Wash watched him as Leto absorbed what he'd said about his past. He wasn't too lost in his head that he failed to notice sympathy. He appreciated that. He scratched his eyebrow with his middle finger as he tried to figure out how to answer Leto's question without sounding cold.
"...yes," Wash said finally, nodding. That was the short answer, any way. "But...she shouldn't be here. I was dead back home. I mean, literally tree trunk through the torso dead. Well, spear but basically small tree. Uh--think bigger than a sapling smaller than an oak. I really only saw it for a second. Anyway-uh, Maxine was taken away from her home, her dad, her life. So, yes, I see her as a bright spot in my life. Maybe selfishly. But she's in a nightmare. All I can do is watch.
"So this...exciting new place you've found yourself in? This brave new fishbowl serving the best little sprinkled fish food the universal pet store can buy? It's selfish. And it has really crappy sushi," Wash finished, taking back control of Shuttle 2 and whipping it around in the sky.
A beat.
"I didn't really think that sushi comment through," Wash admitted, lighter. "Didn't really fit into the whole fish bowl metaphor I was going for. I'd like to clarify that I didn't mean to imply cannibalism. I mean, personally."