<div align="center"><strong>-= Griffin Kingston, Captain – in the Captain’s quarters aboard The Gamble - at Eavesdown Docks on Persephone =-</strong><br/></div><br/>As he sat next to her on the couch, he tried to figure what was bothering her and causing her to react so sensitively today. Sure, she had bouts of “explosive decompression”, as Griff had secretly termed her outbursts of anger, but this seemed a little different from the norm. Suddenly it dawned on him what must be the cause; the one year anniversary of her family’s brutal massacre and her own near death experience at the hands of reavers was drawing near. He knew it must be on her mind and he was well aware of the toll that it could, and most likely was, taking on her. He quickly decidedly that he would be taking great pains to make sure she kept herself busy over the next few weeks in order to keep her mind preoccupied with other things and off of the anniversary of her family’s murders. Sasha had been extremely fortunate to have both escaped the fate the rest of her family suffered, but she was equally lucky she had not become the very thing that had so heinously butchered them.<br/><br/>It had long been believed that reavers were men who had lived on the fringe of space removed from civilization for far too long and had lost their touch with humanity as a result. Since the Miranda broadwave, the realization that reavers were people transformed by a chemical process had spawned various schools of thought from doctors and scientists across the ‘verse as to why, exactly, a small percentage of those subjected to the “Pax” became reavers. There were about as many theories as there were stars in the ‘verse, but one theory pertaining to reaver victims becoming reavers themselves speculated that their victims had somehow been infected by the chemically tainted blood, thereby driving them insanely violent, transforming them into reavers... much like the old Earth-that-was myths concerning vampires.<br/><br/>As he sat next to her, his golden bronze hand at the back of her neck with thick fingers massaging the noticeable knot of tension there, the images of her slaughtered family came to his mind in a horrific splash of crimson. His lips tightened into a line at the terrible sight and his mind quickly fast forwarded to when he happened upon the mortified Sasha. Though in a state of shock and in dire need of medical attention, she was clinging with a white-knuckled grip to a large, bloodstained butcher knife she had swiped from the galley, her eyes wide with both fear and rage. Griff had to incapacitate her with the help of one of crew before he could haul her back to The Gamble and haul ass out of there before the reavers returned. Letting a low sigh, Griff returned to the here and now, a feeling of sympathy for Sasha, he instinctively leaned closer to her, his bare thigh brushing against hers in his attempt to console the pain he knew she must be feeling right now. That had to be why she was so sensitive right now. It was the only thing that made sense to him.<br/><br/>Suddenly, she stood again and steeled her resolve as she shoved her chin forward defiantly.<strong>“Captain...I’m sorry. It’s just...I...I’m....damn. Yes. Yes, I’m with you - of course I’m with you.”</strong>Griff afforded her an uncharacteristically warm smile of understanding and compassion. He remained seated for a moment, watching her as she paced his living quarters, smoothing her hair back. He noticed the sudden shift as she jumped back into that familiar professional persona and began going on about the job ahead of them, Griff slowly stood and watched her, placing his hands on his hips and trying not to let her see the realization of her pain in his expression.<br/><br/><strong>“I know how to deal with Ferret, don’t you worry. I appreciate Si coming along to back me up; I know I can count on him. You go get that engine part, grab us our new guy and more ammo. I’ll brief everyone on their duties before we depart; maybe we can have them all group in the cargo bay before we head off on our separate ways, give ‘em the rundown of what’s what. Sound about right?  And...we’ve been out in the black for a long spell this time around; I think the crew’s earned a night of R&amp;R. I’ll have everyone report back at the ship at 0700 tomorrow morning. See you down at the cargo bay in a few?”</strong><br/><br/>Griff nodded and resisted the urge to console her further as her friend, instead falling back into the comfortable role of  a Captain talking to his First Officer.<em> “Very good, Sasha. I’d say the crew’s earned a night of R&amp;R.”</em>He bent down to pick up his dirty clothes and combat boots. He noticed his boxer briefs weren’t where he’d tossed them and glanced about the room, quickly spotting them on the far side of the room. A puzzled look filled his dark mocha eyes as he glanced from the briefs to Sasha.<em>“Yeah that sounds ‘bout right. I’ve got Dani roundin’ folks up for a … briefing…”</em>he said with a pause as he knelt down to pick up his briefs by the elastic band.<em>“…‘fore they all slip out to play."</em>He turned, setting his boots on the floor at the foot of his bed when there was a knock at the door to his cabin. He listened as Sasha greeted Vince and then sent him on his way to gather Meimei for the briefing. Dropping his soiled shirt and pants in the dirty clothes hamper, he smiled and nodded reassuringly to Sasha before she turned and left his quarters.<br/><br/>As the heavy metal door clinked shut behind her he pulled the towel from around his waist and tossed it in the dirty clothes hamper along with the boxer briefs, which missed the hamper. He knelt down to pick them up again.<em>”Zao gao!”</em>he cursed softly. He suddenly remembered one other thing to mention to Sasha and quickly moved to the door, throwing it open in the hopes of catching her in time. Stepping out into the hallway naked as a lark with his boxer briefs in his hand he called after her.<em>” “Sasha! I almost forgot! Have someone make sure our passenger knows we’ve arrived and he gets off my boat… unless he means to pay additional fare for room and board.”</em><br/><br/>He wasn’t sure if she heard him or not so he would be sure to check on the passenger himself before he departed.<em>“Ai ya,”</em>he cursed again quietly as he turned to move back into his cabin. That’s when he noticed Meimei and Vince standing together just outside of Vince’s cabin. Griff took a look at Meimei’s outfit and smirked as his eyes openly roamed her lithe, young body. His hands went to his hips, the briefs clenched in one hand as he faced them shamelessly. “Well look at you all dolled up and looking just a whole peck of delicious. He let his gaze linger longer than was normal, seeming to undress her with his eyes before he suddenly seemed to realize that Vince was standing there too. He looked up at Vince with a nonchalant expression then waved the boxer briefs at the both of them.<em>” Now, y’all make sure to take care of responsibilities ‘fore y’all run off to play, Dohn luh mah?”</em><br/><br/><hr/>Zao gao = Damn it!<br/>Ai ya = Damn!<br/>Dohn luh mah = Are we clear?<br/>