(no subject)
The window faces northeast. They don't have curtains yet.
Sunlight comes spilling in the window in the morning at an angle, shining through Simon's New Year's gift, making an elongated circle of shifting light on the hardwood. Kaylee has started sitting on the edge of the bed when she wakes, looking out at their small yard, reflecting on how strange it is not to have a bed against the wall again -- nowhere to hide, she thinks, more than once -- before she starts thinking about the day.
Because really, it's not like she's got anything real to do. She doesn't even have to work if she doesn't want to. This is convenient for now: there's unpacking, there's organizing, there are purchases that need to be made. Before, she was an apartment-keeper; now she's a genuine house-keeper, the lady of the manor, and if this is going to be permanent, she rutting well intends to have a big say over how she lives.
Especially if Simon's going to be working all the time.
***
It's handy that Simon was so meticulous about what she's privately thinking of as their cargo manifests. (For real people -- that's also how she privately thinks of them -- they'd be the lists of everything in each box.) It makes it a lot easier to determine what they have and what they don't.
The second thing Kaylee does is collect all the manifests and start making lists of the things they're missing. The longest list is probably kitchen implements. She finds the nearest dry-goods store and goes to town.
But that's the second thing Kaylee does.
The first thing Kaylee does is go out and buy herself a datapad with all the bells and whistles, the one that does everything short of julienning carrots. She uploads the manifests; she also installs a few handy programs, such as time converters (set to track time for Simon's parents on Londinium, time in Capital City, Osiris, time in Jefferson, Three Hills, and time on Serenity), and feeds of interest (investment markets, banking, cute animals), and a few games (majiang and Snake).
While she's out, she also buys bunches of flowers. They go in the living room, the kitchen, their bedroom. Temporary, she tells Simon, but I want it to be nice while we get it nicer.
***
Kaylee sleeps soundly at night, and rises with Simon, long enough to get his breakfast.
The first few mornings she looks at the bed, tilts her head, decides there's a little too much to do and she can stay in bed when he's off work and can make it worth her while.
***
The datapad gets more and more lists. Prominently bookmarked are suggested how-to's for revamping the in-house data and knowledge systems. A list of manuals includes a few programming languages.
The datapad also gets some music; the message sent to Rose Toren informing her where she can find Kaylee also includes and I got a new toy to send waves on until I get the house network up and running the way I want and I'm not saying you influenced nothing but I got a lot of Black Water on it.
The message, after some thought, also gets a postscript: when I get everything all set up you're welcome to come visit. It would be doing me a kindness so I can show off a little bit.
***
She drags furniture, she unpacks boxes, she makes arrangements for deliveries. She makes Simon fresh bao. She works with her headphones in and she stops every few hours for a game of Snake. She buys a purple sparkly cover for her datapad.
She walks in a room and looks at the flowers and feels her mouth curve with satisfaction.
She feels that way a lot.
Busy, busy, busy.
Sunlight comes spilling in the window in the morning at an angle, shining through Simon's New Year's gift, making an elongated circle of shifting light on the hardwood. Kaylee has started sitting on the edge of the bed when she wakes, looking out at their small yard, reflecting on how strange it is not to have a bed against the wall again -- nowhere to hide, she thinks, more than once -- before she starts thinking about the day.
Because really, it's not like she's got anything real to do. She doesn't even have to work if she doesn't want to. This is convenient for now: there's unpacking, there's organizing, there are purchases that need to be made. Before, she was an apartment-keeper; now she's a genuine house-keeper, the lady of the manor, and if this is going to be permanent, she rutting well intends to have a big say over how she lives.
Especially if Simon's going to be working all the time.
***
It's handy that Simon was so meticulous about what she's privately thinking of as their cargo manifests. (For real people -- that's also how she privately thinks of them -- they'd be the lists of everything in each box.) It makes it a lot easier to determine what they have and what they don't.
The second thing Kaylee does is collect all the manifests and start making lists of the things they're missing. The longest list is probably kitchen implements. She finds the nearest dry-goods store and goes to town.
But that's the second thing Kaylee does.
The first thing Kaylee does is go out and buy herself a datapad with all the bells and whistles, the one that does everything short of julienning carrots. She uploads the manifests; she also installs a few handy programs, such as time converters (set to track time for Simon's parents on Londinium, time in Capital City, Osiris, time in Jefferson, Three Hills, and time on Serenity), and feeds of interest (investment markets, banking, cute animals), and a few games (majiang and Snake).
While she's out, she also buys bunches of flowers. They go in the living room, the kitchen, their bedroom. Temporary, she tells Simon, but I want it to be nice while we get it nicer.
***
Kaylee sleeps soundly at night, and rises with Simon, long enough to get his breakfast.
The first few mornings she looks at the bed, tilts her head, decides there's a little too much to do and she can stay in bed when he's off work and can make it worth her while.
***
The datapad gets more and more lists. Prominently bookmarked are suggested how-to's for revamping the in-house data and knowledge systems. A list of manuals includes a few programming languages.
The datapad also gets some music; the message sent to Rose Toren informing her where she can find Kaylee also includes and I got a new toy to send waves on until I get the house network up and running the way I want and I'm not saying you influenced nothing but I got a lot of Black Water on it.
The message, after some thought, also gets a postscript: when I get everything all set up you're welcome to come visit. It would be doing me a kindness so I can show off a little bit.
***
She drags furniture, she unpacks boxes, she makes arrangements for deliveries. She makes Simon fresh bao. She works with her headphones in and she stops every few hours for a game of Snake. She buys a purple sparkly cover for her datapad.
She walks in a room and looks at the flowers and feels her mouth curve with satisfaction.
She feels that way a lot.
Busy, busy, busy.