A Familiar Stranger - Firefly - Inara/Zoe
Sep. 8th, 2021 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cmk418Written for the seasonofkink prompt "genderplay"
Zoe froze in her tracks.
Inara smiled at her warmly, as she had every day since she’d come on board Serenity.
It was just… different.
“You cut your hair.” Zoe said, stating the obvious.
“It was time for a change. Do you like it?” Inara looked into Zoe’s eyes for a reaction and what she saw there took her breath away. “Zoe?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait,” Inara called out, but it was too late. Zoe was gone.
What was that? Zoe chided herself. It’s just Inara.
But Inara didn’t look like the woman who turned heads whenever she entered a town. With her hair like that, Inara didn’t really look like a woman at all. And that was what awakened the butterflies in Zoe’s stomach, made her breath quicken, and her heart race.
She had to get hold of herself and the sooner the better.
Zoe didn’t come down for dinner that evening, opting instead to sneak into the galley after everyone had retired to their rooms. She sat down at the table, digging into a bowl of protein paste. It was flavorless, but flavorless was what she needed right now.
She thought she heard someone walk past the doorway and stop for a moment, but she didn’t see anyone when she turned.
The next day, Inara showed up at the breakfast table wearing combat boots, jeans, and a tank top.
Jayne grinned at her, “Don’t be trying to steal my look, ‘Nara.”
“She looks better than you,” Zoe said automatically, garnering her looks from the rest of the occupants of the table and a smile from Inara. When she realized what she said, Zoe got up and left the room.
Mal tracked her down later in the day. “Feeling okay?”
“Steady as she goes, Captain.”
“Good. If something’s not right with you or between you and someone else on my crew, let me know and I’ll fix it.”
“Thanks, Mal.”
“I expect to see you at dinner tonight.”
“You cooking?”
“It’s River’s night. Somebody needs to participate in her little experiment and a few of the others are going off ship.”
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. If they were planetside, Inara probably wouldn’t be there with them.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good. Zoe?”
“Yeah?”
“No one ever took you for a coward. Don’t start now.”
Zoe stared after him. He was right. She hated when he was right. She was just going to have to meet this challenge head on.
She left the hold and headed to Inara’s shuttle. She pressed a button on the outside of the door to alert Inara to her presence.
Inara opened the door. The combat boots were gone and she was barefoot, but the rest of the outfit remained. “Come in,” she said.
Zoe followed Inara into the shuttle.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, thank you.” Zoe paced the floor of the shuttle.
“Would you like to sit down?”
“I should…”
“Don’t leave. Please.”
“It’s just…”
“You don’t know how to handle your attraction to another woman?”
“You don’t look like a woman. I mean, you do, I know you’re Inara, but at the same time, there’s something…”
Inara smiled. “It seems like I’m a trustworthy stranger.”
“No. You remind me of someone that I knew once.”
“Tell me about him.” Inara took a seat at the table in her shuttle and motioned for Zoe to do the same. Zoe hesitantly pulled up a chair across from her.
“He was young. Well, we all were then. Just looked up one day and he was there, helping us unload something from one of the trucks. I hadn’t seen him before. Dark hair, dark eyes, too beautiful for any kind of war, really. He looked at me and I was smitten. I should have known better. Innocence like that wouldn’t survive.”
“So you and he…”
Zoe shook her head. “Alliance came in. Nabbed him when he was out patrolling with one of the other troopers. We found his body a week later.”
Inara reached out and covered Zoe’s hands with her own. “How long was he with your unit?”
“Not long but long enough.”
“I understand. Sometimes the things that ‘could have been’ haunt us for longer than the things that were.”
“I hadn’t thought about him for years, and then you…”
“What do you need?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you want me to go back to how things were? Grow my hair long, wear makeup and gowns and uncomfortable shoes?”
“That’s not my call.”
“I might at some point if the crew needs me to dress up for a job, but I have to admit, I like the way you look at me when I’m dressed like this. And I like the way I feel when I’m dressed like this. More myself, less hidden behind a disguise. Inara the Companion retired, now I can just be Inara.”
Zoe nodded. “I always wondered how you could walk in those shoes without wincing.”
“Practice. A lot of practice and a few mental tricks.”
“I think I like you better this way. You’re less…”
“Uptight?”
“Delicate. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not hard, the way you are now, but you look like you could hold your own in a fight.”
Inara leaned closer to Zoe. “I’ve always been able to do that,” she whispered.
Zoe murmured “sexy as hell” before placing a light kiss on Inara’s lips. As soon as they broke apart, Inara searched Zoe’s eyes.
“Are you…?”
“I think… I don’t want this to be a ‘could have been’, but maybe we could take it slow?”
“I’d like that.”
Zoe gave her another brief kiss and teased the hair at the nape of Inara’s neck with her fingers. “I like your hair like this.”
