Rayne Fic: In It to Win
Title: In It to Win
Author: nutmeg610
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: pre-River/Jayne
Prompt: #19 Game, from my table
Disclaimer: The show and movie? Not mine.
Summary: Jayne and River enter a contest to win a prize for the crew. But what do they have to do to win?
"Remind me again why yer trailin' along at my heels?" Jayne questioned, squinting down at the slim girl walking beside and slightly behind him through the busy streets of the marketplace.
River's eyes darted around, taking in the sights, sounds, and --unfortunately foul-- smells surrounding her. Lifting her eyes up to meet his, she shrugged. "Because certain others are still under the impression that I am unfit to travel alone in public."
"Meanin' yer brother?" Jayne asked.
Nodding, River continued looking around for a moment before stopping. "And the Captain and Zoe to a lesser extent."
"Hell, ya ain't gone all 'creepy-killer-woman' in a good, long spell." He had stopped too, looking her up and down carefully, noting that she looked at him with a clear, unclouded gaze. "So I ain't keepin' ya on a leash. Ya wanna go off an' do sumthin', go do it."
"I will." she replied, a bit surprised at his observation. "You do not find me dangerous anymore?"
Jayne furrowed an eyebrow at her, pretending that he had no clue what she was talking about, and pretending he hadn't slept with a knife under his pillow for months after she'd gone wooly and sliced him across the chest. "A itty-bitty lil' thing like you? Nah."
Not believing him for a second, she gave him a look before she continued walking, Jayne falling in step beside her.
After walking a ways, and finding that the girl wasn't leaving his side, Jayne rolled his eyes. "Dintcha hear what I said? You can go off on yer own; I ain't gonna watch ya."
"I haven't yet decided at what I would like to look." she replied, gazing up at the signs above the street side storefronts.
With a frustrated exhale through his nose, Jayne continued on. He hadn't had a plan of what he'd do in town when he'd left the ship, but he guessed a few bottles of alcohol and a loose woman might be involved later that evening, so the girl had best be gone by that time.
Suddenly a man stopped in front of them, looking Jayne up and down with an approving eye. "Excuse me, sir, but would you be interested in winnin' a month's supply of food from the Golden Valley Corporation?"
"Golden Valley?" Jayne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yessir, we're Blue Sun's new competitors." Out of the corner of his eye, Jayne could see River wrap her arms around herself protectively upon hearing the name.
"What's the catch?" Jayne narrowed his eyes slightly at the man.
"You just have to play a game of stamina. Last one out wins the food."
"Stamina, huh?" Jayne mused. "I got me plenty o' that. I'm in."
The man grinned. "Great! Oh, almost forgot: you'll need a partner for the game." He nodded at River. "This your partner?"
River's head tilted as she looked between the man and Jayne, a tiny smile coming to her face. Shrugging, Jayne nodded. "Guess so." He wasn't sure what they were going to have to do, but he figured if the girl could kill a whole ship's worth of Reavers, then she had plenty of stamina too.
"Follow me!" the man said, waving his hand as he turned away and weaved through the crowd, Jayne and River following. He led them up onto some sort of round stage in the middle of the market. People were milling around it, some watching, some talking amongst themselves. There were other players on stage, and a few large crates stamped with the Chinese characters for 'Golden Valley' on them in the center. Small, two-seater benches were forming a circle around the crates and the man directed them to sit on one.
Warily, Jayne sat down, looking around as River gracefully seated herself next to him. Most of their competition for the prize looked like average people, not big guys like Jayne was, and he was started to wonder if the game wasn't some kind of elaborate trick when the man that had seated them picked up a microphone and tapped it a few times.
"Testin', testin'... Ok, folks, welcome to the Golden Valley Corporation Free Food Giveaway! We now have six teams so we're gonna get started. In order to win a month's supply of delicious Golden Valley food, includin' new, tastier protein bars and plenty of canned food, our teams will have to endure a test of stamina. The last team still in wins it all, but first, let's have a look at this food!"
Pulling the lid off the crate, the man proudly showed off the different types of food that the winners would receive. "And remember, folks," he added, pointing to those in the crowd, "we'll be givin' away free samples all day long, one day only! So tell your friends to try Golden Valley!"
Jayne rolled his eyes and wished they could just get on with it already.
The man closed the lid again and had a few men carry the crates off the stage. "We'll keep the prize down in our refridgerated warehouse just over there, so your food is as good-tastin' as possible. Protein left out in the hot sun? Yuck!" He was rewarded with a few chuckles from the crowd while a large timer was set on stage.
"Alright, in order to win the food, all you have to do, teams, is one simple thing. Whichever team can hold a kiss the longest wins!"
The color slowly drained from Jayne's face, and before his brain had fully processed what the man had said, his body was trying to get him out of there, only to be held down by a surprising strong River.
