scavenger.

4 - never apologize

"I'm back!" Anri yelled as she entered the ship. She paused and listened for a response. For a moment there was none, and admittedly, she began to panic a little. Tentatively, she called out-- "Oi, Captain, you awake?"

When there was still no response, Anri practically dashed for the bunks.

There, she found Jace sitting up, holding a hand over his wound and staring blankly out the window. Anri pressed a palm to her forehead, relief washing over her. And then she noticed his expression--it wasn't blank after all, wasn't bored at all, like she'd expected him to be. No, he looked devastated. Like he'd just received the worst news of his life, and now had to process it, figure out what his next move was.

The air around him was so heavy.

Anri wondered idly what had happened to him before he crashed here. And then she decided she didn't care.

"Hey," she said.

Jace stiffened at the sound of her voice and then relaxed, turning to her and forcing a smile. "Hi."

"Did you not hear me yelling for you when I came in?"

"No. Uh, sorry." His ears reddened slightly, she noticed. And he was avoiding her gaze. A million reasons for why that could be ran through Anri's head. She tried to silence them-- she was probably just being paranoid again. Even if he does want to leave, where would he go?

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Anri was starting to feel a little awkward. Suddenly, remembering the reason she'd rushed back so early in the first place, she held up her satchel and shook it a little, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I brought goodies."

"Yeah? What's in there?" He didn't sound very enthusiastic. Ingrate.

"Oh, you know," she replied smugly, ignoring his dismissiveness. She sat on the side of the bunk. "Some pelikki, some shaak..."

"Nabooan?" Jace broke into a genuine grin. It was...cute. "Where did you get this stuff?"

"I ran into an old friend," Anri replied, and her tone told him to leave it at that. Then, cheerily, she went on, "You know, I almost kept it all to myself, but then I thought, you know, that Captain Jace Sato, he must be so bored and lonely and hungry...if I just leave him like that, what will he say about me to his peers? What sort of rumors will spread about me from planet to planet? So, being the good little hostess that I am--" She then turned to him and stopped in her tracks.

Iye iye iye. Were those tears in his eyes?

He was holding the satchel like something precious, and, pulling out the food and unwrapping it, he laughed. "Stars," he breathed. "It smells just like home."

Anri wondered what that meant. Home...Naboo? Did he know Naboo? The bounty hunter was called there often -- it was the home of many intergalactic politicians, apparently. And, he'd told her, it was beautiful. Maddeningly beautiful.

"Hey," Anri said, waving her hand in front of his face. "Don't you get all weepy on me. This ship has no room for criers."

"Sorry." Jace's voice cracked, and then he let out a laugh. He wiped his arm over his eyes. "Sorry. It's just been a while. I've been eating nothing but gruel for the past few years."

A smile tugged at Anri's lips. "I know the feeling."

Jace looked at her, beaming, and she was suddenly reminded of how blue his eyes were. Not that she'd forgotten. Iye, even when she could barely see anything else the night she'd found him half-dead in that fighter, she could see his eyes, clear as day. But right now, they seemed more vibrant than even then.