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Kaylee is covered in little specks of rusted metal, the result of her latest effort to make the replacement part, the one they bought second hand at that flea market, fit properly even though it wasn't originally made for a firefly. She knows that she's just got to get the right angle on it, but her hands keep slipping and she's so frustrated that she doesn't hear the sound of his footsteps when he enters the engine room. She finally looks up when he blocks out the light with his shadow, and her cheeks flush when she sees that it's Simon. Her thoughts go to her disheveled state and she instinctively moves a hand to brush her hair out of her face and the part slides out of her grip again, leaving abrasions across her palm to join those on her knuckles and forearms. Simon bends, she thinks he is going to pick up the dropped part but instead he takes her hand, examining the battle wounds with concern.
"You should really let me put something on these so that they don't get infected." Simon tells her, as he looks up at her Kaylee feels her face burning.
"They're just scratches." Kaylee replies in an attempt to be normal; be casual.
"Still, with all these metal shards..." Simon argues, one hand still holding hers while the other reaches up to pluck some rust out of her hair.
"I have to get this part in, unless we want to start losing temperature control and freeze to death." Kaylee insists, moving to retrieve the wayward part. Their faces are level with each other now and Kaylee feels the tightness in her stomach move up under her ribcage as his eyes remain fixed on her. Kaylee wonders how unkempt she looks, so unrefined, nothing like the girls he would have known before his life as a fugitive. Their faces are so close and Kaylee wants to either kiss him or cry but she doesn't think either would be a wise course of action. Her free hand closes around the part but then she feels Simon's fingers wrap around hers, taking it from her.
"Where is it supposed to go?" He asks her; she watches his perfect surgeon's hands holding the dirty thing.
"Right here." She indicates, turning to show him. When she turns around he's looking at her not at the mechanics and she thinks he has not been listening, but then he reaches over and places the part that has given her so much trouble effortlessly into the wider web of metal and wires. He brushes against her as he does this and hastens to apologize. Kaylee watches his hands, sees the soot and rust that is now marking them.
"Thanks..." she breathes, wanting to pull him to the floor with her and show him her appreciation.
Simon takes her hands again, "Now will you let me see to these." He asks, his gaze melting all possible objections out of her head. Kaylee would let Simon see to anything he wanted and she yearns to tell him so but she bites her tongue and allows him to lead her up to the infirmary.
Kaylee thinks that Simon moves with a grace and precision that makes her embarrassed when she watches her own clumsy movements. She finds herself blushing again and looks down at the floor, only to find Simon watching her when she lifts her head back up.
"What kind of secrets are you hiding in that head of yours Kaylee?"
"Nothing special. Just girlish fancies." Kaylee replies. She does not tell him that most of these fancies involve him. She does not tell him about how she's imagined his hands frantically exploring her, how she's mentally stripped him of that little vest he so loves. She does not mention that she's visualized their love making on every possibly surface of Serenity and even of far off planets, in the luxury suites of expensive hotels in Ariel (not that she's ever really been there) or in the well tended gardens of Persephone. She does not add that her favorite is still the engine room floor. She does not think that Simon would like the engine room floor, even if he did like her.
Simon does that closed lipped smile of his towards her, the one that never fails to make Kaylee want to destroy his perfectly styled hair by running her fingers through it, keeping hold of him with it, while her mouth invades his. Kaylee's mind doesn't tend to stop there either, it likes to follow through on things, tends to keep on going until she reaches the point where Simon's pants are pulled down and his mouth has fallen open as hers has wrapped itself around him, giving him pleasure, making him forget everything else in the world.
They have reached the infirmary finally and Simon indicates for Kaylee to sit on the table while he searches for some antiseptic. Kaylee watches him, scrutinizing his backside with approval. Simon turns around, having found what he was looking for, and smiles at her. Kaylee looks down at the ground, trying to clean her mind up a little, if not to something G rated then at least down to PG13. Simon crosses over to her and they smile at each other.
"I'm sorry if this stings." He tells her, as he takes he pours some of the antiseptic solution onto a cotton swab and takes her hand once more.
Kaylee supposes it does sting but proximity to Simon far outweighs it and Kaylee thinks she'd be willing to intentionally cut herself up every day just to get to be near him. She's even sorry when he's done and he steps away.
Simon pauses for a moment, as if searching for a thought, and then says, "Hold on. I'll be right back."
While he is on the other side of the room Kaylee fantasizes that when he returns he will climb up there with her, take her in his arms, and then explore every inch of her right then and there in the infirmary. She quickly forces herself back to reality when Simon returns with a different bottle and sits down next to her.
"This will help prevent scarring." Simon explains, as he gently rubs the ointment into her skin, slowly, as if he wants this moment to last almost as much as Kaylee does. She supposes that, seeing as they are in space and there is no sunlight to be seen, she cannot ask him to apply her sunscreen on her back, the way she used to with boys back home as an excuse to have more physical contact with him.
Simon is looking at her again. Kaylee wonders if she has dirt across her face that is calling itself to her attention or something. Maybe she split her lip without noticing it, because Simon seems to be contemplating her mouth. Suddenly he's getting closer, and closer. Kaylee shifts her face in his direction, and he's getting nearer and nearer. There is less than an inch between them now, half an inch; Kaylee can almost feel his lips against hers.
Then there is a shriek from somewhere else in the ship. River. Simon is gone faster than Kaylee would have thought possible, running in River's direction, frantic with concern. Kaylee is left sitting alone in the infirmary, choking back tears, the pain growing unbearable in her throat.