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Thoughts Colored Ugly 7
River makes her move.
Thoughts Colored Ugly 7/?
River/Jayne
Rated: ADULT
Warnings: Dom/sub, slavery, angst.
Previous parts
Thoughts Colored Ugly 7/?
River/Jayne
Rated: ADULT
Warnings: Dom/sub, slavery, angst.
Previous parts
The barker stood on the slave platform behind Jayne and gestured toward him. There was a goodly crowd, and Jayne tried his best to ignore all those eyes on him as the barker worked the crowd. "Next up is Jayne Cobb. He's a new one, only three weeks with Killer Mann, so you know he's coming with just as much spunk as he had when he signed that contract in Shiner's Gambling House." A soft laugh ran through the crowd, and Jayne crossed his arms and tried hard to not react to having so many people talking about him. The two guards that stood on either side helped a mite bit with that part.
"He worked as a ship hand on the Henrietta and a half dozen ships before that. Grew up on a farm, and Manny says he replaced the whole fence 'round the front of his property. Seeing as how Manny couldn't motivate a rabbit to reproduce, I think it's safe to say this one isn't adverse to hard work." This time the laughter was louder, and Jayne glanced over toward Manny who just laughed along with the rest of them. If that were Jayne, he'd be breaking the slave barker into little pieces for sayin' shi like that. Could be that was why most people wouldn't say something like that about Jayne.
"He looks tough, and if he replaced that whole fence on Manny's property, I'm guessing that it's fair to say he is tough, but Manny left him working the farm with Ursula there on her own, so either Jayne's not nearly as mean as he looks or Manny's a whole lot stupider than we all thought he was." That got an even bigger laugh. "Of course, ya'll saw what happened when one of the customers decided to go and take a nap on him. He may look mean as a rabid badger, but this one seems to be more bark than bite."
Jayne glared up at the barker, and would have been plenty happy to show the man just how much bite he had. Unfortunately, the guards stepped closer and the barker just laughed and gave Jayne's shoulder a friendly slap.
"Let's start with the standard 400 credits. I got anyone interested?" Several hands went up.
The barker rubbed his hands in undisguised glee, and Jayne really hated that this man would be getting a percentage of Mal's money. "Seems like we have a bit of a horserace for this one. Anyone interested at 500?"
A couple of men up front, a woman in yellow, Mal, and River all raised their hands. Even though Mal and River were standing near the back, Jayne could see the captain give River a mighty unhappy look. Might have something to do with the fact that her cuddling had convinced a number of people that Jayne weren't a dangerous sort. Drove his price right up, and if Jayne weren't anxious to get out of town, he'd be happy to disabuse the town of that belief.
"600?" the barker asked. Mal, River and a man up front still raised their hands.
"650?" This time it was only Mal and River with their hands up. Even though Jayne knew Mal would buy him, seeing the other fellow drop out of the bidding still made a wave of relief wash through. Would have sat down right in the dust of the road if there weren't so many people still staring at him.
"650!" Mal called out.
"We have 650, but come on, people. Big slave like this could do a lot of work. Manny said he even volunteered to run the Mann place, put in some cows and a cornfield. I know some of you widows could use a big strapping man who don't need supervising around the place," the barker cajoled the crowd.
"670," a woman in a blue dress called. She had a face like a horse and a half-dozen kids attached to her skirts.
"680," Mal immediately countered. The crowd fell silent as the barker scanned their faces. Whatever he saw, he decided to push a little harder.
"We can do better. Look at his muscle. And did ya'll see how quick he was to get away from that girl who went and cuddled up with him? He sure hadn't invited her to sit down, but he didn't say nothing about her falling asleep in his lap. That's a slave you don't have to worry about around your children."
"700," the woman in the blue dress called out. Another woman called out "710." Jayne was about ready to kill someone just to recover his reputation. They were making him out to be some sort of teddy bear, and even his best glare weren't slowing them down. "720," the blue dress yelled. "730," the other countered.
This were hell. Jayne had up and died and no one had bothered telling him. If story of this got out, Jayne weren't never living it down. Zoe would make those quiet-like comments that didn't sound like insults until he'd thought about it a spell and the doc would just come right out with the meanness. And with the captain and River watching, no way in guai that the rest of the crew wasn't going to hear all about it. Hell, any man here would let River do whatever she gorram wanted if they'd seen her go ripping through the Reavers, but all these folk saw it as proof that Jayne were something warm and fuzzy. And Mann…. Jayne was fighting real hard to not go over and punch that wide toothy smile of his.
