Like over-brewed Sencha.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my computer an the contents of this story that is at least a bit original. Sadly the characters aren't mine, I just toy with them while Joss isn't looking.I'll return them unscathed, or the hell breaks loose just like the last time I took Wash's stegosaurus. Geez.
Characters: Inara, Mal, Zoe, Crew
Rating: T for now, possible M in future.
Chapter warnings: Some possibly inaptly used Chinese vocab (all explained though). I mean I did my homework, but I'm not a God (yet) so I make mistakes :)
Chapter wordcount : 1098
Chapter 1
Decision-making is pain
"You ready to get off this heap and back to the civilized life?"- he asked
"I, uh…"-he stopped, looking at her questioningly –" I don't know"-she finished a bit lamely.
He smiled at her, giving her heart a flutter .
"Good answer"-he told her 'fore heading of towards the bridge.
Inara was seated crossed-legged on a little mat spread on the cold floor of- what was formerly known as- her shuttle.The sencha scented steam from a tea pot, was curling up around the room, ascending almost divinely- entwining her body and thoughts. Everybody else was either celebrating or mourning- each of them in their own way- but she felt the need for some solitude right now. She needed calm and stillness around her to sort through things, the way she had been taught to. Actually, what she needed was… serenity. Which was quite ironic really, given that her decision making concerned also the vessel bearing the very name. Trying to relax she focused on a quite recent image of herself painting Serenity's name on the hull, and on how elated she felt standing there on the canvas, with the desert wind brushing her cheeks, just as she was rhythmically caressing the ship's side with a brush of her own. There and then she felt so close to a certain Malcolm Reynolds. Closer then ever.
Breathing in the scent of the already ignited incense, she cleared her mind of all the tension and unwelcome influence, trying to purify herself before creating the sacred space.
Her right hand holding the incense stick drew a small circle around her. Then she poured the tea into a small chabei and spilled several drops of it on the mat, silently inviting the shenmen to join her. The chaguan was placed back at the pot warmer, and now both scents: warm sencha and patchouli xiang swirled in the air like a breath of divine inspiration.
Still, no matter what inspiration she might get, Inara knew that the final decision would have to be her own.
After all it was often said that the gods help them that help themselves, was it not?
With her mind freed from any outer influence, her thoughts were flowing mightily faster now.
She was weighing the options- those heavily ripe and almost expectant possibilities for the near future- trying to balance them on the scales in her mind.
She didn't promise to stay. She didn't say she'd go either.
There on one scale was a man she loved- something she could admit freely now, even if only in the safety of her own mind. He was a (semi)honest and (mostly) honorable man living his hard earned dream. Even if the said dream involved a lot of salvaging , shooting and escaping near death experiences, she still admired him for who he was, and how he conducted himself through life. Dang ran she would never speak of this admiration with him, nor with any other crew member, even if River probably knew about it already. Still, she did realize that letting him in would mean opening up to a whole new 'verse of possibilities, happiness and sedation ranking high among them.
On the other hand she considered herself a Companion, from the very day she turned twelve and started her training. And the title itself was more of a calling really, than a job description. Against popular belief Companions were more than only well paid, decadently elegant and snobbishly educated whores. Granted- their training gave them a worldly veneer, and they did indeed work with their bodies. However, what the public eye remained oblivious of, were other aspects of their education, encompassing such subjects as elementary psychology or mind and soul healing. Many girls accepted in the Academy were at least slightly gifted Readers, and in any case all of them were taught how to read and help the human psyche, using the energy of one's own body. Surely the service performed often involved sex, but as a trained Companion was also a priestess of the Gods, the mere intercourse was never the sole purpose of an encounter with a client. Of course, this was not a fact that was widely advertised, as The Guild was as much a business venture as a religious organization, and keeping up the pretences of a highly sublimed escort agency gave the business side of it, all the buzz and prestige it needed. But this was also a reason why the Guild Law decreed that the Companions could choose their own clients from the register, the subtle hint behind that was that mostly the ones being chosen should be those, in a true need of Companion's attention. The Law was even flexible enough to allow taking not enlisted clients, if such a need would arise, another thing that was not greatly advertised for the same obvious reasons.
These thoughts kept swirling in her, as the smoke and steam-filled air did around her.
Her decision was there– ready in her mind now, almost set, and almost final, but still trembling uncertainly.
The doubts needed to be cleared fast, and that meant she would be needing some spiritual guidance after all.
She picked a small clay board- one side of it pasted with writing paper- and laid it before her, next to the bowl of ink and a slim brush.From a newly filled chabei of hot tea, she sprinkled some drops on her own forehead, then on the board, and into the ink, downing the rest of it in one take. It tasted of a bitterly over-brewed sencha, but she guessed this was what this particular choice tasted like. Then with the brush, she wrote starting from the top of the board: li for strength, xi xiang for mind , xin for heart, jue ding for decision, and zheng zhao for a sign. She traced the same movements in the air, with a still burning incense stick She bowed silently praying for a sign, and then snapped the board in half . Would her plea be heard, she'd have to burn the board completely, and bring some offering to the shenmen, as it was in custom.
She cleared and open the circle, thanking the spirits for their attendance. She knew well, now she could only wait for the events to unfold. And they would soon enough- she suspected.
The knock at the door came quite suddenly, but she was ready for it. She looked up to see Mal's flustered face, knowing that this would be her expected answer then. Very well, now she knew.
Vocabulary:
sencha- a kind of a Japanese green tea
chabei (cha2bei1) 茶杯 – a tea cup
shenmen(shen2men) 神们- gods, spirits
chaguan(cha2guan4) 茶罐- tea pot
xiang (xiang1) 香-incense or xian xiang (xian4xiang1) 線香- stick incense
dang ran (dang1ran2)当然- of course, obviously
A/N 1.First I had an idea for a post BDM Inara-centered fic, and then I happened across the lj fffriday community prompt number 205 ' Something bitter-tasting', which seemed to be oddly 'nsync with what I had in mind for my ficlet.
As the required word count was a bit too short for my whole story, I decided I could at least post the first chapter as the answer, and I would have done so successfully, were it not for my web connection that decided to bail on me from last Friday throughout the whole weekend.
So instead I'm posting this here (among other places).
2.Now it may be my over-assumption, but I found toying with the idea of the Guild, as a (semi)religious organization, rather then just a prostitute union - quite exciting.
The references in the series/movie material are vague(and I have no books on the subject), but I gather that there is at least some sort of a High Priestess persona involved in this whole enterprise. That and Inara's conduct throughout the series, the way she talks to Book for example, gives him advice –as one priest to another. On Wikipedia Inara is said to be a Buddhist, but a) burning incense in front of a Buddha statue does not make one a Buddhist b) she strikes me more a mix of Shintoand a western pagan priestess , and this is how I write her.
3. The quote at the beginning comes from the shooting script, and I assume that it's the same as in the movie
Hope you enjoyed my take on the 'verse, and will be here for the second chapter.
Reviews are love, reviews are shiny, and if you criticize be constructive rather then unpleasant. Thanks! :)