This is part of a prompt table I am working on. All the stories from it are standalones unless otherwise noted.

And I discovered when writing this that giving every character something to do is really HARD! No wonder why I rarely do it!

Thanks to Tamsibling for the beta.

Takes place before the movie but after the series.

This is for Kaynara, who wanted to know what Mal dared Inara to do.

Sequel to Kiss.

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62.Wet

“So how ya holdin’ up there, doc?” Jayne’s leering grin nauseated Simon as he deposited the bowl in front of River and then took a seat beside her.

“That would be none of your business, Jayne.”

Jayne examined his face carefully, “Ya look tired. Lil’ Kaylee keep ya up all night?”

“Slept like babies, didn’t we, Simon?”

Both men winced at the perky and cheerful sound of Kaylee’s voice as she walked over to the kitchen and scooped some protein into her bowl.

Jayne glanced from Kaylee to Simon and back again, trying to piece together what the two weren’t saying. He quickly grew frustrated, which amused Simon so much that he had to pay closer attention to River lest Jayne see the smirk that had formed on his lips.

Kaylee pulled out a chair and sat herself down beside Simon but there was no intimacy between them. In fact, it seemed quite the opposite. Boy seemed even more nervous around the mechanic. Which Jayne found more than a little amusing. Something happened, and he was going to make it his mission for the day to find out what. Grumbling his irritation as he realized this meant he might actually have to be nice to the doc for the day, he left the table to go re-fill his bowl.

“Frustrated,” River said as she poked at the protein cubes with her chopsticks.

Simon glanced back toward where Jayne had gone and grinned. “He – can’t have actually expected us to have anything to tell.”

Kaylee simply stared into her bowl.

River rolled her eyes at her brother, clearly annoyed that he’d missed her point.

Jayne stared at the moonbrain from the kitchen, a small smirk on his face. He’d understood her perfectly.

Shrugging, Simon simply ate in silence, painfully aware of how close Kaylee was sitting. Her proximity easily warming regions he’d rather keep quite cool.

They were saved from making small, uncomfortable, talk by Wash and Zoe, followed by Mal, entering the galley for breakfast. Jayne ambled back to his place and sat down, eyes continuing to dart between Simon and Kaylee.

“Well hello you two!” Wash’s cheery voice grated on Simon’s nerves and he smiled tentatively before returning his attention to the intriguing contents of his bowl. “Sleep well?”

Zoe elbowed his side and Mal glared at his pilot.

“What!?” Wash exclaimed with wide, innocent eyes. “It was just a question!”

“No questions allowed,” Mal grumbled as he got his food and sat at the head of the table.

“How’d the rest of the game go last night?” Kaylee asked quickly, hoping to divert their attention from her and Simon – and from the nothing that had happened after they’d gone to bed. Selfishly, she really wanted everyone to think something had happened.

“Cap’n got all wet.”

“Didn’t I say no questions?” Mal glared at Wash.

"That wasn't a question," Wash pointed out triumphantly. "That you ended up wet is a fact."

“Wet?” Inara walked in with a demure smile. “Are we talking about the Captain’s dare last night?”

Simon, until now very silent, looked up with a sly grin toward the Captain and said, “Oh, please. Do tell.”

Mal glared at Simon, whose smile only grew at the reaction.

‘Ain’t no need.”

Wash wrinkled his nose as he looked at Mal. “No need at all.” Zoe had wanted to continue the game, so his plans to have his way with his warrior woman were delayed for the more amusing game of ‘embarrass the Captain’. Which, Wash had to admit, had been pretty funny.

“Oh why?” Inara asked, her face a picture of pure innocence. “I think they’d enjoy the tale.”

“I don’t.”

Inara rolled her eyes at him and took a seat at the table. “We’ll just skip right to the fun part, shall we?” She smiled happily at Mal, who simply groaned in disgust.

“Yes,” Wash, Zoe and Simon said in unison.

“You can tell me every little detail later,” Kaylee smiled widely as she cast a look to Simon before turning her full attention to Inara.

“Me too,” Jayne said with an excited smile.

Inara just looked at him.

Kaylee’s eyes swept across his face and down his chest. “Don’t think so. Me an’ ‘Nara have girl talks an’ you ain’t invited.”

“Jayne is a girls name,” River smiled knowingly and even Simon had to hide a smile as he remembered the last time his sister had made mention of that fact.

Jayne simply growled at her.

“He wanted me to wash his feet.” Inara interjected quietly, knowing her statement would bring all attention back to the captain. He had started to relax just a bit, more than happy to encourage Jayne and - well, everyone’s, bickering if it made the rest of them forget about his predicament.

Simon raised an eyebrow and Kaylee’s mouth fell open.

“Can’t bend over to reach your own feet, Captain?” Simon asked, struggling to hold in a smile.

“I wouldn’t talk, doc. You went to bed with my mechanic last night.”

Simon’s mouth snapped shut and he glanced down at the table, embarrassed even though nothing had happened – even though he’d really wanted something to happen.

Kaylee patted his hand in reassurance before turning to the Captain. “Simon does got a point, Cap’n.”

“Thought she didn’t service crew?” Jayne asked, eyeing Inara’s pretty silks closely.

“It was a dare, Jayne,” Mal said with an exasperated look of annoyance on his face.

“They needed washed – badly. It was a good dare.” Zoe offered, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“No truer words have ever been spoken,” Wash added with a playful smile.

Mal crossed his arms and scowled at Inara. “Get it over with already.”

“Well, this is a specialty of mine. Companions are trained in such things. So I began, and –“

“Couldn’t keep his feet in the little tub,” Wash broke out into laughter.

“And he needed to keep his feet in the tub,” Zoe added with a wrinkle of her nose.

“I agree,” Book said with a nod as he walked in just as the conversation had begun but kept his silence.

“Why?” Kaylee asked, confused.

Inara’s bottom lip trembled as she attempted to hold the laughter at bay.

Suddenly Kaylee understood and began to laugh, confusing Simon even more.

“Cap’n has ticklish feet?!”

Mal frowned. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“No,” came the response from five of the eight other people present.

“Huh.”

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TBC in 'Heart'

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