... Nova, the Lyena, Nova, was one of the most demanding people William had ever met.

It made him grateful that the DASS did not have royalty.

He wanted the best room the ship had, brought along what seemed like an endless stream of expensive and useless-looking junk, demanded a key to the senior officers' bath so he could run unlimited hot water, listened to strange music loudly at all hours of the night, refused to follow any sort of schedule, and was steadfastly arrogant about it all.

It was driving William insane.

"Ah, William-"

He was lost in thought seething about it, and nearly bumped into someone. Lieutenant Kirie Honda, his close friend and informal aide, grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him out of the way just in time. She had not, unfortunately, saved his coffee. It went flying out of his hand.

" Masterson."

Well, fuck.

" I understand, from my interactions with your much more capable colleagues, that you are a habitually clumsy man. But I do want you to know. This kita is worth more than nine of your lives."

Kirie's brow furrowed, and she had a look on her face like she intended to say something she knew was disrespectful. William hurriedly gathered himself and spoke before she had the chance.

"Sorry, sorry, that was my fault, Nova," he excused himself, desperately trying to come off as friendly. Trying to keep his eyes off of where the coffee had splashed across Nova's midriff, soaking the dark purple fabric black.

"But, William-" Kirie protested. She took this sort of thing too seriously, William felt.

" How about I take you to the housekeeping department to get it laundered?" he offered, a bit red in the face from embarrassment. It was one thing to look stupid in front of his own staff; it was another entirely to look stupid in front of a prince. Even he knew this.

" I don't need you to chaperone me," Nova replied icily, as though it was an insult. Was it an insult? William wasn't sure. He didn't know much about Starka cultural norms.

" Well, it was my fault, so..."

" Frankly, Commodore General, you're likely to cause some other mishap," Nova clarified.

William glanced over at Kirie; she was clearly irritated.

" Aha, you're probably right..." he tried to play it off casually. " Still, if there's any way I can be of service to you, please inform me."

A moment.

" Let me borrow your cape," Nova requested.

It was obvious why, but the smile on William's face still froze for a moment.

" Of course," he said, unfastening it, and he drew it off of his shoulders.

" William!" Kirie interrupted, hands raised like she intended to stop him. " That's going too far! It's a sign of your rank that you've worked hard to achieve-!"

William smiled gamely at her, handing it off.

" Kirie, you know just as well as I do that I've never worked hard a day in my life," he said. " It's no trouble. Nova will return it when he's fixed his clothes."

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