Title: Post
Series: Let it Flow
Author: Sevangel
Disclaimer: Not mine
Rating: PG
lj-cut text"Post"
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"You are not a very gracious loser, Simon." River says with a glare.
"It's a little hard to be gracious when you just beat us with your eyes closed." Simon replies.
"What's goin' on?" Mal questions upon seeing the siblings glaring at each other.
"River just kick our asses at jacks." Kaylee answers. "And she done used her bad arm and had her eyes closed the entire time."
"Simon isn't very good at losing." River adds. "Though he should be used to it." She sends a smirk at her brother and giggles when he glares at her.
"I'm going to get you for that, brat." Simon glares as he grabs his little sister and starts tickling her ribs. River giggles and screeches under Simon's fingers. Then with a huff, she flips him onto his back and sticks her fingers into his side, rendering him motionless.
"Mei-mei, what…I can't move." Simon gasps as he attempts to move.
"Little witch, what did you do?" Mal asks.
"It's a cluster of nerves that paralyzes a person when a certain amount of pressure is added." River answers and then looks over at Kaylee. "Would you like to know where he is the most ticklish Kaylee?"
Kaylee giggles although she is a little startled by what River did to Simon.
"Mei-mei, don't you dare." Simon orders.
River giggles. "You are unable to move." River replies. "How will you stop her?" She then moves her free hand under Simon's right armpit and starts tickling him while at the same time twisting her other hand, releasing him.
Simon feels the quick pain in his side again and realizes he can move but with his sister's hand digging into his armpit, he is unable to do anything but laugh.
River smiles at Simon's laugher, being reminded of tickle wars from when she was little. She bends down to kiss his forehead before jumping up and backing away from him.
Simon pants on the ground, catching his breath. He glances up to see his sister inching away. "Get back here, brat." Simon orders. "I'm going to get you for that."
"You'll have to catch her first." River grins. "And she is much faster than you." She's gone with a twirl of fabric, dashing past Jayne, her hand running down his arm before running up the stairs and out of the bay.
"You okay, doc?" Mal questions, holding his hand out.
Simon grabs Mal's hand and the captain pulls him to his feet. "Yes." Simon replies. "Although I haven't been tickled in years."
"What was up with the nerve thing?" Wash asks. "How does that work and could she do it before?"
"She never did it before." Simon answers. "And she was right when she said a certain amount of pressure would make a person paralyzed, although it's not as easy as she made it seem. The nerves are not directly under the skin and you have to actually dig a little to find them. Add in the fact that you have to twist them in a certain direction to a certain degree while only adding a certain amount of pressure. If done incorrectly, nothing will happen."
"Huh." Mal mutters. "Seems a bit useful."
"Don't it seem a bit wrong?" Jayne questions.
Everybody looks at him.
"What?" Jayne grunts. "Just seems like somebody could use to do whatever they want to a person. I'm all for killin' somebody fore they kill you but they should at least be able to move fore you do it."
"I don't think she'd do it so that she could hurt one of us." Simon replies a few seconds later, not having thought about what Jayne pointed out.
"I don't think she would either." Jayne agrees. "Just think it ain't a fair way of fightin."
"Least I know she can't do it to me." Mal replies with a smirk.
"What, you think being her 'captain daddy' is going to protect you?" Wash questions, using air quotes again.
"He had the cluster of nerves moved durin' his first tour." Zoe replies. "Got tore up by a piece of scrap metal."
"Oh." Wash replies.
"Interesting." Simon replies, looking at the captain with a critical eye.
"Yeah, well, ain't like I meant to." Mal mutters, feeling like a blood sample or somethin' under the doc's gaze.
"You should have told me though." Simon says.
"Didn't think it was anybody's business." Mal replies.
"It's my fault, actually." Simon continues, not even hearing Mal. "I should have questioned all of you on your medical past. I can't believe I've been here for almost a year and not made detail reports. I'm going to start with Wash and Kaylee, since they both probably have the least amount of medical history."
"Start what?" Jayne asks.
