She decided to let up on him a little, even if it just meant she toned the smile down some. "It's good that you're good with him."

"You are," Jaina said immediately, because she still appreciated him coming along and helping. "I think my grandfather might have even been slightly impressed to hear that you do this."

"Mostly to do with the voxyn, I think, but you know most guys wouldn't come at all," she pointed out. And yes, she knew she was lucky.

Jaina raised her eyebrows. "You really think most guys would come with their girlfriend to another galaxy to hang out with her family, possibly get dragged into menial labor, and alternate picking up dead animals that can still kill you with watching a baby?"

She probably should have expected that. "Which category does this fall into?" she asked, nodding towards Ben.

"Just wait till he's walking. Okay, that description maybe makes it a little more likely," she conceded. "But I still appreciate it. We all do."

"That wasn't a thank you, just a statement of fact," she assured him. "A lot of it's to do with the climate out there. We're not really well-liked. I'm sure there are probably plenty of people happy to let the voxyn do their jobs."

"The people or the voxyn?" she had to ask.

"The voxyn will have to be dealt with. That's what we're trying to do," Jaina said. "The people... we protect regardless."

"We don't do it for thanks. We do it because it's the right thing, and most of them can't protect themselves," she explained. "They know we're supposed to swoop in and save the day against the Vong and don't think about the fact that we're a hundred people and we can't, but we'll do everything we can anyway."

You know, now that they were doing things.

"I'd still like to give them a collective smack anyway sometimes," she admitted.

She knew he had to be holding something back. That was a natural inclination too. "Whatever it is, you can say it," she said, though she did look down to make sure Ben was still asleep.