BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - GENERAL

AGENTROUKA

Basic Skills
Saturday, December 18, 2010

Inara is organising her drawers. - Very short moment in a young student's day. Free for all ages.


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 2545    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

Written in 2008 for charlie_bz, found it again by accident, liked it enough to post here. Huzzah.

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Basic Skills

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The uniforms are not exactly simple. Creme-colored, flowing fabrics. They command attention in fastening and wearing alike. And they are impossible to fold.

Wrinkle-resistant, sure. But the frustrated ball of garment looks untidy.

She is certain there is a lesson involved in it. There is a lesson involved in everything, for first-years. Ninety-eight percent involve patience.

Well, if they insist... She pushes the drawer shut and all disorder becomes a hidden secret.

It's a white chest, surfaces so smooth they reflect like a mirror, but the light is low and calming. The carpet is beige. The blinds are vaguely wooden. Bright yet gently so. Pristine yet not sterile.

Her tiny, private room. Her soothing home.

It is calculated, she knows this, too. A manipulation for her own good. They explained it during orientation. It is all about manipulation for someone's good. An agreed one. It is not deception, after all.

She will be this way, too. Wield a benign power.

To wield it responsibly, they must prove their worth through study and discipline. And self-sufficiency.

Cleaning, cooking, mending, shopping, research, correspondence, time management.

And laundry. Thursday night laundry.

Her freshly clean underwear smells like marigold. But it folds easily, neatly.

It is really rather a good thing she didn't go into Companion training for the glamor of it all.

- - - - END.

COMMENTS

Saturday, December 18, 2010 6:38 AM

BYTEMITE


Yay! And this ties into the conversation we were having in e-mail, about if Inara did chores during her training. :) I like! And it's a very nice look into the practice.

Happy to see you posting. :)

Saturday, December 18, 2010 11:56 AM

ALIASSE


This makes me think that I could have handled the Companion training after all. My drawers are very tidy.

Did Inara really push the drawer closed on an un-properly-folded item?

Saturday, December 18, 2010 1:46 PM

AMDOBELL


Interesting twist asserting that manipulation is not deception. I can see Inara having to do mundane chores to the nth degree to teach not only patience but obedience. Ali D
"You can't take the sky from me!"

Saturday, December 18, 2010 2:58 PM

ANOTHERSKY


"Interesting twist asserting that manipulation is not deception."

Seconded.

Clever image of the uniforms they are required to wear, wiht obedience, persistence and patience in the last detail. Perhaps a more complicated ao-dai with horribly slippery fabric?

I would love to hear more of this.


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