The'd been making their way through the crowds, intent on the lift that would take them back to the officer's habitation quarter. Their conversation had fallen sharply into a somewhat obvious silence. It was tangible and quiet even despite the bodies around them, the words being traded left and right that only grew quieter the farther they went from the main merchant promenade. It was a silence that only got louder the further the went. He carrying the bags, and her gnawing on some little leaf like it was gonna save her from some horrid fate. Whatever that fate might've been was anyone's guess.

That she'd run out of her mother's credits?

A stupid thought, and one that Dage instantly felt a small bit of shame for. The earlier moment of honesty from Rai'faani had been like a breath of candid fresh air, washing over the previous interactions with a bit more stability. There was truth and a sense that the girl had gone deeper than she might've cared to. Which, perhaps chewing on that leaf was a way to cope with the act. Whatever it was, Dage kept his eyes forward and his mind on T'yeellaa. The look on her face was a haunting one. It was one that he'd worn himself at times.

They were a few meters from the lift when the entire station shook. It bucked beneath their feet, and mere moments later the lights all around seemed to flicker off, then on, then off again before finally dying out. They were replaced by the lower level red of emergency lighting. More shaking, and cries rose from behind them. Surprise mixed with just a little bit of anger at having stalls mussed about. There was a fair amount of cursing, loud griping at some perceived failing of Alliance engineers and their abilities to keep a space station still.

But it was the nature of the shaking that pulled his attentions around. This was no stabilizer malfunction. No. Samus Dage had enough experience with this kind of rocking, this kind of feeling, and the sounds he was hearing. Some things you could just feel through the bulkheads and decking. They were things that so many men and women from the old days knew. Even as his stance went wide and the bags he held discarded, the rangy blonde was moving on instinct. He reached out quickly to grab Rai'faani by her arm, pulling her with him as Jovan took another bit of angry rolling.

Another one, came the grim thought.

Pressing both himself and Rai'fa against the closest bulkhead, Dage cast a wary eye at the distant crowds of the promenade as they became like a hive of disturbed Myomarian flame ants.

He grunted, let out a snorted breath, then started off down a side corridor, Rai'fa rather ingloriously towed behind with a firm hold on her upper arm.