OOI - Serenity

[naturaltalent]

Kaylee's in her little hammock in Serenity's engine room today, eating a protein bar and looking very thoughtful. Usually when she has free time, lately, she's hung out in the living area or the infirmary, wherever Simon was. But today...

Well, it's a lot to think about, the implications. And she likes to think alone in her favorite spot on the ship.

Comments

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

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.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

The smile Kaylee flashes at Mal should be enough to allay any suspicion of sex. It's a slightly nervous smile, uncertain, but slightly reassuring too. Things are fine.

When they get to the infirmary, she sits gingerly on the chair in the middle of the room. "So... whaddaya need to do?"

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"I just need to draw blood... I got the equipment to run the tests when the Operative was fixing up the ship." Really, he'd all but bribed Mal to ask him for it. But you never knew what diseases the crew could pick up on whatever new planet they were visiting...

"It's really to test for sickness, mostly, but... pregnancy will show up too." As he speaks, he's finding a needle and a swab, his back turned to Kaylee.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"Hăo," Kaylee bites her lip nervously. Tough girl she may be, but needles make her queasy. "This ain't gonna hurt much, right?"

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"No, ài rén, it won't. I promise." He turns back to her, pushes up her sleeve lightly, and dabs at her arm with an alcohol swab.

While he's finding a vein, he asks gently, "Have you spoken to anyone about this? Inara?" And while she's hopefully distracted by his question, he slips the needle into her arm. She probably won't even notice.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

She'd been watching his hands, but she looks up to answer the question. "No. Wanted to be sure first, y'know? Anyway, it's our business first, right?"

She looks back down and notes with surprise that the needle's already in her arm. "How long'll it take?"

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"I just wondered," he says with a faint smile. "I never know what you tell Inara."

It doesn't take long to draw blood, and then he withdraws the needle. "Ten minutes, fifteen at the most. It would be faster if the equipment were a little newer, but..."

Almost nothing on Serenity is new, except the engine parts Kaylee talks Mal into.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

And even those parts are few and far between. Before the Operative, the last new part they'd gotten was a good four months before Simon and River were on the ship.

"Well." She takes a deep breath and tries to smile. "Kinda unexpected, huh?"

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon gives her a smile in response - weak, as smiles go, but he isn't exactly the most expressive person in the verse. "A bit, yes."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"You ain't mad, are you?" she asks quietly, worried. That's her biggest fear.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"Mad? No, Kaylee, I..." He stares at her, mouth open. "Why would you think I'd be mad?"

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee looks down at her hands. "Just... ain't exactly somethin' little. A baby's... well, it's years'n years'n... It's... a big thing. And maybe you don't wanna be a father."

Not that she's sure she wants to be a mother. But if she's pregnant...

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"I... I honestly hadn't thought about it. I was mostly thinking about... staying alive and taking care of River and..." He lets out a slow breath. "It'll be okay."

He's not, actually, sure of that. He just has to say it, for Kaylee's sake.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"I just... āiyā, wŏmen wánle," she whispers. "I don't know if I can, Simon."

She's scared, frankly. That she won't know what to do, that she'll be bad at it, that Mal won't like it.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

He leans over to kiss her forehead, smoothing her hair. "I know. And if we can't... we'll find something to do about it. It's okay."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

She nods and leans into his touch, closing her eyes and just breathing him in. He smells like sanitizer and metal and the rosemary-scented soap she'd bought a few months ago to wash the laundry with.

A few minutes pass.

"Is it time yet?" she whispers.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon looks up, gently pulling away from Kaylee and walking over to check the equipment. "I think so..."

He presses a couple buttons, and a readout pops up on a tiny screen. Simon stares at it in silence, having for a moment forgotten that Kaylee's sitting right there, waiting for an answer.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee bites her lip, hard, and waits as long as she can stand. Which is not long at all.

"Simon?" her voice is wavering a bit.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon jerks his head up, startled, and turns to face her. He smiles at her, shakily. "You're... pregnant."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee stops breathing for a moment. It feels as if everything, everything has stopped.

Pregnant. Baby. With Simon. Pregnancy. Nine months.

"Tiānna..." she whispers, pressing a hand to her heart.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

He takes a step toward her, looking worried. "Are you alright?"

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"I... think I might be sick," she says faintly, then promptly doubles over and spills her lunch over the infirmary floor.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Kaylee..." Simon steps forward quickly, smoothing her hair out of her face with one hand, rubbing her back with the other. "Do you want a drink of water?" he asks, pathetically concerned. It's all he can think of to offer her at the moment.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

She nods and pulls her hair back. She has an ever-present hair-tie on her wrist and she uses it gratefully. "Sorry," she says, her voice faint and wavering. "Didn't mean to make a mess."

[morethangifted.livejournal.com]

"Easily cleaned. Worse messes in worse places all over the room." River's voice drifts in moments before she does.

She stops in the doorway, frowning curiously at the both of them.

"Is Kaylee sick?"