A/N: Thanks to Kaynara and Leiasky for the beta.

Keep commenting ... pretty please, with strawberries on top??!?!?!

Mal wandered into the galley, glad to find it deserted. He needed time to sort through this impossible mess they had found themselves in. With a heavy sigh, he headed for the stove, putting on a pot of water and pawing through Inara’s stash of tea bags. She always kept the fruity ones near the top, but he had long ago cultivated his own taste for the bitter leaves and found that Earl Grey suited him just fine.

“You like the other flavors, too. You just won’t admit it.”

The voice that floated to him should have caused him to jump or maybe tense for a moment. But it didn’t; wondering if that meant he was growing soft in his old age, he waited until the kettle had boiled and then poured two cups of the steaming liquid. Turning from the stove and heading to the table, he placed one in front of River. She had drawn her knees up to her chest, folding herself into one of the chairs like a rag doll. With her big and all-knowing eyes she regarded him steadily, ignoring the hot liquid as Mal sat down heavily beside her and blew on his own drink.

“Be that as it may,” he answered, after taking a sip and burning the very tip of his tongue. “I can’t be lettin’ folks know I do. Ruin my image.”

River kept her silence for another minute as she watched him take another hesitant sip. While she had been trying over the past few days to keep a lid on her abilities to read others, she found Mal’s emotions strong, swirling on the surface in a myriad of colors that forced her to pay attention. Which was why she knew he cared as much about his image as he cared for Badger, who was still tied up on the deck below.

Resting a light hand to his arm, Mal glanced to her as she whispered, “That got ruined the minute you took on a crazy girl and her brother.”

Mal started to refute her claim and