Title: "Place in this 'Verse"

Author: Allronix

Rating: G

Characters: Simon, Inara

For Improv #5 (knight, need, aloud, soul)

Spoilers: A minor one for the pilot

Summary: When it comes to our place in the universe, we all need a reminder

sometimes.

Thanks to Goldenthorn74 for the beta

Disclaimer: these characters and their universe belong to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon with other ownership in debate currently. I'm writing between calls.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The oldest definition of "glamour" was that of a magic spell, often a deceptive or malevolent one. In the ancient stories, supernatural creatures

affected the appearance of lovely and enchanting women to lure peasant and knight alike to their doom. Remove the glamour, and the often hideous face - the ugly truth - would be revealed.

Inara remembered the story with a bitter irony.

Another planet, another client, and another bag of gold. She placed the dress into its storage cube, the modern micro-fibers folding compactly. Down to a plain shift and robe, she sat in the shuttle's pilot chair and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the front window.

Why the doubts? Didn't she want this life? Wasn't it the only way she could see the galaxy, to go where she pleased? As a child, the Academy was the best place to get an education - in art, dance, music, and ceremony. She'd only had the faintest idea of what it meant then. Companions were the most graceful people she had ever seen, and she hoped she would grow up to be just like them.

She had.

For the past year, however, something ate at her soul. She didn't have a name for it, but the glamour that had once been as natural as breathing was getting harder to summon. The more she looked at her reflection, the more she wondered what would be seen if someone stripped it away. Was there even a person beneath?

There was a knock at her shuttle door. At least it wasn't Mal. He rarely bothered to knock. That was his s