Kaylee and Rose were in town to collect several engine parts. They were on their own for a spell, and Kaylee had to have a little fun. "Could you grab that sex inch coil?"

"What?" Rose asked as a blush heated her neck.

"The six inch coil."

"Oh. Right."

"Next to the sexy pilot wrench."

"What?"

"Sixty pivot wrench. You know, the sex inch coil and the sexy pilot wrench," she saw the look on Rose's face and hid her amusement pretty well. "You having problems with your ears, sweetie? Simon'll take a look for you. C'mon, we can't be lollygaggin' all day."

This Rose couldn't be redder.

In the cargo bay, Zoe and River were sorting their new acquisitions. Zoe couldn't help having some fun herself. "River, I know about your secret in the passenger dorms."

River knew what she was doing, so she only gave a skeptical glance.

"Your secret smuggling nook. Can we use it for this cargo?"

"Yes," River could play this game. "Didn't you share an exhausting night with a welder several months ago?"

Zoe didn't think that anyone knew about that one-time thing on some backwoods planet. "Excuse me?"

"Fixing the hull. Looks like one of the panels may be damaged again."

That made the older woman smirk. "Well played."

"Don't tango with someone who knows all the steps."

Later that night, Rose and River were woven together and taking turns drawing temporary tattoos on one another. Rose glanced at River's determined face as she colored in the colors of the Union Jack on Rose's abdomen.

"You don't think that they know about us, do you?"

River hid it well. "Why do you ask?"

"Kaylee was being…weird…today."

"Kaylee is weird. Stay still. Almost done."

"But, it tickles," she groaned.

"Not as much as this," River tossed the pen aside and assaulted Rose with her tickling fingertips.

The laughter reached Simon in the infirmary and he cringed at the thought of what was going on in there. It was his turn for some fun, so he went to River's door—knowing full well that she wasn't in there—and knocked several times.

"River? River, it's Simon."

In Rose's room, River sat upright. "I'm in here."

"Great. I'll just come in for—"

"No," River quickly said. "We're having a fashion show."

"Yeah," Rose seconded. "A fashion show. No men allowed."

"All right. Well, I'll talk to you later, River."

He smiled when he heard them urgently whispering about the close call. In the room, Rose laughed it off and wiggled a pen in the air. "Time for payback. What do you want?"

"I want a bunny rabbit."

"A bunny rabbit you shall have," Rose took the ink pen and picked River's collarbone.

Simon could hear the giggles all of the way up the steps. He shook his head and simply couldn't take it. He wanted to know exactly what was happening, and he was going to.

So, while Rose helped the others with inventory, he went onto the bridge to have a chat with little his sister. He couldn't say that he was enthusiastic about it. No brother is happy about their sister dating anyone, so he wished that River would become a nun and spare him these awkward conversations.

With River's nature, she wouldn't last two days.

"You're with Rose, aren't you?"

River spun in the pilot's chair with a smirk. "Couldn't take it anymore, could you?"

"I had to ask."

"Don't tell."

"Kaylee and Zoe know. It's fairly obvious."

"Want it to come from us."

"How long will that take?"

"Very soon. Just needed time for ourselves. Before others would pry."

He gave a small nod. "All right. It seems to be going well."

"Yes. But, she won't admit it yet."

"Admit that you're together or that it's going well?"

"That she's falling for me."

"She is?" he saw River's classic glare. Of course she'd know. "Right. And you?"

"Since I saw her. All ready fell. Plop."

"Please, be careful. I don't want this to be like what happened with her."

"Frida. You can say her name."

"I couldn't for a long time. She sent you into the biggest relapse since—"

"Not her fault. She had to go."

Simon internally groaned. "She made you pick between her and your family. When you picked us, you know how ugly it became."

"Because she loved me, Simon. She hurt River because River hurt her. This is different."

"You can't know that," he stopped and she gave him another mocking glance. "All right, that isn't the point. Things change. People change. Rose ran from her reality, her own family, and I can't help thinking that it might indicate a predisposition for selfish and impulsive behaviors."

"Simon, you know her. You like her. Can't randomly dislike her simply because she's kissing your sister. Often. Very often," she enjoyed the disturbed look on Simon's face before continuing. "Don't have to be so protective. Not going to hurt River. Trust me."

"It's only that after Frida left…it was so hard to watch you hurt that way."

"Hard to live. We keep flying, Simon. Rose Tyler is my first rule of flying."

Love. She was love.

… … … … … …

Some nights later, the new couple decided to sleep in River's room for a change. That was a very, very bad idea. In the morning, Mal needed River to pilot the ship, and the man hardly ever knocked. River felt him coming and shook Rose.

"Mal."

Rose slid under the bed just as he opened the door. He didn't see Rose, but he saw the odd expression on River's face. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Woke me up."

"Oh. Well, get to piloting. We got to pick up speed so we aren't late for our meeting."

"Yes, Captain."

He thought that he saw something moving under the corner of the blanket near the floor, but he figured that his mind was playing tricks on him. After he left, Rose popped up and took a deep breath. "Too close."

"Rude Captain. Never knocks. He'll walk in on something if he's not careful."

"Blimey, I hope not."

"It's not too bad. The discomfort passes."

"You'd know, wouldn't you?"

"Wrote the book on it."

Rose shuddered at the thought of somebody walking in when they were, well, gathering data. She sat on the bed next to River and laughed at the goofy smile on her face. For a second, she considered the situation and brightly took River's hand.

"We've been at this a while, yeah?"

"Time passed would constitute a while."

"And, we're always sneaking about."

"Very difficult and time consuming."

"Can never get cuddly wherever we want."

"Location, location, location."

"Always watching what we say."

"Hindered speech is not acceptable."

"We're doing brilliantly."

"Fantastic."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Rivy?"

"Do tell."

"I'm thinking that maybe we should say something."

"An exceptional idea. Will use a banner. And song and dance."

"Throw in some confetti, and we've got a plan."