"Making reports detailing your medical past." Simon answers. "What injuries you have experienced, any allergies that you might have, and surgeries that have been done."
"You wanna know how often and where we've been hurt?" Jayne replies. "For our whole life or just the past while."
"Your life." Simon answers.
"Hell doc, I don't remember how many times I've been hurt in the past year let alone my whole ruttin' life." Jayne says.
"Me either." Mal agrees. "Just some of the bigger ones that required surgery and the like."
"Hmm." Simon mutters. "I'll have to figure something out. First though, I'm going to look for my sister, not that I'll find her."
"I'll help you look again." Kaylee says, reaching to take his hand.
Simon clasps her hand with a smile and they walk out of the bay.
"They're so sweet." Inara comments.
"Yeah." Mal agrees. "Makes a person wanna swear off anything with sugar."
Jayne laughs as he follows the captain out of the bay. They start back towards the mess when he stops suddenly and looks above them.
"Jayne, what're ya lookin' at?" Mal questions, looking up.
Jayne reaches above him and pushes a panel to the side.
"I didn't know that moved." Mal says. "How'd you know?"
Jayne doesn't answer him, instead reaches inside until he feels warm flesh under his hand. "Come down from there." Jayne orders, pulling on the limb.
"Who are you talkin'…." Mal stops when he hears the giggle. "Gorramit, little witch, get down from there. You're libel to cut yourself open on somethin' or get poked."
"Or come across a spider." Wash adds.
There's a loud squeal followed by a grunt from the merc as River drops heavily into his arms, her face in his neck.
"What's wrong with you?" Jayne growls, trying to adjust her body. She just clings tighter, her hands digging into his back.
"She doesn't like spiders." River whispers with a shudder.
"There ain't no spiders round here." Mal replies with a small smile.
"But Wash said there was." River says, turning her head to look at him. "Why would he lie?"
"Okay, there might be spiders." Mal agrees.
River squeals again and buries her face back into Jayne's neck.
"But there ain't no spiders right in this spot." Mal finishes. "They hide in dark places and stuff."
"She knows." River replies. "The average person swallows seven spiders a year. They crawl into your mouth to lay eggs, they like small, dark, damp places, and your body automatically swallows."
Inara shudders and then glares at Mal when he laughs.
"Alright, that's a bit disconcertin' but as long as you're asleep, guess it don't matter none." Mal says.
"But what if she were to awaken as it was crawling into her mouth?" River questions, her breath hot against Jayne's neck. He adjusts her body again, one hand supporting her hip as the other grips her thighs. "She would not like to wake up with a spider hanging out of her mouth."
"Don't think anyone would." Mal agrees as he starts walking towards the mess again.
"Don't get why you're freakin' out now." Jayne comments, looking down at her. She lifts her face, looking back through the curtain of her hair. "Ya've been on this boat for almost a year. Didn't you realize there'd be bugs?"
"Spiders are not bugs." River corrects. "They are arachnids. And no, she never thought about it."
"If you're this afraid, one would think you'd think bout it more." Mal comments. "Didn't you get spiders at home?"
"Mother saw an ant once." River answers, settling against Jayne's chest as he sits down in a chair. "We stayed in a resort for two weeks while the entire house was fumigated."
"For a ant?" Zoe asks. "Ain't that a bit extreme?"
"Gabriel Tam would never live with any insects." River answers. "It would be uncouth."
"Oh." Zoe replies.
The conversation turns off the subject of bugs when Book questions Mal about their next stop. As the group around the table starts talking, River's body slowly relaxes little by little until she's just sitting on Jayne's lap, her gaze moving from person to person.
Jayne looks down at River and can't help the smirk that moves across his face. Barely holding in laughter, he walks his fingertips over her bare arm, letting the laughter loose when she squeals loudly.
The table turns to look at the duo when River squeals just in time to see the genius pinch the merc's chest.
"That was mean." River growls, burying her head into his neck again. "And when she is done being scared, she will be mad at you."
Jayne chuckles again as he feels her breath heating his skin. "Yeah." Jayne agrees. "I can tell."
