Hello. Iverik here. Just a reminder: This story uses characters created by someone other than me.
Facing the Black
Kaylee woke up to find herself face to face with River. Not so odd, perhaps, except for the fact that Kaylee had, until very recently, been sound asleep in a hammock. River smiled serenely, gracefully plastered to the ceiling. Kaylee was not serene.
Unfortunately, Kaylee's yelp startled River enough to move her left foot... which resulted in her plummeting to the deck. Only Kaylee's quick roll to the left prevented a serious accident.
"Gorram it, River!" Kaylee slowly untangled herself from her hammock. "Ow," River replied.
"What happened?" Simon jogged in breathlessly.
"Smiles gone," River observed sadly, "She was hoping to bring them back."
Kaylee found herself smiling despite herself, to River's delight. "Thanks, Riv."
"Ah. Well," Simon rubbed his hands together, "if you'll come this way, captain, I've made breakfast-"
At the word "captain", Kaylee's smile vanished. She pulled herself up and was out the door as Simon stepped aside with a gracious looking sweep of the hand. River cast him a "you're an idiot" look, and dove through the opening before he could move.
At the entrance to the dining room, Kaylee froze. The entire room was filled with boxes. As Simon came up behind her, she whirled and sobbed.
"I miss 'em," she wailed, "I miss 'em so much!"
Bewildered, Simon glanced over his shoulder at his sister, who arced her arms in a "hug her you idiot!" gesture. So Simon did.
"You have to eat," Simon whispered into her ear, "come on." River, meanwhile, had slipped into the ductwork and was gone. Still sniffling, Kaylee headed through the narrow corridor left in what had become an avenue of boxes.
She stopped short. Three places had been set on the floor. River sat at one, waiting hungrily. Astonishingly, there was a fruit at one of the places.
"Is this for me?" Kaylee knelt and picked it up, her eyes reflecting its firm redness.
"It is," Simon said with a touch of self-satisfaction, "just trying to cheer you up, that's all."
"What is it?" Kaylee turned the fruit round and round, puzzled.
Simon was surprised. "It's an apple. You've... never seen an apple before?"
"No," Kaylee giggled, biting into her apple. "ooooohh!"
It was at this point that River decided to leave, knowing full well that the next few minutes would be spent adoring the apple. Perhaps it was time someone was on watch. The 'verse was a dangerous place after all. "Calm before the storm," she muttered.