“Sit still.”

“I’m tryin’.”

“You’re not trying. You’re ... wriggling.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t get it in your eyes and up your ... ow!”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“It gorram stings!”

“It’s meant to. That’s what it’s for.”

“It’s all your sister’s fault.”

“How can it possibly be anything to do with River?”

“She was the one playing catch with one of those niou se canisters in the bay. Tossed it at me.”

“And you didn’t duck?”

“I caught the damn thing only it went off. Musta been a faulty safety.”

“Then I’m sorry, Jayne, but I’m glad it was you who caught the brunt of it and not River.”

Jayne growled deep in his throat.

“How is he?” Mal leaned into the infirmary, looking from his ex-mercenary to his doctor.

“I’ve cleaned out his eyes,” Simon said, shining a light into those sometime blue, now very much reddened orbs. “He took a full dose, so it’s going to be a while before he can see properly again.”

“I'm blind?” Jayne couldn’t have sounded much more panicked.

“No,” Simon assured him quickly, a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “It’s entirely temporary.”

“Better be.” He winced again. “Nice cargo you got us, Cap,” he groused.

Mal shrugged. “We needed the cashey-money.”

“That much?”

“You want to eat?”

“’Casionally.”

“Then we needed the job.” Mal’s tone softened. “Didn’t anticipate this particular batch of Alliance pacifiers to be quite so ... precipitous.”

“Precipitous?” Simon raised an eyebrow in query.

“I checked it personally and it looks like we got a faulty batch. Far as I can see anyone handling one of the containers would’ve been in danger of it going off afore time.” He chuckled briefly. “And don’t worry – I’ll be having words with Badger.”

“Long as I’m around to see it.” Jayne put a lot of emphasis on ‘see’, although neither man listening was in any doubt that ‘seeing’ was the last thing he wanted to do the self-proclaimed King of Persephone.

“You will,” Simon said, swiping a last wad of decontaminant across his