FIC - Where We Are Right Now (Firefly, Inara/Kaylee)
So I totally wasn’t expecting to write two Firefly stories in a row, but apparently I really like writing Kaylee. Neat!
Title: Where We Are Right Now
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Inara/Kaylee
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Takes place after Serenity.
Word count: 1010
A/N: This was written for foreward over at femslash07. With big thanks to SnY for the beta read!
After Inara leaves and comes back again, Kaylee spends even more time in Inara’s shuttle than she did before. There are times when she’s afraid that she might be making a nuisance of herself, but Inara never seems to get irritated with her constant visits. In fact, she seems to welcome them as much as Kaylee does.
“Now that it’s so difficult for me to find clients, I need someone to occupy my time,” says Inara.
“Are you sure you aren’t just saying that to make me feel better? Because I can make myself scare,” says Kaylee, even though she knows Inara would never throw her out.
Inara leans forward and lightly kisses Kaylee’s forehead. “Of course not. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend my time with.”
Kaylee smiles and perks up a little at that, because even though she knew it already it’s still nice to hear it said from time to time.
“Well, I just spent all day working on fixing the exhaust system, so I think I’ve earned some time spent relaxing,” says Kaylee as she stretches out the kinks in her limbs caused by lying on the cold hard floor all day. Now that they’ve managed to make so many new enemies with the Miranda transmission, she’s actually much busier than Inara is just trying to keep the ship in one piece.
“Well, come and sit down, and I’ll see that you’re rewarded for your hard work,” says Inara, seating herself on the couch and then patting the cushion next to her.
She settles her head into Inara’s lap and lets her legs dangle off the end of the couch. “Tell me a story,” she says, because she’s too worn from the day to do anything more than let Inara’s voice wash over her.
The story Inara tells is about courtiers, and romance and jealousy - it’s a familiar theme, but a variation on it that Kaylee hasn’t heard before. Inara’s actual book collection may have shrunk since coming to back to Serenity, but as far as Kaylee’s concerned the real treasure trove has always been in Inara’s head, thanks to that fancy companion education. Kaylee has listened to her tell stories for years and still there are tales that she hasn’t heard before.
She does miss the books, though, with their shiny illustrations. She and River both had loved flipping through them, even though River kept trying to rewrite the stories to fit her own mood. Most of the books that are left now are un-illustrated compilations of poetry written in Chinese too formal and antiquated for Kaylee to make sense of.
"But Rokujo was angry that Genji had been ignoring her, and her anger was so great that the mysterious flower girl was struck dead..."
Inara runs her fingers through Kaylee’s hair as she speaks, and even though Kaylee isn’t paying much attention to the actual plot she’s still immensely happy. It almost reminds her of when her mother used to read to her as a child, but every now and then Inara will pull her fingers out of Kaylee’s hair and run them along her jaw and down her shirt in a way that is distinctly un-maternal.
"Do you ever miss Sihnon?" asks Kaylee, and Inara’s fingers stop their stroking for a moment from surprise at the interruption.
“Yes, I miss it,” answers Inara, and Kaylee can hear a slight sense of nostalgia in her voice. “But I don’t think I would have been happy spending my whole life there. I like to at least have the illusion of freedom.”
"Yeah," mumbles Kaylee. She misses her own childhood home sometimes, too. She wishes they passed by the moon where her parents live more often, but jobs there are rare and they don't have time to be taking side trips.
“What about you?” says Inara.
“Sometimes,” says Kaylee softly, because it’s not something she likes to admit. This ship is her home, and she’s grateful for it. “But I wouldn’t want to give up Serenity for anything the ‘verse.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” says Inara, and when Kaylee doesn’t respond she continues on with the story.
And somewhere among the list of Genji’s endless love affairs Kaylee’s mind begins to drift again, and her breathing slows as she inhales the scent of Inara’s room. The incense and perfume are always different, but there's some note in there that Kaylee can't quite put a name to that strings them all together and is distinctly Inara.
And it’s important that Kaylee remembers this and has it perfect in her memory, because Inara left once and she might leave again. And then all Kaylee will have are these memories - the smell of the perfume, the feel of the expensive fabrics and the shine of gold everywhere. She wants to remember the way Inara’s fingers feel stroking her hair when there is no one else around to fill this role that Inara plays so well. She loves Simon and she loves Mal, but she loves Inara too and they aren’t interchangeable.
“Mei Mei?” says Inara a little loudly, and suddenly Kaylee realizes that she’s been asked a question and she has no idea what it was.
“Huh?”
“I asked if maybe you were getting tired. You have been working all day, after all,” says Inara.
“I’m not tired, keep going,” says Kaylee, but her voice is drowsy and it’s clear that she’s not being truthful.
"There’s always tomorrow," says Inara, and Kaylee nods sleepily in agreement. Inara isn’t going to be leaving tomorrow - they’ve all suffered too much loss recently, and they're clinging to each other in the aftershock. But Inara and Mal on the same ship isn't going to work in the long run, and sooner or later Inara's going to leave again and Kaylee will stay behind where she belongs.
But for now Inara’s here, guiding Kaylee off the couch and towards the bed where they can lie more comfortably. Her arms wrap around Kaylee and hold her close, and soon enough Kaylee feels herself drifting off into sleep.
