Simon looked down at the mug he was now holding as if it were an atomic bomb and the fate of the world depended entirely on his ability to very carefully keep it still in his palms, brow furrowing with the disappointed puzzlement he would have liked to turn on Kaylee. Now that she'd gotten past the first shock of seeing someone from her own reality she was probably disappointed that it wasn't someone she knew better, Wash or Zoe or even Jayne. He knew Kaylee had feelings for him, it was hard to miss at times, they'd even talked about it after the drunken exploits in the town that inexplicably worshiped Jayne but, for fear of sounding like the heroine of a romance novel, he had never been sure of the nature of her feelings. She might want a quick lay in the engine room, she might be looking for something more, she might not even know which it was, and the thing about Kaylee was that he would never know until he just jumped in because she was very nearly the antithesis of rules. Simon had never been much good without rules, without knowing his role. He'd shown her his respect but he'd also offended her a thousand times and even if he could somehow take the crash course in social skills he'd somehow missed there was River, his growing responsibilities at the complex...
Stop staring at your hands like an idiot he told himself and raised his eyes again, giving her a strained attempt at a smile. "I was on my way to kitchen if you'd care to join me," he said as evenly as he could, "a break from paperwork. I've been managing the medical facilities here. You could join me if you like?" There, he thought, perfectly polite. Even if she'd rather have one of the others here I can at least listen to her, she probably has questions, something I can answer.