Current mood:

amused

Five snippets
I bring you a collection of Jaylee snippets which make no sense together, and possibly none when taken individually. They are Jaylee scenes that got written, and then never put into anything. A couple started as drabbles, the others stalled. One, you really have to squint at to see our couple in cahoots. I hope you enjoy them anyway! Happy Jaylee summer.





~Dinner~



It was a bowl of protein, a squishy soggy mess with a bit of every spice in the kitchen thrown in, so it must have been Jayne's night to cook. Kaylee stared down at it the way you stare at marshmallows embedded in jello, wondering why in god's name anyone would do such a thing to two ingredients that were really just fine all on their own. Not that protein was ever fine just--not as terrible as it could be.

She looked up at the merc, her face pulled into a frown somewhere between confusion and wonder. "Jayne?" she sputtered.

"Brought you some dinner since you can't get up and all," he gestured down at her broken leg.

Kaylee nodded, and offered him a smile as big as she could muster. On the counter not far away sat the bowl of protein goo Simon had brought her for dinner just a few minutes prior, and the more appetizing remains of the fruit Mal had brought her half an hour ago.

Jayne stared down at her leg with a focused frown, his fingers worrying the back of his neck the way he did when he wasn't quite sure if what he had just said or done was right, and whether Mal was about to come down on him for it. He glanced back behind him at the door to the infirmary, and finding no one there, looked back to Kaylee. "Well, ain't you even gonna eat it?"

Kaylee raised an eyebrow at him, then picked the spoon up out of the bowl. It made a wet squelching noise and she screwed up her nose. "Thank you for bringin me some dinner, Jayne. You didn't have to be so nice." she said. Really didn't, she thought.

Jayne shifted from one foot to the other and motioned to her leg again, but remained silent.

She smiled. "Awh, Jayne, that weren't your fault! There's no way you coulda known I was gonna fall off of them crates."

"I was right there though. Should caught you--just like Mal said."

"Cap'n was just bein mean cause he was shocked. He didn't mean it when he said you had the reaction time of a dead mule. If you did do you think he'd keep you around?"

Jayne shrugged. "He was right. I was watching ya. I saw you falling and I shoulda caught you."

Kaylee huffed and poked at the bowl of mush, hoping Jayne would give up and go away. Didn't work though, the more she poked at it and didn't eat, the sulkier the look on his face got.

Her tummy grumbled as she imagined this goo traveling into her stomach and meeting up with the apple and pineapple Mal had given her, and the bit of chocolate River had snuck down to her. She imagined it coating the yummy roll Zoe had brought her at lunch and she sighed, wonderin why she couldn't just tell him that she'd already eaten. She'd told Simon that when he'd brought her a nasty bowl of mush. But, when she looked up and Jayne again she knew she couldn't.

When she'd refused the food Simon had brought her he'd just said "Oh," in a distracted kind of way, then set the bowl down on the counter and moved on to other things. She could tell it had only been a passing thought for him. Kaylee was in the infirmary and he was lord and master of the infirmary so he had to feed her. He hadn't offered her sweets or special treats like the rest of the crew--cept Jayne.

Except, that a bowl of mush prepared by Jayne himself and hand delivered to her really was something like a treat coming from him. It was astounding--the most thoughtful present she'd gotten that day.

She moved the spoon towards her mouth and smiled when it tasted horrible.

Jayne grinned and petted her hair. "You'll be back up real soon, little Kaylee. You just gotta keep eatin well and you'll get better."

Kaylee groaned. She really hoped this didn't mean he planned to feed her himself.




~Night~


They stood beneath the stars on some dust bowl planet where they'd just made a drop. Her arms were wrapped around his middle, she was leaned back and staring up into the sky.

Jayne laughed, and strange low and gentle chuckled coming from a man like him. By nature, he was nothing of the sort, but he was trying-- and contrary to what a lot of people believed, he could learn.

Kaylee smiled at him and nuzzled her face into his shoulder. "What're you laughin at?" she asked.

"You act like you ain't never seen that star before, the way you're wishin on it." His hands wandered, brushing hair from her forehead, trailing a finger down her cheek.

She leaned into his hand. "But it's the first star I seen tonight." she giggled.

He frowned. "Stars don't come and go, Kaylee, they're always on."

She grinned into the fabric of his shirt. "That may be right, but I don't think they're really there until you notice em."




~Captured~


"You sure we're gonna get home?" Kaylee fidgeted with her ropes.

Jayne glanced up at her and scowled. "Of course we are. What d'you think Mal'd do to me if I didn't get you back to Serenity?"

Kaylee glanced around their cell--at the rotting clothes in the corner and the dirt encrusted walls. She sucked in a breath of damp air that smelled like moldering potatoes and watched Jayne struggle with his bonds.

"I ain't never been in jail before," she whispered.

"You think I have?" He chewed at the rope encircling his wrist.

"You ain't?"

He sighed. "A man don't get to be a good merc by gettin hisself caught. You got a record, means you might get recognized. Makes you a bad man to hire."

Kaylee whimpered. "Then you don't really know how to get us out of here?"

