Title: A Business Arrangement

Summary: Post BDM  Inara is finding a new purpose on Serenity

Disclaimer: Joss is Boss. I just take them out and play with them like barbies.

Rated: PG

 

 

“Nara, Zoë said you needed to see me?” Mal said as he stepped inside Inara’s shuttle.

 

Inara smiled and nodded, gesturing to the couch for Mal to sit down. Since she’d gotten back, Mal’s presence in her shuttle had become a welcome thing. They weren’t exactly making great leaps and bounds in their relationship, whatever sort of relationship that might be but one might call it baby steps. He would often come for tea or merely just to rest after a long day. They talked, primarily about Serenity and her crew and of course they argued but they kept it light trying to avoid taking backward steps. Inara likened it to a dance, a very complicated one in which each partner had to always move forward never knowing for certain what the next step might be.  A dance was something she was comfortable with while a relationship was something that made her acutely uncomfortable.

 

“Yes, I wanted to go ahead and give you my rent. It’s actually a month and half since I rejoined Serenity in the middle of a month.”

 

Mal sighed as he sat down, choosing his words carefully. Times like this, talking with Inara could be harder than navigating through Reaver territory, a sight more dangerous too. “Nara, I’m not needin’ rent from you on the shuttle anymore.”

 

Inara arched an eyebrow at him, confusion peeking out from beneath her practiced mask. “Pardon me? Have you leased the shuttle to someone else? Or do you intend on dropping me off at the next port? I thought I made it clear that I wished to stay on Serenity for the time being.”

 

“Time bein’? I thought-“ Mal shook his head. He’d assumed Inara’s stay was permanent. “S’not important. M’not kicking you off Serenity. Mighty glad to have you back. Kaylee missed you like crazy, was pretty near worthless with you gone. M’just sayin’ no need to pay rent. You can stay in the shuttle free an’ clear.”

 

“I’m not a charity case, Mal and I don’t intend to be made one,” Inara responded, her voice gone cold and haughty.

 

“Gorramitt, ‘Nara. I’m not tryin’ to make you a charity case. M’jus’-you ain’t workin’. I mean-you ain’t takin' clients. You haven’t had one since we visited Nandi an’ you ain’t had one in all the time since you been back. No clients mean no income, now I can’t say that I’m not happy ‘bout the fact that you ain’t takin’ clients. In fact, I’m right pleased with the situation but I’m tryin’ to make it easier on you an’ let you have the shuttle. I’m tryin’ to be nice, ‘Nara an’ that don’t always come natural to me,” Mal stood up as he spoke, pacing the small space between the couch and the bed.

 

“I don’t need you to be nice when it comes to my shuttle, Mal. I won’t have you supporting me,” Inara told him. She never moved from her spot on the couch, her hands were still on her knees but she watched his restless pacing, knowing that it was an indication he wanted to be out of this conversation.

 

“Supporting? Who the gui said I was supportin’ you? I ain’t doin’ nothin’ of the sort. Jus’ ain’t chargin’ you for the shuttle. It’s my gorram ship an’ I can charge who I like an’ who I don’t. Kaylee don’t pay for her bunk,” Mal told her, turning to face her, his jaw squared.

 

“And Kaylee has a job on Serenity. I don’t do anything,” Inara pointed out, voicing the root of the problem without directly addressing it.

 

“Well you-I mean- you ain’t worthless,” Mal hedged.  He couldn’t tell her all the ways that she was a necessity to him. He wouldn’t have. She already meant too much and he had no intention of sharing that information just so she could use it against him later.

 

“Great. That’s what every girl wants to hear. My burning desire all these years, Malcom Reynolds was to be told I wasn’t worthless,” Inara snapped, rising to her feet. “Are there any other enlightening bits of information you’d like to share with me before I throw you out of my shuttle?”

 

“Shensheng de gaowan,” Mal muttered. “Give me the gorram credits an’ I can find my own way out. You kick me out often enough I should be able to,” he snapped, holding his hand out.

 

Inara slapped the credits in his hand hard enough to make her own skin sting, fire snapping in her eyes. Mal shoved the credits in his pocket and stormed out muttering under his breath.

 

*     *     *

 

“Everything has a purpose,” River said as she stared into the black.

 

“Huh?” Mal asked, jerked out of his personal reverie by her voice. It was late, most of the crew was asleep and he’d walked up here to find a little peace. River had insisted she wanted to stay. She was sitting in Wash’s chair, playing with his dinosaurs, something Mal had caught her doing more and more often.

 

“A purpose. The dinosaurs are here to remind us of Wash. The black is here to give us a place to run. The stars make sure we’ve always got a light. Kaylee’s a mechanic. She fixes Serenity,” River continued to ramble as she picked up the T-Rex. “Curse you and your inevitable betrayal.” She then smashed the dinosaurs together as if they were fighting. “She won’t you know.”

 

“Li’l Albatross, exactly what are you talkin’ ‘bout?” Mal asked, his brow furrowed as he listened to River, trying to piece together her disjointed words.

 

“Betray you,” River answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She shook her head and giggled. “No, not Kaylee.”

 

Mal shut his mouth, he’d been about to tell her that he knew Kaylee wouldn’t betray him.

 

“Jasmine is a night blooming flower. Makes the dark all pretty. Like sunshine where none can fall. Sometimes Jasmine feels useless though, just being pretty. No one likes to feel useless, not even the pretty things,” River looked at him as she spoke, dinosaurs abandoned. “The black should tell the jasmine that all its prettiness makes everything bearable.”

