“What the diyu is going on in here?”

Eve looked up from the gas burner she and Simon were crouched over, Mal stood in the doorway to the infirmary hands on his hips, typical scowl on his face. The scowl faltered when a whiff of the odiferous chemicals reached his nose and then steadied.

She suppressed the urge to giggle, he had no children but he already had the enraged parent stance down pat.

She looked over at Simon just as he looked at her, his eyes were dancing behind his safety goggles, she knew he was laughing inside just as she was.

Then she turned back to face Mal, unaware that Simon had done the same thing, they answered in unison, the age old answer such a question and such a stance always elicited,

“Nothing”

Surprised they looked back at each other and started giggling, Mal rolled his eyes muttered “ Wei Shen me? Huh? Weihe Shen lao Shi Shen me?” and turned and stalked away.

They continued to giggle until the substance they were melting in the beaker started bubbling, then they got back to the business at hand.

It had taken them a long time to break down the chemical composition if the plastic-like tax seal that marked legal vintages, but they had finally gotten it right. The real trick was to mix the hydrous aluminum silicate in when the compound was at the right temperature. Hydrous aluminum silicate, who’d have ever thought they would use plain old every day mica in the seal?

Certainly not her and Simon, it’d taken a chance comment by Jayne to figure that out.

Making the whiskey had been the easy part, the seal had been the time consuming part, but now that they had the hang of it, it would be ridiculously easy to make them. Jayne was the only person besides Kaylee (and River) who knew what she, Simon and Kaylee were up too.

Jayne wondered in just as they began to pour the compound into the lozenges mold Kaylee’d made them.

“See I don’t get why yer even botherin’ ta fake the seal. Why’nt just hawk it as hooch?”

Eve looked up at him and flashed a smi