Work Text:
Prompt: 011 – Jealousy (list 2)
Progress: 11/100
He wondered if she still made him coffee each night, even though he wasn't going to the kitchen anymore. He wanted to, mind. Found he missed their little ritual of silent companionship in the still hours of the night; missed the smell of the coffee and the smell of her hair and the way she would lean against him while he drank.
He even missed the taste of her lips against his, even though he'd only ever kissed her the one time, in a moment of weakness that would never be repeated again. She was too young to know what she wanted and he was old enough to know better.
His nightmares are getting worse again. For a while there, they'd calmed some. Weren't so frantic; hadn't seemed so real. But now – wo de ma – he dreamed on different variations of her dying every night; her and the rest of the crew. Sometimes, it was an ambush that got them on one of their jobs. Sometimes, it was an Alliance operative appearing out of nowhere and cutting them all down.
The dreams all ended the same way – with him telling his crew they couldn't die and his crew ignoring him and doing it anyway.
Tonight's dream had been different, though. She'd been the only one dying – her life's blood seeping outta her body while he held her against his chest and begged her not to leave him. She had blinked at him when he'd said it, before whispering 'I'm not the one who left.' He had woken up in a cold sweat, crying out her name.
The smell of the coffee hits him first, before anything else. He's more than halfway to the kitchen before he even realizes what he's doing. He needs to make sure she's still there, even though reason tells him she is. He don't even realize she's not the only one in the kitchen until he hears Jayne's voice.
"So, can ya really kill me with your brain, or was ya just funnin' with me when ya said that?" The big Merc is cleaning his guns. Mal tries to ignore the hot stab of irritation that burns through him. Who in their right mind cleans guns at 1:45 in the rutting A.M.?
His coffee cup sits in its spot at the end of the table.
River smiles at him wistfully, before answering Jayne's question. "If I could kill you with my brain I would have done it by now."
Jayne looks sorta shocked at that, before he grins and starts chuckling, "Gorram, girl, you're awful mean. Ya know I'd never do anythin' to hurt ya no more." There's a pause as he shoots a sidelong glance at her, "What else can you do with that brain 'a yours?"
Mal wonders how one man can make even his most innocuous mutterings seem so crude.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" River giggles.
"You bet I would, beo-bei," Jayne leers.
Mal scowls into his coffee cup. "You better not be meaning what I think you are," he grits out to the big man. "She's just a little girl, Jayne."
He tries to ignore the way River looks like his words have hurt her, but Jayne notices it too.
"Just ignore him, baby-doll. He just don't want to see you're growing up. Me, on the other hand, I got eyes and I ain't about to try deludin' myself."
"You'll be deluding yourself right outta the airlock, you lay a hand on her," Mal snaps. "She ain't for the likes of you."
"Man's allowed to flirt with an attractive woman if'n he wants," Jayne replies calmly. "'Sides, it get's Doc all riled up when I do which is an added bonus."
Mal scowls and looks around the kitchen pointedly, "Simon ain't here right now, so knock it off."
River glares at him, "Not her father, not her brother…not her anything. Leave Jayne alone. He's the only one looks at the girl and sees the woman inside. He's the only one in this room that doesn't hurt me."
"Wha?" Jayne begins, but River stops him with a kiss on his cheek. "You're a friend," she sighs, before turning and snarling at the Captain. "You're a coward."
Both men watch her as she leaves the kitchen, before Jayne turns to look at Mal appraisingly. Mal's gripping his cup of coffee so tightly the handle snaps off it, causing his drink to spill all over the place as the mug hits the ground and shatters.
"Not her anything? What did moon-brain mean by that?" The big man queries. "You been dippin' your toes in water you ain't s'posed to be?"
"Shut up, Jayne," Mal growls.
"Sure, Cap'n," Jayne replies, shuffling to his feet and gathering his weapons together. "I'll shut up. But next time ya try tellin' me she's not a woman, remember you're the one that made her cry."
Mal doesn't reply, just watches the bigger man leave before sighing and picking up the shards of broken mug from the floor and trying to pretend he ain't jealous that his little Albatross just kissed Jayne.