Author's Note: I used to say that Mal/Inara was my OTP, but after writing this I am loving Simon/Kaylee. Anyway, you know the drill: Ficlet for the LiveJournal ff_friday challenge. August 7's subject: laughter. Set during "Jaynestown." Length: 983 words. It's nearly over the limit, but this is my first time in a little while doing a drabble, and the more Simon/Kaylee, the better.
cào = (verb) to screw something
Celebration
By Trisana McGraw
While everyone around them sang the chorus of Jayne's song boisterously, with the occasional whoop, Kaylee and Simon clanked tankards together. It took them several tries, as one kept missing the other's each time, but finally, with a clattering of metal, they completed their toast and leaned back on the couch, smiling dazedly at one another.
"I'd like a theme song," Simon muttered, sounding wounded as he leaned his head back to look at the crowd of Mudders obscuring Jayne from view.
"I'll give you one," Kaylee promised. "Um . . . He may be lost in space, but he's still got lots of grace. He saved a girl and got a hamster -- What rhymes with 'hamster'?"
"Hell if I know." Simon shrugged. "But that was really sweet." Suddenly Kaylee was as shy as if she'd been thrust onto a stage, with spotlights glaring down on her. He saved her from further embarrassment by adding, "I say we propose another toast."
"To what?" she asked with a giggle. "I think we've toasted everything in the room."
His eyebrows drew together in concentration. "Yeah, we have, but not 'everything' as a whole. You know?" Kaylee didn't quite follow, but it was an excuse to drink, so she nodded enthusiastically and raised her mug with him. "A toast to everything!" Simon called out and lifted the tankard to his lips, but he missed his target, and Mudder's milk splashed down his front.
Kaylee nearly spit out her drink as Simon lifted the hem of his white shirt and stared, perplexed, at the yellow stain. "Aww, you ruined your pretty shirt," she said, her voice a little slurred.
He stared at the shirt for a few more moments before dropping it. "Cào it," he muttered, waving a hand wildly, which made Kaylee shriek with laughter. Though he looked confused at first, he soon joined in, and the two of them were soon howling, oblivious to the crowd that had begun to chant Jayne's name in earnest.
Gasping for breath, Kaylee said, "You know, you should laugh more often."
"Yeah?" Simon said, not so much as an argument but out of surprise.
"Yeah," she affirmed, sitting back against the couch and resting her head on her arm. "It makes you look happier."
Simon smiled; then he suddenly let out a loud belch. His face flushing, he clapped his hands over his mouth. Two men nearby laughed and offered congratulations; Kaylee looked about to burst again.
"You might wanna find a better way to loosen up," she said, her shoulders shaking.
He stared thoughtfully at her round, bright face -- even cleaner-looking around all these people buried beneath dirt -- and her shiny hair and her adorable jumpsuit and felt a calm settle over his body. "I can think of another way."
"What's that?"
"Come closer and I'll tell you." She complied, so that her face was mere inches from his. Simon paused for dramatic effect, then uttered, "You."
"Me?" she asked incredulously, with another breakout of giggles.
"Yeah, you," he echoed, looking into her green eyes and considering that he'd rather drown in them than a tankard of drink. Her lips were slightly parted, and he thought he was about to kiss her; he leaned in closer, but the standstill moment was destroyed by Jayne's yelling. Both pulled back to see the mercenary stumbling past them, his arm around a woman while he waved his tankard in the air and shouted back at his adoring fans.
Kaylee's eyes dropped to the seat cushion, and Simon saw her cheeks grow rosier. He swallowed several times, his hands nervously going to his shirt collar. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" he asked, unbuttoning the first button.
Despite her confusion at what had just almost happened, Kaylee was not going to miss Simon slightly shirtless. From the little skin that was exposed, the doctor would look good shirtless. Part of her wanted to help pull off some more of those buttons, but neither of them were drunk enough for that; and she realized that she didn't want them to be, if that time came. She settled for flashing him a flirty smile and saying, "You're the hot one." She wasn't sure if he'd caught the meaning, but he smiled again, that adorable one where he caught his tongue between his teeth.
"You know, Kaylee, you . . ." he started, but before he could either put a giddy grin on her face or make her slump back in her seat disappointedly, his head dropped back onto the cushion. Out like a light, just like that.
To make sure, Kaylee crawled over and craned her neck to see his face. Yep, he was snoring like a baby. She sighed; so much for anything else exciting happening tonight.
"He really needs to find a better way to make him happy," she muttered. Then she remembered that he'd said that she did that, and her heart fluttered madly. She looked down at his smooth, peaceful face again and gave another sigh, this one of contentment. She was about to scoot back to her original spot when she thought, If I'm already right next to him and he hasn't objected -- She put it out of her mind that he was asleep and adorably helpless -- he wouldn't mind if I stayed. Moving carefully so as not to wake him, she curled up next to him on the couch, laying her head on his chest. His skin felt warm through the shirt, and his heartbeat was steady.
She slowly shut her eyes, her lips curving upward in a smile as the singing around her seemed to grow fainter. "Our love for him now ain't hard to explain . . ." she murmured, but Jayne was the furthest thought from her mind. She felt something brush against her back; when she cracked open one eye to check, Simon's hand was resting on her shirt. Kaylee closed her eyes again.
