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Reyna looked at her friend, her head tilting to the side in deep and profound appreciation. She nodded gently, and Kess squeezed her arms softly.

But Reyna knew they weren't done. Kess didn't move, instead waiting for Reyna, waiting for her as she always did.

Finally, Reyna knew what she wanted to say.

"She is nice." It was said barely above a breath, but it was also the closest she'd come to an admission in this whole conversation. It was the closest to an admission since Charlie Wickett had landed on the Emberkind.

Kess's face didn't change much, but something moved behind those pale green eyes, the same ones that had seen everything, something soft that Reyna had seen from her only once before, in the Med Bay after Elena, when Kess said nothing and stayed with Reyna until morning.

"Yeah," Kess said. "She is."

THIRTY-THREE

SONGBIRD

Charlie waiteduntil the end of the shift to tell them, waiting for when the junior techs filtered out and Engineering had gone soft and quiet.

She'd been sitting on this all day because she wanted to do it right. Tavi and Maren deserved that and more with this news.

"Hey," Charlie said, pulling both Tavi and Maren's attention from their consoles. She walked over to the table in the middle of the parts sector and sat down in one of the chairs there. "Come here a minute, both of you. I've got something to tell you."

Tavi walked over and, in true Tavi fashion, opted to hop up on a crate and sit, grinning already, totally forgoing the chair next to Charlie. He was grinning widely, and Charlie knew in that instance that she'd made the right choice.

Maren came over from the primary bank with her Eye Shimmer flashing, and when Charlie saw it, she felt a little tug of something like pride.

"So," Charlie said. "I've got some news. Did you two hear about Cael?"

Maren nodded immediately. "I can't believe the Captain dismissed him. But, I mean, it makes sense."

"About time," Tavi said, letting out an exasperated noise. "Cael should have been gone long ago." Tavi's gaze turned to Charlie, a single eyebrow raised. "I guess it just took a human engineer that was better than him to really stick his foot in it."

"Tav," Charlie said, her voice serious. "As much as I appreciate the compliment, even at Cael's expense, what happened was really bad."

Tavi had the decency to bow his head. "You're right. That was a poor choice of words."

"It's still right, though," Maren said as she sat down in a chair at the table, not even bothering to hide the sass.

"Maren!" Charlie said, a laugh slipping out before she tucked it back into her chest.

"What?" Maren asked, the smile playing across her lips a sight Charlie couldn't help but feel charmed over.

"Okay, okay," Tavi said. "Enough. What's the news, Spark Plug?"

Charlie looked at them both. "Okay, well, with Cael's dismissal, the Captain called me into her office today." Charlie watched Tavi lean closer, his elbows on his knees. "It's official, as of today. I'm Acting Chief Engineer."

Tavi was immediately on his feet on top of the crate. "Charlie!" He shouted.

Maren started clapping. "That's fantastic news, Charlie!"

"That's, okay, that's huge!" Tavi continued. "That's, wait, are we celebrating?" He turned to Charlie, suddenly serious. "Should Borran know? I think Borran should know."

"Sit down, Tav, you're going to fall," Charlie said, laughing. "Let me get through the whole thing."

"Wait, there's more?" Tavi asked, sitting back down. Barely.

"There is a second part, yes," she said. She took a moment to let the energy come down, because she wanted to slow down for this. This was the part that mattered, more than her appointment in the first place, and she wanted to make sure the two people with her knew that this was the most important piece. "I told her I had conditions before I accepted."

Maren's face went slack. "You what."