Firefly: Jayne/Kaylee: #070. #071 + #072.
Title: STONE.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #070: Full.
Word Count: 393.
*~*~*~*
STONE.
*~*~*~*
She couldn't stop glowing. Kaylee didn't know how anyone else couldn't see it, couldn't look at her and just know something was different. Had anyone asked, she would not have been able to tell them exactly how long it had taken them to walk back, how many steps it had been.
Hell, far as she knew, they'd passed an elephant and a unicorn playing jump rope while singing Happy Birthday to a leprechaun.
Had they asked how many times he'd turned to sneak a smile at her when he thought she wasn't looking, she'd be able to answer that no problems. Not a one. Fourteen. Not counting the time she'd turned quick enough to catch him and smiled back.
He'd said it and she'd said it back and it was the first time.
Now they were sittin' at tables set up just outside the ship, eating dinner that they'd helped some of the locals make up. Far as she could tell, they were friendly folk. Maybe a little skittish and too eager to finish up and go home, but friendly other than that.
Her hand slid under the table and found his waiting by her leg. The glow factor of her skin amped up and she had to bite down on her lip. Across the table, River was grinning at them both.
But Simon wasn't. His eyes burned and she watched him reach out for the glass in front of him. He swallowed in one long pull and if the glass hit the table a little harder than it should have, almost nobody noticed.
River flinched a little and Kaylee let her fingers loosen until they were out of Jayne's grasp, bringing her hand back up to the table.
"You ok?" Jayne's breath echoed against her neck and she felt her skin prickle.
"Yeah." A quick turn of the head so she could look in his face. It didn't hurt that to do so, she had to put a little distance between them. "'Course I am."
He smiled at her, all crinkly eyed and it made her smile back.
"I need air." Simon declared and stood up a little suddenly. "I'm going for a walk."
Kaylee couldn't look up, her chopsticks clattered down to her plate and she pushed her food away. A stone sank into her belly, heavy and solid and familiar.
***
***
Prompt Table
***
Title: THE WARNING.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #071: Fall.
Word Count: 363.
*~*~*~*
THE WARNING.
*~*~*~*
"How long you people gonna be here?"
The pastor bit off a piece of meat from his fork. He was nice enough, a bit gruff, but Jayne couldn't have cared less right then. Not when he had Kaylee sitting next to him.
"Not long." Mal answered for all of them. "We got a few parts comin' in. Thought they'd be here by now, should be here by tomorrow. We'll be outta your hair by then."
"No rush, no rush." The man tried to smile as he ran his eyes over their table. "Just, you know, be careful."
"Careful?"
Zoe looked at the man and Jayne felt himself looking as well. No matter how distracted he was, one thing he'd learned was to pay attention when Zoe's voice got like that.
"Don't wander off." He spoke mostly to Mal, keeping eye contact. "Especially the ladies here. Don't let them go out alone."
"You got a problem?" Jayne kept his voice level.
"Not so much." The pastor was quick to reassure them. "Just the usual, you know. Sometimes people go missing."
"Missing?" Mal arched his brows. "You got people going missing and there ain't no alerts posted on this planet?"
"No, no." The man tried to smile again. Jayne felt his own eyes narrow in suspicion. "Nothing like that. It's not a problem, just a universal thing. It happens everywhere."
"Bullshit it happens. An alert stop the trade 'round here, will it?"
But Mal's fierce look stopped any further words and Jayne chewed on a potato to cover his frustration.
"Don't you have some form of law enforcement?" Inara asked casually, but Jayne could see the thread of calculation underneath.
"We have police, of a sort." The Pastor sniffed. "They keep things reasonably quiet."
"Simon." River said, her head turning to look off into the dark. "He walked off. Someone should..."
'Course he did. Jayne let his fork hit his plate and stood up.
"I'll go get him."
"I'll help." Kaylee was quick to stand. "I know where he likes..."
"No." Jayne was even quicker to stop her and he felt eyes on him. "You stay here with the others. I'll find him just fine."
***
***
Prompt Table
***
Title: CIRCLE.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #072: Myth.
Word Count: 578.
*~*~*~*
CIRCLE.
*~*~*~*
Kaylee found him hunched over by some rocks.
"Simon!" He flinched away when she reached out to touch him. "We were worried."
"No." His voice was slurred and she realized he must have drunk more than she originally thought. "You weren't worried about me."
"Yeah, I was. We all were." She tucked her dress in under her thighs as she sat down next to him in the dust. "You might've missed the pastor's warning, he said..."
