A/N: I felt like changing it up a bit, so here's a one-shot I wrote a while back - my take on how exactly Simon and Kaylee wind up snuggled on that bench in "Jaynestown."

Enjoy - and comment, there are more where this came from!

And thanks to Leiasky for the beta and neverending encouragement!

***

Kaylee’s eyes watched the captain walk away, making sure the slightly overprotective man ascended the stairs out of the now dimly lit and crowded bar. Only once she was satisfied he was indeed leaving her with the doctor did she turn back to regard her companion.

With a flush on her cheeks, she met Simon’s blue eyes which had apparently not stopped studying her since she’d chased the captain away. Gripping the earthen mug she held a bit tighter, Kaylee shifted her knees so they were pointed towards Simon, scooting over a bit on the bench so there was barely any space between them. When Simon made no move or sound to try and deter her from getting closer, Kaylee simply settled where she was, a brilliant smile once again lighting her face.

“So,” she began huskily, dropping her voice. “Where were we?”

At the tone in her voice and the glimmer in her eyes, Simon’s features blanched for just a moment. Even his inebriated brain realized exactly where he was and who he was with and reminded him he was normally an idiot in these types of situations. Straightening a bit, he began to stammer, missing the disappointed pout that flashed across Kaylee’s features as he tried to sit upright and failed, falling back against the bench and a bit closer to her in the process.

Giggling at him, she placed a steadying hand to his shoulder and said, “Jeez, Simon, you really can’t hold yer liquor.”

Turning twinkling blue eyes in her direction, he smiled, that swai smile, and murmured, “You have no idea.”

Settling in to listen, Kaylee prompted, “Oh yeah?” As Simon continued to stare at her instead of sharing his story, Kaylee nudged him a bit with her knee and said, “C’mon spill. I wanna hear ‘bout how ravin’ crazy you are when you’re drunk.”

With a small chuckle, Simon did succeed in sitting up this time, and Kaylee could see the sadness that played across his features as he took another sip of his drink. She’d made him sad, and Kaylee could not abide that. “Those are old stories,” he said quietly, his speech a bit slurred. “Of a different time.” Glancing around the brown and rustic establishment they were now in, he said, “I’ve definitely never seen any place like this.”

Kaylee’s eyes did not move from where they had locked onto his profile. He really had the smoothest, palest skin of just about any man she’d ever met, but their day outside, walking through the mud flats, had tinted his cheeks just slightly; or maybe it was the blush of alcohol, Kaylee couldn’t be rightly sure. But still, it suited him, made him look even more yummy in her lustful gaze, and she sighed a bit, content to just stare, her head resting against the back of the bench.

At the quiet sound, Simon turned back to look at her, and found that he too could not stop staring. Maybe it was the drink or the lighting or just longing, but Kaylee’s face was aglow, shining brighter to him than any other time before. As his eyes traced the outline of her cheeks, the roundness of her eyes, the curve of her lips … Her incredibly perfect, red lips … Blushing even more fervently, Simon sat up and took a big gulp of his drink, trying to hide his embarrassment at his unabashed behavior.

Noting the change, Kaylee took a swig from her mug as well, disappointed when she realized it was pretty much empty. Smiling to him broadly, she stuck out her arm, the empty mug dangling in her hand and pronounced, “More please.”

Looking to her and grinning again, Simon took the cup, his fingers brushing over hers as he did so and rose, a bit unsteadily, but managing to stand all the same. Turning his gaze back to her, he said, “All right, this round’s on me, but next time, you’re going.”

“Deal,” she told him, her tone giddy as she watched him walk away, her eyes lingering on how his pretty fits outlined that unbelievably well-defined curve of his backside. Grinning wickedly, Kaylee felt another blush and this time she actually started to perspire. Deciding to do something about that, and maybe give Simon a bit more to think about, she unzipped the front of her coveralls, exposing the purple-flowered tank top she had underneath. Shrugging out of the sleeves, she let the top half of her jumpsuit fall to her waist and she again settled herself on the bench, turning and sitting cross-legged so that when Simon returned he’d have no choice but to do the same.

Running her hands through her hair and fluffing it a bit, she caught sight of him trying to elbow his way towards the bar. Laughing at his ineptitude at getting a drink in a rough establishment such as this, Kaylee was completely surprised when a large, rather brutish-looking man came and sat in Simon’s seat, obstructing her view and ogling her a bit too closely.

“Well, howdy there, lil’ girl,” he said, his voice more than sluggish with drunkenness, his eyes clouded over with the same.

Smiling a kind smile to him, but not one that would hint at anything else, Kaylee straightened a bit and said, “Hello.”

She swallowed hard as she watched his gaze rove over her body, making her suddenly wish she hadn’t undone the top of her suit. His lecherous gaze again lighting to her face, he reached out a hand covered in dried mud, and rested it against the bare skin of her upper arm. “Pretty thin’ like you shouldn’t be here all ‘lone,” he explained, leaning in a bit closer and causing Kaylee to lean away, the arm rest of the bench digging into her lower back.

