A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers! Let me know if there's any scary grammar errors, sorry for the wait :)
"So what will you have, meimei? Maybe some nice sake?" Simon smiled indulgently across the booth at her then returned to perusing the bar's limited drinks menu.
"What about something fruity, River? They use real fruit here, it's so yummy!" Kaylee giggled beside him, happy to be sharing this moment with her nanpengyou and his little sister.
Grinning at both of them, River shook her head. Caught in Kaylee's infectious laughter she started chuckling herself. "I have an idea," she said to her brother, raising her index finger in the air as if it had just come to her. "Since this is my foray into inebriation we should choose the same beverage. You won't make me drink alone, will you Simon?"
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Simon beamed. Now that his little sister was growing up he had been worried that she would try to push him away as she developed her own boundaries. He was so pleased that she wanted to include him.
"Outstanding!" Not even glancing at the menu she looked up at the waiter who stood patiently as he took their order. "Whiskey straight, please," she said with ease.
If the waiter was surprised he didn't show it, merely nodded and returned to the bar.
"Are you sure about that? I think that's a bit too strong for your first drink." Simon was already half out of his seat, partially standing as he tried to make eye contact with the waiter to order them something else.
She allowed her grin to spread even wider and placed her elbows on the table, leaning into her clasped hands. "My drink, gege. My choice, remember? You promised you'd buy me whatever I wanted."
Sighing in resignation, he sat back down and held up his hands. "I know when I'm beat, but don't say that I didn't warn you."
Leaning back contently she crossed her arms in front of her. It had been two weeks since Persephone, two weeks since she'd gotten drunk with Jayne and she thought back fondly on the memory. The subsequent hangover, unfortunately, she remembered with much less affection. Still, the time that had passed was more than sufficient to dull the pain of that experience making the night before even better in comparison. The warm glow of the alcohol, the easy conversation they'd shared, the way someone had finally taken her seriously as an adult.
True to his word Jayne had not said a thing to Simon which made this outing even sweeter. She loved her gege dearly, but she couldn't wait to see his expression when her innocuous trick played out.
The waiter returned quickly, setting something outrageously pink in front of Kaylee and two little tumblers in front of River and Simon. They were so small that they only held a shot of whiskey, a shot and a half at most, and she suppressed a grimace. She'd show all of them.
Steeling herself she grabbed the closest glass smartly off of the tray and downed it in one gulp. The whiskey still burned down the back of her throat, just as it had last time, but this time she was ready for it. She willed her face to stay passive and calm, not betraying her body's reaction. With a controlled move she set the glass on the table upside down.
Simon approached his own drink much more gingerly. Taking a fortifying breath he slugged his down, sputtering a little at the harsh chemical tang instead of the more soothing sake he was used to. Still, he thought he handled himself admirably and he placed his tumbler down to rest beside River's.
Nodding encouragingly at Simon, she looked up at the waiter with a hint of a smile. "I'll have another."
Only then did she look over to see Simon's reaction at her behavior. His eyes were wide and slightly dazed and his mouth was hanging open. Kaylee looked impressed in spite of herself and clapped her hands in glee. It couldn't have been more perfect.
"Are you alright? That was awfully strong. Maybe you should slow down," Simon wheezed worriedly.
"I can handle it." She wished she could ask the impudent question of whether or not he could handle it, but she held her tongue. Now she wasn't hiding a smile, she was hiding an outright smirk.
Her eyes darted quickly to the broad figure hunched across the room at the bar. Mal had forced Jayne to come along to keep an eye on the rest of them. While Simon still occasionally resented being assigned a babysitter River couldn't have been gladder that Jayne was there to witness her moment of triumph. Tuning out the loud argument he was having with another patron regarding the unparalleled excellence of the Callahan full bore auto-lock she turned her attention back to her own table.
The waiter had returned with two more glasses and a wink. She was pleased to see that they held doubles this time. This one went down even more smoothly for River and she quirked an eyebrow at Kaylee's resulting cheer. Simon's face had gone an interesting shade of pale, but he gamely swallowed his down as best he could.
When the next round of doubles appeared Simon knew something was afoot. His meimei was handling herself with a tad too much aplomb and her expression held more than a hint of smugness at his struggle. Well aware he should wave the white flag in the face of her assault, he beamed at River instead and threw his drink back. Even though she could be a bit of a brat sometimes, it was good to see her up to her old tricks.
By the time she had finished her own whiskey Simon had gone from pale to faintly green and was slumped against the back of his booth. Kaylee laid her head on his shoulder and patted his arm soothingly.
"You feeling alright, baobei? That there's powerful stuff." Laughing at the victorious look on River's face she giggled, "But I think someone already knew that."
Her façade cracking River couldn't help but laugh along. "I've no notion what you could be referring to."
Chuckling a little Simon regained some of his color. "Well I've no notion how you hustled me, but you managed that somehow. That wasn't your first drink, was it?"
Restraining a smirk she shook her head. "Are you very angry with me?"
"Of course not," he reassured, indulging in the moment. "I should have remembered that you really are the best at everything." He got to his feet as River and Kaylee both chuckled. "Though I must ask that next time you choose to engage someone in a drinking game you select someone other than me."
River's eyes flashed again for an instant over to the bar. "Don't worry, I will."
"Well, I think I'm going to call it an evening," Simon said sleepily, the alcohol already affecting him.
Slipping an arm around his waist, Kaylee turned to River. "I'll head back too. River, you okay walking back with Jayne?"
"Assuredly." River stood on her tiptoes to give Simon a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for being such a good sport."
He ruffled her hair with an affectionate grin, then turned to amble back to the ship with his baobei.
Jayne didn't need look over to know who had suddenly appeared at his elbow. "Doc cry uncle already?"
"In his defense he has been rather somnolent all day," she explained, feeling the need to defend her brother just a little.
"If that's some kinda fancified way of saying he's a light weight, then sure." He chuckled good naturedly at his own joke and she couldn't help but laugh along with him.
He took another swig of his drink then turned to her. "Sure was some trick. You really had them goin' for a while there." His voice was rich with approval and it warmed her down to her toes. "So how'd you do it?"
"Research recommended hydration and abundant nutrition, so I've been eating protein bars all day and I must have consumed at least ten liters of water." Resting her hand on her stomach she could feel the bloat through her dress. "To be honest I feel a little queasy."
"None of that now! Still counts as your birthday, right?" He hollered down to the bartender, "She'll have what I'm having."
With a quiet smile she climbed onto the stool beside him, just another ordinary adult enjoying a drink with a friend.