Coming Home

[ceslas]

Title: Coming Home
Series: Finding
Sub-Series: New song arc begun with In Between and Jayne's Song. Continues now with an OC.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1873
Spoilers: Post-BDM
Characters: Jayne, Mal,River, OC child.
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words
Notes: As always

Comments

[gehdra]

I really liked Mal chatting with the kid ^^ It was cute. And I absolutely adore the name Augustus!

[ceslas]

I feel like Mal sometimes has all his wires arranged right and is a decent sort >;0)

The name came from wanting Gus and not having too many options in truth... actually there is a waaaayyy longer story there, in RL, but I won't bore you... >:0)

[gehdra]

^^

If I didn't think he'd be beaten black and blue at school for it, I'd consider naming a kid August or Augustus. I'm fond of it because of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings books.

And yes, Mal is a wonderfully complex character. He's always surprising me, both in canon and fanon.

[ceslas]

Could use the logic Johny Cash used ine "A Boy Named Sue" >;0)

I am gratified that Mal was able to surprise you this time out. Man still has his moments... >:0)

[princat]

you got me here- feel like Jayne in that I keep waiting until I think everything will be right to have a kid, but it won't ever be all perfect and time runs out....
liked this, thanks.

[ceslas]

I am glad you liked it! It was interesting to write. I am more of Jayne's sentiment; it is not about wanting things to be all perfect before having a child, it is about not feeling the want to have one at all. Jayne has a son he does not expect and never looked to have. I know it would be very hard for me to wrap my own self around that idea...sooo, it could be a less than smooth experience.

Nice to see you again! >:0)

[ever_obsessed]

Hee, our mission?

It's been accomplished - hehehehe, ;)

Seriously, girly, we share a Jayne!

Without warning, Jayne cuffed his hand out and struck the boy across the cheek. “Don’t ever go to askin’ me about what family means. Dong ma?” His voice was hard and cold.I have some grasp of where our boy is here, suddenly with a kid on hand - I remember when I was six and my mom put my sister in my arms and said, here, this is yours, take care of her, I have to go to work. And it was the same with the other siblings, and to this day, I have family members who'll drop kids on my doorstep and let me take care of them for a few months - it's exhausting, but what are you gonna do, kick the kid out and tell 'em to handle the world themselves? No, of course not - they're family, and, dammit, family means something even if drives you crazy and leaves you banging your head on the wall. And all I did was take care of the siblings - and for a guy like Jayne, already worn down years ago by family, out in the Black, with everything he's gone through

[ceslas]

Thank you thank you thank you... It was hard to write and then again not. Mal was the surprise for me. Jayne I understand and feel for him in the desire to be as he is without having to add in the responsibility. I have never desired children; I enjoy teaching but the day in day out raising of same... No. I have a short fuse of my own, I know what that vibration just before striking feels like and it is tremendously frightening. There is not much in life that scares me like the inability to stop a physical reaction.

The challenge with Jayne is the expression of growth without loosing the core of him. I am not sure I have managed that, but the man that has become Jayne through this exploration of voice for me has become so much more compelling than I ever thought he would.

Aristotle had an occassional way with words and that last line... yeah, it got me right where it counts.

AIM will only eat what you let it have, no worries >;0)

[ceslas]

...it puts idea's into your head. Jayne's been put in a position of shrieking stress, a child imposed upon him that he would have never wanted. Yet, it seems obvious to me that he won't shirk his responsibilities, he's just going to have a doozy of a time while he fights himself...

Yes, this scene scared me just a little, not just because of the reaction, but the ease with which it happened. I know that fast, easy, physical response to a stressor; Jayne and I share that on many levels. We both view our responsibilities very, very seriously, but we are betrayed by emotional responses that we sometimes cannot control as well as we would like to.

And of course, Gus and everyone else is going to have a doozy of a time while he does it to.

I don't think Jayne would deliberately harm Gus, but Gus will most likely as he grows up have to take more charge of how the relationship evolves.

Enough of Jayne, I loved the part with Mal and Gus, I can see some alpha male battles over who influences the boy (damn, I said enough of Jayne), because

[bookaddict43]

I like Augustus (Gus) and the way Mal talks to him. I also like that Jayne talks to him about family, even though he does leave on a sour note.

That he worries about how he will cope with the child is testament that he is aware of his limitations and fears that he's like his father.

Hope is a waking dream...we have but to accept it. Love that line! So true and so hard to do. For anyone, let alone Jayne and River...

[ceslas]

Mal was the real surprise here. I know he was raised well, that his mother did a good job, but this really felt like a piece I had missed before about him.

Jayne thinking on children is kind of terrifying to me. Limitations are the kind of thing we become more in tune with as we age I think, and Jayne is quite old enough to know he has reactions and responses that are totally inappropriate to child-rearing... Mal again will be an interesting counter to that.

Aristotle had brushes with wisdom....