Carving Out a Future

By: Dreamfall

Summary: Her crew doesn't know that Serenity's new passenger, a carpenter with an 'unusual upbringing', is a relic from the past. And Xander's not looking for trouble. Then again, neither are they. Not usually, leastwise. It just tends to come calling anyway. Gen. Canon couples mentioned, but definitely not the focus of the story.

Written for: NaNoWriMo and TTH100: Xander/Firefly

TTH100 prompt: 062-Game

Rating: FR13/PG13/T

Disclaimer: I own neither Firefly nor BtVS.

Spoilers: Takes place post Season 7 for Buffy, and post-Objects in Space (and post the comic books, for that matter), but pre-Serenity for Firefly.

Author's Note: This is the story I started in November for NaNoWriMo. I'm thirty or so chapters into it, but since there's going to be at least one hundred chapters (since it's for tth100, too), they're mostly pretty short. If you're coming from this from my HP fanfics-- it's very different. Way less dark. It's also an incredibly fun story to write, and I do intend to continue with it to its conclusion. And no, it's not taking any real time away from Cat, now that I'm not working obsessively on it, like I was in November. I'll be posting every couple/few days at least till I'm caught up with my livejournal (username dreamfall(underscore)nnwm). Hope you enjoy!

Review Response: Responses to any reviews will be posted in the same livejournal as my other review responses-- username dreamfall(underscore)ff.

Chapter Fifteen
Common Knowledge

The soft knock made Xander look up, set aside his current work, and move out past the curtain into his main room. "It's open," he called, long habit keeping him from offering an explicit invitation even on a ship where he knew each person on it and knew for a fact that none of them were undead.

The door opened, and Kaylee stepped in, smiling. "Hey, Xander. I didn't have much to do and was wonderin' if I could take a look at your disk," she said hopefully.

"As long as you don't take it apart so much that you can't put it together again, knock yourself out," he said with a laugh, moving over to his bed and sliding the disk out from under it.

She started forward, then paused, startled. "Knock myself out?"

"Sorry. Turn of phrase back home -- help yourself."

Kaylee's attention was caught again, this time by the room itself as she looked around. An interesting series of expressions crossed her face, and he watched her curiously, waiting. "It's so different," she finally offered. "Really different from how Inara had it."

Xander hesitated, and then nodded. "I never saw it how she had it, of course. But I'm sure it was beautiful. I've never had much taste."

The girl blushed, and shook her head. "I didn't mean nothin' like that! I like it like this, it's just really different. Quieter. More homey. It was magnificent when 'Nara lived here though," she finished a bit sadly.

"You miss her."

"Yeah, I do. Not that I'm sorry to have you!" she added hurriedly, looking anxiously up at him. "Just, I hate people leavin'. Everyone I love, I like to stay right close."

He sighed, dropping down to the floor beside the bed and patting the spot next to him in invitation for her to join her. "I know what you mean."

"How could you bear it? Goin' off alone without anyone you loved?" she asked, dropping down next to him and resting her chin on one knee, leaning sideways against the bed so she could look at his profile.

Pain flashed through his face, and he shook his head. "I didn't have much choice," he said. "Besides, you must've done the same. You didn't know the crew before you joined on Serenity, did you?"

"No," she admitted. "But -- well, I fell in love with Serenity the moment I set foot in her, so I was never really alone. And the crew became family right quick."

"I bet they did," he agreed, a smile passing over his lips. "I'm sorry you miss her. And I'm sorry that the shuttle brings it home. It's just starting to feel like my home, and I wouldn't have wanted it to make you feel lonely."

"Oh, no, it ain't that! Not really, anyway. I just -- I just miss her," she repeated helplessly, rising restlessly to her feet to look around. "You don't got much in here yet."

"No, almost everything's in the part I set aside as my shop," he agreed. "And even there, it's just tools and stuff. Nothing very interesting to see."

