Simon handed Zoe a pink silk bag when they met up. He was dead silent the whole trip back ta the ship.

Jayne kinda wished he’da said somethin’, so he could pick on’ ‘im real good.

He headed straight for the showers without a word as soon as they set foot on the ship.

Jayne grinned after ‘im.

“How’d it go?”

Jayne turned around. Mal was standin’ by Zoe, lookin’ after the doc, too.

Zoe handed him the pink silk bag. Mal opened it and looked inside.

“Seems our Mr. Pink has more than one occupation.” He tossed the bag ta Jayne.

Jayne caught it an’ looked inside.

There were five little paper-wrapped cylinders. Jayne didn’t have ta open them up ta know what was inside.

Kosu weed.

Shiny.

***

“’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.

“Like… well, like an apple.”

An apple?

Jayne took a long drag from the little kosu weed 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. Simon did good.”

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.

“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.

“Jayne?”

“Yeah?”

She tipped her head ta the side.

Next thing he knew, she was on his lap. Straddlin’ it, her thighs pressed inta his hips. Her hands was on his shoulders. On his neck. Pullin’ at the little hairs at the base of his skull.

An her mouth. Sweet ye-soo, her mouth.

She’d tipped his head ta the side an’ was nibblin’ real light on his ear, slidin’ her tongue back behind it ta pull it between her teeth.

His brain could barely keep up. Could barely figure out what was goin’ on.

Part of ‘im wondered if ‘ed fallen asleep. Or died. The other parts weren’t thinkin’ at all.

He felt himself groan, deep in his throat, without meanin’ to.

Her hands left his neck. Reappeared at his waist, slidin’ up his shirt.

Her fingers found the scar from when Crazy’d swiped at ‘im. She stroked it, sendin’ little jolts all through Jayne’s body.

She pulled her teeth away from his ear.

She scratched her nails real light down his chest.

“You’re a real man.”

His brain caught up just when she turned his face toward hers.

He turned his face away again.

The kiss landed on his cheek.

She kept her lips there for a minute, then leaned her forehead against the spot she’d kissed. She sighed. Sat up.

Jayne looked at ‘er.

She looked hurt.

“I ain’t good enough ta kiss ya?”

Jayne unclenched his jaw. “That ain’t it.”

“What, then?”

Jayne looked past ‘er.

“I ain’t gonna kiss ya just because you’re mad at yer boyfriend.”

Kaylee climbed off’ve him. “He ain’t my boyfriend.”

“All the same.”

Kaylee was mad. He could feel it comin’ off a her.

Jayne’s head was swimmin’. Between the weed an’ the shock an’ the blood all leavin’ his head fer other parts of his body, he could hardly think.

He took a second to figure out what he wanted ta say.

“Kaylee, if… if I’m gonna I kiss you, it’s gonna be just you an’ me. Ain’t gonna be nothin’ but me wantin’ you an you wantin’ me. Way it should be.”

She didn’t look at ‘im.

He reached over to her an' put his fingers on her jaw. Turned her face toward his.

“An’ Kaylee… I’ll always be wantin’ you. So when it’s me yer after… just me…”

He shrugged.

Couldn’t think of nothin’ else ta say.

He stood up an’ went around the ship ta the back, where the cargo hatch was still down.

Zoe eyeballed ‘im when he came up the ramp. Went from his mussed-up hair ta his stretched-out shirt an’ stopped there.

Didn’t say nothin’.

Jayne grunted.

“I’ll be in my bunk.”