Tillie could have died happy knowing she made Quinnlash Loughvein laugh at a joke. Not even a joke, really, just a silly little thought. But even if it wasn’t [i]that[/i] funny, she found herself laughing right alongside her. It seemed she hadn’t been annoying the pilot after all, and the relief of that realization just made laughing easier. It was nice not to worry, to just cut loose and enjoy herself in the moment. It reminded her of her early undergrad years, and getting locked out of the dorms on rainy days. It reminded her of…

Well, she was having a good time.

Gosh, and she’d been so anxious about coming to the Ange. She hadn’t been anywhere but Runa for almost ever, but Casoban was turning out great! The people were polite, the crew were kind and the scientists just as invested in their work as she was. And she got to do this—hang out with her favorite pilot [i]ever[/i]. 

She owed the commander [i]big time[/i].

“[color=f26522]Oh no,[/color]” she said, rubbing the happy ache out of her cheeks. “[color=f26522]I totally get it! Uhm! This is a lot of fun! I really appreciate the opportunity to share this stuff, especially with a pilot. It's important, for sure. Do you have anything else you wanna know about?[/color]”