River sat at the mess hall table thumbing through stacks of paper. One leg dangled listlessly while the other was bent with her foot resting on her chair. Her free arm wrapped around her bent leg and her chin rested on her knee. She hummed quietly in a minor key.

Simon had his back to her doing the night's dishes, sleeves pushed up to his elbows. "You must remember to thank Inara for getting that for you off the cortex, mei-mei." He didn't look up form his task.

"Already did." River didn't look up from hers either.

They continued their own thought processes as Shepherd Book entered and sat down across from River. "What are you reading, child? May I look?"

River handed the bottom half of the stack of paper to Book. "Stories and rules," she explained.

"What language is this?" asked Book looking confused.

"Latin," Simon answered for River as usual. He still didn't look up from the dishes . . . always the meticulous surgeon.

"It's dead." Said River. She didn't look up from her reading material. " I like to read dead things."

Book looked alarmed.

"She means she likes to read things in ancient languages. She always did like linguistics." Simon finally looked over his shoulder and smiled warmly at his little sister. The moment passed, and he was back to his dishes with a vengeance.

"Oh! It's time for your medicine, River!" Simon wiped his wet soapy hands on a rag. "Shepherd, would you stay here for a bit while I . . ."

"Of course," answered the older man.

Simon left the mess hall to fetch the dreaded needle. River closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of things that made her happy.

"Where was this Latin used, River?" Book interrupted her attempts at blocking the fear of the upcoming medication.

"Earth that was." River responded monotonely.

"Really?" Book looked interested, but River knew he was just trying to distract her from her growing nervousness. He always seemed to try to calm her when she became afraid, but it never worked.

"Yes," She replied not changing her bored tone. "It was used mostly by people who religized. The leaders would say things in Latin, and even though the followers had no idea what he was saying they'd say it back."

"Is that so?" River could tell she was making Book uncomfortable, and she enjoyed it.

"Yes. Not many places in the Verse religize now."

"As you probably know, River" Book raised an eyebrow, "I come from a moon that religizes."

"Yes," said River." and you lead them. . .. but," she donned a smug look, "you don't know Latin."

"No I don't" said Book calmly. Simon should be back by now with River's medication, he thought. He would need to keep this conversation going for a bit longer to keep River from thinking of the upcoming painful shot. "Why do you think most planets don't religize now, River?"

"Because on Earth that was they though that He lived in the sky. . . .When they finally found out how to get to the sky, He wasn't there."

River took the stack of paper she had previously handed to Book and laid them beside the stack she was already holding. She shuffled the stacks together like a deck of cards and pushed them into a neat pile.

"You're too wise for your own good, child." Shepherd Book rose to leave as Simon entered the room with River's medicine.

River smiled coyly at him. "You want to make people think He isn't confined to the sky."

"Who isn't confined where?" Simon looked very confused.

"No one," said River.