trans_9 | PJs and Movies [Backdated to before Possession Plot]

Dean was on-shift, she knew, but Kaylee had decided he could probably use a nice surprise when he finally got off. She hummed as she walked in, following the sounds of the television to the living room and expecting to find Sam watching some derpy show.

Instead she found Tom, which, while it was a surprise, wasn't necessarily a bad one. Kaylee grinned down at him and nodded at the tv.

"What'cha watchin'?"

Tom startled a little, he hadn't heard her come in. "Hey, Kaylee." He smiled at her, rubbing Bobby's ears between his fingers. "Just a movie from when I was younger, talking animals. It's kinda silly, I guess. But it's kinda cathartic. With everything that goes wrong, it's nice to be able to go back and think about when you were a kid and your parents took care of everything."

He leaned a bit to look at her better. "What're you up to?"

"Not gonna argue there." Everyone on this boat needed some home-comfort on occasion. It was nice to see Tom looking comfortable and somewhat in-his-element. Normally he seemed a lot more tense than this.

Kaylee nodded back toward the front door. "Came to surprise Dean. Well, that or bug Sam a bit, whichever I ran into first. Been a bit since I've stopped in."

Two weeks of nothing but his own mind had done him a world of good, even if sometimes he woke up with a half finished though in his head directed at Iniss. "I think they're both out, don't know when they'll be back. Sorry. But you could always watch the movie with me? It's a good one. I promise there's a happy ending."

Everyone made it home to the people they belonged with, after all. That was the happiest ending he could think of.

"You sure?" She didn't want to intrude, but if Tom was offering...

It had been a long while since Kaylee had watched a decent movie, and one with a good, happy ending sounded just like a movie she could deal with right now.

The mechanic dropped her tool bag by the door and moved to sit at the opposite end of the couch from Tom. "Alright, catch me up on what all I've missed, then?"

"I'm sure. It'll be nice to have someone to watch with."

Happy endings were really the best thing, as far as he was concerned. There were too many people who never got them in reality to watch a movie that didn't have one. "Just started. It's about the animals as much as it is about the people. The kids mom is getting married to a new guy." He rubbed Bobby's ears, curling comfortably on the couch.

"Take it Bobby's either here for the animals or the good scratches, huh?" Kaylee laughed, leaning to give Bobby a good pat before settling back into the couch.

"So, they all gotta adjust to the new guy?"

"Yeah, they've all gotta adjust to the new guy. It gets kinda sad in the middle, cause everyone's split up. But...It's got a happy ending. Promice."

He laughed, looking down at the lounging dog. "I think he's here because he knows I'm an easy mark and will pet him as long as he lays on me. Maybe he likes watching the other dogs on TV too."

Bobby's tail gave a wag at the pat, mouth open in a doggy grin of satisfaction.

"Happy endin', I'm trustin' you here."

Even if it was a sad ending, Kaylee was more than content to sit and watch. It would give her a better idea into what Dean grew up with too, maybe.

"Dogs gotta good sense of that," she agreed, watching Bobby with a fond smile. "Know a sucker when they see 'em."

His smile, if anything, widened. Even on the ship, far too few people were willing to give him that. For good reason, considering what he normally played host to. But it wore on a person, after awhile, when no one trusted you completely.

"My word on it."

He grinned down at the dog. "They're good like that. Always have a way of knowing what you need too. Dog's are pretty cool, I think. We had one at home, Homer. Big goofy golden retriever."

Kaylee nodded. His word, she'll take it. Besides, if she didn't like it, she could always sick Bobby and that slobber on him.

She might do that anyhow.

"Had a couple dogs, on the ranch. Hyperactive as all get out, but I don't think I ever had a night where one of 'em didn't curl up right next to me."

He was fairly certain anyone that wasn't trying to hurt someone in this house would just be slobbered on. Bobby was a big mooch.

"You grew up on a ranch? That must have been nice. Relaxing. What was it like? Yeah, Homer would bounce around all day like one of those rubber balls, but as soon as it was time for bed, he'd get into my bed or Jake's bed and pass out. Even when he was a puppy."

"Well, half a ranch anyhow. We were more the mechanical kinda ranch, repair stop for ships. My daddy had his own shop, and the extra land got leased out as other folk needed it."

She hesitated before she asking, "Jake your brother?"

"So your family had a repair shop? What was on the land that got leased out? Still must have been cool. My dad was a pediatrician, my mom was a writer Meant growing up that sometimes other kids complained to me about getting shots. Not like I didn't have to get them too." He smiled, fingers buried in Bobby's fur. "Just a normal teenager, really. Normal family."

He nodded. "Yeah. My baby brother. Except he's all grown up and trying to protect me now. It's kinda weird."

"Mmhm. Land was for cows, most times, but they got spooked on occasion by the ships, so other times it was crops. Had a lot of ships comin' through. Part of what got me my job on Serenity, learnin' all I did from my daddy." That, and the knack she seemed to have for it all. "No such thing as a normal family, don't think, but yours sounds like a shiny one."

Kaylee raised her eyebrows at Tom, laughing. "Brothers do that, whether they're older or younger. That familial instinct or whatnot."

