Notes: Here's some more shameless personal indulging of Jayne/River. Thanks so much for the reviews!
...................................
The crew had been digging in shifts of three for a little over two hours. Despite the cold desert air, all of the crew were now sweaty, stinky, and covered in grime.
"Ugh, Captain, I need a bath!" complained Kaylee. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a nice soak in a clean lake. Mmm!" She paused in her digging to pontificate happily.
"Come on, now, a little dirt never hurt anyone. Just think of all the shiny gold we'll have soon," Mal responded.
"Yes, dig little slave girl! Dig for all your worth!" Wash encouraged as he cracked an imaginary whip over her head.
He, Mal, and Simon were sitting in the dirt watching Book, Kaylee, and Zoë dig. Simon sat quietly, resting his chin on his knees and watching Kaylee's back. A trickle of sweat was running down her bare leg, tracing patterns in the dust covered skin. He sighed, imagining the lake she talked about. Ai ya, he was pathetic. His sister was lost in the desert with only Jayne to try and find her, and here he was indulging in school boy fantasies. A cold wave of guilt rolled over his feelings, effectively squashing them.
With the next thrust of Zo's shovel, a comforting metallic ring sounded.
"Whooee! Finally!" Kaylee shouted, relieved she could stop digging, and threw her shovel down.
Everyone gathered around the hole, staring down at the black metal box and the markings on it. No one said a word.
"Darn," said Mal. "No wonder the old biddy never dug it up."
The crew stared suspiciously at the bold blue hànzì of the Blue Sun Corporation.
...............................
The cave Jayne and River were led into had apparently been used to corral sheep or goats a while back, when the planet had been more prosperous. Different rooms of the brown, sandstone cave had been fenced off, an asset the bandits had apparently put to their own use, adding large metal doors to create three or four caged rooms. A man grabbed Jayne and pushed him towards one of the cells. Another man took River and headed her towards a different cell. Seeing that they were going to be separated, River panicked and began shrieking uncontrollably and trying to get back towards Jayne. Hearing her fright, Jayne quickly shook off his captor and ran back to River.
"Let go of her!" He shoved one man away and grabbed hold of the screaming girl.
"She's my wife, let her stay with me." The moment he said this, River fell silent and held up two fingers towards him.
"Third time's a charm," she smiled expectantly at him. He tried not to look at her.
The bandits conferred amongst themselves, then decided it easier to just put them together in the same cell. Anything was better than the banshee's wailing. They were beginning to think she was a little soft in the head, which explained why she was with the brute.
Jayne led her into the cell and watched helplessly as the door was shut on them. He was having to fight all his instincts that told him to start punching faces and sorting it out later. But he knew that he couldn't. He flexed the muscles in his back in aggravation. Bad things could happen if he wasn't careful. He wasn't used to being careful. It was frustrating.
He plopped down against the wall of the cave and stretched his feet out in front of him. Might as well get comfortable. He looked around. Dark cave. Dark walls. Lots of dirt. He sighed. He was having a bad day. Then, he felt a small hand running up his arm. Oh, yeah, he thought, remembering the feel of her body in his arms. It was maybe an okay day. Far from good. But it wasn't bad. River patted his shoulder.
"Jayne, too many monsters. Take me home. We need a threshold."
"Yeah, any thoughts?" River nodded, then slowly crawled in front of Jayne and sat on his lap, sliding her legs on either side of his. Jayne panicked at the sight of her on top of him, her red dress pushed high up her white thighs, her liquid eyes staring straight at him and her dusky charcoal hair flowing down her shoulders. Her skin was pale, radiant, in the darkness of the cave. He wanted to touch her legs. Feel the smooth, soft skin under his hands. Grab them hard and pull her towards him. Feel the cool skin of her naked legs wrapped around him. He dropped his tied hands to his crotch and tried to shift himself away from her, to get her off, before he embarrassed himself.
"Get off, girl. What are you trying to do?" She stared down towards his lap.
"You've got a dagger in your pants." He gaped at her impudence and immediately stood, knocking her to her back. He walked up to her, straddling her prone figure.
"Now look here, girl. Quit playing with me! It's not fair and I don't like it."
She lay still on the ground beneath him, hair fanned out around her head. She smiled.
"Yes, you do." She then shot her hands straight up and grabbed a hold of Jayne's pants, just south of his manhood. He cringed until he realized she was holding the shank he had hidden this morning under his pants. Relieved, he beamed down at her.
