Fic: RAYNE
Jan. 9th, 2010 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Several bits that I did for the
rayne_shippers
Title: Evolution
Fandom: Firefly/Serenity
Pairing: River/Jayne
Prompts: #2 Green, #17 Apple, #29 Brown, #41 Death
Challenge: Fall Challenge at rayne_shippers
Rating: PG to NC-17
Summary/Notes: A few glimpses into River and Jayne and their interactions.
Disclaimer: Not mine!
#2 Green.
Jayne thinks sometimes that living out in the black is as good as life can get. He follows Mal's rules, mostly, and he's constantly on the move. It soothes a restlessness within him that he didn't know he had until the first time he stepped off planet. There are times, however, when he misses certain aspects of planet life. It's always the little things, too. Like green.
Jayne misses the color green. A small thing, just a color, and what's that against the endless black and sparkling stars? And they went on world often enough that Jayne saw plenty of greenery. But every so often, when they'd been out for a while, all Jayne wanted to see was a patch of grass. Maybe, he thought in one of his more philosophical moments, it wasn't so much the color, as it was the feel of green. The feel of warm grass on your back, as you lay by the stream and watch the clouds go by. It reminded him of those lazy, late summer days back home.
He usually stops that particular train of thought before it goes too far. There's no sense in living in the past when the future is waiting for you, often lurking in a dark alley, or in the middle of a job as it goes wrong. Jayne tries not to dwell.
It takes a while before he notices the trend. That he didn't notice right away doesn't bother him. He only pays a passing amount of attention to what River wears at any given time. Most of his concentration goes to making sure that she's not going to lose it again, or to trying to figure out what she's saying when she warbles off a stream of words longer than his John Thomas.
The dark green dress she wears floats around her as she sits next to him at the table, gauzy fabric brushing against his pants leg. He remembers briefly that they didn't have many trees back home, but there were a few scattered around. Great huge trees with stretching branches and leaves that caught the sun and turned brilliant colors in the fall, and then coated the ground. Jayne shook his head briefly, and caught River staring at him.
“What, girl?” She smiled.
“They are called deciduous.” He narrowed his eyes, but couldn't tell what the hell she was saying, so he just shook his head and tucked into his protein. He felt oddly better every time he caught a glimpse of that green out of the corner of his eye.
Another month or so goes by and they haven't touched a planet that's more than a jumped up desert in what feels like years. Her shirt is green this time, big and loose and bright. She breezes through the cargo bay as he's working out, and for a moment, he can smell that late summer breeze, and the faint chill in the air as the sun goes down. He pauses and she is glancing over at him, smiling as she hops up onto one of the large crates and reclines, arching her spine over the edge of her perch. She is smiling still, but upside down, which makes the expression a little more creepifying than he's used to. But still. He is still missing the feeling of running through the fields, racing his brother, but he feels a little better.
The solstice season rolls around, and they are in the black again. Thing about a shipful of wanderers is that most don't feel inclined to got back planetside and be reminded of what you're missing. Jayne suspects little Kaylee might have wanted to see her pop, but she was pretty enamored of Simon, and when asked, just laughed and said that she was with her family. Zoe got quieter than normal and spent long lengths of time with her arms wrapped around herself, and staying in her quarters. Kaylee had liberated some small lights the last time they had been on a parts run, and Inara brought out some of her spicier smelling candles and incenses. The littered the galley, making it more festive than it'd been in years, as if everyone (even Mal with his grumpiness) was trying a little harder this year.
Jayne looked at it all and remembered the smell of the pine tree his pa would cut down every year, the look of it with brown wrapped presents scattered underneath it, and the feel of the fire warming his face. He remembers Ma and Pa, and their spiced cider, laughing as the kids ran around the tree and played, and he wishes he could bring a little bit of that happiness to the here and the now for the crew that's made itself into a family.
The others are asleep when he's cleaning his guns. She creeps in quiet as a mouse, but not so quiet that he doesn't hear her. It's still kind of dark, but he can swear she's wearing that floaty green dress again.
“Girl, what are you doin'?” She stops and turns around, swinging her hands behind her. “You got something back there?” She shakes her head, a little more quickly than necessary. Jayne's look is speculative as he stands and walks over to her.
“Come on now, let me see,” he wheedles. River's mouth starts to quirk upward, but she shakes her head and darts to the side, still keeping her front to him. He growls playfully and lunges, and she shrieks laughter as she attempts to keep away. He catches her at the kitchen counter, and her face is lit by a wide grin.
“Nononono! I give up!” He finds himself grinning in return.
“Damn right you do. Now what've you got that's so gorram secret?” Slowly she drags her hand out from behind her back and holds it up, and Jayne stops breathing for just a moment. It's a pot, not very large at all, and within it? Jayne leans dangerously close, so that his nose is almost brushing against hers. The soft scent of pine wafts upwards and Jayne inhales it greedily. He looks straight into her eyes, and her heart pounds so loudly that she swears the crew can hear it in their quarters. She blushes slightly.
“I got it last time we were planetside. With my cut.”
“But--”
“No one else knows, not even Simon. I wanted it to be a surprise. I miss the colors on planets sometimes. I miss green.” She said it longingly, wistfully, and something in Jayne melted a little.
“I know what you mean, girl. Why are you bringing it out now?” She cocked her head to one side and gave him a look.
“It is the season of giving, Jayne. I have enjoyed it, and it is time to share my green with everyone else,” she said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. Jayne reached down and touched the fabric covering her shoulder, touch surprisingly soft.
“Is this you sharing your green, too?”
“Took you long enough to notice,” she sniffed. River attempted to move past him, but his arms were boxing her in. “I could get past you, you know.”
“But you won't, now will you? Why'd you do it, girl?” She looked away, blush spreading.
“I thought you would like it,” she mumbled. “You would be melancholic and I wanted to cheer you up. Your thoughts were very loud,” she added defensively. Jayne paused and looked at River. Really just...looked. She was cute, true. She also joined him in the training room now. She pulled her weight as a pilot too, and she keep looking at him with those soft brown eyes. He bent down until they were on the same level, eyes never leaving hers. His lips felt soft against her cheek, and his words were just as soft, if a bit gravelly, in her ear.
“Thank you.”
When the pounding of her heart subsided, she lacked her small pine tree, and Jayne was taking down some of Kaylee's lights. He looked over his shoulder.
