This is the Start
Title: This is the Start
Author: Megan [__dream_on]
Category: Sushi!fic - short story
Word Count: 1,335
Timeline: In between part one and part two of “The Echoes That Surround You” by ceslas.
Characters: Jayne & Alleyne
Pairings: Mal/Inara and Simon/Kaylee
Rating: G
Warning: Contains superfluff that will reduce your brain to mush. And you will say “Aw!” at least once.
Disclaimer: The usual - Joss is a God, terimaru owns the fishies (but she’s nice enough to share) and hfleming8 owns little Alleykins. I’m borrowing her because she makes my soul happy.
Summary: Jayne and his two favorite girls spend an afternoon together.
Author’s Notes: w00t w00t! Written for terimaru - because she sent me the prompt to do it and because she’s the best beta ever. Title and quote are from “At the Beginning” off the Anastasia soundtrack. I "blame" terimaru and Disney for this fic.
Obviously, Alley gets over her little crush. It's just been my experience babysitting kids of that age that they always fall in love with you. I've had more four-year-old boys propose to me than I know what to do with. And I used to fall head-over-heels for any male who even somewhat reminded me of my Daddy. I don't remember any of this, but my mother assures me I used to tell everyone they were going to marry me.
“Unexpected, what you did to my heart. When I lost hope you were there to remind me this is the start.”
She couldn’t see anything except darkness, but she wasn’t scared. She could hear the stopwatch in his hands clicking, adding up the seconds as her nimble little hands worked at the steel in front of her. When she was done, she held her hands up just as he’d taught her and listened as the watch clicked off.
Jayne exhaled sharply as he viewed the time. It was her fastest yet and she’d looked as though she’d been taking her time. He set the stopwatch down on the table and untied the knot of her blindfold.
Alleyne turned to meet Jayne’s gaze, her lips curling upward into a knowing, almost gloating, smile. She’d been practicing. She’d taken her time on this round, letting her hands caress Vera’s steel, visualizing each part in her head before placing it where it belonged. If she’d done it as quickly as she could, she would have beat Jayne’s fastest time.
She had an earlier start than him is what he’d reason to spare his feelings. He’d been teaching her how to handle Vera - always on the table, since the gun was still much larger than Alley was - and which parts went where for a year. His Ma probably would have screamed if she knew he’d let a four-year-old play with his guns. But wouldn’t she be proud to know that his little Alley - at the age of five - was the fastest gun assembler in the ‘verse?
After quizzing her on the names of each piece and two more timed rounds of assembly, Jayne finally put Vera away.
They’d decided to relocate to the common area just outside of the infirmary, since Alley wanted to see if she could watch Simon clean the instruments. She’d crawled into Jayne’s lap the instant he’d sat down and she watched him now, instead of Simon - even though she had a clear view to him.
In truth, Alley just liked the couch. It reminded her of one she’d seen in Abel’s store, that her father refused to buy.
”Where would we put it?” He’d questioned, quickly kissing the top of her head and ruffling her hair. She’d huffed in response and stomped off with a pout on her face, in true three-year-old fashion.
Alley also liked the large fishbowl in the room. It seemed no matter where you sat, you could still see it. Inara and River had spent two weeks assuring Mal that they needed a fishbowl for Sushi and Sashimi’s offspring there. It would cheer up the infirmary patients, but Simon absolutely refused to allow the fish into his infirmary. It wasn’t sanitary, he argued.
Jayne’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her a bit closer to his chest and dropping his chin onto the top of her head. She didn’t struggle against him, though she pouted at the fact that she couldn’t watch him anymore. She was only five, but she was certain that she loved Jayne. Anytime she saw a movie with a prince in it, she thought of him. And one time, her momma had told her when you think of a man as your knight-in-shining armor, then you love him.
“Why ain’t you married, Jayne?”
Her question took him by surprise. It appeared to come out of left field. Since when did they talk about marriage? Still, with Kaylee and Simon getting closer to each other every day, he supposed it couldn’t be too far from anyone’s mind. However, marriage as it pertained to him, was a topic he’d never expected anyone to bring up.
“Ain’t found a woman I love yet, I guess.”
Alley had never heard his voice take an uneven, nervous tone before. Jayne had never been anything but confident, funny and sweet with her. He always knew exactly where he stood with her, but now he was shifting in his seat, obviously trying to think of a way to escape this conversation.
“You love me.”
She spoke so sweetly, so innocently, that he had to laugh. Alley felt his laughter rumble through her body as if it were her own and she closed her eyes, as if trying to memorize the sound.
“Don’t love ya like that, lil’ one.”
He turned her around, his hands resting on her hips. With this position, he could see the pout forming on her face.
“Ain’t the lil’ one no more, Jayne. Momma’s gone and got herself a new baby.”
“You’ll always be the lil’ one ta me, Alley.”
This answer seemed to be what she was looking for. She smiled brightly at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a few kisses to his cheek. Jayne felt the swell of satisfaction fill his chest and he exhaled contentedly, pulling her a bit closer. It was moments like this that made him long for a little girl of his own.