"750," Mal shouted from the back. There was another pause as the crowd waited.
"Ladies?" the barker asked. First one and then the other shook her head. "Any other bidders? The stranger is getting a deal at 750. 500 gets you most standard work slaves, and Jayne here is far from standard. No supervising needed. Looks tough enough to keep most folks from messing with him, so you don't have to go rescuing your property from every teen playing a prank. My guess is that any teen playing a prank would find himself on the right end of a switch if he messed with Jayne here, but he's got a good temperament. You ain't going to find one like this again, so are you good folks really going to let a stranger walk away with the deal of the auction?" He looked around the crowd, and Jayne thought he just might have a blush going. He hadn't blushed since he was 15 and figured out just how getting sexed worked, but he could feel the heat in his face as he tried. Gorram embarrassing.
"We'll give 780," an old woman called. She was standing near another woman who looked positively ancient.
"800," Mal immediately shouted, but he weren't sounding happy about it.
"Now that's a little more fair, but he's still a bargain. Surely someone can pay the price Jayne here deserves. You know what they say, a good-natured slave is worth twice the slave price. This one is good-natured and huge. You won't find another like Jayne in a year of auctions." The barker looked around, but this time no one was meeting Mal's bid. "Last warning!"
"850!" It took Jayne a second to realize that was River's hand up in the air. Mal looked at her blankly for a second before leaning down and saying something in her ear.
"Ah, the young lady who had her nap on him earlier. I bet she felt safe sleeping around such a strapping man." Jayne couldn't contain a snort at that comment. River weren't one to ever feel unsafe. Hell, as much as he hated to admit it, if there were a fight, Jayne'd be one step behind River, close enough to cover her back and far enough way to keep clear of those blades she favored. The barker, however, was clearly ignoring Jayne's amusement. "Don't normally point this out, but for the ladies in the crowd, let me just say that Jayne was security on the Henrietta, did some gun work, so if you're feeling a need for some protection, he'd be the one to provide it. Even without a gun, he's big enough to make an imposing obstacle to anyone trying to take your property or press a courtship you aren't wanting."
That caused a few whispers in the crowd, and Mal was still whispering in River's ear. Jayne smiled. At least he didn't have to be ashamed of someone buying him for protection. Wasn't humiliating the way it was for a woman to buy him because he was warm and cuddly.
"860." Mal hadn't even finished before River was calling out her own bid. "870!" Mal had a look on his face like he might give birth to a litter of cats right there on the street as he bent down and whispered in River's ear again. Her head tilted to the side.
"Seems we still have a horserace here. Manny, I don't think you've ever done so well, have you?" the barker turned to Jayne's current owner as Mal and River did their conversating. Of course, it seemed that Mal was doing most of the actual talking.
"Nope," Mann agreed with a huge smile. "Had one who went for 600 once, but I never had one who worked as hard as Jayne or who was just so nice," Mann agreed. Jayne glared at the man. People had called him lots of things in his life, but no one ever called Jayne Cobb nice. "He has a nasty glare to him, but I just got used to that because he's the best I ever owned. Would've kept him if Ursula had let me," Mann finished happily.
"The bid is with the sleepy lady right now at 870, does anyone want to make another bid?" the barker called as he looked right at Mal and River.
"880," Mal offered.
"900," River all but shouted.
"Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng," Mal cursed, and a huge laugh rolled through the crowd, at least those who weren't too busy being shocked.
"I think the stranger might have just been outbid by the girl. With a poker face like that, I wouldn't recommend that you visit our gambling houses unless the girl there can afford to buy you, too," the barker joked, and the crowd laughed, either because of the joke or because of the bright color Mal had turned. He was busy apologizing to the ladies standing close to him while River started weaving her way through the crowd.
"We're at 900, is anyone else going to jump in and give the sleepy girl a run for her money?" he called. Jayne gave Mal his best death glare, but the captain was too busy apologizing to some harpy to even notice that River was about to get the bid. No one answered, and this time the barker ended it quick. "Well, then, last warning. . . and sold to the young lady who had her very public nap this morning. Congratulations."