“You gonna help me with this, or what?”
#17 Apple
River thought that she might like apples the most of all fruits. They were not as fancy as some of the fruits that she'd had during the time in her life where fancy parties and soirees were the norm, before the Alliance. She tossed the bright red apple into the air.
Around her, the fair was going full force. Occasionally she'd catch a glimpse of Simon and Kaylee, laughing and standing so very close to one another. Or of Inara and the captain, heads bowed together in a new found intimacy. There was a crispness in the air, and River felt more alive, more awake and aware than she had in a very long time. The thoughts swirled through her in little eddies and leaving little wakes, but nothing for very long. It was almost peaceful. She grinned and tossed the apple back up only to have a hand dart out and snatch it midair.
“You know girl, that's a waste a of a perfectly good apple.” River glared up at Jayne as he sunk his teeth into her apple.
“That was my apple, man-ape.”
“Ya' know? It's funny,” he said, crunching happily. “Cause from here it looks like it's my apple now, Moonbrain.” She punched his arm, and he yelped, dropping the apple. She caught it smoothly.
“My apple,” she stated, crunching into it satisfyingly.
“Nasty. Girl, I dun ate offa that.” She looked at him slyly.
“So? I know where you've been. Which is nowhere in the last six months. Are you getting frustrated, man-ape?”
“Hey now! That ain't none of your business! 'Sides,” he added, “I coulda had some disease already.” River looked as though she regretted taking her apple back, though out of the corner of her eye, she caught the small smile on Jayne's face. She punched him again, though without quite as much force.
“You are deliberately trying to get me to give up my apple. It will not happen. We just got paid, so get your own!”
“But that's not half as fun as taking yours!” He jabbed her in the ribs, almost succeeding in taking the apple back, but instead managing to knock it to the ground. River was furious.
“Now neither of us have an apple, Jayne. Well done, man-ape.” Arms crossed, she glared fiercely at him, and Jayne felt a twinge of guilt.
“Aw, I'm sorry, River. It wasn't supposed to fall.”
“Obviously,” she snorted. He did look contrite, she thought. She snatched his arm quickly, and he started. “You may make it up to me. I will require another apple. And a caramel apple. And an ice planet.”
“An ice planet? Now you're just being greedy. You can't even eat one of those. Hell, I watched you try.”
“I have figured out a formula. It will work this time.” He raised an eyebrow. “Probably,” she muttered. Jayne guffawed.
“Girl, formulas aren't no way to go about eating an ice planet.”
“I will believe it when I see it.”
“Just you wait.”
River didn't keep track of how long they wandered around the festival. She watched the red and gold of the leaves as they tumbled to the ground, and if she moved a little closer to Jayne as the sun went down and the chill became more pronounced, still grasping his arm, neither made a mention of it.
The ice planet had been first, and true to Jayne's words, there was no formula she tried that would result in a successful bite. Jayne couldn't remember the last time that he'd laughed as hard as he did at the genius who couldn't eat a children's dessert. She may have punched him a few more times, and some of the ice planet may have landed down his shirt, but it was worth it for the look on her face as he put the rest of it in her hair.
They grabbed two caramel apples afterwards, and River immediately headed for the ferris wheel.
“What, really? Girl there is no way that you are getting me up in that thing.”
“Why? Is the man with a girl's name scared?” He glared.
“I just bought you sweets and you're back on that girl's name stuff again? See if I get you anything else.” River grinned and tugged at his arm.
“I will pay,” she coaxed. “We will be high up, and you can throw things at the people below us.” He looked at her skeptically. “I will get popcorn.”
“You already got a caramel apple, where you gonna put a bag of popcorn?”
“I am very skilled in multitasking, Jayne. I am a genius.”
“Yeah, so they tell me.” She looked up at him very intently, and Jayne sighed. He never could resist a pair of big brown eyes. “All right, girl. But if I go, I don't owe you another apple.” River frowned, but stuck her hand out.
“Agreed. Now get in line, and I will be back with the popcorn. It will be fun, Jayne!”
Jayne received more than a few strange looks as he averaged several inches taller and broader than the rest of the line, and it wasn't until River scampered back, hands full, that he felt at all comfortable.
He had to admit, though. When they crested the top of the ferris wheel, the view was almost worth it. The looks from the people beneath them as they found pieces of popcorn cascading down upon their heads made up for anything that the view lacked, and the look of pure delight on River's face was an extra treat.
It was later than River had anticipated when they got back to Serenity. Despite his initial protests, Jayne had enjoyed the ferris wheel quite a lot, and River had coerced him into subsequent fair rides as a result. It had been the most fun that she had had in a while, and, she suspected, more fun than Jayne had had in even longer...that didn't involve shooting someone. She didn't need to, but she asked anyway.
“Did you have sufficient amounts of fun?” Jayne was quiet for a moment, looking down at where her arm was still tucked into his, and then to her other arm, where a large stuffed hippo resided.
“You know, I kind of did. I haven't been to a fair since before I left home, you know.” River did know, but she didn't mention that. He looked back down at her. “I especially liked the part where we threw popcorn at folk.” River grinned back.
“I thought you might. It's my favorite part, too,” she whispered slyly. It didn't take much for Jayne to notice how pretty River was. Especially when she was smiling at him, and she'd been doing and awful lot of that today. He also might have liked the way that she easily took ahold of his arm, but without dragging on it, or clinging to it. River's smile widened a little bit, and she popped up onto her toes, flinging her arms around Jayne's neck.
“Now what--” River's lips pressed gently against his. By the time that Jayne registered what had happened, she had pulled away, and was moving towards her bunk. “Girl! What the devil--”
“Thank you, Jayne! I had a wonderful time,” she called back, a smile dancing on her lips. He scowled, but his heart wasn't really in the gesture.
“Now look here, girl. You're about to run off with my hard earned hippo!”
“It was clearly a gift!”
“The hell it was!” They eyed each other for a minute before River shrieked and took off running. With a shout and a wild smile, Jayne followed her.
“Did my eyes just deceive me?” Inara struggled to hide her smile.
“I don't believe so, no.”
“Cause that looked like River and Jayne. Chasing each other 'round my ship like a coupla school kids.” Mal had puffed up, much like an agitated bird, Inara thought.
