naturaltalent | OOI

If she's not immediately to be found somewhere in the rest of the ship, odds are that Kaylee's in the engine room. It's just been a while since Simon's found her just... hanging out there, so he hadn't thought to look there initially.

He smiles when he does find her, though, leaning in the doorway. "Hey, Kaylee."

Kaylee looks up from the busted grav booster she'd been fiddling with to keep her hands busy and smiles widely, if a little preoccupied. "Hey, Simon!"

She scoots over in her hammock a little, to give him room if he wants to cuddle. She hopes he does.

Simon steps into the engine room, pauses, and then carefully sits on the edge of the hammock - he's making an effort not to flip it over, mostly. That would be embarrassing, especially because he knows Kaylee wouldn't hesitate to tell the rest of the crew.

"I'd say you were hiding, except that this seems the first natural place to look..."

"I ain't hidin'," Kaylee protests with a slight pout. "I just wanted some quiet's all."

Quiet in the rather noisy engine room, perhaps, but it's the kind of noise that equates to not-important to Kaylee. Unless there's something wrong with the noises, in which case they're very important.

Simon glances around and seems to decide not to comment on the definition of quiet. "Well, I didn't actually say you were..." he says diplomatically.

"Oh."

Kaylee ponders this for a moment. "Well, alright then."

Truth is, she was hiding, but she's not really going to come out and say so.

Simon shifts a little on the hammock so that he can put his arm around her. "Something on your mind?"

"Nope! Nothin' at all. 'Cepting that Serenity's still runnin' like a dream."

Her response is a little quick, though, a little defensive. She needs to talk to him but she doesn't know how to bring up the topic. She needs pushed a little, not that she knows it.

His eyebrows go up, and he eyes her skeptically. "You've just been very quietly lately. It makes me worry a little."

Kaylee smiles a little, secretively. It makes her feel all warm and bubbly inside (moreso than usual, that is) when Simon misses her, or worries about her.

"Don't you worry, doctor man," she says softly, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Ain't nothin' wrong with me."

Of course, it's worded a little oddly for answering that worry. Most folk would just say "ain't nothin' wrong".

"If you're sure," he says, a little dubiously, smiling back at her. "It's just that quiet isn't a usual thing for you..."

Kaylee shrugs a little, resting her head on Simon's chest and closing her eyes. She lays there for a moment, just feeling his chest rise and fall, hearing his heart beating faintly over the sounds of the engine.

"Simon?" she asks finally, softly.

He just lies there, resting his hand lightly on her back and playing with her hair with the other hand, comfortable to just be with her until she finally speaks.

"Hmm?"

"I..." she stops and bites her lip. This is a lot harder to say, or ask, or... whatever than she expected.

She swallows hard. "I'm sort of... late."

If he were any other male, Simon might not realize exactly what she's talking about. But he's a doctor. So he knows exactly what she means, right away.

"How late?"

She's not sure whether she loves that or hates that about him right now. Maybe both. She plays with the fabric of his shirt, absently. "'Bout three weeks. Little more, maybe."

He's trying not to slip into doctor mode right now, because that's just not appropriate to do with someone you're sleeping with. It's difficult, though.

"You could have told me earlier. Do you think you might be pregnant?" He's not sure how he feels about that. Doctor mode is safer after all.

"Don't know," Kaylee says faintly, nervously. "But... I ain't been this late ever. Few days maybe, sometimes, but..."

"You should... um... I could do a blood test for you? I've got the equipment in the infirmary, it'll take maybe ten or fifteen minutes..."

Kaylee nods mutely. Her throat's closed up a bit from nerves.

So many women do this and know the answer. Maybe it's a woman's intuition, but despite her age and her sexual activities, she's a girl. Woman's intuition just confuses her.

He kisses her forehead lightly, returning to playing with her hair. "Do you want to... do it now? It might be good to get it over with."

"Hăo," she says softly. She'll need Simon to move before she can get out of the hammock.

Simon rolls out of the hammock, just as carefully as he got into it, and holds a hand out to her. Not like she needs the hand, but sometimes he feels the need to act like she does. It makes him feel better, if nothing else.

Kaylee doesn't need the hand, no, but she likes it when he acts like she does. It makes her feel like a lady, like she's delicate, like she doesn't have grease on her face and knots in her hair but like she's got soft hands and fancy clothes and perfect hair. She likes that.

However, today it doesn't make her feel much better when she takes his hand and lets him help her out of the hammock.

Simon releases her hand gently as soon as she's out of the hammock and then leads the way out of the engine room, out into the hallway and to the stairs.

Mal passes by, giving Simon a suspicious look. Simon tries to ignore him, tries not to guess from Mal's look just what he thought Simon was doing with Kaylee in the engine room. Mal's the only one of the crew who still gives Simon looks like that - Zoe just acts amused, Jayne doesn't give a damn, Simon knows Kaylee talks to Inara about their sex life, and River is curious, albeit a bit too much for Simon's comfort.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject