Jayne knelt on the hard floor of the infirmary, looking up at Kaylee as she dabbed at the cut on his brow, “Should have Simon look at this, I’m not certain it don’t need stitches.”

He just kept gazing at her, watching the worry knit her brow, the tip of her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated, doing her best not to hurt him, like he hadn’t been through twenty times worse than the little cut. She kept on a steady stream of chatter aimed at distracting him from the pain, and it made Jayne feel a little guilty for havin’ her fawnin’ over just a bitty lil’ cut

Not guilty enough to stop her, though.

He liked having her standin’ close enough to smell, her little body radiating heat and that bright smile o’ hers aimed at him. Even if it was more of a worried frown than a smile. Didn’t make no difference really, she still glowed bright enough to light a room.

Jayne was a selfish man, which was why he did what he did next, before Kaylee went and realized what Jayne knew all along…. Girl was too damn everything for the likes of him.

“Marry me.”

Kaylee froze, her hand in mid-air between them, the dollop of antibiotic cream slipping from her fingers to land on the floor with a plop. “Sha-mu?”

He cleared his throat, “Marry Me."

“Oh, Jayne…” she shook her head, suddenly breathless. “Cap’n wouldn’t ever let us.”

His expression darkened, “I ain’t askin’ the Captain. I’m askin’ you.”

“Ya don’t gotta ask,” she whispered, ducking her head to brush her mouth over his and went right back to tending his wound. Ever the practical one, his Kaylee. His.

Weren’t nothin’ that could knock the stupid grin off his face. “You just leave the Captain to me.”

~

Kaylee had her wedding in the cargo bay, floating just outside the Beijuanese quadrant. River and Inara had draped with catwalk with wisps of white fabric, to camouflage the unforgiving metal and collected flowers at their last stop to weave through her hair. Wash stood up beside Jayne in his best hawaii