“It would seem to be the case.” The two rounded the cargo hold once again, River scrambling onto some boxes and holding what looked to be a giant stuffed hippo.
“Woman! Give me my hippo back!”
“You will never take me alive, man-ape!” Mal seemed to deflate before her eyes.
“Gorrammit,” he muttered before leaning over the edge of the railing. “You mess up my ship killing each other, and we're gonna have strong words!” he shouted.
Inara patted his back soothingly as they watched a new start unfold.
#29 Brown
She had gotten a new pair of brown boots, and that, Jayne firmly believed, was where the problem had started. They were thick and hardy boots. Hardly a sexy thing at all, he told himself firmly. But then she'd wear them with some skirt she'd dug up from those days when she was first on the ship, and still crazy as the black was wide, and it was all he could to to tear himself away from the way those boots encased her muscular calves, brown leather clinging tightly as she moved across the galley, skirt swishing around her knees.
It didn't help, he added, that he was lusting after a woman who could read his thoughts. Not that he did all that much to keep them from her. The skirts got a little shorter here and there, and those boots began to feature in some prominent fantasies Jayne had at night. And in the daytime, and just about any time he thought about brown leather. He could tell that she knew, too. Jayne wasn't sure if that made it better or worse. It was kind of gratifying to see her look over and give him a slow smile when his thoughts were turning to things of a between-the-sheets nature. Or on the sheets. Or hell, Jayne wouldn't mind the floor. Or the wall. Or the cargo hold.
“Jayne are you going to pass that bread, or are you gonna romance it? Cause you've been staring at it in a way that makes me mighty uncomfortable,” Mal's voice broke through his reverie. Jayne let out a noise that was more whimper than growl, but passed the bread down. A small, knowing smile still hovered around River's lips, and in a moment of retribution, Jayne concentrated on the image of those legs wrapped tightly around his waist, brown leather creaking as her ankles locked, head thrown back against a wall. Jayne had the momentarily satisfaction of seeing the smile slip away from River's face, to be replaced by a deep blush. He also thought that she might be breathing a little more quickly. Jayne smirked, but his victory was short lived. Softly, so softly in fact that, at first Jayne didn't notice it, River began to stroke her foot against the outside of his calf.
If the rest of the crew was surprised by Jayne's abrupt departure from the dinner table, they made no indication. It wouldn't have been the first time that he'd stood and left after terse words with River, either. It might have been the first time that River had gotten up and gone after him, but no one seemed to notice when she slipped away from the table.
She found him in the cargo hold. It didn't take a reader to know that he'd be there, probably lifting weights or doing pull ups to burn off his excess...energy. She stood in the shadows for a moment, watching the play of his corded muscles as he lifted the weight bar. Up and down, the sweat slowly building up and rolling down his skin. River could feel her heart begin to speed up again as she moved forward, her brain replaying the images Jayne had sent her while at dinner. She'd always caught flashes of his lust, and she'd enjoyed the attention, there was not denying that. But the sensation when all of that was deliberately focused on her...River shivered. It had been amazing.
He paused, breathing heavily, and River used that opportunity to approach. It was a moment's work to straddle his waist. Startled, Jayne sat up, almost braining himself on the bar. She swiftly pushed him back down.
“What the—River?” She was quiet, staring at him with a curious, greedy look, taking in the hard lines and planes that made him. He was, she decided, geometrical art. Her fingers skimmed up his sides, splaying briefly across his ribcage (her hands, they both noted, barely covered the width of his chest) before moving up. Her thumbs grazed his nipples, and Jayne gasped. River made an agreeable noise in her throat, continuing to explore him with her hands. Jayne's breathing wasn't getting any easier, and it didn't taken River long before she felt him grow hard. Images were flowing through Jayne at a rapid pace, and River grabbed one and held onto it. Her lips curled into a wicked grin as she laid her torso along his, her ass sliding back against Jayne's erection. He groaned before he could catch himself, and grabbing her arms tightly, Jayne halted her slow slide. It may have, he reflected, been the hardest thing he'd ever done.
“Girl, what do you think you're doing?” His voice was low and strained, and the sound made her shiver with pleasure as it rumbled through her. Even so, she gave him a frank look.
“I would think,” here she squirmed just so, “that it would be obvious. I know you think about me, Jayne.” He groaned, head thumping against the bench.
“Oh god, girl. Course I think aboutcha. You go prancin' about in them short skirts and them boots. Gorram girl. Those BOOTS.” River, undeterred by her limited range of movement, brought her feet up behind her, boots rubbing against Jayne's legs again. “Ain't supposed to be thinking about you, though.” River pulled back a little, incredulously, and regarded the wanting, hard and wanting beneath her.
“Would it be better,” she murmured, once again leaning close, “knowing that I want you just as much?” Jayne tensed underneath her and, very quietly, he told her to get up.
“But—”
“No arguments, woman. Up.” Reluctantly River slid off of him. Jayne hissed as her torso and breasts grazed his twitching dick. Arms crossed, she stood slightly away from him, glaring as he eased himself off the bench. “Do you mean that?” his questioned surprised her.
“That I want to engage you in a variety of sexual situations? Of course I do.” Jayne was standing closer now.
“Cause you read me thinking dirty thoughts about you?”
“I never said that. The dirty thoughts helped,” she admitted. “But no. I want you, dirty thoughts or not.” Jayne swallowed, and River took her opportunity, closing the gap between them. “I have a dirty thoughts of my own, you know.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck as her leg slid up his. Light as a feather she hopped, and brought both legs up to wrap around Jayne's waist. Her legs tightened, and Jayne could feel those boots dig in. He was lost. She rolled her lithe body against his, but he had already moved them. River felt the cold of the walls up against her back, and she loved it.
“Ta ma de,” she moaned, squeezing her legs just a little tighter. Jayne growled unto her neck, teeth grazing her skin with enough pressure to make River writhe a little more desperately against him. It was a moments work to slip his hands up underneath her skirt. He grabbed her ass and got handfuls of bare skin in the process.
“You...don't wear underwear?” he asked brokenly, as if it were too good to be true. He could feel her smile against his skin.
“It's...confining. I don't like being confined.”
“Girl, that is a freedom that I can get behind.”
