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There was a fair bit of work going on in Ouray's hangars, spaces full of messy and discarded debris being cleaned up and the overall neatness actually being prioritized for once. By the end of all these efforts, which were of course under Morreti's supervision, it seemed like you could squeeze in another patrol wing or perhaps a few extra freighters at a time. Regardless of what the intent was, it was messy work and he was personally involved in it, his gloves covered in muck and oil just like everyone else around him. He'd also worked up quite a sweat despite the cold conditions in the hangar, given its distance from the base's reactor.

When he sighted Joseph on approach, he noted his particularly stern and disgruntled demeanor but still greeted him with a smile and a chipper attitude. "Joseph, you look miserable. We're just about done here, so whatever's bothering you let's go talk about it over food." Whilst saying this, he'd pulled the gloves off and starting approaching, the people around him who'd been hard at work with him were also starting to disperse.

When he passed by Joseph he placed his hand on a shoulder, as if it were a gesture shared between brothers, a muffled thump as his hand hit his uniform and squeezed a little before letting go and passing by. It was a gesture that was over as quickly as it was delivered.

"Come on, don't just stand there. They're serving pie today and I'd like to actually have some for once." Morreti's pace was brisk, and he was clearly not going to wait if his sudden accomplice wasn't going to keep up with him. Despite Joseph's inner tension, everything about his environment seemed calm, "business as usual" and with nothing to suggest there was any widespread panic and doubt about the future. If anything, now there was some certainty about a future and people were beginning to plan around it. That's what all the effort was, space had to be made for more things, something this cause wasn't used to.

"Is everything alright, Joseph? I know asking this is oxymoronic given the nature of the cause, that and the ever present struggling. But things are getting better, slowly anyway. Not been fighting with anybody, I hope?" His tone seemed genuine, displaying a mixture of concern and that usual parental optimism, as if everything was alright regardless of whatever the situation might have been.

Since his friend wasn't going to spit it out, he elected to, just like people elected him into office knowing fully well he was going to aim for this.

"I'm not asking you to like or trust them, Joseph. I'm asking you to trust me. I'm doing this so you can have four walls to yourself, and a roof over the head. So that you can grow old and deal with crap like listening to your wife nag you about how you didn't take the trash out, or how your oldest kid is dating some idiot. That's what's at stake here, the LFR, this really ambitious thing that we're all gunning for." He stopped in his tracks and turned back to face him, wanting to give him the respect of time and focus rather than making his concerns take a backseat to something so simple and mundane as food.

"They're dangerous people and I'm more than aware of that. We all know what they're capable of, it's why I'm going to need your help and everyone else's now more than ever. Otherwise all of this, everything we actually want to achieve stays in limbo forever, or worse, crashes and burns. And I don't want either of those things for us. Not after everything we've done to drag ourselves up and off the bottom of the barrel in order to get here." Having said all of this, he gauged the man in front of him and simply waited for a response, and appeared quite patient to do so despite the previous urgency he displayed.

Morreti just calmly shook his head at that question. "It's not about them, it's about money. Whether it's them or the Corsairs and their rocks, what this comes down to is food on the table, fuel for the engines and ammo for the guns. To carve yourself away from a House like Liberty and keep it that way, you need lots of it and you need to keep acquiring lots of it in order to maintain that balance." Once he'd explained that, he just smiled and that caused the corners of his eyes to wrinkle as he changed subject.

"Do you remember that Valkyrie we'd trapped in California? The Valknut, piloted by that gem of a woman? Of course you do, I ordered you to get her out of the system because you were so caught up in the moment you had no idea you were just about to kill somebody for no actual cause or purpose. I wanted you to learn the value of foresight and discretion, about understanding when being angry and aggressive is necessary but more importantly when it isn't. I think you'll eventually have my job someday, and it's important when when you step up to the plate, that you know more about things than just swinging a bat." He took a breather himself, obviously stressed from the fact that the people around him were acting the way they were. It was obvious they all mattered to him, even if he didn't have the means to really express that in a reliable manner.

Once again, he put his hand on Joseph's shoulder and gestured down the hallway they had previously been walking through. "What we're going to do is not make that same mistake. We're not going to fly off the handle and do something that when we look back, we regret. We're going to go down that hall, go to the mess, eat some damn pie and then I really think you should just sleep. I'll take your patrol shift." He'd actually done this fairly often but never told his pilots about it, the outcome would have been praise, something he always received awkwardly or just didn't seem to like all that much.

There was a clear sense of conflict in the man standing in front of Joseph, like he was uncertain and that the consequences of paying this price might have even been saddening to him.

Appearances were important for leaders and Morreti knew this perhaps better than most, so once they were finished going through all of that he spent a few seconds tidying himself up as they walked. He didn't want people to think there was very nearly a spat with one of his own while on the way over here, no, the image of unity was far too important right now and it would continue to be well into the future. "When our war for independence is over, you really should just go down on one knee for her and lay some roots. Whether with us in the LFR, or wherever life with her takes you. I've.. come to understand the value of family recently." He hesitated, he never hesitated, clearly that was personal to cough up and more significantly he didn't look at Joseph when that last sentence was expressed.

By the time they did get to the mess, it was beyond just full since this was a particularly hectic day of operations and naturally people were hungry as a result. Some of the base crew had taken to sitting on the tables due to the lack of space at the benches. Nobody really seemed to pay Joseph and Morreti any attention in this large congregation, even when their uniforms might have meant they stood out more than the others. "Two plates, please." The younger woman behind the counter smiled politely and within a few short moments produced what she'd been asked for. Morreti received both and then patiently handed one to Joseph, the steam wafting up and into his face as he did so.

The next order of business was obviously going to be finding somewhere to sit and that was easier said than done.