Inara made the announcement that she was buying Monty’s place on Lazarus just after dinner. For a long moment there was silence, then Hank spoke.

“Ain’t surprised,” he said. “It’s a nice place.”

“Sure is,” Kaylee added. “Pretty.”

“You’re buying it,” Simon said, his voice flat.

“I can afford it. I think it would be good for me.”

Kaylee looked around the table. “I think it sounds shiny.”

“And of course you can all come and stay, whenever Serenity is in the area.”

“Yeah, well, not sure when we’ll be back,” Mal said shortly.

“It’s not too far out of the way from anywhere,” Hank pointed out.

“Depends on work.”

The others exchanged glances, but only Inara spoke. “It’s something I decided a little while ago, but having seen the house, I think it’s going to be ideal.”

Zoe nodded. “I can understand that.”

There was a short silence until Freya spoke. “Well, I’m going to check on Ethan,” she said, kissing Mal on the mouth before standing up and running her hand through his hair, knowing Inara was observing every move.

He grabbed it and pressed his lips to her palm. “I’ll be along in a few minutes.” He watched her leave.

“And I think I need my beauty sleep,” Hank said, climbing to his feet, then groaning as the aches and pains from the earlier fight made themselves very obviously known.

“ I think you need a massage,” Zoe said, following him.

“Ooh, with that citrusy oil?”

“If you play your cards right.”

“I’m really good at that. Playing cards. Strip anything, now that’s really my forte.”

“Last time was just luck …”

Their voices vanished as they went down into their bunk.

“I think you should make it an early night too,” Simon said, lifting Bethany out of her chair. “I’ll look in on Jayne and River for a while, make sure they ate the food I took down, but I’ll try not to be too long.”

Kaylee smiled, then winced as the cut in her lip pulled. “That’s okay,” she said. “I understand. I’ll have one more cup of coffee, then I’ll be down.”

“You