“One thing at a time,” she murmured. “You can get behind me next time.” His rough hands trailed down the backs of her thighs, and River squirmed, repressing the snort of laughter that threatened to bubble up. A moment later, she was struggling not to scream as Jayne moved a warm hand up the inside of her thigh. She was hot and wet against his fingers, and the idea of sinking himself into her was almost more than he could handle. The soft, gasping noises she made in his ear as he stroked her were going to drive him mad. It didn't help matters that she was grinding wantonly against his hand.
“You're just a sex kitten, aren't you, girl? Wet and ready already. Just begging for me to sex you up good.”
“Oh, yes. PLEASE. I have been waiting for this so long,” as she spoke, her hands drifted lightly down, and before Jayne could register her words, her nimble fingers had undone his belt, and she'd slipped her hands into his pants. Jayne was so wound up that her touch nearly undid him. He had been pretty sure that River was a virgin, and her fingers, both cautious and eager on his prick, confirmed it in his mind. Her legs had assisted in making sure that his pants dropped to the ground. “I see that I am not the only one who enjoys certain freedoms.”
“Can't cage the beast,” he growled, probing her slick folds. River gasped at the sensation, and clamping her legs a little tighter, sank herself onto Jayne's cock.
“You may cage it here,” she moaned as she moved up and down. It was all Jayne could do that hang on for the ride. She was using him like a gorram sex toy, and the feeling was incredible. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't like it just a little.
River could feel herself begin to come apart. She worked herself almost desperately, sliding along Jayne's cock. One of his hands (oh how she adored those hands) dropped its grip on her hip to slip between them. Jayne pumped into her as she ground down upon him, and when his thumb found her clit, River had to bite down on his collarbone to keep from screaming as she came around him, hard spasms rocking her body. Jayne managed to thrust once or twice more before her clenching brought him rocketing over the edge. For a man as accomplished as he was, it was an embarrassingly short bout. But, as he stood there, pressing their bodies into the wall and making the valiant attempt to remain standing while River still shuddered around him, Jayne was having a hard time bringing himself to care.
Gently, he put his hands on her waist, and pulled out, making sure that River's legs were going to hold her before he let go.
“Girl--” She smiled up at him lazily.
“That was delightful,” she stated. She straightened her skirt and shirt, and moved past him, patting him on the ass as she did so. “I look forward to doing it again.”
Jayne watched her go, mouth hanging open, and pants around his ankles. For a moment, he felt used and indignant. The he thought about the mind blowing sex and those sexy brown boots. With a satisfied sigh, Jayne hauled up his pants, and laid the blame squarely on those damn boots.
There was a certain logic to life that River subscribed to; chaos was in everything, to be sure, but at the same time there were always certain constants. River could remember (she thought she remembered) her father laughing as he spoke with Simon.
“The only constant in life is life, my boy! Life, and our annual contribution to the Blue Sun Charity Auction.”
That, and Death. The variables were in how people reacted. She knew, therefore that she should have expected it, even anticipated it. It was, by her own logic, inevitable. There was no reason that she should feel as sad and depressed as she did; every living thing had an end. That was just the way of it.
Everyone took it differently. Mal hardly noticed the loss, which didn't much surprise River. Inara took it rather gracefully, making all of the right noises and gestures, like she did everything. However River knew, like she knew most things, that the loss did not weigh heavily on her. Simon was much like Mal. He gave her a look but curious and worried, and asked her why it bothered her so much. She had refused to answer, choosing instead to glare mutinously at him. If he didn't understand, then she wasn't going to explain it to him, and when Simon didn't pursue the matter, she took it as further confirmation that he was an utter boob. Kaylee tried, which River was grateful for. Kaylee felt things almost as much as River did, and she gave River a swift, fierce hug when she found out, her eyes sympathetic, and her heart hurting for River's loss. But when she leaves, she leaves, and it is not long before River can feel her grief, genuine though it was, fading as Simon said something that made her laugh.
River was certain that she was the only person on the ship who was truly affected.
“What's the matter, girl?” His voice is gruff and curious, but still gentle. The others might not be able to hear it, but she can. She could feel his hand on her shoulder, warm and heavy and exuding a sense of comfort. River leaned into the hand, and there was only a moment's hesitation on Jayne's part before he wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her close. She hadn't intended to, but the tears started coming nonetheless. With surprising patience (River was beginning to think that Jayne was the only person who could consistently surprise her), he held her, and waited until her sniffles had begun to subside.
“You gonna tell me what's up, or am I gonna hafta beat it out of you?” River sniffed, partially to clear her nose, partially to scoff.
“You could try to, but I doubt it would work.”
“Keep telling yourself that, little one,” his voice rumbled in his chest soothingly. She sniffled again, just a little this time.
“You are silly, Jayne Cobb.” He snorted, but didn't say anything else. After another moment, she pulled herself away and snatched up his hand. “It is best to see.”
Dutifully, he followed along after her, allowing her to continue the custody of his hand. When they arrived in the galley, she doesn't have to say anything. Jayne's hand tugs hers, and his warm arms envelope her once more.
“Oh, girl. I'm sorry.” She feels his grief, as fresh as hers, and she knows that it won't melt away when he is no longer confronted by the reality of the deceased. River sniffles again, and he pulls away this time, hand cupping her chin. “It's sad, I know. But this ain't what mattered, River. It's the memories, and the fun and laughter, and all the stuff that happened, but all that remains no matter what.” His words were a little garbled, but she was no stranger to deciphering language, and she heard the meaning loud and clear.
“I suppose you are correct, but—”
“Now, no buts. We're heading planetside real soon, and it isn't gonna be the same, but I think that we might be able to pick up another one.”
“You'd do that for me?” He kissed her forehead tenderly.
“It ain't no thing, River. Come on, now. We'll put her to—“
“Him,” she interjected.
“All right, we'll put him to rest tomorrow, and then you and I will take some of our hard-earned shares, and see if we can't find something just as nice, maybe even better.” She gave him a reproachful look. “Right, not better. Just...as good?” River nodded.
He led her without protest out of the galley, murmuring the whole way about what they'd look at, and different types they could explore. River looked behind her at the sad state of the tree that she'd brought on board so many months ago now. She knew that foliage didn't exactly thrive in the black, but she hadn't expected the little tree to die so quickly, nor had she anticipated feeling so bad about it. But Jayne was right, they were the ones who had made the memories, not the tree, and those would always remain. With a small smile, she let Jayne lead her towards his bunk, her sadness somewhat abated by the bright future that she could see ahead.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
Title: Evolution
Fandom: Firefly/Serenity
Pairing: River/Jayne
Prompts: #2 Green, #17 Apple, #29 Brown, #41 Death
Challenge: Fall Challenge at rayne_shippers
Rating: PG to NC-17
Summary/Notes: A few glimpses into River and Jayne and their interactions.