Their silence was interrupted by the com, but instead of the Captain’s voice filling the ship, an upbeat guitar tune filled it instead. Kaylee or River must have been playing with the com system. The music that filled the air seemed to delight Alley to her toes and she sat up straight, her eyes and smile wide, her hands tugging at Jayne as she spoke.
“Dance with me!”
“Aw, baby girl. You know I don’t like ta dance.”
“But you love me, don’t you?”
Jayne knew exactly where this conversation was headed and for a moment, he regretted spoiling her. She knew that she had him wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was question his feelings and he’d do anything she asked.
“Fine,” he replied in mock exasperation, picking her up and standing. They danced cheek-to-cheek, with one of his arms around her waist, her legs dangling a number of feet off the ground. She’d held onto him with one hand on his shoulder, the fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. Her other hand was engulfed in his, and she couldn’t help but smile at the way Jayne hummed in her ear.
Later that night, when Jayne was tucking her into bed (something she usually demanded despite her father’s look of disgust), she lifted a hand to caress his cheek. Her room was dark and the only light available came from the headboard of her bed. Mal had made it for her, cutting a hole in the top of the wood to embed a fishbowl there. It used to lull her to sleep when she used to be afraid of the dark. She’d always known she wouldn’t be alone, since Ayu was with her.
“One day, you’re gonna marry me.”
Jayne chuckled and shook his head, pursing his lips and trying to keep the blush from rising to his cheeks.
“I hate ta disappoint ya, darlin’, but it ain’t gonna happen. Even if I weren’t too old fer ya and didn’t think o’ myself like a father ta ya, yer Pa would never approve.”
Before she could protest, he lowered his face to her neck and gently scratched his stubble across the skin there. Alley burst into squeals and giggles, pushing at him with her little hands. Jayne chuckled softly and pulled back, his face split into a wide grin.
“Get ta sleep now, girlie. I’ll be here in the mornin’.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and left her room, a gentle, sleepy “Goodnight Jayne” following him out the door. When he was back in his own bunk, he stared up at the ceiling, exhaling softly. He wasn’t that old. He still had plenty of time to find the right woman - a woman he could stand to be around for more than one night. He could still have children of his own.
Jayne realized with a smile that he wouldn’t even be considering any of this without Alleyne. She’d renewed his hope that life wasn’t all bad, that he still had a future worthwhile. He just hoped she got over this “marry me” nonsense soon or Mal might murder him.
Author: Megan [__dream_on]
Category: Sushi!fic - short story
Word Count: 1,335
Timeline: In between part one and part two of “The Echoes That Surround You” by ceslas.
Characters: Jayne & Alleyne
Pairings: Mal/Inara and Simon/Kaylee
Rating: G
Warning: Contains superfluff that will reduce your brain to mush. And you will say “Aw!” at least once.
Disclaimer: The usual - Joss is a God, terimaru owns the fishies (but she’s nice enough to share) and hfleming8 owns little Alleykins. I’m borrowing her because she makes my soul happy.
Summary: Jayne and his two favorite girls spend an afternoon together.
Author’s Notes: w00t w00t! Written for terimaru - because she sent me the prompt to do it and because she’s the best beta ever. Title and quote are from “At the Beginning” off the Anastasia soundtrack. I "blame" terimaru and Disney for this fic.
Obviously, Alley gets over her little crush. It's just been my experience babysitting kids of that age that they always fall in love with you. I've had more four-year-old boys propose to me than I know what to do with. And I used to fall head-over-heels for any male who even somewhat reminded me of my Daddy. I don't remember any of this, but my mother assures me I used to tell everyone they were going to marry me.
“Unexpected, what you did to my heart. When I lost hope you were there to remind me this is the start.”
She couldn’t see anything except darkness, but she wasn’t scared. She could hear the stopwatch in his hands clicking, adding up the seconds as her nimble little hands worked at the steel in front of her. When she was done, she held her hands up just as he’d taught her and listened as the watch clicked off.
Jayne exhaled sharply as he viewed the time. It was her fastest yet and she’d looked as though she’d been taking her time. He set the stopwatch down on the table and untied the knot of her blindfold.
Alleyne turned to meet Jayne’s gaze, her lips curling upward into a knowing, almost gloating, smile. She’d been practicing. She’d taken her time on this round, letting her hands caress Vera’s steel, visualizing each part in her head before placing it where it belonged. If she’d done it as quickly as she could, she would have beat Jayne’s fastest time.
She had an earlier start than him is what he’d reason to spare his feelings. He’d been teaching her how to handle Vera - always on the table, since the gun was still much larger than Alley was - and which parts went where for a year. His Ma probably would have screamed if she knew he’d let a four-year-old play with his guns. But wouldn’t she be proud to know that his little Alley - at the age of five - was the fastest gun assembler in the ‘verse?
After quizzing her on the names of each piece and two more timed rounds of assembly, Jayne finally put Vera away.
