From Princess Firefly
After Objects In Space, Simon is recovering, while River reads him a story...
River is reading from The Bride. "Good men, bad men, Jayne Cobb & Malcolm Reynolds..."
"You mean Jayne is a good man and Mal is a bad man?" Simon asked.
"No, dummy, that's just the way they see themselves..." She traced the words on the page for effect as she read aloud. Simon relaxed, soothed by her voice in a childhood ritual. This had always been something between the two of them. Neither parent had ever thought to read to a sick child, or to be fair, they were much too busy to do so. Simon had first read the story to River when she was four and very sick. Thinking back on it, that had been when he'd decided to become a doctor...
He slept and as he slept, he smiled as he dreamed of Princess... Kaylee? Kaylee as the Princess Buttercup, in a simple dress. Simon only remembered ever having seen Kaylee in a dress once, that frilly one she wore to the infamous party on Persephone. In his dream he wore the course homespun clothes of the Farm-Boy, Westley. It was so incongruous that he smiled.
"Why do you just stand there and smile, Farm-Boy? Fetch me water and see to Horse!"
Simon knew the response to this one. "As you wish." It was all Farm-boy ever said. Simon thought Kaylee would probably enjoy this. He played along for a time, but when he was carrying a load of firewood into the kitchen, the whole thing changed around him. He was standing in the engine room, instead. He realized that Kaylee was on the floor, working under the engine.
"Can you hand me that wrench? There by my elbow." Like the pot in the kitchen, it was within her reach, but Simon would have to get close to Kaylee to pick it up. He smiled and sat down, a little awkward but not giving a damn about getting dirty.
He and Kaylee made quite a production of it. "This wrench?" "No, try the one right next to it..." Finally Kaylee sat up, very close. Simon thought, ''This is a dream. This is not me making a promise I can't keep, or damning Kaylee with our troubles. This is what I want, with no tears and no pain.' He leaned over and Kaylee was already tilting her face up, for that first kiss that somehow they'd never gotten around to...
Of course, that's when he woke up. Simon groaned.
River is reading from The Bride. "Good men, bad men, Jayne Cobb & Malcolm Reynolds..."
"You mean Jayne is a good man and Mal is a bad man?" Simon asked.
"No, dummy, that's just the way they see themselves..." She traced the words on the page for effect as she read aloud. Simon relaxed, soothed by her voice in a childhood ritual. This had always been something between the two of them. Neither parent had ever thought to read to a sick child, or to be fair, they were much too busy to do so. Simon had first read the story to River when she was four and very sick. Thinking back on it, that had been when he'd decided to become a doctor...
He slept and as he slept, he smiled as he dreamed of Princess... Kaylee? Kaylee as the Princess Buttercup, in a simple dress. Simon only remembered ever having seen Kaylee in a dress once, that frilly one she wore to the infamous party on Persephone. In his dream he wore the course homespun clothes of the Farm-Boy, Westley. It was so incongruous that he smiled.
"Why do you just stand there and smile, Farm-Boy? Fetch me water and see to Horse!"
Simon knew the response to this one. "As you wish." It was all Farm-boy ever said. Simon thought Kaylee would probably enjoy this. He played along for a time, but when he was carrying a load of firewood into the kitchen, the whole thing changed around him. He was standing in the engine room, instead. He realized that Kaylee was on the floor, working under the engine.
"Can you hand me that wrench? There by my elbow." Like the pot in the kitchen, it was within her reach, but Simon would have to get close to Kaylee to pick it up. He smiled and sat down, a little awkward but not giving a damn about getting dirty.
He and Kaylee made quite a production of it. "This wrench?" "No, try the one right next to it..." Finally Kaylee sat up, very close. Simon thought, ''This is a dream. This is not me making a promise I can't keep, or damning Kaylee with our troubles. This is what I want, with no tears and no pain.' He leaned over and Kaylee was already tilting her face up, for that first kiss that somehow they'd never gotten around to...
Of course, that's when he woke up. Simon groaned.