simon_doctor (
simon_doctor) wrote2006-07-10 10:34 pm
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[After this.]
He reads through the personal ones first, sitting at the small writing desk in his bunk. Skims them, really: the letter from Dunash, the formal but (he feels) sincere note from one of the head doctors from his residency, the worryingly few words of congratulation from Liz. He'll want to reread those later, in all likelihood, taking more time.
Second, he turns his attention to the stack of letters to River.
He reads through the personal ones first, sitting at the small writing desk in his bunk. Skims them, really: the letter from Dunash, the formal but (he feels) sincere note from one of the head doctors from his residency, the worryingly few words of congratulation from Liz. He'll want to reread those later, in all likelihood, taking more time.
Second, he turns his attention to the stack of letters to River.
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...sour her on the benefits of federalized government...?
Kaylee makes a face at that one, and puts it in the Nice try, but no pile.
On the other hand, a dance instructor from Freeman, on Osiris, writes that he remembered seeing a recital of hers when she was thirteen, when she'd had a solo performance, and sends his compliments.
That one goes in the Keeper pile.
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Simon isn't sure whether that really is a little unsettling, or if it's just him.
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Kaylee blinks at that one. Scans it. Generic glad it's over letter from somebody named Joachim Jackson. Nobody Kaylee has heard of. Keeper pile. She keeps going.
The last one is a short note from Trudy Kavalier from Parrish in the Georgia System. Also generic. Kaylee adds it to the appropriate pile and looks up at Simon.
Two-thirds are suitable; one-third isn't. "All done."
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"Bit...enthusiastic, ain't it?"
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"That might work."
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The first stack, the keepers, he combines with his own before clipping them together and placing them neatly in the center of the desk. "There -- I'll give them to River tomorrow."
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She's not going to bring up the other letters. One last chance for him to keep them to himself.
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A beat.
"And then I can show you my letters?"
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In the holopic from graduation, you can barely see him: a dark young man with a high forehead and a short, unfashionable beard.
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The fact that he starts the letter with Are you all right? earns the writer points, and lots of them.
Kaylee remembers the name: one of the members of the mysterious mixed party, with the sake and the singing and the statue. She knows the first names of everyone in the picture, and no other details -- except that Liz and Jordie brought the sake.
Listening to Simon read the letter, Kaylee observes to herself that sometimes it's easy to forget just how much there is about Simon that she doesn't know. He hasn't told her, and she hasn't asked. And it's not something to feel good or bad about, either. It is what it is.
Her head shifts a little on the pillow as she listens.
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Simon broods on that for a moment after finishing reading it. "She's usually a lot more ... talkative than this. Or she was."
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Because really: what do you say, in a situation like this? Especially when there's some near-unfathomable code for behavior?
Kaylee bets the art of the "congratulations on not being thrown in jail for the rest of your life" letter isn't covered.
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"Unless ... I wonder if she's still annoyed at me."
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Beat.
"And I'm dyin' of curiosity but I'm gonna be good and not ask. Unless this counts as askin'. But I'm not."
This last is said a lot faster, and a little sheepishly.
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"Probably not. And it's nothing all that mysterious, just ... I was short with her, the last time we talked. And then I wasn't answering anyone's waves for months, and she tends to take that kind of thing personally."
His fingers trace the edge of the paper, absently.
"And, of course, she didn't know what was going on. None of them did. That was the whole point."
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Kaylee watches his hands for a moment before touching one.
"Maybe," she says, quietly, "you might want to write her first."
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"Maybe," he repeats quietly.
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Then:
"Hard for me to know what to say here if I can't tell what you're thinkin'." With half a smile.
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Pause.
"How would you..." He trails off, and starts over. "We don't have to decide right now, but how would you feel about going to the Core for a visit? Sometime?"
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Slowly, "I'll back you on it, but you're the one gets to bring it up with the captain. Is all I'm sayin'."
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