"I thought you told me you had number three fixed?" Kaiden challenged Higgs, who was simply doing his best not to belch in front of his superiors. He looked at the Lieutenant blankly, unsure of what to say. Sabatine knew her part well, piping in about how it was a recent discovery on her part, and speaking what Kaiden knew to be at least some bit of technobabble, trying not to smile at it as he watched Micha out of the corner of his eye. The Captain, a known logistics expert and no stranger to how his ship ran, was oddly quiet and never correct Sabatine, instead adding in that Higgs should be more careful offhandedly 'next time.' The Prince took a sip of his drink and found he was satisfied with how they planted the seeds in his mind. 

Leyla still seemed a little miffed about the lack of piratical activity. But her mind did get taken out of it when she heard the very subtle nonsense the others were speaking. "Look, if the thing gets stuck that's to do with the Vickie, not the pod itself."

"Not exactly." Sabatine countered, and the two began a long conversation about the intricacies of lifeboat expulsion as Kaiden halted Higgs from drinking anymore, asking the server for the Bosun to get some water.

An hour and a half later, the dinner had been broken up. Captain Micha had remained quietly, subtly thoughtful and if this did not work, Kaiden did not know what would. The hatch to the starboard corridor slid open and Kaiden and Sabatine stepped through, passing by Midshipman McKay who halted and gave them a salute he had obviously been practicing in a mirror before he tottered off, hustling for something. 

"Need help, Midshipman?" Kaiden called to him. 

"No sir, Lieutenant! Goodnight sir!" He said and jogged off down into another corridor. He carried a small pylon looking item in his arms, likely something to do with the power grid of one of the auxiliary systems. Kaiden would have been more worried if Sabatine jumped into action, but she seemed completely nonchalant.

"It's nothing." Sabatine thought aloud. "McKay always likes to do any menial task at hand. He thinks leadership is getting your hands dirty." 

"That's a little ironic coming from you." Kaiden remarked with wry grin. Even with the odd discomfort, he was glad he was able to be himself more around her. Maybe proximity to her did help in some ways. Maybe it was the drinking too. 
[@Penny]