He can't dance.

He's never been able to, through no fault of his own - and he's never been called upon to dance, so things have more or less worked out in that aspect. But now, after several years of marriage, Zoe wants to dance? Wash has never been able to say no to her, not to something this... well, it'd be silly to tell her no, wouldn't it? It's not as though she asks a lot from him - apart from that he accept the odd relationship between her and Mal.

"Can fly," River tells him, causing him to jump. She moves so quietly no one seems to know she's lurking until she... well, de-lurks. "Flying is dancing. There's a rhythm to it."

Wash snorts in disbelief. "River, dancing may come as easily to you as flying does to me, but I've never left a dance floor feeling anything but 17 kinds of stupid."

"She doesn't care if you dance well," River smiles. "Skill is not the issue."

Wash knows that, but he still doesn't want to leave Zoe disappointed - or with broken toes. Mal would kill him - quite possibly literally - if Zoe were incapacitated, and besides that fact, he loves her and doesn't want to break her toes with his clumsy footwork anyway.

"I could teach you," she offers.

Wash looks up. "You'd do that?"

~*~

Zoe doesn't know what to think when she steps onto the catwalks to the sound of classical music, tinny sounding as it comes from Kaylee's old music player, and the sight of her husband swirling River around the cargo bay while Kaylee watches, laughing. Then she hears him wince as he steps on River's bare foot.

"River, I'm so sorry - I'm never gonna get this."

"Aw, Wash," Kaylee says encouragingly. "You were doin' real good 'till then. You just gotta have more faith in yourself."

"How much longer until we reach Persephone?" River asks, though he's sure she's deduced the answer on her own when she was watching over his shoulder.

"Day and a half," he responds automatically. "More, if the meteor storm they're expecting hits."

"We'll go get us some supper," Kaylee suggests, "an' then we can come back here an' I'll be your dance partner for a while. Zoe's gonna be so happy when she sees all ya gone to just so's you could take her out to that fancy restaurant."

"The restaurant isn't the problem," Wash says, more glumly than Zoe ever likes to hear her mister sounding. "I clean up pretty nice, got fairly good table manners, and eating comes second nature," he says, "I just don't wanna make her look a fool. Zoe... she's grace incarnate. That woman has never done a thing that didn't make me stop and go, wow, that beautiful, graceful creature is mine."

~*~

"How did your dancin' lessons go?" Zoe asks casually as they lay down to sleep that night. Wash is exhausted from hours of trying desperately not to break River's and Kaylee's toes.

"I... don't know what you're talking about," Wash says, trying for casual but missing by a mile and three quarters.

"Sweetest thing you ever done, husband," Zoe murmurs, resting her head on his shoulder and letting the steady rise and fall of his chest lull her to sleep.