A/N: I have such muse for these two, they're definitely an otp of mine, love bad sorta broken guys falling for the good girl and her "fixing him" trope, honestly I'm trash, really am. Because although we never see it really aside from the last few scenes he's in, you bet your ass he's fucked up. And you also bet your ass that Akima is beautiful and there for him, okay.

It's never been easy for her; it's never been easy to stand tall no matter what you're faced with. But Akima does it, she's been doing it since she was a little girl and her Grandmother took her tear-streaked face in soft, wrinkled hands, telling her to never let anything defeat her, tragedy or person. The words had been imprinted into her mind ever since, even this long after the wise woman's passing. Keeping her chin up isn't even a choice, the only other option is to get kicked to the ground and to stay there. She found out long ago that she preferred to kick back.

After a particularly rough run in with some aliens Korso had found it in himself to treat her generously to his personal stash of booze. He could hold his drink well. While he'd become undoubtedly more relaxed since they'd began he hardly even seemed tipsy, let alone drunk, like she was starting to feel. She'd started to slow down on how many sips she took when she began feeling sluggish and giddy all at once. She'd never been a big drinker, her interests were always laying in improving valuable skill sets more than attending the parties that would happen every few months on the colonies, usually to commemorate a lack of Drej attacks.

Still, the conversation has begun to flow more readily and easily between the two, something she's not opposed to. She wouldn't be opposed to the uptick in conversation if she were entirely sober either. She genuinely likes the company of her Captain and the fact that's he's Human doesn't hurt that fact. She'll admit rather openly that if she had to pick between camaraderie with all the extra terrestrials she's surrounded with or a fellow Homo sapien she'll pick her own kind. Not to say she isn't becoming quite fond of the alien inhabitants of the ship as well, except for Preed. But that wasn't for lack of trying to get along with him, he's just taken a very uncomfortable liking to her she won't indulge in any form.

But as Akima gets up to change the song that's playing there's a lull in their steady talking. It's not quite an awkward stretch of silence and not quite a relaxed one either. It's much like the silence of space for a moment, just there. It suits her fine, she likes to listen to the words of this song and if she wasn't in company she'd have started dancing to it. As the moment is now, however, she simply walks back to her seat, her head bobbing to the beat of the rock music in replacement of hips that would usually start to sway. She's still almost completely caught up in the ballad when Korso speaks and her eyes drift open to look at him, she hadn't even known she'd closed them.

"Sorry what were you saying?" She has half the mind to look a little guilty about not listening but his shoulders just shake with a deep chuckle like it's coming straight from the bottom of his chest.

"You're really something else, you know that?" Instead of being offended a wide grin spreads across her face and a soft laugh of her own is given.

"Hear that pretty often, if you'd believe it."

"Oh I can, you're not like most people ya' meet anymore, maybe a couple o' years ago but nowadays? You're a rare commodity."

"And what kind of commodity would that be?" A quirked, questioning brow and an answering snort from the man.

"Look at you, there's a lot in you, you don't see often these days. But this, mostly."

"Mostly what?" She asks, confused.

"Ability to hold a decent conversation, you just don't see it anymore." The snarky smirk he wears as he leans closer over the cool metal table allows her to hit his arm with a snort.

"I dunno - seems like you and Preed love to chat it up, always see you two together. You must have some decent conversations with him."

It's amazing to the young woman that he goes from a relaxed, easy smirk to a snarl so quickly, "He's a prick, I'd launch him out an airlock just as soon as I'd have a drink with him." Ah, at least her feelings about the alien are shared, though it doesn't make much sense to her, to have your second-in-command be someone you can't stand. But this is his ship and therefore his business; Preed does his job half decently all in all, despite being, as Korso so nicely phrased it, a prick that gets on everyone's nerves (including even the tenderhearted Gune, at times).

"Who wouldn't?" She leans back into her seat, all blunt honesty as she always seems to be, but blinking lazily, like she was going to fall asleep soon, she probably would. "Glad I can be of help in providing you with some good company."

A new tempo picks up from the speaker in the corner and Akima is only aware of the small change because her foot automatically begins to tap to the new beat. "Korso?"

"Hm?"

"I don't think I ever said it but….thanks."

"For what?" He looks up, bewildered and sounds it to.

"Well for letting me join, for saving my life back there, a couple of weeks ago." She adds the clarification like he won't remember taking the shot for her.

He remembers it with painful clarity. Momentary panic over another person's well being, care he didn't know he was capable of anymore. Then his body moving on its own, that's what he tells himself. It was a knee-jerk reaction, taking a shot for someone else, one remaining hero instinct left over from being a soldier used to protecting Human life from alien threats. But he knows how good he is at ignoring his better instincts and even if his mind had been properly working and there had been more time to think he would've done it again.

"If I remember correctly you've already saved my ass a couple of times. And if I hadn't let you sign on you wouldn't have almost gotten killed in the first place."

"As if I wouldn't be doing something else just as dangerous if I wasn't on this crew?" She had a point there, if she wasn't a member of his crew she'd just be off on the colony fighting back Drej attacks or running around tending to the wounded during them. Probably both at the same time. The new Human condition, their way of life, is constant, never-ending danger. "Least this way I'm making a real difference."

He averts his gaze from meeting hers dead on to staring at the wall behind her, blankly, trying not to think about how many lies he's had to tell her. Trying not to think about how many more lies he'll tell her in the future despite how sick the thought makes him. "Yeah."

"So thanks, you're a good man, Korso."

"I'm not as good as you think I am." His drink is tightly clasped in his hand before he takes a large gulp from it, swallowing down the rest of burning vintage vodka.

The words sound strangely careful, like every syllable of them was heavy on his tongue. The sentence makes her stop short, wondering what he's referring to.

Is he talking about the questionable things they've done to survive? If that's the case they've all got equal amount of dirt on their hands. The final frontier is hostile, especially to their kind; no one can be faulted over doing what was needed to live. He was a soldier once, is he talking about his time on Earth during the real time of war, when it wasn't just rebels here and there but tired acceptance from everyone else? She's not sure, so she's not sure how to respond, but she knows he's wrong.

The man she's seen despite Human faults is good, one of the greatest she's ever met. She'd respected and admired him from the start, now she could honestly say she trusted him with her life. And though she wasn't particularly distrusting she thought herself a good judge of character. Everything he'd done and is doing for their people? The things he'd done for her personally? How could he not see himself as good?

"No one's perfect."

"I'm not even close." The words make her frown before she shrugs her shoulders slowly.

"Well-" She slides her hand across the table to brush her fingers across the knuckles of his fist, a small, sweet smile gracing her face, "I believe that you're about half as close as any of us'll get anymore." With that she stands up, starting for the door, feeling too tired to continue on their personal party of two. "And you're good company to, Captain, that's gotta count for something, hmm?"

"It just might." His voice is soft and when she turns as the door opens she thinks she sees something in his gaze she hasn't seen before, but it's gone quick. Like a flickering light as he moves to pour himself another drink. She hesitates in leaving, alcohol addled mind trying to think straight and wonder if she should begin to drift back to her room so soon (they've been talking for hours, time flies by with him).

"G'night, Akima."

His goodbye makes up her mind for her.

"Sweet dreams, Captain."

She doesn't know why he doesn't seem to believe in himself like he does their cause or like she believes in him. But if there's anything she can put her faith in wholeheartedly it's him, so she'll belief enough for the both of them.