"Cows?" He smiled faintly. "What happened when they got spooked? I think the only time I saw one up close was when they took us on a school trip when I was in first grade. I mean, ships are loud, unless they're making an effort to be quiet or cloaked. Seems like a broken ship would be predisposed to make a lot of noise, so you can't blame something for running. Must sound like monsters in the sky." He sighed, smiling a bit. "You were a mechanic on a ship? Like...the boat kind or the space kind?" Both would be pretty cool, and there was still enough teenager in Tom to think sailing was one of those truly unique expressions of freedom.

He grinned a little ruefully. "Yeah, but I'm used to be the one looking after him. Weird to need looking after. You know? I was the one who scared off the bullies and the monsters in the closets when he was a kid."

"Just ran around all kinds'a crazy, occasionally busted through a fence. Got used to it eventually, but every time a new set came through it was the same over again." She nodded back at the toolbag by the door. "Space kinda ship. Lone mechanic on a transport ship back home, Serenity. She's down in the hangar now." And somehow in better shape than she'd been in for the last several years.

"It's all part of growin' up, I guess. We get used to things when we're little, and they change some as we get older, but it's mostly good change. Helps them grown, too."

"Had to learn not to be scared. Anything can become common place over time." He glanced at the bag, grinning. "That's pretty cool. Must make this seem pretty tame to you. Being used to space and stuff like that? Did you like it, being the lone mechanic?"

He laughed, shifting his hand against Bobby's neck and letting the dog lick his other hand. "I guess it makes sense. It's still really weird, finding out that everything has changed and you didn't find out until it finished. I'm proud of him. But it's still weird."

"Not so tame. Didn't have aliens, back home. Learnin' to work with others on engines and such was hard at first, partly 'cause we all had a different way of goin' about it, and what's right in one 'verse ain't necessarily right in another. Got it all figured pretty good now, though." Most of it. There were still times when she cringed as someone did something she thought of as incorrect, but it didn't happen nearly as often as it had when she'd first popped.

"At the end of the day, he's still your little brother, and there ain't no use in bein' anythin' but proud of him."

"We did. Lots of them. Your universe must have been different, if was only humans. So none of the rest of your crew ever helped out? Chase them out? I bet, if it was only you, working with a team must have been really weird. But, if it gets to much, I guess you can always go hang out in your ship. Most people are polite enough not to touch something that belongs to someone, aren't they? I always wanted to learn how to fly one. They were working on modifying Bug Fighters for humans, but they hadn't got enough of them yet..."

He smiled. "Jake will always be my little brother. And you're right, nothing in the wor- universe I could be but proud of him. He's been way tougher than any kid his age should have to be."

"So not so much of a culture shock for you, then?" Kaylee shook her head, taking the chance to see where they were in the movie. "Most times it was just me in there. If anybody else was helpin', it was 'cause we were tryin' to get away from somethin' big and I needed the extra help. Here, though, I'm the only one ever in Serenity's engine room. Y'know," she mused, "could probly set somethin' in the Sensoriums, if you wanna fly somethin'? Be good practice for if you ever do look into it further, 'n I'm sure Wash'd be more'n happy to have a student..."

She reached over to pat Tom's arm. "Long as you keep thinkin' that, it's all that matters."

"I think it's still a bit of culture shock. Just..less than someone who didn't know we weren't alone in the universe. I mean, I've heard of bug aliens, but the Ohm take the cake. So does this, I'd never heard of a living ship before. That's still sort of insane." He smiled, ducking his head a bit. "She must be a beautiful ship, to get a name like that. Sam keeps meaning too, but the world is insane, and time for non-vital things is in short supply. It'd be nice, but it's not like I'll get a chance to fly any time soon. Is Wash one of your crew-mates? Err, it's still the same thing on a space ship, isn't it?"

He nodded, glancing up at the movie. "Yeah. No matter what changes, that can't." He smiled faintly at the hand on his arm. "I'm still taller than him, even if only a little."

"Part of life's adventure, I s'pose. If we knew everything learnin' wouldn't be much fun." Kaylee beamed back at Tom, clearly pleased. "Best ship you ever seen flyin', promise that. She don't look like much, normally, and folk tend to underestimate her, but it's their loss. Wash actually did most of the initial fixin' up 'fore I was on the crew--he's our pilot, yeah. Still crewmates." Some things in the course of history never changed.

"Ah, got me beat there. Only person in my family's shorter'n me is my ma, and even then it ain't by much."

"Might be nice sometimes, just so we could brace ourselves for the bad stuff, but I wouldn't like to know all the answers. Then you never get to really experience the good stuff." He smiled. "Other people can't always see what makes the important things important. But I bet she is, she's home, right? Nothing more important and special in the universe. But I might, if he's not too busy, take you up on that offer. It'd be nice to be able to go out there myself. Might have trouble making myself come back. You know?"

He shifted a bit, settling deeper into the couch. "My mom's shorter than Jake and I, dad's still taller, but only by a bit. Got any siblings?"

"More home than home, sometimes. When you're with a ship and a crew that long, they're as good as family. I was with Serenity a good three 'n a half years 'fore Stacy." She wouldn't trade even one of those years for anything, either. "If he ain't busy with Starfighter business, 'M sure he'd be more'n glad. I'll have a talk with him 'n see."

Kaylee nodded, smiling at the memories of home. "Just a brother, younger. Nathaniel, goes by Nate."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

la la la headcanon