Tide casually stopped Risty's cigarette pack as it skidded across the table, nodding his thanks as he removed one of the methols, before sliding the packet back across the table to her. He leaned back in his chair, the cheap plastic creaking ominously, and nonchalently flicked the unlit cigarette upwards, catching it in the corner of his mouth. "Don't worry Doc," he grinned, "I'll make sure to open a window on the ship." His eyes met Nicki Sharpe's for a moment. A very brief moment. Somewhere, deep in his animal hindbrain, a little warning alarm was going off - [i]Run! Fast![/i]. 

Blissfully unaware of why he was doing it, Tide turned his attention away from the medic, and reached down to heft his backpack onto the table. It was something of an old relic, made of thick gray canvas, and covered in pockets that fastened closed with buckles and straps. He could have replaced it with something better - maybe something that was actually waterproof - but he'd grown rather fond of it over the years. 

"I've got a lighter in here somewhere," he mumbled, pulling random bits of clothing and equipment out of his pack. "It's a nice one too. Was a present." As he dug deeper into the recesses of his pack, he pulled out a scratched and battered looking communicator. It was pulsing red along one edge, and beeping softly. With a quick glance in Caelum's direction, he stuffed the device back into his pack, and continued rifling through the pockets. Eventually he found what he was looking for; a slightly tarnished silver lighter, inscribed across the front in flowing script - [i]For my little pootles, love always, Marley[/i]. 

"Yeah, I think it might have been second-hand," he said with a wry grin, flicking the lighter open to light his cigarette. "So, anyway. I'm Tide. I'm probably here to carry stuff."