Her hand looks so delicate resting on his knee, but her fingers feel perfectly strong when she squeezes it, and Herc finds himself reaching to cover her hand with his.
He really wants to kiss her and he's almost ashamed of it, because Inara must have such a hard time making honest friends who don't see her as a sexual object or someone to covet or worship, and he had prided himself on being that for her. On being someone she could come to and not worry about whether her hair was fixed or her face done up, someone she could be honest with, no matter what. He doesn't want to feel like he's betraying her trust by suddenly letting himself realize how beautiful she is and how attracted to her he is.
Not to mention he's pretty sure she's not even thirty and he's smack dab in the middle of forty and fifty so... Yeah, that's not good either.
"Friends, yeah," he croaks finally, his hand still covering hers on his knee.
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He really wants to kiss her and he's almost ashamed of it, because Inara must have such a hard time making honest friends who don't see her as a sexual object or someone to covet or worship, and he had prided himself on being that for her. On being someone she could come to and not worry about whether her hair was fixed or her face done up, someone she could be honest with, no matter what. He doesn't want to feel like he's betraying her trust by suddenly letting himself realize how beautiful she is and how attracted to her he is.
Not to mention he's pretty sure she's not even thirty and he's smack dab in the middle of forty and fifty so... Yeah, that's not good either.
"Friends, yeah," he croaks finally, his hand still covering hers on his knee.