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Thoughts Colored Ugly 3 (Firefly)
Thoughts Colored Ugly 3/?
River/Jayne
Rated: ADULT
Warnings: Dom/sub
Previous parts
Summary: When push comes to shove, Jayne Cobb knows how to run away like the best of them. River and her whispers about what he needed wasn't going to make him into the fool.
River/Jayne
Rated: ADULT
Warnings: Dom/sub
Previous parts
Summary: When push comes to shove, Jayne Cobb knows how to run away like the best of them. River and her whispers about what he needed wasn't going to make him into the fool.
"Sure we can't convince you to stay on?" Mal asked again as they stood on the gangplank. Jayne had his bag at his feet and his pay in his pocket so there wasn't much reason for him to stay, but he stood anyway, watching the crowds wander past. Dust rolled up from under cart wheels, and in the distance, a train whistle announced its arrival at the port. "We could do something about River, put an alarm on your door, maybe," the captain suggested.
Jayne gave him a dirty look. "Don't need no help to take care of myself," he almost growled.
"Not sayin' you do. Mind you, with River, I don't think any of us would stand a chance in guay if she decided to turn her attention to us, me included," he snorted as he scratched a spot on the back of his head. That made Jayne feel a little better, but he still wished Mal hadn't said it. Be easier to leave if he didn't feel like he had any reason to stay.
"Amen," Zoe softly agreed from the bottom of the ramp. She'd already been to the port office, signing the paperwork and posting Serenity's ship board, and the dust from the street clung to her pants. Jayne gave her an appraising look.
"Sure you don't want to give me a private goodbye party?" he asked.
She raised her eyebrow and looked at him. "Jan-doh duh ee-kwai-ro," she sighed. "Why do all menfolk have to think with that thing between their legs, and if you make one more pass at me Jayne Cobb, you won't have anything between your legs." Jayne took it as a sign of affection that she only threatened to castrate him.
"Sir, are we available for a run to Hera?" Zoe asked as tilted her hat farther down to shade her eyes from the rising sun. Serenity sat at the edge of the docks and the barren fields didn't provide any shade.
Mal flinched. "No!"
It occurred to Jayne that he understood why, seeing as how Hera was home to Serenity Valley where Mal and Zoe had lost their war against the Alliance. Funny, he'd never known any of his other captains that well. Zoe just nodded like she'd expected the answer.
"Best be goin'," Jayne said as he picked up the bag that held as many of his things as he could carry, Vera tucked in at the top making a funny lump that poked out from the side of the leather case. Leaving was harder than he'd been planning. A little part of Jayne's brain kept wondering what exactly Mal would do if he offered the man his pain.
Standing in the hot morning sun with his palms sweating, he hesitated. If River'd said a year ago what she done said a week ago, Jayne mighta considered. Course, a year ago, he wouldn't have bothered even listening, and she sure as guay wasn't sane enough to put two sentences together. But the problem was that now he liked Mal. He didn't want to go making the fool of himself, and if he trusted River enough to believe that Mal might be willing to take up his pain, he might as well. . ." Jayne just shut down his mind without finishing that thought. Maybe in a few months he'd be far enough away to polish up that fantasy all shiny and think about that in his bunk. Maybe then he'd think about what might've been if he'd slid to his knees at River's feet, but right now it was just too raw.
Neither Mal nor Zoe said anything as he walked down the plank, his boots thunking heavily against the metal.
"Wait! Hold on!" a voice called. Jayne stopped in the dust at the bottom of the ramp and watched as Kaylee came running all out of breath, grease from her engine streaked across her shirt sleeve. "I'd be real upset if you left without even saying your goodbyes," she said as she slid to a stop in front of him and punched him in the arm.
"Ow," he complained without really meaning it. "Not good at saying them," he admitted as he looked down at her. Holding out her hand, she grabbed his and pressed something to his palm.
"Don't rightly know if it works, but the woman I bought it from said it brings luck."
Jayne opened his palm and found a brightly colored stone strung on a rawhide string. He remembered his brother Matty giving him something similar, a stupid piece of ribbon from an old dress of their ma's. Never did figure out where he'd lost it.
