Reena smiled at the new addition to the dining table. "Hello Natasha, nice to meet you too." She was trying hard to be casual, to use more common vocabulary, to stop illustrating every word with elegant hand motions. She went into a mode when she was working where everything she said or did was very deliberate, and it took a conscious effort to return to being "normal." She didn't want the crew to think of her as any different from them, so she was self-conscious at being too blatantly a Companion with them. Unless they entered her shuttle, which would be a different matter... not that any of them had, yet.<br/><br/>Reena politely ignored what Natasha had said about being ex-Alliance. She knew that River was wanted by the Alliance and that the rest of the crew weren't their favorites, but on a personal level Reena had no politics. She had grown up on a Core planet under the benevolent halo of the Alliance, so she didn't have the same feelings as those more cruelly used by them. She'd heard what had been done on Miranda, yes, but - anyone who knew their history knew that most bureaucracies produced atrocities, once they became large enough entities that sociopathic elements could find someplace to settle and gain influence. Besides, it wasn't as if the crew of the "Serenity" would need to actively fight the Alliance, not unless their cover was blown. Inara had helped them scrub the ship's serial number and they were now just another Firefly-class vessel, with Reena to appear as a public face if necessary.<br/><br/>Occupied by this line of thought, Reena didn't put Natasha through her usual scrutiny. Being amazingly good with body language and expressions, she was capable of a near-psychic insight into the motives and feelings of other people. Equaled only by River - when River was in the mood. So as Reena munched her vegetables she only noted that Natasha was slightly ill at ease, and desperately wanted to integrate herself into the group. As expected from a new hire, if Mal decided that's what she was.<br/><br/>"I suppose everyone is excited about going planetside?" she inquired. "Or does Mal have some sort of plans for you?" She herself did not answer to Mal unless it was an issue of security. She sipped her Django - ahh, that was better than a drug - and leaned one elbow on the table in a casual way. A casual, completely intentional and studied way. There was no escaping completely from the Companion training, which was by now stronger than second nature; it was her primary nature.