Chapter Text
‘And what am I supposed to be doing while you are on your, so called “girls night”?’ Vicar Maximillian Desoto's tone was sour. He was leaning, cross armed, against the entrance to The Unreliable's cafeteria, watching his captain get ready for her night on the Grounbreaker with Parvati and Ellie. He felt a small pang of jealousy that he hadn’t been invited along, but reminded himself that a night listening to the captain and the ship's doctor giving drunken relationship advice to Edgewater's erstwhile engineer was very much something that he didn’t wish to be a part of.
The captain was shrugging on a lightweight spacers jacket she’d picked up from some Law forsaken place. It wasn’t stained with blood and didn’t appear to have any bullet holes so it couldn’t have been from any of their recent, hard fought adventures.
‘You can spend the night with Felix,’ She smiled. ‘I’m sure you’ll both have fun.’
‘Really captain,’ Max grimaced in response. ‘I think I’d much rather remain in my quarters studying my texts. It will surely prove much more fulfilling.’
‘Come on vicar. It’s one night. And isn’t there a tossball match or something on? I know he’s a Rangers fan but you can always comfort him on his losses.’
‘Look how the last man ended up,’ Max muttered. That made her laugh and the vicar's lips twitched at her amusement.
‘I just don’t see why you feel the need to pick up every waif and stray we come across Captain.’ Max’s smile ran into a frown.
‘Don’t knock the system Vicar.’ The captain’s own smile was tight lipped. ‘It’s how we ended up with you after all.’
He scowled at that. As far as he remembered, he’d invited himself along on this grand misadventure with the understanding that the good captain would be helping him out with his own personal matter. He felt a sudden pang of guilt. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with the captain but after the revelation of that cursed journal... he couldn’t let her know his intentions. It wouldn’t sit well with the kind hearted captain. She might deny him passage to Monarch at all and it was going to be difficult enough to get past the blockade as it was. He thanked The Architect that her own personal quest seemed to be taking her to that backwater moon anyway so he hadn’t had to push her too hard.
The captain absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair and turned from the tiny mirror they had set up on the wall to face him.
‘How do I look?’ She gave him an awkward shrug and a bashful smile.
‘It’s nice to see you out of armour captain.’ The vicars tone was dry but he delivered it with his signature smirk. She laughed again and shook her head.
‘Can’t spend our whole lives running from gun fight to gunfight can we? Its good to have some down time Max, for all of us. Enjoy your night off.’
‘If you insist captain,’ Max conceded.
‘What’s taking so long cap’n?!’ Ellie's voice carried up the two flights of stairs, exuding irritability.
‘Jeez Ell, keep your shirt on, I’m coming,’ the captain yelled over Max’s shoulder. Felix poked his head out his quarters and gave the captain a large grin.
‘You guys have fun,’ he said. ‘Wish I was coming with you...’ He trailed off as the vicar turned his head to look at him. The young man was nervous of Max, the vicar could tell, but the hot headed stowaway would never admit it.
‘Don’t worry Felix.’ The captain returned his smile. ‘Max said he’d watch the tossball match with you.’ She tipped a wink at the vicar as he turned back to her and scowled, but Felix lit up.
‘Nice one!’ The young man made his way through, past the two of them and to the fridge for some Zero Gee. ‘No fun watchin’ a game on your own. You best be keeping up with me though preacher.’ Felix tipped the bottle in Max’s direction, tone and posture full of cheek and challenge.
‘Be nice,’ the captain warned, tapping Max’s arm on the way past. He didn’t bother suppressing his laboured sigh. The captain’s laughter echoed through the ship as she made her way to her waiting friends.