"Are you going to put it on?" Kaylee asked with such a bright-eyed expression that Jayne couldn't rightly say no. Putting his bag in the dirt, he took the bauble and tied it round his neck where the blue stone could show just above the neck of his shirt.
"Thanks," Jayne said awkwardly. She just patted him on the arm. They stared at each other until Jayne shifted uncomfortably. He'd gotten up extra early to slip out without all the big fuss, but now everyone 'cepting River and Simon where out here making things mighty uncomfortable.
"Captain, since River brought us to Shanpei, I was wondering if I could mosey down to Lilac and pick up some parts," Kaylee eventually asked as she turned her eyes to Mal.
Jayne picked up his bag again. Another day he might've offered to go with her and play bodyguard, or more likely, he woulda complained when Mal ordered him to go with her. For a second, Mal's eyes flickered to him, and Jayne turned his back as he studied the port. Shanpei had a lot more options than Tanish 5 would've, so now he just needed to pick the right one. Problem being, he wasn't the best at making good choices.
"I could go with her," Zoe offered.
"No, with Kaylee gone, you're the best for rounding up passengers. I always say the gorram wrong thing," Mal said in a tone of disgust for his own failings.
Zoe just snorted her agreement.
"That's just not true, captain," Kaylee hurried to reassure him. Jayne started walking as fast as he could away from the familiar banter. It'd be too easy to fit into that argument… he knew just what he'd say. With Kaylee trying to stick up for the captain, he'd balance that out by telling all the stories of times when Mal had gone and made all kinds of trouble with his mouth. And eventually Mal would get tired and go storming off, and Kaylee would hit him in the arm and tell him he weren't being nice.
Jayne shook his head to clear the thoughts. He didn't fit in that picture no more. The last week had changed things, and Jayne couldn't just ignore that. If Mal and the doc found out just how much had changed, he'd be looking for his body parts in the storage decks.
He tilted his hat to block out the rising sun as he walked the dusty road and studied the ships. Most were short-hoppers that wouldn't need a shiphand like him, so he headed farther into the port proper.
Walking gave him time to think, and Jayne wondered if River had been right. Lord knows that he wanted to give over his pain. Only done that once, with a girl unsure enough about her own needs that Jayne was fairly sure he could keep things from going ugly. Even then, he'd felt the fear of giving over the control. Weren't many times he'd given up control, and most of them, he'd ended up in the shit. But the girl… that was a real shiny memory. She'd been careless with the whip and left two long scars on his back, just under his right shoulder blade, but Jayne never did regret those scars. He wondered what it'd be like to give over that power to Mal. The man sure as hell wouldn't be making no mistakes and lay him open; he wouldn't bleed unless Mal meant for him to.
Jayne leaned against a ship board and read it with very little real interest as he remembered being trapped in the airlock, Mal's hand on the control that would either kill him or let him live. Jayne'd been happy enough to leave the decision up to Mal, and that had scared him worse than anything ever had, including Reavers. After he left home, he'd sworn he'd never give another man control over his life, but he'd done that with Mal. Hell, even that last fight, he hadn't even really tried to take Mal down. No other man would ever get a free punch at Jayne Cobb, but when Mal had caught him with a nasty right, Jayne had just accepted it.
But Mal hadn't ever taken liberties beyond a captain taking care of the discipline of those on his ship. River had made it a mite bit more personal. Jayne scratched the scar from where her knife had slid into his guts. Knowing she'd done that… part of him had wanted to get as far away as possible.
Another part did wish it'd been River and not Kaylee chasing after him. His cock warmed at the memory of her holding him down and running that fingernail across his face. He could imagine a whip in her hand easy enough, at least if it weren't for Mal and Simon. The gorram doctor would get that amused look on his face, and after Jayne backhanded some manners into him, River would probably gut him again. His head definitely wasn't screwed on tight enough, especially since he still couldn't figure what he would have done if River had pulled him back on board. And knowing that she was capable of really hurting him… his chun zi cock gave a good twitch.
