Firefly, Serenity, and all related proprietary characters are the intellectual property of Joss Whedon and corporations with whom I have no affiliation. Said property does not belong to me, and the fictional story below is of my own creation. (I don’t own ‘em, just like to play with ‘em!)

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River was very pleased with herself, and also with Jayne, although she did feel a little guilty for deceiving Kaylee. Jayne had indeed gotten her discrete message and, all outward indications to the contrary, was very much looking forward to going to see Inara. It simply would not do to have the mechanic finding out too soon about the potential developments between herself and Jayne, but River promised herself that she would make it up to Kaylee somehow; perhaps prodding Simon in the right direction would fit the bill. Stupid gē ge, can’t see what’s right in front of his face. Stupid chuán zhăng, too! Serenity has to be a family, and all families have little families. Without family, everything falls apart. So there has to be little families on Serenity. The beginnings of an idea popped into the teen’s mind, and she smiled into her pillow as her conscious mind shut down, succumbing to sleep.

Meanwhile, Jayne had discreetly made his way to Inara’s shuttle, not wanting to draw any further attention to himself, and quietly knocked on the edge of the open door frame. Inara pulled back the curtain a moment later and ushered the mercenary in before pulling the shuttle door shut behind her, locking it, and throwing the curtain back in place. After looking around for a second, Inara frowned slightly as she realized there was no place for Jayne to sit, except for beside her on the bed, where River had been previously. Every chair, half the bed, and most of the floor were still covered in various bags. “Who knew River would need so many things? I knew she was mostly working with hand-me-downs, but I never imagined just how little she had. Jayne, would you be so kind as to help