"Mouse", River, Jayne, PG-13
Title: Mouse
Author: lindentree
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): River & Jayne
Prompt: #051 - "Destruction"
Word Count: 970
Summary: She was unsure how the mouse found its way on to Serenity in the first place.
Notes: Post "Objects in Space" with references to the "R. Tam Sessions", in a way. My joss100 table can be found here. I'm feeling really iffy about this one, so feedback of all stripes is gratefully accepted.
Thanks to vegetariansushi and her genius beta-reading skills, for without her input, nothing would happen. ♥
River did not mean for it to happen.
She was unsure how the mouse found its way on to Serenity in the first place; she supposed mice had ways of stowing away and traveling, and this mouse must have been clever at their last stop. She was avoiding Simon - and his sharp needles full of false stillness - in the cargo bay when she heard the mouse scurrying along the bulkheads. She trapped the tiny creature quickly, just as he was about to squeeze behind a locker that held things she was not allowed to touch.
River scooped his small body up to hold him in her cupped hands, where she discovered that his front leg was crippled. He went limp at the shock of being caught, but River knew he was not dead; this was just a mechanism to fool predators. River peered closely at the mouse and wondered at its adaptation to space travel and at its tenacity in surviving with an injured limb. River would keep the mouse and his shriveled leg. She could be like Simon, tending tiny things with broken parts that begged to be amputated. She tucked the mouse into her dress pocket.
Distracted as she was by her discovery, Simon found her and proceeded to rub her elbow and prick her. He led her back to her room, speaking of new cocktails, side-effects and the loss of equilibrium, and River tried to tell him that she had found a fascinating live specimen to study, but her tongue felt heavy and her words came out mumbled and muffled, silly and childish. Simon said shh, shh, and tucked her into bed.
Just before falling backwards into sleep, River decided that when she got up, she would go to the kitchen before anyone arrived for supper and find some food for the mouse. Shared food would make the mouse more amenable to her curiosity.
When River awoke, it was much later than she meant to sleep. Serenity was dark with simulated night, and River could hear the faint whispers of dreams going on around her. She frowned and sat up, her head throbbing and her mouth dry. Silly Simon and his band-aids for severed limbs! Now she had missed supper.
Suddenly River remembered her mouse. She groped in the tangled bedclothes until she found her pocket and pulled the mouse free. She held him up to her face so she could see him properly in the semi-darkness.
“Hello, little mouse,” she said softly to the dark form cradled in her palm.
The mouse did not respond. River frowned, reached out with her mind, listened carefully. The little mouse was dead. She had squeezed the breath from him as she slept.
River stared at her hand for a very long time. Finally, she stood and left her room, the mouse still sleeping his forever sleep in her hands.
She found Jayne on the bridge, keeping watch over Serenity as the crew slept. His feet were propped up on the console and he was dozing, having knocked several of the resident dinosaurs to the floor.
River wished she had found the Captain, or Wash, or Zoe even, but not Jayne. She had just turned to leave when he spoke, obviously not as deeply asleep as he seemed.
“Doc know you’re up outta bed?” He asked, his voice rough and quiet.
River stepped on to the bridge, her hands held carefully to her chest. “No.”
“Well, whaddaya doin’ here, then? Go on back to bed if you ain’t got no reason to be here. It’s the middle of the damn night.” He scowled, crossing his arms more tightly against the lowered temperature of Serenity’s night cycle.
“Night is a vestigial-"
“Yeah, yeah,” Jayne cut in impatiently, “I know that. You know what I mean, too. So git.”
“I need help,” River said.
Jayne scoffed, but removed his feet from the console and swiveled around in the pilot’s chair to look at her. “What’d you do?”
“I did not mean… I need to throw something out. It is not garbage, but it needs to go out,” River said emphatically, glancing over Jayne’s shoulder and out into the black, “Out there, with the stars.”
Jayne stared at her a moment, frowning, before leaning back and shaking his head.
“Look, moonbrain, Cap’n told me to steer clear a-you and the Doc as best I can so’s not to ‘cause any trouble, dong ma? So why don’t you just make life easier on all-a us and go to bed. You can play games with your brother or little Kaylee tomorrow.”
River leveled him with a dark look. “Kaylee wouldn’t understand. Kaylee has secret thoughts that I am dangerous, destructive, a killer.” She paused, looking down at her clasped hands. “She’s right.”
Jayne looked at her hands also. “What you got there?” he asked, hesitantly curious.
River held her hands out to him and said softly, “It was an accident. She did not mean to kill. She never means to.”
Jayne looked at the body lying in her outstretched palms and back up at her, his expression blank.
“I meant to play with him, study his physiological reactions to space travel, but he died instead. I need to put him out into the black so he can dance with the stars,” She said, adding, “I promise I will steer clear.”
Jayne glanced once more from her face to her hands, then sighed.
***
Jayne and River stood suited up in the airlock, River awkwardly clutching the mouse in her gloved hands, and Jayne gripping tightly the back of River’s suit.
Jayne opened the outer door and nudged River forward.
“Goodbye, little mouse,” she said softly, letting his body fly from her hand and spin out into the stars.