"You looking for passage?" a small Asian woman asked. Jayne looked up at her and turned away without answering. He wasn't paying for a ride off this rock. Maybe he would've gotten that desperate on Tanish 5, but at a port this size, someone would see the value of having crew like Jayne on board. And if he couldn't find anything today, he had credits enough to find a place for the night. He thought about buying himself a whore. Normally, he would be lusting the minute he hit planet with credits to burn, but right now, his chun zi cock couldn't care less about some cow-faced chou san ba who would sink to her knees on his orders.
Heading north, he walked the line of ships and studied each board where the captains had posted what they had for sale and what they were lookin' for. With any luck, he could find a ship looking for muscle. He just needed to find some work that would give him something to think about.
Two hours later, Jayne was about ready to go back and see if Serenity was still in dock. Alliance was spreading its fingers farther and farther, and now, with the Reavers on the decline, wasn't much call for a hired gun. Leastwise, there wasn't much call for Jayne's sort of hired gun. Two different ship boards had advertised for people good at investigating planet-side situations, which was a nice way of saying someone who could go in and take care of a nice little assassination or case a place all quiet-like, but Jayne didn't even bother talking to the captains. He was lots of things, but quiet wasn't one.
Dropping his bag next to one more ship board, he cringed at the first column with the ship's offerings. He didn't think much of those that worked on slaver ships, but right now, he was getting desperate. And the ship's ports of call included Jiangyin and Whitefall, which were definitely places where his talent might be appreciated a mite bit more. Course, on Jiangyin he might end up doing farm work, but it wasn't like Jayne didn't know which end of a shovel to use.
Staring at the board, he tried hard not to think about what Kaylee would say if she saw him considering the Henrietta. Jayne stood trying to decide if his reluctance to ask for the captain was his common sense or just some left over bits of Kaylee that had rubbed off.
"Ya looking for work?" A tall, stovepipe-shaped man walked up and leaned against the ship board. He tilted his hat back as he considered Jayne. His arms were wiry with muscle, and the casual way he leaned against the board told Jayne that this was a man with more strength than showed on the surface. The gray eyes were calculating and cautious, just the sort of man Jayne understood.
"Might be," he acknowledged.
"Ever worked a slaver?"
"No."
"Got a problem with a slaver ship?" the man crooked an eyebrow.
The direct question startled Jayne, and his first reaction was to say that he did, but then it wasn't like he had a lot of room to judge, not when he remembered how his own ex-partner had ended up in a little cage for years after Jayne dumped him on his ass mid-job. Life had been simpler then. He hadn't felt those nagging doubts when he'd been that man. The man who double-crossed Stitch Hessian didn't let things like other people's ethics slow him down. Decision made. "As long as I get a fair wage, my theory is every man for himself," Jayne shrugged.
"Pay's good."
"How good?"
"A hundred and twenty credits per run, five percent profits for new-signs."
"Last ship I got more," Jayne commented casually. He ignored a little stab in his guts that hit him hard enough to make him absent-mindedly scratch his stomach.
"Survive your first run without doing something stupid, and we can renegotiate," stovepipeman said seriously. Jayne considered him without answering, still scratching his stomach.
"Quarters?"
"Two to a room."
"Want a private," Jayne immediately answered. The man narrowed his eyes and considered Jayne.
"Private room, fifty credits flat plus five percent."
"Private room, a hundred credits, and my percentage," Jayne countered. For the first time since River had crept into his room, he felt in control—balanced. Hell, maybe for the first time since Mal had caught him trying to sell out the Tams. Standing in that airlock waiting for Mal to kill him, Jayne had somehow lost his balance, and he hadn't never gotten it back, but this was familiar. Stovepipe man pulled out a cigarette and lighted it as he considered Jayne.
"Ya worth it?" he finally asked. Jayne gave a slow smile.
"Every credit. You got a dirty job what needs doing, and I'm the one who'll get it done," Jayne agreed. Stovepipe man pushed his hat back far enough to show the wispy hair around the edges of a spreading bald spot and took a deep drag at his cigarette.
"Jin Bennett," the man said as he stuck out his hand, cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Jayne Cobb," he offered as he shook the man's hand.