"Nuh uh, no way!" Jayne hissed at her. "I ain't lockin' lips with you fer God knows how long."
She pursed her lips at him in annoyance before nodding her head towards the warehouse. "It's a lot of food, Jayne. Just think, we can all keep our share of pay for food for a month." Lowering her head a bit, she added softly, "Would it be so undesirable a thing to kiss me for free food?"
Scrunching up his face, Jayne had to admit to himself that she had a point. It wasn't like someone was asking him to kiss Mal or anything, and he could do a lot worse than to kiss someone as pretty as her. Plus he'd get to keep more of his pay...
"Long as I git the biggest helpin' 'a food each meal, it's a deal."
Grinning, River patted his hand. "You already do take the largest portion at meals, silly Jayne."
"Yeah, well still, I'd better."
"You shall."
"'Kay then. Let's whoop some pi gu."
"Let's." River smiled at him widely as the announcer man went over the rules, stating that every three hours they would get a ten minute bathroom and refreshment break. The refreshments, of course, being Golden Valley products.
"The way you accomplish it is up to you, but your lips must remain touchin' until you hear the buzzer indicatin' a break. Okay... ready, set, kiss!" The timer started and before Jayne could get out the phrase, 'How do you wanna do this?' River had straddled his lap and grabbed his face, pressing her warm mouth to his.
Jayne let out a sound of surprise, but settled down and kept his mouth firmly attached to hers. And he had to say to himself, it wasn't half bad. As a rule, he didn't kiss women on the mouth, because that was just asking for commitment and love and all that stuff that hit you before you realized it, but this was different. There was no harm in it, so he decided he could set aside that rule for a day.
River was trying very hard not to shake, but was having some difficulty controlling herself. She had never been kissed before, and to experience her first one in a contest, on a stage in front of a crowd... Well, it was not the way she had wanted to go about it, but it was too late to turn back now, so she closed her eyes and moved her hands from his cheeks to the nape of his neck, dropping her arms onto his shoulders.
Jayne slowly exhaled through his nose and crossed his eyes a bit to see River's eyes closed. He could feel her shaking, and he didn't know what that was all about, but as long as she kept kissing him, he didn't much care. He set his arms down alongside her thighs, hands tapping the edge of the bench, waiting for three hours to be up. He really should have hit the head before he'd left the ship...
Willing herself to relax and focus, River managed to stop trembling, but at the same time, she had to be wary not to focus on the numerous thoughts whispering into her mind. The market was a crowded place, and she could easily get lost, flittering from mind to mind like a hummingbird in a flower garden. She focused on counting her breaths instead.
By the time the buzzer went off, she had counted 3,476 breaths. Opening her eyes, she slowly pulled back, Jayne wincing a bit.
"Git up, girl, my legs 'er asleep."
She carefully stood, but had a hard time finding her balance after having her legs straddling him for so long. She swayed forward, her hands finding his shoulders and holding on tight. His hands came up to brace her waist as he looked at her, his expression confused.
"Ya alright?"
"Yes, I just stood up too quickly. My legs are asleep as well."
"Ah." Jayne answered, letting go of her. "Well stomp 'em 'er sumthin'. We only got, what? Ten minutes? An' I need ta 'drain my fuel tank,' if ya git my meanin'."
Making a face, River pushed off his shoulders and stamped feeling into her prickly legs. "I do, and I wish you hadn't mentioned it at all."
Chuckling, Jayne walked to the portable bathrooms, stamping his feet every few steps.
*****************************************
Nine hours and three breaks later, there were only two teams remaining: Jayne and River, and a young couple around Simon's and Kaylee's ages. They had scoffed at the mercenary, thinking they'd win because he was, as the guy had put it, "...too old to last much longer." Jayne had wanted to take the guy on in a fistfight, to show that age didn't matter much when you were getting your ass whooped, but River had pulled Jayne back over to their bench. Over the last few breaks, she'd switched from straddling his lap, to sitting across it, and found that position to be much more comfortable, especially when Jayne finally stopped acting like she was a breakable object and looped his arms around her waist.
Sometime around hour seven, she had grown brave enough to tentatively open her mouth against his, and after a few moments of her heart practically beating out of her chest, he had opened his in return. He was being rather gentle, and hadn't yet tried to force his tongue into her mouth, like River had seen in films on the Cortex, but she deduced it was simply because he didn't want to accidentally move his lips away from hers and be disqualified.
She took to rubbing her fingers in his hair every twenty minutes or so, but she had informed Jayne during a break that she wasn't giving him a massage, merely trying to feel her hands and arms, which kept falling asleep. Jayne had looked pretty disappointed upon hearing that, so now she slowly moved her hands, rubbing out the knots in his shoulders and, in response, felt his lips curve up in a smile against her own.
Finally, it was closing in on the twelve hour mark, and their next break when a rather disturbed voice called out, "River?! What are you doing?"
