Title: Fixer Upper
Author: Eshva
Disclaimer: Joss owns everything. Or someone does. Not me, anyway.
A/N: First attempt at Firefly and feedback much appreciated

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Inara was waiting when Kaylee knocked on her shuttle door, brushes and files and varnish and an elegant china basin laid out and ready.

"Hey, 'Nara," she said, brandishing several bottles of nail polish. "I got some real pretty ones."

It was hackneyed, she knew, but Inara always felt that Kaylee burst into her shuttle like a dazzle of sunlight. Almost she envied her, the simple pleasure of bright, pretty things.

Inara ushered her toward the little table and poured water over her hands into the china basin. It would take quite some effort to remove the engine grease and accumulated grime. But she could take pleasure here too, the more subtle shadings of doing a thing beautifully for its own sake.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself at the skyplex?" she said.

"Mmhmm." Kaylee's eyes were closed and her face relaxed with pleasure as Inara delicately cleaned her hands. "Ooh, that feels nice."

"Did Simon go with you? I can't remember if you're currently speaking to him or not." Inara's smile was a little wry.

"Yeah, Simon came with me. He apologised, so we're talking again".

"What was that about? I don't think you told me." Inara reached for a towel and dried Kaylee's hands, tending each slender finger with care and thoroughness.

"Oh, he said mean things about Serenity again." She pouted a little. "I was only teasin' him about being smelly after he'd done septic vac, and he got all grumpy."

The distinctive smell of acetone filled the air and did battle with the delicate scent of incense as Inara wiped away the old chipped polish from Kaylee's fingernails. "He does seem to do septic vac far more frequently than anyone else."

Kaylee grinned. "He keeps having to do Jayne's turn and the Shepherd's when he loses at tall card. And, o' course he always does River's turn."

Inara began applying base coat, each stroke precise and elegant. "I