trans_9 | Parts: 1. Jamie: 0. [Open]

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Parts: 1. Jamie: 0. [Open]

By all rights, Jamie should be asleep. Ever since his trip to the City earlier, he's been running hot and cold, like he's got a fever. But rather than wanting to rest, he feels strangely jittery - so he's in Engineering, looking down at a box of parts that need to be sorted. However, now that he's actually here, he's not sure he wants to go through with it. If he doesn't, though, he'll just have to do it later. With a sigh, he rather carelessly dumps everything out onto a work table. He starts rummaging through the pile, although there's not much actual sorting going on. It seems more like he's simply picking something up, frowning at it for a moment and then setting it aside.

In the mess of bits and pieces, there's one part made up of two smaller ones that have been shoved together. It's the same thing he had been playing with while waiting for Billy during their failed goop gun experiment, and there's an almost wistful look on his face for a moment as he picks it up. He'll never be able to think of that without thinking of Cassie, now. Still, the parts would be of more use if they were separate, so he sets to trying to pull them back apart.

It seems he's done a fantastic job of wedging them together permanently, for try as he might he cannot get them to budge. As he tries, the expression on his face gets more and more irritated, until finally he gets frustrated enough that he throws it at the table. It bounces and goes sailing through the air towards the open doorway. Normally he'd go chasing after it, but why bother? It's not like it's going to hit anyone coming in this late, anyway. Is it?

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There's a small jump out over her as his hand tightens on the part, more in preparation to hop back behind the door if necessary than an actual start. When he doesn't throw it, she relaxes. When he just stares at her like he doesn't know who she is, she tenses back up. There's really no winning.

The almost-smile doesn't help. This is Jamie. Jamie always greets her with a grin, or a joke, or at least some chauvinistic tease. There isn't much in the way of life behind this one.

Even so, she tries to offer him up a smile in return. "Finally, yeah. Took her long enough, you think?" It doesn't take her much more than a few steps for her to get up to him, and she almost goes to hug him when she really looks at him. From there, Kaylee's brow furrows, and her hand is on his forehead before he has time to object. "Shàngdì gāisǐ! Shénme shì dìyù--have you seen anybody about this??"

[[ Translation: 'God dammit! What the hell--' ]]

It says something that Jamie actually lets Kaylee get away with the hand on his forehead, as he doesn't particularly want to be touched right now. Anyone else would likely have their hand batted away, at least. He gives her a somewhat vexed look all the same, and a rather cranky sounding "Hey!"

Even though he's putting up with it, he's still distinctly fidgety under her touch, as if he's having a hard time standing still. At her comment, there's a distinct frown - although that's because he doesn't understand those particular phrases - and he says, "Och, don't start with that. I'm perfectly fine."

Apart from that annoying tickle in the back of his throat, which is threatening to erupt into a cough. Stubbornly, he clamps his lips shut, trying to force it to subside without giving into the urge to do so.

Even if he had tried batting her hand away, the result would have been the same. Concern is written, nice and clear, on the mechanic's face. "Oh, don't gimme that," she replies. It's hard to get anywhere, with him fidgeting as he is, but she doesn't have to have her hand on his forehead long to register the difference in temperature.

"'Perfectly fine' ain't exactly how I'd put it, bao bei." Not that she can blame him for not wanting anyone to know he's sick, mind. She's done the same herself on more than one occasion. The less fuss, the better. "You could at least be tryin' to help it, though. Bed or relaxin' or something. Workin' in here ain't gonna help any."

He won't listen to that, and she already knows it. With a resigned sigh, before he's even had a chance to argue against rest, "You at least got a decent amount of liquids runnin' through your system? Might help fight it off better." Whatever it was.

It's hard to relax when your skin feels like it's three times too small, and Jamie continues to fidget even after the hand's taken away. "Can't sleep," he says brusquely, moving back to the table and picking up a small, crooked piece of thin metal, then looking at it for a long moment before setting it down again.

At least she's not trying to actively get him to rest, which is good. He doesn't want to rest - the very thought of it irritates him enough that he scowls at the part he had just set back down. He glances over at the question.

"Aye, I suppose so. I've not been stuck with any needles recently." So obviously he must not be dehydrated, or so he thinks. A chill causes him to visibly shudder for a moment, and he wraps his arms around himself to try and ward it off. "It's just some wee germ or something," he insists, inadvertently drawing out the 'r' sound more than normal, as he's still shivering a little. "If I start talking about the Phantom Piper, then ye can worry."

