I was the first person to arrive at Kaylee's Hallowe'en party, except Kaylee herself. But the whole idea intrigued me, and I wanted to see what the others made of it.
We'd decided on a Sari, mainly because a Sari can be adjusted for any height. I'd also swept her hair up into a French pleat, and finished the whole ensemble off with a pair of satin slippers. She looked amazingly stately in the outfit.
She'd spent all afternoon decorating the Dining Room, and it certainly looked impressive. Where she'd found the orange and black paper that she'd made paper chains of I have no idea. But they were effective.
As for me. It felt very liberating to be wearing trousers, of a kind. I wasn't sure about the sneakers that Kaylee had insisted I wear. But the top and the overalls certainly felt comfortable, if not something I could get used to wearing.
Zoe and Wash were the first to arrive, and they made an impressive looking couple. Zoe had come to ask if she could borrow something shortly after Kaylee had left, and she certainly looked glamorous in the gold dress which I'd worn to the ball on Persephone.
Wash had borrowed Mal's outfit from the Persephone ball. He looked so… un-Wash-like, with his hair smartly brushed. Although he did seem to be moving a little awkwardly in the tight trousers.
"Wash!" I exclaim. "I do believe that outfit looks better on you than it did on Mal."
"You do?…" he replied, obviously flattered. "I'm wasn't that sure about it myself… I think I carry a bit more weight than he does. But my wife insisted… so who am I to argue?"
"Do you blame me?" Zoe put in. "After Kaylee here told me this outfit showed off the Captains physique, what woman wouldn't want to see her husband in those form-fitting pants…?" She looked down at herself. "I don't look half bad either."
"I said it would look stunning." I say with a smile.
"You were right. Not as much slink as I'd prefer. But seein' as this is 'Come as you Ain't'… Slink wouldn't have been appropriate."
"Oh… it wouldn't…" Kaylee assured her with a grin.
The Shepherd, The Doctor and River arrived next. Shepherd Book had obviously asked Wash for the loan of his costume. Somehow he didn't look right in the Hawaiian shirt and loose trousers.
"Hey, Shepherd." Kaylee was obviously so excited. "Wouldn't the costume have looked better if you'd loosened your hair a little...?"
A snort from Zoe made us all turn. "I don't think we want to go through that again." Then, at our puzzled looks. "The last time the Shepherd loosened his hair in public it freaked River out… Although I gotta admit… it was a pretty alarmin' sight."
"Yes." The Shepherd agreed with a nod. "I felt it would be wiser to leave my hair bound this evening. Wouldn't want anything setting River off."
Kaylee turned to Simon, and her eyes widened as she realised that no only had he somehow managed to persuade Jayne to lend him an outfit, but also some guns.
"Gee, Simon. I hope you're not plannin' on being in character as Jayne. Don't want anyone getting hurt. That is, if you haven't already hurt him. How'd you manage to get all that outta him?"
The smile on the Doctor's lips was sincere as he turned to her, replying. "They're all unloaded, so there should be no bullet wounds tonight. As for Jayne. I'm not sure. I asked and he seemed only too happy to help. Maybe nearly getting arrested by the Alliance has affected him in some way."
"Maybe." Kaylee said with a shrug, a look in her eyes that showed she wasn't entirely sure about Simon's theory. "And what's River come as?"
I must admit that Rivers costume puzzled me somewhat. She wore a long black dress, with one full length sleeve that draped gracefully. She wore no shoes, and a strange conical shaped hat on her head."
"Oh, River's come as a Witch… I thought it was appropriate seeing as she was nearly burned for being one… though she isn't…" Simon rushed his exclamation, but his sister interrupted him.
"It's Simon's idea… not mine… I wanted to come as a physical representation of the freedom I feel I have since Simon rescued me."
"Huh?" We were all puzzled, but Kaylee was the one who voiced it."
"She wanted to come naked!" The doctor explained in an undertone, before swiftly changing the subject. "Oh… you managed to get a pumpkin!"
"Not really…" Kaylee admitted, although it was obvious that she was glad the doctor had noticed. "We just had some protein in the right sorta colour, so I moulded it round a jug and put a candle in. Not the real thing but it looks right."
"Looks tasty as well." The exclamation behind us made us all turn from admiring the 'pumpkin' to see what costume Jayne had contrived. There was silent for a moment, and then Kaylee burst out laughing.
"Oh… Jayne… that is so funny… You as a Shepherd… well it's certainly something that you ain't."
Jayne shrugged, but gave a smile. "I was jus' gonna use the getup from that planet where I got my rain stick. But when the doc asked if he could borrow some of my clothes, I figured I might see if'n I could do the same. Shepherds 'bout the same size as me… it made sense."
"What made sense?" Mal's voice came from the back of the group. He'd obviously entered through the other door.
"Nuthin'." Jayne replied. "Jus' me borrowing some stuff off the Shepherd."
"You borrowed your outfit?" Mal asked, puzzled. ", I just used what I had."
By this time we'd all turned to look. Mal was dressed in... well... a dress.
"What!" He said, into the silence that had fallen. "It said Come as you Ain't... and I ain't a woman!"