(no subject)
"No power in the verse can stop me!"
CHARACTER NAME: Kaywinnit Lee (Kaylee) Frye
FANDOM: Firefly
CANON: In between Episodes 12 (The Message) & 13 (Heart of Gold)
WHAT THEY LOST: Her ability to eat fruit. Any time she attempts it, it will turn into protein rations.
PERSONALITY: Kaylee is the most girly tomboy you will ever meet. Raised and taught in her daddy’s garage, she’s got an instinctive ability with anything mechanical. She might not have had a lot of formal education, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. Whether she’s familiar with a specific machine or not, she can usually figure her way around any problems, making her one of the best ship mechanics in the sky. More severe or complicated problems can still flummox her, though, and the thought of purposefully damaging something, the way Saffron does twice to Serenity, is completely anathema to her. She loves her ship and considers it like it’s a living thing because, to her, it is.
Kaylee’s not much for putting on airs. She takes people at face value and expects them to do the same, maintaining an innocent sort of mindset despite being surrounded by some less-than-savory sorts. To her, there’s no scandal in the kind of crime they engage in and she treats it with the same, light attitude that she does her crewmates. She’s also fiercely loyal, though, and - like the rest of the crew of Serenity - has a definite line where right becomes very, very wrong. She’s not a fighter, but she tries her best when her friends need her, and she trusts her captain and the crew completely.
Despite being a bit rough around the edges, Kaylee is very much a woman and she’s not about to let people forget it. The “little sister” of the crew, she’s cheerful, sweet, and loves things that are cute or pretty. She decorated her room with pretty, painted vines and flowers and her handiwork can be seen in the kitchen as well, making Serenity a bit more like home. Also, even if they’re usually hidden by her coveralls, she likes cute clothes that might otherwise be inappropriate for her work in the engine room.
If Serenity is her home, the crew is Kaylee’s family. She loves each and every one of them unconditionally… probably the only member of the crew to do that so completely with each of them. While she’s not naïve (she’s certainly a key component of their criminal lifestyle), she has a deep seated trust in them… which is returned 100%. Even Jayne gets violently protective of her when she’s threatened, in his own, oh-so-disturbing way.
She can also surprise you. Sweet, trusting, oftentimes almost innocent in the way she perceives her crew and the people around them, she’s not a child… and one of the downsides to traveling with “family” is that, sometimes, you need someone to see you as something more. She’s not at all shy about showing her wants and desires for a relationship, specifically with Simon, but frustrated as she is, her head can be turned by a bit of well timed flattery. After all, it gets awful lonely, being out in the black, and she can only have so much patience when the guy she wants doesn’t seem to pay her any attention. While she’s not exactly boy crazy, it’s certainly never far from her mind.
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
“Kay-lee! I’ve been sitting on this rock far too long with feds sniffing around places we don’t want them sniffing, and you were supposed to be back an hour ago!”
Kaylee winced, looking up at where the captain stood on the landing above. “I know… I know! Not to worry, Cap’n. Just a little setback with the bargaining is all.” Shifting the packages in her arms, she headed for the stairs.
“I remember right, you swore to me you could get me back in the sky ‘fore I could blink, so’s I’d like to know why I’m blinking and we’re still standing still.”
“And we will be, quick as you can spit,” she reassured him, nodding as she moved through the cargo bay. “But if that thruster breaks the second we take off, it won’t matter what I done. The one I got’s a quality piece, guaranteed, and that’s worth a spot of extra time.”
“Don’t look like no engine parts to me,” Jayne muttered, reaching for the paper wrapped bundle on top, but Kaylee dodged him, shooting him a glare.
“Hey, hey, hey! Hands off. Not like I go grabbin’ your weapons, any time you walk past.”
“You know you thought about it.” He shot back, leering at her.
That just got a roll of her eyes as she shoved past him, making her way to the engine room. Ducking inside, the hum of the engines surrounding her, she set the two parcels on her hammock. The first she moved carefully aside, eyes lingering for just a minute, before ripping the paper off the second and removing the thruster. Brand new, she couldn’t help but admire the clean edges of it before she turned back to the worn and rough hewn engine. Balancing the part in one hand, she ran her fingers over the compression block lovingly before pulling back the hatch. “Alright, let’s get you up and running again.”
She hadn’t been lying when she’d said she could get it fixed quick. In a matter of minutes, the part was in place, shiny silver standing out against the grimy pieces surrounding it. Making her way to the door, she reached up to the intercom to page the bridge. “All’s shiny, Cap’n. We’re good to go.”
“Good girl, Kaylee.” Mal’s voice buzzed through before the comm clicked off and the familiar rumble of the landing sequence echoed through the ship.
Satisfied, the mechanic made her way back to the hammock. She wiped her hands on her coveralls, leaving tracks of grease on the already dirty material, before carefully reaching out to pick up the remaining package. Oh so carefully, she pulled back the loosely wrapped paper to reveal crinkling, cellophane…. And a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
She brought the bouquet to her nose as she instinctively leaned with the turn of the ship, eyes closing as she inhaled the fresh scent. In a minute, they’d break atmo and be off chasing crime and adventure in the black. She loved every minute of it but, right then, she was thinking that simple little breath of earth was worth every one of the thirty eight minutes it had taken her to wait and buy that tiny bundle of pretties.
Wiki Entry