let the river run
I wrote this as comment fic for pearl_o last week, and kept forgetting to post it here.
Just a drabble and three quarters (i.e., 175 words) of untitled River fic.
***
River loves dancing. She loves it because, like math, dancing makes sense.
Heel, toe, swing your partner, do-si-do. Dos. Two. Two times two is four times two is eight, and who do we appreciate?
Not River. Not usually.
But today is her birthday, and Simon dances with her, one-two-three, one-two-three, the way mother taught them. She said people danced this way on Earth-that-was. Wash and the captain clap and laugh. Simon swings her into their arms, and they each take a turn spinning her around the room, smiling where they usually frown. Even Jayne looks happy today, happy for her. She feels light and free and pretty as a Companion in the new dress Inara bought her, eating the cake the Shepherd made.
When she dances, she is fully present, here in Serenity, the present she gives herself. No time like the present, and no present like the time.
She laughs and twirls again, in Kaylee’s arms, and when she blows out her candles, she closes her eyes and wishes every day could be her birthday.
***
Just a drabble and three quarters (i.e., 175 words) of untitled River fic.
***
River loves dancing. She loves it because, like math, dancing makes sense.
Heel, toe, swing your partner, do-si-do. Dos. Two. Two times two is four times two is eight, and who do we appreciate?
Not River. Not usually.
But today is her birthday, and Simon dances with her, one-two-three, one-two-three, the way mother taught them. She said people danced this way on Earth-that-was. Wash and the captain clap and laugh. Simon swings her into their arms, and they each take a turn spinning her around the room, smiling where they usually frown. Even Jayne looks happy today, happy for her. She feels light and free and pretty as a Companion in the new dress Inara bought her, eating the cake the Shepherd made.
When she dances, she is fully present, here in Serenity, the present she gives herself. No time like the present, and no present like the time.
She laughs and twirls again, in Kaylee’s arms, and when she blows out her candles, she closes her eyes and wishes every day could be her birthday.
***