Mal pinched the bridge of his nose. He should have left as soon as he'd dropped off Jayne. He would have avoided getting soaked in the storm, for one. Not to mention, he might've come back in time to stop his slightly crazy pilot from playing musical bunks.

"What I want to know," he said to everyone sitting around the dinner table. "Is why didn't any of you stop her? I understand why River would do something feng le, but that don't explain why my very sane cook, mechanic and first mate didn't stop her. You all know she's crazy!"

River, who was sitting next to him, kicked him hard in the shin.

"Son of a—,"he rubbed his leg.

"River is never wrong when she... sees things. And she was pretty stubborn," Kaylee said.

"And you couldn't radio me to ask?" the captain asked.

"It was supposed to be a surprise." River admitted, still mad at him for calling her crazy. It was one thing to hear it from the mercenary all the time, but entirely different from the Captain.

"My Gorram Ship. 'My' being the important word here. 'Sides we didn't even come here with no passengers. Not that I plan to pick up any new ones. Last time that happened I got saddled with a fed, a mysterious preacher, a prissy doc, and a crazy little girl," he jumped back just in time to miss River's kick.

"You keep tryin' to kick me like a poutin' toddler, I'm sendin' you to your room," he said sarcastically.

"Which one?" River returned, sounding very much like the teenager that she was.

"Mal, River was only trying to help. And besides, Simon hardly uses his room anymore, and having River closer to him is better, not to mention safer. What happens if, God forbid, we have another stowaway like that bounty hunter? She'd be alone on the other side of the ship," Inara pointed out.

"She'd also be able to break him into tiny pieces. Besides, you're not that far from—"

"Sir, I don't particularly disagree with you being right about this since we didn't ask your permission—"

"See! Zoe agrees wi—"

"But the deed's already don