<div align="center"><strong>-= Lex Rake, boarding <em>The Gamble</em> =-</strong></div><br/>Fully anticipating that the captain would pawn the old lady off on him, Lex was pleasantly surprised when instead Steve got that duty. He wondered if the captain meant to have Steve's first day be a trial by fire. He respected the captain, but quite often the man's motives were a total mystery. He reflected, not for the first time, how he would have handled the man professionally if he had been a client. Lex knew Griff wasn't sly, but it didn't stop him from wondering how the scenario would have played out; if his intentions would have been quite so opaque if he were naked in Lex's bed. Not that it mattered, of course. Lex had no intentions of trading with the crew, and while Griff was an attractive man, he wasn't actually attracted<em>to</em>him. He knew - both from his training and from personal experience - that in his line of work, that could be disastrous.<br/><br/><strong>"Lex, would you mind showing our new guy to his bunk after he sees Mrs. Sylvester off?"</strong><br/><br/>"Can do, captain," he said with a grin. He unslung his bag from his shoulder and followed Griff up the ramp even as Steve escorted Mrs. Sylvester off to the waiting transport. He overheard Griff's faux reprimand to Sasha and nodded to her as he walked past, one professional to another. He felt a certain kinship with Sasha, as it was apparent that she, too, had suffered some tragedy. Hers was a more recent pain, though, than his. Time and therapy had helped him to cope with the loss of his family, and Sasha had precious little of either. He tried to use the time they spent together in the workout area to let her know that he was available to her as a friendly ear and trained comfort-giver, but he had no way of knowing if he was getting through to her at all. She could, at times, be as inscrutable as the captain.<br/><br/>He dropped his bag just inside the door and leaned against the frame in his typical casual manner, unconsciously falling into a sexy pose, his arms crossed over his chest. He greeted Si and Dani with a nod and a smile, knowing that Dani would want to keep her distance from Steve, and noticing Si's protective stance. He would position himself in a similar manner next to Steve when the other man boarded, keeping himself as an additional barrier between them. Not that he didn't trust Steve, but he did understand Dani's anxiety over their newest crew member. He knew very little of the troubled medic's past, but he would be a poor Companion indeed if he couldn't read her fearful mannerisms as clearly as an open book. With large type.<br/><br/>Once Steve had taken care of the old lady and gathered up his things, Lex greeted him once more at the top of the ramp. He picked up his own bag and fell into step next to him. "Captain asked me to show you to your bunk. Right this way."