Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these wonderful characters, or even the setting and world of Firefly. They all belong to Fox/Universal and Joss Whedon.
James Norrington and related belongs to Disney, Gore and Ted and Terry.
A/N: This series of ficlets takes place after Browncoats at World’s End. You don’t have to read it, but it would explain how an 18th century commodore came to be aboard Serenity
Saga: There is a saga? I
guess since most of these fics will be after “Browncoats at World’s End” and continue
after each other it is a saga. I don’t know what else to call it besides
Commodore Norrington in the 26th Century.
Replies: Ogreatrandom thank you.
Chapter 3: Fantasy
“Goodnight Mr. Norrington,” Kaylee Frye said to James before he left the dining area. “Unless it is no longer too forward for me to call you James.”
The newest member of crew smiled. “At this point you may call me James if you wish.” He turned to face the nearest window and stared at the stars. “I have to adjust to my new home, and my new time.”
“I just want you to be comfortable,” Kaylee didn’t care how long it took. She didn’t want to rush James. It was he who sacrificed everything he knew so they could return home.
“I believe I will grow comfortable,” he yawned. “Sorry, that was a bit rude of me.”
“It means you are sleepy again.”
“I should be getting to my quarters,” he nodded. A smile appeared briefly. “Good night Miss Frye, and pleasant dreams.”
“I’ll try,” Kaylee kept her smile until Norrington had left. “That is if I can get to sleep.” She said under breath.
She wanted to go to sleep but she didn’t feel tired, not in the slightest. She had spent hours lying on her bed trying to go to sleep. She tried everything, counting, clearing her head, singing to her self. She even tried the reverse psychology of telling herself she was going to stay up the whole night and it still didn’t work.
“Might as well clean up,” she tossed the empty yogurt cups into the trash bin and cleaned the spoons in the sink. “Doubt it’s going to make me any more tired, and I still don’t know why.”
There was one main possible cause that is preventing her from getting to sleep and it was because of the man she loved. Why did Simon have to be a gentleman? Was it because of the proposal? It still doesn’t make a lick of sense, considering how many times they had sex. She even counted how many times they had done the deed in her cabin and in his.
“Hard to sleep in an empty bed.” It seemed too long since she fell asleep listening to the sound of Simon breathing, feeling his warm boy pressed against hers. It had been well over two months since they had slept on her bed. When they were on The Haven they slept on a pile of hammocks placed on the floor and they were separated when they were asleep on the Intrepid. That had to be it.
She was going to have to find some way to get to sleep until the wedding. She will be an overworked and exhausted wreck. She would be putting not only herself in danger, but also Serenity and everyone else aboard. She would also be letting Serenity and her captain down.
“Think of the wedding,” Kaylee sat down again. “Think of spending your first night in bed as Kaylee Tam.” She smiled at the thought. It wouldn’t be any different than sleeping in the same bed when they were unwed. It may feel different and she will get a bigger bed to share with Simon, Mal had promised, and when she looked down at their hands she would see the rings that indicate they were bonded to each other.
Of course it would have to wait until after the wedding. Ever since Simon proposed she had replayed the images over in her head. Every time she visualized her wedding a new detail would change, such as the kind of music that would play, the types of cheese used in the fondue pot, or the arrangement of flowers in her bouquet.
The dress in her fantasy also went through multiple transformations. The amount of ruffles continued to change. The latest image had a gown with a hemline that wasn’t too wide with three rows of lace like frills. There would be tiny white roses dotting down the sides. The upper part of her gown would have a similar rose accenting the middle of her chest, the sleeves would have two rows of ruffles and she would wear a tiara. A silver tiara with two long ribbon like trains that would flow in the breeze.
The dresses for her bridesmaids would also be pretty. She knew Zoe preferred gowns with slink. There would not be much in the way of puffed up sleeves or ruffles, maybe a little lace and a few ribbons. The specific colors of the gowns kept on changing, and the recent color of choice was eggplant purple.
The food would be remembered. She couldn’t decide on pheasant or quail, or even venison. All of those choices of meats sounded fancy, but she had only tried quail and while she liked what she had tried she wanted to try even more. She should ask Inara what she would prefer, and perhaps James and Simon. They were gentlemen who had refined tastes.
The rest of the wedding feast would be easy. There would be a tall cake of course. She was certain she had decided on a wine, a type of blush that was pretty and pink and had a faint aftertaste of berries. It would compliment the strawberries dipped in chocolate. No matter what changes were made in her fantasies, there was always strawberries dipped in chocolate.
