Engine Room Talk

Rating: PG

Pairing: Kaylee/Simon

Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or anything affiliated with the show, as much as I love the characters of Kaylee, Simon, and Mal.

Whistling loudly with his hands behind his back, Mal walked down the halls of the Serenity, ambling nowhere in particular. It had been a couple of days since their last job, one which left their pockets just a bit heavier and Jan a bit happier. Of course, there were a few bruises and scrapes but nothing Simon couldn't mend. Even River seemed happier, and was in one of her more playful, cheerful moods.

Ah yes, it was a good day.

All of a sudden, several muffled thumps came out of nowhere, low and deep.

Mal paused in his steps, his work boot in the air as he cocked his head towards the sounds. He hoped to God the ship wasn't falling apart, not with them right on the edge of Alliance territory. It wouldn't do to have them inspected again, not with their current..luggage.

"Mm," a lilting voice sound his right. "That feels good." He couldn't be sure, but it sounded an awful lot like Kaylee, without her usual bubbly brightness.

It was almost..sexy, and that was not a word he should put with a girl he considered his little sister, his meimei.

It was just plain wrong.

There was some soft shuffling and a quiet laugh, a masculine one. "And how does this feel?"

Stifling a growl, Mal quickly stepped up to the engine room door, pressing his ear up against it. Simon.

"Even better," the female voice giggled, and it was unmistakable, that was Kaylee. "You really know what you're doing," she said in what Mal imagined to be a breathless voice.

"You think so?" Simon sounded as if he were blushing, a tinge of red splashing across those white, pale cheeks of his.

Kaylee let out another giggle, this time more flirtatious than the last. "I know so," she dragged out the middle word, her tone teasing. Mal visualized her to be leaning in towards the younger man, eyelashes batting in that mischievous way of hers.

The doctor let out a chuckle, and Mal strained to hear the rustlings of fabric, putting a deeper frown onto his handsomely rugged face, a sinking feeling growing larger in his stomach. "So if I do this…"

"That tickles!"

"Does it now?"

"Hey! Now that's jus' mean!" Kaylee started laughing uncontrollably, and after a few minutes there was nothing but the small shifting of indiscernible sounds. The sinking feeling grew into a bottomless pit of gnawing defensiveness.

The few minutes stretched into what seemed like hours.

Frowning, Mal leaned further into the cool metal of the door, hearing a few faint movements. Just a few feet away, there was Simon, his scrawny body leaning over the lithe form of Kaylee, her arms wrapped around his neck as their faces moved closer together, their pants of breath brushing hotly against their lips as they reached for each other's -

"Spying, are we?" A sultry voice said loudly in his ear. Mal jumped and whirled around, nearly bumping his nose into Inara's smirking face.

Mal coughed loudly, sparing a quick glance towards the door, where all had gone completely quiet. "No, not at all," he muttered, straightening his pants. "I was just about go on in."

Inara simply raised her eyebrow, giving him that infuriating look that told him she knew better. "So go in," she prompted, with her hands on her hips and the smirk still tugging at her lips.

Glaring at the beautiful Companion, Mal swung open the heavy metal door and stomped on in. Simon and Kaylee looked up from their spot on the floor in surprise, Kaylee's eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. Along the floor scattered about inbetween the various mechanical pieces and tools were medical supplies, presumably to treat some sort of cut or scrape.

"What's up, cap'n?" Kaylee asked, wiping her hands on the legs of her overalls, and Mal noticed some tightly wounded gauze covering her lower arm. Simon sat there quietly, watching Mal with steady blue eyes.

"Oh well, uh…" the captain of the Serenity stammered, not having thought of what he would say should he not find them in the position his daydreams led him to. "What's going on here?" Behind him he could hear Inara let out a snort of laughter, and he gritted his teeth.

"Nothin', Simon here was just helpin' me mend some scrapes I got from this here belt," Kaylee gestured vaguely towards the engine. She wrinkled her nose. "I told ya time 'n time again we gotta get it replaced, 'fore it just 'bout gives on us and then Serenity won't be movin' for us no more," she admonished, eyes twinkling in the half-serious threat.

Mal waved her off, still befuddled. "When we get to Persephone, alright? Promise. Just get her there, meimei." With a last parting glance and a narrowed-eyed look to the pair of them, he stalked off down the hallway, brushing past an amused Inara right outside the room.

"I'll hold ya to that promise, cap'n!" Kaylee shouted after his retreating back. Turning to the woman in the doorway, she gave a cheeky grin. "Thanks, Inara."

Inara winked back at the younger girl, smiling fondly at the genius mechanic. "Anytime, Kaylee. I should be off, I've got clients to review," she took up her skirts in her manicured hands, bowing slightly to the couple. "I'll see you both at dinner."

Before she walked away, the Companion turned and grinned. "Oh, and Simon, your shirt's fastened wrong," she offered with a knowing air before sweeping away in a swirl of silk and perfume.

Kaylee giggled loudly as Simon turned a bright red and started fumbling with the front of his top. With a small tug she pulled his hands away and placed her own on the white cotton material, deft fingers already undoing the ivory buttons.

"Now where were we?"