sroni

Kaylee loves her strawberries. It makes Simon smile. He enjoys watching her enjoy somethign so simple, yet infinitely precious to her. It makes him wonder when the last time he allowed himself the sheer pleasure of the small things in life- or if he ever did. That realization makes him buy her some strawberries ever time they dock. He'll take vicarious pleasure through her.

He never tells her they're from him. He just leaves them outside her room. He never tells her, but he suspects she knows.

As she eats the fruit, she tells him about growing up as the only child, with only her daddy still around. She learned about engines from her daddy, and working on them reminds her of him. WHen Mal asked her to be the mechanic for Serenity, she told him that she needed to ask her parents. That was a lie. Her daddy had died the week previous. Kaylee went to the spot where he was buried, and told him that she was going to go into space, just like he'd always dreamed of.

Simon listens to her voice avidly, paying attention to ever word, tone and nuance, and memorizes the shade of her eyes, teh shape of her mouth, the picture she makes with her bright smile, the smudge of grease on her cheek, her mouth colored by berries, her eyes flashing wtih humor, and her hands, so small and dainty, yet strong and agile, fluttering around in the air, illistrating and punctuating her words, stained with oil and berry juice.

Kaylee and her strawberries have the almost magical ability to aleviate his stress and fears over River, to calm down his busy mind, and allow him to enjoy the small peice of heaven that Kaylee gave him.

Kaylee bites into another strawberry, savoring it, juice trailing down her chin, her small tongue darting out to capture it, her eyes rolling back in pleasure.

Simon would never be able to eat strawberries the way she did, with wild, unabandoned, un-inhibited joy. He sometimes wondered what his parents would say if he ever brought Kaylee home to them- and then promptly decided he didn't care.

Kaylee's love of strawberries touched every part of him. If he walked through a room, he knew whther or not Kayle was in it, by the faint scent of strawberries drifting on recycled air.

And the first time he kisses Kaylee, he can still taste his gift on her mouth and skin.

Kaylee loves her strawberries. And Simon loves to give them to her.

Is it sad that I wrote this last night, after drinking an entire bottle of wine?