You guys had enough spam from me today?

[agilebrit]

Well, fear not. This time, I come bringing fic!

Title: Appreciation
Author: babies stole my dingo (agilebrit)
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG-13 for language
Length: Short short (just over 500 words)
Disclaimer: Joss is the genius behind these characters; I am but a lowly follower. I make no money from any of this, so please don't sue me.
Feedback: Concrit adored! If you see something that can be improved upon, please let me know.
Written for: inlovewithnight wanted backrub fic. That kinda perked my Muse up.

---

Jayne limped down to his bunk, stripped his shirt off, and threw it across the room. "Gorramit," he muttered. "How come it don't never go smooth?" He grimaced at the bullet hole in his arm, but it weren't bleedin' too bad. Would have to get the Doc to look at it, later. Once Simon was done patching everyone else up, that is. This particular job had really gone south.

He wet a rag and wiped at his bicep, wincing a bit. Kaylee's voice out in the hall caused an eyeroll. "Jayne? You okay?" His door opened and a pair of coveralled legs came down the ladder. She looked at him in some concern. "Aww." She sat beside him on the bed, holding out her hand for the cloth. "Here, let me. Mal says we got paid, anyway." She dabbed at the wound, gentle-like, while he gritted his teeth.

"Yeah. Not sure it was worth it, though. Cap'n and Zoe got banged up pretty good, and I had to shoot a guy. Don't know if he lived or not; we got the hell out in a hurry."

Kaylee finished cleaning his arm and bound it up with the rag. Moving behind him, she started kneading his shoulders, digging her strong mechanic's fingers into the tight muscles. "You're all tense."

He snorted. "You blame me?" He closed his eyes and leaned back a little. "Mmm, that feels good. Where'd you learn to do that, girl?"

"'Nara's been teachin' me some stuff." She rubbed hard at a particularly troublesome spot and worked the knot out. "Lay down."

He lifted an eyebrow, but went ahead and done it. She straddled his butt and went to work in earnest. It'd been a helluva long while since anyone'd did this for him, and he let himself relax into it. "Cap'n said Zoe got shot," Kaylee continued, "and you picked her up and cradled her like a baby while's you was still holdin' your gun, and shot the guy who shot her. He said it was wild."

Dust and gunsmoke, bodies and bullets flyin' every which way. Zoe, hit, blood spatterin', going down. Grab her up, shoot the treacherous hun dan right in the head... "Weren't gonna let him get away with that. Zoe okay?"

"Simon fixed her." She dug the palms of her hands into spots on either side of his spine.

Jayne closed his eyes. "That's all right, then." Wuo de ma, this felt very good... He allowed himself loosen up some more, and before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep.

Kaylee continued to massage his back for a bit. He had a...really...nice back. Then she bent down and planted a small kiss on his shoulder blade. Would he ever know just how valuable he was to everyone? Probably not, and he wouldn't believe her if she said so. After all, she was the only one who'd come looking for him.

But as she climbed out of his bunk, she decided that she could show appreciation in little ways--like she just had.

finis

Comments

[inlovewithnight.livejournal.com]

Awwww. ::squee:: So sweet! Thank you! :)

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, hon! I enjoyed writing it. Glad you liked. :-)

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

That's lovely. Very Kaylee like, and all.
I think you have a nice grasp of these two characters, and I think they're really very sweet together. I do get more of a brother/sister kind of vibe from them than a real romantic duo, which is kind of nice.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! *mumbles* Yeah, I can't write romance to save my life. Not that this was really meant to be "romantical" as such. *eyeshift*

[missmurchison.livejournal.com]

Yes, Kaylee would do that, just like that.

Would he ever know just how valuable he was to everyone?

True, and I never thought of it that way before. Jayne does add value to the group, but because he can be such a loose cannon, they are always trying to keep him in line and praise would just make him worse in the areas where he's already bad. He doesn't really present a lot of moments when you can "catch him doing something good" as the child-rearing folks say.

Very nice. Thank you for sharing.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's an interesting way of putting it...I think you're right; having Jayne around would be just like having an overgrown kid around who's a little too free with the guns and the attitude.

This may be why I like him (although I wouldn't date him; I like him as a CHARACTER, not necessarily as a person), and my husband, um, doesn't. LOL