log; complete; closed

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

When; The 24th of November
Rating; PG
Characters; Inara Serra only_fell (cursed and 5 years old) & Priestly notverypriestly
Summary; Inara is cursed and suddenly 5 years old. Priestly plays baby sitter.
Log;

"I want that one," Inara pointed to a small dress that had tiny bells on the hem so that it jingled when she walked. "And princess shoes too."

Since it appeared Priestly was stuck with the five year old version of Inara for a little while, he'd decided to take her to get little girl sized clothes rather than have her run around in one of his tee shirts. It involved Priestly cursing his outrageous persona for the first time in ever and forced him to don a baseball cap and hoodie to hide as much of it as he could.

"Think you can go with uh, princess sandals? They're awesomer. And way less expensive..." He held up the sandals and wiggled them at her. Priestly made a point to ignore the looks they were getting from one of the associates.

Inara arched an eyebrow at him and considered the sandals. She tilted her head to the side then nodded, beaming a smile at Priestly. "Kay. You look funny in a hat. Doesn't it smash your hair? I don't like my hair smashed."

"That's the point. So I'm not a bright blue chicken taking a 5-year-old princess shopping," he chuckled. Priestly had worried about how this was going to go, but Inara was turning out to be just as cool as a toddler as she was grown-up.

"Ice cream now please." So she hadn't really learned the art of asking (neither had grown up Inara) but even at five, she had the art of polite demanding down to a science.

And off to ice cream they were. Priestly had managed to keep under $40 for Inara's new things, which meant he had just enough left for the demanded treat. "You know," he held the door to the parlor open for her, actually feeling comfortable enough now to let her hold his hand. "You're pretty trusting of a servant with piercings and tattoos and crazy hair."

Inara rolled her eyes at him. "I'm safe with you." She actually wasn't sure how she knew she was safe with Priestly since she'd only meet him that morning but she'd woken up feel safe and oddly enough almost even loved. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

"Mommy wouldn't leave me with someone who wasn't nice."

Priestly just returned a smile at her and then crouched down to her level to point at the flavors. "Know what you want? I'm getting bubblegum. On a waffle cone." It made him happy to know that she felt safe with him. Most of the time Inara had the control in their whatever-ship this was and that was how he liked it. But this way, he knew what she said was true; he'd take care of her. Even when she grew back up.

***

Ice cream had been followed by the park which had required Priestly to do a lot of pushing swings and merry-go-rounds. They'd even built a castle in the sandbox. It had been mostly Priestly building the castle and Inara directing. She hadn't wanted to get her dress dirty; a consideration she didn't take when she sat down in the middle of the grass and declared "I'm tired."

Priestly turned slowly back to her, eyebrows high and eyes wide. While hand-holding had been permitted, Priestly wasn't sure he'd be okay carrying her back to his apartment. His mouth gaped a few times (how did she managed to get him to do that, still?) while he determined just what to do.

"Okay, uhh...we can go home. It's only a few blocks away?" It sounded more like a question than a suggestion.

"Okay." She wasn't moving though and when she realized Priestly hadn't come to the same conclusion she had, she stuck her arms up in the air. "Up! I won't kick. Promise."

"Right." The deer-in-headlights look was back, and Priestly's eyes darted to different parts of the park as if he'd find a black hole to be sucked into. An idea lit in his eyes when he saw something to the side, and told Inara, "stay," as he darted off, not far. Seconds later he was back with a skateboard in his hands, grinning. "We can pretend it's a carriage, and I'll be your pony. Pull you all the way home."

Priestly was figuring out this babysitting thing because that made Inara grin from ear to ear. "Like Cinderella. 'Cept I'm not going to turn into a servant at midnight." If they were very lucky, she'd turn into a grown up.

Inara sat down on the skateboard, skirt tucked beneath her legs and looked expectantly up to Priestly. She was clearly ready for her ride.

"Better than Cinderella. You'll turn into a queen at midnight," Priestly assured her as he tied his belt to the skate board and tugged firmly, to make sure it was secure. Once he was satisfied, he began to pull her off of the grass and on the sidewalk. Every so often, he'd take a peek back at her to make sure she was doing okay.

"When I'm a queen will you call me Your Majesty?" she asked. "And do I get a crown?" These were important things for a little girl to figure out. Inara was doing great. This was a fun game. She giggled as he pulled her, her hands gripped both sides of the skateboard, holding on. "Faster, Priestly! Go faster!"

He began to walk a little faster, half worried that she would fall off. Then again, this was a chance to get her to have some fun, so he continued to speed up in small increments. Before he knew it, he was speed walking, they were coming up to the corner he'd have to turn at and Priestly was trying to figure out how the hell to stop the skateboard from flying straight into the street. Without thinking, he turned around, crouched to the ground and held out his arms.

Woosh! The skateboard passed under him, and he fell backwards with Inara in his arms, holding her to his chest. After a few seconds Priestly managed to squeak out a rushed question. "Y'okay!?"

