Mal shakes his head quickly. "Sorry y'ever got the notion o' that from me, man. Weren't even somethin' I thought o'."

Cough.

"The first time I thought on replacin' ya was the day 'fore I came back into the bar. I couldn't be flyin' the boat all the time and neither could River.

"And when I knew you were alive, well - weren't no thoughts on it anymore."