Kaylee Frye (ooooshiny) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2015-02-28 19:10:00 |
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Kaylee was worried about River. She’d tried to talk to Simon, to tell him that she was afraid the girl was getting worse but he didn’t want to listen. She knew that when it came to River, Simon didn’t want anyone’s else’s opinion but Kaylee thought it might be time to make some suggestions and if Simon got mad, well then she’d be the one to deal with it. A conversation she’d seen on the network had given her an idea and she decided to talk to Inara about it. She trusted her friend’s opinion on everything and since she knew the person Kaylee was asking about, she was the logical person to consult. She waited until after dinner while they were cleaning up after themselves before she mentioned anything. It wasn’t the kind of conversation that you could have over dinner anyway so as they put things away, Kaylee looked over at Inara and said, “I’m worried about River. I think she’s gettin’ worse, don’t you?” Inara looked up at Kaylee and frowned slightly at the other girl's words. She had been worried about River as well of recent. The nightmares seemed to be getting worse and the fact that she seemed to be picking up on other people's nightmares really was troublesome. It was so difficult to say with her though. "Let me make some tea," Inara said with a soft smile and she put the water on to heat up. It seemed that some tea would be a good idea for them to have while they were having this conversation. The water started Inara began to prepare the kettle and cups for her and Kaylee and as she did so she considered River's most recent outburst. "It does seem as if the most recent nightmares have been - more difficult for her. What does Simon say?" She turned to look at Kaylee assuming that she would have spoken to Simon about the question. She knew that the two of them were close. “Tea sounds good,” Kaylee said. “That’d be nice.” she wandered into the living room while Inara made the tea and sat down on the couch, curling her feet up beneath her. When Inara returned with the tea, she took a cup and sipped from it before she spoke. “Somethin’ River said the other night when she posted...about the force...it kinda rang a bell with me. When we was on the Ascension and she broke down, I hadta fix her. Well I needed some help ‘cause the only other people who coulda helped me was flying the thing. Luke Skywalker was there and he knows a lot about spaceships. Did you know that?” Kaylee had been surprised because she’d thought he was just some kind of wizard or something but he had been a huge help. “Anyway, he had this thing on his belt. Not that I was starin’ at his pants but I was in this little space and he was kneelin’ outside and anyway I asked him what it was and he said it was a light saber. I didn’t know what the gorram hell that meant so he had to explain to me and he talked about something called the force. Most of it was way over my head but I just nodded and concentrated on lookin’ at him. He’s pretty but you know that already.” Kayle couldn’t resist the sly grin she gave her friend. “Anyhow I was wonderin’ if what River said was related to that. Then I saw that Luke had said somethin’ to her. So do you think maybe he could help her? I don’t know if it’s connected but if it is, maybe that would help?” She took another sip of tea and shook her head. “I know Simon won’t like it. It took me forever to get him to let me stay with her so he could sleep but whatever he’s doing, it’s not workin’. I hateta say that but maybe it’s not physical.” Inara measured out the tea as she listened to what Kaylee had said. She had of course spoken with Luke Skywalker regarding his family, his life here, and the transitions that he had made as a part of that. He had been in her dance class for some time before they had been given the opportunities to speak more intimately. And Inara had been pleased to note that her first reading about Luke Skywalker had been an accurate one. She knew a bit about the Jedi from speaking with Luke, and she had done a bit more research on the Internet. The Force wasn't something she understood - precisely - but it was something like what she had mentioned to Simon might be useful. "Simon believe things should have a scientific reasoning behind them," she said aloud, reaching for the water to pour into the kettle. "And there's nothing wrong with that. But in this particular case I know that I had spoken to him about the possibility that something not physical might be able to help her. Something a bit more - mystical. And I know that is a difficult idea for Simon to accept." She put the lid on the kettle and moved the teapot and the cups over to the table where she took a seat and motioned for Kaylee to join her. "And I do know Luke a bit, and he is very attractive, thank you, Kaylee. But that's not likely to have much bearing on his ability to help River is it? It's possible though. I just… I don't know enough about what he can do to know for certain." Kaylee laughed. “No, it’s not but it’s hard not to notice,” she shrugged. “Anyway I don’t know exactly what he can do either but maybe it might help her. Seems like she had some kind of dream about it anyway.” Kaylee sipped her tea for a moment. “I know Simon doesn’t like to think about anything that he can’t read about in a book or see for himself. Sometimes it makes me really mad that he can’t see that River isn’t hurtin’ physically. It’s her mind that hurts. Anybody can see that if they just look.” Kaylee knew that Simon considered himself a good deal smarter than most people including her and it didn’t bother her that much but in this case it did because gorram it, she knew she was right. “The Alliance messed River up a lot worse than Simon knows. I come from after