Good as Cash, 1/1, Firefly
May. 22nd, 2010 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilascaveTitle: Good as Cash
Author: james
Rating: G
Word Count: 900
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit made
Notes: written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gypsydancergirl's comment_fic prompt.
Summary: Firefly, Jayne & Simon, After a slow month, Jayne doesn't have enough money to send home for Mattie's medicine.
He wasn't good at a lot of things involving learning, but Jayne was good at numbers. Counting numbers, at least, which had once meant counting heads of cattle or counting how many kids he'd helped get dressed and fed breakfast so they could send 'em off to school without leaving someone slumbering in their bed by mistake.
Counting money was easy, motivated young by the coins Momma dropped in his hand -- back when she'd had a job other than staying home trying to raise nine kids. Jayne paused, counting names over in his head. Well, nine if Jeremiah hadn't got himself hung yet. Any given day that wasn't necessarily a sure thing.
But for all that he knew he wasn't good at, he was good at figuring money, both what he had and what was coming up and how he could make one last until the other. And right now, no way he counted made it come out right. It'd been a slow month, and everyone on board knew it – Kaylee was the only one who never talked about it, instead spent her time shining up the ship so she'd do right if something happened to fall into their laps all sudden like.
Jayne liked her style, but it didn't help him right then. He double-checked every spot he could think of in his room for anyplace he might have stashed an extra coin or dollar or credit chit or bar of gold. Nothing.
He'd already sent home what he could, but he was due for sending more -- Mattie's medicines were working, Momma said, but the new ones were expensive and hard to get clean, even on the black market. Jayne had copied down the exact name of what she was taking, but he'd already looked the last time Simon had brought anything on board. He couldn't just take what he needed and send it to her -- but the thought took hold that he could take something else, and sell it.
They were landing on Badmoon in a couple days, and while it wasn't the best place to go selling stolen drugs, he could always find someone on a corner somewhere and make at least a bit of cash. Enough to send home and maybe get them by until they got themselves a real job stealing something worthwhile. With luck Mal would find them a job on Badmoon. They way he'd been talking made it sound like he expected to -- though Jayne had worked on teams a plenty that depended on good morale for not shooting the guy in charge. He didn't reckon Mal's team would shoot him if he didn't get them something, but Jayne recognised the bullshit Mal had been spouting the last few days.
Wasn't no help for it, though, so Jayne waited until Simon was down in the cargo hold with River, doing whatever it was helped keep her this side of psycho. The locks on the drugs cabinets weren't easy, but Jayne didn't have to resort to breaking them with the butt of his pistol.
Because soon as he'd checked each one, he'd heard someone step into the room and had whirled around to find Simon standing there -- his freaky sister hovering right behind him.
"Had a headache," Jayne said, quick like. "Didn't see no point in bothering--"
He stopped, and stared. Simon was holding out his hand -- and right there was a wad of cash. Not much, but from where Jayne was standing it looked like about ten bills, folded together, all neat and tidy.
"River said--" Simon began. Then he just shrugged. "You can owe me."
From the way he said it, Jayne didn't think Simon expected to ever get paid back -- didn't expect to ever ask. Like he thought Jayne wouldn't take a gift.
Jayne went over and took the money, flipped through it his thumb. Twelve bills, not ten, and enough it would get Mattie her medicine and maybe even something left over.
He reckoned he ought to say something, let Simon know he appreciated the gesture or whatever it was Inara was always going on about with Jayne and fixing up his manners. All he could do was nod, and he stepped out off the room past Simon and River -- careful not to touch her because you never knew what sort of thing she'd start yelling or throwing.
A few steps away he stopped, because it didn't seem right to just take his money and not even say a word. Jayne looked back and River and Simon had already gone. Jayne slipped the bills into his pocket and went back to his room. He'd picked up a brochure of Tallis' Paradise, one of those resort planets he'd never gone to and always thought he would if he ever scored big enough.
Momma liked seeing the pictures, exotic and unreal and pretty, she said. He wrapped up what he could find, since it was a lot easier than writing letters. He got his package home all prepared, set it aside for when they landed. Then he thought about it some more, and he headed back up to the mess.
Tonight was Simon's night to clean up the kitchen after dinner; Jayne reckoned it wouldn't do any harm to give him a hand.
