Warren watched his little brother who was eagerly working on big mug of hot cocoa. The cafe was warm and well kept as they sat at a table against a wall and in good view of the rest of the establishment. They had ordered, and had their drinks as Shen guarded the center of their table next to the teapot. Will had a thin whipped cream mustache as he finally came up for air. "How's that taste?"
"Like the bestest thing in the 'Verse." He licked at his mustache, and grimaced as his big brother used the corner of his napkin to wipe it off. "Hey!"
"Hold still." He ordered, also getting a spot of cocoa off of his cheek.
"Don't gotta fuss over me, Dàgē." He whined.
"You don't wanna get it all over the place and ruin your brand new clothes now do you, Xiǎodì? Inara just got them, and you're gonna get a stain."
Inara raised her brows, watching the pair intently.
"Try not to." The little one reassured. "Just never had one before."
"A lot of firsts." Warren noted out loud as he set the napkin down and resumed his tea drinking. Playing with the handle of his cup, he stared at the bits of oolong.
"Something on your mind?" She asked.
"Can I ask you something?" He looked up and saw her head nod. "You're… not married to our father?"
Inara nearly choked on her tea. "Mal?"
Mal felt, amazing.
"I like you." Eddie tipped his cigarette, exhaling smoke. Apparently his lungs were as fancy as his liver.
Will looked up from his cup of cocoa.
"No." Inara said simply, composing herself. This was not how she had planned to get closer to the boys. "We are together though."
He blushed, yet hardened his resolve. "May I ask how together?"
"We're committed to providing the two of you with a stable family life."
Will's eyes darted down.
"You're still a Companion though, and your work takes you off ship?"
"You know why I wanted to talk with you? Drink with you?"
"Because I'm pretty after so many?" Mal drawled, he liked this fella. He drank like a fish, but he was good, brutally honest.
"Gorgeous, were you a woman I'd show you a night to remember. But no, I've heard many things about you. About Miranda."
"You're correct." Inara watched him. So young, so wary of her. Will had been easy to win over. But this one, even after spending the morning shopping and getting lunch, still looked at her with suspicion. "I don't practice very often anymore, but I still prefer to."
"Why?" Will asked curiously.
"I like my job, I like helping people." She told him gently, trying to be honest with them. Trying to treat them less like children who needed to be given vague answers and more like family who deserved the truth. "I also can make a nice wage doing my job, and I'd like to make sure we can provide for both of you the best we can."
"How'd you meet the Captain?"
"Rented the shuttle out. He stopped on Beaumonde, and I had just touched down from Shinon and was looking for a transport."
"So you're from Shinon?" He quizzed.
"I saw a picture of Shinon once." Will said, wiping about her frothy cocoa mustache away with the back of his hand. "It was really sparkly, fancy."
"It's a beautiful place." Inara told him.
"Why'd you leave?" Warren asked shrewdly.
"I was restless." She admitted. "I wanted to see the 'verse and I was at a point in my career and in my private life that I could either leave and travel or stay there forever. I chose to leave."
"Would you go back?"
Inara tilted her chin down to the question. She let her fingers rest on her cup.
His face dropped, fingers fiddling with his half empty fifth glass. Simon was on his second, and though he was bleary in the eyes it was clear as soon as Miranda was brought up, he sobered quickly.
She was being grilled by the boy, his eyes solemn, pressing. Inara offered him an easing smile, but it didn't have the desired effect. "I miss it, if that's what you're asking. I had friends there, very dear clients. But I couldn't work there again."
"Did you get in trouble?" The little one asked, somewhat concerned.
"I did. First I was decommissioned and I no longer was a Companion. Now that I've been reinstated, I can only practice in certain systems." She saw the fix in his little brow. "It sounds far worse than it actually is."
"Is your family on Shinon?" Warren asked.
"No."
"No, no." Eddie extended a flat palm. "Though I can only imagine it brought you great hardship, it showed me someone I wanted to meet. The set of brass ones you have to have hanging to do that, to tell this lovely government to bend over and take it up the ass... that's impressive my friend."
"Londinium, at least the last time I had contact with them." She nodded her head delicately.
"You miss them?"
"When I think about them, certainly." Inara voice shifted. It was distant, wistful. "However, I also have a family on Serenity, and everyone on board is very dear to me."
"Even us?" The little voice next to her piped.