him so I know more about what happened to her than he does right now. He won’t listen ta me though. I’ve tried.” Inara couldn't help but smile at the other girl's enthusiasm. Inara had very little interest in anything resembling a romantic relationship, but she knew that Kaylee enjoyed the idea of setting her up with someone. Luke Skywalker was a gentleman, a very nice man, and Inara did like him dearly as a friend, a not-quite client, but like nearly everyone else that she knew - what was not Malcolm Reynolds - Inara had filed him under the category of friendship. "But the mind is physical is it not? Her brain is a part of her body… and I'm sure that's what Simon hopes to do, even if it is perhaps not quite so simple as that." Inara tilted her head to one side as she poured tea into the cups and handed one over to Kaylee. "Have you tried - has he watched, or is he willing to watch the show? Perhaps that might help him to understand what he's been unwilling to attempt to understand thus far?" “I don’t know,”Kaylee said. “I haven’t asked him. You never know with Simon. The movie is what explains more about what happened with River. I watched it after I got here because I wanted to see what it was like. It’s weird watchin’ yourself like that.” she shook her head. “but anyway Simon don’t understand that. They took out part of her brain, Inara, you know that ‘cause he told us about it. But the other stuff they did, they planted words in there, that’s not physical and she knows things. Somethin’ physical ain’t gonna let you hear other people’s dreams.” As much as Kaylee loved Simon, she didn’t always understand him. She knew how much he loved his sister and thought it was wonderful but he needed to let go and try something different. Which was the whole point of this conversation. “I just thought maybe when River mentioned the whole thing about the force and I saw that somebody that was related to Luke had said something and then he did….maybe he can figure out how to help her. I wanted to ask you if you thought he’d be willin’ to do it. If you think so, I can talk to Simon. He might get mad at me but it won’t be the first time and I ain’t scared of him.” Inara picked up the cup of tea and considered Kaylee's request. "I could certainly speak with Luke," she said thoughtfully. "Or I could see if he had any willingness to help. But it might be best for you to speak with Simon first. Perhaps you should have him watch the film - if he will. Perhaps it would give him some clue of what the Alliance did and that will help him understand that it isn't simply a physical ailment with River, there is something beyond that. Because… I do believe that you are right and there is something beyond what can be fixed physically. Not that the physical should be ignored, or we should only look at non-scientific things… but I feel as if in this case perhaps we ought to look at something beyond it - but the trick will be getting Simon to agree." She took a sip of the tea and tilted her head. "Why don't you speak to Simon again, and I'll perhaps see if I can think of a way to speak to Luke about it without - well, without maybe asking him out-right to help since we don't know what Simon will want just yet." “I think that’s a good plan,” Kaylee replied. “‘cause who knows what Simon will think. It’s just that I know how hard he’d been tryin’ and she seems to be gettin’ worse. I don’t like seeing her hurt anymore than he does.” She thought of River as a sister and loved her dearly. Maybe she hadn’t grown up with her like Simon had but she still cared about her and she wanted to help her as much as he did. Inara nodded, setting her tea cup down on the table in front of her and looking over at Kaylee. If they could help River, if Luke Skywalker could help River, then it would be good for everyone. The dreams, the nightmares that she was tapping into, or dreaming along with - she wasn't certain which was most accurate - were likely painful for her and Inara was certain no one wanted to realize someone else had been in their nightmares. "Perhaps you can convince him. I could speak to Simon too, perhaps. I just don't know that I'll change his mind. You may be more likely to do that." “I’ll try. River’s been through a lot. She needs some peace and she was gettin’ it where I came from but Simon don’t know that. I hope he’ll at least talk to Luke. Maybe he can’t help but he might know someone who could.” She sighed. “I never thought about how big the universe was till I came here. Or that there might be more than one!” It was enough to make someone’s head hurt but Kaylee was learning to accept the differences in this world compared to her own and she had enjoyed meeting people from other worlds as well. Inara nodded. Kaylee had the truth of it with River. Maybe none of them entirely understood the lengths the government had gone to with the girl, but none of it had been pretty and River certainly deserved to be able to put that behind her. "I think that will be the most challenging thing - getting him to consider something else that is not science," Inara predicted. "I'm afraid even having him consider looking into it might be difficult. But perhaps if it will help River… even if it is not a physical healing… at this point perhaps he would be willing to consider something that would help her feel better for a short time. We can ask - it will not hurt to do so, probably." Hopefully anyway. "Maybe I should make him something nice to eat and you can take it and bribe him with delicious food," her eyes twinkled as she raised the cup of tea to her lips once again. “That sounds good! You can bribe him with food and I can bribe him with….other stuff,” Kaylee grinned. “but one of ‘em’s bound to work!” She leaned over and hugged her friend. “Thank you Inara. I hope this works because I really wanna see River get better.” |