This could have gone so very badly, the relief almost doesn't feel real. He doesn't laugh, not quite. Wash can feel the sharp little exhale that could have become one if the Chief didn't have a lifetime of suppressing it, though.

"Good," he says, and he rests his jaw on the top of Wash's head. They're in new territory, now. There's going to be no going back from this, and somehow? For now? He can ignore the worry.

It's going to be weird for both of them, sure, but they've established that neither of them cares.

"You're going to have to apologize to all the people you're supposedly dating, though."

Does the Chief read the meme? No. Does the meme leak? Absolutely.