(Untitled)

[mr_vera]

It'd been a while since Jayne had written to his ma

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[purplensparkly]

Trance was hungry. She'd spent most of the morning out in the garden and had managed to miss breakfast. Which meant that she had to make her own food. Not so bad. She'd grabbed a few of the fresh vegetables from the garden and brought them in. She washed them and used the other end of the table to start working on a salad.

"Good afternoon," she said to the man, smiling brightly.

[mr_vera]

"Hey," Jayne said absentmindedly, looking over his letter. Then he looked again. "What th' hell are you s'posed t' be?" He'd seen some weird folks around here, but never someone who was purple.

[purplensparkly]

"A star," she replied simple, smiling at him. "By the name of Trance Gemini." She held out her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

[mr_vera]

"Oh, come on," Jayne said, rolling his eyes. "You think you're famous or somethin'? Ain't no stars around here, lady. We're all th' same in this place."

[scooby_leader]

Ever since Halloween, Buffy was in an incredible mood. She'd finally had a chance to dust more than just a few vamps and the bounce in her step was renewed. There had been havoc that weekend, she'd seen things that most people couldn't have even imagined... Thank God it was back to routine, even for just a day. And it seemed to tide her over.

When she came up behind Jayne, she kissed him firmly on the jaw and took a seat next to him.

"Whatcha writing?" she asked, all chipper.

[mr_vera]

"Wèi," Jayne said, pleased that Buffy was being more friendly lately, although he sure as hell didn't see why anyone would be all cheery-like with all those Reavers and folks cut up and stuff. "I'm writin' a letter t' my ma. What're you so cheery 'bout, huh?"

[scooby_leader]

"Yeah? Gonna send it by air or by land?" Buffy teased lightly, resting her chin on his shoulder to glance at the letter, hands settling on his bicep. A smile continued to linger on her lips.

"Just... got into an old thing that I missed."

[mr_vera]

"Ain't gonna send it at all, 'less Kaylee gets that engine fixed." Jayne looked gloomy. The idea of Kaylee fixing the engine was getting to be more and more like some sort of myth, like unicorns or something. Something that everyone talked about but never actually happened.

"Yeah? Whatcha been up to?" He hoped it didn't involve sexing up some other guy.

[tightpantscapn]

The only reason Mal was out n' 'bout the compound was he'd taken Shadow t' get some exercise. 'twas the first time since all the gorram jīng shén cuò luàn with 'em Reavers n' such had taken place that Mal'd gone so far from Serenity. He hadn't wanted t' leave none o' his crew far from his long arm 'r his eyes, e'en Simon, but t'day he just felt as though he needed some o' the distance.

Found he didn't get much o' that in the compound kitchen. Mal'd no sooner poured himself a drink n' began t' sip it 'fore he caught sight o' Jayne workin' on somethin'.

"Are m' eyes deceivin' me?" he asked, steppin' closer t' Jayne. "'r are y' actually formin' words n' such with that there pencil?"

[jīng shén cuò luàn = insanity]

[mr_vera]

Jayne looked up and scowled. "I'm writin' a letter t' my ma." Then he remembered there was some stuff about Mal in the letter, and with his usual lack of subterfuge, covered it with his hand.

"What're you doin' off th' ship, anyway? Gettin' bored or somesuch?"

[tightpantscapn]

Mal didn't miss the lack o' subterfuge, not by nothin'. Tiltin' his chin a touch t'ward the letter, he quirked a brow but said nothin' 'bout it. He could certainly bide his time where that there letter was concerned.

"Oh, nothin' o' the sort," he said casual-like, rockin' back on his heels. "Came checkin' t' see y' weren't blowin' thin's up. Went by the inventory this mornin' n' saw a few o' y'r grenades were missin'. Put two n' two t'gether, that's all."

He was bluffin', but Jayne didn't need t' know that.

[mr_vera]

"There's grenades missin' 'cos I was usin' 'em to kill Reavers. You remember 'bout the Reavers, Mal? I know it was a whole week ago and you're an old man, but you c'n remember if y'try real hard." Jayne rolled his eyes.

[kings_dog]

Sandor came into the kitchen looking for water-- just as he'd turned up the path toward the compound, his well-used water gourd had fallen out of his pack and split open on the ground, and he was damned thirsty. The man at the table was scribbling away at a sheet of paper, and Sandor thought of his talk with the girl who'd reminded him of Arya; the one who thought she was going to teach him to read. It was all just nonsense to the Hound, who'd never once wished he was less ignorant than he was.

[mr_vera]

Jayne glanced up from his letter and saw an old-fashioned-looking guy with some pretty bad old burn scars on his face. He didn't think anything of it, though - he'd seen plenty of folks with burns and missing parts and the like. He just figured it meant this guy was a tough customer.

"Nĭ hăo," Jayne said. "Hey, d'ya know if 'somesuch' is one word or two?" Not that it really mattered, but he wanted the letter to be in good shape for his ma.

[kings_dog]

Sandor had no idea what the first thing the man said was, but he ignored it and moved on to the part he could answer. "No idea," he grunted with a shrug of one shoulder. "I don't read or write. But it sounds like it might be one," he allowed with another shrug. This was what he meant about people who got ideas about reading and writing-- here was a man in fine fighting form, worried about whether or not he was spelling something the right way. Inside his head, Sandor snorted a laugh, and vowed to stay illiterate if it killed him.

[mr_vera]

"I guess it don't matter," Jayne said, frowning at the page. Then he folded up the letter and stuck it in his pocket, and went to refill his coffee. "Y' make more money if y' know how t' read an' write," he remarked. "Illiterate folks get th' grunt jobs."