Caring for Kaylee (Firefly, Kaylee/Inara)

[Salamander]

I'm very late to the Firefly party but here are some little stories about everyone's favourite mechanic. I ship Kaylee/Inara hard as friends with benefits or casual girlfriends.

 

 

Caring for Kaylee

It is late in the evening and the lamps in Inara’s shuttle are dimmed to a glow, their light playing off of the sumptuous drapes that soften the contours of the space. The woman herself sits in front of her communication screen, sorting through messages. She wears a loose silk robe and her hair is unbound, spilling down her back in waves.

She turns her head at the gentle knock on the door.

“ ‘Nara, you busy?”

“Kaylee? Come in, sweetheart.” She calls without turning around.

The ship’s mechanic enters the space tentatively, as she always does, self conscious of her overalls and grease-stained hands against the surroundings. She looses some of her shyness when Inara rises and embraces her warmly, enveloping Kaylee in her subtle perfume.

“Could you wait while I finish these?” Inara asks, gesturing at the screen. “Then I'll be all yours. There's some tea on the table.”

“Sure thing,” Kaylee nods.

The girl sits on a low cushion and duly pours herself a cup of tea.

Inara tries to keep working but is distracted by the sound of Kaylee sneezing.

“IDgsh! --DSTch!”

The first few times, Inara blesses her in Mandarin without looking up from the screen.

After a particularly savage one, she sets down her notepad and turns to face the girl who is sniffling behind her. “Bless you, Kaylee!” She exclaims.

Kaylee sniffles and dips her head, cheeks pinkening. “Sorry, 'Nara. I don't mean to disturb you.”

“You're not, I'm done now- bless you-” Inara murmurs preemptively as Kaylee draws in a shallow gasp and sneezes for what must be the eight time.

“-htzSschUe! … ugh. Scuse me.”

“Bless you.” Inara repeats, coming to sit beside her beloved girl. When they embrace, Kaylee leans her head into Inara's shoulder as though it is too heavy for her to hold. She coughs a little as she does so- Inara can feel her trying to hold it in but she can also feel her ribs kicking.

“Sweetie, you don't sound well.” Inara murmurs into her hair.

“I guess.” Kaylee shrugs. She withdraws from the embrace and looks Inara in the eye. Her nose is pink from rubbing and she looks tired. Adorably so, Inara thinks privately. Kaylee frowns and makes as though to get up. “I don't- I mustn't get you sick-”

“I don't mind about that.” Inara says, laying a hand on the mechanic's shoulder to keep her sitting down.

“You sure?”

“Positive. Come and lay down with me a little.”

Kaylee doesn't protest that and follows the Companion to her luxurious bed. Inara sits up at the head and makes a space for Kaylee in her lap- it's a familiar position for them while reading or while Inara brushes Kaylee's hair- but now Kaylee lays her head down and Inara simply strokes the length of her back. It's warm in the shuttle but the tiny hairs on Kaylee's arms stand up and Inara's hand is drawn to them at once.

“You're shivering,” she says, and draws a wool blanket from beside the bed to drape over the girl in her lap. She tucks it in indulgently around Kaylee's sides and over her own legs. “Is that better?”

The girl in Inara's lap nods. She manages a few minutes of peaceful rest before shuddering into another set of tight, congested sneezes. “ --Idgsh!--IDgsh!--DSTch! ”

At this she half-rises, trying to turn her face from Inara as best she can. In the break between sneezes she fishes a handkerchief out of her pocket and tucks her nose into it for a sheepish blow. She barely finishes before she has to sneeze again.

Inara winces at the heavy, scraping sound. “You don't sound well at all.”

Kaylee coughs. “Sorry.”

“I didn't mean that. Poor love. Let me have a look at you-”

Inara pushes herself over and comes to sit by Kaylee on the bed. She takes the girl's face in her hands and turns it towards her. Kaylee scrunches up her face and looks down, embarrassed, as Inara's fingers travel down to her neck and feel the tender glands there.

