Serenity's Other Shuttle

River hesitantly stepped forward toward the companion's bed. She sat and reached out to touch Jia Li's hand. Still so soft.

"W-what's it like?" She asked, voice barely a whisper. She was curious but her intentions were deeper than that. Her heart was pounding and she felt her skin begining to crawl. Like she was going to burst again. Crack at any second. She was fragile but she could maintain a little self control over her twisted and monsterish ways.

Jia li was happy to find River coming in and sitting down. She was hesitant though...like she was afraid. "What's what like? Making love? Why so curious all of a sudden River? Someone you have in mind in trying this on?" She smiled at her in a playful manner but she really was curious. River never asked before but she was now. It made the companion very curious. She was happy to have River near again.

River shook her head and pulled her hand away. She wasn't brave enough to ask. "Nothing..." She sighed. "Nevermind..."

She felt so stupid for asking in the first place. It showed how young and stupid she really was. Why would the companion ever want her and her craziness when she could have such glamorous clients? River didn't want questions or demands. she couldn't take all these questions. Jia Li was a companion after all. Couldn't she capture River's meaning?

"River." Jia li took her hand and pulled her back to kiss her. It was soft and felt like the whole verse stopped. She pulled away to look deep into those mysterious eyes. "I just wanted to make sure this is what you meant. I've never felt something so true before. It's complicated with my status but you are such a mystery...I didn't want to scare you away. You were so hesitant." the companion looked up at River wondering if she would smile. She smiled when she was happy. Had she read her right? River was so different from everyone that she didn't even react the same way. It was hard to understand her...but she wanted to. She wanted to know everything about her.

"Would you like to stay with me tonight?"

Jia Li kissed her. River never experienced a kiss before. It was like sparks went off and her heart skipped a beat. Shivers went down her spine. She looked at Jia Li and she giggled, looking shyly away for a moment. So that's what a kiss is? River scooted closer, hearing what she said but watching those lips intently. Jia Li seemed like she was done speaking and River leaned closer, reaching her hands out to cup the companion's face.

"Will you stop asking me so many questions?" She replied and before Jia Li could answer, River was kissing her.

Jia li smiled at the giggle. River didn't want any more questions. Well no more questions then. She kissed River as she laid her back. This was going to be better than Kaylee...and better than her clients. Her hands were delicate as she moved up River's arms to her neck. Passion, desire, compassion...it was all there. Jia li wanted River. She had for a long time. But this was for more than sex...this was the start of something very complicated. Complicated but worth it. At least to her it was.

River's heart was pounding as she was laid back on the bed. She could feel Jia Li's hands on her, soft and gentle. The companion seemed to want to explore her body and River didn't mind. She rather liked the idea of being attractive to someone. The look in Jia Li's eyes told her...she thought she was beautiful. A beautiful woman. Something to be desired. River felt so...alive from her touches. She just had to know more. Her hands hesitantly reached out to touch Jia Li, to run across her bare stomach.

"Soft..." River said, almost as if surprised. Everything in the shuttle was soft. Why would the shuttle's owner be any different?

Jia li smiled and moved to sit back her hands were slowly slipping under River's shirt as she moved kiss her skin. Delicate and beautiful but strong and powerful. That was River. She falling under her spell...and didn't mind a bit. Her lips touched River's soft stomach. Moving up her body slowly as she took off her shirt.

"Soft..." Even though she didn't bathe with the things Jia li did...she was stil very soft. It was a treat to have such a rare individual in her bed...it was a treat because River meant more than a client could.

River shivered from the hands under her shirt. She looked down to see Jia Li pulling her shirt up and revealing her stomach. The kisses there made River start to tremble. No one had ever touched her like this. Her eyes spoke uncertainty and hope as well as desire and curiosity. Her shirt was removed and she bit her lip, hoping the sight was pleasing to the companion. River wasn't that...well endowed and she didn't want Jia Li to be displeased.

Jia li saw the look and gave River a soft one back. Her hand moved to cup her cheek. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder River...and you...are very beautiful to me." Leaning she kissed River again letting herself be undressed if wanted. She wandered if River had ever thought of this before now. Intimacy...love...desire...were they only foreign names before now?

River smiled and kissed her, opening her mouth a little to Jia Li's advances. She ran her hands up the companion's back, not even knowing where to begin. She felt so naked and vulnerable and...lost. She had no idea what she was doing. River ran her fingers through Jia Li's hair, something she had wanted to do for such a long time.

"And what of ignorance?" She asked quietly, still trembling beneath her. She trusted Jia Li, though. As much as she was afraid the companion would laugh at her, she trusted her.

Jia li moved to take off her shirt as she kissed River. "Ignorance is bliss. I know how dangerous you can be River...but I still think you are beautiful...and worth the risk." She was worth every risk to Jia li. Their clothes were disappearing one by one until they were naked. The companion showed how much she adored River...how much she wanted her. It showed in her kisses, her touches, the way her hands moved along River's skin. Jia li was hoping River could feel the desire...the passion. Everything.

River felt so incomplete when compared to Jia Li. The companion was curvy and beautiful. Every inch of her skin perfect and unmarred. River, on the other hand, was underdeveloped and scarred. Jia Li was perfect and every touch was making River crave for something she didn't know how to explain. She didn't know what she wanted but, damn, she wanted it so badly. Is this what love making is? Desire so strong from such simple gestures?

River tried to mimic what Jia Li was doing to her. River kept gasping and making small noises of want and she wanted to hear Jia Li react the same way.

Jia li gasped when River's hands ghosted over her hips. Her companion training went out the window. This was River...what she wanted. She didn't need to know how to seduce. It wasn't needed when it was natural.

"River...just feel...go on instinct...let your mind shut off." She kissed her neck as her hands started to massage her thighs, coaxing them apart so she could lay down between them.