-
"You still mad at Jayne?" Mal questions River as she follows him towards the bay.
"No." River replies. "She tried to be but he makes it difficult. She needs her Jayne to make her feel safe and he does a good job. It is difficult to stay mad at him because of that."
"So he's yours now?" Mal asks.
"She would like him to be." River answers. "And he will be, once he decides to pursue her. She fears she will become impatient and take matters into her own hands."
Mal glares at her.
She giggles.
He glares harder.
"She likes talking to you about this, captain daddy." River says between giggles. "When you glare at her, a vein in your forehead throbs. She finds it funny."
"Brat." Mal mutters as they walk into the bay. The rest of the crew are waiting there, looking rather impatient.
"What took you so gorram long?" Jayne asks.
"I had to get changed." Mal answers.
"So did she." River replies. "Her dress was not appropriate for an outing."
"Was your dress inappropriate too?" Wash asks with a smile.
"You wanna stay on the boat?" Mal growls.
"We're going to a space station to pick up post." Wash replies. "It's not the outing of the year. That threat isn't going to do much."
"Zoe." Mal growls.
"Husband, behave." Zoe orders.
"Can we go now?" River questions. "She is determined to successfully eat an ice planet."
"Let's go." Mal orders, ushering them off the boat. He gives Jayne a look and notices the merc is already standing directly behind the genius, his eyes looking around at the people on the crowded space station. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some money. "Load us up."
Jayne nods as he pockets the money.
"Captain daddy." River says.
"Yeah, little witch?" Mal replies.
"Are you planning on getting another not-dead corpse?" River questions with a smile.
Mal glares at her again. "No." Mal growls. "But if'n I do, will you tell me if it's actually dead or not?"
"She might." River replies. "Depends on how entertaining it will be if she doesn't."
Inara and Zoe laugh at the look on Mal's face. "You really are pushin' for that groundin' thing." Mal says.
Simon snorts.
"What's so funny doc?" Mal questions, glancing over at him.
"I just think it would be funny." Simon answers. "You do realize she'll find away out of her room seconds after you lock her in there."
"Simon is right." River agrees. "She knows how to escape from her room without opening the door."
"You best not be crawlin' through my heatin' ducts." Mal warns.
"Sides, ain't there spiders in there?" Jayne questions, smirking when she lets out a small squeal.
"Jayne, stop torturing her." Mal orders, smiling at the panicked expression on her face, knowing if they were on the ship, she'd have crawled up the merc's body to hide her face in his neck again.
"Fine." Jayne agrees. "Come on, crazy girl, we got stuff to buy."
"Wait a second." Simon replies. "Why is she going with you?"
"Cause I said so." Mal replies. "Ain't nobody, including feds, gonna notice her with Jayne by her side, they'll be too busy watchin' him."
"You will let her get an ice planet?" River questions Jayne.
"Sure." Jayne replies, glancing down at her. He pulls her against his side as he shoulders through the crowd, the captain, Zoe, Wash, Inara, and Book going in the opposite direction while Kaylee and Simon walk follow them. "After we load up though."
"Very well." River replies as she leans into his side.
Jayne drops his arm around her shoulder as he leads them to the weapon's shop.
Simon holds Kaylee's hand, thinking how different this visit to the station is compared to the last one. For one, he's holding Kaylee's hand and not insulting her and for another, his sister has the large merc wrapped around her, like her very own bodyguard.
"She seems relaxed round Jayne." Kaylee comments.
Simon looks down at Kaylee and then looks at the backs of his sister and the large merc. "Yes, she does." Simon agrees. "He seems to make her feel safe enough to let her guard down."
"You're takin' this well." Kaylee says. "I woulda never thought you'd handle River wantin' Jayne this well."
"I didn't think I would either but while he may be uneducated and crude at times, he does seem to generally care about her." Simon replies. "And he seems to want to protect her, which frankly, is something I know I can't really do. Besides, he's much better than any match my parents would have made for her."
