Kaylee hummed quietly to herself, something she’d heard somewhere, and it stuck in her mind. She didn’t know what it was, didn’t care. It was pretty and it made her feel happy.

“Are you ever going to do what you’re told?” Simon said from the doorway to the engine room.

The young mechanic turned to smile at him. “Are you going to tell me off?” she asked. “Don’t. I just wanted … I needed to make sure she was okay. I mean, the Cap’n don't know how to do anything ‘cept fix a catalyser, and the only one anywhere near decent in the rest of this crew is Hank, and he’s a pilot, not an engineer.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be here.” He stepped across the threshold. “I told you to rest. If you wanted to come here you should have asked me.” His voice was gentle, but his meaning was clear.

Kaylee bridled a little. “So I gotta ask every time I want to do something?”

“Not every time, no. Just when you want to do something stupid like go on board a leaky boat and fix an engine that nearly kills you,” Simon said, inadvertently letting his worry show as anger.

“I didn’t know there was a radiation leak!” Kaylee protested. “Anyway, Jayne got me out of there.”

“Only because he knocked me out first,” Simon said.

“Oh.” Kaylee lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “Nobody told me about that.”

“He hit me, and with more force than was entirely necessary,” Simon explained, touching the lump on the back of his skull where it was still tender.

“You were going to charge to my rescue?” Kaylee asked.

“Of course.” He looked at her. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I …” She looked down at the engine part in her hand. “No-one said. I thought the Cap’n -”

“It didn’t get that far,” Simon interrupted. “Mal was about to give orders, I said I was going, then Jayne hit me. Next thing anyone knew he was out in the airlock and fighting his way to you.”

Kaylee smiled sweetly. “I’ll have to thank him.”

“You already did,” Simon pointed out. “Twice.”

“He saved my life, Simon. You should be happy.”

“Oh, I am. It’s not him I’m tetchy about. It’s you.”

Kaylee patted the engine housing. “I needed to see her.”

“And you’ve seen her, so now you go back to bed,” the young doctor ordered.

She looked at him. “Are you planning on being this forceful all the time?” she asked mischievously.

“Maybe.”

“It’s kinda nice.”

He shook his head at her, then smiled and said, “Come on. Back to your bunk.”

Kaylee walked towards him, handing him the engine part which he dropped carelessly onto the work bench, and she winced. “How would you like it if I dropped one of your medical gizmos like that?” she complained.

“Bed.”

Without another word she walked out of the engine room and back through the dining area towards the crew quarters. It was funny, she thought, but even now, two years since they first started sleeping together, they still kept their own rooms. Not like Freya and the Captain: once they’d gotten over their stupidity she’d moved in with him again, and showed no signs of moving out. Might be nice to have someone to sleep next to every night, but once in a while she needed her space. At her bunk she idly adjusted one of the little lights around the doorway.

“Do you need a hand getting down?” Simon asked.

“Are you staying with me for a while?” she asked in turn.

“Do I need to?”

“Thought you might not trust me. Maybe I’ll wait ‘til your back’s turned and go straight back to my engine room,” Kaylee said playfully.

“Are you likely to?”

“I might. Depends on what happens in the next half hour or so.” She looked into his face and noted the tiredness there. “’Sides, I think you’re the one who needs some rest.”

“I’ll rest. When you’re asleep.”

“Then you’d best come down with me. Wouldn’t want me falling down the ladder, would we?”

Simon glared at her, but nodded and climbed down first, assisting her as she stepped down. At the bottom she turned to him standing on her toes so she could reach him properly. Leaning into him, she touched her mouth to his, then ran her tongue along his top lip. Simon took hold of her shoulders.

“I’m not going to let you do this,” Simon said, making her sit on the edge of her bunk. “You need to get some rest.”

“But Simon -”

“No buts! Or I’ll just have to get angry with you.”

She looked at him, then her gaze softened. “Yes doctor.” She lifted her legs and laid down, her feet bare, her toenails painted a pretty pink. “Although I’m not sure what you’d do if you did get angry. Ain’t never really seen you angry with me.”

“It’s not a nice thing,” Simon assured her. “I get … nasty.”

“Ooh, really?” She rolled onto her side so she could look at him. “How nasty?”

“Ask River.”

Kaylee made a face. “That’s not fair, bringing your baby sister into this. Quite kills the mood.”

“Kaylee, I want you to get some sleep. Please,” he pleaded.

“Then tell me. Make it a bedtime story if you like,” Kaylee said, laying her head on her arm, looking up at him.

Simon sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get out of there without something. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, for a start I’d probably have to …”

“What?” she encouraged.

“Well, first, I’d undo your coverall. Just a little, just so’s I could see the curve of your breasts. Not that I’d be taking much notice.”

“Why? What’s wrong with them?” Kaylee asked, sitting up and looking down her top.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Simon assured her quickly. “It’s just that … well, I wouldn’t want you to find your breathing restricted.”

