"Awkward Situations - Part 3"

Series: Fluffy Pink Things

By LadyCleo

As always thanks to my wonderful betas!

Part of the BOUND lifetimes; the third encounter between Colonel Jayne and Prima Ballerina River.

The Colonel silently cursed his sister-in-law as he watched the Ballerina's slight form slip past. The girl had to be positively spooked by the entire situation. Who the hell invites a practical stranger to an intimate family gathering? Psychos and whacks that's who. Closing the patio door behind him, Jayne crossed the yard and joined the rest of group, trying his best to keep the frown from his lips.

"This is Mitch," Susanna introduced her husband with a smile, "He's the softer side of Mike here." Pecking her husband quickly on the cheek, Suzy led the three away to introduce the rest of the guests, which included a bunch of Jayne's Pentagon buddies and a select few of his closer neighbors.

Jayne stayed with his brother by the grill, watching River from a distance for a second before turning his attention to the sizzling burgers and steaks. "Watch what you're doing Mitch!"

His younger brother snickered as he flipped another burger, "I don't think I'm the one that's distracted, big bro."

"Shove it," Jayne snapped back. Grabbing the metal spatula the Colonel pushed his brother over, "Go see ta your family, I'll do this."

Mitch shrugged, lingering for a second longer, "She's a cute little bit! I'll give ya that. Kinda small though, sure she can handle a man like Mike Jayne?"

-

The sound of laughter pulled River away from the conversations around her. Turning slightly she caught sight of the Colonel smacking his younger brother with the spatula. "So what do you do, Sam?" Colonel Sweeny questioned, snapping River back to the conversation.

"I work in the Forensics' department for the Bureau."

"Yeah," Sweeny asked eagerly, "kinda like Scully on the X-Files?"

River snickered slightly as she caught her brother's inward wince. Turning away from the group, the Ballerina wandered over to Susanna and Kay in an attempt to keep her eyes from straying back over to the grill.

Smiling gently, Kay nudged her, "It ain't like ya haven't been flirting with him for the past three encounters. Just go talk to the man already, ignore the situation, pretend you ran into him on your way to get dinner." Giving her sister-in-law a quick shove towards the grill, she motioned towards the Colonel. "He ain't gonna bite."

River rolled her eyes and reluctantly moved across the yard to join the Colonel. "I still haven't seen that Crème Brûlée appear." Idiot- that's a great way to start a conversation. Shifting nervously, River suddenly found the sizzling coals very intriguing.

Jayne shrugged, flipping another burger over. "Night ain't over yet." He turned briefly to glance down at her, watching as she fidgeted with the edge of her shirt. "Suppose we're back to awkward then?"

River's head snapped up, her eyes meeting his. "Awkward? No! I mean, why should it be awkward?"

Jayne shrugged, "I don't know, maybe 'cause we don't know that much about each other."

"Well our conversations haven't exactly been enlightening," River pointed out, the tension falling away from her shoulders. Turning to fully face the Colonel she leaned back against a nearby table. "I suppose that's something that we can fix though. For instance did you know that my name is River Tam? That I'm a Prima Ballerina for the Washington Ballet, or that I'm the daughter to Senator Fredrick Tam and sister to Samuel Tam?"

Jayne's eyebrow hiked into his hairline, "I reckon I did."

"Well?" River questioned, "What about you?"

Pausing for a second he scratched at his forehead, "the name's Michael Jayne, but most people call me Mike or Jayne-"

"Jayne's a girl's name."

"Hey," he snapped back at her with a grin, "I didn't interrupt you."

"Sorry!"

"I 'm head of security for General Norrell, working in the Pentagon under some other stuff I'm not supposed to talk about. I joined the military at nineteen after my ma died. Pa passed away two years ago and I've got two brothers; Mitch is the farmer, and Danny's working in L.A. with a profiler."

River beamed up at the man, "See that wasn't so hard, and not at all uncomfortable."