[ no, miles can definitely tell from wash's reaction that it is not fine. he can tell the guy is trying his damnedest to convince him otherwise, but he isn't doing a very good job of it. it might work on someone else -- someone...particularly unobservant -- but miles, who's taught himself to read people just to survive, catches a glimpse of the frayed edges here and decides to reel it in. he doesn't want to break the kid on his first day. miles feels a bit bad for pushing him now.

he drums his fingers briefly on his desk. ]

Well, I suppose this'll give them a little more time to work the kinks out. How about we skip on down to Sanitation and I'll show you the grimy dark ropes of the job?

[ yeah, just leap right over that subject change, that's the best way to resolve the uncomfortable tension, right ]