Inara didn't worry about flying into Priestly's arms. She was still giggling when he asked if she was alright. She nodded emphatically at his question. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. "You saved me. Just like the princes in the stories Mommy tells me." And she presses a wet sloppy kiss to his cheek.

***

After shopping, ice cream, the park and two Disney princess movies that Inara had never seen, she couldn't quit yawning. It was definitely bedtime. She was bundled up on the couch, already half asleep. Priestly started to pull the blanket up to her chin and she furrowed her brow, giving him a look that would turn into a look to stop most people in their tracks one day.

"You hafta to tell me a story first." Her words were starting to slur a bit with sleep but she was stubborn enough to stay awake a while longer in protest of being put to sleep without a bedtime story. "It's the rules, Priestly."

He was more than willing to tell her a story to put her to sleep, but unfortunately Priestly was not creative nor a storyteller. His grandma used to tell him one when he was little but he'd be damned if he could remember it and the ability to make them up did not pass to him from her. So, it was time to improvise.

"Okay, well..." he still had to think for a moment. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in the highest tower of the biggest castle on the tallest hill in the whole kingdom. And uhh, her name was Tonya. Tonya lived so far away from everyone that she ran out of food to eat!" Priestly went on to explain that you can only eat so much ramen noodles and not want to punch a hole in the wall and that her only solution was to order out for food. At this point, Inara insisted on a small discussion about how pancakes would also eventually make you punch a wall. Then there was the discussion about destruction of property being wrong but fun. Finally Inara declared that Priestly could continue with his story.

Priestly said that she ordered the biggest pizza that the local pizzeria, Gino's, made and waited 45 minutes for delivery. "Gino himself rolled the dough, mixed the sauce, grated and sprinkled the cheese, put a double order of sausage on it and baked it for 15 minutes. Then the delivery boy packed it up in his carriage and traveled aaaaaall the way up the tallest hill to the largest castle in all the kingdom."

"Doodle-ee-doo-dee-doo!" Priestly squeaked, and grinned down at Inara. The funny noise and the grin made Inara giggle. "That's the doorbell. When it rang, Tonya hurried her ass down one hundred flights of stairs in a rush to finally get some real food in her stomach. When she opened the door, a handsome bastard held her huge pizza in his hand." Priestly lowered his voice an octave, " He said: 'Somebody ordered an extra large double-sausage?' And the princess replied" Priestly raised his voice two octaves. "'Oh! Why yes, I, Tonya, the beautiful yet isolated and looonely princess ordered that sausage. The largest and tastiest pizza in all the kingdom! But woe! I have forgotten my debloons all the way back at the top of this highest tower of this, the biggest castle on the tallest hill in the whoooooole kingdom! Would you like to come in so that I may give it to you?'"

Then Priestly faltered, because this was the point in the porno where the pizza boy got lucky and porked the princess's brains out. "Then they climbed back up those hundred flights of stairs, which was very long and hard work. Once they were at the top, the princess led the delivery boy into the kitchen, where she kept her debloons." His voice mimicked hers again. "The princess exclaimed, 'I'm so sorry to have forgotten your money! You see, I am so lonely up here by myself that I forget the simplest of tasks. If only...' she trailed off. The pizza delivery boy put her pizza down on the table and took the princess's hand in his. He looked into her uh, eyes, and said 'Princess Tonya, you don't have to be alone. For I, Hank, am here not only to deliver your pizza. I can also...'"

Priestly trailed off for a moment, trying to think of something other than 'fuck your brains out' to say to her. "'I can also help you bake a cake!' he said, and Tonya's eyes lit up in excitement. It had been a long time since she baked a cake. 'Oh, Hank!' she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. 'You can bake my cake all night long, but only if you've brought the batter mixer with you!' But Hank just chuckled and assured her, 'Honey, I have the biggest mixer in the kingdom. Let me show you while I mix your batter good and hard.'"

Inara listened to everything intently, partially in an effort to stay awake and partially because it was a story about a princess. "My castle would have an elevator and she should ask Hank to move into the castle so that he can bake cake for her all the time." She punctuated this statement with a big yawn. "What kind of cake was it?"

He had to suppress a guffaw at that, which he did with a lack of grace and covered it up as a yawn as well. "It was the best cake ever. The kind that would make you pass out from happy. There was chocolate and white and yellow with so much frosting it almost made it hard to see the cake. Plus sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles." Priestly smoothed some of her hair away from her forehead. "After they baked this one, it was so perfect that the princess did ask him to move in. And they baked cake all the time. Sometimes they baked more than one a day. And they started a cake baking business!"

Inara closed her eyes when Priestly smoothed her hair back and yawned again. "And they lived happily ever after. The end," she said through the yawn. She turned a little on her side, snuggling into the blankets. "G'night, Priestly. I had fun today and I love you."

He stood up, making sure not to jostle her too much and smiled a little. "Love you too, Inara."