"Can't blame you for that." It's getting harder and harder to sleep on Stacy at times, it seems. There are plenty of people on Stacy, more than enough to keep company, but at the end of the day when Kaylee gets back to Serenity, she misses having that familial interaction. She's invited Dean to stay on the ship more than once, to break up some of the silence, but he's been so worked up about Sam that she's not sure he'll ever take her up on the offer.

Different reason entirely than Jamie's. Back on track. She could always trick him into resting. Get him toward his bunk, keep him occupied until he falls asleep. Jamie's smart, though, and she's pretty positive he would see right through that plan.

Kaylee rolls her eyes, heading to a nearby cabinet to fetch a blanket for the poor guy. Blame it on years of people-watching, but Kaylee's pretty observant. "Wee germ or no, it wouldn't hurt to drink somethin', get some simple food in your stomach. Gotta make sure your body's got what it needs or it ain't--Phantom Piper?"

The very thought of food causes his stomach to churn, and he swallows heavily, forcing down the feeling of nausea. "No. No food," he says, rather more sharply than he intended to. He does take the blanket, but only after forcing himself not to just snatch it out of her hand, and wraps himself up in it. It does seem to help some with the chill, at least.

"Aye, the Phantom Piper. Whenever a McCrimmon is about to die, the Phantom Piper appears. It's how ye know that it is your time." Pulling the blanket a little bit tighter around himself, he adds, "When the Doctor took us to the moon, I came down with a fever, and I thought I saw the Piper then."

Obviously he hadn't, as he is standing here now. Although, since Stacy does seem to have a habit of picking up dead people, he adds, "It was actually a Cyberman, mind ye." he adds, with a hint of wryness in his tone. "But I thought it was the Piper all the same. I've not seen anything even close to the Piper yet, Kaylee. I'm fine."

"Alright, no food." Kaylee replies just as quickly. It's clear she's somewhat relieved that he's taken the blanket, and she lets him adjust while she starts putting parts in the box.

"And before you even argue, it's gettin' put away for tonight. If it's contagious, don't need it gettin' on the parts, yeah? 'Sides, if you ain't feelin' hot, your concentration ain't always the best, 'n you might make a mistake you'll regret later." She shoots him a nice, 'I'm your trainer so listen to me or else' look, just to make sure he's not going to object. If he tries to stop her, she'll verbally pull rank on him, easy as that.

The Phantom Piper would probably sound odd to some, but she supposes it's no different from somebody seeing their life flash before their eyes. "Well. You let me know if you do see him, 'cause I'll have some words for him 'fore he starts tryin' to lead you away from me." She's half-joking, of course, but given how sick she's seen people in the past it's not coming across quite as lighthearted as she would like it to sound.

Jamie forgets about the Phantom Piper for the moment, as his attention focuses on the box. Normally he would make a half-hearted protest and then let Kaylee have her way, but for some reason that look irks him, and he clenches his teeth. He doesn't care if she's got rank on him or not - he does not like that. At all. He thrusts a hand out from under the blankets to try and block her from putting the parts back in the box. "No!" he says, a hint of actual anger in his voice.

There's a small part of his brain that realizes what's going on, and it starts mentally yelling at the rest of him to cut that out right now. With an effort, he manages to stuff the anger down and sound more normal. "I mean...I'll do it. Ye shouldn't have to pick up my mess."

It's almost like she's back at the doorway hiding from any flying parts that might be coming her way again. Kaylee's entire body tenses up, and there's a small moment when one hand works its way to her belly to double check that there are no holes appearing there. She doesn't relax much, even when she realizes it was only Jamie.

As gently as she can manage, she pushes his hands away from the parts, back under the blanket where they can keep warm. "You ain't feelin' well. It's the least I can do to help you out a bit. You'd do the same if the roles were reversed, wouldn't ya?"

"Aye, well..." The tickle is back, and this time Jamie's not able to stop it. He starts violently coughing, not even able to really get his head turned away. Poor Kaylee bears the brunt of it - although part of the worktable gets it too - but at least Jamie's not arguing much right now.

Once it subsides, he lifts his head, giving her a genuinely upset look. He saw her tense up, and knows he caused it. He's not sure why he even felt that way, and now he's gone and coughed all over her to top it off. He feels horrible - in more ways than one.

"Och. Kaylee, I'm sorry."

