Series: Tokens Of Affection
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: River/Jayne
Prompt: 045 Wood
Word Count: 1,231
Rating: PG
Dedicated to
elsibet34. Happy Birthday sweetie! Thank you for always being a kind friend with a ready ear and happy to give motivation (and lashings) as they are required.
A/N I: I was going to wait till later on tonight to post this so that it wouldn't be read until the 2nd by those of you in the States (as the 2nd is Elsi's birthday). But it's the 2nd here now, dammit! And I wanted to post it!
A/N II: I would greatly appreciate any concrit you can give me as I really REALLY want to improve and that's kinda hard without a little direction. I always appreciate honesty, so don't be afraid of hurting my feelings if you feel you have to. Thank you very much.
* * * * * * *
Shortly after midnight, Jayne snuck into River’s room with all the stealth that years as a merc and tracker had taught him. The lil’ crazy girl was turning 21 today, which meant she’d no longer be the lil’ crazy girl, but the lil’ crazy woman instead.
It was a day Jayne had been waiting on for a long while.
For more than a year now, he’d been thinking on lil’ River, noticed her growing up. She was still a gangly thing with no tits to speak of, but her face had filled out and she’d gotten some meat on her bones. She looked a damned site better than the day she’d popped up outta that box!
And she had killer legs - literally.
Jayne had worked with her some while they were repairing Serenity a couple of years back, after that battle at Mr U’s moon where Wash had died. She’d seemed more together then, but he hadn’t let his guard down any - you never knew when she was gonna go psycho on ya.
Truthfully, he didn’t know how he’d gone from thinkin’ of her as a dangerous-killer-girl to hot-as-hell-pilot-and-gunslinger. He’d just got to breakfast one morning and seen that she was wearing some tight leather pants like Zoe’s and make up, and damn! Did she look gooooooooood! And after that, she’d always looked good, especially with her legs that seemed to go on forever!
He’d kept his thoughts to himself for a damn long time too. Well he’d tried, he kinda figured Kaylee knew by now, given that he’d had to ask for her help on River’s birthday present. She’d looked at him all sly and said, “Why Jayne Cobb, that’s an awful lotta effort ta go to for someone ya don’t like!”
He’d just ignored the comment and gruffly asked her if she was gonna help him or not.
He wasn’t expectin’ nuttin’ from her. Just figured that now she was 21 it’d be ok for him to let her know that if she ever wanted a tumble, he’d be available and he’d make sure she had a good time. She weren’t a kid no more, so it was ok if he occasionally looked at her with lust in his eyes.
Right now though she was in a deep sleep, her face relaxed, little puffs of breath blowing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes each time she exhaled. Before he could stop himself, Jayne reached out to tuck it behind her ear.
He froze up. That was a damn fool stupid thing to do and he knew it. With reflexes like hers, it coulda woke her up easy!
It didn’t seem to have disturbed her none, so Jayne gently placed the present, wrapped in some plain brown paper on her nightstand. And slowly backed out of the room.
* * * * * * *
River felt Jayne’s presence the second he entered her room. Her spirit made the slow pilgrimage from the land of dreams back into her own fractured brain. The point of awareness however, didn’t come until she felt hair sliding over her cheek and big fingers, which should be clumsy, deftly tucking it behind her ear.
But River didn’t miss a beat. Whatever he was doing here, she’d learn more about it if she just feigned sleep and left him to it. Accusations could wait till later.
She heard him turn and put something on her bedside table, and then leave her room, slowly sliding the door shut so as not to make a sound, leaving her to her rest.
River threw back the covers and sat up the moment she was certain she was alone. There was a box on her nightstand. River reached out for it, pulling it into her lap.
On the brown paper, in Jayne’s crude script, was written. “To River. Have a happee 21st berthday. From Jayne.”
A frown creased her forehead. Jayne had gotten her a gift? He’d gotten her a gift and he’d dropped it off in the middle of the night, just after she’d officially turned 21?
River sniffed the box. It didn’t have a chemical smell about it. In fact, though masked by the scent of the paper, she thought she could detect… wood?
She carefully slipped her finger between the tape and paper, determined to save it for use at the next birthday. River gasped when she saw what the paper had hidden. It was inconceivable that Jayne would get her a gift such as this!
It was a wooden box, the lid hand-carved, with a brass latch and hinges. River ran her fingers over the raised wood. It was so beautiful. Jayne had carved it, she could tell, feel the energy and effort he had put into making sure every nick and gouge was perfect. It was an image of Serenity floating through the black.
Strangely enough it looked like one of River’s drawings that had gone missing a couple of months ago.
A small smile graced River’s lips. Jayne had done all this for her. No one had ever put so much time and effort into a present for her, with the possible exception of Simon.
She undid the latch and lifted the lid, wondering if there were any other surprises inside.
There was.
She almost dropped the lid again when soft music started playing, the strum of a guitar came from a small speaker embedded in the base of the jewellery box. The tune was familiar as Jayne played it whenever he was practicing and knew that she was lying on the catwalks listening.
River decided that she’d keep the paper that had contained her first birthday present, and not let it be used for another. She folded it up into a small square and laid it inside the jewellery box, placing the box back on her nightstand.
Lying back, River rearranged her blankets and tried to drift back to dreamland, to the sound of Jayne’s guitar.
Hopefully she’d dream of him.
* * * * * * *
It had been a stupid idea, Jayne decided, hurrying back to River’s room not half an hour later. Why would she want a stupid jewellery box that played stupid music. That was something you gave to a little girl. And he wanted her to know that he thought of her as a woman now, not a little girl.
Jayne forced his steps to slow, so as not to wake anyone. He eased back her door, intent on getting the gift and getting out, when he heard the soft strains coming from beside the bed.
She’d already opened it.
River had already opened it and drifted off back to sleep listening to it. That had to mean she liked it, didn’t it?
Either way, he couldn’t take it back now… Well he could, but it was her birthday so he wouldn’t.
Jayne stepped back and shut her door again. A thought struck him, which made him pause in the midst of turning. If River had already opened it, chances were it was cos he’d woke her up when he was delivering it… which meant she probably knew he’d been in her room… and she hadn’t kicked up a fuss.
Jayne’s face split into a wide grin.
So River didn’t mind him in her room, huh? Maybe she didn’t hate him as much as he thought she did.
Whatever it meant, it was a start!