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Ezri had, in the past, made a point of not going to the annual Persephone Ball. She was quite capable of finding employment for the evening without need for all the pomp. Ezri's appeal didn't come from her ability to look elegant in a dress. Sure, she freely admitted she was a status symbol, but she fancied herself more than that.
On the other hand, Ezri thought there was no point to setting up restrictions if she couldn't decide later not to abide by them. She didn't feel any particular need to build herself more cages. And right now there was certainly cause to attend the Persephone Ball.
Ezri had never met Inara Serra and didn't feel that as a loss. For Buddha's sake, the woman agreed to be employed by Atherton Wing and she spent most of her time even further out than Persephone. She was hardly rational, and most of the time Ezri had enough irrationality in her life without having to go looking for it.
Still, Ezri was beginning to feel a grudging respect for the other Companion. She'd gotten Wing barred from hiring a Companion, and that, well. It wasn't nothing.
Ezri was a huge fan of twisting the knife, which was why she was even now considering who she could find to make her dress. And who she could have take her to the dance. She'd refused Wing's invitation so many years now, always with giving as reason the fact that she didn't do dances. She couldn't have afforded to make him openly hostile, too many of her clients were his friends and besides, it was true. Fortunately for her, Wing had manage to discredit himself, with Inara's help, and Ezri was very willing to let him see her on someone else's arm.
The dress was an easy decision to make. Even if it had been a while she had commissioned anything this fancy, Ezri knew who to talk to. Ezri posted a note that she would be considering proposals to the ball this year. They were still three months out, so she would hopefully get a couple of applications.
That done with, Ezri went to pick out her clothing and scent for the evening's appointment.
In retrospect, Ezri shouldn't have been surprised by the number of proposals she was getting. She'd kind of thought some of her appeal came from the fact that she didn't do dances like this one. She knew all the steps, yes, but she could also think of a dozen ways to paralyze a man off he top of her head, a more useful skill, but one people didn't actually want to see applied.
Still, it meant she had a variety of options and that she'd be being paid fairly highly for this exercise in changing things up, both of which were things Ezri approved of. Her consul chimed, and Ezri let herself grin fiercely when she saw who it was. "Badger," she said.
"I thought we 'ad an arrangement," he replied, without so much as greeting her, not that Ezri expected any better.
Ezri nodded. "We did."
"What 'appened to it?" Clearly he'd heard she was going to the dance.
"The agreement was that I give you my tickets for last year. I made no such promises regarding this year's ball." Ezri smiled sweetly. "You wouldn't have been relying on me, would you?"
"No, of course not," Badger snapped.
Ezri shrugged. "Then I fail to see the problem."
The man who Ezri decided to go with, Michael O'Connor, belonged at the ball about as much as she did, though he was less conspicuous about it. He was a former politician, but in the tiny Liberal party which never had a chance of putting anyone in real power. When he got elected as member of parliament (for a single term) he had made his one cause getting sufficient and medical supplies to a tiny moon which had neither. He'd been successful and in return the moon had issued him the highest honor they could. It wasn't much, but it was enough that he received a yearly invitation to the ball, an invitation he usually turned down.
"I admit," she said to him over the comm when she accepted his offer to have her accompany him, "I'm curious."
"You first," he said.
"I really hate Atherton Wing just that much," she said.
Michael laughed. "I admit, I'm mostly just curious. And you know I always love to spend an evening with you, beautiful as you are."
Ezri grinned at the complement. "I admit, I'm almost looking forward to the ball on its own merits now," she said.
He smiled back. "You and I will take dignified society by storm. Send me a message when you decide what to wear, so I can get something to match."
Ezri made a face at Michael's suit when he arrived to pick her up. "I don't recall there being any orange on my dress," she said, ostentatiously glancing down to check.
"And a sore lack of orange it is," he said. "But never fear, for I shall save you." He removed an outrageously orange bracelet from his breast pocket. "This might do the trick."
It took all of Ezri's self-control not to laugh, even though she knew that was all he was trying to provoke. Instead she examined it carefully before placing it on her wrist. "It's no diamond necklace," she said.
Michael snorted. "I should hope not. Shall we?"
"Excuse me for a moment," Ezri said once they were announced and had entered.
"You're excused for as long as I'm sufficiently amused on my own," Michael said graciously.
"So five minutes?" Ezri offered a smirk.
"Depends on how much drama you stir up," he replied.
Ezri didn't grace him with a reply, instead kissing him on the cheek and walking towards the other Companion she'd spotted when they walked in.
"Can I help you?" Inara Serra asked, her gaze passing dismissively over Ezri and her bracelet.
Ezri found a smile anyway. "Ezri Tigan," she said.
"Inara Serra," Inara said, her eyes widening in recognition. Ezri supposed she should be glad she had a reputation that forced politeness.
"I wanted to complement you on your handling of Atherton Wing."
Inara frowned, an expression which marred her otherwise perfect elegance. "That was hardly my preferred response."
"Of course not," Ezri murmured. "Ignoring him always worked rather well for me."
"What do you want?" Inara asked.
"Who says I want anything?"