The barker gave Jayne one last pat on the shoulder as he jumped off Jayne's slave platform and walked to the next one. The guards were just pulling the young man to the ground in front of his platform, hands firmly on his arms, more because he looked ready to pass out than because he looked like he was planning to fight. The barker stopped and said a few words to him before stepping up onto the slave platform behind the boy and starting his next auction.
"Jayne, I hope you'll be okay. I really do wish I could keep you, but 900. 900, Jayne. 900." Mann looked ready to start either dancing or hyperventilating as the accountant with the record book and his own guards came walking up to them. River appeared out of the crowd which had shifted to see the new show, and immediately she rested her hand on his arm.
"He's a good man. I know no one wants to be told how to handle their slaves, but he doesn't need the whip," Mann hurried to tell her. River smiled, but it was an expression that looked almost normal, not the smile that made Jayne's balls crawl back up inside for protection.
"He's a very good man," River agreed.
Jayne opened his mouth to disagree, but her fingers dug into the soft part of his arm, so she obviously weren't feeling sane enough to leave off intimidating him.
"Now, I don't want anyone to get upset," Mal said as he finally caught up to the rest of them. It wasn't a good way to start a conversation with armed men because both guards instantly stiffened. One put his hand on the butt of his gun. "River ain't got 900 credits. Now, I'm willing to cover my last bid, and there weren't nobody else bidding against me, so I figure 880's a reasonable price."
River didn't answer, but she did pull a mighty impressive pile of credits out of her belt.
"Aiya," Mal breathed. "River, exactly where did you amass a pile of credits that size?" Mal asked cautiously. Jayne felt a stab of sympathy for the man because when you were dealing with River, you never did know quite what you were going to end up getting.
She calmly counted out 900, which was less than a third of the sizable stack before tucking the rest away. The accountant took 90 credits, recorded the sale and ran a scanner over the back of Jayne's arm where the chip had been injected.
"Sold the shuttle," River answered calmly.
"You…" Mal choked so bad he just stopped talking for a second. "You sold… You… Shun-sheng duh gao-wahn… You sold the shuttle you done stole from ME?" he demanded. Even Jayne backed up a step, but River just smiled sweetly up at him and there was something powerful disturbing about a girl who didn't even bat an eye at Mal's anger.
"Do we need the magistrate?" the accountant asked from behind his two guards, both had stepped up to shield their boss from any coming evisceration. Mann was behind the accountant looking ready to have that heart attack.
"NO!" Mal shouted so loud that one guard had his gun half out the holster before he realized that Mal was still directing his anger at River. Both guards looked confused at just how little River seemed to care. "Might need an undertaker here in a little while, though," Mal said, his jaw clenched. River just shrugged and turned to the slave master who stood with a key in hand to unlock Jayne's cuff. He'd kind of frozen when it looked like Mal was going to go mental.
"Are you going to unlock him? We need to get back to our ship." River smiled at the man as she put her hand back on Jayne's arm. Mal made a sound that came real close to a horse trying to belch, which weren't a healthful thing.
The slave master glanced toward Mal and then quickly unlocked the shackle from around Jayne's leg before hurrying away. The accountant and Mann were backing up just as quick the other direction.
"You sold my gorram shuttle? You sold my shuttle?" Mal demanded as his face turned red. "Bad enough you go thievin' from me, but you went and sold it?"
"Jayne's worth it," River said calmly as she started walking toward the west end of town. Jayne had to hide a smile at the look of fury on Mal's face. Girl had gotten him that angry more than once, and the captain always gave him the speech about making allowances. Seems like he wasn't in a mood to be making allowances now. The three of them reached the edge of the market, and River slipped her arm into Jayne's so they looked like a regular couple strollin' down the street.
Course, that didn't change the fact that most of the people who passed them had seen Jayne chained to the slave post and River sleeping in his lap. Jayne could only hope that no photographic evidence of that moment would ever appear, and if it did, that he had a chance to kill the owner of the evidence before it could get out.
"Jayne's worth it? That's all you gorram have to say? You went and stole my shuttle, without even a by your leave, and then you sold it, and I can't get a respectable explanation out of you?" Mal demanded just one step behind them. Jayne really was going to strain something trying not to laugh.
