Kaylee just looked at her a little skeptical for a few moments, then shook her head a little and smiled. ”Sorry.” She said.

”What for?” River asked curiously.

”Bein’ stupid I guess.” She replied.

”Oh… I guess I didn’t notice that.” River said, scratching at her hair a little, and fidgeting a bit. ”The food’s good.” She offered, looking at Kaylee a little uncertainly.

Kaylee met her eyes and saw River was looking for reassurance. Whenever River got fidgety like that, Kaylee had learned, it meant she was feeling unsure of herself. Unsure of her ability to relate or communicate well. ”Thanks.” Kaylee smiled. ”Um, I do mean it though, River. That, um, that I trust you? I mean… I was, you were right.” She said, looking down at her plate. ”Part of me was scared of you before.” She looked up and met River’s questioning eyes. ”I’m not now.” And she was pretty sure she wasn’t, either.

River looked into her eyes for what seemed like a long while, though it probably wasn’t really all that very long. Kaylee made sure to keep eye contact. Like, she wanted to prove to River, and herself really, that it was true what she’d said.

River started to smile, a little shyly, and look away. ”Um…” She looked up a little uncertainly and met Kaylee’s eyes again. ”Nàme zhè shì hǎo de.” She said, looking down then up again. ”Should we hug?” She asked. Asked in that way like she was just wondering if they should, not like she had any particular stake in the answer, one way or the other. River asked questions that way a lot, Kaylee was noticing. Kaylee’d never known anybody else who asked things that way before. Took some getting used to.

”Um, if you want?” Kaylee offered.

River considered that. ”Can I have a voucher?” She asked.

”For a hug?” Kaylee asked.

River nodded ’yes’.

”If ya’want. Sure.” Kaylee said easily.

”…We should eat, or the food will slow down again.” River said.

By which she meant get cold. Heat being a function of how fast the bits of matter that the food was made up of moved. River had explained it to her a few days ago when she’d used the same phrase and Kaylee had asked about it. River thought a lot in terms of sciency things, Kaylee had come to realize. She half thought River talked like she did as much to keep herself from getting bored as anything. Kaylee had noticed that too, how much energy, nervous sort of searching energy, River always had about her. Always thinking about this or that. ”Sounds like a plan.” Kaylee said.