After the now-familiar sequence of activation steps, Aurelian stepped back out of the captain's cabin and waited in the corridor.
This time, the wait was longer than he expected, but after Neris, he no longer treated a long wait as a bad sign; instead, he just thought it was due to the long dormancy period.
Different shipgirls awakened in different ways, and some clearly took their time settling into themselves before appearing.
So he stayed where he was and waited without pacing, one hand in his coat pocket and the other resting loosely at his side, while the old ship around him remained quiet.
Eventually, the captain's cabin door opened.
A blonde woman leaned out first, not in any hurry, and looked at him with clear, intelligent eyes that already carried a sense of familiarity with herself and with the space around her.
"Commander," she said, tone calm and refined, "would you come in? It would be better if we spoke inside."
