Work Text:
TITLE: In A Room
SUMMARY: Kaylee often wondered if Simon ever planned on coming to her bunk.
PAIRING: Kaylee/Simon
RATING: PG
TIMELINE: About a week after Objects In Space
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Really, I do. Nothing what-so-ever.
Kaylee sat on Simon’s bed more often than he sat on hers. In fact, she was fairly certain that Simon hadn’t ever been in her room. She was in his almost every night, sharing stories and swapping tales - Simon had more than a few escapades to tell her about from before he was a fugitive, despite his claims to the opposite the first time she’d asked.
They’d started by staying and chatting in the kitchen after meals, long after everyone else had gone to do whatever it was they needed to be doing. Then, once, Kaylee had followed Simon to his room when he went to give River her meds, because he was halfway through regaling her with a tale about his graduation that she wanted to hear the end of. The next night after that, she’d suggested - of course it was Kaylee’s suggestion, Simon was much too proper to ask such a thing - they go back there again, because it was more comfortable and they were less likely to disturb anyone else.
Before the week was out, Kaylee wasn’t asking and Simon had no need to offer. They’d help to clear their plates and the table, like everyone else, and then they’d just head to his bunk together, not a word spoken about it.
Sometimes Kaylee would sit longways on the bed, with her back against the wall and her feet on his thighs. He liked that - she could tell. He’d stroke her feet a little while he was talking, too, and she was almost positive he hadn’t even noticed he was doing it.
Once or twice she’d sat beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. The second time he’d even taken the hint and curled his arm around her, because he could just about manage to do that without accidentally insulting her.
And yet despite all of this, he’d never been down into her bunk.
It had been almost a week now since Jubal Early had invaded their home. The thought of it still made her feel sick, and in many ways she felt like Serenity had betrayed her by letting him get on board. She’d taken to locking the door to her bunk both when she was in it, and when she left, even though she knew it was silly.
She wasn’t spending as much time in the engine room as she used to. She’d go in, fiddle with a few things, check that she was still ticking over, and try to get out as fast as she could. She kept telling herself it was just until she got numb to the whole thing, forgot what he’d threatened to do, but she wasn’t really sure that it would be that easy.
She still stopped by Simon’s room, but most nights she didn’t stay long. Tonight she passed by and popped her head round the door, ready to make her excuses and tell him she wouldn’t be staying, but he wasn’t there.
He was, in fact, sitting on the floor beside the door to her bunk. He looked up and smiled as she approached, picking up his makeshift crutches and pushing himself to his feet. “I, uh…I thought I’d come to you for a change. But you weren’t here, and it was locked, and … well. It took me so long to get here.”
Kaylee didn’t know for sure if Simon was speaking about tonight, or if he was being a bit more general, but she had a feeling that the vagueness had been his point. She smiled at him and unlocked the door, hopping down the ladder before turning back to help Simon out.
She had to stop herself from laughing as she watched his attempts. He couldn’t bend his left leg anywhere near enough, so he tried letting go of his crutch and manoeuvred himself so that he only needed to put his right leg on the rungs. It worked after a fashion, but looked somewhat ridiculous to the observer and he knew it. Kaylee burst into peals of laughter and moved forward to help him, taking some of his weight as he dropped the last couple of feet onto the floor.
“Thanks for the help,” he started, slightly sarcastically.
She laughed as she helped him hobble over to the bed. “Oh, come on. I ain’t seen nothin’ that funny in a good long while!” As he eased himself onto the bed, she made sure he had plenty of room and then coughed a little, standing there awkwardly, unsure what to say. She wasn’t really sure why she didn’t know what to say, since she was never normally at a loss for words. As she mused on this, she went searching through her things for a cushion, just to give her something to do. “That needs to be elevated, right?” she muttered. “I heard that somewhere. Gotta lift your foot.”
He reached out and put his hand on her arm, pulling her back over towards him. “It’s fine.” He smiled. “Just a scratch.” Kaylee raised her eyebrows. “A deep and very painful scratch,” he conceded.
