Episode III: Phone confession [Public]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[The phone line is picked up rather suddenly, as if the speaker didn't know he was going to be talking on the phone a second ago.]

Kaylee, I think you're beautiful. You're confident and fun and the fact that you know more about machines than I do turns me on.

I like you a lot. A lot.

[Suddenly the line is silent except for a small puff of breath. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on. Then the phone is promptly hung up.]

[Call him back and ask him what the hell that was all about?]

Comments

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Deep breath and a resigned sigh.]

Hi, Kaylee. Look, before you ask, I don't what happened. I don't know why I did that. It was as if something or someone was controlling me.

Alright. That sounds crazy. I can understand if you're angry and you have every right to be. That was extremely inappropriate of me to say over the public line and I'm so, so very sorry.

[And if a hole in the ground could just appear so that he could crawl inside of it and die, that would be great.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

N-No, it's okay. Was surprised, is all. I mean, it ain't the worst thing a person could hear 'round these parts. Woulda preferred in person but... it ain't a bad thing.

'Sides, only fair after the other day, I guess.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Fair enough.

[Though he's let out the breath he was holding Luke still feels like a prize idiot. Still, Kaylee seems pleased. Or at least, not angry. And that's a plus.

And now Luke doesn't know how to proceed. The proper thing to do would be to apologize again and hang up and let things settle down. But yeah, this is Luke we're talking about here.]

So what do we do now?

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Well, uh, we should probably talk about it face to face rather than like this. I guess.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Uh, duh.]

Right. Good idea.

Uhhh, the park? Meet there, I mean.

[And that would be his heart thudding in his chest. He hopes she can't hear it.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Okay, I'll see ya there. Better'n tryin' to work it out like this.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

See you. [Click.]

(A little bit later, at the park)

[Luke's been pacing since he arrived, eyes darting around trying to spot Kaylee. He's a bit nervous.

... okay. He's a lot nervous.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee waves once she's into sight. She is happy to see him, even if this is a bit strange.]

So... hi.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Hi!

[And here come the nerves again. Luke can plunge head-first into a 10-to-1 battle and almost certain death but talking to a girl makes him feel ill.]

Ummm... now that you're here I don't know what to say.

[Guh. That was dumb. His heart's thudding again. Luke closes his eyes and lets out a long breath to calm himself.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Well... what you said before on the phone was... pretty good, actually.

[She giggles nervously. She's never been a shy one, but this is still all rather sudden]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Oh boy, yeah what he said on the phone was probably a side effect of the town messing with him. He can feel himself about to say something else really dumb but suddenly he stops and looks Kaylee in the eyes, and makes a decision right then and there.

She deserves better than a stuttering, nervous wreck. If Luke's going to do this he's going to do it right.]

You're right. I should have said all that to you in person. And I have no excuse not to say it to you now.

Kaylee, [he forces himself to look her in the eyes because she deserves nothing less, even though it's taking all his willpower to do so] everything I said over the phone is true, though I suppose I could have been a little less crude about it.

And I couldn't give you a reason why I would deserve someone like you, so I won't try. I just wanted you to know.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Hey... there's something to be said for honesty. And I definitely like you too.

[Friendly, attractive, heroic... lots to like. The way he made sure to check in when everything was going to pieces. The way his first reaction to Mayfield was to rush into trying to fix it. And he's just so earnest]

I think... I think we should give this a try.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Oh, Luke is a happy man. You see that big grin? Sign #1 that Luke is happy.]

Good! Uh, I mean great!

[Shut up, oh my god, shut up. Eloquence. Use more words. Or better words. Or something.]

But uh, I was hoping I could take you to dinner first. I mean, you never know. I could be a slobbering drunkard with no table manners. You'd want to make sure, right?

[Whew! Saved it with charm.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Ooh, his happy is even cuter than his blushing!]

Dinner'd be nice. Pretty sure if you ate like Jayne I'd've figured it out already, but dinner sounds real nice.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Her thoughts comfort him and he's starting to feel a little braver. He happens to think that discussing this while taking a stroll through the park is a nice idea so he gently guides her in the direction of a nature trail, and even feels bold enough to put an arm around her shoulders.]

Jayne? Is she a friend of yours from home?

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee giggles at the point of constant confusion]

He's a merc on my ship. Real good at what he does... not so good at polite.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

He? Really? Jayne? [Luke laughs with her and shrugs. It's not like people don't have funny names where he comes from.]

Yeah, I haven't known many polite mercenaries, either.

You wouldn't happen to be free tonight, would you? [Patience is definitely not one of Luke's virtues.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

I am!

[Probably a little too enthusiastic, but she's always liked to be upfront about things]

Really ain't much to do 'cept for tinkerin' and that ain't goin' anywhere.

[That's right. She'll pass up mucking with engines for you.]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Perfect. [That's okay. Her enthusiasm matches his own.]

You know, sometime I want you to show me what you've been working on. It's hard not to notice the technology around here is pretty lacking. You could probably help out a lot of people with some handy inventions. I've been thinking about doing that myself.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[She might be dancing around a bit. Inside her head, at any rate.]

The heater was pretty handy when the power went out. Mostly I've been seeing how much I can get the car here to do. It ain't much, but it gives me somethin' to work at.