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toxic_cornSeries: Where in the 'Verse is River Tam?
Title: The Dance (1/7)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post series.
Disclaimer: All the characters are belong to Joss.
Note: Here's the sequel series to She's a Sticky-Fingered Filcher. It gave me a hard time and hopefully it doesn't suck. At least, the beta didn't say that it did. Thanks, Kat.
Where in the ‘Verse is River Tam?
The Dance
“I done told ya already that I got a nice shirt!”
“What is this nice shirt of which you speak?”
“My stripey one.”
“Not suitable.”
“But! It has a collar. And sleeves. And it ain’t got blood all over it or nothin’.”
“It is ugly.”
“Girl, don’t you even get started on-“
“It is ugly and not worthy of my Jayne.”
This seemed to placate Jayne or at least disable his argument for now, and River was able to tug him into the shop.
It was a fairly nice establishment; small, but certainly much better than others found on the Rim. It was clean and lacked tools stacked in the corner.
“May I help you folks?” a blonde salesgirl wearing a nametag reading SARAH asked them.
“No thank you, miss, we’re just looking,” River breezed, remembering how her mother had always handled salespeople.
Jayne raised his eyebrows at her tone but allowed himself to be steered towards the men’s department. Which was rather a lofty description since it was really a few racks in the far left corner of the store; the place was more dedicated to women’s apparel.
“Girl, I don’t wanna waste my hard-earned coin on clothes,” Jayne muttered as Sarah and another salesgirl huddled together, whispering and looking their way.
“You’re not,” River said, flipping through the rack of shirts. Yellow, brown, pink. All wrong.
“I’m not?”
She paused long enough to smile up into his confused face. “No. I’m buying the shirt for you.”
“Aw, baby doll, you don’t need to be wastin’ your money on me.”
Purple, orange, red. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
“I’m not. It’s Simon’s money.”
“Oh. Well, waste away, then.”
Ah hah!
River beamed at the blue shirt she found and held it up to Jayne’s face just to make sure. Her face fell. No, too dark.
“Uh, what was wrong with that ‘un?”
She found another blue shirt and held it up to next to his face again. Too light.
“And that ‘un! Dammit, girl, a shirt’s a shirt!”
River found another blue shirt and this time when she held it up for comparison, her smile stayed in place.
“Just right,” she whispered.
Jayne looked doubtfully from the clothing and back to her. “You sure? What makes this one so gorram special?”
He didn’t see? River blinked at him. “It’s the exact color of your eyes.”
Then he did the very thing that had made her decide to keep him: He gave her a look like she was a girl, the only girl in the ‘verse. Like she’d made him melt. And she had. Little by little, with each passing day, she was melting the armor her mercenary had built around his heart long ago to protect himself.
But then the look was gone and he was tugging the shirt from her hands. It was regrettable but understandable. Eventually, he’d come to see that he didn’t need the armor with her. She could wait. He was worth it.
“Shiny, let’s get outta here and go somewheres fun,” Jayne grumbled.
“Wait!”
“What?” Jayne practically snarled.
Poor Jayne. The salesgirls were making him self-conscious. There was no need for such feeling; they were only admiring him. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell him this, even if it would set him at ease. His head would swell up and he’d never be able to get through the door again.
“You need to make sure it fits,” River said, trying her best not to giggle at the horrified look on his face.
Jayne held the shirt up to his front and draped the sleeve along his arm. “See? It fits. Now let’s go.”
“That’s not a proper way to determine if a garment is the correct size!” River protested.
“Well, I ain’t proper,” Jayne retorted, balling the shirt up in his fist.
This gave River pause. No, Jayne could never be described as “proper.” He wasn’t a Core-bred boy she could play dress-up with. He was a working class man who had his own ideas on how he wanted to spend his time, and trying on clothes to humor her was not one of them.
If she wanted him to do as she asked, she’d have to approach him from a different angle.
River sighed and took the shirt from him, starting to slip it back on its hanger. “She understands. Simon never liked trying on clothes either. He would protest and fight out mother every step of-“
Jayne snatched the shirt back and stormed to the dressing rooms.
She giggled. When in doubt, play the Simon comparison game. Someday, Jayne would discover the manipulation but until then, it was a very effective method of getting her way.
As she followed in Jayne’s annoyed wake, she noticed the salesgirls watching in interest. She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion and mouthed “Men!”
She was rewarded with their laughter. It almost felt like she was normal, like she was any other girl dragging her boyfriend along on a shopping trip.
Boyfriend. Somehow that word coupled with Jayne didn’t sound right. Manfriend? Special gentleman friend?
“It fits,” Jayne snapped from one of the little rooms. “Let’s pay for this and get the hell out of here!”
“Let me see first.”
