up on radar long before they..."
"Didn't come with a ship." River interrupts him softly, looking at the ceiling again and back to him. "Crawled on board.....like snakes through the vents, slithering in the space between....to murder sleep.....just like that."
"How do you always know this kind of stuff?" It should creep him out, a voice inside his head tells him determinedly, but strangely enough it doesn't bother him right now.
All she does is shrug those appealing shoulders. "I just know..."
"When?" Jayne asks doubtfully, suddenly fully aware why she asked him whether he trusted her. Not on a whim, not for sport or game or the sake of baiting him .....
"Yesterday, when we were in town buying rations."
"On Ikarus?" She nods without looking and Jayne can't help but notice how nicely her dark hair slides over her back with each movement.....like it has a life of its own.
Jayne curses harshly in Chinese, sliding Binky into its sheath. Grabbing her arm firmly, he spins her around to him. Her look is neither surprised nor appalled, just open and attentive.
"You knew?" he hisses at her, grinding his teeth in an effort to reign down his temper.
"And you didn't make a peep? Why? Did you loose your tongue all of a sudden? Usually ya´ can't keep that ruttin´ mouth shut! You didn´t think that was a vital piece of information for me or Mal to have?"
She doesn't try to pull her arm out of his grip, even though his fingers dig into her skin hard enough to bruise. Instead she slips her hand under his elbow, looking at him with something close to frustration and impatience in those dark, startling eyes. Even now she's lovely ...
Every word is chosen carefully, weighed and measured before it rolls off her tongue.....for his benefit.
"I could not tell. I did not know how to make you understand. I did not have the right words....they escaped me."
"You do now!" Jayne states in exasperation.
"Yes...but they're not mine." River admits softly, hesitant to go further.......it still takes getting used to. It's almost a rush and she can't give in to it now.....maybe later....maybe....
"I found a way ...to....."
He looks down at her, waiting. He might know her body, he realizes, but he really does not know her at all......let alone understand her.
"I borrowed....from you." River finally says. Jayne frowns at the small girl in confusion. He sure as hell didn't notice anything going missing. Damn her .....Mal was going to have his hide if she'd managed to make off with a gun again!
"Borrowed what?"
She looks at him, biting her lip like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. It was an endearing thing to see, Jayne notes with irritation.
"Sanity...."
Jayne's mouth falls open and he stares at her, aghast. She did not just say that ....
This better be a dream! But he knows it isn't ....this is not how they spend their time in his dreams!
"Oh ...you gotta be kidding me!" he growls as low as he can, still trying to be quiet.
"You not messin´ with my mind enough as it is?"