“Why would … what did you have in mind, doctor?” Kaylee asked, her eyes bright.

“Well, you’ve not exactly been a good girl, not doing what people tell you, and in my experience that sort of thing has to be stopped in its tracks.” Simon put his hand on her leg.

“Oh,” Kaylee said, loosening her coverall, just a little. “How would you go about doing that?”

“A good spanking.” Kaylee dissolved into unexpected laughter, and Simon looked taken aback. “This is not a laughing matter,” he insisted.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Kaylee said, putting hand on his. “It’s just … I can’t imagine you doing that. You’re so … proper.”

“Not that proper. Not any more,” he said quietly. “You’ve been a very bad influence on me.”

“Oh, I’d’a said it was just the opposite.” Kaylee calmed down a little, then added, “So, what would you do?”

“Well, first of all I’d turn you over, like this.” He took hold of her waist, and Kaylee obliged by rolling over onto her front, looking back at him over her shoulder.

“Would I be naked?” she asked.

“No. Not at first,” he admitted. “But maybe later.” He cleared his throat, looking down at her. “You know, you have a great … well, they’re really nice.”

Kaylee smiled. He might have been a brilliant doctor, and seen her in all states of undress, and lots of different positions, but he still had difficulty sometimes talking about her body. She tried to stifle the laugh that rolled in her throat, but this merely made the twin globes of her buttocks jiggle.

“Stop that,” Simon ordered. “This is hard enough as it is.”

“Hard?” she asked playfully, reaching back to try and put a hand in his groin.

“You keep doing that and the bedtime story ends there,” he said quickly, moving back just a little.

“’Tain’t fair,” she said, settling down again. “All this fun you’re having, and I don’t get to get any.”

“This isn’t fun, Kaylee. This is chastisement.”

“Oh. Yes. I forgot.” She leaned her head on her folded arms, still managing to see him over her shoulder. “So, here I am. Now what?”

Simon thought for a moment then said, “Well, I’d probably start off just by stroking you. Making sure that you were relaxed.” He moved his hand across the rough fabric of her coverall, pressing just enough so he knew she could feel him. “Then maybe one or two light taps.” He suited the word to the deed, beating a short rhythm through her clothes.

“That’s kinda nice,” Kaylee said, closing her eyes, then opening them wide as his pats became harder. “Ooh, but that’s better.” She wriggled a little. “Still say it would be better if I was naked, though.”

Simon looked down at her and sighed. This wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when he found her in the engine room, and he wasn’t at all sure that it was exactly good for her, but his own body was starting to dictate what he should be doing now. “You think so?” he asked.

Kaylee rolled onto her side and grinned at him. “And maybe not just me. You look like you need somethin’ in the way of ‘chastisement’ yourself.” This time she managed to get her hand onto his crotch before he could move back, and her grin got wider. “See? I knew it,” she said in triumph.

“Kaylee, you are …” Simon couldn’t finish.

“Perfect?” she suggested.

“Something like that,” he replied, leaning over so he could kiss her, his hands opening her coveralls wider, sliding inside to her warmth.

In the corridor above, Mal looked at Freya, standing there next to him, leaning on the bulkhead. She had a smile on her lips. “You know, that young man should remember to close the door when he’s going to tell stories like that,” he said quietly.

Freya nodded and pushed off from the wall, coming to stand close to him. “Good job we ain’t got passengers,” she agreed. “Could get us something of a reputation.”

“You mean other than the one we’ve got already?” He shook his head. “You know people talk about us as it is.”

“Oh?” Freya asked, moving closer just enough so that he could feel her touching his hip and thigh. “What do they say?”

“I don’t care to listen,” Mal admitted. “I believe Jayne does, though.”

“Is that why he keeps getting into those fights? Is he defending our honour?”

“Jayne?”

“Okay, pretend I didn’t say that. But …”

The sound of Kaylee moaning in some kind of ecstasy made Mal redden. “I don’t need to hear this.” He pulled the door closed, the latch clicking shut.

“I could have stood a little more,” Freya admitted.

“You like listening to other people getting it on?” Mal asked, surprised.

“No. Not really.” She pressed herself against him. “It just gives me ideas, is all.”

“What kind of ideas?” he asked, turning into her, feeling the heat of her body along his.

“Come down and I’ll show you,” Freya invited, stepping away and going to the door to their own bunk.

Hank, seeing them in the corridor, was about to call to Mal, tell him about Badger’s message, when he saw Mal take hold of Freya’s arm, turning her so he could kiss her, letting his hands roam across her backside, pulling her into him. Freya kissed him solidly back, then took his hand, leading him back into their bunk.

“Gorramit,” Hank said to himself. “Is everyone on this boat getting some except me?” He shook his head, then brightened up. “Wonder where Zoe is?” he asked no-one in particular.