Apple Bits Chaos

I'm ready for my own gun.

*Quietly waits for Jayne to pass*

*Diligently putting up hand made posters*

Captain, conversation's necessary. Don't be mad.

I believe Serenity needs a pet.

She was so tempted to rip his shirt. There was just something incredibly gratifying about the sound of the buttons popping in every direction and hitting the floor. However, they had to come to some sort of agreement when he started running out of shirts. It didn't help that she had a stack of his clothes, random personal items, and even a bar of his soap squirreled away in the heating ducts of the building.

Dropping back to the ground, her tongue found his collarbone while she unbuttoned the shirt and shoved it down his arms temporarily using it to pull him closer. Depending on his mood he liked her to be aggressive or he wanted to be in control. There was never a time she didn't like when he got forceful with her but there was something really fun about pushing him around.

Everything was arranged. The time frame in which she had to plan everything didn't allow extravagance but that wasn't really what she wanted anyway. Since the wedding was so small, she found that she didn't need a special permit to hold the ceremony on the beach though there would be no lifeguard on duty after dark. She'd wanted to do things right though. Even though there were only 20 people coming she still handmade invitations and passed them out.

A simple little ceremony at sunset. Jonesy said he liked red so that was a theme. It worked well since in Chinese it was a color of celebration. She found a place that set up chairs and tables for parties and she got there early to put covers over them, while the boys set up the wedding arch. On each chair was a take-out box with a fortune cookie and a pewter calligraphy charm meaning love on a black cord. She wanted it to be unisex. Next to each chair were Chinese umbrellas that River hand painted. It was actually her favorite task in the whole process. She didn't think the ceremony would be long enough for people to be uncomfortable enough to really need them but they were part of the wedding favors. River asked Mal to perform the ceremony. Being a Captain of his own ship, he had that authority. She wanted Simon to give her away. So she made sure that both men had the same style tuxedo as Jonesy and his best man. Though Mal insisted on wearing his gun.

Setting up the tent for the reception wasn't as simple. It took a few hours and a lot of help to get the it the way she wanted it. The decorations were simple but she went a little nuts with the lighting. Around 5 pm, the cake was finally ready so River sent Mal to get it while she and anyone else that needed to get ready went back to the two hotel suites she had rented. One for the men. One for the women. She wasn't superstitious but she did want Jonesy to be surprised. He hadn't seen the dress yet but she hadn't wasted any time picking it. As soon as she saw she knew she wanted it. It didn't even have to be altered. The lady at the bridal shop tried to get her to look around more and even seemed a little put out that River only wanted the dress. She didn't want to try on any others. And she had no intention of buying either a veil or shoes. The man at the jewelry store had more luck. While she was picking out Jonesy's ring, he talked her into buying the pewter charms. Enough for the entire wedding. 

After Mal and Jayne had their little talk, there seemed to be less tension amongst the crew. Well, most of the crew. Simon still seemed irritated about the new situation. And saying he didn't approve of the living arrangement was an understatement but he was settling a bit. Mostly he was just trying not to think about it.

When River moved into Jayne's bunk, she was apprehensive. Not because she didn't want to live with him. She did. More than anything. But only Simon really saw how bad she was at night. How terrible the nightmares could be. After Miranda, she was less tormented during the day. She could function almost normal but at night her mind would replay things she had seen. Things she would see and it was too much.

She had stayed in his room at night before but not a lot of sleep actually took place. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. When he would fall asleep, she would let herself drift a bit but never too deep in his presence. She was so used to sleep deprivation that it really wasn't much of a hardship. After a few days of this, however, she would usually crash in her own bed and then the sleep was dreamless.

The new bed made it more difficult though. It was far more comfortable than their old cots. Nearly as comfortable as Inara's bed. Laying in his arms, her eyes grew heavier but she still fought it as best as she could. Some nights she even had to slip out of the bunk and come back before she felt him wake up. She knew that he wasn't oblivious but so far she'd been careful.

Sitting in the pilot's chair, she checked outboard cameras and sat back. It had been a few days since she moved into Jayne's bunk and the lack of sleep was starting to wear on her. The weight on her eyelids made them droop but she sat up a straighter, muffled a yawn, and shook her head a little. She only had another twenty minutes before they got to a place where she could but the ship on autopilot and maybe sneak a little nap.

She pulled his hand and knew he was nervous. It was instinctual when entering the lions den. But it had to be done. He had to meet her family if they were going to be married. Not to mention she was taking him aboard Serenity. His first encounter with a space ship.

Before they entered the ship, she turned to Jonesy and smiled. She loved him all the more for doing this and she had plans to make it up to him. She'd been reading again. Getting up on her toes she kissed him softly. "I'll protect you, remember" She whispered with a smile.

((Continued from here))

They alternated between hard and soft kisses. Mostly because River wanted to try every way there was to kiss someone. She wanted to try everything to be honest and she want to try it with Jonesy. Her fiance. Just thinking it made joy bubble up inside her until she wanted to scream until there was no air in her lungs. She'd settle for kissing though.