simon_doctor | (no subject)

(no subject)

"...handed us each one chocolate, and closed the bag. With this look of we never speak of this."

Simon's sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, with Kaylee's feet (in warm fuzzy socks) in his lap.

He's grinning.

"And we drove back to the Abbey in complete silence."

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He looks at her hand.

And smiles, and gently lifts her feet out of his lap to slide further up the bed.

"Don't think that means you get to steal all the pillows," she says, settling into him.

"Of course not," he says.

And steals one pillow.

Kaylee looks at him sidelong. "You're just lucky you're cute."

He drops a kiss on her temple. "I've often thought so."

"...six is a little bit excessive, ain't it."

"No, six is fine. You need the support."

And sliding closer, "I'll just have to make up for the missing pillow."

Isn't Simon's shoulder just as comfortable, anyway?

It's not as fluffy.

"Tough job." Kaylee winces a little as she shifts. Now she's using him for a backrest. "You sure you're up to it?"

It should be noted that this is said with her eyes closed, and it does not seem as though she is likely to move any time soon.

"I think I'll manage."

He strokes her hair lightly.

Kaylee leans her head into his hand. "So what happens when you get bored?"

She's been worrying about him, just a little.

He stretches out his legs, and lets out a breath.

"I fall asleep, probably."

He gives her a sidelong glance.

"That reminds me ... I didn't tell you about my adventure on the way back here."

Her eyes open. "...it involved gettin' bored and fallin' asleep?"

"No, actually it involved what you said I should do if I got bored."

That would be a warm, pleased smile aimed in his direction. "You went explorin'?"

"I did, in fact."

He's smiling too, small and pleased and just a little amused.

"Went for a walk around the Square."

"Yeah? What was it like?" Something animated about her, now. She's curious -- about what it's like, about what it looks like, about the people.

"Well..."

He shifts, reaching one hand into his pocket.

And coming out with a vid-capture.

"It was a little like this."

"...Simon." She's trying to turn to look at him, and it's not going so well. The movement makes her flinch before she can stop the reaction, but she doesn't care, and rides over it. "You -- did you take it?"

"I thought you might like to see it."

On the flat surface of the capture between their hands, one of Ehrmann Square's fountains sends a graceful arc of water ten feet into the air, to fragment into innumerable glittering loops that spiral down the invisible grav-fields surrounding it.

A man and a small girl are standing by the fountain; the girl is tugging at her father's hand, ignoring the marvel of engineering and aesthetics to point at the handful of white pigeons pecking at something on the pavement nearby. A clutch of teenagers saunters by, all of them carrying shopping bags, and the soundtrack picks up their lighthearted laughter.

By this time she's given up on trying to turn around to look at him. When the screen goes black, Kaylee turns her head and kisses his cheek. "Thank you."

It's not just that he found a way to show it to her. It's that he went out there and saw it himself. That he can, and he did.

(And that he came home, afterward.)

"That's actually just the last few minutes of it --"

He touches a control on the side of the capture, sending it back to the beginning.

The view pans across the square, and a voice says quietly: "This is Ehrmann Square -- it's another place that hasn't changed much since I was here last. They've redone the flower beds at the south end, but they redo those every year...."

"Look at you," she whispers as she settles against him, leaning her head against his. Whispers, because she doesn't want to drown out his voice.

This doesn't mean, however, that she's not going to play it back, a lot, while he's gone to Milliways.

On the whole --

She still hurts, and it's still awkward, but --

But it's better. And it's getting better, and it's been months since Kaylee has believed that it's not going to get worse.

And that's good enough. Better than.

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