 

 

*    *    *

 

 

“You’re welcome, Kaylee. They were just things I had locked in a trunk. I thought they’d look nice in your bunk,” Inara said as she and Kaylee parted in the corridor near her shuttle. On a whim, Inara had taken some of the rugs and drapes she had stored in her trunk down to Kaylee’s bunk, thinking the young girl would enjoy them. They’d re-decorated the small space and enjoyed laughing and talking.

 

“Better go check the engine room, make sure everything is shiny ‘fore the cap’n starts yellin’” Kaylee grinned and went on her way.

 

Inara watched until the girl disappeared and then opened the door to her shuttle, surprised to find Mal sitting on the couch with her tea set in front of him.  “Mal…is there something the matter?” She couldn’t think of a time he’d entered her shuttle when she wasn’t there.

 

Mal shook his head. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong. Jus’ miss havin’ tea with you. Thought it’d be nice if I made some for you ‘stead of the other way ‘round.”

 

The novelty of Malcom Reynolds making tea was enough to distract Inara from the fact that they were still fighting. “You made tea…for me?”

 

Mal nodded. “Not sure how good it is. Used to make my Ma coffee on Shadow but that was long ago an’ I’m findin’ out makin’ tea ain’t quite the same as makin’ coffee.”

 

“I’m sure its fine,” Inara replied as she sat down on the couch beside Mal. She reached for the pot to pour the tea and he took it from her.

 

“It’s my tea, way I understand it I’m s’posed to serve it,” he told her, half teasing.

 

Inara half laughed and nodded, giving the duty to Mal. He sloshed tea over the side of the cup and clinked the spout against the cup but Inara didn’t say anything about it. She wrapped her hands around the delicate cup and took a sip of the tea. It took all of her training to avoid making a face. The tea was too strong, very bitter and had a burnt taste to it.  “It’s…very bold.”

 

Mal took a sip of his own tea and spit it out. “Wo de ma! That’s gorram awful.” He mopped at his chin with his sleeve. “You don’t gotta drink it, ‘Nara. Ain’t gonna hurt my feelin’s none if you don’t.”

 

“Oh thank Buddha,” she half laughed and set her cup down on the table. She studied Mal for a moment. “What is this all about?”

 

“I got a business proposition for you. Now before you start goin’ on, it ain’t that kind of proposition. Had Li’l Albatross go through some of my logs an’ such the other day. Loaded ‘em up onto your com screen. Seein’ as you got such a head for numbers and the like, thought maybe you’d go through our inventory, keep stock of the things we need, make a budget of sorts. That kind of thing.”

 

“Mal…” Inara started, watching him when she paused, trying to figure out what he was up to. “I don’t need busy work.”

 

“Ain’t busy work. Its captain-y things that I gotta do ‘less I can hire someone to do it for me. You’re the only one of the ship right now that ain’t got a job.  Seems you’re the logical choice to take some of the weight off my shoulders.”

 

“River is better at numbers then I am,” Inara pointed out.

 

“River’s doin’ her job as pilot. More then enough for her to take on, ‘specially not knowing how predictable she’s gonna continue to be,” Mal told Inara.

 

“Why the sudden job offer, Mal?” Inara asked, distrustful of the offer.

 

Mal considered the excuses he could give Inara and he knew none of them would ring true. He wasn’t any good at lying to her. “Oh gorram it all, ‘Nara. I could come up with a thousand excuses for you. Truth is River got it into her head that all the things on the gorram boat needed a purpose, includin’ the pretty things. Occurred to me a few days ago when I was passin’ your shuttle, you were burnin’ some of that jasmine scented gos se you use an’ I got to thinkin’ maybe she was right. Now there’s a whole mess of jobs I don’t want you mixed up in, like the petty thieving-“

 

“Mal…I didn’t mean-it’s not petty. As long as it keeps Serenity flying, it’s not petty,” Inara told him, regretting the words she’d said to him. She and Mal had said a lot of things to each other to regret but she knew that was one of the ones that she’d said that had cut to the bone.

 

“Ain’t no matter now, ‘Nara. I know what you meant,” he told her with a half grin that showed her he really did know what that was about. “Jus’ tryin’ to say there’s a lot of things I don’t want you doin’ for selfish reasons like I couldn’t stand to see you hurt. Havin’ you handle Serenity’s books an’ logs, I got no problem with that. Got no reason not to trust you with that kind of thing. An’ it means I don’t got to spend hours on end with paperwork an’ then nursin’ the headache it always leaves me with afterward. I’d pay you fifteen percent of whatever take we get on jobs. Sometimes it ain’t gonna be much…lota times it ain’t gonna be much but it’ll pay for your tea an’ if you need more for your flower scented stuff we can work somethin’ out.”

 

A smile lit Inara’s face, recognizing the sincerity in Mal’s voice. “Captain Reynolds, I think we’ve got a deal. Will you accept my advice on the stock, budget and other such things?”

 

“What I’m payin you for ain’t it?” Mal told her with a slow grin. “You’ll have to do some creative paperwork, calling cargo things it ain’t, try to make some of our more illegal work seem legal. I can help you with that ‘til you get the hang of it. Logs have to be kept up to date in case we get stopped by Alliance or when we go into core ports.”

 

Inara nodded. “I’m sure I’ll have questions once I get started. Perhaps we can have tea tomorrow after I’ve had a chance to look over things.”

 

Mal nodded and got to his feet. “Jus’ let me know when you want me here. Now I got things to do an’ I’m sure you’re plenty tired of havin’ me in here.”

 

Inara stood and walked Mal to the door. She put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him before he stepped out of the shuttle. “It’s not such a hardship to have you around, Mal. As long as you don’t make any more tea.”

 

Name: alto2/Nancy
LJ-username: alto2
Two prompts you'd like to see used in your fic request: Tea. And
fighting is always good.
One additional prompt that may be used in the fic you request: Please,
I beg you, bring the funny!!