A Moment Before Sleep
I haven't been writing much lately, but I wanted to work on some of the pieces I've left unattended for a while, so I asked for some prompts to get me warmed up. romanceguru gave me the prompt of "sleeping bag" to work with and while I originally intended this to be a funny/smutty fic about River and Jayne trying to have sex in too small of a space, it turned into sappy goo instead :)
Title: A Moment Before Sleep
Prompt: sleeping bag
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677
Title: A Moment Before Sleep
Prompt: sleeping bag
Author: Cricket
Disclaimer: I’m just playing with Joss’ toys, but I promise to put them back when I’m done
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677
The air in the tent smelled moldy and stale. Jayne desperately wanted to open the flap to let in the cool night breeze, but his mind was fuzzy on the brink of sleep and the warmth of his sleeping bag made him sluggish and unwilling to exert the effort. It had been a long day of riding through the seemingly endless pastures to meet their buyer. For some reason the planet had some finicky laws about pollution from air traffic and refused to let ships or even small shuttles fly over the many farms that scattered the planet's landscape.
Jayne's heavy eyelids drifted shut and his thoughts went blissfully still for the sweetest of moments before a rustle of grass and the slow hiss of the tent's zipper tugged him back into the waking world. He jerked his head up off his balled-up jacket he was using as a pillow to find the source of the disturbance
A sliver of clouded moonlight and flashlight glare snaked in through the tent's opening to reveal River's slight form slipping between the thin sheets of canvas. As she paused to close the tent, Jayne sent a furtive glance to the other side of the small enclosure where Mal's empty sleeping bag still lay undisturbed. Assuming the captain was still on watch, he turned his attention back to the girl crawling her way across the water-proofed tarp covering the floor of the tent. How River managed to leave the tent she was sharing with Zoë without the first mate waking was a mystery, unless Zoe knew what was going on between the two of them and just didn't care.
"Wha time s'it?" Jayne asked groggily, wiping tired grit from his bleary eyes.
"The princess turns back into a girl at the stroke of midnight when all the horseys are mice and her dress turns to rags." It wasn't as forthright of an answer as he was looking for, but he'd started to understand what she was talking about lately, which either meant he was getting smarter or, more likely, some of the medications Simon was pumping into the girl were starting to work.
"So how long we got before midnight then?" Squirming quietly, he pushed himself to the side of his sleeping bag to make room for the thin girl to climb in next to him. The fit was snug, but River managed to wriggle down into the warm cocoon. She barely avoided a slam to his crotch with her cold knee and instead caught him in the thigh, for which Jayne was very grateful.
"The clock tower will chime in forty-three minutes," she murmured, snuggling up to his chest and tucking her elbows between his arms and ribcage.
He yawned heartily, making River giggle as she pressed her ear to his sternum and listened to the air whooshing through his lungs.
"Hmm," he hummed, smacking his lips and nuzzling the crown of her head with sleepy affection. "Not much time to do anything exciting, but I think I can make this little visit worth your while."
River couldn't see his face through the inky shadows surrounding them, but she heard the wolfish grin in this voice and rolled her eyes at his assumption that she came to his tent for sex.
"While I enjoy dancing with my handsome prince, my intent was to keep him company in the dark, not lure him into a tango." She rubbed her cheek sweetly against the soft shirt covering his chest and pressed her body even closer to his.
"Mmm," he moaned at the warmth that spread through him from the contact. "I wasn't lonely though." His deep voice was already soft and thick with drowsiness again as he cuddled her close.
"I was," River whispered into his shirt. She listened as Jayne's breathing evened out into slow easy puffs that stirred the flyaway strands of hair on the top of her head. Even asleep his presence was comforting, and though she wasn't tired, she closed her eyes and followed him into his dreams.
Title: A Moment Before Sleep
Prompt: sleeping bag
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677
Title: A Moment Before Sleep
Prompt: sleeping bag
Author: Cricket
Disclaimer: I’m just playing with Joss’ toys, but I promise to put them back when I’m done
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677
The air in the tent smelled moldy and stale. Jayne desperately wanted to open the flap to let in the cool night breeze, but his mind was fuzzy on the brink of sleep and the warmth of his sleeping bag made him sluggish and unwilling to exert the effort. It had been a long day of riding through the seemingly endless pastures to meet their buyer. For some reason the planet had some finicky laws about pollution from air traffic and refused to let ships or even small shuttles fly over the many farms that scattered the planet's landscape.
Jayne's heavy eyelids drifted shut and his thoughts went blissfully still for the sweetest of moments before a rustle of grass and the slow hiss of the tent's zipper tugged him back into the waking world. He jerked his head up off his balled-up jacket he was using as a pillow to find the source of the disturbance
A sliver of clouded moonlight and flashlight glare snaked in through the tent's opening to reveal River's slight form slipping between the thin sheets of canvas. As she paused to close the tent, Jayne sent a furtive glance to the other side of the small enclosure where Mal's empty sleeping bag still lay undisturbed. Assuming the captain was still on watch, he turned his attention back to the girl crawling her way across the water-proofed tarp covering the floor of the tent. How River managed to leave the tent she was sharing with Zoë without the first mate waking was a mystery, unless Zoe knew what was going on between the two of them and just didn't care.
"Wha time s'it?" Jayne asked groggily, wiping tired grit from his bleary eyes.
"The princess turns back into a girl at the stroke of midnight when all the horseys are mice and her dress turns to rags." It wasn't as forthright of an answer as he was looking for, but he'd started to understand what she was talking about lately, which either meant he was getting smarter or, more likely, some of the medications Simon was pumping into the girl were starting to work.
"So how long we got before midnight then?" Squirming quietly, he pushed himself to the side of his sleeping bag to make room for the thin girl to climb in next to him. The fit was snug, but River managed to wriggle down into the warm cocoon. She barely avoided a slam to his crotch with her cold knee and instead caught him in the thigh, for which Jayne was very grateful.
"The clock tower will chime in forty-three minutes," she murmured, snuggling up to his chest and tucking her elbows between his arms and ribcage.
He yawned heartily, making River giggle as she pressed her ear to his sternum and listened to the air whooshing through his lungs.
"Hmm," he hummed, smacking his lips and nuzzling the crown of her head with sleepy affection. "Not much time to do anything exciting, but I think I can make this little visit worth your while."
River couldn't see his face through the inky shadows surrounding them, but she heard the wolfish grin in this voice and rolled her eyes at his assumption that she came to his tent for sex.
"While I enjoy dancing with my handsome prince, my intent was to keep him company in the dark, not lure him into a tango." She rubbed her cheek sweetly against the soft shirt covering his chest and pressed her body even closer to his.
"Mmm," he moaned at the warmth that spread through him from the contact. "I wasn't lonely though." His deep voice was already soft and thick with drowsiness again as he cuddled her close.
"I was," River whispered into his shirt. She listened as Jayne's breathing evened out into slow easy puffs that stirred the flyaway strands of hair on the top of her head. Even asleep his presence was comforting, and though she wasn't tired, she closed her eyes and followed him into his dreams.