"Come on then. I'll give ya a proper introduction to the crew."
Jayne followed his new captain up the ramp into the hull of the Henrietta. Permanent cages set into the sides of the main cargo area still had a few slaves leaning against the bars. Most were men, one was a woman who looked like she could take Zoe in a straight fight, leastwise if she rushed Zoe fast and didn't let the soldier get her fancy moves going. The slave sat on the floor, her hand wrapped around the bars on one side of her cage, and her bare feet braced on the bars on the other side.
Jayne felt a crawling sensation in his guts which he promptly put down to not eatin' anything before leaving the Serenity.
"Crew quarters through here. You can have number 11," Bennett offered as he waved toward a passage.
"Key?" Jayne asked. The captain turned and considered him.
"Ya'll don't need one much around here," he said slowly.
"If one of them slaves gets loose, I don't plan on having my shit touched," Jayne crossed his arms and just waited for a key.
"Yer a suspicious son of a bitch, aren't ya?"
"Reckon I am," Jayne agreed with a shrug.
"I'll have the first mate run ya up a key. But a work-slave's worth more than three years of your wages, so if one of them gets loose, yer job is to catch 'em easy without anyone's shit getting touched and without the slave turning up damaged."
"Fair enough," Jayne agreed. As long as he had his key and his private space, he didn't much care what the other rules were on the ship.
"And the work slaves are off limits. If ya want to get a woman, you get one planetside. I catch you screwing the work slaves, even if they invite you into their cage for a spell, and I'll castrate ya myself. Did it to a randy son of a bitch a few deckhands past."
"If I need getting sexed, I can find me a whore easy enough," Jayne agreed. The captain didn't need to know that Jayne had no interest. Hell, a night in his bunk and his hand was about all he felt up to right now. Gorram River had left him raw, and a whore was the last thing on his mind.
"Ya just might fit in fine," Jin said as he pushed open the door to the main galley. "Found us a replacement for Natie," he said to the crew gathered in the small space.
Four men were playing cards, the deck flashing with holograms of naked women that Jayne could see even from across the room. A woman with a scarred face was tending to her gun and a boy who didn't look old enough to be away from his mother's skirt was on a computer terminal.
"Jayne Cobb, meet the crew of the Henrietta. Crew, this is Jayne Cobb." Jayne nodded as he looked around the room. This is where he belonged, with men who were as rough as he was and wouldn't care none if he was speaking the truth or giving someone a shove. Forget the Serenity and gorram River Tam with her lessons on manners. Jayne Cobb was officially a slaver.
Jayne gave him a dirty look. "Don't need no help to take care of myself," he almost growled.
"Not sayin' you do. Mind you, with River, I don't think any of us would stand a chance in guay if she decided to turn her attention to us, me included," he snorted as he scratched a spot on the back of his head. That made Jayne feel a little better, but he still wished Mal hadn't said it. Be easier to leave if he didn't feel like he had any reason to stay.
"Amen," Zoe softly agreed from the bottom of the ramp. She'd already been to the port office, signing the paperwork and posting Serenity's ship board, and the dust from the street clung to her pants. Jayne gave her an appraising look.
"Sure you don't want to give me a private goodbye party?" he asked.
She raised her eyebrow and looked at him. "Jan-doh duh ee-kwai-ro," she sighed. "Why do all menfolk have to think with that thing between their legs, and if you make one more pass at me Jayne Cobb, you won't have anything between your legs." Jayne took it as a sign of affection that she only threatened to castrate him.
"Sir, are we available for a run to Hera?" Zoe asked as tilted her hat farther down to shade her eyes from the rising sun. Serenity sat at the edge of the docks and the barren fields didn't provide any shade.
Mal flinched. "No!"
It occurred to Jayne that he understood why, seeing as how Hera was home to Serenity Valley where Mal and Zoe had lost their war against the Alliance. Funny, he'd never known any of his other captains that well. Zoe just nodded like she'd expected the answer.
"Best be goin'," Jayne said as he picked up the bag that held as many of his things as he could carry, Vera tucked in at the top making a funny lump that poked out from the side of the leather case. Leaving was harder than he'd been planning. A little part of Jayne's brain kept wondering what exactly Mal would do if he offered the man his pain.
