Jayne yanked impatiently on his collar and leaned against a column in the long hallway outside the ballroom. From his position he couldn’t see Zoë and he didn’t like it one bit. Leaving her alone with Merrick was a piss poor idea, but Mal wasn’t in any frame of mind to hear him out.

“Kaaayleeee.” Mal said for the seventh time. That was six times too many by his estimation which explained why his right eye was doing a jig.

“Right here Cap’n.” Kaylee’s voice finally crackled through the small black box he clutched under white knuckles.

Jayne didn’t miss the giggle before the comm clicked off on Kaylee’s end, seemed Mal didn’t miss it either.

Jayne glanced over his shoulder at the Cap’n who was tucked up in a doorway still on the front end of curses Jayne hadn’t heard since the last time Kaylee and Simon got caught ‘cleanin’ the infirmary naked.

He didn’t blame Mal. He wouldn’t begrudge another man his trim, but there was a time for everything and right in the middle of a job with their asses on the line, wasn’t it.

“Kaylee, I swear on that boy’s wandering wood, if I see or so much as hear him breathe in your direction during a job again, he won’t ever have to worry about fathering any of your brood or anybody else’s. Dong Ma?

“Everything’s shiny Cap’n. It won’t happen again. Promise—”

“Make sure it don’t and this ain’t the end of this. Hear me?”

“Yes, Cap’n.”

“Now, you got an eye on us?”

“One sec…yep, I got your location.”

“Please tell me you secured the line.”

“Anybody listenin’ s’only gettin’ static Cap’n.”

“Good. Now I didn’t get all dressed up just cause I look pretty, where am I heading?”

“The library’s on the other side of the complex Cap’n. This place is like a maze with all them corridors and --”

“Kaylee while I appreciate you trying to cheer me up—”

“Sorry Cap’n, I didn’t mean—“

Mal sighed, “Kaylee.”

“Um, you gotta go straight down the corridor in front of you and take the first right, then down that hal