Byl slowly unwound his hand from James' embrace, leveling his severe expression on her brother.
"You're drunk, Sanis."
A statement of the obvious, but he wasn't about to let the man trample unchecked around James' heart. It was a warning that the next cross words out of the former smuggler's amount wouldn't be chalked up to a mistake.
He hadn't been Sanis' babysitter in so long, he forgot how much of a full time job that it was. A big hand clamped warmly around Sanis's shoulder, unmistakeably friendly but certainly capable of wrangling his friend if he said or did anything he shouldn't.
"Come on, arr'uhai, we'rre all a bag of nerrves. Yourr dad's apparrently got that effect on people."
"Mmhm." James eyed Byl's untouched beer and she put down her empty glass. "Nice suit. Shiny." She leaned over the bat and flagged down the bartender. "Do y' serve caf?" Sanis could use a cup or ten.
"Wossat?"
"Never mind." She grabbed Byl's hand again, willing his tense body to relax. Things were stressful enough without considering that he might disappear Sanis for being too rude. "I met Ledo on Dac, actually. It was...strange."
and if you go, furious angels will bring you back to me
You're goddamned right I'm drunk. Who's that, anyway? I saw the hand-holding. Must be the beau. Before I could cook off, Cirr had his hand at my shoulder, saying the right thing when I needed it. Wait.
Why did he know my old man? And James had apparently had a family reunion on the side? I let her comment about the suit slide, she wasn't as eager to shake the scum of Nar Shaddaa off her feet as I was.
"Would someone mind telling me exactly what the hell is going on? First off, big guy, how the hell do you even know the ol' sperm donor. Two, sis, what do you mean you met him? Did he pull that little bit together or did you?"
I ran a hand through my hair out of habit, disturbing the calm of it all. From there, I pulled an envelope from inside my jacket.
"I guess I'm not the only one of us that got one of these, then?"
"Yourr fatherr serrved on my shjip."
Cirr kept it abridged, pulling out his crumpled letter to confirm Sanis' suspicions. He left the details of Ledo's service unsaid. That he'd effectively been impressed into service in a time of crisis because being thrown in jail seemed too inconvenient seemed an unnecessary segue.
"jI...owe hjim one."
The look Sanis shot back could've chilled solar plasma.
"jI djidn't know he was yourr dad!"
James tapped their envelopes with hers. "Cheers." She appropriated the untouched pint on the bar, taking a sip. "I ran inna him, that's all. I have his face printed on m'brain thanks to the holo I have."
She snatched Sanis' letter and peeled it open before he could protest. "What dren is this?! He's gonna give you money?!" She flicked the paper into the air, her eyes rolling. "Guess he knows what buttons to push."
Last edited by James Prent; Mar 10th, 2015 at 10:35:42 PM.
I snatched the letter mid-tumble indignantly.
"Do I look like I need the money?"
Which, holy shit yes I did. I was indebted so far into Sasseerri Reeouurra that barring money or a suitably-happy spiritual afterlife, the only way out was through a really talented gynecologist.
"It's all a game, don't you get it? He's screwing with us the same that he screwed us over when he left."
If I felt like I had his number so well, how come I felt so hurt? A sneer rolled over my expression as I balled the letter up into a crumple.
"I just came back to..."
Someone once said the best revenge was living life well, and making sure your enemies lived even longer to see it. I wasn't that clever.
"...hear what he's got to say and throw it in his face."
"Good luck with that," she muttered, leaving her letter on the bar. "Any idea when the ol' man is gonna show? Wasn't exactly a timetable in my message."
"Didn't pick up a lookout on my canvas."
Byl finally stole back a sip from his own commandeered brew to keep things sporting between him and James. He knew that he was playing designated paranoiac so he wouldn't be drinking much at all.
"I doubt the old man's that clever, so I'd wager safe it's being fashionably late to his own party."
This sure was awkward, and his head sure did hurt. Cirr grimaced a little, his hand on Sanis's shoulder becoming more an embrace.
"Well, guess we get to pass the tjime catchjing up on thjings."
A nervous laugh as he chugged his beer. Oh Saanjarra, if he'd ever thought this would've got him in the middle of the Prent family reunion...oh who was he kidding, he'd have to be here anyway. Sanis wasn't blood, but he was the next closest sort of thing.
James looked sideways at Byl, but didn't take the drink back. "Yeah, what have you been doin' since I saw you on Cloud City? More gambling? Drag any other half-siblings out of a bonfire and abandon them at a hospital?" She leaned back against the bar on her elbows, and tilted her head to look at Sanis with a bland look on her face.
My expression was dark and sullen. She didn't know how close to the mark she'd hit. I'd gone full circle and the only thing different was the decor.
"I'm a shitty brother, I get that. I'm kind of out of practice. All I knew was that I couldn't stay and wait for you to figure yourself out while I was in a ship I could barely keep fueled, trying to keep me and this big lunchbox fed. I met you and you were bussing tables, yeah? The fucking tragedy. I rescue you from that shit and what happens? A bunch of yokels damn near burn you to death because they're scared as hell of what you are. That happened because of me. It's my fault!"
I averted my eyes.
"You were being taken care of by someone a whole lot better at it than me."
"You actually think that, don't you." James shook her head, eyes closed for a moment. "You've got no idea what I've been thr-" She abruptly closed her mouth on the words, looking up at Byl. She turned back to the bar. "I'm going to need something stronger than beer."
There was a moment of silence, and then she rounded on Sanis, sticking her finger in his chest. "You think that shit was your fault? You've got t'be the most stuck up, self centered, narcissistic ... Gah!" She gave him a good poke with her finger to punctuate her frustration.
What had happened to her? Cirr's ears fell as he looked at the anguish on her face. It was more than the abandonment. She wasn't some wide-eyed space cherry anymore. You could just read the mileage on someone, and if Captain Quez was any good at estimating, she'd logged as much as they had.
"What happened, James?"
Just as quickly as her frustration had bubbled up, James retreated. "Nothing." Her hand unconsciously sought out Byl's as she took a step back. "It's jus' ...complicated. But you," she jerked her chin at Sanis, "what happened to me on that planet wasn't on you. Leavin' me with th' Rebellion - I get that, I do. But you never came back.
"Just don't pull that self-righteous martyr shit with me. Not with me."
"I should've."
Staring down at my shoes, I had to look at her again. Had to look at that expression that cut me to the quick.
"Sorry's are cheap, but you get the best one I've got to give. I am sorry."
My shoulders sagged a little and I felt tired. Probably at least halfway induced by a fifth of whiskey working myself up to leaving the landing pad.
"I had an idea that I'd get things sorted. Get up on my feet. Be somebody that could be somebody for the handful of good people I know. It's been what, ten years now? If I wait another ten that doesn't guarantee shit."
Cirr seemed to sense this wasn't easy to get out, and he squeezed me on the shoulder like I was his marionette, and my head swayed a little.
"It doesn't atone for anything James, but I'd like to be your brother. Now, before I never get the chance just waiting for the timing to be right."
"Yeah, well. Fine." James took a long swig of her new pint. "You can be my brother, I guess. Can you spot me fifty credits, bro?" She turned her head and smiled sweetly at him,
At that moment, Ledo stepped in from the daylight, his shadow casting long in the doorway.
Byl noticed the entrance at once, a hand on James' arm.
"James."
He turned to face the man's silhouette. The further into darkness he stepped, the more features became visible. It was him.
She looked up at Byl's touch, and swallowed a little too hard, beer sliding down her throat painfully. James coughed, eyes watering. "Speak of th' devil."
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