The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but there was certainly plenty of tension on Serenity. Simon spent most of the time in the infirmary, trying to stay busy with his new equipment. Kaylee checked on Jayne every so often, but neither one of them was willing to say much.

Inara was in her shuttle as the day was coming to a close, looking over a list of potential clients, when Kaylee knocked on her door.

“Yes?” Inara asked.

“It’s me,” Kaylee answered.

“Oh, mei-mei,” Inara said. “Come in, please.”

“Thanks,” Kaylee said. “I’m having a little trouble.”

“The doctor.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Between Simon and Jayne, I’d say there will be more than just a little trouble soon.”

Inara sat on her bed, and Kaylee sat on the floor next to her. “Why do men have to make these things so complicated?” Kaylee asked.

Inara smiled. “Relationships are complicated. That’s what makes them interesting.”

“Has Jayne really been after me this whole time, and I haven’t noticed it?”

“Subtlety is not usually one of Jayne’s strong points,” Inara said, “but in this case, he has managed to keep pretty quiet about it.”

“So you think so too? Jayne’s jealous of Simon?”

“I think you need to consider what Kaylee wants out of this.”

“I’m perfectly happy with Simon,” Kaylee told her. “Most of the time anyway. I’m just worried about Jayne.”

“Jayne’s a big boy, he’ll be fine. You just need to be honest with him.”

“And tell him what?”

“Tell him how you feel.”

Kaylee hesitated. “I don’t know how I feel.”

“Well, that certainly does complicate things.”

“It’s weird to think that all this time I was wanting sex, and I didn’t even realize that Jayne was interested. I thought he was just being Jayne.”

“I don’t think sex is the issue anymore, though, is it?”

“No, not anymore.”

“You need to find out what you want,” Inara told her. “Figure out what will make you happy. Everything else will fall into place after that.”

* *