When he trails off, Kaylee figures it's because he doesn't really know how to respond. What she doesn't expect is the sudden wave of coughing coming from the Scotsman. Her first reaction is to shift the parts out of the way. The less they come into contact with any germs, the better. No use in spreading it around the crew via tools and couplings. The second reaction comes a split second later, when she realizes that she's also getting coughed on.

She isn't exactly thrilled by being coughed on, but it's not as bad as some of the things she's had to deal with in the past. With Jayne and River as crewmates, you couldn't exactly go around fearing germs and sickness, especially given Jayne's lack of ability to shower and River's fond habit of vomiting wherever she felt was necessary. Kaylee just reaches forward to tug part of the blanket up over Jamie's mouth for him to cough into it instead of on everything else. Once the blanket corner is up, she runs a comforting hand up and down his back.

"No need to apologize, alright? Not so long as we finish puttin' these away and get you to some form of restin' til you're feelin' better."

Normally Jamie is a very tactile person, as Kaylee is well aware. And normally he would be happy - more than happy - to let Kaylee comfort him, but right now it just feels stifling. Much like the blanket, which is entirely too warm now that the chills have passed again. He irritably twitches, and steps away, dropping the blanket so it falls in a heap on the floor.

"Aye. Maybe I should lie down," he admits, but he still doesn't feel like he can. In fact, as Kaylee is putting the parts away, he starts pacing restlessly around the room. While he's doing so, he spots those interlocked parts that he had been throwing about earlier, and he glares at the piece.

"So that's where ye got to, then. I'll turn ye into into slag, ye..." A long list of colorful terminology - in Gaelic - comes out of his mouth, then. While the words might not be being picked up by Stacy's translators, the extremely annoyed tone is pretty obvious - as is the fact that Jamie's grabbed up the part and is heading for where the welding torches are kept with a very determined look in his eye.

Edited 2010-10-01 07:51 (UTC)

She won't say how pleased she is that he's finally getting some sense in him about laying down to take a rest. When he gets up to pace, she doesn't stop him, simply continues on with packing the box back up.

The swears are something new. Kaylee glances over her shoulder to check on him, and imagines that this right here must be how he feels whenever she starts swearing in Chinese. He's got a fever and isn't exactly feeling his best, so she thinks nothing of it until the footsteps start back up again. Confused as to where he might be going now, Kaylee whirls around--

--and promptly lets out a nice string of curses under her breath. "Jamie, you shouldn't be lookin' at those, y'hear me? Can barely keep your hand steady right now." As she speaks, she moves toward him, until she's between him and the torches. "Not. Now."

All Jamie is thinking about is getting to the torches, and how nice it will feel to see that part fixed once and for all. Once it's gone, he won't have anything hanging over his head. Maybe then he'll humor Kaylee and try and rest, or maybe think of that glacier he was on once in the Sensoriums - see if he can get rid of the fever.

His world narrows, focusing on what's right in front of him. Just a few more steps, and...Kaylee intersperses herself between Jamie and his goal. He fixes her with a very dark look as his hand tightens around around the piece of metal. "Out of my way, Kaylee. I'll not be long."

She doesn't like the look on Jamie's face in any way. In the past, she's had too many unpleasant encounters with such looks. Given that it's Jamie, Kaylee's hoping that this won't turn out as badly as that look indicates it might.

"You're right. You'll not be long, 'cause you ain't touchin' 'em." Kaylee extends a hand out to Jamie, a silent request for the part. When he doesn't hand it over, she reaches behind her to slide the cabinet doors shut. No access to the torches for you, Jamie. "Look, I promise you can come back and worry over it later, but for now please just go rest. That's all I'm askin', all I'll ever ask of ya again after this. Please, Jamie."

There's a long long moment when it's unclear if things are, indeed, going to turn out as badly as Kaylee might think. But then, Jamie pivots on his foot and stalks back to the worktable. Frustrated, he slams the piece in his hand down on it, hard, and pulls away.

The edges are unfinished, meant to be set into sockets and soldered into place, and when he rips his hand away, he slices the skin open. There's a sudden hiss of pain then, and he reflexively curls his fingers around the wound. Luckily for him, it's not his sword hand, but it still hurts.

It's awful, seeing him like this, but if she doesn't stand her ground then he's just going to keep doing stupid things. "Look, I'm real sorry, Jamie, I really am, but even I'm not allowed to be touchin' things when I'm sick. It's nothin' against you, alright?"

