Page 23 of Every Almost

"Elena Voss," the woman said, looking directly at Reyna.

"Ooo a family name was added to the mix," Jere commented. "Jerel Nox'Thelan Carrothi, at your service. Don't let the mouthful stump you, I just wanted to be on the same level as that bad ass there," he finished, pointing at Elena.

Reyna paused, her gold eyes holding as her composure settled and adjusted, attempting to make room for something she hadn't thought she'd feel tonight. That feeling of a tentative, terrifying possibility that maybe these two strangers might be worth sharing her most coveted possession. Her name.

"Reyna."

But she left it at that, just the one name. No family name, no homeworld tag, no interesting fact about herself to share just for the fun of it. They were avoiding the icebreaker events after all. All she supplied wasReyna.

"Reyna," Jere repeated, letting it roll around in his mouth. "That's a good name. Strong. You look like a Reyna."

She gave him a look that could have stripped paint off a bulkhead.

He beamed at her as if she'd given him a full wattage smile.

"So," he said, leaning forward, putting his elbows on the table with the energy of someone settling in for a long, long stay. "Two truths and a lie. I'll go first. One: I can talk to animals. Two: I once ate an entire Gula Cake meant for twelve people. Three: I have never, in my life, been told I talk too much."

Silence.

"The third one," Elena said, breaking the silence.

The corner of Reyna's mouth twitched. He did kind of leave that in open range.

But when she looked over at Jere, she realized that he must have caught her almost smile, because his whole face changed. Not to triumph or something like the satisfaction of winning someone over. It was the look of someone who had just made a decision, with absolute certainty, that making Reyna almost-smile was going to become a part of his life's work.

"The lie is actually the first one," Jere responded, moving his gaze to Elena. "I can't justtalkto animals. I can understand them too. There's a difference. Very important distinction. I'll explain later. It's a whole thing."

"I look forward to it," Elena said dryly.

"You will! It's fascinating. Rey, you're going to love it too."

Rey.

Reyna's eyes widened, but just barely. She began to open her mouth to correct him, but then felt the need to close it.

She didn't correct him.

She should have. Hell, she'd corrected people for far less than just taking two letters off her name. But somehow, the shortened version of her name didn't feel like a liberty taken against her character. She'd been around this man for less than five minutes and already his personality was rubbing off on her.

Besides, if she was being completely honest, "Rey" was faster to say, and efficiency had always appealed to her.

The icebreaker events continued around them. Someone attempted a group exercise involving species-specific greetings that went sideways almost immediately. Throughout the unsanctioned entertainment, Jere provided running commentary. Even Elena offered the occasional observation that made him light up. Reyna said almost nothing, but she stayed, and listened, and very slowly, by degrees so small they might have been imagined, her guard began to settle around the three of them, instead of just her self-contained circle.

By the time the icebreaker events mercifully ended, the mess hall began to empty around them. But it was these three cadets from three very different lives who had claimed a table where Jere had talked enough for all of them, Reyna had said almost nothing but hadn't left, and Elena had started watching Reyna like someone she wanted to know.

Reyna didn't really know what was happening, especially at the pace that it was. What she did know was that, for the first time in a very long time, she'd stayed in a place she wasn't required to be. She'd stayed by choice. To spend time with people, new people, and take time to learn if they could make something of this newfound crew.

She looked at the empty drink in front of her, the same one a complete stranger had placed there without asking.

She supposed that counted in favor of their newly-formed trio.

One day,on a lowly Tuesday afternoon in the middle of a routine exercise, Reyna discovered something new about herself, a capability she never would have guessed.

The thing was, it came out of nowhere. It was a tactical exercise, where she positioned herself so she could see the whole simulated mission and map out the scenario.

The whole exercise was meant to be routine, a shipboard breach and environmental failure covering three separate decks. Its purpose was meant to test you and help you figure out how fast you could think with alarms going off and lights flashing red.

Their team had a leader named Veth, a competent though methodical Brontari following protocol by the book. He was working through the problem when the simulation threw a curveball at him and the team. A secondary breach had appeared out of nowhere, and crew members went down, causing the priorities to shift by the second