“Ta ma de!” Jayne burst out of the dressing room, scowling. “There! See? It fits! Now can we…”
River’s jaw dropped. The color was perfect and in fact, made his eyes look even bluer. The shirt hugged his muscles gently and he’d left the first two buttons undone, exposing his collarbones and some crisp chest hair.
Jayne misinterpreted the look on her face and spun to look in the mirror.
“What? It’s okay, isn’t it?!” He searched his reflection for any flaws.
“My Jayne is so handsome,” River whispered, admiring the spread of the fabric across his back.
He grinned and instantly looked ten years younger. “Yeah? Better’n Mal even?”
River ran a hand over his bicep and sighed. “The captain could never compare.”
Jayne watched her open admiration for a few moments before mumbling, “And at this dance thing, ya ain’t gonna dance with ‘im, are ya?”
Surprised by the question, River lifted her gaze to Jayne’s face. He wasn’t looking at her, avoiding her eyes by pretending his cuffs needed adjusting.
“I’ll only dance with my Jayne,” River promised, then reconsidered. “And Simon. Maybe Shepherd Book if he likes.”
Jayne nodded. “Sounds fair.”
Smiling, River raised up to brush a kiss along his jaw. “I’ll like dancing with my Jayne best.”
That finally got him to look at her. The relief in his eyes hurt her heart and she regretted past actions of hers that caused his doubt of her. No more. I’m never hurting Jayne again.
She was leaning in for another kiss to seal this promise when a cheery voice said, “That’s a wonderful color on you!”
Sarah stood in the doorway, smirking. “Shall we ring that one up for ya, sir?”
Mumbling, Jayne went back into his changing room.
Sarah mouthed “Nice choice,” to River then said, “You two goin’ to the spring dance?”
River nodded while Jayne said, “Uh huh,” glumly.
“Well, I got a feelin’ you two are gonna be the handsomest couple there.” She winked at River and turned to head off to the counter.
Jayne peeped over the door at River. “Hell, we better be. Don’t want my girl throwin’ her money away for nothin’.”
River was too busy wrapping herself up in the warm blanket of my girl to remind him that it wasn’t her money.
END
Previous < She's a Sticky-Fingered Filcher - My Spot : Next > The Beach
Title: The Dance (1/7)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post series.
Disclaimer: All the characters are belong to Joss.
Note: Here's the sequel series to She's a Sticky-Fingered Filcher. It gave me a hard time and hopefully it doesn't suck. At least, the beta didn't say that it did. Thanks, Kat.
Where in the ‘Verse is River Tam?
The Dance
“I done told ya already that I got a nice shirt!”
“What is this nice shirt of which you speak?”
“My stripey one.”
“Not suitable.”
“But! It has a collar. And sleeves. And it ain’t got blood all over it or nothin’.”
“It is ugly.”
“Girl, don’t you even get started on-“
“It is ugly and not worthy of my Jayne.”
This seemed to placate Jayne or at least disable his argument for now, and River was able to tug him into the shop.
It was a fairly nice establishment; small, but certainly much better than others found on the Rim. It was clean and lacked tools stacked in the corner.
“May I help you folks?” a blonde salesgirl wearing a nametag reading SARAH asked them.
“No thank you, miss, we’re just looking,” River breezed, remembering how her mother had always handled salespeople.
Jayne raised his eyebrows at her tone but allowed himself to be steered towards the men’s department. Which was rather a lofty description since it was really a few racks in the far left corner of the store; the place was more dedicated to women’s apparel.
“Girl, I don’t wanna waste my hard-earned coin on clothes,” Jayne muttered as Sarah and another salesgirl huddled together, whispering and looking their way.
“You’re not,” River said, flipping through the rack of shirts. Yellow, brown, pink. All wrong.
“I’m not?”
She paused long enough to smile up into his confused face. “No. I’m buying the shirt for you.”
“Aw, baby doll, you don’t need to be wastin’ your money on me.”
Purple, orange, red. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
“I’m not. It’s Simon’s money.”
“Oh. Well, waste away, then.”
Ah hah!
River beamed at the blue shirt she found and held it up to Jayne’s face just to make sure. Her face fell. No, too dark.
“Uh, what was wrong with that ‘un?”
She found another blue shirt and held it up to next to his face again. Too light.
“And that ‘un! Dammit, girl, a shirt’s a shirt!”
River found another blue shirt and this time when she held it up for comparison, her smile stayed in place.
“Just right,” she whispered.
Jayne looked doubtfully from the clothing and back to her. “You sure? What makes this one so gorram special?”
He didn’t see? River blinked at him. “It’s the exact color of your eyes.”
