“Did you see him?” 

Thais managed not to flinch at the question. Mads meant well, he knew that, but even though they’d been married a long time, she still didn’t really understand the complexities of llanarian relationships. Or his other marriage. 

“Yeah. He didn’t say anything though. I guess I should be grateful he introduced me to my new CO.” 

“I’m sorry, love,” she murmured softly, a sympathetic note in her voice. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he shook his head, sitting forward and smiling at his wife. “I saw Ash before he headed over to the Manticore. He looks good, got taller!”

“Yeah. I was surprised by that when he arrived. They must have fed them well at the Academy,” she chuckled, then her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t—“

He grinned unrepentantly. “I did.”

She groaned, rolling her eyes at him. “Thais! He’s twenty-four! You can’t keep asking him if he remembered to pack underwear!”

Thais just grinned wider. “He’s lucky I asked before he reported aboard. I’m sure I’m going to end up over on the Manticore at some point. Would’ve been far worse if I’d asked him in front of everyone while he’s on duty.”

“You’re incorrigible, you know th—“ She shook her head at him, her attention caught by something off screen. He smiled fondly, recognising that look. Mads was a workaholic, and in logistics, a department that never slowed down, ever.  “Love, I’m—“

“Going to have to go,” he finished for her. “Don’t worry, you go. Just remember to send me some dates you can get leave? We’ll organise something, okay?” 

She smiled. “I will, I promise. Catch you later, love you!”

And then she was gone, leaving Thais looking at the fleet emblem rotating on screen. He smiled, knowing full well he was going to have to ask her at least three more times for those dates and would probably end up heading over to SBB on his own leave while she worked, or vice versa. He didn’t mind it, as long as they got some time together. 

“Wife, I assume?” a deep voice asked from the doorway, and Thais turned to find his new CO there, one shoulder against the doorframe. His blue eyes were focused, laserlike on Thais, and a small smile flirted with the corners of his lips. He wore the uniform of a starfleet captain but somehow made it way sexier than it should have been. For some reason Thais was surprised the jacket wasn’t undone to the waist… especially given the playboy tendencies mentioned in the captain’s personnel file. 

“Yes, sir.” Thais rose as the captain walked in, wondering how much Reese-Riggs had heard. 

“I hope you don’t mind me setting up camp in here,” he said, indicating the room. It was the smaller of the two diplomatic briefing rooms aboard. Since their current mission was listed as patrol, Thais had figured no one would need it for a while. 

“Nope, not at all,” Reese-Riggs replied stopping in front of him. For a moment Thais felt like a mouse being watched by a cat. As a llanarian, and one of the physically biggest members of any crew he’d ever been on, it wasn’t a feeling he was used to. Then Reese-Riggs smiled and the sharp look disappeared like it had never been there. 

“We didn’t get a chance to grab a chat earlier, so I thought we should catch up,” he said, dropping into the chair kitty-corner to the one Thais had claimed. “And you can tell me why Mason chose you to be my XO.”

The warning shot was straight across the bows, but delivered with such a charming smile that Thais wasn’t sure if he was being flirted with as well. 

“My service record I assume, sir,” he said honestly. “I’ve never served with Captain Mason, so it’s not from personal experience.” 

That much was true. Even though Thais had served in the army Mason had commanded in the war on their home planet, he’d been so many rungs on the ladder down, they’d never crossed paths on the battlefield. 

“Hmmm, you must be something special to get his attention. And let’s do away with the formalities.” He smiled and leaned forward to offer his hand. “Hi, I’m RJ. Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Thais,” he said in reply, reaching out to shake RJ’s hand again. It was a firm shake, confident. “And I don’t know about special. You seem to have some background with him though, given he’s taken you on as a squadron captain…” 

RJ smiled as he sat back in his chair. “We do. It’s… complicated. I tried to drop a ship on him once.”

Thais blinked, his eyebrows winging up. “Okay, that… is not what I expected. How did that happen?”

“It’s a long story,” RJ grinned. “Buy me a drink and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Deal.” Thais chuckled, feeling more at ease with his CO now. 

He’d been surprised when he’d been offered the assignment, and he’d read the file on RJ before accepting. His decision had been purely pragmatic. RJ appeared to hold onto his pips by the skin of his teeth, which meant that there was a possibility that Thais would end up in the big chair himself at some point. 

“Was there anything else you wanted to know?” he asked, then grinned. “Inside leg measurement, maybe?” 

“Not today, I already commented on someone’s uniform and got threatened with the airlock, so let’s concentrate on our new orders,” he said, sitting forward and sliding a padd over the table to Thais. “We’re going to be heading out with the Manticore.”