He was halfway through his newspaper when Mr Captain cleared his throat in a nervous manner that was probably supposed to get his attention. Well, good luck with that, he thought to himself without even bothering to look up.
"Douglas. Can I have a word with you?"
"Well, I can't stop you," he conceded at length. "Freedom of speech, and all that."
The younger man paused, fidgeting, until Douglas finally took pity on him and pushed the newspaper aside. "What is it this time?"
Martin produced a glittery card by way of an answer; it was without doubt one of Arthur's finest specimens as far as valentines were concerned, and he let his lips curl in a wry smirk.
"Do you think that Arthur – I mean, I'm sure I've got it wrong, but do you think that he could possibly – ?"
"Martin." It was very good of him to worry about Arthur's supposed feelings; luckily though that wasn't the case, and as much as Douglas enjoyed leading on his hapless superior this was definitely not the time nor the place. Instead he made a show of searching through his pockets, then produced a card that was quite similar to the one Martin was still holding.
"I'm sorry to break your heart, Captain, but our gallant steward happens to be of a rather friendly disposition. I've got half a dozen of those somewhere at home, as I believe do each and every member of the ground crew staff."
"Oh, thank goodness for that!" Martin exhaled in relief, his posture visibly relaxing. And in the privacy of his own mind Douglas acknowledged that maybe the new captain wasn't so bad after all.