"Do you not think Jayne's worth a shuttle?" River asked suddenly as she stopped so sudden that she jerked Jayne's arm. She tilted her head as she looked back at Mal.
"I didn't say Jayne weren't worth it," Mal quickly answered with a concerned look toward Jayne, but for his part, he was enjoying the show too much to get offended. "I would've sold the shuttle myself if'n I thought we needed to. But I had the credit for buyin' Jayne, and you went and stole that shuttle from me."
"I didn't want you to buy him." River stopped in the middle of the street at the edge of the market.
"I reckon that since my shuttle paid his slave price, I bought him," Mal snorted. "900 gorram credits, and those are comin' out of your shares, Jayne. I figure if you give one-quarter back to the Serenity every run, you should break even about the time you turn a hundred."
River let go of Jayne's arm and planted herself in front of Mal, her head tilted to the side and her hands in fists, which wasn't never something you wanted to see on River. Even Mal backed up a step.
"I bought him. I owe you a shuttle, and I'll repay you. You didn't pay one credit for Jayne," she said fiercely. Mal looked up, trading confused looks with Jayne.
"Supposin' we ask Jayne here who'd he'd like to owe 900 credits for his bone-headed stupidity," Mal suggested. Jayne opened his mouth to agree with that, but River twirled back around and caught his arm as she started down the walk again.
"Ain't askin' Jayne. I bought him, and if you want to have me arrested for stealing the shuttle, you can captain, but that won't change the fact that I bought Jayne fair and square."
"Mei-mei, ain't right, buying a man like that," Mal tried as he followed them down the street. Jayne narrowed his eyes and watched River carefully. She was sounding all sane, but she obviously weren't giving up easy on the idea of owning him.
"Didn't buy a man, bought Jayne," River said with perfect River logic.
"I am a gorram man," Jayne snapped. River glanced up without slowing her walk a bit.
"You're a man, but not a generic man. You're Jayne. Wouldn't want to just buy a man, wanted to buy you. I shouldn't have let you walk away, but now I'm fixing that. Where do they sell chains?" River's words danced from one topic to the next so quickly that Jayne hadn't even processed the last question before River was pulling him toward a storefront on the far side of the street, "Land's Hope Smithing and Chains" painted on the front window.
"Cao," Mal swore from his spot trailing them, and Jayne agreed. Unfortunately, between River being his legal owner and River being River, he wasn't quite sure what he should do about it. Jayne glanced back toward Mal for help, and the captain could only shrug helplessly.
"He worked as a ship hand on the Henrietta and a half dozen ships before that. Grew up on a farm, and Manny says he replaced the whole fence 'round the front of his property. Seeing as how Manny couldn't motivate a rabbit to reproduce, I think it's safe to say this one isn't adverse to hard work." This time the laughter was louder, and Jayne glanced over toward Manny who just laughed along with the rest of them. If that were Jayne, he'd be breaking the slave barker into little pieces for sayin' shi like that. Could be that was why most people wouldn't say something like that about Jayne.
"He looks tough, and if he replaced that whole fence on Manny's property, I'm guessing that it's fair to say he is tough, but Manny left him working the farm with Ursula there on her own, so either Jayne's not nearly as mean as he looks or Manny's a whole lot stupider than we all thought he was." That got an even bigger laugh. "Of course, ya'll saw what happened when one of the customers decided to go and take a nap on him. He may look mean as a rabid badger, but this one seems to be more bark than bite."
Jayne glared up at the barker, and would have been plenty happy to show the man just how much bite he had. Unfortunately, the guards stepped closer and the barker just laughed and gave Jayne's shoulder a friendly slap.
"Let's start with the standard 400 credits. I got anyone interested?" Several hands went up.
The barker rubbed his hands in undisguised glee, and Jayne really hated that this man would be getting a percentage of Mal's money. "Seems like we have a bit of a horserace for this one. Anyone interested at 500?"
A couple of men up front, a woman in yellow, Mal, and River all raised their hands. Even though Mal and River were standing near the back, Jayne could see the captain give River a mighty unhappy look. Might have something to do with the fact that her cuddling had convinced a number of people that Jayne weren't a dangerous sort. Drove his price right up, and if Jayne weren't anxious to get out of town, he'd be happy to disabuse the town of that belief.
