Good wingman. Mal should follow suit. Find a pretty number himself to spend time with. But he finds that he's distracted, and after some only meager and mostly abortive attempts, he calls it a night. The air is better, helps clear him up, and the longer he's away, the better he feels. (No. Not the right phrase, not better. Normal. More normal.)

Still, sleep isn't going to come easily tonight, so he works out instead, beating a bag until he's pretty sure he'll have bruises, a long shower (as long as he thinks he can get away with, anyway), and settling into sleep. He's actually anxious to see Taylor when they next meet. Like he isn't sure if something's going to be changed between them or not, or if he's just...crazy, somehow. Maybe he's crazy. Maybe there was something in his drink. Still, he'll stick to being his stern and stiff teacher side than the dancing wingman, especially on base. Easier to slip back into that.