Author's Note: For the 100 prompts thing, this is #33, "Enter". The title is important at the end, so keep it on the brain!
Simon lay on his back, staring up at the low, angled ceilings of his passenger bunk, wondering why the ship's design had placed him as far as possible from the person he wanted to see most. If Kaylee's room had been close, just a short, mindless walk to her door, he might have mustered up the courage to go there now. As it was, he was calculating all the risks of doing so, chief among them being a chance meeting with Jayne in the hall. Another (admittedly less pressing) concern was his possible collapse from pain. His leg was on the mend, but it still hurt like hell when he put weight on it, and walking tended to do that.
But it was Kaylee. And she tended to make things that hurt…stop being so important.
With a grimace he rotated clumsily and pushed himself out of bed. It was several hours past dinnertime, when most of the crew were in their bunks already, and he was counting on that being true for more reason than one. He hobbled up the stairs, pausing for a short breather at the doorway, before launching off at an awkward gait through the hallway.
The walk was long. And there was a surprising amount of stairs. The ship was obviously not handicap accessible. Was that legal? He stumbled only once, going down one of the steps in the cargo area, but caught himself with quick reflexes you never know you have until you need them.
Through the cargo, through the hallway and kitchen, another hallway and then there, the sparkling fairy lights that marked her door. He smiled at them, how silly to have lights that imitate stars when the stars are right outside your window. He approached, his limp growing ever more apparent as the pain in his leg swelled.
And then he was there. Standing outside her door, for some reason holding his breath, waiting for something, but not sure what. She was down there, and she was perfect, and she was all he needed. He stood outside her door and listened for her, as if he could hear her heartbeat through the metal.
He stood outside her door.
