LIMELIGHT: Prologue
Timing: Post-BDM
Pairings: Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara
Rating: PG to NC-17 – there are also so scary concepts in here folks, so please heed warnings at the top of the chapters
Summary: Family ties cause Inara to leave the Serenity under suspicious circumstances and River volunteers to go with her. After the women have been gone for a few months, Mal, Simon and the rest of the crew decide to investigate and end up crossing a very powerful man on the planet of Paquin.
A/N: This story came to me after I read the Firefly Roleplaying Guide and found out that Paquin is like a planet-sized Atlantic City – full of different types of theaters, performances and amusements. It also has it's seedy side.
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River was on the bridge, her knees pulled into her chest, her head cocked a bit to the side as she stared out into the black. As she listened to nothing, her right hand snaked out towards the console and hovered over one button, depressing it just as the incoming wave announced itself.
Pulling herself upright, River greeted the stranger and then hit the shipboard comm, sending a call to Inara's shuttle.
"Inara?"
Looking up from her book, Inara closed the tome and headed for the screen. "Yes, River?"
"You have a wave," the young woman answered, her voice soft and toneless.
Frowning slightly, Inara found she was curious. Since she had left the Guild a little over three months ago, personal waves being sent to her were few and far between. Taking a seat, she lifted the ornate drape from in front of the screen and told the pilot. "Go ahead and patch it through."
The black, shiny square flickered once and then resolved into the image of a face and Inara inhaled sharply as recognition came. Her eyes wide, it took a few minutes for her to find her voice, but when she did it was low and shaky. "What is it?"
-- --
"Zoe, you seen my mechanic?" The tall woman turned at the sound of Mal's annoyance, hiding a small smile behind her mug of tea.
"Did you check the infirmary?" she asked, watching as the captain entered the galley and headed for the stove, pouring himself a cup in the process.
"O' course, I did," Mal said in exasperation, leaning against the counter. "I checked the infirmary, the engine room, the cargo bay, Simon's bunk, Kaylee's bunk an' the bridge."
"Not the shower room," River sing-songed as she entered, sitting next to Zoe and smiling at the woman as she pulled her previously abandoned drawing pad and pencils towards her.
Grimacing, Mal suddenly found the thought of tea or any thing for that matter, disgusting. Chucking the rest of the liquid down the sink, he looked back to River and asked, "You sure?"
Her eyes big and all-knowing, River didn't even answer his silly question just stared for a moment, before again beginning to draw. Muttering a curse, Mal turned on his heel and stalked off, Zoe's voice calling after him. "Be sure to knock first."
-- --
Shaking his head slowly from side to side and wondering how exactly it was that his medic had not yet gotten his mechanic pregnant, what with all the ruttin', Mal found himself stepping into Inara's shuttle, feeling a bit weary from his day. He paused for a moment in the threshold considering how far he and the shuttle's occupant had come in the five months since Miranda.
It had almost been instantaneous, their relationship; which is to say they had both finally wised up after dancing around each other for close to two years. But still, even though Mal had tried to fight his feelings with all he had, it had been the most blessed and unbelievable of moments when he'd finally taken Inara in his arms and she had come willingly. These five months really had been something.
With a small sigh, he finally pushed open the shuttle door and held the fabric curtain back to step inside. As he brought the dimly lit room into focus, he paused, his brow furrowing as he watched Inara hurry about, moving from the cockpit to the bed, where she had a bag open and was placing things into it.
Looking up at his entrance, Inara did not greet him, but only continued her packing, rushing about. Mal crossed his arms over his chest, cocking an eyebrow at her. As she emerged from the bathroom, a few toiletries in her hands, he asked quietly, "Goin' on a trip?"
Not facing him, she said, "I guess you could say that." As she shoved a few of her more utilitarian clothes into the bag, she asked, "We're about, what? A three day ride from Paquin? By shuttle?"
Nodding once, Mal circled around the bed and sat on the edge. "I'd reckon' that's 'bout right." Reaching out, he placed his hand over one of hers, causing her to finally pause. "Feelin' like a bit o' culture?"
Paquin was known throughout the 'verse for two things: a myriad of artistic and cultural offerings and the seediest side of entertainment one could imagine. In all, not the friendliest of planets, although definitely better than most of the ones he and his ship seemed to frequent.
Smiling tightly to him, Inara pulled her hand away easily and moved to pick up a few more things across the shuttle. "In a way; I just got a wave from an old friend who will be on Paquin next week. I haven't seen her in ages, so I thought that perhaps I could now, since we're relatively close."