She spread her legs and leaned his head back, letting Jia Li do whatever she wanted to her. It all felt so good. Jia Li's hands on her thighs made her moan and she could feel herself getting wet. She didn't know how to explain it, having never been caught in a moment of intimacy before. She was nervous but it all felt so right.

"I'm scared..." She admitted, whispering in the companion's ear. She was trembling as her hands slid along Jia Li's sides and up her stomach to her breasts. Her hands were hesitant and she looked deep into Jia Li's eyes, her own showing desire, fear and trust.

"You don't need to be afraid. It's me." She smiled at her as one of her hands slid to caress River's inner thigh. Things were getting very good and she was in such a happy place...till someone knocked at the door.

"Jia li? I'm sorry to bother you but have you seen River? She's disappeared again and I need to give her her medicine." Simon...River's brother.

"Hold on one moment doctor." Sighing she moved quickly to kiss River.

"Promise to come back and see me? This was too good to not finish..." She moved to get River's clothes and her own robe. Once they were dressed she went to open the door for Simon.

"She was having tea with me..."

River's head fell back against the bed and she moaned again. Things were getting awfully heated and River wanted more. Only Simon showed up. River looked angry as Jia Li moved away and she hurriedly pulled her clothes on. She tried not to look so bothered by the sudden end of their moment. She hoped she didn't look as flushed as she felt.

Jia Li opened the door and River glared at her brother. She would have to remember to burst in on him and Kaylee one of these days to pay him back.

"No medicine. She's not a broken girl." She yelled at him and stormed out of the shuttle, running back to hide in her room. SImon only rolled his eyes and followed after her.

A fight ensued in the passenger quarters. River screaming and Simon trying to calm her down. More people showed up and she only got even more worked up. Kaylee and Mal held her down and Simon gave her a few shots. The medicine she needed and a sedative. They laid her in her bed and left her there to rest.

Jia li heard the fight all the way in her shuttle. She hated it. It wasn't right...wasn't fair. So the next morning she went to find him.

"Simon? I know this isn't my place but you are hurting her more than helping. She may not be like she used to but she doesn't need that medicine. You aren't doing the one thing she needs...you aren't treating her like a young woman. She's human Doctor Tam. With human needs and human desires. I understand she's gifted and understands more than folk like you and me could ever hope to but she's still human. Next time you try to force medicine down her throat please make sure to remember this conversation.

"Oh and...don't come to my shuttle looking for her again. She is not subject to anyone there. There she is human. I ask that you not come looking for her there because next time I won't open the door for you. She'll have to leave of her own accord. I will not force her to go." She turned and left, heading back to her shuttle. Jia li wanted to help River. She wasn't broken...but everyone else on this boat were certainly treating like a bomb waiting to go off.

Simon was shocked at what Jia Li said and he went to go ask River what went on in that shuttle. River was still out from the sedative, though, so he went to see Inara. Maybe one companion could understand the other. But Inara only got mad. She knew the things that could go on in the shuttle and she confronted Jia Li again to ask her what she had done with River. River was like a sister to Inara and she didn't want Jia Li manipulating her.

Inara was back and yelling at her. Oh joy. "Inara. I'm not here to take your precious captain away and I'm not here to manipulate anyone. You're scared of River. Because she is unbelievably smart and amazing. She sees how you all look at her and she knows what you all think. She hates it. That's why she comes here...she's free from all of your eyes and thoughts. What I do is none of your business. I'm not going against the guild in anything I do. That is all you need to know. Now get out of my shuttle." Jia li was firm and her voice, final. Inara could sense she overstepped a boundary somewhere and left. It was becoming apparent that River was highly guarded by everyone on Serenity.

River woke up later that day, extremely groggy and cold and feeling just miserable. She could hear that everyone was in the galley, at dinner. It was fake, their meal times. It probably wasn't even the right time of say...or night. Didn't matter. She made her way up to Jia Li's shuttle and stepped inside. The companion wasn't there, though. Maybe she actually went to dinner with the rest of them.

She looked around the shuttle and put on one of Jia Li's robes over her simple dress and then went to lay in her bed. River felt better already. Soft and warm. She fell back asleep.

Jia li was forced to go to dinner. River wasn't there though...but then again she might still be asleep. The companion finished her meal and went back to her shuttle. There was River...in one of her robes...asleep on her bed. Oh she was cute. Jia li closed the door and moved to the bed, laying down with River. She brushed a few strands out of her face and kissed her softly.

"You came back..."

River woke up a little and saw Jia Li smiling at her. The teen smiled back and scooted closer to her, wrapping her arms around her. River was still very groggy from the medicine and she closed her eyes, nuzzling against the companion. The wonderful scent of Jia Li was all around her and River felt so entirely comfortable. She didn't want to wake up just yet.

"Don't let them take me..." She whispered, barely audible.

The companion held River close to her and let her rest. "Don't worry. You will never be forced to leave here...just understand if I have a client I have to go. It is my job and what I do...just know that you are different. I don't want you to go away." She rubbed her nose against River's.

"But we won't be to the next planet for days...you can stay as long as you like."

River nodded sadly. She didn't want Jia Li to be with anyone else but the teen knew that sometimes you don't get to do what you want and life is hard. Nothing had ever come easy and she knew, if she wanted to keep the companion, she would have to work hard. She smiled at her though.

"Thank you..." She said, reaching her hand out to run her fingers through Jia Li's hair. Still so very soft. "I like your shuttle...There's no other voices but ours."

She meant that in more than one way. Down in the passengers' quarters, there was always someone walking by, some noise to make her head ache. But on top of that were the voices she heard in her head, the ones that weren't really there but calling from some distant place. In this shuttle, all of that disappeared.