"Whadda mean?" Kaylee questions, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"My parents would have chosen a rich, successful but emotionally retarded core husband for her." Simon replies. "More emotionally retarded than I am. Most likely, he would have treated her like a possession and not cared about her or her feelings. Judging by the way Jayne talks about his mother and Matty, he doesn't see women that way, at least not women besides whores. She deserves to be treated like a person and not an object."
"I can't believe you're talkin' so nice bout Jayne." Kaylee says, a bit shocked.
"Yes, well, you can't tell him." Simon replies. "It will ruin the dislike we have for each other."
"Men." Kaylee mutters under her breath. "Ain't gonna ever understand how your brains work."
Simon smiles down at her and then frowns when he sees Jayne open a beat up door and lead River inside. "What's inside there?" Simon questions Kaylee.
"Guns." Kaylee answers. "And weapons. Jayne's loadin' up."
"Oh." Simon mutters as he opens the door and gestures Kaylee inside. He looks around at the small shop with wide eyes, completely out of his depth surrounded by all the weapons. He sees River and Jayne standing in front of a glass display and moves up behind them.
"It's a very beautiful sword." River says longingly. "Double-edged, steel enforced with an ivory handle. It could cut a man in half as easy as you'd slice cheese."
Jayne looks at the sword and then looks at the wistful look on River's face. "You ain't gettin' it." Jayne growls. "Ain't got no need for a sword."
"She knows that." River replies, looking up at him. "But she still thinks it's beautiful."
"I'll admit it's a nice weapon." Jayne agrees. "But we got stuff to get so you'd best say goodbye."
River places a hand against the glass briefly before following Jayne over to the shopkeeper.
Simon listens to his sister; mentally cataloging the looks she gave the sword. He briefly wonders when she started thinking weapons were beautiful, the sword and Jayne's guns, but is interrupted when Kaylee giggles.
"What's so funny, little Kaylee?" Jayne questions, glancing back at her.
"Just thinkin' that if cap'n had her love of swords maybe he wouldn't have got stabbed." Kaylee answers.
"Naw, he'd still find a way." Jayne replies with a grin. "Cap likes all the attention he gets after bein' hurt."
Kaylee and River both giggle.
Jayne smiles at their laughter before turning his attention back to the shopkeeper with a scowl. He argues with the man for a few minutes until the smaller man finally agrees to the price Jayne names. Jayne grabs the ammo they needed, glancing over at River when she says his name.
"Yeah?" Jayne questions.
"We only have 3 grenades left." River replies. "You used most of them to rescue captain daddy."
"Forgot bout that." Jayne admits. "Thanks for remindin' me."
"You are welcome." River replies, smiling up at him.
The shopkeeper bags the ammo quickly, glancing at Jayne with nervous glances. He hands the bags to Jayne who takes them with a growl.
Simon takes the bag Jayne's hands back to him and holds it carefully, unused to holding life ammunition in his hands. Jayne wraps his free arm back over River's shoulder and leads them out of the gun shop. He hears Mal call his name and looks up to see the rest of the crew a few feet away. "Here, little Kaylee." Jayne says, holding his bag out to her. "Give this to Mal and tell him we'll be there in a second."
Kaylee takes the bag and watches in confusion as Jayne leads River away from the crew.
"Where the gorram hell are they goin?" Mal questions, taking the bag from Kaylee.
"Don't know." Kaylee answers. "Just told me to tell you they'd be here in a second."
"Doc, give that to Zoe." Mal orders, noticing the nervous way Simon is holding the bag with a smirk. "Don't know why you look so nervous, ain't like it's gonna explode or nothin'."
"I'm not comfortable holding live ammunition." Simon replies. "I've seen too many people disfigured due to the mishandling of weapons. I don't want to be one."
"That's mighty smart of you." Mal says. "But guess that's natural, you bein' top 3 percent and all."
"Thanks." Simon mutters.
"Ain't that nice." Kaylee comments.
Simon glances over to see River and Jayne walking towards them, both holding ice planets in their hands.
"I forgot she wanted one." Simon says.
"Guess Jayne didn't." Kaylee replies.
"You two bout ready to go?" Mal questions.
