Mal laid his cards out on the table. A single queen of hearts in the entire hand. Inara had called his bluff and won. Again.

Mal groaned in defeat. "Do we need to ban you from playin' like with the lil' albatross here?"

Inara merely smiled, gathered up her chits which got her out of kitchen and laundry duty for the next two weeks. "I thank you, Captain. That was a fun game. Perhaps again sometime soon." And with that, she gracefully departed for her shuttle.

Mal gestured after her. "Girl's playin' me for a fool."

"And seems to be doin’ it quite well, sir." Zoe noted.

"She cleaned you out as well!"

"True, sir, but I folded long before you did."

Jayne snorted. "She’s got ya there, Mal. So looks like we’re stuck with your cooking and washing for the next two weeks."

"Don't you start in with me, Jayne. At least my cooking has never laid up the entire crew for near on a week with stomach cramps. And let’s not forget that time you washed my things in with some of Kaylee's things, and I had baby pink skivvies for three weeks."

"Hey now, that ain't fair. That's my Ma's recipie for smokehouse casserole. Sticks to the ribs!"

"Sure as ruttin' hell sticks to something."

Jayne got up from the table, pulled his t-shirt off over his head and tossed it at Mal. "Don't forget to add extra softener, Mal. I’ve got delicate skin." He shoved his chair back noisily and headed for his bunk.

Mal gingerly set Jayne’s shirt down and looked back at the discarded cards. "How in hell does she do it? I used my best game face and everything."

River looked over at him. "You’ve got a 'tell.'"

"A what now, little one?"

"A tell. Gives away what you’re thinking. Your secrets."

"That so? What kinda tell?"

River smiled as she gathered up the cards. She picked up the discarded queen of hearts from his hand and tucked it into Mal's rolled-up sleeve. "You wear your heart on your sleeve."