<div align="center"><strong>-= Captain Griffin Kingston, feeling a little stunned, making his way back to the engine room =-</strong></div><br/>Lingering just outside of Sasha’s cabin door, Griff struggled to wrap his mind - or probably more accurately, his heart – around what he had just witnessed. He’d never been one to develop romantic feelings for anyone, always keeping things simple, with no strings attached. That was before Sasha had entered his life. He didn’t fully understand the feelings he was experiencing; it was all so foreign to him. So far, he’d coped with the confusing feelings by masking them with anger. However, this time there was no anger to mask his hurt. Instead, he withdrew to what he was best at, who he was at his core, and that was being captain of his boat.<br/><br/>Suddenly lifting his chin in defiance of the pangs of heartache, Griff resolved to check on his newest crew member as well as the recent modifications to the recently repaired engine. Confident and purposeful strides carried his athletic form through the galley and lounge toward the engine room. Stepping through the bulkhead door, he quickly passed through the supply locker corridor, stepping up over the “knee-knocker” as he entered the engine room in search of Anwar. “Anwar, how’s it going? How’s the old girl holding up?” Glancing about the engine room, he was suddenly drawn to the form laying on the cot beneath a pile of blanket. Griff’s jaw grew stiff at the idea of Anwar sleeping on the job, especially being his first day on the job.<br/><br/>“Zao gao, Anwar,” he said as approached the cot. “don’t make me regret hiring you on already. Get up!” He kicked the end of the cot as he commanded him to get up, emphasizing his point. He waited for a few seconds and then cursed under his breath. “Bu lang bu you… I’m going to go check on the rest of the crew. When I get back you’d better be up and at least<em>look</em>like you’ve been working, Dohn luh mah?”<br/><br/>Griff gave the cot another kick of frustration before he turned and exited without waiting for a response, busying his mind with his duties as ship's captain while carefully skirting the issue of Sasha and Si. He knew that he'd have to face Sasha again soon, and regrettable the prospect of seeing her again after seeing her in such an intimate fashion with the former rear admiral only served to bring those powerful, confusing emotions to close to the surface for his liking. Best to push those feelings aside, or deep down. He'd have to find another way to deal with them, though he knew from the look Sasha had shot him upon his interruption that she was none too happy for his presence. And if he knew Sasha at all, she'd have a bone to pick with the Captain soon enough.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Zao gao  = Damn it<br/>Bu lang bu you = Good-for-nothing…<br/>Dohn luh mah = Are we clear?<br/>