Slowly turning their heads together as far as they dared, then looking out of the corners of their eyes, River and Jayne looked down to see the rest of the Serenity crew gawking at them from the crowd beside the stage.
Jayne groaned low in his throat, meeting River's eyes. She rolled hers at him and let out an exasperated sigh through her nose. Luckily, someone in the crowd started explaining to the crew exactly what was going on and just then the buzzer sounded so the two pulled apart, slowly stretching.
River stood and cracked her back before making her way over to the snack table and grabbing a Golden Valley juice box, while Jayne snatched up a protein bar.
"Better face the music, huh?" he grumbled to her.
Sticking her tiny straw into the juice box, she shook her head. "They wouldn't dare reprimand us; we're winning a prize that will benefit us all."
"Yeah, well, even so... Mal always likes ta yell at me fer stupid go se."
Shrugging, she sipped at her juice and skipped over the the edge of the stage and waved at the crew while Jayne followed, dragging his feet a bit.
"River," Simon began slowly, "this man was just telling us that you've been kissing Jayne for twelve hours."
She nodded, lifting her mouth from the straw. "Yes. As you can see, there is only one team remaining between us and food for the crew."
Placing his hands on the stage, Simon shook his head. "Mei-mei, you don't have to do this. It's just food. If you're uncomforta--"
"Just food?" Mal broke in suddenly. "Think you missed the part where it's free. As in we don't gotta pay for it." Nodding at River and Jayne, he added, "And they sure don't got a problem winnin' it fer us, so I say we cheer 'em on."
Kaylee nodded brightly beside him. Then she looked up at Jayne and gave him a teasing look. "Thought ya said ya didn't kiss women on the mouth, Jayne."
He narrowed her eyes. "This is different, an' you know it."
Kaylee giggled for a moment before growing serious. "But boy, a whole month's worth 'a food? That'd really help!" Pointing at the protein bar he held, she asked, "Is that good? They said they ran outta samples hours ago."
"Yeah, it's good." Jayne shrugged, breaking off a piece and handing it down to her.
"Shiny!" Kaylee exclaimed, popping it in her mouth and making a 'Mmm...' sound of approval.
"Okay, two minutes, teams!" the announcer man declared. River finished her juice and Jayne stuffed the rest of the bar into his mouth, chewing with his mouth open. They settled themselves back down on the bench, River sitting across his lap and making a displeased face at his chewing.
The other team returned to their bench, exhausted and bickering as they set themselves up to kiss again.
Jayne swallowed his food and mumbled, "Sounds like trouble in paradise over there."
"Yes." River replied, glancing over her shoulder at them. "They won't last long; they feel old." She giggled at the irony, but Jayne just snorted.
"If they feel old, then I feel dead."
Looking back, River shook her head and draped her arms around his neck. "You have greater stamina than they. Now you must prove it."
"I'm gonna." he muttered. "But they don't quit soon, I'm gonna throw ruttin' juice boxes at their heads."
River giggled again as the announcer told them to get ready. "Won't be long now." she whispered in his ear.
"Ready... set..." the man declared.
"Oh yeah?" Jayne replied. "How can ya--"
"Kiss!"
River pressed her lips to his, cutting off his question. From the crowd, Kaylee squealed.
"Don't they jus' look like a real live couple?"
"As opposed to the fake dummy couples roamin' 'round out there?" Mal questioned. Kaylee slapped his arm and looked to the other women for support.
"Don't they?"
"Well," Zoe mused, "Before today I'd think Jayne kissin' anyone would be a tad unsettlin', but they actually don't look so bad together."
"Wait, what?" Simon asked, looking a little pale.
Inara smiled at his expression. "Your sister has grown into a beautiful woman, Simon. She's bound to start dating someday."
"Yes, but not... not that ape."
Mal was making a face too, but that was simply because, like the good doctor, he found Jayne to be sub-human.
Back up on stage, River was back to massaging Jayne's neck, while Jayne kept his hands stationary on her hip. He wasn't against a little exploring, but he didn't know how ticklish she was, and he didn't want to do anything that would cause her to jerk away and get them kicked out.
It was around forty-five minutes later that the woman on the other team pulled back and jumped up.
"I forfeit!" she said, speed-walking to the stairs. "Outta my way, I need a bathroom!"
"Why didn't you go earlier?" her boyfriend yelled after her.
"Because I didn't have to go then!" she shouted back.
Jayne opened his eyes and tried to look past River to make sure it was all over, when the announcer came over.
"Folks, we have our winners!"
Pulling apart, River and Jayne grinned at each other.
"Told you so." she whispered, while the rest of the crew cheered for them.
*****************************************
In a surprising move of 'not being an ass for once,' Mal didn't make Jayne carry one of the food crates back to the ship, which was a good thing, because the merc's back was killing him.
"Doc, ya got any 'a that pain relief stuff ya rub into yer skin?"
