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Wash put the ship down on towards evening and, in spite of protests to the contrary, Mal ordered them all to stay put until the sun came up. "The job ain't goin' anywhere," he said, waving away the arguments that erupted around him. "And I'm thinkin' we could all use a good night's sleep." And, as he had the last word on the matter, that was that and they all retreated to their bunks like children at Christmastime, eyes wide open, fingers twitching against the blankets, until they couldn't stand it anymore and sought out quiet distractions.
"It's just that we've been in here for an awful long time," Kaylee explained. "And it'd be nice to see some sunshine." Simon, perched in a chair across the room, nodded absently as he twined a piece of string around his fingers, over and over, weaving the same pattern again and again. River watched him with bright eyes, tilting her head back and forth so that Kaylee could comb her fingers through it.
"What are you doing anyway, Doc?" Kaylee asked, separating out sections of River's hair and twisting them into a messy little braid.
"Something that I saw River doing the other day," he answered. His fingers plucked at yellow yarn and Kaylee watched, nose wrinkled, as he twisted it into its final shape, then pulled it apart again. "I'm trying to figure out if it has any significance. She did it for almost three hours."
Kaylee looked down at River's fingers. They were raw and red from where the yarn had rubbed against them. "Did you just ask her?"
"Of course." Simon shot her an irritated look, and she wrinkled her nose at him.
"Jacob's Ladder," River said. Kaylee unwound the braid and frowned.
"What's that mean?"
"I don't know, it's all she'll say." Simon looked at River with a mix of exasperation and love in his eyes, and Kaylee sighed and kept right on braiding her hair.
"You know you can't keep them on the ship."
Mal stared across the table at Zoe, eyebrows raised, eyes bleary. She was as sharp as ever, cradling a cup of coffee in her long, capable hands. "And why not?" he asked. "It's a quick job, in and out. No reason for anyone but me and you and maybe Jayne to set foot on this rock."
"They're gettin' stir crazy, sir," Zoe answered. "Can't say I blame 'em. When's the last time we had some shore leave?"
"This place is junk!" Mal protested. "There's nothin' here!"
"There's fresh air. And trees."
"And bugs." Mal's mouth turned down. He was losing the fight. "And snakes."
"And snow!"
Mal and Zoe turned slowly, wearing identical expressions of flat disbelief. "You go outside, Jayne?" Mal asked. His voice had a dangerous edge to it which Jayne either didn't hear or chose to ignore.
"Naw, just looked out the window of the shuttle." Jayne barged into the mess and dug around until he came up with a protein bar. After favoring it with a somewhat dubious look, he unwrapped it and took a bite. "It's good and deep, though. Won't be able to keep anyone on board now."
"What are we talking about? Did someone make coffee? I smell coffee." Wash was red around the eyes, and Zoe handed over her cup with a sigh.
"That's the last of it," she said. "Enjoy." Wash dropped a kiss on the top of her head and sat at the table, legs stretched in front of him.
"You're too nice to me," he said. "What's this about staying on board? You're not really gonna make us all sit here, are you?"
"Dammit," Mal sighed. "There ain't no point in everyone leaving the ship! It'll just cause trouble, like it always does!"
"Yeah, but the snow," Jayne protested.
"There's snow?" Wash sat up a little straighter. "No one told me there was snow!"
"The snow ain't the issue here!" Wash subsided with a scowl, lifting his cup and draining the coffee in two big gulps. "We got a job to do, and we're gonna do it, and then we're gonna get the hell off this planet, am I clear?"
"Crystal," Zoe answered. Mal opened his mouth to reinforce his point, but a thunder of feet in the next room cut him off. Kaylee and River spilled into the mess, cheeks bright, followed by Simon, who wore a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
"Snow, Cap'n!" Kaylee's face was lit up like a bonfire. "If we promise to stay close, can we go outside?" There was no saying no to that vivid smile. Mal sighed in defeat, and Jayne crossed his arms and smirked.
It was the perfect snow, wet and thick and crusted over with a thin layer of ice. Kaylee stood on the ramp, shivering in the cold and thumping her hands against her upper arms. Her breath misted in the air, and she entertained herself by blowing clouds of smoke up at the clear blue sky. Boots rang on the metal ramp, and she turned her head to beam up at Jayne. He was bundled up, same as she was, and perched on his head was the cunning hat his mama had made for him.
"Been a long time since I seen snow," Kaylee offered.
"It's just snow," Jayne answered, frowning out at the pristine whiteness.
"Best part is leaving the first footprint," Kaylee continued.
"Don't be such a kid," Jayne scoffed.
"Jayne Cobb, there ain't no reason—" She turned towards him to scold, and as soon as she was faced away from the snow, he took off, barreling down the ramp and leaping to land feet first in the flawless drifts. Kaylee stood, mouth open in fury, as Jayne tramped off through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints behind.
She might have stood there all day, frozen in disbelief and anger, but a small hand crept into her own and she turned her head. River smiled at her, tentative and hopeful, and squeezed her fingers. "Yeah," Kaylee agreed. "He ain't worth it anyway."
