Mal had actually remembered to knock this time. Inara was grateful for that when she called for him to enter.

"You wanted to see me, Inara?"

She fidgeted on the couch. It was the only time Mal could remember her fidgeting. He'd fidgeted plenty of times on that silly overstuffed couch, but never her.

"Yes. I...uhhhh...I have a contract."

He covered up the flash of hurt across his face. It has been two weeks since Miranda, and she'd not said a peep about taking her back to the Training House or taking on new clients. Mal had actually begun to let himself hope that maybe he had some sort of chance with her.

"Right...ahhh...OK. I guess you need to be back to earning your keep then. So where to?"

She still wouldn't look directly at him. Funny, that was usually him trying to avoid looking directly at her. "Here, actually."

"Well, better here than in the mess, I suppose."

If Mal hadn't known better, he woulda sworn it was her first time out the gate, the way she was blushing and stammering. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this suddenly skittish colt sitting across from him.

Her hands twisted nervously in her lap. "No, I actually mean here. As in, on Serenity."

Mal's eyes grew wide. "Don't tell me the doc managed to scrounge up enough coin! I cannot be havin' to pick up the pieces of Kaylee's heart because Little Lord Fauntleroy tossed her over..."

"It's you." In a whisper he could barely hear.

His eyes got even wider. "Me? Is this some joke? I ain't got that kinda coin!"

Inara cleared her throat nervously. "It's...uhhmmm...paid for. Anonymously."

There had to be strings attached. In Mal's considered experience, women like Inara never came without strings attached somewhere. "So some kind soul decided I get to be a lucky hwoo-dan, is that it? And what do you get out of this deal, Inara?"

"Mal, please don't make this any more awkward..."

"Well, what if you and me just don't go through with it? You still get your coin, right?"

"Not exactly. The donor has requested...uhhmmm...proof, prior to payment."

And there was the string. "Proof? Proof that I was, what? Well-serviced?"

She looked even more embarrassed. “It’s a simple blood test. The doctor can…”

By now, Mal was outright furious. “So all I gotta do is drop my drawers and do my business so that you can keep on at yours, is that it?”

Inara’s embarrassment turned to anger. “Some men wouldn’t see it as a chore, Captain!”

“Well then, let’s get down to business, darlin’!” He angrily yanked down his suspenders and started to unbutton his shirt. “I’ll warn ya, it’s been a good long while. But I’ll try and see you get full payment for services rendered.”

And in that instant, Inara completely crumpled, sinking down onto the floor and sobbing. Mal stopped unbuttoning the fly on his pants, suddenly feeling like a complete hwoo-dan for having made her cry. He sank down next to her, shirt unbuttoned and pants threatening to slide off his hips.

“Hell, bao-bei, I ain’t mad at ya. I’m mad at that gorram Guild for having stuck you in this position. ‘sides, I was hoping…” He stopped himself before he said too much.

Inara lifted a tear-stained face at him. “Hoping for what, Mal?”

“Maybe with you and me it…that is, if there was a you and me…it wouldn’t be about money.”

A small smile played around the edge of her mouth. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“We do this, you lose everything, you know. Your license, your livelihood, everything.”

She reached up for him and pulled him down toward her. “Maybe not everything.”

*****

River hummed softly to herself as she piloted the ship. Plan had worked just as she thought. Just needed to be the right gift horse.