Disclaimer: Not mine!
#2 Green.
Jayne thinks sometimes that living out in the black is as good as life can get. He follows Mal's rules, mostly, and he's constantly on the move. It soothes a restlessness within him that he didn't know he had until the first time he stepped off planet. There are times, however, when he misses certain aspects of planet life. It's always the little things, too. Like green.
Jayne misses the color green. A small thing, just a color, and what's that against the endless black and sparkling stars? And they went on world often enough that Jayne saw plenty of greenery. But every so often, when they'd been out for a while, all Jayne wanted to see was a patch of grass. Maybe, he thought in one of his more philosophical moments, it wasn't so much the color, as it was the feel of green. The feel of warm grass on your back, as you lay by the stream and watch the clouds go by. It reminded him of those lazy, late summer days back home.
He usually stops that particular train of thought before it goes too far. There's no sense in living in the past when the future is waiting for you, often lurking in a dark alley, or in the middle of a job as it goes wrong. Jayne tries not to dwell.
It takes a while before he notices the trend. That he didn't notice right away doesn't bother him. He only pays a passing amount of attention to what River wears at any given time. Most of his concentration goes to making sure that she's not going to lose it again, or to trying to figure out what she's saying when she warbles off a stream of words longer than his John Thomas.
The dark green dress she wears floats around her as she sits next to him at the table, gauzy fabric brushing against his pants leg. He remembers briefly that they didn't have many trees back home, but there were a few scattered around. Great huge trees with stretching branches and leaves that caught the sun and turned brilliant colors in the fall, and then coated the ground. Jayne shook his head briefly, and caught River staring at him.
“What, girl?” She smiled.
“They are called deciduous.” He narrowed his eyes, but couldn't tell what the hell she was saying, so he just shook his head and tucked into his protein. He felt oddly better every time he caught a glimpse of that green out of the corner of his eye.
Another month or so goes by and they haven't touched a planet that's more than a jumped up desert in what feels like years. Her shirt is green this time, big and loose and bright. She breezes through the cargo bay as he's working out, and for a moment, he can smell that late summer breeze, and the faint chill in the air as the sun goes down. He pauses and she is glancing over at him, smiling as she hops up onto one of the large crates and reclines, arching her spine over the edge of her perch. She is smiling still, but upside down, which makes the expression a little more creepifying than he's used to. But still. He is still missing the feeling of running through the fields, racing his brother, but he feels a little better.
The solstice season rolls around, and they are in the black again. Thing about a shipful of wanderers is that most don't feel inclined to got back planetside and be reminded of what you're missing. Jayne suspects little Kaylee might have wanted to see her pop, but she was pretty enamored of Simon, and when asked, just laughed and said that she was with her family. Zoe got quieter than normal and spent long lengths of time with her arms wrapped around herself, and staying in her quarters. Kaylee had liberated some small lights the last time they had been on a parts run, and Inara brought out some of her spicier smelling candles and incenses. The littered the galley, making it more festive than it'd been in years, as if everyone (even Mal with his grumpiness) was trying a little harder this year.
Jayne looked at it all and remembered the smell of the pine tree his pa would cut down every year, the look of it with brown wrapped presents scattered underneath it, and the feel of the fire warming his face. He remembers Ma and Pa, and their spiced cider, laughing as the kids ran around the tree and played, and he wishes he could bring a little bit of that happiness to the here and the now for the crew that's made itself into a family.
The others are asleep when he's cleaning his guns. She creeps in quiet as a mouse, but not so quiet that he doesn't hear her. It's still kind of dark, but he can swear she's wearing that floaty green dress again.
“Girl, what are you doin'?” She stops and turns around, swinging her hands behind her. “You got something back there?” She shakes her head, a little more quickly than necessary. Jayne's look is speculative as he stands and walks over to her.
“Come on now, let me see,” he wheedles. River's mouth starts to quirk upward, but she shakes her head and darts to the side, still keeping her front to him. He growls playfully and lunges, and she shrieks laughter as she attempts to keep away. He catches her at the kitchen counter, and her face is lit by a wide grin.
“Nononono! I give up!” He finds himself grinning in return.
“Damn right you do. Now what've you got that's so gorram secret?” Slowly she drags her hand out from behind her back and holds it up, and Jayne stops breathing for just a moment. It's a pot, not very large at all, and within it? Jayne leans dangerously close, so that his nose is almost brushing against hers. The soft scent of pine wafts upwards and Jayne inhales it greedily. He looks straight into her eyes, and her heart pounds so loudly that she swears the crew can hear it in their quarters. She blushes slightly.
“I got it last time we were planetside. With my cut.”
“But--”
“No one else knows, not even Simon. I wanted it to be a surprise. I miss the colors on planets sometimes. I miss green.” She said it longingly, wistfully, and something in Jayne melted a little.
“I know what you mean, girl. Why are you bringing it out now?” She cocked her head to one side and gave him a look.
“It is the season of giving, Jayne. I have enjoyed it, and it is time to share my green with everyone else,” she said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. Jayne reached down and touched the fabric covering her shoulder, touch surprisingly soft.
“Is this you sharing your green, too?”
“Took you long enough to notice,” she sniffed. River attempted to move past him, but his arms were boxing her in. “I could get past you, you know.”
“But you won't, now will you? Why'd you do it, girl?” She looked away, blush spreading.
“I thought you would like it,” she mumbled. “You would be melancholic and I wanted to cheer you up. Your thoughts were very loud,” she added defensively. Jayne paused and looked at River. Really just...looked. She was cute, true. She also joined him in the training room now. She pulled her weight as a pilot too, and she keep looking at him with those soft brown eyes. He bent down until they were on the same level, eyes never leaving hers. His lips felt soft against her cheek, and his words were just as soft, if a bit gravelly, in her ear.
“Thank you.”
When the pounding of her heart subsided, she lacked her small pine tree, and Jayne was taking down some of Kaylee's lights. He looked over his shoulder.
