In Dreams We Do So Many Things [ Finished~ ]
Characters: Kaylee and Odd.
Content: Some good old-fashioned comfort.
Location: St. Patrick's Cathedral
Time of day: Afternoon
Warnings: *hits head on wall* angst angst angst
She didn’t know why she had come here, of all places. Back at the auto shop there were crew mates, a cozy hammock to hide away in, tools and music and tea to comfort with.
So why, Kaylee wondered, had she ended up on the front steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral? Just standing outside, staring at the front of the cathedral like she had been for the past ten minutes or so. Part of her wanted to stay out, to not bother anyone else with her own troubles because everyone here had so many of their own. Everything else told her to enter. It was okay to be selfish sometimes, they had told her before. She just felt like this was being a little too selfish, to be pushing her problems off on someone else.
Mostly she just wanted a hug--given or received, it didn’t matter. She wanted someone besides Wash or Inara--besides herself--to tell her that it would all be okay, that they would all be just shiny in the long run. The first person she had thought of was Odd.
Still staring at the front doors. Odd was a great friend, a great help when it came to waking people up to the fact that, yeah, things seemed to be taking a ride down the hill, but there were other things to be thankful for. It’d be a hell of a lonely island if you were stuck alone. Even so, there was a certain lack of self-cooperativeness when it came to revealing that there were problems when she had been working so hard lately to remind everyone else that they weren’t so bad.
With one hand on the door, Kaylee let herself in, and only took a few steps inside before halting again. The broken ceiling reminded her...
The monster.
Her body shook momentarily with the memory of it, so close, eyes seeing nothing and everything. Crabs had been scary enough, Reavers remained a horrific terror, but they were nothing compared to what Kaylee had found herself so close to....
Hot breath...the way the ground had moved around them upon her approach and departure.
Those few never-ending seconds in which Kaylee had been sure she was about to die, that she would be eaten away, gnawed and smashed and chewed in half by teeth bigger than Jayne. Her prayers had never been said quicker, with her heart stopped and her body quivering, so close to certain death that she hadn’t even thought to pray for her family, for her friends....
That was where she had drawn the line on herself. That had been too selfish. Did she really deserve comfort when she couldn’t even remember others when her own life was in danger? What kind of a crew mate, of a friend was she if she only cared about her own hide?
She almost turned back, almost limped back outside into the street and onward toward wherever she ended up. This was even more selfish, though, she decided, and with her jaw firmly set she finally limped forward into the sanctuary. Besides, with the way her injured leg was aching now, more walking without a little rest would have been entirely irresponsible and stupid...
Pray for a moment, forgive. It was the only way she was going to be able to figure things out for herself. She needed to forgive herself and to work on things. All there was to it.
Unpleasant memories pushed aside, at least momentarily, Kaylee sat to rest a moment on the nearest pew. There was no sense in letting Odd see her all worked up, even if she was going for comfort. One step at a time.
Content: Some good old-fashioned comfort.
Location: St. Patrick's Cathedral
Time of day: Afternoon
Warnings: *hits head on wall* angst angst angst
She didn’t know why she had come here, of all places. Back at the auto shop there were crew mates, a cozy hammock to hide away in, tools and music and tea to comfort with.
So why, Kaylee wondered, had she ended up on the front steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral? Just standing outside, staring at the front of the cathedral like she had been for the past ten minutes or so. Part of her wanted to stay out, to not bother anyone else with her own troubles because everyone here had so many of their own. Everything else told her to enter. It was okay to be selfish sometimes, they had told her before. She just felt like this was being a little too selfish, to be pushing her problems off on someone else.
Mostly she just wanted a hug--given or received, it didn’t matter. She wanted someone besides Wash or Inara--besides herself--to tell her that it would all be okay, that they would all be just shiny in the long run. The first person she had thought of was Odd.
Still staring at the front doors. Odd was a great friend, a great help when it came to waking people up to the fact that, yeah, things seemed to be taking a ride down the hill, but there were other things to be thankful for. It’d be a hell of a lonely island if you were stuck alone. Even so, there was a certain lack of self-cooperativeness when it came to revealing that there were problems when she had been working so hard lately to remind everyone else that they weren’t so bad.
With one hand on the door, Kaylee let herself in, and only took a few steps inside before halting again. The broken ceiling reminded her...
The monster.
Her body shook momentarily with the memory of it, so close, eyes seeing nothing and everything. Crabs had been scary enough, Reavers remained a horrific terror, but they were nothing compared to what Kaylee had found herself so close to....
Hot breath...the way the ground had moved around them upon her approach and departure.
Those few never-ending seconds in which Kaylee had been sure she was about to die, that she would be eaten away, gnawed and smashed and chewed in half by teeth bigger than Jayne. Her prayers had never been said quicker, with her heart stopped and her body quivering, so close to certain death that she hadn’t even thought to pray for her family, for her friends....
That was where she had drawn the line on herself. That had been too selfish. Did she really deserve comfort when she couldn’t even remember others when her own life was in danger? What kind of a crew mate, of a friend was she if she only cared about her own hide?
She almost turned back, almost limped back outside into the street and onward toward wherever she ended up. This was even more selfish, though, she decided, and with her jaw firmly set she finally limped forward into the sanctuary. Besides, with the way her injured leg was aching now, more walking without a little rest would have been entirely irresponsible and stupid...
Pray for a moment, forgive. It was the only way she was going to be able to figure things out for herself. She needed to forgive herself and to work on things. All there was to it.
Unpleasant memories pushed aside, at least momentarily, Kaylee sat to rest a moment on the nearest pew. There was no sense in letting Odd see her all worked up, even if she was going for comfort. One step at a time.