Mal only talks well when he’s had the chance to go over the conversation in his head a few times, on his own, with the time to shade things in his favor a bit. Maybe sleep on it.
When caught off guard, he doesn’t make such a good showing.
I figure a bunch of us are a little like that. It’s just that we’re not trying to play fast ‘n loose with a corporate hot potato (i.e. other people’s day jobs)
Sounds like current congress
Next time…?
Mal: “It’s the panic talking. Please don’t kill the messenger…”
I would have went with, “You all were having fun and I didn’t want to ruin that too.”