Firefly via Emma: COURT'SHIP (PG-13)
The Firefly version of Jane Austen's "Emma" although I don't want to spoil the surprise of who winds up with whom.
Summary: Although Companions are trained to guard their own emotions, some of them develop harmless weaknesses…like a fondness for matchmaking.
Inara Serra, handsome, clever, and on her way to accumulating a competence through her own honest efforts, had lived thirty-one years in the 'Verse (a fact that was known to few and was strictly embargoed as a topic of discussion) with little to distress or vex her. Like her father before her, she followed the prestigious trade of Companion, although she sought adventure by practicing her profession as a traveler rather than settling down in a particular city. The real evils, indeed, of her situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself.
Inara's mother, Gertrude Chilp, had married, as the phrase goes, to discommode her family. She was the proprietor of a chain of two hundred and thirty-nine hardware stores, scattered throughout the Rim planets and moons. Indeed, it would be difficult to purchase so much as a sack of roofing nails or a hatchet, or to view a Corticast, without encountering the Chilp empire or its animated mascot, Chill! The Penguin.
One of five children, Gertrude was the only one who had inherited either her father's squashed bulldog visage or his passion for hardware. Hence, she was also the one who inherited the hardware stores. By the time she reached the age of thirty-six, her handsome brother had selected a suitable bride, and her three beautiful sisters had bewitched men of fortune and position. Among the envious, Gertrude's business acumen, lack of interest in fashion or grooming, and predilection for reposing her spirits with a snifter of single-malt and a substantial cigar had given rise to speculation as to other predilections, which in fact were foreign to her.
One evening, when Miss Chilp visited Lilac for a convention, she discovered that a would-be purveyor had thoughtfully retained a Companion for her entertainment. This novel experience proved to be most agreeable. Inquiries by her Security department showed that Palacios Serra was nearing the mandatory retirement age of forty (or perhaps circling it repeatedly, like a small corporate spaceship waiting for a runway), and was not particularly interested in a position at a Training House. Furthermore, in St. Alban's, the latest place where Miss Chilp's attorneys had found it convenient to state she was domiciled, it would be cheaper to enter into a marriage settlement than to buy out his Guild contract. Thus, at one sweep, Miss Chilp achieved publicity for herself and her business, obtained a home decorator and host for the endless tedious business entertainment, and ensured herself a late chance at respectable maternity (which, however, once achieved, the now-Mrs. Serra was content to leave unique).
Summary: Although Companions are trained to guard their own emotions, some of them develop harmless weaknesses…like a fondness for matchmaking.
Inara Serra, handsome, clever, and on her way to accumulating a competence through her own honest efforts, had lived thirty-one years in the 'Verse (a fact that was known to few and was strictly embargoed as a topic of discussion) with little to distress or vex her. Like her father before her, she followed the prestigious trade of Companion, although she sought adventure by practicing her profession as a traveler rather than settling down in a particular city. The real evils, indeed, of her situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself.
Inara's mother, Gertrude Chilp, had married, as the phrase goes, to discommode her family. She was the proprietor of a chain of two hundred and thirty-nine hardware stores, scattered throughout the Rim planets and moons. Indeed, it would be difficult to purchase so much as a sack of roofing nails or a hatchet, or to view a Corticast, without encountering the Chilp empire or its animated mascot, Chill! The Penguin.
One of five children, Gertrude was the only one who had inherited either her father's squashed bulldog visage or his passion for hardware. Hence, she was also the one who inherited the hardware stores. By the time she reached the age of thirty-six, her handsome brother had selected a suitable bride, and her three beautiful sisters had bewitched men of fortune and position. Among the envious, Gertrude's business acumen, lack of interest in fashion or grooming, and predilection for reposing her spirits with a snifter of single-malt and a substantial cigar had given rise to speculation as to other predilections, which in fact were foreign to her.
One evening, when Miss Chilp visited Lilac for a convention, she discovered that a would-be purveyor had thoughtfully retained a Companion for her entertainment. This novel experience proved to be most agreeable. Inquiries by her Security department showed that Palacios Serra was nearing the mandatory retirement age of forty (or perhaps circling it repeatedly, like a small corporate spaceship waiting for a runway), and was not particularly interested in a position at a Training House. Furthermore, in St. Alban's, the latest place where Miss Chilp's attorneys had found it convenient to state she was domiciled, it would be cheaper to enter into a marriage settlement than to buy out his Guild contract. Thus, at one sweep, Miss Chilp achieved publicity for herself and her business, obtained a home decorator and host for the endless tedious business entertainment, and ensured herself a late chance at respectable maternity (which, however, once achieved, the now-Mrs. Serra was content to leave unique).