Idealism of Childhood
Title: Idealism of Childhood
Pairing: Kaylee/River
Words: 200
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters or source material; I’m not making any money from this.
Notes: Used the comment_fic prompt, “oranges are not the only fruit.”
Summary: “... she likes the brightness, the shape, the scent.”
On Serenity, fresh fruit is rare, and it’s one of the things Kaylee misses most about living planetside. She remembers picking strawberries as a child, walking a few paces behind her mother, bending at the waist and gathering them in the folds of her skirt. She’d sit in the field and eat until her stomach hurt. Inara sometimes brings her strawberries now, Core-grown and chemically enhanced. They’re too big in the box-- artificial-like, grown to ‘perfection’, but they don’t taste as sweet as she likes.
--
Oranges in the window arranged in neat little rows. On Osiris, almost any food in the ‘verse is available. There’s sweeter food in the shop-- pink-frosted cupcakes, rainbow-swirl lollipops the size of River’s head-- but she likes the brightness, the shape, the scent. She runs little fingers over the top, stripping away the peel with the point of a nail. Little teeth taking a little bite, and juice runs down her chin.
--
River turns her nose up when Kaylee offers her one of her precious strawberries; Kaylee rolls her eyes and says, “Alrighty then,” and River smiles and lets her enjoy the small luxury.
They taste better on Kaylee’s tongue, anyway.