Work Text:
Mal rubbed tiredly at his face. "I don’t know. I woke up and he was there, in my room, drunk, babbling, not making sense…"
"Not making more sense more than usual?" Wash asked, stifling a yawn. He sipped at the warm tea which Inara had made while Simon tried to understand what was going on.
"Be nice," Zoë said with no real inflection. "He might be hurt."
"In his head?" Wash asked. "And we'll know this how?"
Jayne was sat at the head of the dining table, eyes unfocussed, occasionally muttering some nonsensical statement. Simon frowned.
"Maybe he is just drunk," he said warily. "But I didn't think we had enough liquor left onboard to take Jayne out."
Mal eyed River, who was sitting on the floor by Kaylee's chair, knees tucked under her chin.
"You know anything about this?" he asked sternly.
"Look to the crazy girl to explain about the craziness," River pouted. "Not contagious."
"Could be a drug," Simon said helplessly. "I can run some blood tests."
"You do that." Mal sighed. "I'm going back to bed."
"Flying monkeys might get in," Jayne said urgently and Mal rolled his eyes.
"And I'm locking my door," Mal added.
It sounded like a good plan.