Chapter 8. Thanks to BEB and J for beta-reading

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Mal stepped onto the catwalk and made his way down the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Brian and River playing some sort game that involved slapping each other’s hands. Shaking his head, he moved over to the controls for the airlock to open and lower the ramp. Three days the boy had been on his boat, and everyday he and River were playing some new game.

First, it was dancing lessons, which hadn’t been so bad, until they managed to get the rest of the crew involved. Then came the fighting.

It had scared everyone to see the two psychics battling it out, even Jayne. And despite Brian’s promise that it was just a friendly workout, Mal still had concerns.

Up until the staring contest. At which point, he gave up trying to understand what the young couple was doing, and just let them have their fun.

Chuckling softly, Mal stepped out onto the open ramp and gazed out at the dusty dock of Persephone.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Mal turned to see Inara and Kaylee coming through the doorway to the common area. The girls were taking River out shopping, having decided that River needed to ‘dress the part’ for her new boyfriend. Mal hadn’t understood exactly what all that entailed, but he’d agreed to Inara’s request.

He hadn’t had much choice in the matter, to be honest. The things that woman could do with her body never ceased to amaze him. And she had used some of those tricks to get him to consent to their little shopping spree.

Just remembering the night before was putting him in a stupor. And when Inara looked up, she caught him staring at her. She raised an eyebrow, and had to smile. She knew she’d had an effect on him, but to see the battle-hardened Malcolm Reynolds in a trance-like state was quite amusing. She hid a chuckle behind her hand when Mal managed to shake himself loose.

Turning to see Jayne and Zoe coming down the stairs, Mal asked, “We all set?”

Zoe nodded her head. “R