Then he did the very thing that had made her decide to keep him: He gave her a look like she was a girl, the only girl in the ‘verse. Like she’d made him melt. And she had. Little by little, with each passing day, she was melting the armor her mercenary had built around his heart long ago to protect himself.
But then the look was gone and he was tugging the shirt from her hands. It was regrettable but understandable. Eventually, he’d come to see that he didn’t need the armor with her. She could wait. He was worth it.
“Shiny, let’s get outta here and go somewheres fun,” Jayne grumbled.
“Wait!”
“What?” Jayne practically snarled.
Poor Jayne. The salesgirls were making him self-conscious. There was no need for such feeling; they were only admiring him. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell him this, even if it would set him at ease. His head would swell up and he’d never be able to get through the door again.
“You need to make sure it fits,” River said, trying her best not to giggle at the horrified look on his face.
Jayne held the shirt up to his front and draped the sleeve along his arm. “See? It fits. Now let’s go.”
“That’s not a proper way to determine if a garment is the correct size!” River protested.
“Well, I ain’t proper,” Jayne retorted, balling the shirt up in his fist.
This gave River pause. No, Jayne could never be described as “proper.” He wasn’t a Core-bred boy she could play dress-up with. He was a working class man who had his own ideas on how he wanted to spend his time, and trying on clothes to humor her was not one of them.
If she wanted him to do as she asked, she’d have to approach him from a different angle.
River sighed and took the shirt from him, starting to slip it back on its hanger. “She understands. Simon never liked trying on clothes either. He would protest and fight out mother every step of-“
Jayne snatched the shirt back and stormed to the dressing rooms.
She giggled. When in doubt, play the Simon comparison game. Someday, Jayne would discover the manipulation but until then, it was a very effective method of getting her way.
As she followed in Jayne’s annoyed wake, she noticed the salesgirls watching in interest. She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion and mouthed “Men!”
She was rewarded with their laughter. It almost felt like she was normal, like she was any other girl dragging her boyfriend along on a shopping trip.
Boyfriend. Somehow that word coupled with Jayne didn’t sound right. Manfriend? Special gentleman friend?
“It fits,” Jayne snapped from one of the little rooms. “Let’s pay for this and get the hell out of here!”
“Let me see first.”
“Ta ma de!” Jayne burst out of the dressing room, scowling. “There! See? It fits! Now can we…”
River’s jaw dropped. The color was perfect and in fact, made his eyes look even bluer. The shirt hugged his muscles gently and he’d left the first two buttons undone, exposing his collarbones and some crisp chest hair.
Jayne misinterpreted the look on her face and spun to look in the mirror.
“What? It’s okay, isn’t it?!” He searched his reflection for any flaws.
“My Jayne is so handsome,” River whispered, admiring the spread of the fabric across his back.
He grinned and instantly looked ten years younger. “Yeah? Better’n Mal even?”
River ran a hand over his bicep and sighed. “The captain could never compare.”
Jayne watched her open admiration for a few moments before mumbling, “And at this dance thing, ya ain’t gonna dance with ‘im, are ya?”
Surprised by the question, River lifted her gaze to Jayne’s face. He wasn’t looking at her, avoiding her eyes by pretending his cuffs needed adjusting.
“I’ll only dance with my Jayne,” River promised, then reconsidered. “And Simon. Maybe Shepherd Book if he likes.”
Jayne nodded. “Sounds fair.”
Smiling, River raised up to brush a kiss along his jaw. “I’ll like dancing with my Jayne best.”
That finally got him to look at her. The relief in his eyes hurt her heart and she regretted past actions of hers that caused his doubt of her. No more. I’m never hurting Jayne again.
She was leaning in for another kiss to seal this promise when a cheery voice said, “That’s a wonderful color on you!”
Sarah stood in the doorway, smirking. “Shall we ring that one up for ya, sir?”
Mumbling, Jayne went back into his changing room.
Sarah mouthed “Nice choice,” to River then said, “You two goin’ to the spring dance?”
River nodded while Jayne said, “Uh huh,” glumly.
“Well, I got a feelin’ you two are gonna be the handsomest couple there.” She winked at River and turned to head off to the counter.
Jayne peeped over the door at River. “Hell, we better be. Don’t want my girl throwin’ her money away for nothin’.”
River was too busy wrapping herself up in the warm blanket of my girl to remind him that it wasn’t her money.
END
Previous < She's a Sticky-Fingered Filcher - My Spot : Next > The Beach
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Date: 2006-05-05 10:43 pm (UTC)Yes, but she's recycling her bunnies while refusing to move forward on SNN. *lip wibbles* I want to finish my series before starting another. Talk to her for me? *bats eyelashes*
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Date: 2006-05-06 04:55 pm (UTC)... This is seriously the weirdest conversation ever.