Sense and Serenity
Apr. 22nd, 2006 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamcranverBoy howdy, it's been a while. Sorry about the brevity of the update, but who knows how long it will be until I've finished chapters 11 and 12?
10.
It was a long day, much like the day before. Banning and Cabbot went visiting among their friends and then retired for the afternoon to watch music vids on the Cortex, after checking in Zoe’s room to see how she was. Zoe spent most of the day in bed, but she was getting antsy, which was a sure sign to Kaylee that she was improving. Kaylee ate lunch and dinner in Zoe’s room, but after dinner, when Zoe went to sleep again, she went down to join the others in Dr. Tam’s grand study.
They all seemed to be doing their own things tonight. Cabbot and Wash were eating apples and watching the news. Dr. Tam was writing, and Banning was hovering over him and occasionally talking to him.
Kaylee thought that looked boring. Lucky for her, Petaline and Emma had brought her the still-malfunctioning com from the home when they’d dropped by, and she took the back off and immersed herself in the circuits. It didn’t take all her attention, and so she listened a little to the conversation between Dr. Tam and Banning, which struck her as funny.
“Oh, Simon, it’s so remarkable that you take the time to write an actual letter to your sister! She’ll be so pleased to get it!”
Dr. Tam looked up. “Um, yeah. I guess.”
“Why are you writing a letter, I wonder? When you could just call her up on the Cortex?”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “River and I always write to each other.”
“Do you write to other people, too?”
“Uh, not really.”
“Tell your sister that I can’t wait to see her again!”
“You said that five minutes ago. I already told her.”
“That’s such a wonderful antique pen you have there. Wherever did you get it? It looks like it came straight from Old Earth!”
Dr. Tam, evidently fed up, didn’t answer.
“Tell your sister how glad I am her studies are going well, and I hope she isn’t neglecting her dancing, because I know how out of shape you can get when you don’t practice, oh, and--”
“Why don’t you just call her on the Cortex?” Simon snapped.
“Well, I guess I’ll do that later. And I’ll see her soon enough.” Banning stood in silence for a moment, watching as Simon finished one side of the page and turned it over to write on the other. This was obviously too much for her. “Do you always write such long letters?”
Simon turned back to her with an irritated expression. “Only when I have a lot to say.”
“Oh.” She nodded as if he had said something profound. Kaylee snickered, and Wash shot her an amused glance. Banning turned a glare on him, and with a toss of her head addressed Simon. “I wish Wash would take a page out of your book,” she said with a sniff. “It’d be wonderful to have more gentlemen around, people who understood the charm in old-fashioned ways instead of obsessing over machines and such like a common mechanic.”
Wash’s face burned a sullen, angry red, but one look at Kaylee’s face convinced him that she was more angered and hurt than he was by Miss Miller’s remarks, and so to calm her down a bit, he said, “Ah, well, different strokes for different folks. I couldn’t sit still long enough to write a long letter like that anyway.”
At this Simon put down his pen and raised an eyebrow. “You seem to be okay with sitting still in the cockpit of a ship.”
Wash shrugged, not denying it. “I’m a flying kind of guy.”
Kaylee turned to him, pleasantly surprised. “You’re a pilot?”
“Used to be,” he said, scratching his head a bit embarrassedly. “I haven’t flown in a couple of years, though. Probably crash into a satellite or something if I tried it now.”
“Oh, knock it off,” Simon said. “You fly our shuttle all the time. You’re a great pilot, and you know it.”
Wash’s angry flush had softened, and he now looked rather pleased. “Why, thanks, Simon!” Grinning and sitting up a little straighter, he said, “You know, I kind of miss flying, now that I think on it. If somebody were to offer me a job, I think I could be out of here in forty-five minutes.”
“Well, don’t let us stop you,” said Banning with a cold smile.
Simon gave Banning a sharp glance and said to Wash, “No, you wouldn’t. You say that now, but if a friend asked you to stay, you’d forget all about it.” The quirk of his eyebrows on the word ‘friend’ implied that perhaps he had instead been referring to Ms. Alleyne. Wash didn’t quite pick up on it, but Cabbot did, and she scowled primly.
“I have a short attention span,” said Wash, not the least bit apologetic.
Kaylee smiled at him and said, “Well, I think that’s real sweet, Wash. A man ought to care about his friends, and I know if a friend of mine needed me, I wouldn’t rush off, no matter how good a job it was.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” said Simon. The intensity of his gaze made Kaylee uncomfortable, and she excused herself to go talk with Zoe.
