Give Me a Reason

[Reeves]

Given the sheer amount of pressure that him simply looking at her created, it likely did her no favours to see a fairly clear degree of admiration in how she was being looked at. This in turn promoted him to notice what she'd started doing with her hands. "Pennsylvania falls under a protectorate agreement, it was the only way the locals could preserve some degree of autonomy. The multi-million credit question of how the ship got caught? No idea."

Eventually, curiosity got the best of him and he had to ask. "You okay? Seem on edge." To point out what he meant, he reached for her hands. Though if he wasn't stopped he'd try to take a closer look and see what it was that might have been wrong.

---

[Lochrath]

A hand was taken, the one that was being rubbed. The other was able to escape to her lap in time to evade capture. Holding it, there was nothing noticeably wrong with the hand. It was cold, but it was likely her limbs simply ran cold. Maybe it was just a habitual motion. Mary seemed more tense with the touch, and her fingers twitching at the touch gave such away. It was the first time he had touched her outside of social gestures.

Keeping the conversation going, she responded. "Yea', sorry. Just anxious 'bout all th' duties m'puttin' off." The lie came smoothly. In truth, she had stopped thinking about her duties since they had taken off. Her mind was preoccupied with other, more present matters.

[Reeves]

Feeling he already knew what this was about and why she seemed to occasionally behave so strangely, he let go of her hand with a nod, even if he was reasonably sure he knew better there was no need to insist that much and start an argument. He also assumed she might appreciate him turning back around and taking back control of the ship as it sped its way to Fontana for a refuel and some food. "Don't think they'd have let you take a break like this if you were needed so desperately. Relax."

It was probably better to just play along for now and spin the conversation into a direction that might be more comfortable for her. "Speaking of what's been going on, how's things on your end?" Insight into foreign elements was something the Xenos knew little of, mostly because they had no reason to care. But Morreti liked to think that by knowing more about people of different sorts, he was inadvertently opening himself up to a wider pool of knowledge and experience. As practical as that outlook might have been, the reason he'd ask in the moment was to hopefully lead to banter.

---

[Lochrath]

She felt relieved to be free of his hand, returning her own to her lap to join the other. The untouched hand held it tightly. There was a pang of regret, having unintentionally caused him to pull back. She needed to work on that. "Sorry, bit of'a workaholic."

She had to consider what news would be worthwhile for him to hear. Most cross-house reports would have likely been easy to pick up, so she decided on something more local. "There's been ah string of border conflicts up in th' Taus. All covered t'be there t'fend off criminal actions from entering the houses, but naval conflict ain't unheard of. Just th' other week ah Gallic patrol crossed paths with the Armed Forces. Can't say why it happened, but it was brutal." She didn't mention how she came to learn this. The scrap from the engagement was very quickly scooped up and shipped to Sandur Base. Military wrecks as fresh as those don't come by often. It would make at least one ship and refit a handful others.

[Reeves]

Despite the Rebel not being nearly as fast as the Kestrel which ferried them the last time, it seemed like they were getting around quicker. Either Morreti was an expert navigator, or the conversation was helping kill the time. "A workaholic? Perfect. Gives me an excuse to drag you away from the ship more often."

He'd been nothing but direct since they first met in person, and at least so far it seemed to be working out well. Not having to pretend or censor the words being used made him feel comfortable, and more likely to want to see her. "Militaries killing each other's useful for people like us. But I don't want to ruin the mood by opening the door to political conversation. Your drinks are on me when we get to Fontana." They'd exchange a few more words about general conversation thereafter, but for the most part Morreti seemed content to keep the topics light and his focus on her.

Time flipped by, like a page of a carelessly handled book. That same Rebel would soon find itself in Fontana.

---

[Lochrath]

The topics were light. Mary brought up woes of her position and more interpersonal happenings, such as catching one member of the crew sleeping in an exhaust vent he had shut off to hide in. She and her engineer had a very fun way of waking the dozing crewmember up.

Fontana reminded Mary of Skye or Islay base as they approached. Something about the chilly ice form felt like home. The Rebel lined up and was guided in to the dock expertly. When they landed, Mary popped off the helmet and stood to get out once her pilot had exited. This place was new to her. As it was just a stop over for fuel, she didn't bother to grab her bag. On her was her pistol, which seemed to go everywhere with her, and a smaller data slate that fit easily in one's pocket.

Once Morreti was done giving any word to the deck crews she stepped back towards him, closer than normal. "It's ah bit funny. Our first communication was y'denyin' us comin' to this freeport. Rather strongly, too." She grinned after saying it, a light jab, a call back to their original meeting even if only via the neural net. She allowed him to bring her where he wanted, not knowing her way around or any station-side customs.

[Reeves]

The comment caused him to smirk, clearly he could appreciate the irony of the current situation when juxtaposed to how he'd responded to a request submitted on behalf of the Lochrath. When she took a few steps closer, there was a clear sense of intent behind the way she was looked at, even if not acted on it probably still served as a compliment. "Yet here you are now, in arm's length." With the moment of reflection over, he nodded for her to follow him. "You want the top bunk or the bottom?" Naturally, he hadn't forgotten to bring her bag with him, and since they'd be sleeping here before continuing on to whatever destination he had in mind the next day, he wanted to know if she had a preference. Room availability meant they had to share, but the bunk layout kept things from being too awkward.

Once he'd sorted that out and left the bag on her preferred bunk, it was probably time he made good on that promise about drinks being on him.

---

[Lochrath]

For some reason, she seemed mildly annoyed the bag was brought with them. It was only a moment, then she smiled and thanked him right after to smooth any questioning thoughts. "Bottom." She responded to the query. It was a practiced answer.

The watering hole was not what she expected. I bit dimmer than normal. A wide bar and sparce tables. Not even asking, she grabbed his arm to drag them towards a side booth, opting to take the side facing the entrance. Settling, she dropped her arms on the table and grinned at Morreti like a slight-of-hand artist about to make a presentation.

"Ah propose a game." She began. "Questions game. Each takes turn askin' a question. If y'fail to answer in a satisfactory way, y'finish your glass. Including refusal t'answer." She explained the simple yet ruthless rules. It seemed like an icebreaker, a method to ask questions in a gameified way. It allowed deeper questions without the social awkwardness.

[Reeves]

Hearing the proposal for what the rules of the game were going to be, he couldn't help but chuckle and feel like he was going to end up not having to finish any glasses, though he wasn't sure if she'd manage to do the same. Naturally, he was feeling quite confident and agreed to play along. "Fine."

Clearly he was competitive by nature, because he couldn't help but continue to convey an aura of confidence and to some degree smugness. "Just make sure they're good questions. Otherwise you'll be on the bottom in more than one respect." In his mind he felt as if he'd already won, and that this game would just be a great way to get to know her better or see her tolerance for alcohol.

---

[Lochrath]

She laughed then grinned, flagging down someone to bring them an especially hard drink. "Y'get questioned first, then." She paused for dramatic effect. Now it was time to measure bounds and limits. "Partner preferences?"