"600?" the barker asked. Mal, River and a man up front still raised their hands.
"650?" This time it was only Mal and River with their hands up. Even though Jayne knew Mal would buy him, seeing the other fellow drop out of the bidding still made a wave of relief wash through. Would have sat down right in the dust of the road if there weren't so many people still staring at him.
"650!" Mal called out.
"We have 650, but come on, people. Big slave like this could do a lot of work. Manny said he even volunteered to run the Mann place, put in some cows and a cornfield. I know some of you widows could use a big strapping man who don't need supervising around the place," the barker cajoled the crowd.
"670," a woman in a blue dress called. She had a face like a horse and a half-dozen kids attached to her skirts.
"680," Mal immediately countered. The crowd fell silent as the barker scanned their faces. Whatever he saw, he decided to push a little harder.
"We can do better. Look at his muscle. And did ya'll see how quick he was to get away from that girl who went and cuddled up with him? He sure hadn't invited her to sit down, but he didn't say nothing about her falling asleep in his lap. That's a slave you don't have to worry about around your children."
"700," the woman in the blue dress called out. Another woman called out "710." Jayne was about ready to kill someone just to recover his reputation. They were making him out to be some sort of teddy bear, and even his best glare weren't slowing them down. "720," the blue dress yelled. "730," the other countered.
This were hell. Jayne had up and died and no one had bothered telling him. If story of this got out, Jayne weren't never living it down. Zoe would make those quiet-like comments that didn't sound like insults until he'd thought about it a spell and the doc would just come right out with the meanness. And with the captain and River watching, no way in guai that the rest of the crew wasn't going to hear all about it. Hell, any man here would let River do whatever she gorram wanted if they'd seen her go ripping through the Reavers, but all these folk saw it as proof that Jayne were something warm and fuzzy. And Mann…. Jayne was fighting real hard to not go over and punch that wide toothy smile of his.
"750," Mal shouted from the back. There was another pause as the crowd waited.
"Ladies?" the barker asked. First one and then the other shook her head. "Any other bidders? The stranger is getting a deal at 750. 500 gets you most standard work slaves, and Jayne here is far from standard. No supervising needed. Looks tough enough to keep most folks from messing with him, so you don't have to go rescuing your property from every teen playing a prank. My guess is that any teen playing a prank would find himself on the right end of a switch if he messed with Jayne here, but he's got a good temperament. You ain't going to find one like this again, so are you good folks really going to let a stranger walk away with the deal of the auction?" He looked around the crowd, and Jayne thought he just might have a blush going. He hadn't blushed since he was 15 and figured out just how getting sexed worked, but he could feel the heat in his face as he tried. Gorram embarrassing.
"We'll give 780," an old woman called. She was standing near another woman who looked positively ancient.
"800," Mal immediately shouted, but he weren't sounding happy about it.
"Now that's a little more fair, but he's still a bargain. Surely someone can pay the price Jayne here deserves. You know what they say, a good-natured slave is worth twice the slave price. This one is good-natured and huge. You won't find another like Jayne in a year of auctions." The barker looked around, but this time no one was meeting Mal's bid. "Last warning!"
"850!" It took Jayne a second to realize that was River's hand up in the air. Mal looked at her blankly for a second before leaning down and saying something in her ear.
"Ah, the young lady who had her nap on him earlier. I bet she felt safe sleeping around such a strapping man." Jayne couldn't contain a snort at that comment. River weren't one to ever feel unsafe. Hell, as much as he hated to admit it, if there were a fight, Jayne'd be one step behind River, close enough to cover her back and far enough way to keep clear of those blades she favored. The barker, however, was clearly ignoring Jayne's amusement. "Don't normally point this out, but for the ladies in the crowd, let me just say that Jayne was security on the Henrietta, did some gun work, so if you're feeling a need for some protection, he'd be the one to provide it. Even without a gun, he's big enough to make an imposing obstacle to anyone trying to take your property or press a courtship you aren't wanting."
That caused a few whispers in the crowd, and Mal was still whispering in River's ear. Jayne smiled. At least he didn't have to be ashamed of someone buying him for protection. Wasn't humiliating the way it was for a woman to buy him because he was warm and cuddly.
