Everyone was waitin’ fer the job that night, so there wasn’t much ta do. Kaylee an’ Jayne sat in the little room off the kitchen most of the day. They changed position every once in a while. Mostly they were just… tagether.

The crew, ‘ceptin the doc, were pretty acceptin’ ‘a the stuff goin’ on between Jayne an’ little Kaylee. Nobody really said much, ‘cept Inara, who only said she was glad they was happy.

Jayne was happy. He liked ta think Kaylee was, too. He’d thought about holdin’ Kaylee, kissin’ her, playin’ with her hair, all that, fer so long he kept expectin’ ta wake up. He was in a haze—on a high a thousand times better thn’ kosu weed. Kaylee. Kaylee weed.

Gorram, he was happy. Felt off ta be so happy. But for Kaylee… he’d allow it.

She had her head in his lap. Her eyes were closed. Jayne thought she might’ve fallen asleep until she sighed.

“I oughta be doin’ somethin’.”

He brushed her hair off her forehead. “Ship ain’t runnin’. What do you reckon you’ve got ta do?”

She sighed. “I dunno. Somethin’. Don’t feel right ta be just sittin’ here bein’ all happy an’ warm with you. I feel like Mal’s gonna come in here an’ yell at us.”

She opened her eyes. “Not that I’m complainin’.” She smiled.

Jayne put his hand along her jaw an’ traced her lips with his thumb. Strange, how he couldn’t help touchin’ her.

“Yer ruinin’ my reputation, Little Kaylee.”

“You have a reputation?”

“’Course I do. I’m a womanizin’ hard-assed mercenary. I ain’t supposed ta cuddle.”

She sat up. Jayne could see she was holdin’ back a laugh. She got up an’ dusted her lap off. “Maybe I can see if Inara’s busy.”

Jayne growled an reached out fer her. He grabbed her around the waist an’ pulled her onta his lap. He jabbed her in the ribs, makin’ her squirm an’ laugh like anythin’.

Someone cleared their throat. Jayne stopped ticklin’ Kaylee an’ looked up.

Mal was standin’ with his arms crossed. “Hate to interrupt, but I believe we got a caper to pull off.”

Kaylee sat u