"Jing tsai, girl. Forgot all about that." He stepped off to the side to let River stand up and brush herself off.
Jayne tried getting his hands inside his pants, but the waistline was too tight for both hands to fit in at the same time. So he tried unbuttoning them, to no avail. With his wrists tied together, he couldn't get his fingers at the pesky little buttons. While he stood there, grunting in his frustration, River circled around him like a cat, getting to her knees in front of him. She reached up her hands to his waist, and, with her more slender fingers, slowly began to unbutton the long fly of his pants. Jayne looked at the wall and tried to distract himself. He thought about Wash's shirts. He thought about midgets juggling geese. He thought about midget geese juggling Wash.
Finally, River stood up. He looked at her suspiciously. What was she trying to do?
"Get at your knife," she supplied. Jayne cringed at the double entendre. Smiling wickedly, she slid her hands down the front of his pants, pushing them down to his ankles. Pausing, she watched his face twist in repressed emotion and his teeth clench as he stood, bound and in a faded red pair of boxers, staring at the ceiling.
"Gorramit, hurry up. It's cold." Slowly, she knelt again, admiring the way the muscles of his thighs pushed out against his skin. They danced as he shifted his weight. She was mesmerized for a moment, watching the play of skin and strength in front of her. Then she refocused on the task at hand, leaning against his leg as she pulled at the strap around the top of his thigh.
Damn girl was enjoying tormenting him, the tease. He bent his head and watched as she tried loosing the strap that held the blade to his thigh. However, with her wrists bound, she couldn't get her fingers close enough to clasp the smooth leather. Frustrated after multiple tries, she dropped her hands to hold his ankle, slid her chest up the length of his leg and grabbed the strap between her teeth, inches from his crotch. Jayne hissed through his teeth at the sensation of her hair tickling his upper thigh. River locked eyes with him, pausing interminably between his legs, then jerked back, freeing the knife which landed in the dirt with a muffled thud.
Immediately, Jayne flipped the blade using the toe of his boot and sliced his bonds. He grabbed River's shoulders and pressed her against the wall, leaning in close to her face, his chest heaving from her nearness.
"Don't... do that again," he stammered in a thorny tone.
She inhaled quickly, feeling the puffs of his breath on her cheek and the heat radiating off his skin. He was angry, frustrated, confused. It wasn't what she intended. But beneath those thoughts of his, raged a cloudy red storm. If she could get through to that swirling mass of emotion, it could be heaven. She had started playing with Jayne, but, she hadn't noticed before today how true he was. Everything he did, he was honest to himself. He knew who he was. Even now, when he fought her back, he knew what he wanted. Wouldn't admit to anyone else, but he knew and accepted it. Not like Inara or the captain. They were still learning about themselves. But Jayne, Jayne was pure.
Jayne was still holding her against the wall deciding whether he was being loyal to Mal, or to River, by keeping himself from her. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to imagine, for a moment, his hands fisted in her dark hair, her head thrown back in pleasure, his mouth on her neck. River gasped audibly and pulled at his shirt, pressing his chest against hers. Jayne wrenched himself out of his reverie. His eyes flew open, and he peeled himself away from her.
"Sorry," he muttered. Then he brought the knife up and sliced the rope on her wrists, trying to get back to business. "Okay, here's the plan: we wait till they come to get us in the morning, we pretend we're still bound, and attack them when they walk in."
"I don't have a knife," reminded River.
"Well, then just sit in the corner and try to kill them with your brain. Or were you bluffing?"
"My secret."
"Yeah, bet you forgot how."
"Jayne?"
"Yeah?"
"Pull your pants up." Jayne glanced down.
"Heh, don't like the view?" he leered cockily.
"I didn't say that," she countered, cocking an eyebrow. Startled, he hiked up his britches and stalked to the far edge of the room.
"No," River said, "over here. The monsters in the closet are blind here." She paused, then pointed, "See the hinges? The door opens in."
Jayne nodded his assent without checking to see if she was right. He was getting used to her. She wasn't even creepy anymore. Just, girly. River lay down on her back by the wall, and waited for Jayne to come join her. She watched as his big boots walked up to her, and paused. She looked up at his face.
"Hey, no funny business, right?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing funny."
He nodded seriously and sat down next to her.
"Scoot over," he ordered. She moved closer to the wall.
"Further."
She glared at him.
"Hey, look now. We both know it's my neck if anything happens to you. The wall makes the best protection here. Now scoot."