“You gonna help me with this, or what?”
#17 Apple
River thought that she might like apples the most of all fruits. They were not as fancy as some of the fruits that she'd had during the time in her life where fancy parties and soirees were the norm, before the Alliance. She tossed the bright red apple into the air.
Around her, the fair was going full force. Occasionally she'd catch a glimpse of Simon and Kaylee, laughing and standing so very close to one another. Or of Inara and the captain, heads bowed together in a new found intimacy. There was a crispness in the air, and River felt more alive, more awake and aware than she had in a very long time. The thoughts swirled through her in little eddies and leaving little wakes, but nothing for very long. It was almost peaceful. She grinned and tossed the apple back up only to have a hand dart out and snatch it midair.
“You know girl, that's a waste a of a perfectly good apple.” River glared up at Jayne as he sunk his teeth into her apple.
“That was my apple, man-ape.”
“Ya' know? It's funny,” he said, crunching happily. “Cause from here it looks like it's my apple now, Moonbrain.” She punched his arm, and he yelped, dropping the apple. She caught it smoothly.
“My apple,” she stated, crunching into it satisfyingly.
“Nasty. Girl, I dun ate offa that.” She looked at him slyly.
“So? I know where you've been. Which is nowhere in the last six months. Are you getting frustrated, man-ape?”
“Hey now! That ain't none of your business! 'Sides,” he added, “I coulda had some disease already.” River looked as though she regretted taking her apple back, though out of the corner of her eye, she caught the small smile on Jayne's face. She punched him again, though without quite as much force.
“You are deliberately trying to get me to give up my apple. It will not happen. We just got paid, so get your own!”
“But that's not half as fun as taking yours!” He jabbed her in the ribs, almost succeeding in taking the apple back, but instead managing to knock it to the ground. River was furious.
“Now neither of us have an apple, Jayne. Well done, man-ape.” Arms crossed, she glared fiercely at him, and Jayne felt a twinge of guilt.
“Aw, I'm sorry, River. It wasn't supposed to fall.”
“Obviously,” she snorted. He did look contrite, she thought. She snatched his arm quickly, and he started. “You may make it up to me. I will require another apple. And a caramel apple. And an ice planet.”
“An ice planet? Now you're just being greedy. You can't even eat one of those. Hell, I watched you try.”
“I have figured out a formula. It will work this time.” He raised an eyebrow. “Probably,” she muttered. Jayne guffawed.
“Girl, formulas aren't no way to go about eating an ice planet.”
“I will believe it when I see it.”
“Just you wait.”
River didn't keep track of how long they wandered around the festival. She watched the red and gold of the leaves as they tumbled to the ground, and if she moved a little closer to Jayne as the sun went down and the chill became more pronounced, still grasping his arm, neither made a mention of it.
The ice planet had been first, and true to Jayne's words, there was no formula she tried that would result in a successful bite. Jayne couldn't remember the last time that he'd laughed as hard as he did at the genius who couldn't eat a children's dessert. She may have punched him a few more times, and some of the ice planet may have landed down his shirt, but it was worth it for the look on her face as he put the rest of it in her hair.
They grabbed two caramel apples afterwards, and River immediately headed for the ferris wheel.
“What, really? Girl there is no way that you are getting me up in that thing.”
“Why? Is the man with a girl's name scared?” He glared.
“I just bought you sweets and you're back on that girl's name stuff again? See if I get you anything else.” River grinned and tugged at his arm.
“I will pay,” she coaxed. “We will be high up, and you can throw things at the people below us.” He looked at her skeptically. “I will get popcorn.”
“You already got a caramel apple, where you gonna put a bag of popcorn?”
“I am very skilled in multitasking, Jayne. I am a genius.”
“Yeah, so they tell me.” She looked up at him very intently, and Jayne sighed. He never could resist a pair of big brown eyes. “All right, girl. But if I go, I don't owe you another apple.” River frowned, but stuck her hand out.
“Agreed. Now get in line, and I will be back with the popcorn. It will be fun, Jayne!”
Jayne received more than a few strange looks as he averaged several inches taller and broader than the rest of the line, and it wasn't until River scampered back, hands full, that he felt at all comfortable.
He had to admit, though. When they crested the top of the ferris wheel, the view was almost worth it. The looks from the people beneath them as they found pieces of popcorn cascading down upon their heads made up for anything that the view lacked, and the look of pure delight on River's face was an extra treat.
It was later than River had anticipated when they got back to Serenity. Despite his initial protests, Jayne had enjoyed the ferris wheel quite a lot, and River had coerced him into subsequent fair rides as a result. It had been the most fun that she had had in a while, and, she suspected, more fun than Jayne had had in even longer...that didn't involve shooting someone. She didn't need to, but she asked anyway.
“Did you have sufficient amounts of fun?” Jayne was quiet for a moment, looking down at where her arm was still tucked into his, and then to her other arm, where a large stuffed hippo resided.
“You know, I kind of did. I haven't been to a fair since before I left home, you know.” River did know, but she didn't mention that. He looked back down at her. “I especially liked the part where we threw popcorn at folk.” River grinned back.
“I thought you might. It's my favorite part, too,” she whispered slyly. It didn't take much for Jayne to notice how pretty River was. Especially when she was smiling at him, and she'd been doing and awful lot of that today. He also might have liked the way that she easily took ahold of his arm, but without dragging on it, or clinging to it. River's smile widened a little bit, and she popped up onto her toes, flinging her arms around Jayne's neck.
“Now what--” River's lips pressed gently against his. By the time that Jayne registered what had happened, she had pulled away, and was moving towards her bunk. “Girl! What the devil--”
“Thank you, Jayne! I had a wonderful time,” she called back, a smile dancing on her lips. He scowled, but his heart wasn't really in the gesture.
“Now look here, girl. You're about to run off with my hard earned hippo!”
“It was clearly a gift!”
“The hell it was!” They eyed each other for a minute before River shrieked and took off running. With a shout and a wild smile, Jayne followed her.
“Did my eyes just deceive me?” Inara struggled to hide her smile.
“I don't believe so, no.”
“Cause that looked like River and Jayne. Chasing each other 'round my ship like a coupla school kids.” Mal had puffed up, much like an agitated bird, Inara thought.
“It would seem to be the case.” The two rounded the cargo hold once again, River scrambling onto some boxes and holding what looked to be a giant stuffed hippo.
