“’Jever… ‘jever want somethin’ real bad?”

Jayne looked over at Kaylee, eyein’ the hills and valleys of her tight tank top for a long minute.

Yup. He sure did.

“Like… well, like an apple.”

Wasn't what he had in mind.

Jayne took a long drag from the little cigarette between his fingers and held it out to Kaylee.

“Sure. Why not.”

Kaylee took a drag and held it for a long time. She let it out real slow with a long, happy purr. “Can’t get stuff like this most places.”

Jayne nodded, leaning his head back against the hull.

“Pity how no one else cares fer the finer things in life.”

Kaylee’s voice was low and husky from the smoke. Slow. Drawn-out. Jayne liked it that way. Truth was, he didn’t mind none that it was just him and Kaylee sittin’ here.

He shifted and pulled a rock out from under him. He stared at it for a bit, then tossed it away.

“So… you really want this apple, right?”

Jayne looked over at her, squinting against the smoke.

Kaylee held the cigarette out for him. “An this apple is all you really think about. Night an’ day.”

Jayne took the cigarette from her.

“An’ finally you get a hold’ve one. A whole… a whole crate of real shiny apples. And you really want the apples. And turns out the apples want you back.”

Kaylee was staring into the distance, looking all philosophical-like.

“An’ so you finally get this apple. This perfect apple. An’ you eat it. An’ it feels so good on yer teeth that you have to have another one. And another one. And then… then you get real sick-like.”

Jayne chuckled and took a hit off of the cigarette.

“An’ you realize that you don’t even really like apples. Truth is, you kinda wanna punch them and smear mud in their hair.”

Jayne looked at her. “We still talkin’ ‘bout apples?”

Kaylee looked at him, her eyebrows lowered, lookin’ all fierce.

“Course we are. I said we was, din’ I?”

Jayne grinned and handed her the cigarette.

She took another drag.

“An’ then you realize… you realize you din’ really want the apple in the first place. You was just real hungry, an’… an’ apples was the first thing you thought of.”

She was lookin’ at the cherry on the end of the cigarette. “But… but whatcha really wanted was… whatcha wanted was just…” She turned to Jayne, her eyes half-lidded. “More of whatcha already had on yer plate.”

Jayne licked his lips. He couldn’t help it, with Kaylee lookin’ at him like that.

He didn’t think they were talkin’ about apples no more.