“Oh, I ain’t,” she said cheerfully, hoping he would get the hint. “I’m here with a friend o’ mine.”

“Jus’ a friend, huh?” The man’s breath reeked and Kaylee tried not to focus on the smell or the blackened teeth he flashed at her with his filthy grin. “Well, then I’m guessin’ it’s a good thin’ we met.”

Kaylee’s eyes widened as the man’s hand tugged harshly on her arm, pulling her face close to his. Pressing her hands against his chest to keep her distance, she tried to call out to Simon, but the crowd had just started another raucous chorus of the “Hero of Canton” and any noise she made was quickly drowned out.

Trying to keep her cool, she told him, “Well, that’s right kinda ya, sir, but I jus’ ain’t interested.”

“Ain’t interested?” he hissed, clearly offended. As his other hand hovered dangerously over her neck, Kaylee’s breath caught in her throat as he seethed, “You don’t gotta be interested for me to have a lil’ fun.”

“Sweetheart?”

Simon’s voice, having sobered just a tad was like bird song to Kaylee. Her eyes quickly snapping to his face, she saw him standing a bit behind her, his hands full of two mugs of mudder’s milk. With a slightly hard gaze, he was staring at the man who was currently fondling his friend.

With a small frown, he looked to Kaylee and said with a sigh, “I leave you alone for a just a few minutes …” Setting the mugs onto a low table, Simon reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. Kaylee, still a bit shaken and more than a little tipsy fell into him a bit, her hands resting on his impossibly firm chest. Glancing up into his face, Kaylee saw the smile there and she returned it as he rested a hand to her cheek and scolded lightly, “Whatever will I do with you?”

“I don’t know, sweetie,” she said, playing along. “I guess you jus’ shouldn’t be leavin’.”

Simon laughed at her comment and Kaylee could have sworn it was a genuine, from his gut kind of laugh. Enjoying the closeness they were currently sharing, and the fact that his very muscled arms were wrapped around her, Kaylee glanced over her shoulder at the obscene man and then looked to Simon. “Let’s find a place that’s a bit more private,” she told him, leaning up to whisper it in his ear.

Grinning again, Simon nodded to her, kissing her cheek and flashing the now dumbfounded man a huge grin as he walked away with Kaylee at his side. Once they were out of the man’s sight, Kaylee let out a little breath and a giggle as they again sat on a bench across the room. Simon sat beside her and when Kaylee brought her eyes to his face she realized he wasn’t laughing. Rubbing at a bit of mud the brute had left on her arm, Simon asked quietly, “Are you all right?”

Only if you keep doing that, Kaylee thought, closing her eyes just for a moment against the sensation of Simon’s soft fingers against her bare skin. Nodding once, she again looked to him and smiled. “Righ’ an’ shiny. You have perfect timin’,” she told him and then without even thinking, leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to his mouth.

Simon’s eyes widened in shock, his mind barely registering that Kaylee had just kissed him before she’d again pulled back, her soft lips no longer against his own. Looking to her, he returned her big grin and then turned slightly as he got the distinct impression they were being watched. And they were.

Placing a hand around her wrist, Simon leaned back against the bench and pulled her into him, murmuring in her ear, “Apparently, we aren’t quite as convincing as we think.”

Curious as to what exactly he meant, but not at all disliking the position she now found herself in, Kaylee followed his gaze and saw the oafish man still staring at them, his glower darting straight across the room. Turning to Simon, her lips were just an inch from his as she said, “Well, then, maybe we need to convince ‘im some more.”

Meeting her deep green eyes, Simon held the gaze for a moment. His hands ghosted up her bare arms causing Kaylee to shiver a bit, even though it was more than warm in the small bar. As his right hand finally came to rest on her left cheek, Kaylee felt him gently pull her face towards his as he murmured, “Maybe we should.”

And then they were kissing. It was still a fairly chaste kiss, as kisses go, just their lips meeting, caressing the other’s with a bit of desire and more than a little curiosity. Parting for air, Kaylee leaned into his chest, inhaling his clean, and slightly alcohol-laced, scent and smiled. Instinctively, Simon wrapped his arms around her, drawing her on top of his chest as he lay down all the way on the bench. With his head resting on the arm, he looked up to see Kaylee staring at him, her face plastered with a contented smile. “That was nice,” she slurred, more readily feeling the effects of the alcohol now that Simon’s touch had released some heady hormones into her bloodstream as well.

“Mmm,” was all Simon could murmur, his lips brushing against her flushed forehead as the two of them snuggled close and quickly fell into an inebriated but restful sleep.

They would let Jayne settle himself out, hero status and all, and they would deal with the morning when that first light came. But for the moment, they would sleep in each other’s arms, dreaming of what that sweet kiss might lead to.

***