She nodded, not pressing him to open it up since he didn't offer, and looked around, finally stopping before the single decoration on the wall, a large framed depiction of two Chinese characters. It was beautiful, Xander thought. When he moved in, he'd found it upside down and forgotten in a corner and had put it up. He sometimes stared at it in fascination, loving the way the brushmarks were so clean, the way the ink spread ever-so-slightly into the grain of the paper, void-black on off-white.

"This is beautiful," she murmured, staring at it, a faint wrinkle between her brows. "It looks familiar."

"I found it when I moved in," he explained. "I probably should have asked someone if it was okay for me to put it up, but..."

She nodded. "I'm sure Inara wouldn't mind. She could always write another one, after all," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, she'd never put it up herself-- she never put up her own stuff."

Xander rose to stand behind her, looking at it anew. "You mean she made this? Wrote it, or whatever?"

"Yeah. Beautiful, isn't it? I don't like all calligraphy -- most often, seems like it's called good any time it's impossible to read, and I don't get that. I like things clear, and Inara's 's clearer'n anyone's."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It's stunning." They admired it for a long moment before he asked, "What does it say?"

She turned away from the scroll as though jerked by a string, staring at him. "Huh? Can't you read it?"

He shook his head, coloring faintly.

"How come?" she asked blankly. "It's clear as anythin'."

"Because about all the Chinese I've picked up so far is 'dong ma' and 'guay'," he admitted with a laugh. "And I wouldn't have a clue how to recognize even those if I saw them."

"How's that? How'd you get through school 'thout knowing Chinese?" she asked in honest confusion. "I never knew nobody didn't know it."

Xander shrugged uncomfortably. "Unusual upbringing," he said, using his cover-all explanation. Then he added, "My father always said English was good enough for him and good enough for his father, and it damn well ought to be good enough for me, too," he added, remembering the words from when the man had been furious when he'd gotten a call from Xander's French teacher. His anger had stemmed not from the fact that his son was failing the class, but that he was taking it in the first place.

Kaylee continued to just stare at him, but finally shook her head. "I just don't get how that could even happen," she said blankly. "I mean -- well -- not that there's nothin' wrong with it!" She paused, looking up at him, expression horrified at her lack of tact. "I mean, you know lots of stuff other folks don't -- I don't know nobody else who works wood beyond just buildin' a log cabin or doin' a bit of whittling. Nothin' wrong with not knowing Chinese."

He laughed, offering her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm not offended. But at the same time, I'm beginning to think I'd best figure it out -- since I started wandering the 'verse, I've discovered more and more that it seems to be a pretty necessary skill."

She hesitated, and then offered, "I could ... I could teach ya. If you want, I mean. I probably wouldn't be any good, but -- well, if you want, I could try."

Surprised, he looked down at her hopeful expression and suddenly felt tears prickling his eyes -- she looked so much like Willow for one split second, even though she looked absolutely nothing like his old friend. "I'd like that," he admitted, blinking to clear his eyes. "If it doesn't take you away from anything important."

"Nah, it'll be okay," she said. "If I'm busy or somethin', I'll just tell you."

He nodded. "Works for me. And I'm almost never busy except when I'm working wood, and that I can do that just as easily any time, since it's not like I have any time commitments other than dinner. Hell, I don't even have to worry about daylight, since there isn't any."

She smiled sunnily, bouncing a bit as she turned back towards the scroll. "This is gonna be fun!" she exclaimed. "I'll start by lookin' up some kids books on the Cortex and downloadin' 'em. They're simpler." She started to turn towards the door, eager to begin, and Xander caught her arm, laughing.

"We don't have to start right away. You were going to examine my disk."

"Oh! Right! But that can wait, really, I was just curious."

He nodded. "But I'm not in any real hurry. Whichever you want is fine. But maybe we could start with you just telling me what this one means?" he added hopefully. "I've wondered for a while."

Kaylee blushed and laughed. "I forgot!" she said. "That's how we started talkin' 'bout it in the first place! This one says 'jia wen'," she said, voice softening slightly on the word. "'Home'."