Jayne didn’t say a word.
-end-
Author: lindentree
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): River & Jayne
Prompt: #051 - "Destruction"
Word Count: 970
Summary: She was unsure how the mouse found its way on to Serenity in the first place.
Notes: Post "Objects in Space" with references to the "R. Tam Sessions", in a way. My joss100 table can be found here. I'm feeling really iffy about this one, so feedback of all stripes is gratefully accepted.
Thanks to vegetariansushi and her genius beta-reading skills, for without her input, nothing would happen. ♥
River did not mean for it to happen.
She was unsure how the mouse found its way on to Serenity in the first place; she supposed mice had ways of stowing away and traveling, and this mouse must have been clever at their last stop. She was avoiding Simon - and his sharp needles full of false stillness - in the cargo bay when she heard the mouse scurrying along the bulkheads. She trapped the tiny creature quickly, just as he was about to squeeze behind a locker that held things she was not allowed to touch.
River scooped his small body up to hold him in her cupped hands, where she discovered that his front leg was crippled. He went limp at the shock of being caught, but River knew he was not dead; this was just a mechanism to fool predators. River peered closely at the mouse and wondered at its adaptation to space travel and at its tenacity in surviving with an injured limb. River would keep the mouse and his shriveled leg. She could be like Simon, tending tiny things with broken parts that begged to be amputated. She tucked the mouse into her dress pocket.
Distracted as she was by her discovery, Simon found her and proceeded to rub her elbow and prick her. He led her back to her room, speaking of new cocktails, side-effects and the loss of equilibrium, and River tried to tell him that she had found a fascinating live specimen to study, but her tongue felt heavy and her words came out mumbled and muffled, silly and childish. Simon said shh, shh, and tucked her into bed.
Just before falling backwards into sleep, River decided that when she got up, she would go to the kitchen before anyone arrived for supper and find some food for the mouse. Shared food would make the mouse more amenable to her curiosity.
When River awoke, it was much later than she meant to sleep. Serenity was dark with simulated night, and River could hear the faint whispers of dreams going on around her. She frowned and sat up, her head throbbing and her mouth dry. Silly Simon and his band-aids for severed limbs! Now she had missed supper.
Suddenly River remembered her mouse. She groped in the tangled bedclothes until she found her pocket and pulled the mouse free. She held him up to her face so she could see him properly in the semi-darkness.
“Hello, little mouse,” she said softly to the dark form cradled in her palm.
The mouse did not respond. River frowned, reached out with her mind, listened carefully. The little mouse was dead. She had squeezed the breath from him as she slept.
River stared at her hand for a very long time. Finally, she stood and left her room, the mouse still sleeping his forever sleep in her hands.
She found Jayne on the bridge, keeping watch over Serenity as the crew slept. His feet were propped up on the console and he was dozing, having knocked several of the resident dinosaurs to the floor.
River wished she had found the Captain, or Wash, or Zoe even, but not Jayne. She had just turned to leave when he spoke, obviously not as deeply asleep as he seemed.
“Doc know you’re up outta bed?” He asked, his voice rough and quiet.
River stepped on to the bridge, her hands held carefully to her chest. “No.”
“Well, whaddaya doin’ here, then? Go on back to bed if you ain’t got no reason to be here. It’s the middle of the damn night.” He scowled, crossing his arms more tightly against the lowered temperature of Serenity’s night cycle.
“Night is a vestigial-"
“Yeah, yeah,” Jayne cut in impatiently, “I know that. You know what I mean, too. So git.”
“I need help,” River said.
Jayne scoffed, but removed his feet from the console and swiveled around in the pilot’s chair to look at her. “What’d you do?”
“I did not mean… I need to throw something out. It is not garbage, but it needs to go out,” River said emphatically, glancing over Jayne’s shoulder and out into the black, “Out there, with the stars.”
Jayne stared at her a moment, frowning, before leaning back and shaking his head.
“Look, moonbrain, Cap’n told me to steer clear a-you and the Doc as best I can so’s not to ‘cause any trouble, dong ma? So why don’t you just make life easier on all-a us and go to bed. You can play games with your brother or little Kaylee tomorrow.”
River leveled him with a dark look. “Kaylee wouldn’t understand. Kaylee has secret thoughts that I am dangerous, destructive, a killer.” She paused, looking down at her clasped hands. “She’s right.”
Jayne looked at her hands also. “What you got there?” he asked, hesitantly curious.
River held her hands out to him and said softly, “It was an accident. She did not mean to kill. She never means to.”
Jayne looked at the body lying in her outstretched palms and back up at her, his expression blank.
“I meant to play with him, study his physiological reactions to space travel, but he died instead. I need to put him out into the black so he can dance with the stars,” She said, adding, “I promise I will steer clear.”
Jayne glanced once more from her face to her hands, then sighed.
***
Jayne and River stood suited up in the airlock, River awkwardly clutching the mouse in her gloved hands, and Jayne gripping tightly the back of River’s suit.
Jayne opened the outer door and nudged River forward.
“Goodbye, little mouse,” she said softly, letting his body fly from her hand and spin out into the stars.
Jayne didn’t say a word.
-end-