Standing in the hot morning sun with his palms sweating, he hesitated. If River'd said a year ago what she done said a week ago, Jayne mighta considered. Course, a year ago, he wouldn't have bothered even listening, and she sure as guay wasn't sane enough to put two sentences together. But the problem was that now he liked Mal. He didn't want to go making the fool of himself, and if he trusted River enough to believe that Mal might be willing to take up his pain, he might as well. . ." Jayne just shut down his mind without finishing that thought. Maybe in a few months he'd be far enough away to polish up that fantasy all shiny and think about that in his bunk. Maybe then he'd think about what might've been if he'd slid to his knees at River's feet, but right now it was just too raw.
Neither Mal nor Zoe said anything as he walked down the plank, his boots thunking heavily against the metal.
"Wait! Hold on!" a voice called. Jayne stopped in the dust at the bottom of the ramp and watched as Kaylee came running all out of breath, grease from her engine streaked across her shirt sleeve. "I'd be real upset if you left without even saying your goodbyes," she said as she slid to a stop in front of him and punched him in the arm.
"Ow," he complained without really meaning it. "Not good at saying them," he admitted as he looked down at her. Holding out her hand, she grabbed his and pressed something to his palm.
"Don't rightly know if it works, but the woman I bought it from said it brings luck."
Jayne opened his palm and found a brightly colored stone strung on a rawhide string. He remembered his brother Matty giving him something similar, a stupid piece of ribbon from an old dress of their ma's. Never did figure out where he'd lost it.
"Are you going to put it on?" Kaylee asked with such a bright-eyed expression that Jayne couldn't rightly say no. Putting his bag in the dirt, he took the bauble and tied it round his neck where the blue stone could show just above the neck of his shirt.
"Thanks," Jayne said awkwardly. She just patted him on the arm. They stared at each other until Jayne shifted uncomfortably. He'd gotten up extra early to slip out without all the big fuss, but now everyone 'cepting River and Simon where out here making things mighty uncomfortable.
"Captain, since River brought us to Shanpei, I was wondering if I could mosey down to Lilac and pick up some parts," Kaylee eventually asked as she turned her eyes to Mal.
Jayne picked up his bag again. Another day he might've offered to go with her and play bodyguard, or more likely, he woulda complained when Mal ordered him to go with her. For a second, Mal's eyes flickered to him, and Jayne turned his back as he studied the port. Shanpei had a lot more options than Tanish 5 would've, so now he just needed to pick the right one. Problem being, he wasn't the best at making good choices.
"I could go with her," Zoe offered.
"No, with Kaylee gone, you're the best for rounding up passengers. I always say the gorram wrong thing," Mal said in a tone of disgust for his own failings.
Zoe just snorted her agreement.
"That's just not true, captain," Kaylee hurried to reassure him. Jayne started walking as fast as he could away from the familiar banter. It'd be too easy to fit into that argument… he knew just what he'd say. With Kaylee trying to stick up for the captain, he'd balance that out by telling all the stories of times when Mal had gone and made all kinds of trouble with his mouth. And eventually Mal would get tired and go storming off, and Kaylee would hit him in the arm and tell him he weren't being nice.
Jayne shook his head to clear the thoughts. He didn't fit in that picture no more. The last week had changed things, and Jayne couldn't just ignore that. If Mal and the doc found out just how much had changed, he'd be looking for his body parts in the storage decks.
He tilted his hat to block out the rising sun as he walked the dusty road and studied the ships. Most were short-hoppers that wouldn't need a shiphand like him, so he headed farther into the port proper.
Walking gave him time to think, and Jayne wondered if River had been right. Lord knows that he wanted to give over his pain. Only done that once, with a girl unsure enough about her own needs that Jayne was fairly sure he could keep things from going ugly. Even then, he'd felt the fear of giving over the control. Weren't many times he'd given up control, and most of them, he'd ended up in the shit. But the girl… that was a real shiny memory. She'd been careless with the whip and left two long scars on his back, just under his right shoulder blade, but Jayne never did regret those scars. He wondered what it'd be like to give over that power to Mal. The man sure as hell wouldn't be making no mistakes and lay him open; he wouldn't bleed unless Mal meant for him to.
