Rich and Full-Bodied

Author’s Notes:

Written for Razycrandomgirl who requested several prompts. I picked two of them: 1) Zoe gets drunk and 2) Jayne makes a pass at Zoe.

Thank you to my fantastic beta testers, Sharelle and Sarahetc. Any mistakes are, of course, my own.

***

Zoe’s head began to throb quietly but insistently as she simultaneously felt a pleasant buzz begin to meander through her system. Kaylee’s wine never failed. Although somewhat vinegary, it also felt warm and full on the tongue – not that Zoe was much of a wine critic. She certainly wasn’t one who took to drinking just for the sake of getting drunk, though she couldn’t help but note that tonight her desired destination appeared, indeed, to be a state of heedlessness.

She was experiencing thoughts that she wanted cast out of her mind and, feeling weak tonight, had reached for alcohol. She and Wash had received some horrible news today. The pain and sense of loss were one thing, but the future and the comforting that Wash would require were another. Zoe didn’t feel up to the task. She mourned, but she also feared what lay ahead and wondered how she would adequately address it.

The soldier was merely tipsy and not yet drunk, a fact which kept her somewhat alert and fully aware of the sounds of heavy footsteps descending the galley’s stairs. Without turning her head or making any detectable movement, she knew that Jayne was approaching.

“Hey, Zoe,” Jayne began, pulling up a chair and moving it a few inches closer to Zoe’s. “It’s late. What brings a pretty woman like you outta bed at this hour?”

Jayne’s voice was deep and rich. His words were slightly slurred, indicating that he too had been drinking. Zoe sniffed slightly and guessed that he had been hitting the harder stuff and hadn’t stopped at a few glasses, either.

The alcohol had emboldened Jayne, yes, but there was more to it than that. He knew that something was up; something was off-kilter between Wash and Zoe. It was hard to keep secrets on a small spaceship,