joss100 Challenge Ficlet: Library
Title: Just Words
Author: cornfields
Rating: PG
Character(s): Jayne, River
Prompt: Library
Word Count: 613
Spoilers: Serenity, the movie.
Author's Note: On a roll today, by God! Also, unbeta'd.
"What the hell does all that mean?" Jayne interrupted after taking a long pull of booze from the bottle she'd given him. "It don't make no sense."
River paused and gave him a blank look. "You're not listening," she said patiently before continuing. "Thy lips, O' my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon--"
She'd read to him, sometimes, even though she knew he didn't really care a thing for books or learning. They'd just come off a particularly nasty job that day, and after breaking atmo and setting course to the drop-off point, she'd left Mal to his own devices in the cockpit. When she found Jayne skulking in the mess, she gave him a mysterious smile, holding a bottle of something potent in one hand, and a large, weathered book in the other. She handed him the bottle and led him away from crew quarters and into the cargo bay. They both ended up sprawled together on the catwalks, their feet swinging idly over the edge.
"I'm listenin'," he insisted, interrupting her once again. "But I just don't get it. Thy lips 'r' honeycombs, you smell like Lebanon, apples 'r' comforting, blah blah blah -- but they're all just words, words that don't mean nothin'."
She made a noise of impatience and annoyance. "Do you want the girl to read to you or not?" she demanded.
He sat up and nudged her foot with his. "'Course I do, darlin', but I can't make heads 'r' tails a' none of it."
"It's a love poem, Jayne," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Silliest damn love poem I ever heard. Whatever happened to givin' a girl flowers?" he grumbled. He glared at the tattered book in her hands. "What the hell 'r' you readin', anyway?"
She gazed at the scuffed cover of the book sadly. "The Shepherd's Good Book," she replied quietly. "While you were desecrating and creating diversion, I was looking for treasure."
He squirmed, the sudden flood of gruesome memory making him uneasy. "I didn't know the Bible had go se like that in it. Always knew Shepherd was a dirty old man."
Her brows came together in a glare, and she stood. "She's done here," she snapped angrily, making as though to leave.
He reached out quickly and caught her ankle in his fist. "Aw, c'mon babydoll, don't be mad at me." He tugged on her leg playfully. The bones just beneath her pale skin were slender, delicate, as if he could break them without even trying. He suppressed a shudder at the morbid turn of thought.
"You're making it ugly," she said mournfully, attempting to break from his grasp. "Love is a holy thing, a sacred thing."
"C'mon, sit down," he wheedled, giving her leg another shake. "Ain't my fault I ain't learned enough to figure it out myself."
She looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye before freeing herself from his grip and sitting back down in a huff. "Will you listen to her and hear the words?" she demanded before cracking the book open again.
He smirked and raised the bottle at her in mock salute. "Stick a needle in my eye."
Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "Careful what you ask for, mercenary."
He chuckled. "That a threat, darlin'?"
She dropped an elegant shoulder in lieu of reply, and shifted her dark gaze from his to the pages spread open in her lap. She took a breath and began to read again, "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, a fountain sealed..."
==
Chinese:
Go se - Crap, shit
Author: cornfields
Rating: PG
Character(s): Jayne, River
Prompt: Library
Word Count: 613
Spoilers: Serenity, the movie.
Author's Note: On a roll today, by God! Also, unbeta'd.
"What the hell does all that mean?" Jayne interrupted after taking a long pull of booze from the bottle she'd given him. "It don't make no sense."
River paused and gave him a blank look. "You're not listening," she said patiently before continuing. "Thy lips, O' my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon--"
She'd read to him, sometimes, even though she knew he didn't really care a thing for books or learning. They'd just come off a particularly nasty job that day, and after breaking atmo and setting course to the drop-off point, she'd left Mal to his own devices in the cockpit. When she found Jayne skulking in the mess, she gave him a mysterious smile, holding a bottle of something potent in one hand, and a large, weathered book in the other. She handed him the bottle and led him away from crew quarters and into the cargo bay. They both ended up sprawled together on the catwalks, their feet swinging idly over the edge.
"I'm listenin'," he insisted, interrupting her once again. "But I just don't get it. Thy lips 'r' honeycombs, you smell like Lebanon, apples 'r' comforting, blah blah blah -- but they're all just words, words that don't mean nothin'."
She made a noise of impatience and annoyance. "Do you want the girl to read to you or not?" she demanded.
He sat up and nudged her foot with his. "'Course I do, darlin', but I can't make heads 'r' tails a' none of it."
"It's a love poem, Jayne," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Silliest damn love poem I ever heard. Whatever happened to givin' a girl flowers?" he grumbled. He glared at the tattered book in her hands. "What the hell 'r' you readin', anyway?"
She gazed at the scuffed cover of the book sadly. "The Shepherd's Good Book," she replied quietly. "While you were desecrating and creating diversion, I was looking for treasure."
He squirmed, the sudden flood of gruesome memory making him uneasy. "I didn't know the Bible had go se like that in it. Always knew Shepherd was a dirty old man."
Her brows came together in a glare, and she stood. "She's done here," she snapped angrily, making as though to leave.
He reached out quickly and caught her ankle in his fist. "Aw, c'mon babydoll, don't be mad at me." He tugged on her leg playfully. The bones just beneath her pale skin were slender, delicate, as if he could break them without even trying. He suppressed a shudder at the morbid turn of thought.
"You're making it ugly," she said mournfully, attempting to break from his grasp. "Love is a holy thing, a sacred thing."
"C'mon, sit down," he wheedled, giving her leg another shake. "Ain't my fault I ain't learned enough to figure it out myself."
She looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye before freeing herself from his grip and sitting back down in a huff. "Will you listen to her and hear the words?" she demanded before cracking the book open again.
He smirked and raised the bottle at her in mock salute. "Stick a needle in my eye."
Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "Careful what you ask for, mercenary."
He chuckled. "That a threat, darlin'?"
She dropped an elegant shoulder in lieu of reply, and shifted her dark gaze from his to the pages spread open in her lap. She took a breath and began to read again, "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, a fountain sealed..."
==
Chinese:
Go se - Crap, shit