“How did I get here?” Kaylee stood in the entrance of the passenger bay. She was so caught up in her fantasies; she did not notice where she was headed. Unless of course she was lead to Simon. She had been thinking about him.
She approached Simon’s cabin. What was she going to do? She couldn’t just wake him and tell him she couldn’t sleep, now could she? She couldn’t ask or beg him to sleep with her. The answer would be no, and not until they were wed and she would make him feel uncomfortable and that was one of the last things she wanted to do.
“Simon sweetie,” she breathed out his name while she placed the palm of her hand against the cool panel. “I’m having a lot of trouble trying to get to sleep. I know I need to get used o it, at least for a few more months, and I know you can’t hear me. I just want to know I love you and I will see you in the morning.”
-
Kaylee’s calm cheer continued with her as she went up the stairs, back towards the dining area. This time she would make it back to her bunk and this time when she closed her eyes would go to sleep. She would just have to-
Rough hands reached out from the side, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulled her to the direction of the engine room.
“Gahhh,” Her scream was quickly silenced by a large hand covering her mouth.
“Oh, it’s you.” Jayne Cobb released his hold on her.
“Jayne?” Kaylee blinked. What was he doing up, and why did he scare her like that?
“What are you doing up?” His forehead creased as he stared at her.
“I was going to ask the same of you,” She slapped her fist against his chest, not too hard, just enough to get a point across. “And why did you grab me like that? You nearly made me scream really loud.”
“I didn’t know you was you,” Jayne said in a tone that made Kaylee seem to be mostly at fault. “Why aint you sleeping?”
She shrugged. “I’m not tired. Why aren’t you in your bunk?”
“Can’t sleep, almost dozed off a couple times, but then I woke up.” He headed towards the cabinets.
“A lot of people are getting insomnia it seems.” First her, then James and now Jayne.
“Aw man who had it first?” Jayne asked.
“Why?”
“Gotta to know who to blame for giving it to the rest of us,” he pulled out a bag of chips and grabbed a beverage can.
She blinked. “Insomnia aint contagious.”
“They say that about yawns.” He sat down at the table.
“Going to have a snack and then go back to bed? That’s what James and I did and we talked, and now he’s sleeping and I’m not.”
“Why do you always have to befriend these big fancies?”
“James isn’t a big fancy,” she folded her arms. “He’s a soldier like the Cap’n and Zoe. It just that where he came from all soldiers dressed fancy and were clean and polite.”
“Can’t see that guy getting any blood on him, or even getting down right dirty.” He shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.
“He got stabbed in the stomach and he shed some blood.”
Jayne rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Not going right back to bed after this.” He slurped some of his drink. “Going to do some crunching and pressin.”
“Working out?” It did make some sense to her. Lifting those heavy waits could wear him out. “Maybe I should some sit ups, might make me sleepy.”
Jayne wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m not doing it to make me tired,” he stared at her. “I’m doing it because I need it. Been a while since I been at the bench last, need to get in touch with it. Get in touch with all my things.”
“Maybe that is why you can’t sleep.” Why hadn’t that occurred to her before? “You have to feel and make sure all is natural. It isn’t comfortable if it isn’t natural.”
Jayne furrowed his brows in mid chew. “Uh yeah,” he stared up at the ceiling and round the room. “Yeah, exactly.”
“I’m going to check on a few things.” She pointed to the engine room. “Have fun building your body.”
“Always do,” he held up his beverage to her.
-
“Hey girl,” Kaylee greeted as she entered the engine room. “I can be saying that wherever I’m inside you, huh?” She walked around the main engine; everything seemed to be in proper order.
“How about over here,” she checked the side panels. Everything else was right, except for one wire that seemed a to have more slack than the others and was bouncing. “Not sure if I like this, maybe I should clip you.” She rummaged through her toolboxes and selected a bright red clip. “Here you go.’ She clamped it against the wire, pinning it closer to the panel. “Now what else?”
She went around the whole room, searching for anything that might needed a few adjustments or if there was a screw loose. She tightened up a bolt and added just a touch more grease to a few gears, before she completed her inspection.
“Not bad, but I better keep an eye on you.” She sat down on her hammock and watched as the engine kept spinning. Her lids drooped while she listened to the sound of the engine and she leaned towards her right sinking further and further until her upper half was resting against the hammock cloth.
She had done her job since she and the others returned to Serenity, but it had been a while since she relaxed in her hammock, listening to the sounds of the engine.
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