The... reality of the situation was that Alaric was bad at two of the things happening here: light conversation and anything off the cuff. The further reality was, he'd unwound and relaxed enough to follow physical cues easily and to let words that flitted into his mind come out of his mouth, even if they were inconsequential.

That was Anders' doing, entirely. Not in the moment, but everything that was the foundation of who they were and how they worked and who Anders was.

"No. You haven't told me much about the fleet at all. I'd like to know more."