An almost invisible smile in the corners of her mouth, Inara watched as Mal scanned her. Oh, he could try to pretend he didn't care, to play tough, but she could see right through him. The attention was in the details - and most of the time, Mal blundered around his emotions like an elephant in a china shop. She could read him like a book.
It was when he was trying to hide things that he was easiest to read. But Inara only smiled and tilted her head slightly to the side and said nothing until he spoke.
"Maybe I had," she said slowly, when Mal trailed off. "This place, it isn't in the 'verse, not like we know it. For all we know," she shrugged, "all of this could be happening in a flicker of our existence back home."
The server arrived with tea, setting it down in front of them, and Inara wrapped her fingers gratefully around the steaming mug. "It could be a heartbeat," she explained, her voice sounding vaguely wistful. If she ever returned, would she be able to remember it, whatever would happen here?