<div align="center"><strong>-=Dani, on board The Gamble, putting away the groceries=-</strong></div><br/><strong>"Poor guy. Thought he was gonna get a different kind of tip from me for a job well done. Ah well, we've all got to make a living, you know. Need a hand with getting all this stuff stowed?"</strong><br/><br/>Dani smiled as Lex recounted his brief interlude with the handsome dock worker.  She'd noticed them talking, but hadn't been near enough to hear any of the conversation.  Their body language had spoken volumes, though, and Dani had correctly surmised that the young man had been attempting to proposition the much more experienced Companion.<br/><br/>"That'd be shiny...thanks," she answered his offer of assistance with an appreciative smile.  Squatting amongst the boxes of supplies, Dani began sorting them into what needed to stay down here in cold storage, and what could go upstairs to the mess. "Lex, do you ever get tired of being propositioned?" It was something that she had been wondering, but had never had the courage to ask.  Blushing deeply at her own curiosity, Dani kept her eyes steadily on her work, too embarrassed to look Lex in the face, in case she had stepped over some invisible Companion confidentiality line.<br/><br/>She idly wondered what had gotten into her today. It wasn't like her to be so bold to ask questions like the one she just asked Lex, let alone deal with strangers, and leave the ship. A sense of pride washed over her.  Maybe it wouldn't seem like much to anyone else, but to someone who was as emotionally damaged as Dani was, it was a huge step.  Shaking her head at her own behaviour, she hurriedly finished putting the food into cold storage, before it started to thaw.  Hefting a box that she had filled with things she knew they needed upstairs, she smiled at Lex once again.<br/><br/>"Thanks for your help, Lex...I'm going to take these things up to the mess.  We're gettin' desperate for essentials up there, and I don't want to have to run downstairs whenever I need something.  Oh! Will you be eatin' on board tonight?"  She hadn't thought to check who'd be around for their evening meal.  Dani shrugged to herself.  She'd cook enough for everyone, just in case.  Leftovers never went to waste around here.  They were a crew of healthy appetites, something that the medic-come-cook was quite pleased about.  There was nothing quite as pleasing to her as watching the crew demolish a meal that she had made for them.  It made her feel like she was part of a family, and that the ship was home.<br/><br/>Climbing the stairs carefully, she reached the mess and began putting the food in the various lockers around the room.  She had a system of organisation in the small food preparation area which the crew respected.  They would generally put things back where they found them, and if they weren't sure of where something was, or where it should go, they'd check with her.  Dani appreciated their thoughtfulness in that regard.  The mess would be in danger of becoming a mess if everything didn't have a place.<br/><br/>Voices drifted in from the engine room.  Griff's was immediately recognisable, but the other was foreign to her.  Where was Hayes? It wasn't like her to let anyone tinker with her engine, but it was obvious that there was some sort of repairs being carried out, and their chief engineer wasn't making herself heard.  Dani peeked down the corridor that lead past the storage lockers and to the engine room.  There was definitely someone in there with Griff, and that someone wasn't Hayes.  She frowned.  What was going on?<br/><br/>