Type - Mostly Marsmallow fluff/silliness with a bit of angstyness in this one.
Pairing - Pre River and Jayne
Word count - 2833
Disclaimer - Not mine, not paid, please don't sue.
Warnings - None needed that I can see
Spoilers - None
Usual huge thanks to Ceslas for the betaing, any remaining cock ups as usual are mine all mine. There is stuff going on with Zoe that will intrude from time to time in this series because of something that seemed like a good idea in part two
Will turn you grey, kid, so stay away, kid…
River woke up in her dress but minus the scarlet sweater, which was nowhere to be seen.
She closed her eyes with a groan and rolled over. The movement caused her eyes to fly open and her hand to slap to her mouth. River spotted the bucket beside her bed and took full advantage of it.
She was also deeply thankful for the pint of water and painkillers she found on her bedside cabinet.
An hour later, she walked unsteadily to the galley in search of more fluids and possibly a gun to shoot herself with.
It was somewhere about seven in the morning and the ship was quiet. Apparently, the rest of the crew was still in town or sleeping off their own revelries.
She found Jayne Cobb in the galley, cooking something that both smelled good and made her abused stomach roll like a boat in a gale.
Jayne looked her over critically, "Guess ya had a real good time then?"
River gave him a 'drop dead' look and sank unsteadily into a chair.
Jayne shrugged; he paused long enough to dump another glass of water in front of her before going back to his cooking.
A couple of minutes later he dropped a large plate of pancakes on the table and dug in.
River watched him eat for a moment, the pancakes had to be good; he was shovelling them in fast enough. Jayne caught her watching, he waved a fork full in her direction, "Ya want some?"
River looked uncertainly at the food hovering an inch or two from her lips, she definitely felt empty.
"I am uncertain, my digestive system was overloaded by alcohol, will the food stay where it is put?"
"If I make 'em plain they might." He got up, "Hey!" he said surprised, "Ya got yer voice back proper!"
"Des, I mean, yes, the stuffiness has improved, the limited amount of medication that Simon was willing to give me has started to work." River thought about food for a moment, "Bland food is the key to improving my condition?"
"Maybe, does yer belly tell ya yer hungry?"
"The food looks appealing."
"Then I'll make ya some, extra Birthday present."
River winced, "I trust that these will turn out better than your previous attempts."
Jayne paused in the act of filling a jug full of water. He looked hurt.
"Ya sayin' ya din't have a good time."
River looked at him and felt bad.
"The restaurant was very nice and Maurice was very attentive and I loved my sweater."
"He was very attentive huh, does that mean ya got any?" Jayne waggled his eyebrows "I did ask ya last night but ya passed out on me.".
River winced in embarrassment. "No."
"Oh." Jayne looked crestfallen "I know ya said yer weren't ready but I thought ya might have changed yer mind."
"He was not my type."
"Damn, sorry girl, I din't have much time ta fix thin's what wid ya getting' yer beak busted an' all," He tipped some dried milk into the water, "Funny how folks have a type, don't think I got one. Warm n' willing pretty much cover's ma needs." He paused in his stirring, "None to old though, needs some stamina ta keep up wid me when I get goin'." He waggled an eyebrow at her again. He picked up the packet of pancake mix and turned towards her leaning against the worktop. "Now the filly I got waitin' fer me today, she's got more n' enough stamina fer me, n she does this thing…"
"No!" shrieked River, slapping her hands over her ears.
Jayne jumped, his hands tugging at the foil packed yanked a little too hard.
It didn't just open, it exploded.
All over River.
Mostly her hair.
"Aw crap girlie, I din't, sorry… I ain't…"
River opened her eyes, closed out of instinct when the cloud of mostly flour hurtled towards her. There was flour in her eyelashes.
She got up from the table, "It does not matter," she said steadily, "I am going to have a shower."
When she got to the shower room she looked in the mirror. Her hair was full of flour and she wondered if this was how she would look as an old and probably, with the way things were going, maiden lady.