"Topical? Yes." Simon answered as he hefted up the crate he carried a little higher in his arms. "But I'll get it for you. I don't need you destroying things like a bull in a china shop."
Jayne mouthed a mockery of what the doctor had just said, while River turned back to her brother and said, "Simon, you need to take that into the mess. I can get it for Jayne."
"Oh, you don't have to. It'll only take a second."
River rolled her eyes. "Stop being a boob. It isn't any trouble."
Simon sighed and Kaylee elbowed him, clicking her tongue.
The crew walked up the ship's ramp and Mal punched in the code to unlock the door. Once inside, those with the boxes headed upstairs to put the food away, while Inara headed for her shuttle and Kaylee to the engine room. River led Jayne to the infirmary, opening a drawer and pulling out a tube of ointment.
"Today wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, looking over the directions on the side of the tube before handing it to him.
"Nah, only bad part is feelin' like I got twisted into a gorram pretzel." Pulling his shirt off over his head, he winced as pain shot through him and quickly unscrewed the cap on the ointment, squeezing some into his hand and rubbing it on his lower back.
River's heart fluttered at the sight of him with no shirt on. Funny how she had never experienced that reaction before. Focusing back on his words, she frowned a little, asking, "The massages did no good then?"
"Hey, I didn't mean that. Those were real nice. But you was doin' my shoulders an' neck. It's my back that hurts like hellfire."
River nodded as he handed the tube back to her. "I see." She put it away as he carefully put his shirt back on, tugging it down over his now slightly greasy back.
"But, you did not find the day to be wholly unsatisfying, did you?"
Jayne gave her a confused look. "Ya mean, I didn't hate today?" At her nod, he snorted, walking out of the room. "Then why didn't ya jus' say that?"
Sighing, she followed. She was heading to her room anyway, to lie down, as she was rather sore too.
"Was it bad, kissing me?" she asked meekly.
"Hell, it weren't like we was doin' it fer real."
"I know, I was just curious... I'd never kissed anyone before today." River looked down, embarrassment causing her cheeks to flush with heat.
"No kiddin'?" Jayne answered, unaware that he was walking her to her door. "Well ya coulda fooled me."
Face brightening, she looked up at him as she slid open her door. "Really?"
"'S what I said, didn't I?"
Feeling bold, River moved forward and kissed him quickly, before pulling back and wringing her hands. "It's just that today's kissing was not really kissing; it was more like mouths being pressed together without any feeling or movement behind the action, and I wished for a real kiss so I thought..." she paused to take a breath, "I thought I could have one more."
Jayne stared at her in silence, causing her heart to race. Fumbling for an apology, she whispered, "I-I didn't mean to offend. Should I have asked?"
"Yeah ya shoulda asked. Ya don't go up ta people an' jus' lay one on 'em." Jayne grumbled.
"Oh, I--"
Jayne moved closer, so he was practically toe to toe with her. "Ya go, 'Jayne, how 'bout one more kiss?'"
Thoroughly embarrassed, River nodded. "Okay."
"Go on an' try it." he urged.
River's brows creased in confusion. "You will reject the request."
"Shows how much you know. Huh, some mind-readin' genius you are."
Finding it difficult to breath, River took a moment to compose herself. In that time though, Jayne rolled his eyes and turned away.
"Hell, don't matter none ta me. Had enough kissin' today ta last me a lifeti--"
Grabbing his arm as he started to retreat, River quickly blurted out, "Jayne, how 'bout one more kiss?" in an imitation of his accent.
Turning back, he grinned. "There ya go. See? T'ain't hard." Looping his arms around her waist, he cleared his throat a little before he bent down and kissed her. It was much different than the kissing they had done earlier. There was movement, and feeling, and everything River had hoped for.
He gently parted his lips, urging her to do the same. Then his tongue softly swept across her upper lip, causing her toes to curl. Her hands shook as they slid up his sides and around his back while he slowly slid his tongue past her lips, brushing against her own tongue. She let out a high-pitched moan, pressing herself tightly to him and deepening the kiss, while trying to hold in her giggles as his facial hair tickled her.
They finally pulled apart, each panting a little. River decided that it had been a more than suitable first kiss, and she couldn't get the loony grin off her face.
Jayne cleared his throat again, having yet to remove his hands from her waist. Maybe he had this whole kissing thing all wrong. Smiling at her expression, he leaned down again. "How 'bout one more?"
Nodding eagerly, River captured his lips and they shared another toe curling kiss. When they separated, River made a suggestion, a coy smile on her face.
"Perhaps you require a backrub. I would be happy to give you a very thorough one."
"Sure would 'preciate it." Jayne answered, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Boy, I bet yer sore too after today. Ya need one too?"
"Oh yes, I certainly do." she said, backing into her room, Jayne following and sliding her door shut behind him.
"Jayne?"
"Yeah?"
"How 'bout one more kiss first?"
