001 [Holo | Arrival] Poised and personable. Ish.
She had closed her eyes so briefly, lighting the incense and placing it in the little wooden holder before the Buddha, and inclined her head. Distantly, even here in the shrine, Inara could hear the distant rush of water from the waterfall that gave the New Melbourne Training House its stunning view.
Then she couldn't. And in the moment she couldn't, the surface beneath her knees shifted from a plush meditation cushion to something more metallic. Inara opens her eyes and gasps. The shrine is gone, along with the cushion and the sound of water, and instead, she finds herself in a metallic chamber. "Wode tian," she murmurs, looking around herself defensively, rising to her feet, expecting someone to come in through the door any moment--
No one comes.
It's odd, and distinctly anti-climactic. "Who's there?" she calls out, lifting her voice in a manner that she had hoped would sound vaguely imperious, but instead has an edge of fear to it. "What do you want? Where am I?"
Inara's foot nudges something quite solid, and she pulls her skirts out of the way to see what just bumped her slipper. At her feet is a communications pad, or tablet of some sort: she drops to a crouch and picks it up to examine. There's a map of some sort, with a blinking indicator flashing, but she's not entirely sure what it means. Her brow wrinkles and she descends the steps from the platform to examine the room she's in.
"My name is Inara Serra, and I'm a Companion, registered with the Guild. They will miss me, I assure you--" she begins, and then it occurs to her that perhaps her association with Serenity's crew has been discovered. Perhaps the government has realized that she aided the Tam siblings -- or Mal, who could possibly predict what he'd gotten up to in her absence?
"-- I can't assist you with whatever you've decided you need from me until you show yourself," she pointed out, her voice finally beginning to sound level. Her hands are cold with shock and worry, and her heart's just pounding, but outwardly, she has some semblance of calm.
A calm that dissipates into a startled yelp and a slightly less than graceful recoil when the door she approached actually opens for her. Inara smooths the wrinkles from her dress -- frowning deeply as she notices the new silver bracelet on her wrist. Her fingers pluck at it, failing to budge it an inch: some sort of tracking device, then, she thinks, and picks up her pace, heading out into an utterly nondescript corridor. "What is this place?" she wonders aloud.
Then she couldn't. And in the moment she couldn't, the surface beneath her knees shifted from a plush meditation cushion to something more metallic. Inara opens her eyes and gasps. The shrine is gone, along with the cushion and the sound of water, and instead, she finds herself in a metallic chamber. "Wode tian," she murmurs, looking around herself defensively, rising to her feet, expecting someone to come in through the door any moment--
No one comes.
It's odd, and distinctly anti-climactic. "Who's there?" she calls out, lifting her voice in a manner that she had hoped would sound vaguely imperious, but instead has an edge of fear to it. "What do you want? Where am I?"
Inara's foot nudges something quite solid, and she pulls her skirts out of the way to see what just bumped her slipper. At her feet is a communications pad, or tablet of some sort: she drops to a crouch and picks it up to examine. There's a map of some sort, with a blinking indicator flashing, but she's not entirely sure what it means. Her brow wrinkles and she descends the steps from the platform to examine the room she's in.
"My name is Inara Serra, and I'm a Companion, registered with the Guild. They will miss me, I assure you--" she begins, and then it occurs to her that perhaps her association with Serenity's crew has been discovered. Perhaps the government has realized that she aided the Tam siblings -- or Mal, who could possibly predict what he'd gotten up to in her absence?
"-- I can't assist you with whatever you've decided you need from me until you show yourself," she pointed out, her voice finally beginning to sound level. Her hands are cold with shock and worry, and her heart's just pounding, but outwardly, she has some semblance of calm.
A calm that dissipates into a startled yelp and a slightly less than graceful recoil when the door she approached actually opens for her. Inara smooths the wrinkles from her dress -- frowning deeply as she notices the new silver bracelet on her wrist. Her fingers pluck at it, failing to budge it an inch: some sort of tracking device, then, she thinks, and picks up her pace, heading out into an utterly nondescript corridor. "What is this place?" she wonders aloud.