Inara smiled warmly at Zoe, then closed the gap for another kiss.
Zoe froze in her tracks.
Inara smiled at her warmly, as she had every day since she’d come on board Serenity.
It was just… different.
“You cut your hair.” Zoe said, stating the obvious.
“It was time for a change. Do you like it?” Inara looked into Zoe’s eyes for a reaction and what she saw there took her breath away. “Zoe?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait,” Inara called out, but it was too late. Zoe was gone.
What was that? Zoe chided herself. It’s just Inara.
But Inara didn’t look like the woman who turned heads whenever she entered a town. With her hair like that, Inara didn’t really look like a woman at all. And that was what awakened the butterflies in Zoe’s stomach, made her breath quicken, and her heart race.
She had to get hold of herself and the sooner the better.
Zoe didn’t come down for dinner that evening, opting instead to sneak into the galley after everyone had retired to their rooms. She sat down at the table, digging into a bowl of protein paste. It was flavorless, but flavorless was what she needed right now.
She thought she heard someone walk past the doorway and stop for a moment, but she didn’t see anyone when she turned.
The next day, Inara showed up at the breakfast table wearing combat boots, jeans, and a tank top.
Jayne grinned at her, “Don’t be trying to steal my look, ‘Nara.”
“She looks better than you,” Zoe said automatically, garnering her looks from the rest of the occupants of the table and a smile from Inara. When she realized what she said, Zoe got up and left the room.
Mal tracked her down later in the day. “Feeling okay?”
“Steady as she goes, Captain.”
“Good. If something’s not right with you or between you and someone else on my crew, let me know and I’ll fix it.”
“Thanks, Mal.”
“I expect to see you at dinner tonight.”
“You cooking?”
“It’s River’s night. Somebody needs to participate in her little experiment and a few of the others are going off ship.”
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. If they were planetside, Inara probably wouldn’t be there with them.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good. Zoe?”
“Yeah?”
“No one ever took you for a coward. Don’t start now.”
Zoe stared after him. He was right. She hated when he was right. She was just going to have to meet this challenge head on.
She left the hold and headed to Inara’s shuttle. She pressed a button on the outside of the door to alert Inara to her presence.
Inara opened the door. The combat boots were gone and she was barefoot, but the rest of the outfit remained. “Come in,” she said.
Zoe followed Inara into the shuttle.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, thank you.” Zoe paced the floor of the shuttle.
“Would you like to sit down?”
“I should…”
“Don’t leave. Please.”
“It’s just…”
“You don’t know how to handle your attraction to another woman?”
“You don’t look like a woman. I mean, you do, I know you’re Inara, but at the same time, there’s something…”
Inara smiled. “It seems like I’m a trustworthy stranger.”
“No. You remind me of someone that I knew once.”
“Tell me about him.” Inara took a seat at the table in her shuttle and motioned for Zoe to do the same. Zoe hesitantly pulled up a chair across from her.
“He was young. Well, we all were then. Just looked up one day and he was there, helping us unload something from one of the trucks. I hadn’t seen him before. Dark hair, dark eyes, too beautiful for any kind of war, really. He looked at me and I was smitten. I should have known better. Innocence like that wouldn’t survive.”
“So you and he…”
Zoe shook her head. “Alliance came in. Nabbed him when he was out patrolling with one of the other troopers. We found his body a week later.”
Inara reached out and covered Zoe’s hands with her own. “How long was he with your unit?”
“Not long but long enough.”
“I understand. Sometimes the things that ‘could have been’ haunt us for longer than the things that were.”
“I hadn’t thought about him for years, and then you…”
“What do you need?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you want me to go back to how things were? Grow my hair long, wear makeup and gowns and uncomfortable shoes?”
“That’s not my call.”
“I might at some point if the crew needs me to dress up for a job, but I have to admit, I like the way you look at me when I’m dressed like this. And I like the way I feel when I’m dressed like this. More myself, less hidden behind a disguise. Inara the Companion retired, now I can just be Inara.”
Zoe nodded. “I always wondered how you could walk in those shoes without wincing.”
“Practice. A lot of practice and a few mental tricks.”
“I think I like you better this way. You’re less…”
“Uptight?”
“Delicate. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not hard, the way you are now, but you look like you could hold your own in a fight.”
Inara leaned closer to Zoe. “I’ve always been able to do that,” she whispered.
Zoe murmured “sexy as hell” before placing a light kiss on Inara’s lips. As soon as they broke apart, Inara searched Zoe’s eyes.
“Are you…?”
“I think… I don’t want this to be a ‘could have been’, but maybe we could take it slow?”
“I’d like that.”
Zoe gave her another brief kiss and teased the hair at the nape of Inara’s neck with her fingers. “I like your hair like this.”
Inara smiled warmly at Zoe, then closed the gap for another kiss.