"Happy to oblige."
Author: nutmeg610
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: pre-River/Jayne
Prompt: #19 Game, from my table
Disclaimer: The show and movie? Not mine.
Summary: Jayne and River enter a contest to win a prize for the crew. But what do they have to do to win?
"Remind me again why yer trailin' along at my heels?" Jayne questioned, squinting down at the slim girl walking beside and slightly behind him through the busy streets of the marketplace.
River's eyes darted around, taking in the sights, sounds, and --unfortunately foul-- smells surrounding her. Lifting her eyes up to meet his, she shrugged. "Because certain others are still under the impression that I am unfit to travel alone in public."
"Meanin' yer brother?" Jayne asked.
Nodding, River continued looking around for a moment before stopping. "And the Captain and Zoe to a lesser extent."
"Hell, ya ain't gone all 'creepy-killer-woman' in a good, long spell." He had stopped too, looking her up and down carefully, noting that she looked at him with a clear, unclouded gaze. "So I ain't keepin' ya on a leash. Ya wanna go off an' do sumthin', go do it."
"I will." she replied, a bit surprised at his observation. "You do not find me dangerous anymore?"
Jayne furrowed an eyebrow at her, pretending that he had no clue what she was talking about, and pretending he hadn't slept with a knife under his pillow for months after she'd gone wooly and sliced him across the chest. "A itty-bitty lil' thing like you? Nah."
Not believing him for a second, she gave him a look before she continued walking, Jayne falling in step beside her.
After walking a ways, and finding that the girl wasn't leaving his side, Jayne rolled his eyes. "Dintcha hear what I said? You can go off on yer own; I ain't gonna watch ya."
"I haven't yet decided at what I would like to look." she replied, gazing up at the signs above the street side storefronts.
With a frustrated exhale through his nose, Jayne continued on. He hadn't had a plan of what he'd do in town when he'd left the ship, but he guessed a few bottles of alcohol and a loose woman might be involved later that evening, so the girl had best be gone by that time.
Suddenly a man stopped in front of them, looking Jayne up and down with an approving eye. "Excuse me, sir, but would you be interested in winnin' a month's supply of food from the Golden Valley Corporation?"
"Golden Valley?" Jayne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yessir, we're Blue Sun's new competitors." Out of the corner of his eye, Jayne could see River wrap her arms around herself protectively upon hearing the name.
"What's the catch?" Jayne narrowed his eyes slightly at the man.
"You just have to play a game of stamina. Last one out wins the food."
"Stamina, huh?" Jayne mused. "I got me plenty o' that. I'm in."
The man grinned. "Great! Oh, almost forgot: you'll need a partner for the game." He nodded at River. "This your partner?"
River's head tilted as she looked between the man and Jayne, a tiny smile coming to her face. Shrugging, Jayne nodded. "Guess so." He wasn't sure what they were going to have to do, but he figured if the girl could kill a whole ship's worth of Reavers, then she had plenty of stamina too.
"Follow me!" the man said, waving his hand as he turned away and weaved through the crowd, Jayne and River following. He led them up onto some sort of round stage in the middle of the market. People were milling around it, some watching, some talking amongst themselves. There were other players on stage, and a few large crates stamped with the Chinese characters for 'Golden Valley' on them in the center. Small, two-seater benches were forming a circle around the crates and the man directed them to sit on one.
Warily, Jayne sat down, looking around as River gracefully seated herself next to him. Most of their competition for the prize looked like average people, not big guys like Jayne was, and he was started to wonder if the game wasn't some kind of elaborate trick when the man that had seated them picked up a microphone and tapped it a few times.
"Testin', testin'... Ok, folks, welcome to the Golden Valley Corporation Free Food Giveaway! We now have six teams so we're gonna get started. In order to win a month's supply of delicious Golden Valley food, includin' new, tastier protein bars and plenty of canned food, our teams will have to endure a test of stamina. The last team still in wins it all, but first, let's have a look at this food!"
Pulling the lid off the crate, the man proudly showed off the different types of food that the winners would receive. "And remember, folks," he added, pointing to those in the crowd, "we'll be givin' away free samples all day long, one day only! So tell your friends to try Golden Valley!"
Jayne rolled his eyes and wished they could just get on with it already.
The man closed the lid again and had a few men carry the crates off the stage. "We'll keep the prize down in our refridgerated warehouse just over there, so your food is as good-tastin' as possible. Protein left out in the hot sun? Yuck!" He was rewarded with a few chuckles from the crowd while a large timer was set on stage.
"Alright, in order to win the food, all you have to do, teams, is one simple thing. Whichever team can hold a kiss the longest wins!"
The color slowly drained from Jayne's face, and before his brain had fully processed what the man had said, his body was trying to get him out of there, only to be held down by a surprising strong River.
"Nuh uh, no way!" Jayne hissed at her. "I ain't lockin' lips with you fer God knows how long."