They’d decided to relocate to the common area just outside of the infirmary, since Alley wanted to see if she could watch Simon clean the instruments. She’d crawled into Jayne’s lap the instant he’d sat down and she watched him now, instead of Simon - even though she had a clear view to him.
In truth, Alley just liked the couch. It reminded her of one she’d seen in Abel’s store, that her father refused to buy.
”Where would we put it?” He’d questioned, quickly kissing the top of her head and ruffling her hair. She’d huffed in response and stomped off with a pout on her face, in true three-year-old fashion.
Alley also liked the large fishbowl in the room. It seemed no matter where you sat, you could still see it. Inara and River had spent two weeks assuring Mal that they needed a fishbowl for Sushi and Sashimi’s offspring there. It would cheer up the infirmary patients, but Simon absolutely refused to allow the fish into his infirmary. It wasn’t sanitary, he argued.
Jayne’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her a bit closer to his chest and dropping his chin onto the top of her head. She didn’t struggle against him, though she pouted at the fact that she couldn’t watch him anymore. She was only five, but she was certain that she loved Jayne. Anytime she saw a movie with a prince in it, she thought of him. And one time, her momma had told her when you think of a man as your knight-in-shining armor, then you love him.
“Why ain’t you married, Jayne?”
Her question took him by surprise. It appeared to come out of left field. Since when did they talk about marriage? Still, with Kaylee and Simon getting closer to each other every day, he supposed it couldn’t be too far from anyone’s mind. However, marriage as it pertained to him, was a topic he’d never expected anyone to bring up.
“Ain’t found a woman I love yet, I guess.”
Alley had never heard his voice take an uneven, nervous tone before. Jayne had never been anything but confident, funny and sweet with her. He always knew exactly where he stood with her, but now he was shifting in his seat, obviously trying to think of a way to escape this conversation.
“You love me.”
She spoke so sweetly, so innocently, that he had to laugh. Alley felt his laughter rumble through her body as if it were her own and she closed her eyes, as if trying to memorize the sound.
“Don’t love ya like that, lil’ one.”
He turned her around, his hands resting on her hips. With this position, he could see the pout forming on her face.
“Ain’t the lil’ one no more, Jayne. Momma’s gone and got herself a new baby.”
“You’ll always be the lil’ one ta me, Alley.”
This answer seemed to be what she was looking for. She smiled brightly at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a few kisses to his cheek. Jayne felt the swell of satisfaction fill his chest and he exhaled contentedly, pulling her a bit closer. It was moments like this that made him long for a little girl of his own.
Their silence was interrupted by the com, but instead of the Captain’s voice filling the ship, an upbeat guitar tune filled it instead. Kaylee or River must have been playing with the com system. The music that filled the air seemed to delight Alley to her toes and she sat up straight, her eyes and smile wide, her hands tugging at Jayne as she spoke.
“Dance with me!”
“Aw, baby girl. You know I don’t like ta dance.”
“But you love me, don’t you?”
Jayne knew exactly where this conversation was headed and for a moment, he regretted spoiling her. She knew that she had him wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was question his feelings and he’d do anything she asked.
“Fine,” he replied in mock exasperation, picking her up and standing. They danced cheek-to-cheek, with one of his arms around her waist, her legs dangling a number of feet off the ground. She’d held onto him with one hand on his shoulder, the fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. Her other hand was engulfed in his, and she couldn’t help but smile at the way Jayne hummed in her ear.
Later that night, when Jayne was tucking her into bed (something she usually demanded despite her father’s look of disgust), she lifted a hand to caress his cheek. Her room was dark and the only light available came from the headboard of her bed. Mal had made it for her, cutting a hole in the top of the wood to embed a fishbowl there. It used to lull her to sleep when she used to be afraid of the dark. She’d always known she wouldn’t be alone, since Ayu was with her.
“One day, you’re gonna marry me.”
Jayne chuckled and shook his head, pursing his lips and trying to keep the blush from rising to his cheeks.
“I hate ta disappoint ya, darlin’, but it ain’t gonna happen. Even if I weren’t too old fer ya and didn’t think o’ myself like a father ta ya, yer Pa would never approve.”
Before she could protest, he lowered his face to her neck and gently scratched his stubble across the skin there. Alley burst into squeals and giggles, pushing at him with her little hands. Jayne chuckled softly and pulled back, his face split into a wide grin.
“Get ta sleep now, girlie. I’ll be here in the mornin’.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and left her room, a gentle, sleepy “Goodnight Jayne” following him out the door. When he was back in his own bunk, he stared up at the ceiling, exhaling softly. He wasn’t that old. He still had plenty of time to find the right woman - a woman he could stand to be around for more than one night. He could still have children of his own.
Jayne realized with a smile that he wouldn’t even be considering any of this without Alleyne. She’d renewed his hope that life wasn’t all bad, that he still had a future worthwhile. He just hoped she got over this “marry me” nonsense soon or Mal might murder him.