"860." Mal hadn't even finished before River was calling out her own bid. "870!" Mal had a look on his face like he might give birth to a litter of cats right there on the street as he bent down and whispered in River's ear again. Her head tilted to the side.
"Seems we still have a horserace here. Manny, I don't think you've ever done so well, have you?" the barker turned to Jayne's current owner as Mal and River did their conversating. Of course, it seemed that Mal was doing most of the actual talking.
"Nope," Mann agreed with a huge smile. "Had one who went for 600 once, but I never had one who worked as hard as Jayne or who was just so nice," Mann agreed. Jayne glared at the man. People had called him lots of things in his life, but no one ever called Jayne Cobb nice. "He has a nasty glare to him, but I just got used to that because he's the best I ever owned. Would've kept him if Ursula had let me," Mann finished happily.
"The bid is with the sleepy lady right now at 870, does anyone want to make another bid?" the barker called as he looked right at Mal and River.
"880," Mal offered.
"900," River all but shouted.
"Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng," Mal cursed, and a huge laugh rolled through the crowd, at least those who weren't too busy being shocked.
"I think the stranger might have just been outbid by the girl. With a poker face like that, I wouldn't recommend that you visit our gambling houses unless the girl there can afford to buy you, too," the barker joked, and the crowd laughed, either because of the joke or because of the bright color Mal had turned. He was busy apologizing to the ladies standing close to him while River started weaving her way through the crowd.
"We're at 900, is anyone else going to jump in and give the sleepy girl a run for her money?" he called. Jayne gave Mal his best death glare, but the captain was too busy apologizing to some harpy to even notice that River was about to get the bid. No one answered, and this time the barker ended it quick. "Well, then, last warning. . . and sold to the young lady who had her very public nap this morning. Congratulations."
The barker gave Jayne one last pat on the shoulder as he jumped off Jayne's slave platform and walked to the next one. The guards were just pulling the young man to the ground in front of his platform, hands firmly on his arms, more because he looked ready to pass out than because he looked like he was planning to fight. The barker stopped and said a few words to him before stepping up onto the slave platform behind the boy and starting his next auction.
"Jayne, I hope you'll be okay. I really do wish I could keep you, but 900. 900, Jayne. 900." Mann looked ready to start either dancing or hyperventilating as the accountant with the record book and his own guards came walking up to them. River appeared out of the crowd which had shifted to see the new show, and immediately she rested her hand on his arm.
"He's a good man. I know no one wants to be told how to handle their slaves, but he doesn't need the whip," Mann hurried to tell her. River smiled, but it was an expression that looked almost normal, not the smile that made Jayne's balls crawl back up inside for protection.
"He's a very good man," River agreed.
Jayne opened his mouth to disagree, but her fingers dug into the soft part of his arm, so she obviously weren't feeling sane enough to leave off intimidating him.
"Now, I don't want anyone to get upset," Mal said as he finally caught up to the rest of them. It wasn't a good way to start a conversation with armed men because both guards instantly stiffened. One put his hand on the butt of his gun. "River ain't got 900 credits. Now, I'm willing to cover my last bid, and there weren't nobody else bidding against me, so I figure 880's a reasonable price."
River didn't answer, but she did pull a mighty impressive pile of credits out of her belt.
"Aiya," Mal breathed. "River, exactly where did you amass a pile of credits that size?" Mal asked cautiously. Jayne felt a stab of sympathy for the man because when you were dealing with River, you never did know quite what you were going to end up getting.
She calmly counted out 900, which was less than a third of the sizable stack before tucking the rest away. The accountant took 90 credits, recorded the sale and ran a scanner over the back of Jayne's arm where the chip had been injected.
"Sold the shuttle," River answered calmly.
"You…" Mal choked so bad he just stopped talking for a second. "You sold… You… Shun-sheng duh gao-wahn… You sold the shuttle you done stole from ME?" he demanded. Even Jayne backed up a step, but River just smiled sweetly up at him and there was something powerful disturbing about a girl who didn't even bat an eye at Mal's anger.
"Do we need the magistrate?" the accountant asked from behind his two guards, both had stepped up to shield their boss from any coming evisceration. Mann was behind the accountant looking ready to have that heart attack.