She pursed her lips at him in annoyance before nodding her head towards the warehouse. "It's a lot of food, Jayne. Just think, we can all keep our share of pay for food for a month." Lowering her head a bit, she added softly, "Would it be so undesirable a thing to kiss me for free food?"
Scrunching up his face, Jayne had to admit to himself that she had a point. It wasn't like someone was asking him to kiss Mal or anything, and he could do a lot worse than to kiss someone as pretty as her. Plus he'd get to keep more of his pay...
"Long as I git the biggest helpin' 'a food each meal, it's a deal."
Grinning, River patted his hand. "You already do take the largest portion at meals, silly Jayne."
"Yeah, well still, I'd better."
"You shall."
"'Kay then. Let's whoop some pi gu."
"Let's." River smiled at him widely as the announcer man went over the rules, stating that every three hours they would get a ten minute bathroom and refreshment break. The refreshments, of course, being Golden Valley products.
"The way you accomplish it is up to you, but your lips must remain touchin' until you hear the buzzer indicatin' a break. Okay... ready, set, kiss!" The timer started and before Jayne could get out the phrase, 'How do you wanna do this?' River had straddled his lap and grabbed his face, pressing her warm mouth to his.
Jayne let out a sound of surprise, but settled down and kept his mouth firmly attached to hers. And he had to say to himself, it wasn't half bad. As a rule, he didn't kiss women on the mouth, because that was just asking for commitment and love and all that stuff that hit you before you realized it, but this was different. There was no harm in it, so he decided he could set aside that rule for a day.
River was trying very hard not to shake, but was having some difficulty controlling herself. She had never been kissed before, and to experience her first one in a contest, on a stage in front of a crowd... Well, it was not the way she had wanted to go about it, but it was too late to turn back now, so she closed her eyes and moved her hands from his cheeks to the nape of his neck, dropping her arms onto his shoulders.
Jayne slowly exhaled through his nose and crossed his eyes a bit to see River's eyes closed. He could feel her shaking, and he didn't know what that was all about, but as long as she kept kissing him, he didn't much care. He set his arms down alongside her thighs, hands tapping the edge of the bench, waiting for three hours to be up. He really should have hit the head before he'd left the ship...
Willing herself to relax and focus, River managed to stop trembling, but at the same time, she had to be wary not to focus on the numerous thoughts whispering into her mind. The market was a crowded place, and she could easily get lost, flittering from mind to mind like a hummingbird in a flower garden. She focused on counting her breaths instead.
By the time the buzzer went off, she had counted 3,476 breaths. Opening her eyes, she slowly pulled back, Jayne wincing a bit.
"Git up, girl, my legs 'er asleep."
She carefully stood, but had a hard time finding her balance after having her legs straddling him for so long. She swayed forward, her hands finding his shoulders and holding on tight. His hands came up to brace her waist as he looked at her, his expression confused.
"Ya alright?"
"Yes, I just stood up too quickly. My legs are asleep as well."
"Ah." Jayne answered, letting go of her. "Well stomp 'em 'er sumthin'. We only got, what? Ten minutes? An' I need ta 'drain my fuel tank,' if ya git my meanin'."
Making a face, River pushed off his shoulders and stamped feeling into her prickly legs. "I do, and I wish you hadn't mentioned it at all."
Chuckling, Jayne walked to the portable bathrooms, stamping his feet every few steps.
*****************************************
Nine hours and three breaks later, there were only two teams remaining: Jayne and River, and a young couple around Simon's and Kaylee's ages. They had scoffed at the mercenary, thinking they'd win because he was, as the guy had put it, "...too old to last much longer." Jayne had wanted to take the guy on in a fistfight, to show that age didn't matter much when you were getting your ass whooped, but River had pulled Jayne back over to their bench. Over the last few breaks, she'd switched from straddling his lap, to sitting across it, and found that position to be much more comfortable, especially when Jayne finally stopped acting like she was a breakable object and looped his arms around her waist.
Sometime around hour seven, she had grown brave enough to tentatively open her mouth against his, and after a few moments of her heart practically beating out of her chest, he had opened his in return. He was being rather gentle, and hadn't yet tried to force his tongue into her mouth, like River had seen in films on the Cortex, but she deduced it was simply because he didn't want to accidentally move his lips away from hers and be disqualified.
She took to rubbing her fingers in his hair every twenty minutes or so, but she had informed Jayne during a break that she wasn't giving him a massage, merely trying to feel her hands and arms, which kept falling asleep. Jayne had looked pretty disappointed upon hearing that, so now she slowly moved her hands, rubbing out the knots in his shoulders and, in response, felt his lips curve up in a smile against her own.
Finally, it was closing in on the twelve hour mark, and their next break when a rather disturbed voice called out, "River?! What are you doing?"
