Title: Home
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: Gen
Length: 275 words
Summary: He wonders if there exists a single word to encompass all of Kaylee.



The folk on board Serenity are full of surprises. Simon learns every day that they're none of them quite what they seem. Take Kaylee, for example. She's cute. Effervescent. Charming, even, in her own way. But she'll never be one of the cultured women Simon grew up with. And to Simon's eternal bemusement, she's proud of that.

She doesn't want to be some spoiled rich kid, wearing expensive clothes (unless they're pink dresses exploding with ruffles) and only caring about how much better they are than everybody else (though she's quick to assure Simon she doesn't think he's like that).

Unprepossessing – it occurs to him that this is another word to describe Kaylee, though as with all the others it falls somewhat short of the mark. He wonders if there exists a single word to encompass all of Kaylee, then decides to leave that to the poets. Or maybe to Kaylee, herself.

They had a good haul today and tonight they've been celebrating. And when Kaylee's been celebrating, she has a tendency to wax poetic, in her own way. When he's been celebrating, Simon has a tendency not to mind.

Tonight, Kaylee is bound and determined to make him understand the bond she has with a spaceship. They've found their way to Serenity's engine room; surrounded by whirring machinery, Simon can tell there's nowhere else in the 'verse that Kaylee feels more at home.

"She ain't nothin' fancy," Kaylee says, patting a nearby console fondly, "but she'll be home if you let her."

Simon watches her for a moment in thoughtful silence. And when he finally voices his agreement, it's not Serenity he's thinking of.