Jayne leaned against a ship board and read it with very little real interest as he remembered being trapped in the airlock, Mal's hand on the control that would either kill him or let him live. Jayne'd been happy enough to leave the decision up to Mal, and that had scared him worse than anything ever had, including Reavers. After he left home, he'd sworn he'd never give another man control over his life, but he'd done that with Mal. Hell, even that last fight, he hadn't even really tried to take Mal down. No other man would ever get a free punch at Jayne Cobb, but when Mal had caught him with a nasty right, Jayne had just accepted it.
But Mal hadn't ever taken liberties beyond a captain taking care of the discipline of those on his ship. River had made it a mite bit more personal. Jayne scratched the scar from where her knife had slid into his guts. Knowing she'd done that… part of him had wanted to get as far away as possible.
Another part did wish it'd been River and not Kaylee chasing after him. His cock warmed at the memory of her holding him down and running that fingernail across his face. He could imagine a whip in her hand easy enough, at least if it weren't for Mal and Simon. The gorram doctor would get that amused look on his face, and after Jayne backhanded some manners into him, River would probably gut him again. His head definitely wasn't screwed on tight enough, especially since he still couldn't figure what he would have done if River had pulled him back on board. And knowing that she was capable of really hurting him… his chun zi cock gave a good twitch.
"You looking for passage?" a small Asian woman asked. Jayne looked up at her and turned away without answering. He wasn't paying for a ride off this rock. Maybe he would've gotten that desperate on Tanish 5, but at a port this size, someone would see the value of having crew like Jayne on board. And if he couldn't find anything today, he had credits enough to find a place for the night. He thought about buying himself a whore. Normally, he would be lusting the minute he hit planet with credits to burn, but right now, his chun zi cock couldn't care less about some cow-faced chou san ba who would sink to her knees on his orders.
Heading north, he walked the line of ships and studied each board where the captains had posted what they had for sale and what they were lookin' for. With any luck, he could find a ship looking for muscle. He just needed to find some work that would give him something to think about.
Two hours later, Jayne was about ready to go back and see if Serenity was still in dock. Alliance was spreading its fingers farther and farther, and now, with the Reavers on the decline, wasn't much call for a hired gun. Leastwise, there wasn't much call for Jayne's sort of hired gun. Two different ship boards had advertised for people good at investigating planet-side situations, which was a nice way of saying someone who could go in and take care of a nice little assassination or case a place all quiet-like, but Jayne didn't even bother talking to the captains. He was lots of things, but quiet wasn't one.
Dropping his bag next to one more ship board, he cringed at the first column with the ship's offerings. He didn't think much of those that worked on slaver ships, but right now, he was getting desperate. And the ship's ports of call included Jiangyin and Whitefall, which were definitely places where his talent might be appreciated a mite bit more. Course, on Jiangyin he might end up doing farm work, but it wasn't like Jayne didn't know which end of a shovel to use.
Staring at the board, he tried hard not to think about what Kaylee would say if she saw him considering the Henrietta. Jayne stood trying to decide if his reluctance to ask for the captain was his common sense or just some left over bits of Kaylee that had rubbed off.
"Ya looking for work?" A tall, stovepipe-shaped man walked up and leaned against the ship board. He tilted his hat back as he considered Jayne. His arms were wiry with muscle, and the casual way he leaned against the board told Jayne that this was a man with more strength than showed on the surface. The gray eyes were calculating and cautious, just the sort of man Jayne understood.
"Might be," he acknowledged.
"Ever worked a slaver?"
"No."
"Got a problem with a slaver ship?" the man crooked an eyebrow.
The direct question startled Jayne, and his first reaction was to say that he did, but then it wasn't like he had a lot of room to judge, not when he remembered how his own ex-partner had ended up in a little cage for years after Jayne dumped him on his ass mid-job. Life had been simpler then. He hadn't felt those nagging doubts when he'd been that man. The man who double-crossed Stitch Hessian didn't let things like other people's ethics slow him down. Decision made. "As long as I get a fair wage, my theory is every man for himself," Jayne shrugged.
