"Come on, Inara - please?" Kaylee begged.

"Kaylee," Inara laughed, "You don't need my help - you're obviously doing just fine!"

"But surely you could teach me... something," Kaylee shrugged, her eyes twinkling with meaning. "Just a little pointer or a tip?"

"You know it doesn't work that way," she hedged. "And you clearly know how to please him without my help."

"But - "

"Simon wants you, Kaylee, not a companion."

"Everybody wants a companion," Kaylee muttered, her tone petulant and slightly wistful.

"Not everybody," Inara corrected pointedly, and turned back to the wardrobe she was organizing while Kaylee lounged on the small bunk covered in lavish pillows and multi-coloured silks.

"He'll come around," the pretty young mechanic said softly.

Inara chose to ignore the comment and continued her task in silence.

"So... not even just... a little tip?" Kaylee pressed meekly, more to change the subject than to pester the beautiful companion.

With a patient sigh, Inara turned around, her cheeks dimpling with an exasperated smile. She sat on the bed next to Kaylee and faced her, her eyes trailing over her freckled nose.

"It doesn't work like that," she repeated, pressing a finger to the girl's lips before she could interrupt. "Being a companion is less about sexual skills and techniques, and more about the art of sensuality." She lowered her hand, letting it rest against Kaylee's leg, then looked away with a little laugh.

"For example, the first thing a companion is taught is how to pleasure a woman," she said wryly.

"Why?" Kaylee's asked softly.

"Well, it teaches us about ourselves, but it also gives a little bit of the male perspective on how a woman... reacts." She watched Kaylee closely as she spoke, surprised and curious to see the subtle reactions flitting across her sweet features. "Women are also a more sensual creature, so it's easier to grasp the difference between sex and art. They're softer, the curves of the body, the smells, the little sounds women make - all very different from men, and closer to the spirit of what we do."

"And you do - everything?" Her hazel eyes were wide with awe and something - else.

Inara watched her thoughtfully. "Yes," she replied slowly, "Of course, just like men, all women are different, and each person has their own pleasure points..."

"Oh." Kaylee's voice was awed and tiny sounding. She suddenly looked away with a sheepish smile. "I ain' never even kissed a girl, much less... that."

Inara watched as Kaylee's eyes slowly traveled up her frame and lingered on her lips, then flicked up to her own eyes as she gave a shy little laugh.

"Would you... like to?"

No response was needed - the soft blush, the flutter of lashes and the barely perceptible hitch in breathing spoke volumes. Inara raised her hand to Kaylee's face, fingers curling just under her chin. She slowly leaned forward, breathing in the scent she knew so well - sandalwood, floral shampoo, and the metallic tang of the engines the little mechanic loved so dearly. She brushed her lips gently, experimentally, across those inexperienced ones that were so surprisingly soft. Women always were, and Inara never quite got used to, or tired of, that pleasant, sweet softness.

She felt Kaylee melt against her, a tiny sigh escaping the young woman as her lips moved tentatively in response, now pressing a little more firmly, parting slightly. Inara gasped as she felt herself respond in kind, really kissing her now, their lips sliding sweetly, tongues slowly teasing, hungrily tasting each other in gentle, ladylike portions. Her hand slipped under the soft curtain of brown waves to cup Kaylee's neck while the other slid along her thigh and she frowned, somewhat disappointed that her little student's hands remained glued to the mattress.

Inara broke their kiss and felt a tug inside of her at the little sound of protest that came from Kaylee's lips. Without pulling away, she searched her eyes and smirked at the dazed and hungry expression she found there.

"This wasn't really about Simon, was it?"