All comments and disclaimers in full in Ch 1 (Simon), it's the usual fare: not mine. Comment or send feedback, wily_one24@yahoo.com.au

***

"That's the way it's always been.

It all comes down to creating time.

We don't always have to make it right.

We'll all drive by in our hybrid lives.

Chances are... chances are...

We'll make it back."

- Sheryl Crow.

***

She pressed the softness of it into the worn and weathered grooves of solidity and was surprised by the complete lack of contrast, it was almost like they were made for each other. Inara knew different, however, she could remember the last time, officially the first time, she’d hung the drapes and wall hangings and sheets over the crude metal walls of the shuttle.

It had taken her so much longer back then, but now she knew where everything was supposed to go. There were five whole trunks full of nothing but silk and satin, screens of utmost delicacy and beauty. Each of them had a designated place, she hadn’t been off Serenity long enough to forget where they all go.

“I know I’ve seen ‘em all before, Inara, but wow, look at all the pretties!”

Inara smiled as Kaylee gushed over the materials. She thought back to the Companion House and how five trunks of cloth were nothing to blink at, except to wonder why there wasn’t more. How Sheydra had lifted her brow, but covered the surprise the very instant later, when she hadn’t brought more things aboard.

Fine cloth that, in the Training House, would have been hung decoratively over already plush, lined walls that were so dense with luxury it was almost too hard to breath. Here, it was laid over stark metal walls, providing a very thin veneer.

“Speaking of pretty,” Inara unfolded a piece of cloth that she’d been keeping aside. “I did bring you back a present, mei mei.”

She watched eagerly as Kaylee’s eyes widened when she saw the dress, watched as Kaylee reached out hesitantly, touching the material with a reverence that seemed almost obscene for nothing more than a piece of