Oh look, I wrote another little snippet. Shiny!

This one’s set between the BDM and my story “Seeing the Light”. Maybe Kaylee wasn’t the only one that noticed something was up with Jayne…

SHATTERPROOF

Inara Serra walks Serenity’s narrow passages with fresh purpose these days. In the wake of recent tribulations, the ship feels like her home now - again - welcoming and warm, a place where her heart truly is.

Of course, that feeling may have more to do with the captain than the vessel herself.

While it’s a certainty that she and Mal continue to dance around each other in an eternal pas de deux, it’s a familiar rhythm to them both and they know the steps so well that they only occasionally step on each other’s toes. He actually apologizes when that happens now, which is a new and surprising development.

Almost as big a surprise is what she sees when she takes the stairway down into the common area.

Jayne Cobb is perched on the edge of the saggy old sofa. Aside the fact that she’s never ever seen the big mercenary sit there before and he doesn’t seem the slightest bit comfortable, it’s the expression on his face that shocks her.

‘Haunted’ is the only word she can think of that comes close to describing it. He’s pale to the point of ashen, cheeks hollowed and gaunt as he chews on a ragged thumbnail and stares intently through the infirmary window. He doesn’t turn and leer at her, or make a single crude remark. In fact, he doesn’t acknowledge her presence at all.

Inara wonders what in the universe could garner such a reaction. Or lack of reaction, rather. Of all the crew, Jayne’s the one who comes across as virtually indestructible. Hardly anything ever manages to penetrate that thick veneer of blunt and bluster, be it word or weapon. He’s the hard man among them: tough, strong. Shatterproof. It’s not like him to show weakness like this.

Then again, that’s not entirely true, either. She has seen hints of a childlike vulnerability lurking beneath that unyielding surface. There is an