FIC: Mathematics (Five Muppets River Never Met, 1/5)
Haven't posted fic in a while. Oh, well. Here's a short one, which was entertaining me entirely too much to not post before bed.
Title: Mathematics
Fandom: Firefly. And a little something else, but I won't tell if you don't.
Ship: None. I mean, besides Serenity...
Spoilers: ...Well, Firefly exists. That's about it.
Rating: G
Summary: In the middle of the night, Jayne multiplied.
Notes: I'd apologize, but let's be honest; I feel no guilt. Also, blame and praise in equal doses to musesfool, tstar78, and weyrlady. And also to me. Heh.
500 words
In the middle of the night, when no one was looking and River had fallen asleep in her cave, Jayne multiplied.
She didn't know how it happened, precisely, except that one day there was one of them and the next day there were two.
River was used to things dividing and joining of their own accord. Things that should not be the number that they insisted they were. She was used to it, and accepted it, as these things usually accepted her as one girl even though she knew that inside she was shattered like glass.
River was one girl in many pieces and Jayne was one piece in two bodies, and these were such normal courses of events that River did not question it until she realized that she was not the only one to see it.
Mal laughed and called it kind of ironical, and Book went to great pains to not say anything, and Wash made comments about how with all these people just stowing away in the cargo bay perhaps they should be more careful next time, and River wondered if it was the cargo bay that split people into many and put them back into one, except that it had happened long before that.
And there were no blue hands on either of the Jaynes, and River watched them and stayed silent.
They didn't look the same, but then, when one person splits in half, you can't expect them to be identical. The new Jayne was red and furry and shouted a lot. He wore chains like a prisoner but ran all around the ship, as though he were-
As though he were Jayne. Which he was.
River understood that part.
The new Jayne made the old Jayne sound almost intelligent, except not really because nothing could do that. The new Jayne yelled a lot and screeched and made Mal say things about how they should have appreciated River's crazy more when they first got it.
But they hadn't cast River off Serenity, not any of her parts, and she was being chased by the Authorities. It would be unfair to throw Jayne off the ship just because he had split into two people.
The old Jayne seemed to like it a lot. He and the new Jayne examined his weapons, cleaned them, the way he never let anyone else on Serenity. But then, of course he did. Jayne could touch the guns because he was Jayne and that was Jayne's privilege.
Zoe laughed about it in the kitchen when no one was around but Wash (River didn't count as anyone because she wasn't anyone, she was many-one, she was no-one) and said it was like Jayne had multiplied.
And River smiled to herself, sharper than a serpent's tooth because you never appreciate what you have until Paradise has paved herself over.
It wasn't like anything. It was just what was.
There was nothing wrong with multiplying and dividing.
The universe was built on mathematics.
Title: Mathematics
Fandom: Firefly. And a little something else, but I won't tell if you don't.
Ship: None. I mean, besides Serenity...
Spoilers: ...Well, Firefly exists. That's about it.
Rating: G
Summary: In the middle of the night, Jayne multiplied.
Notes: I'd apologize, but let's be honest; I feel no guilt. Also, blame and praise in equal doses to musesfool, tstar78, and weyrlady. And also to me. Heh.
500 words
In the middle of the night, when no one was looking and River had fallen asleep in her cave, Jayne multiplied.
She didn't know how it happened, precisely, except that one day there was one of them and the next day there were two.
River was used to things dividing and joining of their own accord. Things that should not be the number that they insisted they were. She was used to it, and accepted it, as these things usually accepted her as one girl even though she knew that inside she was shattered like glass.
River was one girl in many pieces and Jayne was one piece in two bodies, and these were such normal courses of events that River did not question it until she realized that she was not the only one to see it.
Mal laughed and called it kind of ironical, and Book went to great pains to not say anything, and Wash made comments about how with all these people just stowing away in the cargo bay perhaps they should be more careful next time, and River wondered if it was the cargo bay that split people into many and put them back into one, except that it had happened long before that.
And there were no blue hands on either of the Jaynes, and River watched them and stayed silent.
They didn't look the same, but then, when one person splits in half, you can't expect them to be identical. The new Jayne was red and furry and shouted a lot. He wore chains like a prisoner but ran all around the ship, as though he were-
As though he were Jayne. Which he was.
River understood that part.
The new Jayne made the old Jayne sound almost intelligent, except not really because nothing could do that. The new Jayne yelled a lot and screeched and made Mal say things about how they should have appreciated River's crazy more when they first got it.
But they hadn't cast River off Serenity, not any of her parts, and she was being chased by the Authorities. It would be unfair to throw Jayne off the ship just because he had split into two people.
The old Jayne seemed to like it a lot. He and the new Jayne examined his weapons, cleaned them, the way he never let anyone else on Serenity. But then, of course he did. Jayne could touch the guns because he was Jayne and that was Jayne's privilege.
Zoe laughed about it in the kitchen when no one was around but Wash (River didn't count as anyone because she wasn't anyone, she was many-one, she was no-one) and said it was like Jayne had multiplied.
And River smiled to herself, sharper than a serpent's tooth because you never appreciate what you have until Paradise has paved herself over.
It wasn't like anything. It was just what was.
There was nothing wrong with multiplying and dividing.
The universe was built on mathematics.