"Yeah." Jayne answers. "Here, little Kaylee." He holds the ice planet out to her by the wooden handle.
"Thanks, Jayne." Kaylee replies. She takes the handle and then licks the planet happily. "Strawberry, my favorite."
Jayne nods at her and grabs the bag out of Mal's hand so the captain can pick up the crate in front of him. "We get any post?" Jayne questions.
"Yeah." Mal replies. "Kaylee, you got a letter from home and you got another package, Jayne."
"Maybe it's a nice scarf to go with your hat." Wash comments.
Jayne glares at him.
"She still finds her food to be problematic." River growls, the iced treat bouncing off her nose as she tries to eat it. "She doesn't comprehend how to eat it."
"Easy." Jayne replies, bending forward slightly to take a large bite out of her treat.
"That was inappropriate." River growls.
"Tasted 'propriate enough to me." Jayne replies with a smirk.
"Eating other people's food without permission in not polite." River scolds. "You should have asked me first."
"What was that, little witch?" Mal questions.
"He should have asked her first." River answers.
"Oh." Mal replies.
"You will show her how to eat it correctly?" River questions Jayne.
"Give it here." Jayne orders. She hands the ice planet to him and watches closely as he demonstrates how to eat it.
"She thinks she can do it now." River says after a moment.
Jayne takes a small bite before handing it back. He watches her look of complete concentration with a chuckle.
"She did it!" River laughs happily when she correctly takes a bite out of the planet. She adjusts her grip on the handle before lapping hungrily at the treat.
Jayne watches as her small, pink tongue laps at the ice planet and can barely hold back a groan. He's grateful they're in the front of the group so that nobody notices the effect she's having on his body. They reach Serenity in a few moments and he turns his body towards River a bit when Mal walks around them to unlock the boat. Jayne follows the captain into the boat and walks directly over to the weapon cabinet and starts storing the ammo.
Mal moves next to Jayne and the two men silently load up the closet. He hands Jayne the last of the grenades and watches as the merc sets them on a shelf before shutting the door.
"Jayne, heres your post." Book says, holding the box out to him.
Jayne takes the box and brings it to his face to sniff briefly. "From my ma again." Jayne says.
"Well, are you going to open it?" Wash asks. "Because I have to say, I'm curious as to what she sent you."
Jayne rips the tape off and pulls out the letter on top. He reads the familiar writing, wincing slightly at what his mother has to say. Digging into the box, he pulls out a small, pink pair of knitted slippers.
"Pink?" Mal questions with a smile.
"Aren't those just a bit small for you?" Wash adds, also smiling.
"Ain't for me." Jayne grunts. "They're for crazy girl."
The crew goes silent as they glance between the merc and the genius. River finishes the last of her planet before looking up at them.
"Why's your ma makin' things for a girl she ain't never met before?" Mal questions. "And how'd she know bout her anyways."
"I told her." Jayne replies. "Bout Ariel and all."
"You told your mother bout that?" Mal gasps.
"I can't lie to my ma, Mal." Jayne says. "She'd know if'n I even tried to hide somethin' from her or if I was lyin' to her. Had to tell her." He walks over to River and hands the slippers to her.
River stares at them and then looks up at Jayne. "You will tell mama Cobb that she thanks her for the gift?" River whispers. "They will keep her feet very warm."
"Yeah, I'll tell her." Jayne replies.
"She thanks you too." River says, reaching up to kiss him lightly. "You take very good care of her."
Jayne's too stunned to reply.
"Kaylee, she wants you to come with her." River says, backing away from the stunned merc.
"Okay." Kaylee replies, trying not to laugh at the look on Jayne's face. She takes the hand River is holding out and the two girls walk out of the mess, the slippers held delicately in River's free hand.
"Jayne, you okay?" Mal questions.
"Huh?" Jayne mutters.
"Just wonderin' if you're okay." Mal replies. "You look a bit shell-shocked."
"Fine Mal." Jayne grunts.
Wash smirks over at the merc. "I'm guessing River doesn't care that you don't 'kiss em on the mouth'."
-
lj-cut text"Post"