I’m just playing with these folks; promise I’ll give ‘em back once I’ve had my fun. No sueing.

Just one more… this is in response to a fluffy little challenge over at livejournal. It’s just improv and I wrote it in the space of an hour or two, so forgive me if it sucks. I get high on reviews, so please be generous with them even if they ain’t nice.

Longing

___

“I want a pony.”

Mal looked sideways at her. Behind them, Jayne snorted out a laugh.

“Ok,” Mal told her as they walked the worn dirt road, the sun on their left. “Why?”

Kaylee adjusted the position her left arm had in his, staring longingly at the wide pasture on their right, and at the small group of horses just beyond the three-railed fence. “’Cause. Don’t tell me you never had a pony when you was growin’ up, cap’n.”

“Had a herd. But they served a purpose, did work.” Earlier this morning, when he’d brought her along with him and Jayne to buy spare rations, he’d thought it was a good idea. A leisurely walk would be nice, as they were in no hurry, and she’d be able to get out of the ship for the short time Serenity would be docked. Maybe if they had enough platinum left over, he could let her pick out the biggest bunch of strawberries in the entire shop.

But the way their conversation was going, she’d be bringing back a new pet instead of fruit.

He wasn’t looking at her, but from the sound of her voice she sounded like she was in the middle of a mild pout. “So did Ram,” she told him. “Took me and my brothers to school, daddy sometimes used him to haul around parts that were too heavy for him, but that weren’t too often… an’ when there wasn’t work we’d take him into town and charge folk to let their kids ride him.”

As amazing as this new bit of information was, Jayne apparently had stopped listening after her first sentence. “You named your horse Ram?”

Mal hid a grin as his mechanic turned to shoot a defiant look at Jayne, her arm still looped with his. “Yeah, ‘cause Jay