A/N: This chapter in no way furthers the plot. I got carried away with the fluff. If this annoys my readers, I hang my head in shame. If y'all love it, and appreciate the break in the story, I totally meant it to be this way. I promise that the next chapter will move things forward.
Joss is Boss.
River woke with the smell of leather in her nose. She was warm, but not very comfortable. Cracking an eye open, she found her vision full of something black, and slightly shiny. Opening her other eye, she found that her head was resting on a folded coat, with another coat draped over her in place of a blanket. Yawning hugely, she sat up, blinking owlishly, and stretched. Around her, the five slayers slept, using their bags as pillows, Kaige and Ebony sharing a thin blanket. Carefully, so as not to wake any of them, River tiptoed over and placed their coats over the blanket, hoping she remembered to thank them later. Then she wandered away, determined to enjoy her favourite part of day: not only were the early mornings quiet, with most of the crew asleep and not thinking, but the drugs were wearing off slightly, leaving enough to keep her lucid, but little enough for her to feel like herself. She wafted silently up the stairs, following the thoughts of the only other person who was awake.
Wash was a little bit bored. Most mornings, he would arrive on the bridge to find that some minor thing, or things, had gone wrong, and after his initial systems check, he'd spend his time before breakfast fixing them. This morning, his systems check had shown everything to be perfect. Air: fine (thank heavens). Gravity: dandy (useful, but weightlessness might be fun for a while). Heat: lovely (come on; give me something to do…). Course: still set and headed to the co-ordinates Wash had entered last night (oh please! That never happens!). Everything else, right down to the most obscure item, was happily working away, so he re-arranged his palm trees. Then arranged them differently again. Then nearly had a heart attack as River said:
"They liked it better where they were."
Twisting in his chair, then turning the whole chair around, Wash pointed accusingly with a tree.
"If you sneak up on me like that again, I'm gonna stitch bells to all your clothes. And shoes."
Then, with a mock fierce glare, he turned his back on her, and began putting the trees back where they'd been to start with. He heard her leave, giggling, and shook his head. Sweet girl, he thought, slightly strange. A minute or two later, he heard her return, being careful to make sure she didn't make him jump this time. He turned again, to find that this time; she was holding two steaming mugs of tea.
"Olive branch?" she held one mug towards him, head on one side.
"Thanks," he said, grinning as he took the tea. She settled in the co-pilots chair, legs tucked underneath her, and regarded him over the rim of her cup.
"Bored." She said simply.
"Me too," the pilot replied. "Nothing to fix this morning."
River smiled. She liked Wash. He was like the Anti-Jayne. Gentle and funny and hardly ever violent. Nice to her, too. She put her mug down and took up a dinosaur, inspecting it closely. Herbivorous. Ponderous. She looked back up at Wash.
"Steg is bored." She told him solemnly. She walked the dinosaur along the console. "Nothing to eat. No one to mate with. Space is not the best place for a land creature." She stopped suddenly, gasping as she realised poor Steg had walked right up to a growling T Rex. She looked up at Wash, eyes wide.
"Sorry," he shrugged. "But Rex hasn't had breakfast yet." He wobbled the toy to prove his point. "Grr! Arrgh!"
Giggling madly, River whipped Steg around and raced him back along the console, Rex hot on his heels. Eventually, though, they ran out of console.
"Ah, ha, ha! You cannot outrun the mighty Rex!" Crowed Wash, triumphantly brandishing the dinosaur, as River continued to giggle. "Yes, you may laugh in the face of your grisly and untimely death, but it will still be grisly….and ….untimely!"
"Aww! You guys are so cute!" Again, Wash suffered from near palpitations as Kaylee announced herself from her spectating point in the doorway.
"Kaylee!" He cried, anguished. "Don't make me sew bells to your clothes, too!"
"Well, gee, Wash, if you're gonna get mad, I won't bother tellin' you breakfast is ready!" She grinned, then put on her best hurt puppy face. Before he could respond, River had leapt form her chair, Steg forgotten, grabbed his hand and pulled him up.
"Haste is necessary. The man-ape-thing will eat our share!"
Unable to disagree, Wash allowed himself to be dragged off the bridge.