Author: james
Rating: G
Word Count: 900
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit made
Notes: written for
gypsydancergirl's comment_fic prompt.Summary: Firefly, Jayne & Simon, After a slow month, Jayne doesn't have enough money to send home for Mattie's medicine.
He wasn't good at a lot of things involving learning, but Jayne was good at numbers. Counting numbers, at least, which had once meant counting heads of cattle or counting how many kids he'd helped get dressed and fed breakfast so they could send 'em off to school without leaving someone slumbering in their bed by mistake.
Counting money was easy, motivated young by the coins Momma dropped in his hand -- back when she'd had a job other than staying home trying to raise nine kids. Jayne paused, counting names over in his head. Well, nine if Jeremiah hadn't got himself hung yet. Any given day that wasn't necessarily a sure thing.
But for all that he knew he wasn't good at, he was good at figuring money, both what he had and what was coming up and how he could make one last until the other. And right now, no way he counted made it come out right. It'd been a slow month, and everyone on board knew it – Kaylee was the only one who never talked about it, instead spent her time shining up the ship so she'd do right if something happened to fall into their laps all sudden like.
Jayne liked her style, but it didn't help him right then. He double-checked every spot he could think of in his room for anyplace he might have stashed an extra coin or dollar or credit chit or bar of gold. Nothing.
He'd already sent home what he could, but he was due for sending more -- Mattie's medicines were working, Momma said, but the new ones were expensive and hard to get clean, even on the black market. Jayne had copied down the exact name of what she was taking, but he'd already looked the last time Simon had brought anything on board. He couldn't just take what he needed and send it to her -- but the thought took hold that he could take something else, and sell it.
They were landing on Badmoon in a couple days, and while it wasn't the best place to go selling stolen drugs, he could always find someone on a corner somewhere and make at least a bit of cash. Enough to send home and maybe get them by until they got themselves a real job stealing something worthwhile. With luck Mal would find them a job on Badmoon. They way he'd been talking made it sound like he expected to -- though Jayne had worked on teams a plenty that depended on good morale for not shooting the guy in charge. He didn't reckon Mal's team would shoot him if he didn't get them something, but Jayne recognised the bullshit Mal had been spouting the last few days.
Wasn't no help for it, though, so Jayne waited until Simon was down in the cargo hold with River, doing whatever it was helped keep her this side of psycho. The locks on the drugs cabinets weren't easy, but Jayne didn't have to resort to breaking them with the butt of his pistol.
Because soon as he'd checked each one, he'd heard someone step into the room and had whirled around to find Simon standing there -- his freaky sister hovering right behind him.
"Had a headache," Jayne said, quick like. "Didn't see no point in bothering--"
He stopped, and stared. Simon was holding out his hand -- and right there was a wad of cash. Not much, but from where Jayne was standing it looked like about ten bills, folded together, all neat and tidy.
"River said--" Simon began. Then he just shrugged. "You can owe me."
From the way he said it, Jayne didn't think Simon expected to ever get paid back -- didn't expect to ever ask. Like he thought Jayne wouldn't take a gift.
Jayne went over and took the money, flipped through it his thumb. Twelve bills, not ten, and enough it would get Mattie her medicine and maybe even something left over.
He reckoned he ought to say something, let Simon know he appreciated the gesture or whatever it was Inara was always going on about with Jayne and fixing up his manners. All he could do was nod, and he stepped out off the room past Simon and River -- careful not to touch her because you never knew what sort of thing she'd start yelling or throwing.
A few steps away he stopped, because it didn't seem right to just take his money and not even say a word. Jayne looked back and River and Simon had already gone. Jayne slipped the bills into his pocket and went back to his room. He'd picked up a brochure of Tallis' Paradise, one of those resort planets he'd never gone to and always thought he would if he ever scored big enough.
Momma liked seeing the pictures, exotic and unreal and pretty, she said. He wrapped up what he could find, since it was a lot easier than writing letters. He got his package home all prepared, set it aside for when they landed. Then he thought about it some more, and he headed back up to the mess.
Tonight was Simon's night to clean up the kitchen after dinner; Jayne reckoned it wouldn't do any harm to give him a hand.