Disclaimer: These characters and places are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy... Sadly, neither of those are me.

He watched her silently as she set the table for tea. He had been standing there for several minutes now, and had spent a long time outside the shuttle trying to decide whether or not to go in. Once he had, he didn't know what to say, hence the standing quietly. She didn't seem to have noticed him yet.

Then he realized she had set the table for two. "Well, are you going to stand there all morning, or are you going to come sit down and have a cup of tea?" she asked without looking up at him, putting the finishing touches on her table setting.

He started, then smiled. Of course she had known he was there. She always knew.

He walked over and sat down on the couch in front of the table. She sat on some cushions on the other side. Her rippling brown hair was down, her gown was a simple, red silk wrap. She looked like an angel in human form.

"You invited me in to have tea with you, should I be worried?" he asked.

She laughed slightly, "I don't always have an alterior motive for being civil with you, Mal." she said.

"Well... good." he replied, "Was just makin' sure." he picked up his tea and took a sip, it was sweet, but not too sweet. It also had a lemony tartness to it, kind of like the woman sitting across the table from him.

"It's good to be back in my shuttle. I missed it more than I expected." she said, also sipping her tea.

"I think it missed you too. Was your home for nearly a year." he said with a smile, then he added in a slightly more quiet voice, "I'm glad you decided to stay, Inara." he was somewhat shocked that he had admitted that to her.

"Me too." she said, and she wondered why she had let him know that. She sipped her tea to give herself a moment to think. "So, got any jobs right now?" she asked.

He pointed his finger at her, "See, I knew there was an alterior motive. There's always an alterior motive. It's never, 'Oh it's nice to see you, Mal' or 'Hey, Ma