<div align="center"><strong>-= Griffin Kingston, Captain – entering the cargo hold on his way to procure new catalyzer =-</strong></div><br/>As Griff bustled down the stairs into the cargo hold, his attention was immediately drawn to Sasha and Lex. He noticed how she moved closer to Lex as she spoke, almost as though she was drawn to him by some unseen mystical force. When her hand reached up to gently rest those slender digits upon the Companion’s arm, Griff felt a sudden and indescribable pang of anger accompanied by another emotion that he was completely unfamiliar with… jealousy.<br/><br/>Struggling to suppress his sudden rush of emotions, Griff was unable to fully mask the anger that flushed his features, creasing his brow and slightly pursing his lips even as she noticed him and approached with coolly professional, deliberate steps. Firmly grasping his upper arm, Sasha pulled him to the side for some small measure of privacy. Griff took a deep breath to calm his surging emotions that were searing under the surface only to catch the subtly intoxicating aroma of jasmine on her skin and in her hair. Her distinctive bouquet sent his emotions boiling and he glanced down at her hand gripping his arm, trying hard to focus on the words that fluttered from her lips as she spoke. His mind was trying desperately to drift into another place, a darker place, wrangled in only by his iron will.<br/><br/><br/><strong>“Cap’n, unless you have a powerful desire to have McPherson with you while you wrangle that new engine part, then I’m taking the new guy with me and Si, see what he’s made of. He does okay, we’re golden. He gives me any reason to question his ability to fit in here, he can wave goodbye from the dock when we take off without him.”</strong><br/><br/>He had heard what she had said to him, and it made sense to him. Exhaling deeply, he glanced back up to Sasha, staring into those icy blue orbs before he replied with a terse, “I reckon your desires are might more powerful than mine, Sasha. Fine. You can have him.” He answered as he glanced past Sasha, his dark eyes settling upon Lex as his expression went blank. He knew she was talking about McPherson and not Lex, but his emotions were clouding his mind at the moment and his answer was laced with feelings directed towards Lex and Sasha and had almost nothing to do with McPherson, though he did agree with what she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do” he said  in a monotone voice, pulling his arm free of her grip before turning away and striding towards the loading ramp. “Gotta get this new part back here ASAP so as Hayes can get her put back together and humming nice and pretty ‘fore we take off,” he added over his shoulder almost as an after thought.<br/><br/>As he stepped off the ship and onto the docks he turned the corner leading from the docks and into town. Pasuing, he glanced back towards Sasha one last time, a small twinge of guilt for how he had just reacted. “Be safe,” he said simply before he looked away again and disappeared from view on his mission to find a new catalyzer.<br/>