“Woman! Give me my hippo back!”
“You will never take me alive, man-ape!” Mal seemed to deflate before her eyes.
“Gorrammit,” he muttered before leaning over the edge of the railing. “You mess up my ship killing each other, and we're gonna have strong words!” he shouted.
Inara patted his back soothingly as they watched a new start unfold.
#29 Brown
She had gotten a new pair of brown boots, and that, Jayne firmly believed, was where the problem had started. They were thick and hardy boots. Hardly a sexy thing at all, he told himself firmly. But then she'd wear them with some skirt she'd dug up from those days when she was first on the ship, and still crazy as the black was wide, and it was all he could to to tear himself away from the way those boots encased her muscular calves, brown leather clinging tightly as she moved across the galley, skirt swishing around her knees.
It didn't help, he added, that he was lusting after a woman who could read his thoughts. Not that he did all that much to keep them from her. The skirts got a little shorter here and there, and those boots began to feature in some prominent fantasies Jayne had at night. And in the daytime, and just about any time he thought about brown leather. He could tell that she knew, too. Jayne wasn't sure if that made it better or worse. It was kind of gratifying to see her look over and give him a slow smile when his thoughts were turning to things of a between-the-sheets nature. Or on the sheets. Or hell, Jayne wouldn't mind the floor. Or the wall. Or the cargo hold.
“Jayne are you going to pass that bread, or are you gonna romance it? Cause you've been staring at it in a way that makes me mighty uncomfortable,” Mal's voice broke through his reverie. Jayne let out a noise that was more whimper than growl, but passed the bread down. A small, knowing smile still hovered around River's lips, and in a moment of retribution, Jayne concentrated on the image of those legs wrapped tightly around his waist, brown leather creaking as her ankles locked, head thrown back against a wall. Jayne had the momentarily satisfaction of seeing the smile slip away from River's face, to be replaced by a deep blush. He also thought that she might be breathing a little more quickly. Jayne smirked, but his victory was short lived. Softly, so softly in fact that, at first Jayne didn't notice it, River began to stroke her foot against the outside of his calf.
If the rest of the crew was surprised by Jayne's abrupt departure from the dinner table, they made no indication. It wouldn't have been the first time that he'd stood and left after terse words with River, either. It might have been the first time that River had gotten up and gone after him, but no one seemed to notice when she slipped away from the table.
She found him in the cargo hold. It didn't take a reader to know that he'd be there, probably lifting weights or doing pull ups to burn off his excess...energy. She stood in the shadows for a moment, watching the play of his corded muscles as he lifted the weight bar. Up and down, the sweat slowly building up and rolling down his skin. River could feel her heart begin to speed up again as she moved forward, her brain replaying the images Jayne had sent her while at dinner. She'd always caught flashes of his lust, and she'd enjoyed the attention, there was not denying that. But the sensation when all of that was deliberately focused on her...River shivered. It had been amazing.
He paused, breathing heavily, and River used that opportunity to approach. It was a moment's work to straddle his waist. Startled, Jayne sat up, almost braining himself on the bar. She swiftly pushed him back down.
“What the—River?” She was quiet, staring at him with a curious, greedy look, taking in the hard lines and planes that made him. He was, she decided, geometrical art. Her fingers skimmed up his sides, splaying briefly across his ribcage (her hands, they both noted, barely covered the width of his chest) before moving up. Her thumbs grazed his nipples, and Jayne gasped. River made an agreeable noise in her throat, continuing to explore him with her hands. Jayne's breathing wasn't getting any easier, and it didn't taken River long before she felt him grow hard. Images were flowing through Jayne at a rapid pace, and River grabbed one and held onto it. Her lips curled into a wicked grin as she laid her torso along his, her ass sliding back against Jayne's erection. He groaned before he could catch himself, and grabbing her arms tightly, Jayne halted her slow slide. It may have, he reflected, been the hardest thing he'd ever done.
“Girl, what do you think you're doing?” His voice was low and strained, and the sound made her shiver with pleasure as it rumbled through her. Even so, she gave him a frank look.
“I would think,” here she squirmed just so, “that it would be obvious. I know you think about me, Jayne.” He groaned, head thumping against the bench.
“Oh god, girl. Course I think aboutcha. You go prancin' about in them short skirts and them boots. Gorram girl. Those BOOTS.” River, undeterred by her limited range of movement, brought her feet up behind her, boots rubbing against Jayne's legs again. “Ain't supposed to be thinking about you, though.” River pulled back a little, incredulously, and regarded the wanting, hard and wanting beneath her.
“Would it be better,” she murmured, once again leaning close, “knowing that I want you just as much?” Jayne tensed underneath her and, very quietly, he told her to get up.
“But—”
“No arguments, woman. Up.” Reluctantly River slid off of him. Jayne hissed as her torso and breasts grazed his twitching dick. Arms crossed, she stood slightly away from him, glaring as he eased himself off the bench. “Do you mean that?” his questioned surprised her.
“That I want to engage you in a variety of sexual situations? Of course I do.” Jayne was standing closer now.
“Cause you read me thinking dirty thoughts about you?”
“I never said that. The dirty thoughts helped,” she admitted. “But no. I want you, dirty thoughts or not.” Jayne swallowed, and River took her opportunity, closing the gap between them. “I have a dirty thoughts of my own, you know.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck as her leg slid up his. Light as a feather she hopped, and brought both legs up to wrap around Jayne's waist. Her legs tightened, and Jayne could feel those boots dig in. He was lost. She rolled her lithe body against his, but he had already moved them. River felt the cold of the walls up against her back, and she loved it.
“Ta ma de,” she moaned, squeezing her legs just a little tighter. Jayne growled unto her neck, teeth grazing her skin with enough pressure to make River writhe a little more desperately against him. It was a moments work to slip his hands up underneath her skirt. He grabbed her ass and got handfuls of bare skin in the process.
“You...don't wear underwear?” he asked brokenly, as if it were too good to be true. He could feel her smile against his skin.
“It's...confining. I don't like being confined.”
“Girl, that is a freedom that I can get behind.”