"NO!" Mal shouted so loud that one guard had his gun half out the holster before he realized that Mal was still directing his anger at River. Both guards looked confused at just how little River seemed to care. "Might need an undertaker here in a little while, though," Mal said, his jaw clenched. River just shrugged and turned to the slave master who stood with a key in hand to unlock Jayne's cuff. He'd kind of frozen when it looked like Mal was going to go mental.
"Are you going to unlock him? We need to get back to our ship." River smiled at the man as she put her hand back on Jayne's arm. Mal made a sound that came real close to a horse trying to belch, which weren't a healthful thing.
The slave master glanced toward Mal and then quickly unlocked the shackle from around Jayne's leg before hurrying away. The accountant and Mann were backing up just as quick the other direction.
"You sold my gorram shuttle? You sold my shuttle?" Mal demanded as his face turned red. "Bad enough you go thievin' from me, but you went and sold it?"
"Jayne's worth it," River said calmly as she started walking toward the west end of town. Jayne had to hide a smile at the look of fury on Mal's face. Girl had gotten him that angry more than once, and the captain always gave him the speech about making allowances. Seems like he wasn't in a mood to be making allowances now. The three of them reached the edge of the market, and River slipped her arm into Jayne's so they looked like a regular couple strollin' down the street.
Course, that didn't change the fact that most of the people who passed them had seen Jayne chained to the slave post and River sleeping in his lap. Jayne could only hope that no photographic evidence of that moment would ever appear, and if it did, that he had a chance to kill the owner of the evidence before it could get out.
"Jayne's worth it? That's all you gorram have to say? You went and stole my shuttle, without even a by your leave, and then you sold it, and I can't get a respectable explanation out of you?" Mal demanded just one step behind them. Jayne really was going to strain something trying not to laugh.
"Do you not think Jayne's worth a shuttle?" River asked suddenly as she stopped so sudden that she jerked Jayne's arm. She tilted her head as she looked back at Mal.
"I didn't say Jayne weren't worth it," Mal quickly answered with a concerned look toward Jayne, but for his part, he was enjoying the show too much to get offended. "I would've sold the shuttle myself if'n I thought we needed to. But I had the credit for buyin' Jayne, and you went and stole that shuttle from me."
"I didn't want you to buy him." River stopped in the middle of the street at the edge of the market.
"I reckon that since my shuttle paid his slave price, I bought him," Mal snorted. "900 gorram credits, and those are comin' out of your shares, Jayne. I figure if you give one-quarter back to the Serenity every run, you should break even about the time you turn a hundred."
River let go of Jayne's arm and planted herself in front of Mal, her head tilted to the side and her hands in fists, which wasn't never something you wanted to see on River. Even Mal backed up a step.
"I bought him. I owe you a shuttle, and I'll repay you. You didn't pay one credit for Jayne," she said fiercely. Mal looked up, trading confused looks with Jayne.
"Supposin' we ask Jayne here who'd he'd like to owe 900 credits for his bone-headed stupidity," Mal suggested. Jayne opened his mouth to agree with that, but River twirled back around and caught his arm as she started down the walk again.
"Ain't askin' Jayne. I bought him, and if you want to have me arrested for stealing the shuttle, you can captain, but that won't change the fact that I bought Jayne fair and square."
"Mei-mei, ain't right, buying a man like that," Mal tried as he followed them down the street. Jayne narrowed his eyes and watched River carefully. She was sounding all sane, but she obviously weren't giving up easy on the idea of owning him.
"Didn't buy a man, bought Jayne," River said with perfect River logic.
"I am a gorram man," Jayne snapped. River glanced up without slowing her walk a bit.
"You're a man, but not a generic man. You're Jayne. Wouldn't want to just buy a man, wanted to buy you. I shouldn't have let you walk away, but now I'm fixing that. Where do they sell chains?" River's words danced from one topic to the next so quickly that Jayne hadn't even processed the last question before River was pulling him toward a storefront on the far side of the street, "Land's Hope Smithing and Chains" painted on the front window.
"Cao," Mal swore from his spot trailing them, and Jayne agreed. Unfortunately, between River being his legal owner and River being River, he wasn't quite sure what he should do about it. Jayne glanced back toward Mal for help, and the captain could only shrug helplessly.