“Does your throat hurt?”

“A bit. More my head.”

Inara nods and tests Kaylee's forehead with the back of her hand, feeling for fever. She compares against her own head and shrugs. She finishes with a gentle kiss to the warm skin. “I don't think you have a fever, but I want you to tell me if you feel worse, ok? And I'm going to get you some pain pills.”

She goes to the dresser and pulls out the little laquered box that contains some medical supplies.

Kaylee blinks at her in wonder. “They teach you Doctorin' at Companion School?”

“Not like that.” Inara laughs, passing over two capsules and a glass of water. “But they do teach how to read people and to make them comfortable in whatever way you can. There's a lot more to my work than just the sex, you know.”

“I know. You make me feel real good whatever we're doing.” Kaylee says sleepily. She is overtaken by a yawn and lies back on the bed, head buried in her arms against the light.

Inara instinctively dims one of the lamps before she comes back over. The shuttle is almost completely dark and very quiet. The low hum of Serenity's engine can be heard in the background and a few lights play across the console. She takes a moment to gaze fondly at the young woman on her bed; Kaylee's hair is falling across the pillow, half-out of a ponytail, leaving the freckled nape of her neck exposed. She is still shivering occasionally and sniffling more often still with the tight, unproductive sound of the thoroughly congested. Inara feels a warm fondness for the woman on her bed and a deep reluctance to let her go. She is never short of people to have sex with, but she can be a little short on female friends, and Kaylee is a delightful combination of both.

“Do you want to sleep here with me tonight?”

Kaylee looks up and her eyes widen, huge and hazel brown. “You haven't gotta do that.” She says. “You're being real sweet to me.”

“I know. Do you want to? It's cold in the bunks down there and it's late already.”

“I... Yeah. I'd like that. I don't have my nightie or anything but I can go get-”

“I'll lend you one. You're not going anywhere like that.” Inara says firmly and Kaylee closes her eyes again.

“I love it when you tell me what to do.” She says, only half joking.

….....

 

A little while later the two women lie together in Inara's enormous bed, under a mound of silk covered comforters. Inara has drawn the drapes around and it is dark and intimate inside. Kaylee still shivers now and then but Inara holds her close, letting her head rest in the crook of her shoulder while her other hand combs the tangles from her hair.

They are almost asleep when Kaylee sits up suddenly, drawing a startled shuddering breath.

“Wait- I gotta- -IDgsh! -Idgsh!-” She tips into her cupped hands with fit of sneezes that make her shudder. Inara doesn't let go and simply rubs the woman's back until she is finished. “IDgsh! -IDgsh! -IdgshUe!”

“Bless you.” Inara says fondly.

“Ugh, I'm sorry.” Kaylee groans. She blows her nose thickly into the hankie Inara has lent her and chases it with another sneeze. “-idh-SschUe! Sorry.”

“Don't say sorry. Poor sweetheart, you sound awful.”

Kaylee replies with a muffled sound and shamelessly buries her face into Inara's neck, bringing their bodies as close together as she can manage. Their thighs twine together, silk on silk.

There is peace for a long moment, then-

“'Nara...” Kaylee says very quietly.

“Yes darling?”

“You're still gonna want to … sleep with me sleep with me... after this, right?”

“Oh Kaylee.” Inara's warm laugh fills the shuttle and she pulls the her tighter still, planting a fond kiss of the top of her head.

 

END.

 

 

[NoV]

This is a really great Firefly fic  I am a huge fan of the series and have always found sneezefics based on it few and far between, but this one is amazing - thank you so much for posting it!

[Dusty15]

Hehe!  Well, that was just the cutest! I adore the Firefly series and both of them so much (especially Kaylee!). Always lovely to see writing from you

[SexyGodlikeHair]

This was really adorable!!! My firefly knowledge extends only to that other femslash fanfic posted on here, but still-really enjoyable to read