Slowly turning their heads together as far as they dared, then looking out of the corners of their eyes, River and Jayne looked down to see the rest of the Serenity crew gawking at them from the crowd beside the stage.
Jayne groaned low in his throat, meeting River's eyes. She rolled hers at him and let out an exasperated sigh through her nose. Luckily, someone in the crowd started explaining to the crew exactly what was going on and just then the buzzer sounded so the two pulled apart, slowly stretching.
River stood and cracked her back before making her way over to the snack table and grabbing a Golden Valley juice box, while Jayne snatched up a protein bar.
"Better face the music, huh?" he grumbled to her.
Sticking her tiny straw into the juice box, she shook her head. "They wouldn't dare reprimand us; we're winning a prize that will benefit us all."
"Yeah, well, even so... Mal always likes ta yell at me fer stupid go se."
Shrugging, she sipped at her juice and skipped over the the edge of the stage and waved at the crew while Jayne followed, dragging his feet a bit.
"River," Simon began slowly, "this man was just telling us that you've been kissing Jayne for twelve hours."
She nodded, lifting her mouth from the straw. "Yes. As you can see, there is only one team remaining between us and food for the crew."
Placing his hands on the stage, Simon shook his head. "Mei-mei, you don't have to do this. It's just food. If you're uncomforta--"
"Just food?" Mal broke in suddenly. "Think you missed the part where it's free. As in we don't gotta pay for it." Nodding at River and Jayne, he added, "And they sure don't got a problem winnin' it fer us, so I say we cheer 'em on."
Kaylee nodded brightly beside him. Then she looked up at Jayne and gave him a teasing look. "Thought ya said ya didn't kiss women on the mouth, Jayne."
He narrowed her eyes. "This is different, an' you know it."
Kaylee giggled for a moment before growing serious. "But boy, a whole month's worth 'a food? That'd really help!" Pointing at the protein bar he held, she asked, "Is that good? They said they ran outta samples hours ago."
"Yeah, it's good." Jayne shrugged, breaking off a piece and handing it down to her.
"Shiny!" Kaylee exclaimed, popping it in her mouth and making a 'Mmm...' sound of approval.
"Okay, two minutes, teams!" the announcer man declared. River finished her juice and Jayne stuffed the rest of the bar into his mouth, chewing with his mouth open. They settled themselves back down on the bench, River sitting across his lap and making a displeased face at his chewing.
The other team returned to their bench, exhausted and bickering as they set themselves up to kiss again.
Jayne swallowed his food and mumbled, "Sounds like trouble in paradise over there."
"Yes." River replied, glancing over her shoulder at them. "They won't last long; they feel old." She giggled at the irony, but Jayne just snorted.
"If they feel old, then I feel dead."
Looking back, River shook her head and draped her arms around his neck. "You have greater stamina than they. Now you must prove it."
"I'm gonna." he muttered. "But they don't quit soon, I'm gonna throw ruttin' juice boxes at their heads."
River giggled again as the announcer told them to get ready. "Won't be long now." she whispered in his ear.
"Ready... set..." the man declared.
"Oh yeah?" Jayne replied. "How can ya--"
"Kiss!"
River pressed her lips to his, cutting off his question. From the crowd, Kaylee squealed.
"Don't they jus' look like a real live couple?"
"As opposed to the fake dummy couples roamin' 'round out there?" Mal questioned. Kaylee slapped his arm and looked to the other women for support.
"Don't they?"
"Well," Zoe mused, "Before today I'd think Jayne kissin' anyone would be a tad unsettlin', but they actually don't look so bad together."
"Wait, what?" Simon asked, looking a little pale.
Inara smiled at his expression. "Your sister has grown into a beautiful woman, Simon. She's bound to start dating someday."
"Yes, but not... not that ape."
Mal was making a face too, but that was simply because, like the good doctor, he found Jayne to be sub-human.
Back up on stage, River was back to massaging Jayne's neck, while Jayne kept his hands stationary on her hip. He wasn't against a little exploring, but he didn't know how ticklish she was, and he didn't want to do anything that would cause her to jerk away and get them kicked out.
It was around forty-five minutes later that the woman on the other team pulled back and jumped up.
"I forfeit!" she said, speed-walking to the stairs. "Outta my way, I need a bathroom!"
"Why didn't you go earlier?" her boyfriend yelled after her.
"Because I didn't have to go then!" she shouted back.
Jayne opened his eyes and tried to look past River to make sure it was all over, when the announcer came over.
"Folks, we have our winners!"
Pulling apart, River and Jayne grinned at each other.
"Told you so." she whispered, while the rest of the crew cheered for them.
*****************************************
In a surprising move of 'not being an ass for once,' Mal didn't make Jayne carry one of the food crates back to the ship, which was a good thing, because the merc's back was killing him.
"Doc, ya got any 'a that pain relief stuff ya rub into yer skin?"