“One thing at a time,” she murmured. “You can get behind me next time.” His rough hands trailed down the backs of her thighs, and River squirmed, repressing the snort of laughter that threatened to bubble up. A moment later, she was struggling not to scream as Jayne moved a warm hand up the inside of her thigh. She was hot and wet against his fingers, and the idea of sinking himself into her was almost more than he could handle. The soft, gasping noises she made in his ear as he stroked her were going to drive him mad. It didn't help matters that she was grinding wantonly against his hand.
“You're just a sex kitten, aren't you, girl? Wet and ready already. Just begging for me to sex you up good.”
“Oh, yes. PLEASE. I have been waiting for this so long,” as she spoke, her hands drifted lightly down, and before Jayne could register her words, her nimble fingers had undone his belt, and she'd slipped her hands into his pants. Jayne was so wound up that her touch nearly undid him. He had been pretty sure that River was a virgin, and her fingers, both cautious and eager on his prick, confirmed it in his mind. Her legs had assisted in making sure that his pants dropped to the ground. “I see that I am not the only one who enjoys certain freedoms.”
“Can't cage the beast,” he growled, probing her slick folds. River gasped at the sensation, and clamping her legs a little tighter, sank herself onto Jayne's cock.
“You may cage it here,” she moaned as she moved up and down. It was all Jayne could do that hang on for the ride. She was using him like a gorram sex toy, and the feeling was incredible. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't like it just a little.
River could feel herself begin to come apart. She worked herself almost desperately, sliding along Jayne's cock. One of his hands (oh how she adored those hands) dropped its grip on her hip to slip between them. Jayne pumped into her as she ground down upon him, and when his thumb found her clit, River had to bite down on his collarbone to keep from screaming as she came around him, hard spasms rocking her body. Jayne managed to thrust once or twice more before her clenching brought him rocketing over the edge. For a man as accomplished as he was, it was an embarrassingly short bout. But, as he stood there, pressing their bodies into the wall and making the valiant attempt to remain standing while River still shuddered around him, Jayne was having a hard time bringing himself to care.
Gently, he put his hands on her waist, and pulled out, making sure that River's legs were going to hold her before he let go.
“Girl--” She smiled up at him lazily.
“That was delightful,” she stated. She straightened her skirt and shirt, and moved past him, patting him on the ass as she did so. “I look forward to doing it again.”
Jayne watched her go, mouth hanging open, and pants around his ankles. For a moment, he felt used and indignant. The he thought about the mind blowing sex and those sexy brown boots. With a satisfied sigh, Jayne hauled up his pants, and laid the blame squarely on those damn boots.
There was a certain logic to life that River subscribed to; chaos was in everything, to be sure, but at the same time there were always certain constants. River could remember (she thought she remembered) her father laughing as he spoke with Simon.
“The only constant in life is life, my boy! Life, and our annual contribution to the Blue Sun Charity Auction.”
That, and Death. The variables were in how people reacted. She knew, therefore that she should have expected it, even anticipated it. It was, by her own logic, inevitable. There was no reason that she should feel as sad and depressed as she did; every living thing had an end. That was just the way of it.
Everyone took it differently. Mal hardly noticed the loss, which didn't much surprise River. Inara took it rather gracefully, making all of the right noises and gestures, like she did everything. However River knew, like she knew most things, that the loss did not weigh heavily on her. Simon was much like Mal. He gave her a look but curious and worried, and asked her why it bothered her so much. She had refused to answer, choosing instead to glare mutinously at him. If he didn't understand, then she wasn't going to explain it to him, and when Simon didn't pursue the matter, she took it as further confirmation that he was an utter boob. Kaylee tried, which River was grateful for. Kaylee felt things almost as much as River did, and she gave River a swift, fierce hug when she found out, her eyes sympathetic, and her heart hurting for River's loss. But when she leaves, she leaves, and it is not long before River can feel her grief, genuine though it was, fading as Simon said something that made her laugh.
River was certain that she was the only person on the ship who was truly affected.
“What's the matter, girl?” His voice is gruff and curious, but still gentle. The others might not be able to hear it, but she can. She could feel his hand on her shoulder, warm and heavy and exuding a sense of comfort. River leaned into the hand, and there was only a moment's hesitation on Jayne's part before he wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her close. She hadn't intended to, but the tears started coming nonetheless. With surprising patience (River was beginning to think that Jayne was the only person who could consistently surprise her), he held her, and waited until her sniffles had begun to subside.
“You gonna tell me what's up, or am I gonna hafta beat it out of you?” River sniffed, partially to clear her nose, partially to scoff.
“You could try to, but I doubt it would work.”
“Keep telling yourself that, little one,” his voice rumbled in his chest soothingly. She sniffled again, just a little this time.
“You are silly, Jayne Cobb.” He snorted, but didn't say anything else. After another moment, she pulled herself away and snatched up his hand. “It is best to see.”
Dutifully, he followed along after her, allowing her to continue the custody of his hand. When they arrived in the galley, she doesn't have to say anything. Jayne's hand tugs hers, and his warm arms envelope her once more.
“Oh, girl. I'm sorry.” She feels his grief, as fresh as hers, and she knows that it won't melt away when he is no longer confronted by the reality of the deceased. River sniffles again, and he pulls away this time, hand cupping her chin. “It's sad, I know. But this ain't what mattered, River. It's the memories, and the fun and laughter, and all the stuff that happened, but all that remains no matter what.” His words were a little garbled, but she was no stranger to deciphering language, and she heard the meaning loud and clear.
“I suppose you are correct, but—”
“Now, no buts. We're heading planetside real soon, and it isn't gonna be the same, but I think that we might be able to pick up another one.”
“You'd do that for me?” He kissed her forehead tenderly.
“It ain't no thing, River. Come on, now. We'll put her to—“
“Him,” she interjected.
“All right, we'll put him to rest tomorrow, and then you and I will take some of our hard-earned shares, and see if we can't find something just as nice, maybe even better.” She gave him a reproachful look. “Right, not better. Just...as good?” River nodded.
He led her without protest out of the galley, murmuring the whole way about what they'd look at, and different types they could explore. River looked behind her at the sad state of the tree that she'd brought on board so many months ago now. She knew that foliage didn't exactly thrive in the black, but she hadn't expected the little tree to die so quickly, nor had she anticipated feeling so bad about it. But Jayne was right, they were the ones who had made the memories, not the tree, and those would always remain. With a small smile, she let Jayne lead her towards his bunk, her sadness somewhat abated by the bright future that she could see ahead.