Scenes with Inara Serra 41
You're a very graceful woman, Inara.
Inara[surprised] I... thank you
So here's where I'm fuzzy. You got by that girl, came and found me, and somehow you happen to just trip and fall.
Inara
What do you mean?
Come on, Inara. How's about we don't play. You didn't just trip, did you?
(pause)
Inara
No.
[You will remember that Inara kissed Mal while he was unconscious and that was why she passed out]
Well, isn't that something.
(Mal smiles)
I knew you let her kiss you.
(Mal leaves, whistling, while Inara just stares)
Inara
Magistrate Higgins, I may presume.
HHiggins
You may. But I only make the people I own use my title. Mister Higgins will do fine.
[Inara's client, Fess Higgins, tells her about an upcoming hearing for a criminal.]
FFess
He stole a ton of money from my dad and gave it to the poor, to my father's workers. He's become kind of a folk hero in Canton.
Inara
Go on.
FFess
Well, he's back. Apparently, he landed here yesterday.
Inara
Yesterday? [to herself] Oh, no. [to Fess] I-I know this man. He's... He just has this idiotic sense of nobility, you know? He can never just let things go. He thinks he's this hard-hearted criminal, and he can be unrelenting, but... there's a side to him that's just so...
FFess
You mean you actually know... Jayne?
[Long pause.]
Inara
Jayne? Jayne Cobb? You're talking about Jayne Cobb?
[In near-present day, Wash comes in late to hear Book's dinner-table tales.]
Monastic humor. I miss out on all the fun.
. . .
[Simon is unable to quickly convey a funny story about being a doctor]
[interrupting] Now, Inara - she's gotta have some funny whorin' stories, I'd wager.
Inara
[laughing] Do I ever! Funny and sexy. [laughs] You have no idea... [suddenly serious] and you never will.
. . .
[The crew surprises Simon with a birthday cake.]
How did… how'd you know? River, did you...?
"Day" is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. It's not applicable. [pauses] I didn't get you anything.
. . .
Hope you like it. Couldn't get ahold of no flour, so it's mostly protein. In fact, it's pretty much what we just had for dinner. [everyone laughs] But I tried to make the frosting as chocolate-y tasting as possible, so.
Thank you. I'm really, I'm, um, very, very deeply moved. Thank you.
Well... deeply move yourself to blow out them candles so we can try a slice.
Suffocation's not exactly the most dignified way to go. The human body will involuntarily-
Inara
Please, I don't really require a clinical description right now.
I'm sorry. I just, uh... It was my birthday.
[Flashback to Inara leasing the shuttle. Mal wonders why a registered Companion would associate with smugglers.]
If it's Alliance trouble you got, you might want to consider another ship. Some on board here fought for the Independents.
Inara
The Alliance has no quarrel with me. I supported unification.
Did ya? Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did.
Inara
[smiling] Oh, one further addendum. That's the last time you get to call me "whore".
[Back in near-present day, Mal "prepares" Inara's shuttle.]
I'm not leaving Serenity.
Inara
Mal, you don't have to die alone.
[Back in the present day, with Serenity fixed, Mal finds himself dazed in the company of his crew and passengers.]
SBShepherd Book
Very nearly.
Inara
We thought we lost you.
No, I've been right here.
[a little buzzed from giving blood] Yeah, Mal, I'm fine.
You got a thing in your arm.
Try not to speak. You're heavily medicated and you lost a lot of blood.
[Mal groans]
. . .
All right, I have to insist the Captain needs to rest.
Yeah. Think the doc might not be wrong about that one. Just gonna need a few.... [trails off as he closes his eyes]
[Mal then jerks himself awake.]
Y'all gonna be here when I wake up?
[As Mal falls asleep, he experiences another flashback to a used spaceship yard.]
SSalesman
Yep. Real beauty, ain't she? Yes, sir. Right smart purchase, this vessel.
[The rocket-shaped vessel that the salesman is trying to sell Mal comes into view.]
SSalesman
I tell you what. You buy this ship, treat her proper - she'll be with you for the rest of your life.
[But Mal has his attention caught by something else.]
[As we follow Mal's point of view, we see a battered old Firefly, soon to become "Serenity", sitting on the other side of the lot.]
SSalesman
You hear a word I been sayin'?
[to Inara] Could you please tell my wife the fun she's missing out on?
Inara
Ariel's quite a nice place, actually. There are some beautiful museums, not to mention some of the finest restaurants in the core.
But... not boring, like she made it sound.
[Inara returns from her Companion checkup to find Kaylee the sole inhabitant of Serenity.]
Inara
What's going on here?
Oh, well, let's see. We killed Simon and River, stole a bunch of medicine, and now the Captain 'n' Zoe are off springing the others got snatched by the Feds!
[Asian style music plays as Inara massages her client's back.]
CCouncilor
Oh— that feels amazing. [Inara smiles] Oh, right there. Oh, that's perfect. I should have done this weeks ago.
Inara
[chuckling] Well, I wouldn't have been here weeks ago.
CCouncilor
That would have been a shame.
Inara
For me as well. You have such beautiful skin.
CCouncilor
[looking up at Inara] There's no need for the show, Inara. I just need to relax with someone who's making no demands on me.
Inara
Most of my clientèle is male, do you know that?
Inara
[smiling gently.] If I choose a woman, she tends to be extraordinary in some way. [laughing] And the fact is, I occasionally have the exact same need you do. One can not always be one's self in the company of men.
CCouncilor
[smiling.] Never, actually.
Inara
So no show. Let's just... enjoy ourselves.
CCouncilor
You are so lovely.
[The councilor and Inara kiss and embrace passionately.]
[Back on the ship, Inara, Jayne, Simon, Shepherd Book, and Kaylee are anxiously awaiting Zoe's return. The door opens, and Wash and Zoe walk through.]
Oh my God, what happened?
Let me take a look— how bad is it?
I'm fine. [Wash and Zoe push through the crew blocking the hallway.]
Inara
Where's Mal?
Niska wouldn't let him go.
Inara
Is he alive?
For now. [Zoe hands a bundle to Simon.] Take that to the infirmary— put it on ice.
[Simon unwraps the handkerchief, revealing Mal's ear. Inara and Kaylee gasp and turn away.]
[Shepherd mutters in Chinese. Zoe turns back to the crew.]
What are we gonna do, clone him?
Well it's a clean cut; with the right equipment I should be able to reattach it. [Simon looks up.] That's assuming there's a head.
[Inara cannot find work because Mal is avoiding central planets.]
Inara
Right, you're a criminal mastermind! What was the last cargo we snuck past the Alliance to transport?
Inara
What was the cargo?
[pauses, embarrassed] They were dolls.
Inara
They were little geisha dolls with big heads that wobbled!
Inara
Well, since I can't seem to find work as Companion, I might as well become a petty thief like you!
[An uncomfortable silence descends for a moment.]
Inara
I didn't mean petty.
Inara
Suo-SHEE?
...That's Chinese for "petty".
[Return to the desert we saw at the beginning of the episode, with Mal sitting naked on the rock.]
[Inara walks up behind him.]
Inara
You call this going well?
We got the loot, didn't we?
Inara
Yes, but—
Then I call this a win. What's the problem?
Inara
Shall I start with the part where you're stranded in the middle of nowhere, or the part where you have no clothes?
Firefly · 283 quotes
