Serenity 's galley was quiet and empty, with a glow like candlelight, and Captain Reynolds had sat down at the table for a stimulating evening of balancing their budget. Mostly this involved more staring off into space than peering into his hidebound ledgers, with the occasional foray behind the stove top to brew up some more tea or up to the helm to watch the stars inch past. Preoccupying himself doing anything but the numbers, because the numbers always came out into the red, and he had enough to worry about. His mind was working on their next meet when they hit planetside; they'd used the contact before, but he never could tell when greed would get the better of someone, or if angry vicious crimelords had gotten to them and set him up for a nice greet and beat.

He sighed, ran a hand through his brown fringe, and picked up the stylus, intending to get back to work. That is, until the wayward shuttle connected with a far away echo, and he heard his elegantly composed tenant cursing his name, family lineage, and a plethora of barnyard animals that supposedly passed for his ancestry. Before he had time to be concerned for why she was back so soon, Inara strode in on slippered feet, absolutely furious, and planted her hands at her waist.

Even glaring like she was, she was a vision, striking in burgundy and embroidered star-bursts, made up and dressed for show at the regale she'd been to with her client. The dress seemed to float off her bare shoulders, a suggestion of long, sheer sleeves trailing down her arms and flaring at her sides like sparkling fairy wings, a scattering of beads shimmering in the half-light. Her hair was pulled back into a black coil, carefully escaped curls arranged around her face, her eyes edged by some intricate design in henna.

Her appearance, like a flower that by all rights had no business being on his boat, was less disconcerting than having not a clue why Inara was fuming at him this time. Usually he knew full damn well, because he liked to provoke her just to watch the