Thorn has no questions. She's not sure she believes it, but that's between Captain DeVries and his crew. She'll do the rest of her tour of duty back to New Winchester, and not snap back, but she doesn't want to see DeVries again.

Several others including Lenora have a lot of questions about this weird fruit, and how the Windward Company knew about it, and why didn't he tell them something like this was going on- (He thought one of them might have been an informant, apparently.)

Morale is a lot lower now and short, snappish arguments about the captain keep popping up and then suddenly ending. Nothing dangerous interrupts the journey home except for a few hours of strong gusts rattling the windows, easily weathered.

Lenora finds Thorn when their off-shifts next overlap.

"Hey. We should talk."

"We should. Are you... alright?"

"I think so. I just... Hate feeling manipulated. It's scary."

"I feel used, too. I don't like it. Feels like another reason why I should have my own engine. I don't want to have to... wonder, like this."

"After this I've got to be co-owner if we go in on an engine together. You can be the captain, I'm better at supporting people - if I trust them... If you don't want a straight equal split since you have most of the money, I want at least - a veto's worth."

"That's fair. I think I was always headed for something like co-owners, assuming we can get away without having to sell shares of the engine for, like, a navigator. And I mean... I'd listen to you if you had a strong opinion even without a veto to back you up, but it's fine if you want it."

"It's just..." Sigh. "It sounds awful to say it, but I don't know you well enough to really really trust you yet. I'm slowly getting that way, but..." Shrug. "And if that's annoying or hurtful or whatever, that's fair."

"No, that's just accurate. The connection between us might be deep, but it's also pretty narrow right now. Getting the breadth of it will take time."

"...Yeah. That sounds about right. sorry for freaking out the other day. I think I would have been useful if it had come to violence still, but it's not a good look." She lets out a long sigh. "Deep but narrow, huh? I want to learn more about your, ah, bosses? And if you want some stories from me all you gotta do is ask."

"We can talk about my bosses where there are less prying ears. As for your end... I think you've told me enough for me to... get a sense of you. And I care about you a lot. I might ask just as a friendly thing, but I don't need to learn more to trust you. Call it an instinct thing. You just... seem reliable."

"Aww! Glad to hear it, 'course. But that's how I meant it. Friendly stories, to widen the channel. If you need a way to trust me, I expect you'll ask or find one. We need to go on a date when we get back. Not that Titania wasn't really fun."

"We should absolutely go on a date once we get back. Storytime can be part of it. And meeting more of the family, so to speak. But frankly? There's a lot of the Reach I haven't seen, and having you as a guide is lovely."

"Huh, there's probably folks in New Winchester I should introduce you to. I'll think about it."

Hesitation.

"...Hug?"

"Definitely hug." 

She hugs her.

Hug!!!

"Well, back to work for me. Have a nice sleep, you."

The return to New Winchester is uneventful. They even pass Dreadnoughts, which make everyone tense for a while, worried they'll suddenly demand to prepare to be boarded. But nothing happens.

"I," she tells Thorn, as they're deboarding the As Clockwork for the last time, "Want to go get fresh bacon, then collapse into my apartment bed with you."

"Sounds like an excellent plan and one I fully endorse. Let's go get bacon."

Bacon is got. Also, eggs. And a bit of ice for the icebox. Her apartment is still there - "I paid the next month anyway since I would've lost two weeks' rent."

She drops her stuff from the locomotive just inside the door, puts the eggs and bacon up, and says, "Correction. Shower, food, then bed. Any objections?" The locomotive didn't have a proper shower, so the last shower they've had was on Titania.

"Absolutely zero objections."

She shuts the bathroom door out of habit, then hesitates, then comes back and opens it again with a sort of shy/embarrassed smirk in Thorn's direction, and has her shower.

Well that's interesting. 

As lovely as it would be to watch her girlfriend shower, she thinks she'd rather hurry the process along by starting the bacon cooking.

Lenora showers fairly quickly, makes a happy noise about her warmsoft towels, wraps her hair up and puts her underwear back on plus a loose clean shirt.

"Your turn. I think I remember how you like your eggs, I'll fix 'em."

"Thanks much." 

She goes and showers. She puts clothes back on afterwards. There is still a meal to be had.

Lenora also has some canned beans and crackers that were left in the cabinets. Her table is a bit small but does have two chairs.

She's quiet, just sort of silently vegging out or smiling at Thorn for most of the meal. 

"...City noise is different from engine noise, but sometimes I just want to go somewhere way out of the way where it's just silent. I'd get antsy again quick enough, but someplace like Port Avon sounds nice sometimes. You ever get like that?"

"Not really. I like a bit of noise in the background; it helps me sleep. When things are silent, truly silent, my hackles go up. That means something's disturbed the wildlife, or something like that." 

She hums. "As for a place like Port Avon... I suspect I'd go stir-crazy fast in a place like that. I'm built for adventure."