She rolled over to face the wall, but when she lay on her side, a small cry of pain escaped her lips.
"Hey, what's wrong now?" Jayne leaned over and sat her up in front of him. She held out her arm to him. The rock shard was still in her arm. It was small, but could get infected.
"Huh, okay, give it here." Jayne took her arm and grasped it by the elbow. The cut was in her upper arm, below her shoulder. He gently ran his finger around the dried blood, prodding at it to see how deep the stone was. Determining that it wasn't too far in, Jayne pressed his lips to the cut and felt for the fragment with his mouth. Finding it, he teased it out with his tongue and latched on to it with his teeth. Before he pulled, he glanced at her face. Her eyes were squinted shut, awaiting the painful pull. Slowly, gently, he eased the rock out from her skin, keeping it on the tip of his tongue. A slow trickle of fresh blood ran out from the cut.
One eye opened. Then the other. Smiling her thanks, she plucked the sharp stone from his outstretched tongue and tucked it into a pocket on her dress. Taking his knife, Jayne cut off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his shirt and tied it around the cut on her arm. He could still taste the sharp, metallic flavor of her blood in his mouth, seeping into his skin.
"Better? Good. Now go to sleep. Soldier man needs rest. Your ass is heavy and I had to haul it around all night."
Gruff Jayne was back, but River was happy knowing that he was accommodating her into his mindset. She felt how he considered her in all his thoughts, wondering how events would affect her: was she too cold? Was her arm going to pain her? Would she be all right during their escape attempt? She lay back down on her side facing the wall. She felt Jayne lay down beside her, as close as he could but being careful not to touch her. She shut her eyes, more relaxed then she had ever been, and went to sleep basking in the warmth flowing from the man beside her.
He lay on his side, creating a wall to protect her. He took his knife and placed it within arm's reach, where he could grab it easily but where it wouldn't accidentally cut him or River. He sighed, looking at her, curled up and breathing easily. She was gorgeous to him. Her soft, pale skin... her hair like a starless night... the raven crescents of her eyelashes. He was completely gone over her. Too bad he couldn't have her. Besides the fact they were currently trying to escape their captors and foil a robbery, if he wanted to keep his job then pissing off Simon and Mal was not going to be helpful. It was the best job he'd ever had. It wasn't worth losing over a girl. He stared at her for a minute more, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
...................................
The crew had been digging in shifts of three for a little over two hours. Despite the cold desert air, all of the crew were now sweaty, stinky, and covered in grime.
"Ugh, Captain, I need a bath!" complained Kaylee. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a nice soak in a clean lake. Mmm!" She paused in her digging to pontificate happily.
"Come on, now, a little dirt never hurt anyone. Just think of all the shiny gold we'll have soon," Mal responded.
"Yes, dig little slave girl! Dig for all your worth!" Wash encouraged as he cracked an imaginary whip over her head.
He, Mal, and Simon were sitting in the dirt watching Book, Kaylee, and Zoë dig. Simon sat quietly, resting his chin on his knees and watching Kaylee's back. A trickle of sweat was running down her bare leg, tracing patterns in the dust covered skin. He sighed, imagining the lake she talked about. Ai ya, he was pathetic. His sister was lost in the desert with only Jayne to try and find her, and here he was indulging in school boy fantasies. A cold wave of guilt rolled over his feelings, effectively squashing them.
With the next thrust of Zo's shovel, a comforting metallic ring sounded.
"Whooee! Finally!" Kaylee shouted, relieved she could stop digging, and threw her shovel down.
Everyone gathered around the hole, staring down at the black metal box and the markings on it. No one said a word.
"Darn," said Mal. "No wonder the old biddy never dug it up."
The crew stared suspiciously at the bold blue hànzì of the Blue Sun Corporation.
...............................
The cave Jayne and River were led into had apparently been used to corral sheep or goats a while back, when the planet had been more prosperous. Different rooms of the brown, sandstone cave had been fenced off, an asset the bandits had apparently put to their own use, adding large metal doors to create three or four caged rooms. A man grabbed Jayne and pushed him towards one of the cells. Another man took River and headed her towards a different cell. Seeing that they were going to be separated, River panicked and began shrieking uncontrollably and trying to get back towards Jayne. Hearing her fright, Jayne quickly shook off his captor and ran back to River.
"Let go of her!" He shoved one man away and grabbed hold of the screaming girl.
"She's my wife, let her stay with me." The moment he said this, River fell silent and held up two fingers towards him.
