He shook his head almost as soon as she finished speaking. "I'm not your superior, even if you did decide to volunteer with us and integrate your crew into the Alliance's structure. We don't abide by any of those philosophies, it's anathema to us. I wouldn't want to be your superior anyway, I prefer this. Not near equals, but equals. At the same time I get that you'll be facing the challenge of adapting to your new circumstances."
With the aid of coffee to combat how dry these biscuits were, he satiated the fact that he was actually slightly hungry. Taking a generous sip of hot coffee afterwards to wash down whatever was left. "If this was purely professional, I wouldn't be able to buy you that round of drinks I promised. And I don't want to be bothered by regulations and formalities when I'm just trying to spend time with somebody I'm interested in." There a few moments of pause, not because he wanted to let the words set in, or for the fact he'd made a blunt admission. But because his coffee was running the risk of getting cold. He'd really prefer finishing it while it was enjoyable hot rather than lukewarm, and so he focused on this first.
Once finished, he set his cup down, and turned to face her. "Wouldn't be fair if there were barriers towards me getting to know Virginia Belle. Especially when she's profiling me." It was a reversal of her original answer to him, with an added joke but similar context. People of her station often had to play rehearsed parts. They couldn't afford to actually be themselves, not in front of their subordinates and certainly not before their superiors. So his absolute reluctance for either of them to occupy those roles was hardly surprising.
