She did not press though she did see the dodge he made and it made her mouth twitch and her instincts prickle but she held her tongue. This man undid her at the drop of a hat and she was half worried about what she would hear if she pressed. So she let him summon the boy and nodded absently at him as she did her best not to agonize over what the helmsman wasn’t saying. She wasn’t very successful in not agonizing but she was successful in holding her tongue. This was a victory of sorts. She had been making so many mistakes lately, slipping up so often and saying things she regretted. To be able to hold her tongue and not pry filled her with something as close to ease as she ever got. 

Her honeyed mouth found itself pulled into a faint smile, which to those who knew her and watched her expressions, was as significant as a full on grin for the dour First mate. Comfort in control, that was what Nicki needed. She could not control the world she could only control herself and that only sometimes. 

When the Captain approached them as the boy as showing Jax something on a string under his shirt she straightened up and pulled her eyes from Jax’s shoulders which were only slightly less distracting than his chest and offered him a salute. She felt anxiety crawl up out from her belly to her skin as she fought to maintain her expression, as uncharacteristic as it was. Change was betrayal in this regard and she still hadn’t made accounting of her flight the night before. 

“I am as ready as I can be, Captain.” She said. “But I confess I do not know the parameters of the contest which is a problem as I am apparently Monsieur Jax’s Second. Perhaps we can outline them before we begin?”

Not that she expected either of them to cheat or take advantage, but as the control she’s had over herself began to slip from her grasp she felt the need to exert it elsewhere.