<div align="center"><strong>~ First Officer Sasha Dearing in her cabin on board The Gamble, Round Two ~</strong></div><br/>Sasha’s thoughtful blue stare tracked Vincent’s beleaguered form as he quickly transformed into his usual buoyant self upon departing her cabin with undisguised enthusiasm - no doubt vastly relieved to be dismissed from her presence, as well as excitedly eager to be near his Love once again. The man had secrets...but don’t we all? Sasha found it interesting however, that it had taken so long for these particular secrets to be revealed.  “I should have kicked his sorry ass for dipping us in danger sauce like that! But unfortunately someone beat me to it.” Sasha half-heartedly growled under her breath, the words hissing from between her tightly clenched teeth.<br/><br/><strong>“So.”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha and Si were now alone, and the small cabin was abruptly transformed into intimate quarters as the single word, heavy with meaning, hung like ripe fruit between them, waiting to be plucked.  Sasha’s intense gaze was drawn back to Si as he paced across the short distance toward the bed and sat down next to her. As Griff’s voice blared over the comm, her mind momentarily pondered the implications of the Captain’s announcement, a crease of worry furrowing between her slender brows as she wondered if Mae was worse off than she seemed? Was it that Griff had been in too much of a hurry to wait for her to finish with Vincent - or perhaps the battered co-pilot was on the no-fly list too? But then her attention snapped back to Si as her right-hand man first ladled on a dose of positive reinforcement before doling out a hefty serving of negative feedback.<br/><br/><strong>”...if you are coming unhinged I need to know about it before we get into situations where I might need to rely on you. Where all of us need rely on you."</strong><br/><br/>Sasha’s eyes widened in surprise and then swiftly narrowed in displeasure at Si’s direct castigation, but she quickly throttled her natural instinct to react aggressively through sheer force of will. Leaning in close to Si Sasha looked him directly in the eyes and paused for a heartbeat, and then she leaned in closer still. Her silken cascade of hair did nothing to diminish her thunderous visage as she spoke in a tense low tone, the edge in her voice reflecting both projected menace and internalized hurt. “Do tell, Simeon, when has there<strong>ever</strong>been a situation where you -<em>all of you</em>- DIDN’T need to rely on me? When have I EVER let you down?”<br/><br/>Not acknowledging the stinging hurt the older man’s disapproval had laved over her protectively walled-in heart, Sasha sprung up from the bed in agitation, needing to put a little distance between herself and the latest irritant stoking the embers of her still-smoldering foul mood. Stalking across the room to her wardrobe she angrily flung open her closet doors, the loud bang of the ricochet providing the smallest amount of satisfaction. However, Si apparently didn’t get the hint or deliberately chose to provoke her by standing firmly on his soapbox, continuing to lecture his First Officer.<br/><br/><strong>"If I can trust you will get this under control, with or without my help, I see no reason the Captain need hear about this little tiff between the two of you. I doubt Vincent will mention it; he's none too proud of how he acted, either. Just be sure that you do get it under control.  You don't have to talk to me about it. You don't have to talk to anyone if that is a problem for you. But you have to do something about it, and if I can help in that regard, you need only ask. Alright?"</strong><br/><br/>Her fingers had been clutching painfully on the doors with suppressed anger, but suddenly as if a ray of sunshine had pierced through a bank of dark thunderclouds, her perception of Si’s lecture careened into a humorous slant that startled her with its unexpectedness.<em>Si is...offering...to not tell on me? To Griff</em>? Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she firmly bit into the soft flesh to keep from chuckling aloud and thereby giving away her change of mood. The comedic irony of being on the receiving end of a lecture about behaving properly on the heels of her giving practically the same sermon was priceless.<br/><br/>Tossing a veiled glance over her shoulder at Si as she ran her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp tiredly, she didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke softly. “I didn’t touch him, you know. Not one scratch was my doing.”  Pausing a few beats, she added, almost as if an afterthought, “But thanks for always being there anyway, Si.”<br/><br/>The impractical mantle of modesty was almost always one of the first casualties for most people serving aboard a ship, the long stints out in the Black forcing crew members to deal with a level of casual intimacy that might shock a typical landlubber. But through the years Simeon had somehow fastidiously preserved his borderline prudish austerity to such a degree that Sasha took it for granted. And therefore she assumed that at the first indication she displayed she had transitioned from conversing with her crew member into retaking her cabin as her own personal domain, the gentleman would be on his way.  So without concern or thought as she faced away from him, she began to untie the front fastening of her dress, the lacy black fabric sliding sensuously off her femininely narrow shoulders. Catching the dress in her hands as it fell, she draped it casually over the closet door.  Her  smooth pale skin was in dramatic contrast as she stood in only her black leggings, boots & panties. Sasha reached for a soft, cream colored button-down shirt and slipped it on.<br/><br/>Not yet bothering to button up her shirt, Sasha moved back toward her bed to more easily take off her boots & leggings. A little surprised that Si hadn’t yet made a tactful exit, one daintily curved eyebrow lifted as she walked toward the man still sitting on her bed. Suddenly the ship violently lurched, jostling a distracted and surprised Sasha off balance. Unless Si had been sitting with his muscles tightened in wise anticipation of such an assault, albeit accidental, the force of Sasha’s unbalanced lithe body propelling toward him would result in the man being firmly pinned beneath the soft curves of the half-dressed woman.<br/>