“Yeah. He’s three years older than me, so Mom taught him a lot more. He was the one we assumed would inherit the ship, but then he left.” I lowered my gaze to my hands, picking at my nails. “Val was always the better choice.”
“Except he just sold your droids for a blaster,” Sian deadpanned.
I sighed. “Yeah, there’s that.”
“What’s his deal, anyway? He just left three yearsago, never sent a message? Never told you where he was?Nothing?”
I shrugged, still picking at my cuticles. “No.”
Sian’s silvery eyebrows drew together, creating a crease between them. “That’s mean—to you and your dad and everyone else, too.”
“He just wanted a clean start—”
“That doesn’t matter, Starlight. That was irresponsible. I would have given anything to have what he just—just—ignored. A family. A home. Somewhere he belonged and people who loved him. And it’s absolutelyimmatureto show up again and expect everything to just…go back to normal!Skootah!” he cursed.
He was so angry about it, he shoved himself to his feet and started to pace the length of the room. I was surprised, honestly, that he’d had such a visceral reaction. It bolstered my own feelings about the issue, because for three years Dad had justignoredthe fact that Val left without a note, without contact information—without anything—and had expected everyone else to hang their feelings on a shelf, too. My mouth wobbled a little with emotion, because now here was someone who didn’t know me very well, and certainly didn’t know Val or my family, but was angry on my behalf anyway.
Itwasmean, wasn’t it? And entitled. And unfair.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and took a deep breath to calm down. “I know you love him, but—”
“No, you’re right,” I said, because I didn’t want him to take back any of his vitriol. “It’s nice to hear, even if I can’t say it myself. Thank you.”
In surprise he replied, “Erm, you’re welcome, I guess.”
The navicomputer made a series of beeps that let me know we were approaching Geonosis, so I pushed myself to my feet, too. “We should get to cleaning up. We’ll be home soon.”
“Oh, good. I was worried this would be an overnight thing,” he joked.
I glanced at him while picking up my wrappers. “Why?”
He thumbed back to the alcove beside the storage crates, blankets, and a spare power cell, where the single cot sat with a single threadbare pillow.
“Ah,” I replied, nodding knowingly. “That would be a problem.”
Sian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I guess, if push came to shove, I could be the big spoon….”
N2-0, in the corner of the shuttle, flicked out their small blowtorch. They gave a dangerous bloop.
He raised his hands in surrender. “I was joking!”
Veebee stared at him, unwavering. “So was Entoo,” she deadpanned as she laid down a sabacc card without even looking at it.
I rolled my eyes. Why did they have to be sodramatic? I’d rather sleep inside a sarlacc gut anyway, even though my ears felt hot just thinking about lying anywhere with him for any amount of time.
But if push came to shove…would I really mind it that much?
After we switched to the final stretch of travel, Sian began pacing the length of the main hold, blowing into his hands and rubbing at his arms as if he was cold. Ithadgotten a little chilly, but I was used to it by now. TheStarfarerwas always a bit drafty, so my fingertips were always cold. He finally resorted to popping open the storage crates in the back and rifling through them for a blanket, which he wrapped himself up in warmly. It was coarse and dusty-smelling, but he didn’t seem to care as he bundled himself tight.
“Cold?” I asked rhetorically.
“Oh, no. I’m pleasantly warm now.” He pulled the blanket around himself tighter for emphasis, looking like a snowy head of hair in a cocoon of starchy beige.
Veebee said, “You should see my poor pantry. He basically made himself anestin there.” She’d lost her sabacc game and was currently cleaning up the mess from knocking all the cards on the floor. It was a bit hard to do with one arm. I’d tried to solder it back on with the engineering kit I’d found in the supplies, but the tools were too big. So instead, she’d tied a rope to her dislocated arm’s wrist and shoulder insert, and wore it cross-body like a pack.
Sian clicked his tongue in admonishment. “Vee, I thought you promised not to say anything? You know anestcosts extra for a stowaway.”
I snorted. “We charge by the meter of blanket.”