Of course, the words are barely out by the time he's stormed back over to the table. Kaylee winces for him as he chucks the piece at the table, and only worries more as his hand flinches back.

Gorrammit he was hopeless. Cautiously, she moves up next to him, grabbing and cleaning the part off awkwardly with a rag before placing it back into the box with the others. Once that's done, she reaches forward for his wrist. "Let's see it, c'mon."

Some part of him wants keep the hand away so she has to fight him to look at it, which isn't right. Why would he want Kaylee to have do that? Why is he getting so frustrated with her? The fever must be scrambling his brains.

"Aye, I know, Kaylee. It's just...och, here." He thrusts his hand out so she can look. The cut's not deep, but it appears he's managed to nick a capillary somewhere, as there's a decent amount of blood on his hand. He's feeling slightly nauseous again, although he has no idea if it's this germ thing or the cut, and he turns a slightly anxious-looking face towards Kaylee.

"How bad is it?"

Finally, some help in the matter. The mechanic gives him a grateful smile, and brushes the hair out of her face as she pulls his hand up to see it better.

"You nicked it good," she replies finally, before instructing him to keep the hand up while she gets the nearest emergency kit. "We can clean it up and wrap it, but it'd probly be best for you to go have medbay look at it, just in case. It's gushin' pretty good."

Practiced fingers come in handy here. Kaylee cleans and wraps his hand quickly and carefully, doing her best not to cause any more pain than she has to. By the end of it she's somehow managed to get half of the blood on herself, but she's quick to pretend it's just engine grease. Makes it easier to think about.

The kit put away again, and the box repacked, she nods to the door. "Alright, let's get you up there."

It's not much in the way of help. He's still quite restless, and fidgety, and can't quite make himself stand still no matter how hard he tries. Might very well be part of the reason Kaylee winds up all covered in his blood, actually.

Fortunately, Kaylee is quick enough that he doesn't have enough time to wind up getting frustrated again, although he does wince once or twice as he's bandaged. It's not Kaylee's fault, though. He would likely have felt it with whoever did the bandaging.

"Thank you, Kaylee," he says quietly, for once enunciating clearly enough that the translator doesn't turn the word into 'ye'.

He doesn't go to leave just yet. Instead, he turns to face her, somewhat reluctant to say what comes out next. "I...I don't think ye should go with me."

Jamie gets a soft smile in response to his thanks. "What I'm here for, helpin' out. You don't gotta thank me for it, alright? But you're welcome, in any case."

His next words are somewhat startling (alright, maybe not, since it is Jamie and he does like being all manly and anti-fuss about things), and the smile falters once more. "No," she replies slowly. "No, I s'pose I shouldn't. Gotta get all this cleaned up, right? You just go and head up, and I'll take care of everythin' else." There. Easy as that, right?

"Feel better, Jamie."

Jamie's having a lucid moment, although his eyes are still quite bright from the fever. He sees the smile fade, and he starts to reach for her, to hold her and tell her it's all right that way - but given how he's been acting, he realizes it might come across badly. Instead, he drops his hands to his sides, and puts the emotion into his voice.

"Kaylee. It's not that I don't want ye to go with me." In fact, part of him wants that very much. His reasons actually have nothing to do with him being all manly, in this case. "You're right, though. I'm not fine. I've not been fine all night, and..."

He trails off, looking somewhat anxious. After a few seconds, he continues, his voice very soft. "If I hurt ye because of it, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

Even though she hadn't expected to receive an explanation from him, she's somewhat relieved to have one. She simply nods in understanding, and would have left it there if he hadn't continued.

As he finishes, her hand goes up. The smile is back, mostly, and it's full of all the support and reassurance she can muster up for him right now.

"You don't gotta explain, Jamie. It's alright, or will be once you're feelin' better, and even then I won't expect an explanation. You just go get patched up, and don't worry about a thing."

"Aye," Jamie says, still in that gentle tone. He looks at Kaylee for a long moment but can feel that faint irritation coming back, like tiny pinpricks under his skin. He'd best get out of here before he does get angry again. He meant what he said - if he hurt Kaylee, even if he didn't mean to, he'd never forgive himself for it.

He walks out of Engineering, pausing in the doorway for a moment as a wave of dizziness comes over him. Doing his best to ignore it, he heads off down the hallway, not daring to look back at Kaylee for fear he'll change his mind.

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Parts: 1. Jamie: 0. [Open]

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