A/N: This is a sort of companion piece to the first section of Two Times They Were Wet and Cold. It's also sort of crack!fic. While Mal and Inara were having a pleasant dialogue in the cargo hold, Kaylee and Simon spent some time getting to know each other in a broom closet. For the lovely Leiasky, who’s been hounding me for this. ;)

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Water, Water Everywhere

By Kaynara

Galley Level, Random Closet

A forceful whisper near his ear: “This way.”

The next second, he feels a hand—short, smoothed fingernails, skin surprisingly soft given what she does. She clasps his hand in a death grip. A moment later they’re on the other side of a closed door, breathing heavily into the darkness.

Dust particles float into his nostrils, tickling his sinuses.

“Kaylee—”

Her hand flies up to cover his mouth. He can taste her fingers, warm and salty against his lips. A part of him thinks: There’s no way that’s sanitary. But another part, insistent and new and ill-mannered, thinks it could be interesting to suck one small, salty pinkie into his mouth.

“Shh!” she hisses. “They’re comin’.”

He wills himself not to sneeze, not to breathe.

“Okay, think we’re safe.” She releases her breath in a rush. “For now.”

She shuffles forward a couple steps, feeling around in the darkness. She locates the controls for the electronics, and a second later pale blue light floods the inside of the closet. Kaylee stands before him, hair plastered to her scalp, clothes wet, eyes huge.

“You know we’re humped, ” she says cheerfully. Chuckling, she coughs a little from the dust. “Won’t be long before they find us. River’s kinda eerily-good at hide ‘n’ seek.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“Her and Jayne formin’ an alliance—I didn’t see that coming. Though I guess it makes a kinda sense . . . ”

“How does it make sense?” he asks, trying not to sound huffy that his sister chose Jayne over him. Her brother.

“You know . . .”