Tahlia tensed up, at first thinking the woman was going to lecture her on how the captain knew best. But there were so many other factors at play there, most of which she couldn’t tell this woman. And if one more person started treating her like she was some priceless vase because of her lofty position in arguably the most powerful corporation in the galaxy she was going to lose her mind. It wasn’t until the master at arms said she could sympathise that Tahlia realized she’d been referring to the captain all along. Her eyes flickered up from her hands, a startled look on her face, before she slowly smiled. It was a faint one, but it was there.<br/><br/>“You think that’s bad… I would have loved to have you on the previous ship i’d gone out on. You would have<i>helped</i>me space the CO.” she half joked. “He didn’t want women on his bridge. Didn’t want the “softer sex” panicking in a crisis. ITC only humored him because he was damned good at his job. Of course everyone forgot to warn me before I stepped on his ship...” There weren’t a lot of people who still clung to such ancient tropes, but every once in a while you encountered one, and they were usually pretty awful people.<br/><br/>When Mika offered to get her something from the Mess, Tahlia immediately went into her ‘I don’t want to impose’ stance, but the growling of her stomach overshadowed any words she might have said. She dropped her protesting hands again, a blush creeping into her cheeks as she made an attempt at laughter that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I… think that might be for the best… but nothing too heavy… even just crackers… after everything I…” her hand rested on her stomach, not sure she’d be able to keep anything down at the moment.