"Us… Mine… Just was doin' what was right."
"Yeah, but that large scale of do-goodiness? Leading yours, them following you, trusting you in that. Mean's you got something." He dipped waving a finger, smiling in a way only liquor can make one. "Conviction, gumption… insanity..."
"It's the last one." Simon said before a sip.
"To functioning insanity." Eddie raised his glass, prompting the two to do the same. "To another round!" He said loudly, alarming a waitress to their dwindling cups.
Inara turned to William, his eyes eager for reassurance that he was special and loved and his cup half empty. "Especially you two." Turning, she reached over and cupped his cheek, kissing his temple. "Wǒ cónglái méiyǒuguò zhèyàng kě'ài de nánhái."
He looked at her in confusion, a small cough escaping. "I don't know a lotta Chinese."
"I care about you just as much." She explained. "And we're going to have to have you brush up on your Chinese." Looking back across the booth to Warren, she artfully shifted the conversation. "Speaking of learning, how are your lessons as an engineer's apprentice?"
"Kaylee's teaching me a lot." Warren told Inara after a sip of oolong. The waiter set their plates in front of them. "I just learned how to clean the injection valves, and she just taught me how to do some basic wiring. She said when we get back I'm gonna learn some software stuff. Code and the like."
"That's wonderful." Inara said as her small plate of lamb, hummus and lentil soup came to rest on the table. I know you're interested in ships, would you ever consider getting your certification?"
He blushed, looking at the giant kabob platter set in front of him. "Oh I dunno, that's a lot of training. Maybe?"
"I think you should try. You could really go somewhere with a certification, right?"
Reaching across, Warren carefully pushed his brother's plate of a pita sandwich filled with beef and a bowl of soup a little closer to the child. "Use your napkin." He minded, pulling the mug of hot cocoa away so his brother wouldn't fill up on his drink. "Depends." He finally responded to Inara. "Basic certification could get me on a boat like Serenity's, but it takes more to get on something like a luxury liner."
"Like?" She prompted.
He chewed a mouthful of beef and vegetables and swallowed. "Depends again. You need to specialize in a niche field in order to get on one of those. Like a programming certification, welding or electrical or nuclear containment."
"Are you interested in any one of them?" She asked, carefully piling a small amount of hummus, yogurt, and lamb onto a piece of bread.
"All of them." He chuckled, becoming more at ease with her. "But I don't know which one the most, because I haven't tried my hand in any of them. I'm hoping Kaylee lets me take a swing."
"Do you have to train at a school for your certification?"
"No," He shook his shaggy head and shoveled rice onto his fork "you just need to take the test and pass it at the certified center."
"So Kaylee needs to train you and then we can enroll you to take the basic certification test when we land?" Inner watched as Will was busy ignoring them and tucking into his lunch. "Will, remember to take your time."
The little boy sheepishly slowed his pace. "It's real yummy." He told her.
"I'm glad." She smiled. "But you'll make yourself sick if you keep that up. If you don't finish we can always take the rest back home for you to eat later."
"Kay."
She turned back to Warren. "So, certification?"
The teen paled. "Oh, I dunno. It's expensive."
"It's an investment in your future, Dàgē" Inara told the boy in a maternal tone. "That's what counts."
Warren brought his eyes down and stared at his plate. There was a beat as he struggled to speak. "You-you really think so?"
Seeing his reaction, it broke her heart. No one had ever told him those things before, no one had ever built him up. Reaching across the table, she squeezed his hand. "Warren, if you want to be a mechanic, we'll make sure you can be the best one you can be."
Looking down at the delicate hand holding his own, he took a deep breath. Inara saw a sliver of trust, but it quickly fizzled out. "That's…" his voice crackled. "That's really nice. But I don't think you'd wanna invest in me." He shrugged off her hand and averted his eyes away from her in shame. "Thank you for the offer though."
She was confused. "Warren-"
"You know who needs schooling? This one." He teasingly poked his little brother's belly, trying to put away his emotions and deflect to another subject. "He's smart this one. Could use a school and an education for all those brains."
"That ain't my brain." Will snorted.
"Yeah, but you think with it an awful lot."
TRANSLATION
Dàgē: Big Brother
Xiǎodì: Little Brother
Wǒ cónglái méiyǒuguò zhèyàng kě'ài de nánhái: Never had I had such lovely boys.