She perched on the edge of the bed by his knees, looking at him like she was expecting him to say something. He cleared his throat. “Kaylee, I …”
He didn’t have anything to say after that. He never had anything to say after that. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d started that sentence, but even when he knew what he wanted to say, that was as far as he got. ‘Kaylee, I like your dress.’ ‘Kaylee, I like you because you’re pretty and sweet and make me laugh.’ ‘Kaylee, I think you’re the best thing about being on Serenity.’ All things he’d wanted to say that had never made it out of his mouth.
She was looking at him expectantly now, the tiniest of smiles on her face and a glint in her eye. Hopeful that this time he would actually get the words out. Instead he faltered yet again, and she glanced away, her smile now one of disappointment.
Suddenly she shifted along, moving from her space by his legs so that she sat next to him instead. He wasn’t expecting the movement; he’d thought there would be a few more minutes of quiet awkwardness, and then Kaylee would be up and about, bounding around and finding things to talk about. Finding everything to talk about that wasn’t his complete inability to say anything important.
So when she moved, he was surprised. She sat there beside him, squished in quite close because her bed wasn’t particularly spacious, and he let her lift his arm and place it round her shoulders. As she dropped her own hands to her lap, he curled his arm tighter and she tilted her head to rest on his shoulder. Maybe this wasn’t so hard after all. So long as he didn’t have to talk any, he’d be fine.
He looked around her room as they sat. It was almost exactly like he’d pictured it - very Kaylee. He could see a sliver of pink where she’d trapped her beloved dress in the door of her wardrobe, because there wasn’t enough room inside for all its ruffles.
There was a stack of games and books in another corner. He couldn’t make out the titles of any of the books from where he was, but he did notice a jacks set, open, on the top of the pile. All around the walls were paper flowers, folded so carefully that they almost looked real. And in a frame, with pride of place, were two real lilies, carefully dried and pressed.
Kaylee saw him looking. “Inara brought them for me. Said she thought I’d like ‘em. Showed me how to press them, not that I’ll ever have cause to do it again.” She grinned. “She told me they needed to stay in the press for a week, but I untied it every night and took a peek. Couldn’t resist.”
Simon smiled at Kaylee’s enthusiasm. “We used to have flowers like that all the time on Osiris.” He cringed a little as he said it, hoping Kaylee didn’t take his words to be boastful. “They were always around; mostly in the lounge. Our mother would never entertain guests without a new arrangement of flowers on the table. I never really paid them any attention, I was always so engrossed in my studies and didn’t see the sense in bothering with them. They didn’t serve a purpose.” Kaylee blushed a little, and Simon realised he’d better hurry up and get to his point before she got so offended he couldn’t backtrack.
“It’s like …” he tried to rearrange the words in his head. In the last thirty seconds he’d realised exactly what it was he’d been wanting to say, and he was hoping that maybe if he didn’t start with a ‘Kaylee, I…’ he could stand a chance of actually saying it. “Since River and I have been on Serenity, I’ve had so much more time to appreciate things of beauty. And those lilies on your wall are the second most beautiful thing in this room.”
Kaylee had just let her head slip comfortably back onto his shoulder when he said that. His declaration made her jump in surprise, and she accidentally elbowed him in the stomach.
He spluttered in pain. “Ow!”
“Oh, God, Simon!” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry!”
He laughed a little, though still somewhat winded. “I didn’t expect you to injure me for saying that!”
Kaylee grinned, glad he was seeing the funny side. “Well maybe if you didn’t take so gorram long to say it, it wouldn’ta come as such a shock to the system!”
Simon had to concede that she had a point there. “Uh, Kaylee?”
She grinned. “Yeah Simon?”
“I don’t think I can get back up the ladder.” He smiled apologetically.
Kaylee let out a snort of laughter, followed by a giggle, which turned into a good, long laugh. The sort she’d not really had in the last week or two, so she appreciated it a lot. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a blanket, hand stitched and obviously well loved. “Brought this from home when I left. Been in the family years, Momma wouldn’t have it that I didn’t bring a keepsake with me. Make sure I never forgot.” She threw it over Simon’s legs and straightened it out across hers, before pulling it up to their chests. Reaching across Simon for his hand, she curled into him. “Looks like you might have to stay here a mite longer than we anticipated, then.” She grinned again, a glint in her eye.