disclaimer: same as always

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Jayne kicked his bedroom wall angrily. "Find out sometime?" he cursed himself. "What in the hell'd you mean by that?" There was no sense talking to Simon like that, because Simon wasn't some girl he wanted to get into bed. Simon was the doctor, a crewmate and until recently hadn't even been considered a friend. "You been out here in the stars too long," Jayne told himself. "Not only are you making weird moves on the doc, but you're talking to yourself."

Mal knocked on Jayne's door. "Food," he called down pleasantly.

"Ain't hungry!" Jayne snapped, as he was told to. Well, he was told by River to say he wasn't hungry for dinner, but the attitude had been his own addition. He was just too ponderous with himself to be pleasant right now.

"Okay," Mal said indifferently, "fine." He walked on, not even curious as to what was up Jayne's behind. His next stop was the engine room, where Kaylee and River were sewing in secret. "Dinner," he told them.

"Oh, maybe later," Kaylee smiled. "We're trying to finish this piece but we're having trouble."

"Fourteen thousand, nine hundred seventy three stitches," River informed him, her eyes wide and impressed. "I can't grasp the connection. I've counted too far."

"See, that's your first mistake," Mal told her, giving her a fishy eye. He could never quite understand that girl no matter how much he told himself to just 'let it go'. "You know where the doc is?"

"No," Kaylee said, concentrating on her stitches.

"Simon's-" River clamped her hand over her own mouth. "I got it," she declared. "Simon has taken fourteen thousand, nine hundred seventy three steps in so many hours!"

"Ah…" Mal hummed, "simple 'I don't know' will do next time, okay girl?" She nodded eagerly and grabbed a needle, making perfect stitches almost twice as fast as Kaylee. As he turned to go, the lights cut off across the ship. "What the hell?" he asked the ceiling. "Kaylee…"

"That's a circuit problem," she told him. "Not the engine. Can't fix it from here."

"Gorramit," he cussed. Walking carefully, he maneuvered his way to the bridge where the control panel lay open with wires hanging out. Nothing amiss so far. There was faint enough light from the stars outside so he could see that he couldn't see what the problem was. River popped up behind him.

"Disconnected," she told him. "Space rats."

"Space rats? Ain't got no rats on this ship I don't pay wages to." He studied the dark wires shooting here and there. Sure, he could figure them out if he wanted. But he was too damn hungry to worry about it right now.

"I can do it," River offered.

"What about your dress thing?"

She gave him a petulant look which, surprisingly, he could see real well in the dark. "Can't sew with no light," she informed him.

"Well… okay. Just don't set nothing on fire. That includes you, understand?"

"Understand." Her fingers worked nimbly through the complex network of wires, a rainbow of confusion and electricity. "Least the air's still on."

"Always a plus," he agreed. Well, he decided, if it was gonna be dark then he wasn't going to bother finding Simon. He was just gonna go eat. In the dark.

Zoe was waiting for him in the kitchen. There were two long, thick white candles places in the center of the table. They made a lovely glow over the room.

"Shiny," Mal said, inspecting them with a smile. "Real romantic. Got a date you ain't telling me about?"

"No," she said, spooning whatever there was to eat onto her plate. "Was like that when I got here."

"I see."

"And notice there are only two plates out."

"Convenient, since there's just two of us here."

"Exactly. Candlelit dinner for two. See what I mean?"

"Starting to." He glanced around to see if anyone was watching him, but he couldn't tell because it was too damn dark. All he could see was Zoe's face illuminated by the candles. It was a light that suited her. He stood close to her, close enough to whisper in her ear. "So what do we make of this?" he asked softly.

She shrugged. "Let them think they're winning. I'm sure someone's nearby listening in."

"Thank God," Mal said, a bit loudly. "Just us."

"Mmm hmm."

"I gotta admit, you're one hell of a dancer."

"Damn right I am." She smiled at him, playing along and genuinely enjoying herself. "You should see me dance on my back."

"Now how in the…" He caught on, just a moment too late. When he did, he blushed and stammered. "Ah, I see." He hadn't been expecting that. Apparently Zoe was enjoying his moment of stupid because she was smiling like all hell. Mal sat down quickly. Okay, this was a game. He could play, right? No problem. It'd be like playing with Jayne, only less disturbing. Much less disturbing.

Zoe sat beside him. "Looks good," she said. "Almost as good as the man who made it."

"You're killing me here, Zoe. You know that?"

"That's the plan."

They ate in a comfortable silence, only talking every once in a while to say something coy or make a sweet joke they both laughed to. After a while, Zoe forgot they were playing it up for whoever was listening and just enjoyed herself. She hadn't been talked to like this since she and Wash had started dating which was forever and a life ago.

"Now that was a damn good meal," Mal declared. "Probably because no one else was here to spoil it. Food was good, the sights was good… best meal I've had in a long time." He stood up, taking Zoe's empty plate with him.

"No, let me do dishes. You cooked."

"Nah, it's all right. I don't mind." He dropped them in the sink. "Done. Make Jayne do 'em at breakfast tomorrow."

"Clever." She smiled at him, a soft and genuine smile. Mal felt his head get lighter. Maybe River had been wrong, maybe the air had gone off. He was starting to feel a weird giddiness he'd never felt before. "So," Zoe said lightly, "any plans now?"

"None I can think of. Unless you plan on showing me how you dance."

Zoe was stunned for a brief second. That had been damn direct, one thing Mal had never been when it came to this stuff was direct. Now it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. "Hell," she said coyly, "you think after one dinner you can get me to dance for you?"

He shrugged. "Was worth a shot, anyway." His ears caught a small noise over by the doorway. Someone was there, watching them. His smile grew wider and he noticed Zoe had heard it too. "So what does dinner buy me?" he asked.

"Not dancing, that's for damn sure."

"How about…" He placed his hands gently on her hips, pulled her close and kissed her.

Zoe pushed him away instantly, stunned. Was this crossing the line between playing and real? More importantly, did it matter? "Mal," she stammered, trying to find something to say. "What if someone comes in?" There, that was plausible.

"I don't care," he said, drinking in the dizziness in his head. "Let 'em see." He kissed her again. This time she didn't pull away, but didn't exactly reciprocate. She wasn't sure she could.

Mal released her after a moment, all too aware (too late again) he'd probably just done something real stupid. After looking into her eyes, it was confirmed. "Lights," he said simply, and walked off before another word could be uttered between them.