Summary: Simon has a job ahead of him: convince Kaylee to listen to him.
Pairings: Simon/Kaylee
Disclaimer: They don't deserve them, but Firefly and Serenity belong to 20th Century Fox and Universal, respectively.
Rating: G
Spoilers: None.
Setting: Post-series and -movie.
Feedback: Please! Praise and constructive criticism welcome. Flames will be used to perk the coffee.
Archive: Ask first and I'll probably say yes.
Author's Note: I've spent many, many years saying that I will never ever ever write Firefly fic. I love the show, liked the movie, have all the comics, but it seemed like an impossible task to write a fic up to the show's standards, for me anyway. Let this serve as proof that the muses have a sense of humor and plot bunnies have sharp teeth.
Laboring
By B.L.A. the Mouse
"I just want you where I can keep an eye on you," Simon said, desperation tingeing his voice. There was a measure of frustration there, too.
"And you can do that just fine right here." Kaylee smiled placatingly and patted his hand, leaving a smear of grease behind, before returning to her work. "Just let me finish this."
"That's what you said ten minutes ago."
She didn't lower her arms again even as she looked over at him. "If you didn't keep distracting me, I might be done by now."
"I don't think I'm the only one distracting you, really." He gave her a significant look.
That, at least, got her exasperated sigh to be slightly fonder-sounding than before, though she still didn't stop what she was doing. He'd asked, but the explanation hadn't helped much outside of confirming that the task at hand wasn't so urgent that it couldn't wait a few days.
"Kaylee?" Zoe's voice echoed into the engine room. "Simon was—" She cut off her sentence as she entered and saw him there. "Never mind, he found you."
"And now he won't go away."
He rolled his eyes at Kaylee's answer and turned to Zoe. He was willing to try almost anything at this point. "Maybe she'll actually listen to you. Can you please tell her to go to the sickbay already?"
"Can you tell him that I'll go once I finish this?" The next clank from whatever she was working on seemed a little louder than necessary, like she was taking out some of her exasperation on a stubborn part.
Zoe didn't comment for a moment, crossing her arms and looking between them. Finally she took a deep breath, not quite a sigh of her own but close, and stepped past Simon to crouch in front of Kaylee, who did stop what she was doing at the motion. "How're you doing?"
"It hurts." Suddenly she seemed a little more anxious than only minutes before. "But— but it's supposed to, right?"
"Yes, it's going to hurt. But I was asking about the engine." Zoe nodded at the section of machinery that Kaylee had worked herself into.
Having to answer the question apparently served to calm her, bringing her attention back to the ship she clicked with rather than the unknown experience ahead. She launched into an animated explanation, more detailed than the one she'd given Simon already, and quickly lost him. Zoe must have understood it, judging by the way she nodded at points and asked questions. When Kaylee had to pause in her explanation, Zoe waited patiently for her to be able to continue, giving Simon a quelling look when he tried to make his own argument. Eventually, Kaylee finished with, "And if you can help it won't even take that long."
Simon was sure that Zoe, having gotten not only the necessary information but also what was apparently a step-by-step set of instructions, would tell Kaylee that someone else would do it and that she should go with his recommendation instead. He took a step forward, ready to help her to her feet and escort her there, given the recent issues with standing up and stairs, and was surprised when instead Zoe told Kaylee, "I'll give you a hand, then, if you're sure it'll be quick."
"But the sickbay—" he protested, and that was as far as he got before Zoe cut him off.
"As long as Kaylee's doing fine, we'll just finish this up and then come down. That all right with you?"
It wasn't really a question. He realized that at the same time he realized that unless there was an actual problem, God forbid, he wasn't going to get anywhere. He held his hands up in defeat. "Right. I'll just be… in the sickbay. Waiting." He turned, with the other two talking quietly about loosening something before he even got as far as the hatch.
He must have looked as frustrated as he felt. As he passed through the mess, Mal looked up from the mug he was stirring and immediately asked, "Something wrong, Doc?"
Simon paused, opening and closing his mouth once or twice as he considered what to say. Complaining about Zoe to Mal under the circumstances probably wouldn't get him far. He settled on, "Everyone on this ship is crazy. And they all know better than me."
Having said his piece, he resumed his trek, but was less than amused when Mal said to his back, "There somethin' new about that?"
The End