The rope finally chewed through, Jayne pulled his hands apart triumphantly. "I can do anything, if'n I want it bad enough."

She smiled at his arrogant bravado and held out her hands. "What d'you want bad enough to get me and you out of this place?"

Jayne cocked an eyebrow at her as he untied her hands. "Bein free ain't enough?"

"Course it is." she rubbed her wrists and poked at a particularly raw spot, making herself hiss. "But, ain't there nothing else-might persuade you to do a real good job getting us out?" she threw her hair behind her shoulder.

Jayne halfheartedly pulled on the bars. "We've only been her a day, Kaylee. I ain't that hungry yet."

Kaylee sighed. Oaf.



~Body Language~



Jayne scratched his ass something like twenty times a day. He did it at dinner, while working out, even while standing and talking to you. It was the last one that disgusted Kaylee the most. Not that she paid him much mind.

He rubbed his head or belly whenever he was upset or thinking. She had tried to place the pattern to which body part got rubbed for what king of problem, but so far it didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. Though he did always rub his stomach when it was bad news from home.

Kaylee'd always known Jayne was a physical kind of man, but since she'd started noticing, she'd realized he had a physical reaction to most things. When Simon belittled him Jayne got a wrinkle in his forehead. When Mal was upset with him, his whole face slid down--drooped--so that he looked like the saddest little boy in the history of the verse. When it was Zoe that was mad at him, it was like his whole body caved in and he was a foot shorter than he should be. Not that the changes were as big as all that made them sound to be, but if you watched real close, you could see em real good. Everything, every little thing around him, caused some sort of reaction like that.

It was fascinating really, like watching the workin's of a human machine turn. Action and reaction, habit and compulsion. How could a man who seemed so rough and tough at first, be so easily affected?

Course, now she was almost sorry she ever noticed anything about it, because after she'd cataloged all Jayne's reactions to the crew in her head, she'd started trying to see his reaction to her.


~Kitty~


The bridge was largely quiet at night, though Wash had seen a little space trash floating by about a half hour ago. He sighed, sometimes his job was not that interesting. He was just getting ready to set the autopilot and try to find his lovely wife, when he heard a clunk and then,

"Psst"

He glanced behind him, but no one stood at the door of the flight deck. He raised an eyebrow, but turned his attention back to his gauges and switches.

"Psst, Wash!"

"Is that you, God?" Wash asked.

Kaylee snickered, and Wash looked down at the grating below his console.

"Kaylee, what are you doing down there?"

"I didn't want the captain to see me," she whispered.

Wash nodded. "I never like it when he does that either. But, er, why don't you want him to see you this particular night?"

Kaylee's face twisted. "Because I got River a stray kitten for Christmas while we were back on Beylix, and he found where I was hiding it."

"Dare I ask where that was?" Wash grinned.

Kaylee giggled. "In Simon's room."

"Ah," Wash laughed. "So all those spots on the good doctor's face...?"

Kaylee frowned. "How was I supposed to know he was allergic?"

Wash glanced behind him to see who was walking down the hall. "Shhh," he motioned to Kaylee. "Cap'n coming."

She squinched her eyes and held her breath.


"Wash!" Mal shouted from halfway down the hall.

"Aye, Cap'n?"

"Don't start that gorram pirate go se with me tonight, Wash. Have you seen my mechanic?"

"Uh, no sir, haven't seen a hair or jumpsuit."

Mal looked at him strangely. "Okay. Listen, we need to set down on whatever's closest to get rid of this gorram animal she brought on board. You see her, you tell her that I need to have a captain to mechanic talk with her about rules."

Wash nodded and kept his gaze on the stars outside.

"You all right, Wash?" Mal asked.

"Yes sir, Captain, I'm fine and dandy, Sir!" He said a little too brightly.

Mal glared. "You've seen her haven't you? Where's she hidin?"

Wash put a hand to his chest. "I have no idea. I'm shocked and appalled that you would suspect me of having such malicious intentions in relation to veracity when I'm speaking to my superior..."

"Ok ok. You just let me know if you do."

Wash smiled as Mal turned to go. "Oh, and Mal," he said. "We're at least three days out of anything resembling livable territory for a cat."

Mal didn't turn around, but he grunted and nodded as he walked away.


When the sound of his footsteps had faded, Kaylee blew out a huge breath and beamed up at Wash. "Xie, xie, Wash."

Wash laughed. "There's a price for my silence."

"What?" she asked.

"I want to see the look on Zoe's face when she sees the kitten."

Kaylee smiled. "Deal."

"I'm curious though," he said. "How did the captain happen to find the cat in Simon's room?"

She sighed. "Simon got in bed without knowin the poor kitty was already there. He squealed like a little girl when it brushed up against his tummy."

Wash nodded sagely. "Ah. I thought that was River."

Kaylee grimaced as she climbed out from underneath the grating. "I gotta run. Jayne's guarding the little guy until I could shake the captain."

Wash bit his lip and closed his eyes. "I've changed my mind," he said. "I want to see the look on Zoe's face when she sees Jayne guarding a kitten."

Kaylee laughed and nodded.



♥