"Topical? Yes." Simon answered as he hefted up the crate he carried a little higher in his arms. "But I'll get it for you. I don't need you destroying things like a bull in a china shop."
Jayne mouthed a mockery of what the doctor had just said, while River turned back to her brother and said, "Simon, you need to take that into the mess. I can get it for Jayne."
"Oh, you don't have to. It'll only take a second."
River rolled her eyes. "Stop being a boob. It isn't any trouble."
Simon sighed and Kaylee elbowed him, clicking her tongue.
The crew walked up the ship's ramp and Mal punched in the code to unlock the door. Once inside, those with the boxes headed upstairs to put the food away, while Inara headed for her shuttle and Kaylee to the engine room. River led Jayne to the infirmary, opening a drawer and pulling out a tube of ointment.
"Today wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, looking over the directions on the side of the tube before handing it to him.
"Nah, only bad part is feelin' like I got twisted into a gorram pretzel." Pulling his shirt off over his head, he winced as pain shot through him and quickly unscrewed the cap on the ointment, squeezing some into his hand and rubbing it on his lower back.
River's heart fluttered at the sight of him with no shirt on. Funny how she had never experienced that reaction before. Focusing back on his words, she frowned a little, asking, "The massages did no good then?"
"Hey, I didn't mean that. Those were real nice. But you was doin' my shoulders an' neck. It's my back that hurts like hellfire."
River nodded as he handed the tube back to her. "I see." She put it away as he carefully put his shirt back on, tugging it down over his now slightly greasy back.
"But, you did not find the day to be wholly unsatisfying, did you?"
Jayne gave her a confused look. "Ya mean, I didn't hate today?" At her nod, he snorted, walking out of the room. "Then why didn't ya jus' say that?"
Sighing, she followed. She was heading to her room anyway, to lie down, as she was rather sore too.
"Was it bad, kissing me?" she asked meekly.
"Hell, it weren't like we was doin' it fer real."
"I know, I was just curious... I'd never kissed anyone before today." River looked down, embarrassment causing her cheeks to flush with heat.
"No kiddin'?" Jayne answered, unaware that he was walking her to her door. "Well ya coulda fooled me."
Face brightening, she looked up at him as she slid open her door. "Really?"
"'S what I said, didn't I?"
Feeling bold, River moved forward and kissed him quickly, before pulling back and wringing her hands. "It's just that today's kissing was not really kissing; it was more like mouths being pressed together without any feeling or movement behind the action, and I wished for a real kiss so I thought..." she paused to take a breath, "I thought I could have one more."
Jayne stared at her in silence, causing her heart to race. Fumbling for an apology, she whispered, "I-I didn't mean to offend. Should I have asked?"
"Yeah ya shoulda asked. Ya don't go up ta people an' jus' lay one on 'em." Jayne grumbled.
"Oh, I--"
Jayne moved closer, so he was practically toe to toe with her. "Ya go, 'Jayne, how 'bout one more kiss?'"
Thoroughly embarrassed, River nodded. "Okay."
"Go on an' try it." he urged.
River's brows creased in confusion. "You will reject the request."
"Shows how much you know. Huh, some mind-readin' genius you are."
Finding it difficult to breath, River took a moment to compose herself. In that time though, Jayne rolled his eyes and turned away.
"Hell, don't matter none ta me. Had enough kissin' today ta last me a lifeti--"
Grabbing his arm as he started to retreat, River quickly blurted out, "Jayne, how 'bout one more kiss?" in an imitation of his accent.
Turning back, he grinned. "There ya go. See? T'ain't hard." Looping his arms around her waist, he cleared his throat a little before he bent down and kissed her. It was much different than the kissing they had done earlier. There was movement, and feeling, and everything River had hoped for.
He gently parted his lips, urging her to do the same. Then his tongue softly swept across her upper lip, causing her toes to curl. Her hands shook as they slid up his sides and around his back while he slowly slid his tongue past her lips, brushing against her own tongue. She let out a high-pitched moan, pressing herself tightly to him and deepening the kiss, while trying to hold in her giggles as his facial hair tickled her.
They finally pulled apart, each panting a little. River decided that it had been a more than suitable first kiss, and she couldn't get the loony grin off her face.
Jayne cleared his throat again, having yet to remove his hands from her waist. Maybe he had this whole kissing thing all wrong. Smiling at her expression, he leaned down again. "How 'bout one more?"
Nodding eagerly, River captured his lips and they shared another toe curling kiss. When they separated, River made a suggestion, a coy smile on her face.
"Perhaps you require a backrub. I would be happy to give you a very thorough one."
"Sure would 'preciate it." Jayne answered, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Boy, I bet yer sore too after today. Ya need one too?"
"Oh yes, I certainly do." she said, backing into her room, Jayne following and sliding her door shut behind him.
"Jayne?"
"Yeah?"
"How 'bout one more kiss first?"
"Happy to oblige."