Rapunzel, Rapunzel
PG-13, 237 words. I expected it to be longer, somehow.
***
River knew what they were doing in the engine room, Simon and Kaylee. She tried not to know, knew it wasn't right for her to know, but even running equations endlessly through her head couldn't shut out the phantom sensations that reverberated down the hallway like tactile echoes. A hand stroking a breast, a mouth at a throat, licking and sucking--River either blushed or flushed, but wasn't sure which.
She fled down the hallway to put distance between the couple and herself, not stopping until their touches were just the faintest tickle in the back of her mind, invisible unless you knew where to look.
She sighed in relief, finding that in the relative quiet of her head, there seemed to be only her own feelings for once. There were several different emotions, all intertwined, braided; she delicately separated the strands and examined them one by one. Embarrassment, shame, gladness, desire, and one that drew her attention particularly: envy.
A princess sat in a tower, chaste and alone. She waited and hoped for rescue, but the tower was so very tall, even brave Simon could not reach her. But not so tall that she couldn't see everything that she was missing. Life went on without her, and she was forced to watch as it did.
River stared at the ends of her hair--not near long enough, or strong enough, to be climbed--and cried.
***
River knew what they were doing in the engine room, Simon and Kaylee. She tried not to know, knew it wasn't right for her to know, but even running equations endlessly through her head couldn't shut out the phantom sensations that reverberated down the hallway like tactile echoes. A hand stroking a breast, a mouth at a throat, licking and sucking--River either blushed or flushed, but wasn't sure which.
She fled down the hallway to put distance between the couple and herself, not stopping until their touches were just the faintest tickle in the back of her mind, invisible unless you knew where to look.
She sighed in relief, finding that in the relative quiet of her head, there seemed to be only her own feelings for once. There were several different emotions, all intertwined, braided; she delicately separated the strands and examined them one by one. Embarrassment, shame, gladness, desire, and one that drew her attention particularly: envy.
A princess sat in a tower, chaste and alone. She waited and hoped for rescue, but the tower was so very tall, even brave Simon could not reach her. But not so tall that she couldn't see everything that she was missing. Life went on without her, and she was forced to watch as it did.
River stared at the ends of her hair--not near long enough, or strong enough, to be climbed--and cried.