"Pay's good."
"How good?"
"A hundred and twenty credits per run, five percent profits for new-signs."
"Last ship I got more," Jayne commented casually. He ignored a little stab in his guts that hit him hard enough to make him absent-mindedly scratch his stomach.
"Survive your first run without doing something stupid, and we can renegotiate," stovepipeman said seriously. Jayne considered him without answering, still scratching his stomach.
"Quarters?"
"Two to a room."
"Want a private," Jayne immediately answered. The man narrowed his eyes and considered Jayne.
"Private room, fifty credits flat plus five percent."
"Private room, a hundred credits, and my percentage," Jayne countered. For the first time since River had crept into his room, he felt in control—balanced. Hell, maybe for the first time since Mal had caught him trying to sell out the Tams. Standing in that airlock waiting for Mal to kill him, Jayne had somehow lost his balance, and he hadn't never gotten it back, but this was familiar. Stovepipe man pulled out a cigarette and lighted it as he considered Jayne.
"Ya worth it?" he finally asked. Jayne gave a slow smile.
"Every credit. You got a dirty job what needs doing, and I'm the one who'll get it done," Jayne agreed. Stovepipe man pushed his hat back far enough to show the wispy hair around the edges of a spreading bald spot and took a deep drag at his cigarette.
"Jin Bennett," the man said as he stuck out his hand, cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Jayne Cobb," he offered as he shook the man's hand.
"Come on then. I'll give ya a proper introduction to the crew."
Jayne followed his new captain up the ramp into the hull of the Henrietta. Permanent cages set into the sides of the main cargo area still had a few slaves leaning against the bars. Most were men, one was a woman who looked like she could take Zoe in a straight fight, leastwise if she rushed Zoe fast and didn't let the soldier get her fancy moves going. The slave sat on the floor, her hand wrapped around the bars on one side of her cage, and her bare feet braced on the bars on the other side.
Jayne felt a crawling sensation in his guts which he promptly put down to not eatin' anything before leaving the Serenity.
"Crew quarters through here. You can have number 11," Bennett offered as he waved toward a passage.
"Key?" Jayne asked. The captain turned and considered him.
"Ya'll don't need one much around here," he said slowly.
"If one of them slaves gets loose, I don't plan on having my shit touched," Jayne crossed his arms and just waited for a key.
"Yer a suspicious son of a bitch, aren't ya?"
"Reckon I am," Jayne agreed with a shrug.
"I'll have the first mate run ya up a key. But a work-slave's worth more than three years of your wages, so if one of them gets loose, yer job is to catch 'em easy without anyone's shit getting touched and without the slave turning up damaged."
"Fair enough," Jayne agreed. As long as he had his key and his private space, he didn't much care what the other rules were on the ship.
"And the work slaves are off limits. If ya want to get a woman, you get one planetside. I catch you screwing the work slaves, even if they invite you into their cage for a spell, and I'll castrate ya myself. Did it to a randy son of a bitch a few deckhands past."
"If I need getting sexed, I can find me a whore easy enough," Jayne agreed. The captain didn't need to know that Jayne had no interest. Hell, a night in his bunk and his hand was about all he felt up to right now. Gorram River had left him raw, and a whore was the last thing on his mind.
"Ya just might fit in fine," Jin said as he pushed open the door to the main galley. "Found us a replacement for Natie," he said to the crew gathered in the small space.
Four men were playing cards, the deck flashing with holograms of naked women that Jayne could see even from across the room. A woman with a scarred face was tending to her gun and a boy who didn't look old enough to be away from his mother's skirt was on a computer terminal.
"Jayne Cobb, meet the crew of the Henrietta. Crew, this is Jayne Cobb." Jayne nodded as he looked around the room. This is where he belonged, with men who were as rough as he was and wouldn't care none if he was speaking the truth or giving someone a shove. Forget the Serenity and gorram River Tam with her lessons on manners. Jayne Cobb was officially a slaver.