Mal and Zoe came back around evening, with Jayne showing up around midnight. He surely did have a smile on his face, so I reckon he had a good time. Mal had been starting to mutter about Jayne being late and all, causing the other members of the crew to chuckle. From what I hear, this is a pretty common occurrence. I had hung out in the dining area, casually chatting with Zoe and Wash most of the time. Watching them, noting the interplay between them, makes me kinda jealous. They have each other. Me, I have my memories and my thoughts.
We blast off into the dark skies, the Captain having gotten some kind of contract to carry some goods. I doubt that they’re legal, but that’s not for me to say or care about. After the all-clear, I went back to the dining area. River was there, all by herself. She was a-playin’ chess, apparently against herself. She’d move white and mutter something that sounded like “Murphy”, and the skip over to black and say something like “Fisher”. I sat down and watched her for a while, noting her concentration and studying her features.
I reckon she coulda been my grand-daughter. She’d be the right age, had I married and had a kid or two. Hell, I’d been proud of her, too. She perked up her head and looked straight at me for a long moment, a little smile playing around her features. “Me too”, she finally said. She does have some surprising ways about her, I’ll admit, but I’m getting used to it. I watched her for a while longer, her skipping around from one side of the chessboard to the other, then I went off to my little room. I got out my little electronic notebook and checked my finances. Yeah, I’m good to go. Living indoors and eatin’ regular has always been one of the things I wanted to keep doing with my life. No need to go back to work. Leastways, not yet.
