<div align="center"><strong>-=Vincent - in the cockpit with Mei Mei, bracing for lite speed - en route to Persephone=-</strong></div><br/>Though he didn't know it, Vincent's feelings towards Mae were the same she felt about him.  She spent a lot of time in his mind during the late hours of solo-flying or sleepless nights.  He lost track of how many times he had wondered what it would be like for her to pay him a visit during such nights; though instead of their friendly or flirtatious banter, they would be enjoying one another's company in a physical sense. Even as she replied with that kowtowing remark, he felt the urge to do so and taste her while she sit at her station.<br/><br/>Such was the relationship between the two of them.  Both wanted the other, but their typical comedic exchanges made it difficult to tell if the other was being genuine with their flirtatious invitations.  The fact that while flying, it was expected that there at least be one of them in the helm at all times with some exceptions to meals or when the Captain permits them to do so only makes the opportunity to be together in a more private setting all the more rare.  Theoretically they had the chance to do so every time they had shore leave, but more often than not they were either on some assignment or they were simply busy taking in the sights of wherever they landed.  That and he gets the impression that she has a flame for Griff; Vincent can't help but feel envious when she flirts with the captain.  In the end, Griff was his employer and he exercised extreme caution when it came to doing anything that might otherwise land him in a position of unemployment.<br/><br/>Vincent still looks fondly upon the night where Mae, completely exhausted from a particularly long day, accidently wandered into his room while he was in bed.  At least he thought it was accidental.  Instead of returning to her own room, she instead joined him in his bed all the while his heart raced with excitement and joy.  It had been the stuff fantasies were made of, at least it was until he realized that her fatigue was genuine as she immediately passed out shortly after her head hit the pillow.  Though, that is not to say Vincent was disappointed by it.  For once, he got to feel her lithe body pressed against his as the two spooned for a few hours.  He still remembers the alluring smell of her hair throughout that time.  Much to his dismay, his shift in the helm came before Mae woke and he had to leave her in his bed while he attended to his duty.  To this day he wonders how things would have turned out had he been able to remain there when she awoke.<br/><br/>The sudden crackle of the intercom pulled Vincent's mind back to the present as he heard the captain's orders to increase the output.  He suppressed a smirk with her response in exchange for shooting her a feigned horrified expression.  "Twenty whole percent?!"  Vincent immediately began fastening all the straps of his eight point harness with practiced urgent motions.  He then proceeded to make a show of testing the buckles and tightening the straps as though preparing for a crash landing before gripping the armrest of his chair tightly.  "Alright, I'm ready!  Let's throw caution to the wind and take'er past the speed of smell!  If I don't make it through this... I want you to have my pair of lucky boxers to remember me by."