Title: Where We Are Right Now
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Inara/Kaylee
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Takes place after Serenity.
Word count: 1010
A/N: This was written for foreward over at femslash07. With big thanks to SnY for the beta read!
After Inara leaves and comes back again, Kaylee spends even more time in Inara’s shuttle than she did before. There are times when she’s afraid that she might be making a nuisance of herself, but Inara never seems to get irritated with her constant visits. In fact, she seems to welcome them as much as Kaylee does.
“Now that it’s so difficult for me to find clients, I need someone to occupy my time,” says Inara.
“Are you sure you aren’t just saying that to make me feel better? Because I can make myself scare,” says Kaylee, even though she knows Inara would never throw her out.
Inara leans forward and lightly kisses Kaylee’s forehead. “Of course not. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend my time with.”
Kaylee smiles and perks up a little at that, because even though she knew it already it’s still nice to hear it said from time to time.
“Well, I just spent all day working on fixing the exhaust system, so I think I’ve earned some time spent relaxing,” says Kaylee as she stretches out the kinks in her limbs caused by lying on the cold hard floor all day. Now that they’ve managed to make so many new enemies with the Miranda transmission, she’s actually much busier than Inara is just trying to keep the ship in one piece.
“Well, come and sit down, and I’ll see that you’re rewarded for your hard work,” says Inara, seating herself on the couch and then patting the cushion next to her.
She settles her head into Inara’s lap and lets her legs dangle off the end of the couch. “Tell me a story,” she says, because she’s too worn from the day to do anything more than let Inara’s voice wash over her.
The story Inara tells is about courtiers, and romance and jealousy - it’s a familiar theme, but a variation on it that Kaylee hasn’t heard before. Inara’s actual book collection may have shrunk since coming to back to Serenity, but as far as Kaylee’s concerned the real treasure trove has always been in Inara’s head, thanks to that fancy companion education. Kaylee has listened to her tell stories for years and still there are tales that she hasn’t heard before.
She does miss the books, though, with their shiny illustrations. She and River both had loved flipping through them, even though River kept trying to rewrite the stories to fit her own mood. Most of the books that are left now are un-illustrated compilations of poetry written in Chinese too formal and antiquated for Kaylee to make sense of.
"But Rokujo was angry that Genji had been ignoring her, and her anger was so great that the mysterious flower girl was struck dead..."
Inara runs her fingers through Kaylee’s hair as she speaks, and even though Kaylee isn’t paying much attention to the actual plot she’s still immensely happy. It almost reminds her of when her mother used to read to her as a child, but every now and then Inara will pull her fingers out of Kaylee’s hair and run them along her jaw and down her shirt in a way that is distinctly un-maternal.
"Do you ever miss Sihnon?" asks Kaylee, and Inara’s fingers stop their stroking for a moment from surprise at the interruption.
“Yes, I miss it,” answers Inara, and Kaylee can hear a slight sense of nostalgia in her voice. “But I don’t think I would have been happy spending my whole life there. I like to at least have the illusion of freedom.”
"Yeah," mumbles Kaylee. She misses her own childhood home sometimes, too. She wishes they passed by the moon where her parents live more often, but jobs there are rare and they don't have time to be taking side trips.
“What about you?” says Inara.
“Sometimes,” says Kaylee softly, because it’s not something she likes to admit. This ship is her home, and she’s grateful for it. “But I wouldn’t want to give up Serenity for anything the ‘verse.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” says Inara, and when Kaylee doesn’t respond she continues on with the story.
And somewhere among the list of Genji’s endless love affairs Kaylee’s mind begins to drift again, and her breathing slows as she inhales the scent of Inara’s room. The incense and perfume are always different, but there's some note in there that Kaylee can't quite put a name to that strings them all together and is distinctly Inara.
And it’s important that Kaylee remembers this and has it perfect in her memory, because Inara left once and she might leave again. And then all Kaylee will have are these memories - the smell of the perfume, the feel of the expensive fabrics and the shine of gold everywhere. She wants to remember the way Inara’s fingers feel stroking her hair when there is no one else around to fill this role that Inara plays so well. She loves Simon and she loves Mal, but she loves Inara too and they aren’t interchangeable.
“Mei Mei?” says Inara a little loudly, and suddenly Kaylee realizes that she’s been asked a question and she has no idea what it was.
“Huh?”
“I asked if maybe you were getting tired. You have been working all day, after all,” says Inara.
“I’m not tired, keep going,” says Kaylee, but her voice is drowsy and it’s clear that she’s not being truthful.
"There’s always tomorrow," says Inara, and Kaylee nods sleepily in agreement. Inara isn’t going to be leaving tomorrow - they’ve all suffered too much loss recently, and they're clinging to each other in the aftershock. But Inara and Mal on the same ship isn't going to work in the long run, and sooner or later Inara's going to leave again and Kaylee will stay behind where she belongs.
But for now Inara’s here, guiding Kaylee off the couch and towards the bed where they can lie more comfortably. Her arms wrap around Kaylee and hold her close, and soon enough Kaylee feels herself drifting off into sleep.