Space Andromeda (Private)

Peyton smiled brightly at Lucy. She thought she had just made a friend. Wow she made an actual friend. That's new. She said cheerfully, "Well that's great. I'll see you around."

Peyton waved as she left Lucy's office. She walked back up to the navigation room. She cracked her neck and knuckles before getting back to work.

"I'm not the best at working with a group," Dara admitted, still not meeting his gaze. "But if we stop somewhere, I could download some tech that might help. Where's our next stop?"

"I'll have to talk to Peyton about that. Hopefully, she got some work done on the star charts I gave her," Cal answered as he glanced over towards the side of the ship, watching some of the stars before quickly resuming his gaze on Dara.

"Great," Dara replied, placing her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. "So. What have you been up to? How is…captain-ing?"

"The same as always, I suppose," Cal answered, shrugging faintly as he ran a hand through his messy, ginger hair. He glanced up towards the crow's nest, wondering if anyone would be up there at this time, but also so he could escape Dara's gaze for a few moments. She made him a bit nervous. "Plotting courses, yelling at people on deck, the usual," Cal added, a faint smile spreading crossing his face.

"Yelling is fun," Dara agreed with a smile. Cal glanced away from her, and she took the time to study his face. Messy hair, freckles, pale green eyes that looked like the shallow part of the oceans on Sole before a storm. She scrunched her nose. "Your hair is messy," she observed under her breath, almost involuntarily.

"My hair is always a mess," Cal answered, a joking tone in his voice as he looked back towards Dara, studying her for a few moments as he let a small pause hang between them. "Do you want to fix it or something?" He teased, a faint grin crossing his face.

"As if it could be fixed," Dara snorted in reply, trying to hide her embarrassment. She wished she had more of a filter over her words, but it couldn't really be helped. "I recommend a lawn mower. Or at the very least, a pair of scissors."

"I should invest in some," Cal answered, humming in agreement as he looked down towards Dara, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips up. He glanced around the deck of the ship, checking over things out of habit and making small mental notes. "Anything else I should know?" He added, a joking tone obvious in his words as he raised a brow.

Dara pretended to scrutinize his face further. She found him kind of plain, to be honest. Cute, but plain. "Too many freckles," she decided after a moment, "but that can't be fixed either, I guess." She sighed as though defeated and stuck her hands back in her pockets.

A small chuckle escaped Cal's lips as he studied Dara for a few more moments, fiddling with the hilt of his sword out of habit. "I would find something wrong about you, but I don't think there aren't many that could be listed," he finally answered, a bit of a teasing tone in his words as he glanced around the ship once again. Of course, Cal had been with the rest of the crew long enough to know each of their faults, but he never enjoyed pointing them out. He had plenty of faults on his own.

"Ugh, you sound like my brother," she said, trying to pretend the compliment hadn't shaken her. She was failing. She brought her hand to her mouth and chewed at the edge of her finger, her face warming. She felt both incredibly rude for pointing out his flaws, and incredibly embarrassed that she was so terrible at taking a compliment. She wished sometimes she wasn't so…her.

"If your brother is anything like me, I would be honored to meet him," Cal answered, laughing softly as he noticed Dara get a bit flustered, doing the same usual habit she usually did when she ever got nervous. He tried for a small smile as he let a small pause hang between them, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. If only he was a bit better at talking to girls…or anyone really.

"Oh, trust me, you're way better than my brother," she scrambled to say, grasping for something positive to say after all her overwhelming negativity. "He's an idiot. You're…definitely not an idiot." She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Only her brain would decide that 'not an idiot' was a compliment. Well, it was as sincere and sappy as she was going to get.

Cal nodded as a faint smile crossed his lips, part of him a bit glad that he got to learn something about Dara's family. Most of the crew didn't speak about their past very often, so hearing a little was always quite interesting for Cal. "I'm glad that you think I'm not an idiot. It means a lot coming from you…the genius on our ship," he added, glancing down at Dara and hoping that he wasn't overwhelming her with compliments. Though, Cal had always respected the way that she seemed to have solutions for every problem, so perhaps Dara deserved to know it now.

At the offhanded mention of her intelligence, Dara managed to calm herself down. Her mind was the only thing people could compliment that wouldn't get her all flustered. She'd worked every damn day to become the genius she most definitely was, and people should take notice. One mention of her looks or personality, and she could hardly function. But her mind? She nodded, with a cocky grin. "True. I am a genius." She laughed a bit. "That's what I love about the Andromeda. Everyone's great at what they do. Perfect captain, and perfect genius."

"And humble," Cal teased, a faint smile quirking the corners of his lips up as he leaned against the edge of the ship, continuing to face Dara as he did so. Though, Dara was definitely a genius, and it was better if she knew that, right? "Perfect captain," He repeated to Dara's next comment, shaking his head faintly. He was far from perfect. Too many faults and problems that he had caused in the past. Not to mention the drinking problem he couldn't seem to stop. "You're probably the perfect genius though. I'm sure of that."

Dara nodded mutely, still smiling. She peered over the edge of the ship, down into the stars. "I guess I've never had to deal with other captains," she mused, "so I have nothing to judge you by. Unscientific, I know. You seem like a good captain. Guess I'll never know for sure."

Cal hummed in agreement as he shifted on his feet, a bit uncomfortable for staying in the same position for so long. "Maybe we can get more captains to use as subjects, then we'll be able to know for sure," He added, glancing towards Dara as a small smile brightened his features faintly.

"That would be quite useful," Dara said as though in deep thought. "I could analyze their personalities, the willingness of their crew to comply with their demands, their wealth, and whether or not they have messy hair."

(i hope this isn't already dead)

(Noooooo.)