See, the good thing about having a terrifyingly powerful girlfriend is that, even though Cassandra is, compared to him, smaller and lighter, he knows terrifyingly powerful when he sees it. And he knows he can't get away with the same shit Tex might let slide. Not that that was often. Just a look and a stony silence could do wonders for shutting him the fuck up.

But this works, too. The sassiness from his expression is gone, surprised, flummoxed, a little bit cowed, as he grabs hold of her wrists out of instinct. "Okay, jesus christ, you don't have to get all fucking out of control here! I'm Church, I came here from a backwater fuckoff planet I'm not even sure I know the name of before I got plunked down there, kind of technically work for humanity's space military, and my loyalty's to me, myself, and I. And kindoftomyteam." But psh, don't tell them that oh wait you can't they're not here. "Are you happy? Wait, don't answer that--I'm pretty sure you're the kind of person who doesn't do happiness."