"When you couch it in terms of self-interest, it becomes so much more appealing." He grinned outright, a sharp flash of teeth. He had enjoyed their back and forth quasi-bickering most of all, and he was not so stubborn that he couldn't concede a reasonable point.

He didn't rush precisely, but he did pick up his pace to the lift. "Engineering deck," he said. It whirred into smooth motion, and he stood at parade rest while waiting. If everything else was going smoothly, he didn't expect to find anything particularly anomalous or wrong with the ship. His crew was competent. They didn't need him there to handhold them through a crisis. Still, seeing for himself had always been his preferred method of operation.