Recap: River one night said to Mal “Everyone knows, everyone knows even if you can’t say it yourself” and Simon thinks he knows. Mal contemplates what it means for everyone to know, and Jayne continually wonders.

A/N: (1) Just a quick note to validate that Inara, indeed, said she wouldn’t service Mal’s crew, but she meant as payment. She does, in fact, service a certain member of the crew in the comic Better Days, which is totally legit to the storyline. In other words, she isn’t using her body for renting the shuttle, nor is inclined to do so. It’s completely her own will to sleep with that person000000 (2) River likes to talk about the ocean, but that’s me being clever and cross-referencing my other Firefly fic. Osocleva!

::Part 2/2::

“Dancing in a little dress, it makes me feel so pretty. I love to dress up. I love to pretend – there’s nothing wrong with that me, the one that comes out of the closet in a pretty pink dress. Oh, Simon, please dance with me.” River danced around in circles on the landing area to Simon’s growing horror.

“River, that’s Kaylee’s dress,” Simon called out, somewhat distressed.

“Not here, Simon, not this me,” River protested, dancing in circles as Simon tried to stop her spinning. “This me doesn’t steal – she bothers kindly!”

“River, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“No, not now.”

“River, not ever.”

The frilly pink dress caught onto Serenity’s machinery; a tear broke through the air.

“That’s my punishment for pretending,” River whispered softly. She ducked out of the dress, being larger than she, and strode off naked, leaving Simon with torn fabric… and an extremely upset Kaylee having just appeared.

“Er…I can explain…”

From the level above, River announced with her arms wide and unashamed of her unclothed figure. “This is me.”

Kaylee remained speechless. She turned right around and went back to her shuttle

Simon heaved a great sigh and corrected himself “I… can’t explain it.”

“What can’t you explain?” Mal asked, making his own entrance.

Simon was caught off-guard, but seeing that the area was clear, he found it the perfect moment – quite thrust upon him – to get the words off his chest that had been bubbling uncomfortably in his stomach. “Nothing, just… Mal? You know, uh, that it doesn’t really matter to anyone here if you… well, if you prefer men to women.”

Mal was thrown off a bit. “Er… thanks, Simon, I feel… elated to have your approval. Honestly, I’m touched.”

“Mal, I’m serious. It doesn’t bother me. And I want you to know that.”

“Oh, well, if I didn’t, I’d just have to kill myself, now wouldn’t I?” Mal questioned, smiling brilliantly. Simon was beginning to suspect that his own suspections were off-base, except for the fact that he was never wrong

“You completely impossible, you know that?” Simon groaned

“Oh, Simon, I think you’re falling for me,” Mal bantered playfully.

“Impossible!”

Mal winked.

River giggled from above them. Both men glanced in her direction. “Going to the ocean,” she giggled, swinging her bare legs. Simon half-wondered what she heard, and what she understood.

“Do you mind, er…?” Mal nodded to the man’s sister and her lack of clothing. Simon ran a hand through his hair, then echoed a last heavy sigh.

--

“How do you feel about Mal’s situation, Shepherd?”

“What situation would that be?”

“Come now, Shepherd. You know exactly the one I’m speaking of.”

“Oh, that. Well, it was to be expected.”

“Really?”

“Really, really Inara. You didn’t see this in foresight?”

“W-Well, I-“

“It’s not that shocking, Inara dear.”

“…of course not.”

--

It was the first meal all-together after River’s outburst. Some days, meals were taken individually or the night before was too busy for a sit-down. Meals taken together were much more rewarding then warming a mystery can, but the focus left hunger to Mal until he finally burst, “Why’s everyone lookin’ at me like I sprouted another ear?

“Because they know,” River reminded, the only member of Serenity more amused with her spiced apples then the Captain.

“Well, I got my reasons to keep quiet about some things I do,” Mal informed her defensively, “So how about we all go back to -”

“Why doesn’t we just put it out on the table now?” Simon suggested. “Let’s just get it over with.” Mal groaned, while Jayne leaned forward.

“It doesn’t matter so much whether the Captain’s lookin’ out for us,” Zoë interjected quietly.

“Looking out for what? Our… innocent minds?” Simon guffawed. “I think we’re already corrupted as far as morality goes on this ship.”

“All right, what’s going on?” Wash asked.

“Food’s better,” River complimented out of the blue.

“Well, I for one agree, but what’s Simon talking about?”

“Can I tell them, Captain?” Kaylee asked quietly.

Mal seemed a little startled, but recovered it well in a split second and said “You might as well.”

“The captain lopped off some of Badger’s earnings so we could eat better and get Serenity some new parts,” Kaylee explained.

River nodded and held her chopsticks up.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Simon said and Mal nodded in agreement which was quick to throw the crew back into utter confusion. Book let out a loud laugh that he had been trying hard to repress. It seemed to unsettle Inara most of all.

“Head in the ocean,” River laughed.

Jayne glanced first at her, then at Simon, and finally at Mal. “Hell, Mal, is that it?”

“Is what it?” Wash cried out. “Come on, now, and just say it.”

Zoë’s mouth made a perfect “o”.

“Mal’s not… good with the ladies,” Book said, somewhat cryptically.

“Because he prefers men,” Simon concluded.

A silent bell dinged with the answer finally out in the open.

“Aw, hell, that ain’t nothing to be helped with what you like,” Jayne commented, a little put off that the secret wasn’t quite that big. “I don’t see a problem here.”

Inara’s mouth opened and closed, as it was oft to do.

“Because there isn’t a problem,” Simon affirmed.

“Is there?” Inara inquired to Book, who had kept a steady gaze on her reactions.

“Is there?” he bantered back with a smile.

“Ain’t nothing wrong with it, Captain,” Kaylee summed up, leaping up to give the startled man a reassuring hug. “I think it’s shiney.”

“Wait, so you’re gay?” Wash asked.

“That would be correct.”

“Well, at least that’s clear now.”

“So’s the ocean,” River inputted around her fingers, steadily feeding her mouth.

“River-”

“And you took more than your share from Badger.”

“Also correct.”

“Isn’t it better to know what everyone knows already?” River asked , brightly.

The hard lines set in Mal’s facial features softened for just the moment with a smile brighter and a sort of a serene manner. Inara thought it ironically made him seem more handsome and wondered if it was going to bother her, or rather if it would show.

--

“Hey, Captain?”

“Ohhh Kaylee.”

“Soo, I was just wondering…”

“This can’t be good…”

“Who do you think is the most handsome guy on board?”

“Oh god…”

“Come on, just for fun. Please, Captain?”

Mal turned, sighed, then looked her in the eye. “You want an honest answer from me?”

Kaylee nodded, looking extremely hopeful in this prospect.

“And this stays between us?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well… I vote I.”

“Captain!”

“Now, shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on Serenity?”

“…Right sir.”

-To Be Ended?-

And then the story wrote itself a couple of months later. Don’t you love it when that happens? Now, to business: Questions, Comments, Concerns?