Her words trailed off when his hand rested on her naked knee.
"Kaylee?"
Soft and whispered. She had to close her eyes for a second.
"Don't, Simon."
Very carefully, very deliberately, she lifted his hand up and placed it back on his lap.
"Yes! Of course not, sorry." She hadn't heard him sound so confused and baffled and beaten down before. "It's just, do you ever...?"
"No." It was stilted again, awkward like it hadn't been for such a long time. "No, Simon, I don't ever."
"I do." A sigh, so deep his whole body moved with it. "Sometimes I think I could be better, that if I could just show you..."
"I don't wanna see." Kaylee swallowed and looked up at the sky, suddenly wishing that they'd never been forced to land here. "You and me, Simon, we're done. If we ever really started in the first place, we're done now."
"But..."
"But nothing." There was a hard edge to her voice now and she let it stay there. It had to be said and maybe she'd made a mistake in not saying it before now. "I gave you plenty of chances. For a whole year, I gave you everything I knew how."
His eyes swam to focus in on hers.
"And by the time you started to give back, I guess there was nothing left. You made me empty." She couldn't look at the way he flinched if she wanted to keep talking. "By the time we got together, I think I was more in love with the idea of you than the reality. We, the two us? We were a myth."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah." The sadness in her voice matched his, wistful and pain filled. "Me, too."
Silence stretched out and they sat, side by side, looking up into a black sky.
"Jayne, though?"
She sighed. Her answer was so simple that it couldn't be mistaken for anything else, there was no room for argument in the way she made him see it.
"He gives back." She nudged him again, tried to smile. "Not to mention he'll kick your ass eight shades of black an' blue you keep this up."
"Most likely." He turned to face her, reaching out to run a finger through the hair over her ear. "I miss you, though. Nothing will stop that."
Her hand came out and caught his, holding it for a second by the side of her face. He'd done it countless times before and each one had a different meaning. This one felt like goodbye.
"I miss you, too." They shared a soft, sad smile. "I still care for you, Simon, I probably always will..."
She didn't get to finish that sentence, didn't get to say that it was in a different way than it had been and they could never go back. Because they both heard a snap and turned to look at the noise.
Jayne's eyes flashed something that made her stomach twist into knots and stole her breath.
***
***
Prompt Table
Progress: 072/100.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #070: Full.
Word Count: 393.
*~*~*~*
STONE.
*~*~*~*
She couldn't stop glowing. Kaylee didn't know how anyone else couldn't see it, couldn't look at her and just know something was different. Had anyone asked, she would not have been able to tell them exactly how long it had taken them to walk back, how many steps it had been.
Hell, far as she knew, they'd passed an elephant and a unicorn playing jump rope while singing Happy Birthday to a leprechaun.
Had they asked how many times he'd turned to sneak a smile at her when he thought she wasn't looking, she'd be able to answer that no problems. Not a one. Fourteen. Not counting the time she'd turned quick enough to catch him and smiled back.
He'd said it and she'd said it back and it was the first time.
Now they were sittin' at tables set up just outside the ship, eating dinner that they'd helped some of the locals make up. Far as she could tell, they were friendly folk. Maybe a little skittish and too eager to finish up and go home, but friendly other than that.
Her hand slid under the table and found his waiting by her leg. The glow factor of her skin amped up and she had to bite down on her lip. Across the table, River was grinning at them both.
But Simon wasn't. His eyes burned and she watched him reach out for the glass in front of him. He swallowed in one long pull and if the glass hit the table a little harder than it should have, almost nobody noticed.
River flinched a little and Kaylee let her fingers loosen until they were out of Jayne's grasp, bringing her hand back up to the table.
"You ok?" Jayne's breath echoed against her neck and she felt her skin prickle.
"Yeah." A quick turn of the head so she could look in his face. It didn't hurt that to do so, she had to put a little distance between them. "'Course I am."
He smiled at her, all crinkly eyed and it made her smile back.
"I need air." Simon declared and stood up a little suddenly. "I'm going for a walk."
Kaylee couldn't look up, her chopsticks clattered down to her plate and she pushed her food away. A stone sank into her belly, heavy and solid and familiar.
***
***
Prompt Table
***
Title: THE WARNING.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #071: Fall.
Word Count: 363.
*~*~*~*
THE WARNING.
*~*~*~*
"How long you people gonna be here?"
The pastor bit off a piece of meat from his fork. He was nice enough, a bit gruff, but Jayne couldn't have cared less right then. Not when he had Kaylee sitting next to him.
