Author's note: This is my second fanfiction, and I'm not sure if I wrote them well or not - please read + review so I can know how to improve!
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He bothered her. That much she knew for certain.
The problem was, she didn't know why.
He was skilled, she couldn't deny that. He had gotten them out of more than one tight spot and saved their lives on more than one occasion.
But he bothered her.
They spoke only when he approached her. She would be doing something (something vitally important to their survival, obviously) and he would walk up to her and started rambling on about something irrelevant.
If it had been anyone else, she would have ignored them, and failing that she would have said something scary enough to send them running.
But she let him ramble on.
What scared her the most was that she didn't want to ignore him or scare him away. She wanted him to keep saying useless things and stay near her.
It was more than a little unnerving.
She had been trying and failing to fix a small metal... thing for Kaylee since nobody else had volunteered when he approached her.
"Hey." he said, trying to strike up a conversation even though he knew she would be silent as usual.
She looked up breifly, nodded and resumed her work.
"So, um, listen." he started. She stayed silent, so he took that as her agreeing to listen.
"You... well, you're... you're the most terrifying woman I have ever met." he said, watching her closely while scratching the back of his head nervously.
She remained silent.
"But I meant that in a good way! Terrifying as in so attractive I feel like I might faint or explode in the pure joy of just looking at you."
The corner of her mouth gave an almost impercievable twitch.
"So would you be willing to maybe erm- well, I know the captain has that rule, and I understand that-"
"You askin' me to share a beverage with you at some point?" she asked, trying her best to hide her smirk.
"Well, that's pretty much what I-"
She interrupted him again.
"Get rid of that thing on your face and there may be a 'maybe'."
He looked confused, so she pointed at the area above his lip.
"Oh!" he said, and walked away.
She watched him leave, a little confused. When he returned no more than 5 minutes later, it was with a grin and no facial hair.
She let herself smile.
"So?" he asked eagerly. "When may I begin courting you?"
"I only promised you a 'maybe'."
He looked comically sad for a moment, and she had to laugh.
"To look at it differently, though, I didn't say 'no'." she added.
His grin returned and she automatically returned it, without thinking.
He bothered her because he was the only one who could make her remember how to laugh.