Hana tapped a nail against her teeth, playing along with the boy and Berlin, "Wellllllll, the telescope would be pretty easy to explode, since it's already sealed. I don't think the captain would be very happy with me if I did. It'd be harder to make boots explode, since they're not sealed. Setting them on fire, or making the person who wears them get blisters is a lot easier." Hana had a small smile on her face as she mentioned the blisters, remembering an old prank. "Blowing up a melon sounds messy, but it'd be pretty easy." Hana's smile faded as the conversation took a darker turn. [i]It's a lot harder for me to kill you than for you to eat me.[/i] "I don't know why anyone would want to blow up a crab. Or you, for that matter." Glancing furtively at the captain for guidance, she straightened to her full height looking coolly at the ragged blond boy, she said, "I promise not to blow you up if you promise not to eat me." [i]Oh virtues I hope that was the right thing to say.[/i]

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Wheel heard Uban walk into the galley. His footsteps were heavy and slow, he must have exhausted himself. He couldn't stay polishing swords all day. With a grim certainty, he set aside the cutlass and the rag, and went to join Uban. Passing through the door to the galley, he saw  Uban struggling to pour the hot water from the kettle into the mug while holding a plate piled high with pork and bread. "Here, I can pour the tea, hold the mug." Wheel said after he had crossed the room. Taking the kettle from him, Wheel steadily poured the tea, seemingly unaffected by the rocking motion. "How did Hana's experiment go?"