"Not long." Mal answered for all of them. "We got a few parts comin' in. Thought they'd be here by now, should be here by tomorrow. We'll be outta your hair by then."
"No rush, no rush." The man tried to smile as he ran his eyes over their table. "Just, you know, be careful."
"Careful?"
Zoe looked at the man and Jayne felt himself looking as well. No matter how distracted he was, one thing he'd learned was to pay attention when Zoe's voice got like that.
"Don't wander off." He spoke mostly to Mal, keeping eye contact. "Especially the ladies here. Don't let them go out alone."
"You got a problem?" Jayne kept his voice level.
"Not so much." The pastor was quick to reassure them. "Just the usual, you know. Sometimes people go missing."
"Missing?" Mal arched his brows. "You got people going missing and there ain't no alerts posted on this planet?"
"No, no." The man tried to smile again. Jayne felt his own eyes narrow in suspicion. "Nothing like that. It's not a problem, just a universal thing. It happens everywhere."
"Bullshit it happens. An alert stop the trade 'round here, will it?"
But Mal's fierce look stopped any further words and Jayne chewed on a potato to cover his frustration.
"Don't you have some form of law enforcement?" Inara asked casually, but Jayne could see the thread of calculation underneath.
"We have police, of a sort." The Pastor sniffed. "They keep things reasonably quiet."
"Simon." River said, her head turning to look off into the dark. "He walked off. Someone should..."
'Course he did. Jayne let his fork hit his plate and stood up.
"I'll go get him."
"I'll help." Kaylee was quick to stand. "I know where he likes..."
"No." Jayne was even quicker to stop her and he felt eyes on him. "You stay here with the others. I'll find him just fine."
***
***
Prompt Table
***
Title: CIRCLE.
Author: Jacqui
Rating: G.
Character(s): Jayne/Kaylee.
Prompt #072: Myth.
Word Count: 578.
*~*~*~*
CIRCLE.
*~*~*~*
Kaylee found him hunched over by some rocks.
"Simon!" He flinched away when she reached out to touch him. "We were worried."
"No." His voice was slurred and she realized he must have drunk more than she originally thought. "You weren't worried about me."
"Yeah, I was. We all were." She tucked her dress in under her thighs as she sat down next to him in the dust. "You might've missed the pastor's warning, he said..."
Her words trailed off when his hand rested on her naked knee.
"Kaylee?"
Soft and whispered. She had to close her eyes for a second.
"Don't, Simon."
Very carefully, very deliberately, she lifted his hand up and placed it back on his lap.
"Yes! Of course not, sorry." She hadn't heard him sound so confused and baffled and beaten down before. "It's just, do you ever...?"
"No." It was stilted again, awkward like it hadn't been for such a long time. "No, Simon, I don't ever."
"I do." A sigh, so deep his whole body moved with it. "Sometimes I think I could be better, that if I could just show you..."
"I don't wanna see." Kaylee swallowed and looked up at the sky, suddenly wishing that they'd never been forced to land here. "You and me, Simon, we're done. If we ever really started in the first place, we're done now."
"But..."
"But nothing." There was a hard edge to her voice now and she let it stay there. It had to be said and maybe she'd made a mistake in not saying it before now. "I gave you plenty of chances. For a whole year, I gave you everything I knew how."
His eyes swam to focus in on hers.
"And by the time you started to give back, I guess there was nothing left. You made me empty." She couldn't look at the way he flinched if she wanted to keep talking. "By the time we got together, I think I was more in love with the idea of you than the reality. We, the two us? We were a myth."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah." The sadness in her voice matched his, wistful and pain filled. "Me, too."
Silence stretched out and they sat, side by side, looking up into a black sky.
"Jayne, though?"
She sighed. Her answer was so simple that it couldn't be mistaken for anything else, there was no room for argument in the way she made him see it.
"He gives back." She nudged him again, tried to smile. "Not to mention he'll kick your ass eight shades of black an' blue you keep this up."
"Most likely." He turned to face her, reaching out to run a finger through the hair over her ear. "I miss you, though. Nothing will stop that."
Her hand came out and caught his, holding it for a second by the side of her face. He'd done it countless times before and each one had a different meaning. This one felt like goodbye.
"I miss you, too." They shared a soft, sad smile. "I still care for you, Simon, I probably always will..."
She didn't get to finish that sentence, didn't get to say that it was in a different way than it had been and they could never go back. Because they both heard a snap and turned to look at the noise.
Jayne's eyes flashed something that made her stomach twist into knots and stole her breath.
***
***
Prompt Table
Progress: 072/100.