Simon found himself on a rock next to a stream. He hadn't really meant to go out in the first place, but after all of the fussing and wheedling and excitement, he felt it wasn't right to stay onboard while everyone else went and… well, made snow-people or forts or whatever it is they were all doing out there. Even Inara was out in the snow, walking under the trees with Book and Wash while Mal and Zoe did all of the work.
So he'd isolated himself, perching on a mostly dry boulder as he puzzled over the string game that River had been playing. It didn't really make sense for him to be so upset over it, but it was hard not to fixate on something when she clearly did. He'd studied the drawings that she did, the words that she scrawled on pieces of paper, the way she placed things on shelves. None of it gave him any insight, but he clung to the stubborn hope that one day he'd have some sort of breakthrough and it would all fall into place. Meanwhile, he was stuck stringing yarn across his fingers over and over again.
"The hell are you doin', Doc?" Simon jumped nearly out of his skin and endeavored to look as guiltless as possible. Which was difficult, considering the yellow yarn loomed across his hands. He glared at Jayne and started to pick the pattern apart.
"I… nothing. It's just some string."
"I can see that." Jayne reached out and plucked the string from his grasp, biting off his gloves and spitting them into the snow. "But ya need two people to play string games."
"It's not a game, it's…" He trailed off, frowning as Jayne deftly wove the yarn between his own thick fingers, coming up with a perfect pattern. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"My sisters," Jayne answered, twisting his hands so that the pattern stretched vertically between them. "Jacob's Ladder. But that ain't the good one, all you can make outta that one is a pair of drawers and I wouldn't wanna offend you."
"Jacob's Ladder?" Simon asked, mystified.
"Sure." Jayne shook the yarn off of his hands and tossed back onto Simon's lap. "That's what it's called. Cause it looks like a ladder." He rolled his eyes and crunched through the snow to a bush covered in bright blue berries. "Say, you think these are okay to eat?"
"Probably not," Simon answered, slowly wrapping the yarn around his wrist. So. It was nothing after all, just some child's string game. "Does it mean anything?" It was clearly stupid, but he wasn't willing to give it up so easily. She had to have meant something by it.
"Nope." Jayne returned, holding out a handful of berries. "Try one."
"What? No!" Simon pushed his hand away. "They're probably poisonous."
"Yeah?" Jayne crushed one between his fingers and sniffed it. "Smells all right." Simon stared at him.
"You never cease to amaze me, Jayne."
"That's good, though, right?" Jayne smirked and tossed the berries away, crouching down in front of Simon. They were suddenly very close, and Simon recoiled as sweat broke out beneath his coat.
"I suppose it is," Simon answered. Jayne's finger slipped through the loop of yarn around his wrist and Simon let out his breath in a shivery exhalation.
"Yep," Jayne answered, eyes fixed on Simon's face. "Suppose so."
Kaylee rolled the growing ball of snow across the ground, humming to herself as she worked. The base of the snowman was done already and she was working on the middle, which probably would have taken less time except that River was off in her own little world, crouched beneath a tree, hands plunged into the snow. She seemed happy enough, though, and that was a rare occurrence, so Kaylee was content to leave her to it.
"Should you be a snow boy?" she wondered, mostly to herself. "Or a snow girl?" Bending at the knee, she lifted the heavy ball of snow and settled it in place. "Not that you're gonna have a face or nothin', but I'll know the difference."
She set about packing the snow in to hold the middle and the base together, and barely noticed when River came up behind her. There was another, smaller ball of snow cradled in her hands, and Kaylee jumped a little as she set it on top of the snowman. "You made the head?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in amusement. "And it took ya all that time?"
"It needed to look right," River said, cocking her head and reaching up to smooth away some snow with her thumb. Her fingers were bright red and Kaylee grabbed them, removing her own gloves so that she could rub warmth back into the frigid digits.
"Tch," she fussed, cupping her hands around River's fingers and breathing on them. "You'll lose 'em if you aren't careful. Why on earth would you wanna stick your fingers in the snow like that anyway? I swear, your brother'll kill me for this."
"He's busy," River answered. "Is she pretty?"
"Is who pretty?" Kaylee frowned, then turned her head to look at the snowman and gasped. There on the smooth side of the snowball, River had carved out the planes and shadows of a face with her fingers. It was obviously female and disturbingly familiar. "Well… she looks like me, don't she?"
The pleasure that blossomed on River's face was almost as good as the soft kisses that followed it.
"Some fun, huh?" Kaylee sighed. They were back where they'd started, though now Simon only stared at his hands while River worked the yarn through its endless repetitions of the same pattern. "I wish we could'a stayed longer." Barely an hour away from the planet's cold surface and her lips were still swollen and pink, her fingers dreamy and light in River's soft hair.
Simon made a soft, noncommittal noise. Kaylee continued.
"I talked to Shepherd when we got back on the ship. Asked him if he knew about your ladder thing." Simon glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "He said it was from the Bible. Somethin' about Jacob seein' a ladder to heaven. Didn't make much sense, but I figured I might as well tell you."
"Thanks." He reached up and touched two fingers to his mouth. It still ached from where Jayne had nipped at his lips, pressed them open with his tongue. Simon shivered and shook his head, and on the bed River smiled secretly to herself and wove ladder after ladder between her slim fingers.