![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
F: Hush, Now
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: None
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: Zoe isn't good at this. For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
feywood, for being my rock. And also because she's a brilliant teacher-to-be.
She's not good at this. She's never been good at soothing, though she figures she'd have had to figure it out if she'd ever had that kid, and she has nightmares of her own to deal with now, worse than ever before. But she's still sitting on River's bed, shaking her awake. "Hush, girl," she says, the words clumsy. River's eyes open, bright, confused, darting here and there. "It's alright. I've got you."
"Simon," she whispers, and for a wonder, Zoe knows what she means.
"He's alright, little one. He's just over in his own room, sleepin' sound. Exhausted from operatin', I think."
"Or Kaylee," River says, with a tiny smile. Zoe snorts.
"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd want to be thinkin' on that." She reaches up, smoothing River's hair back from her face, like she's seen Simon do. The boy might not be so good with words, at least not with gettin' them right, but his gestures -- like that one -- say worlds of things.
"When one form of communication usually fails, you develop another," River whispers. She closes her eyes. She's still breathing a mite fast. Zoe lays her hand on River's shoulder.
"You gonna be alright now?"
"You would have made a good mother," River says, softly. She reaches up, brushes Zoe's hand with her fingers. "Thank you."
She should probably feel offended that River's prying like that. Or perhaps just stung. Instead, she nods. "Maybe so. Want me to keep an eye on you for a while? Wake you up if you get into another dream?"
"I'll be fine," River says, curling back into her covers. "Safe here."
"That you are," Zoe says. "And your brother too. So don't you go havin' more nightmares."
Pairing: None
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: Zoe isn't good at this. For
feywood, for being my rock. And also because she's a brilliant teacher-to-be.She's not good at this. She's never been good at soothing, though she figures she'd have had to figure it out if she'd ever had that kid, and she has nightmares of her own to deal with now, worse than ever before. But she's still sitting on River's bed, shaking her awake. "Hush, girl," she says, the words clumsy. River's eyes open, bright, confused, darting here and there. "It's alright. I've got you."
"Simon," she whispers, and for a wonder, Zoe knows what she means.
"He's alright, little one. He's just over in his own room, sleepin' sound. Exhausted from operatin', I think."
"Or Kaylee," River says, with a tiny smile. Zoe snorts.
"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd want to be thinkin' on that." She reaches up, smoothing River's hair back from her face, like she's seen Simon do. The boy might not be so good with words, at least not with gettin' them right, but his gestures -- like that one -- say worlds of things.
"When one form of communication usually fails, you develop another," River whispers. She closes her eyes. She's still breathing a mite fast. Zoe lays her hand on River's shoulder.
"You gonna be alright now?"
"You would have made a good mother," River says, softly. She reaches up, brushes Zoe's hand with her fingers. "Thank you."
She should probably feel offended that River's prying like that. Or perhaps just stung. Instead, she nods. "Maybe so. Want me to keep an eye on you for a while? Wake you up if you get into another dream?"
"I'll be fine," River says, curling back into her covers. "Safe here."
"That you are," Zoe says. "And your brother too. So don't you go havin' more nightmares."