"Third time's a charm," she smiled expectantly at him. He tried not to look at her.
The bandits conferred amongst themselves, then decided it easier to just put them together in the same cell. Anything was better than the banshee's wailing. They were beginning to think she was a little soft in the head, which explained why she was with the brute.
Jayne led her into the cell and watched helplessly as the door was shut on them. He was having to fight all his instincts that told him to start punching faces and sorting it out later. But he knew that he couldn't. He flexed the muscles in his back in aggravation. Bad things could happen if he wasn't careful. He wasn't used to being careful. It was frustrating.
He plopped down against the wall of the cave and stretched his feet out in front of him. Might as well get comfortable. He looked around. Dark cave. Dark walls. Lots of dirt. He sighed. He was having a bad day. Then, he felt a small hand running up his arm. Oh, yeah, he thought, remembering the feel of her body in his arms. It was maybe an okay day. Far from good. But it wasn't bad. River patted his shoulder.
"Jayne, too many monsters. Take me home. We need a threshold."
"Yeah, any thoughts?" River nodded, then slowly crawled in front of Jayne and sat on his lap, sliding her legs on either side of his. Jayne panicked at the sight of her on top of him, her red dress pushed high up her white thighs, her liquid eyes staring straight at him and her dusky charcoal hair flowing down her shoulders. Her skin was pale, radiant, in the darkness of the cave. He wanted to touch her legs. Feel the smooth, soft skin under his hands. Grab them hard and pull her towards him. Feel the cool skin of her naked legs wrapped around him. He dropped his tied hands to his crotch and tried to shift himself away from her, to get her off, before he embarrassed himself.
"Get off, girl. What are you trying to do?" She stared down towards his lap.
"You've got a dagger in your pants." He gaped at her impudence and immediately stood, knocking her to her back. He walked up to her, straddling her prone figure.
"Now look here, girl. Quit playing with me! It's not fair and I don't like it."
She lay still on the ground beneath him, hair fanned out around her head. She smiled.
"Yes, you do." She then shot her hands straight up and grabbed a hold of Jayne's pants, just south of his manhood. He cringed until he realized she was holding the shank he had hidden this morning under his pants. Relieved, he beamed down at her.
"Jing tsai, girl. Forgot all about that." He stepped off to the side to let River stand up and brush herself off.
Jayne tried getting his hands inside his pants, but the waistline was too tight for both hands to fit in at the same time. So he tried unbuttoning them, to no avail. With his wrists tied together, he couldn't get his fingers at the pesky little buttons. While he stood there, grunting in his frustration, River circled around him like a cat, getting to her knees in front of him. She reached up her hands to his waist, and, with her more slender fingers, slowly began to unbutton the long fly of his pants. Jayne looked at the wall and tried to distract himself. He thought about Wash's shirts. He thought about midgets juggling geese. He thought about midget geese juggling Wash.
Finally, River stood up. He looked at her suspiciously. What was she trying to do?
"Get at your knife," she supplied. Jayne cringed at the double entendre. Smiling wickedly, she slid her hands down the front of his pants, pushing them down to his ankles. Pausing, she watched his face twist in repressed emotion and his teeth clench as he stood, bound and in a faded red pair of boxers, staring at the ceiling.
"Gorramit, hurry up. It's cold." Slowly, she knelt again, admiring the way the muscles of his thighs pushed out against his skin. They danced as he shifted his weight. She was mesmerized for a moment, watching the play of skin and strength in front of her. Then she refocused on the task at hand, leaning against his leg as she pulled at the strap around the top of his thigh.
Damn girl was enjoying tormenting him, the tease. He bent his head and watched as she tried loosing the strap that held the blade to his thigh. However, with her wrists bound, she couldn't get her fingers close enough to clasp the smooth leather. Frustrated after multiple tries, she dropped her hands to hold his ankle, slid her chest up the length of his leg and grabbed the strap between her teeth, inches from his crotch. Jayne hissed through his teeth at the sensation of her hair tickling his upper thigh. River locked eyes with him, pausing interminably between his legs, then jerked back, freeing the knife which landed in the dirt with a muffled thud.
Immediately, Jayne flipped the blade using the toe of his boot and sliced his bonds. He grabbed River's shoulders and pressed her against the wall, leaning in close to her face, his chest heaving from her nearness.
"Don't... do that again," he stammered in a thorny tone.