10.
It was a long day, much like the day before. Banning and Cabbot went visiting among their friends and then retired for the afternoon to watch music vids on the Cortex, after checking in Zoe’s room to see how she was. Zoe spent most of the day in bed, but she was getting antsy, which was a sure sign to Kaylee that she was improving. Kaylee ate lunch and dinner in Zoe’s room, but after dinner, when Zoe went to sleep again, she went down to join the others in Dr. Tam’s grand study.
They all seemed to be doing their own things tonight. Cabbot and Wash were eating apples and watching the news. Dr. Tam was writing, and Banning was hovering over him and occasionally talking to him.
Kaylee thought that looked boring. Lucky for her, Petaline and Emma had brought her the still-malfunctioning com from the home when they’d dropped by, and she took the back off and immersed herself in the circuits. It didn’t take all her attention, and so she listened a little to the conversation between Dr. Tam and Banning, which struck her as funny.
“Oh, Simon, it’s so remarkable that you take the time to write an actual letter to your sister! She’ll be so pleased to get it!”
Dr. Tam looked up. “Um, yeah. I guess.”
“Why are you writing a letter, I wonder? When you could just call her up on the Cortex?”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “River and I always write to each other.”
“Do you write to other people, too?”
“Uh, not really.”
“Tell your sister that I can’t wait to see her again!”
“You said that five minutes ago. I already told her.”
“That’s such a wonderful antique pen you have there. Wherever did you get it? It looks like it came straight from Old Earth!”
Dr. Tam, evidently fed up, didn’t answer.
“Tell your sister how glad I am her studies are going well, and I hope she isn’t neglecting her dancing, because I know how out of shape you can get when you don’t practice, oh, and--”
“Why don’t you just call her on the Cortex?” Simon snapped.
“Well, I guess I’ll do that later. And I’ll see her soon enough.” Banning stood in silence for a moment, watching as Simon finished one side of the page and turned it over to write on the other. This was obviously too much for her. “Do you always write such long letters?”
Simon turned back to her with an irritated expression. “Only when I have a lot to say.”
“Oh.” She nodded as if he had said something profound. Kaylee snickered, and Wash shot her an amused glance. Banning turned a glare on him, and with a toss of her head addressed Simon. “I wish Wash would take a page out of your book,” she said with a sniff. “It’d be wonderful to have more gentlemen around, people who understood the charm in old-fashioned ways instead of obsessing over machines and such like a common mechanic.”
Wash’s face burned a sullen, angry red, but one look at Kaylee’s face convinced him that she was more angered and hurt than he was by Miss Miller’s remarks, and so to calm her down a bit, he said, “Ah, well, different strokes for different folks. I couldn’t sit still long enough to write a long letter like that anyway.”
At this Simon put down his pen and raised an eyebrow. “You seem to be okay with sitting still in the cockpit of a ship.”
Wash shrugged, not denying it. “I’m a flying kind of guy.”
Kaylee turned to him, pleasantly surprised. “You’re a pilot?”
“Used to be,” he said, scratching his head a bit embarrassedly. “I haven’t flown in a couple of years, though. Probably crash into a satellite or something if I tried it now.”
“Oh, knock it off,” Simon said. “You fly our shuttle all the time. You’re a great pilot, and you know it.”
Wash’s angry flush had softened, and he now looked rather pleased. “Why, thanks, Simon!” Grinning and sitting up a little straighter, he said, “You know, I kind of miss flying, now that I think on it. If somebody were to offer me a job, I think I could be out of here in forty-five minutes.”
“Well, don’t let us stop you,” said Banning with a cold smile.
Simon gave Banning a sharp glance and said to Wash, “No, you wouldn’t. You say that now, but if a friend asked you to stay, you’d forget all about it.” The quirk of his eyebrows on the word ‘friend’ implied that perhaps he had instead been referring to Ms. Alleyne. Wash didn’t quite pick up on it, but Cabbot did, and she scowled primly.
“I have a short attention span,” said Wash, not the least bit apologetic.
Kaylee smiled at him and said, “Well, I think that’s real sweet, Wash. A man ought to care about his friends, and I know if a friend of mine needed me, I wouldn’t rush off, no matter how good a job it was.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” said Simon. The intensity of his gaze made Kaylee uncomfortable, and she excused herself to go talk with Zoe.