As she questions exactly what he was referring to, he returns her sly grin, letting that suffice for his response.
"No need to worry about the rest of my crew, they wouldn't say anything to your face, though they may question my decision to let you aboard. But you've given me no reason to doubt your sincerity, so I see no harm in it."
He chuckles as she jokes about joining for patriotic reasons. "Well, my reason isn't all that different from yours, I was born into a military family, joining up was expected of me. My father was a Marine, his father was a naval officer, story is the same all the way back to the exodus from Sol." He explains this all to her with clear enthusiasm, his passion for the family tradition evident.
Her reaction was a shy wink, with the same sly smile.
"Besides. I doubt any of them could tell whether I'm an addict, just by seeing me. As long as none of us says anything about my condition, I doubt they would mind my persence aboard." Inko takes a look out of the window, gazing at one of the dark matter clouds, then back at him. "Any place is better than this.... bar. All this darkness sends shivers down my spine."
"Playing with starships since you were little?" She jokes. "As long as you like that kind of career, it's good. Much better than inheriting cardamine addiction." Noticing that she yet again managed to slide back to this topic, she quickly changes. "Any other things you are passionate about, besides ships, and family traditions?" she chuckles, while actually wishing to pry some thoughts about him.
"It is rather ominous, I don't like it either." His eyes sweep across the room from time to time, looking for threats, though not from Inko. "I feel like I'm being watched."
He smiles as she asks him what else interests him, enjoying the chance to actually talk to someone about things unrelated to work. "Ship design. I was an engineer before I became a pilot, actually. I really enjoy tinkering with my fighter, changing things, seeing what happens if I do." He slides out of the seat, stepping over and offering her his hand. "I can show you around my ship right now, if you'd like."
Maybe you are just a bit paranoid... She giggles, taking the joke further. "...I'll save you from the evil that lurks in the shadows...."
" That explains why you are so very into that ship I'm flying. Lot depends on the pilot too, but that's another question." Inko takes the sword from the other side of the table, tying it back to her side. Then, she takes his hand, sliding out from her seat too. "I'd love to see it. Maybe I'll get to stuff you into my fighter too." A little blush can be seen on her face.
"Isn't ship designing like a dream of yours that didn't come true? I mean, there are plenty of things one would want to do, but never manages to." She smiles. "....on a smaller scale.... I always wanted to try water slides. I never had the chance to visit a planet with such facilities.... To be exact, I've never been on a planet either."Inko seemed to be much more relaxed than before. Being able to talk freely about anything made her loosen up fast.
"I might just have to take you up on that, I'd enjoy getting a look inside of your ship." He steps back slightly as she stands, not wanting to crowd her, smiling a bit as she mentions never getting to be on a planet. "I grew up on Los Angeles, so I spent most of my free time on the beach. It's very relaxing, I still go there sometimes if I'm feeling overly stressed."
"As to the ship design, not entirely, I'm much more into getting the practical aspects of the ship working. Internal systems are my area of expertise, not design itself." He smiles at her, glad she's opening up more. "So Inko, would you like to visit my ship first, or would you rather see if I can cram myself into yours?" An amused grin comes over his face.
"I was happy if I could visit a bathhouse every two weeks. One couldn't call it so relaxing with all those ladies around, chatting and giggling." She smiles kindly, remembering something apparently. " But....Growing up in such an environment must have been great. Going to the beach everyday? Are you trying to make me jealous Morse-san?" She stops for a moment, playing with her hair in her embarrassnent. " C..can I call you Michael?"
"Practical aspects.... So that's why you fly that Bretonian can opener." She grins, gladly mocking that vessel again."Your ship first. I still have to think of a way to push you into the cockpit." She smiles.
"Back to the topic, favourite free time activities?" She smiles at him.
"You can call me Michael if you want, I answer to Mike too." He smiles back at her. "My ship first? That's fine, we can do that." He locks his arm with hers, starting to walk her back towards the docking point his ship was moored at, deciding to continue their talk as they go.
"Free-time activities? I don't get a lot of free time with my work, but most of it is spent tinkering with my fighter, as I said. Sometimes I head down to engineering on the Lansing and see how the team down there is handling things."
"Then I'll pick Mike." She nods, smiling. Walking hand in hand was something new for her, as a reaction, her cheeks turned rosy pink for a few moments.
"So even your free time is work. Don't you like... Have fun sometimes? Working on your ship, or checking whether the crew is doing alright isn't considered relaxing, in my opinion." She nudges his side, teasing him. "I should try to drag you out someday. Don't ask me how, but I'll do it."
"I don't really have an issue with a lack of free time, if I did the Navy wouldn't really be something I could stay in for very long. You can try to drag me out to do other things, but I can't really just go out and do whatever I want whenever I feel like it."
They finally reach an airlock, two men in lightweight combat armor standing in front of it, a pistols at their hips. They snaps off a quick salute to Michael, which is returned just as quickly, looking at the senior of the two men. "I'm bringing a guest aboard, Corporal." The Marine nods. "Yes, sir." The corporal taps a clenched fist against the airlock door twice, which opens a few seconds later, two other Marines standing on the far side of it, both quickly snapping of salutes of their own, which Michael immediately returns. "Carry on boys." He turns to look at Inko, gesturing for her to come with him.
"I'm not talking about that. Even when you have free time, you do something that would be considered as work in my eyes. By no means would I want to drag you away from duty." Her smile widens. "Not like you are the type to slack off anyways."
She shudders at the sight of the guards. Armed men in uniforms sure wasn't her thing. She actually clings to Michael a little, even though not intentionally. It took her a few seconds to realize what she did, she immediately backed off then. After that, she follows Michael.