Disclaimer: I am simply a follower of Joss and own nothing. No, not even the lyrics to Moon River.
A/N: I realized that during my short stay in Firefly 'verse, I've been really mean to both Jayne and River, so I decided to do something nice for a change. Y'know get me some good karma before finals… Jayne PoV, no spoilers, implied Rayne.
It was the sort of trinket little dust bowl planets like Nox were known for, beaten up beyond its years and askin' for too high a price.
But there she was starin' with them big brown eyes of hers as though it was the finest thing she'd ever seen.
"C'mon girl, we best be gettin' now before Mal and them leave." But she ain't paying any kind of attention to him as her fingers find the key on the side of the box and start turning.
"We're off to see the world." She whispers with a smile to the little box, head dippin' down so that her hair covers her face. "Oh, there's such a lot of world to see."
"Now don't start going crazy on me—" River still ain't paying a lick of attention to him however, especially now that the box is openin', revealing a little spinnin' doll, legs and arms fixed like Moonbrain's when she took to dancin' around the cargo bay. And there was a song, the sort of go se little Kaylee went all googly for, all soft and fluttery, like it was made just so little crazy—and maybe even the less crazy—girls could dance to it.
Seems like the gorram girl's readin' his mind 'cause she starts dancin' too, spinnin' in even circles, hair flyin' out behind her as she goes, ends brushin' his arms and face.
And he watches for a while, 'cause she ain't so bad when she's dancin', quiet and such, lookin' as graceful as she do when she fights, but then he's all kinds of aware of the other folk in the shop, all of them starin' at her and he thinks this probably ain't what the captain had in mind when he said lay low…
He reaches out and closes the box with a snap, puttin' a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, Crazy, people are startin' to stare."
She looks up at him, her eyes all unfocused from the spinnin' he should guess, head tilting to the side.
"Had to. Would be impolite not to dance when asked to."
"Didn't hear no one asked you."
"She did. Said she wanted to dance. Hasn't been let out of the box in too long, was forgetting what she was." Her voice all even and sane-like, and if it weren't for the words spillin' outta her mouth he'd take her as normal.
There's the twin beep from his comm and Wash's voice, "We're heading out in fifteen."
That's when she starts bitin' her lip and lookin' all worried, and all thoughts of sanity are brushed away with her next words. "She must set Lenore free!"
"Lenore? Who the hell is Lenore?"
River cocks her head to the side and stares at him as though he didn't have no sense. "The girl in the box. She must set Lenore free. Lenore would like to see Serenity, never been out to the Black before. Wishes to see stars."
She reaches out and picks up the box, prying the lid open. The song starts playin' again and she's swaying in her spot to the music.
"Alright, alright. Buy your feng le box," he growls feelin' all uncomfortable and such now that the girl's movin' her hips like that, and Jayne Cobb ain't ever liked feelin' uncomfortable, especially not with a woman. "Seen people waste their coin on stupider things after all." He adds, because he has to, bein' the big mean merc and all, rememberin' bein' with Wash when he went out lookin' for a mustache comb.
"But she cannot buy it!" River wails then, and he winces when he realizes that anyone who wasn't starin' before is probably lookin' over now. "Already bought Kaylee's birthday present, not enough left in her purse."
She looks fit to cry now, big weepy eyes lookin' all kinds of gloomy as they stare up at him. She starts bitin' her lip and he groans knowing he's about to do something stupid.
-
She was dancin', had been for nearly the entire afternoon, drivin' Mal crazy with that song of hers, Jayne's decided to take that on as the bright side of having spent his own coin to get girl the box. He'd made her swear not to mention none of what had happened in the shop to the rest of the crew, else she'd be sorry. After that she'd thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, he gotta admit that wasn't so bad either.
Simon and Kaylee had just walked out to the mess and only he was left on the catwalk to watch her.
Song ends but instead of runnin' over to turn the key again she just stands there, lookin' up at him, steady, face all flushed from dancin'.
"Whacha doin', girl?" He asks, crossin' his arms over his chest, tryin' to make sure she remembered that no matter what, he was a big bad wolf and she ought to remember that.
"We're after the same rainbow's end." She says, arms falling to her side, like it's the simplest thing in the 'verse.
"What's that s'pose to mean?"
She smiles, though it's really more a smirk than a smile, and goes back to dancin'.
'Crazy.'
He leans against the rail and keeps watchin' her.
End
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