Mal believed her story about as much as he believed planets were made of ice cream. As she bent low over one of her trunks rummaging through it, Mal decided that maybe now was the time to confront her on her obvious play to deceive him.
Walking towards her quietly, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind as she straightened, causing her to literally jump a bit in his arms as she let out a surprised, "Oh!"
Knowing now that something was really wrong as Inara was a woman trained to anticipate and adjust to a man's touch, Mal turned her in his embrace and said softly, "How's about you tell me the truth?"
Inara met his gaze with her most unaffected expression and smiled brilliantly. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mal," she told him easily, willing her body to relax. "I told you, I got a wave from an old friend who mentioned she'd be on Paquin. And I'd like to go see her." Placing a hand to his face, she lowered her voice and teased, "Unless of course, you'd like to spend a few days at a spa with me, getting facials and the like?"
Frowning at her, Mal's eyes roved over her face looking for the place where he could call her on the lie. There was something decidedly not right about any of this, but as she now fixed him with that big smile, her eyes dancing with a bit of mystery and passion, he quickly found himself losing the ability for any coherent thought. Grimacing once, he asked, "You're sure? Just a little girl's getaway?"
Smiling to him again, Inara leaned in and pressed a kiss to his mouth. "I'm sure. I was even thinking of taking River. I'm sure Simon and Kaylee could use a break from all her taunting," she added, stepping around him and continuing to pack, having to force herself to steady her hands, to move at a controlled pace. It would do no good to raise Mal's suspicions again.
Watching her for another minute, Mal drifted over towards the couch and sat down heavily. Thinking on her last statement, he admitted, "Yeah, River has been pretty impossible since Simon an' Kaylee started … well, you know," he mumbled.
Glancing to him with a gleam in her eyes, Inara prodded him gently, "You know, Mal, you are a grown man. It's okay to say sex."
Clapping his hands over his ears, he shouted to drown her out. "I don't wanna hear that, I don't wanna think 'bout it an' I definitely don't wanna see it." Looking back to her, he saw that she was struggling to contain her laughter and he was determined to make her see the severity of the situation. "I caught 'em in the shower room today, 'Nara. The shower room! That's the place we go to get clean!"
"Yes, Mal it is. I'm quite comforted that as the ship's captain you have such an astute understanding of your craft." Her eyes were dancing with laughter now and Mal found himself lunging across the room towards her, grabbing her around the waist and falling onto the bed with her.
Her body resting atop his, Inara gazed into his eyes for a moment, still laughing a bit. But as his hand ran along her cheek and to the back of her neck she found her mood sobering. His eyes were full of concern now, where moments before they had been alit with merriment. Apparently she had not convinced him of her innocence as soundly as she'd thought.
Placing her hand against his cheek, Inara leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to his mouth, knowing exactly how to ply his lips to get him to deepen the contact. She waited and teased him lightly with her tongue, almost counting down in her head until the moment his arms tightened around her, pressing her body into his, making her feel every muscle and desire. With practiced ease, Inara gave into him and his touch, feeling a bit guilty for so unabashedly using her learned wiles on him.
But she had to get off at Paquin and she had to do it alone. And if that meant making love to Mal in order to take his mind off of it, that's what she would do. Of course, she thought to herself, grinning a bit against his mouth, even as his hands roamed over her breasts, teasing and caressing the flesh there, it wasn't the worst thing she could think of.
-- --
In the middle of the ship's sleep cycle, Inara snuck out of her shuttle, leaving a sleeping and sated Mal behind. On slippered feet she glided down to the passenger dorms and stopped short in front of River's bunk, surprised to see the girl's door open.
Stepping into the doorway, her eyes went a bit bigger as she saw the young woman staring back at her, a small knapsack on the bed in front of her. "We're going on a trip," she told Inara confidently.
Holding up a hand to quiet her, Inara looked out into the empty hall and then slid the screen shut, before moving to the bunk and sitting in front of River. "River, I wouldn't normally ask a favor like this from you, but-"
Placing a hand to the older woman's knee, wide brown eyes met each other as the young reader said, "It's okay. I can help."
Her eyes misting, Inara blinked rapidly and clutched the girl's hand. "Can you? Really?"
Nodding once, River's face broke into a wide grin, as she said, "Yes, I can. And, I'll get to dance."
-- --
News Brief: Paquin, Rogers City, 08:32
The Aujhord'hui ballet company, financed by Amabassador Isaiah Creighton, announced a cancellation in its schedule today. Stating that their prima ballerina had fallen ill, the company has cancelled this evening's and tomorrow evening's performances of Sleeping Beauty.
Ticket refunds are available by contacting the box office.
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