She inhaled quickly, feeling the puffs of his breath on her cheek and the heat radiating off his skin. He was angry, frustrated, confused. It wasn't what she intended. But beneath those thoughts of his, raged a cloudy red storm. If she could get through to that swirling mass of emotion, it could be heaven. She had started playing with Jayne, but, she hadn't noticed before today how true he was. Everything he did, he was honest to himself. He knew who he was. Even now, when he fought her back, he knew what he wanted. Wouldn't admit to anyone else, but he knew and accepted it. Not like Inara or the captain. They were still learning about themselves. But Jayne, Jayne was pure.
Jayne was still holding her against the wall deciding whether he was being loyal to Mal, or to River, by keeping himself from her. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to imagine, for a moment, his hands fisted in her dark hair, her head thrown back in pleasure, his mouth on her neck. River gasped audibly and pulled at his shirt, pressing his chest against hers. Jayne wrenched himself out of his reverie. His eyes flew open, and he peeled himself away from her.
"Sorry," he muttered. Then he brought the knife up and sliced the rope on her wrists, trying to get back to business. "Okay, here's the plan: we wait till they come to get us in the morning, we pretend we're still bound, and attack them when they walk in."
"I don't have a knife," reminded River.
"Well, then just sit in the corner and try to kill them with your brain. Or were you bluffing?"
"My secret."
"Yeah, bet you forgot how."
"Jayne?"
"Yeah?"
"Pull your pants up." Jayne glanced down.
"Heh, don't like the view?" he leered cockily.
"I didn't say that," she countered, cocking an eyebrow. Startled, he hiked up his britches and stalked to the far edge of the room.
"No," River said, "over here. The monsters in the closet are blind here." She paused, then pointed, "See the hinges? The door opens in."
Jayne nodded his assent without checking to see if she was right. He was getting used to her. She wasn't even creepy anymore. Just, girly. River lay down on her back by the wall, and waited for Jayne to come join her. She watched as his big boots walked up to her, and paused. She looked up at his face.
"Hey, no funny business, right?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing funny."
He nodded seriously and sat down next to her.
"Scoot over," he ordered. She moved closer to the wall.
"Further."
She glared at him.
"Hey, look now. We both know it's my neck if anything happens to you. The wall makes the best protection here. Now scoot."
She rolled over to face the wall, but when she lay on her side, a small cry of pain escaped her lips.
"Hey, what's wrong now?" Jayne leaned over and sat her up in front of him. She held out her arm to him. The rock shard was still in her arm. It was small, but could get infected.
"Huh, okay, give it here." Jayne took her arm and grasped it by the elbow. The cut was in her upper arm, below her shoulder. He gently ran his finger around the dried blood, prodding at it to see how deep the stone was. Determining that it wasn't too far in, Jayne pressed his lips to the cut and felt for the fragment with his mouth. Finding it, he teased it out with his tongue and latched on to it with his teeth. Before he pulled, he glanced at her face. Her eyes were squinted shut, awaiting the painful pull. Slowly, gently, he eased the rock out from her skin, keeping it on the tip of his tongue. A slow trickle of fresh blood ran out from the cut.
One eye opened. Then the other. Smiling her thanks, she plucked the sharp stone from his outstretched tongue and tucked it into a pocket on her dress. Taking his knife, Jayne cut off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his shirt and tied it around the cut on her arm. He could still taste the sharp, metallic flavor of her blood in his mouth, seeping into his skin.
"Better? Good. Now go to sleep. Soldier man needs rest. Your ass is heavy and I had to haul it around all night."
Gruff Jayne was back, but River was happy knowing that he was accommodating her into his mindset. She felt how he considered her in all his thoughts, wondering how events would affect her: was she too cold? Was her arm going to pain her? Would she be all right during their escape attempt? She lay back down on her side facing the wall. She felt Jayne lay down beside her, as close as he could but being careful not to touch her. She shut her eyes, more relaxed then she had ever been, and went to sleep basking in the warmth flowing from the man beside her.
He lay on his side, creating a wall to protect her. He took his knife and placed it within arm's reach, where he could grab it easily but where it wouldn't accidentally cut him or River. He sighed, looking at her, curled up and breathing easily. She was gorgeous to him. Her soft, pale skin... her hair like a starless night... the raven crescents of her eyelashes. He was completely gone over her. Too bad he couldn't have her. Besides the fact they were currently trying to escape their captors and foil a robbery, if he wanted to keep his job then pissing off Simon and Mal was not going to be helpful. It was the best job he'd ever had. It wasn't worth losing over a girl. He stared at her for a minute more, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.