"You do have a reputation," Inara said, and only a voice as cultured as hers could put so much disdain in a word.
"So do you," Ezri said. "The difference is that I'm not running from mine."
Inara didn't seem to have anything to say to that, and Ezri didn't feel like forcing her to fill the silence.
"If you've time, I'd be interested in getting together with you tomorrow."
"That was disappointing dull," Michael said when Ezri returned to his side.
"Sorry," she said.
"How about you do this dance with me to make up for it?" he asked.
Ezri smiled. "I'm definitely up to that."
Ezri was surprised when, in between dips and twirls, Michael tried to have a conversation with her. "Atherton here?" he asked as he passed her off to another dancer.
"Standing in the corner," Ezri said when she returned to stand opposite him. "Near the guava."
"You look like you belong here," Michael said, later, as the dance was winding to a close.
"Of course I do," Ezri replied. "Companion training does that to you."
"I wouldn't know," Michael said, and Ezri gave him the facial expression equivalent to sticking her tongue out.
"You, though," Ezri said, "You look like you're happy here."
Michael bowed to her as the dance finished and walked off to the sideline. "I am," he said, "As long as I don't have to remember how most of the other people garnered an invitation, and as long as I don't have to deal with the corruption of society I know this dance is built on. It looks pretty, yes, but the reality is harsh, and I hate that I can't change that."
Ezri frowned. "You're thinking of trying politics again, aren't you?"
Michael bit his lip. "Yes."
Ezri sighed.
"I did make a difference, before," Michael said. "It was tiny, but it mattered."
"It's not like you gave up. You didn't get reelected."
"And then I gave up," Michael said. "Anyway, I appreciate that as my friend you want to talk me out of what you consider to be a bad idea for what its affect on me will be, but I won't be talked out of this."
"Fair enough," Ezri said. "Time to go socialize?"
Michael nodded. "If you're willing."
"It's not anything like an endorsement, therefore it's allowed by the Companion's Guild, and as such it would be my pleasure."
Michael sighed. "You made everything so complicated, Ezri," he said.
Ezri could think of a dozen things to say to that, but instead she just shrugged.
"Ready to go?" Michael asked her when she returned to his side from the bathroom. The ball was just beginning to wind down.
"You sure?" she asked.
Michael nodded.
"Am I going home with you?" Ezri asked.
"Yes. Unless you'd rather not."
"Nope, that's fine," Ezri said. "I was expecting that answer."
"You should. You give the best back rubs."
Ezri grinned. "You say that and you don't even appreciate them fully."
They were at the door, collecting their coats, when Inara glided smoothly up. Ezri raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you still available for tomorrow?" Inara asked. "I'd like to...talk."
"Yes," Ezri replied, just as smoothly. She was a Companion, and could muster a Companion's grace. It was just that most of the time she didn't see the point. "Does the afternoon work well for you?"
Inara nodded gracefully then walked away again.
"Did what I think just happened happen?" Michael asked when Inara was out of earshot and he was helping Ezri into her coat.
"I wish," Ezri said. "But she probably meant actually talk."
"Tea?" Ezri asked when she answered the door to let Inara in. "Perhaps a biscuit?"
Inara frowned like she suspected Ezri was mocking her, until they entered the kitchen and there actually were biscuits sitting on the table. "Nice place," Inara said, so clearly careful to sound as neutral as possible.
"I like it," Ezri said.
"Not quite the neighborhood I'd expect, though."
Ezri shrugged. "Of course, you'd expect a Companion not to set up as independent on Persephone, and you'd certainly never expect one of us to move into a Firefly-class ship."
Inara smiled and tilted her head in agreement.
Ezri grinned and stepped back a pace. "Tea?" she asked.
"It is a very important part of our ritual," Inara said.
"Even for those of us who leave so many of the other rituals behind."
"You should talk." Inara laughed. "You're the one who added biscuits."
"You're trying to subvert what it means to be a Companion," Inara said slowly, contentedly letting her head rest on one of Ezri's pillows.
"Yes," Ezri said, "While you're just managing it by accident."
"What's your vision for us?" Inara asked. "Courtesan assassins?"
"Of course not. But agents for change, for spreading Core quality of life outwards? Why not?"
"There are many who would never agree with you," Inara said. "From both sides."
"Perhaps," Ezri said, "But there are still some who already agree with me and aren't doing anything. Or who would agree with me if they heard my argument."
"It is a beautiful argument," Inara murmured.
"Most post-coital people think so," Ezri said.
Inara shifted to pick up her pillow and lightly smack Ezri on the head with it.
Ezri giggled, then rolled over to drop a kiss on Inara's lips.
"Kicking me out, then?" Inara asked.
"Nope," Ezri said, "But you probably think it's time to go. Think about what I said, and what you know my reputation to be."
Inara nodded as she stood from the bed. "I will. I can't promise I'll still be convinced when I'm less post-coital."
Ezri shrugged. "You will be," she said. "It's something to live for, and Companions need that just as much as everyone else does."
Inara's face went shuttered. "I said I'd think about it," she replied, just as cold as she'd been when Ezri first talked to her at the ball.