Chapter Five - Reactions
Ty stared up at the ceiling of his room, his thoughts not exactly clear in their focus. Right now, he was almost glad that his sister had her own bunkroom, just as he did. It certainly helped him to not have her voice interceding on his thoughts, telling him to go to sleep, or to quit plotting revenge, or-
His thoughts were driven from what he would do to the Kessel bastard by the sound of his door releasing to open. At 2200, the lights were dimmed for the sleep cycle of the day, and the figure who came through his doorway was merely a shadow with dim light for an outline. Even so, Ty knew who the person was. Rolling his head from side to side to get the kinks from his neck as he moved on lean on his elbow, he watched Kai walk over.
A smile played on his lips as she sat down at the edge of his bed, back more-or-less to him, though she was turned slightly to see his face. His eyes long-since-adjusted to the darkness, he could make out a frown on her dark features, though it wasn't anything that would be termed 'unusual' since her return from Kessel. Actually, if Ty could, right now, he'd take the Jori's Death Star and blow that place to each of Corellia's hells and then go on to redeliver it to them again.
He was startled once more from his thoughts of revenge on Kessel by Kai once more, though this time it was more of a shock. While he had been occupied with his thoughts, she'd shifted her position and was now lying next to him while he lay on his back, she herself on her side facing him, head on his shoulder. Ty looked at her, a bit of his surprise leaking through to his face. Well, he certainly hadn't expected that. Tentatively, he watched her face, her eyes on her hand as it scratched an itch on her cheek. Then Kai was looking at him again, a slight smile on her face.
"What?" he said, truly lost for what she doing.
She didn't reply, only rolled onto her stomach next to him, propped on her elbows. A glint of silver caught his eye as she moved, the lights from outside just now seeping through the blinds. Almost instinctively, he reached for the glint, only to find he was being handed it instead. Kai seemed to see his interest in it so had taken the necklace, as he now saw it was, off and given it to him. The flash of silver he'd seen was the pendant on the chain itself: the former Rebel Alliance, now New Republic symbol. With a grin, he returned it to her, though was still slightly perplexed as to her reasons for being here.
Again, she seemed to sense his thoughts- which, Ty reminded himself, she probably did. Kai returned the necklace to its place and then looked at him, her face shadowed.
"Mom knew the person at Kessel," she said at last. Ty blinked at her, some of his confusion clearing. "Mom knew who he was when she was at the Imperial Academy. I guess he used to be one of her friends..." her voice softened as she spoke, then halted when she sighed. "His name, that she knew, was Reggie Grandar."
Kai looked down at her hands again, even as Ty ran his fingers through his hair. Finally coming up with a question, he looked from the ceiling to her, asking, "Did she say anything about him?"
To his slight surprise, Kai began to laugh slightly. It wasn't exactly a fun sound, but it wasn't a pained laugh either. Silently waiting out her time of mirth, he watched her, waiting for the answer.
"Yeah," she said, a grin still in place. "She said she'd kill the bastard." Kai shook her head, smirking now, at what her mother had said.
Privately, Ty agreed with his aunt. If he found the jerk, he'd kill him. Looking over at Kai again, he shook his head as well, though for different reasons. "What's so wrong with that? I'd kill him. No, wait. I will kill him, not would."
Kai's expression turned stony at once and she looked back down at her hands again. Her lips moved, and at first Ty thought that she was mouthing words to herself. On closer inspection, he realized she was speaking to him. Ty rolled on his side to face her, head bent to her level, as it had been taken off his pillow.
"People will say that," she said softly, "but then will they actually do it?" Her dark gaze rose to meet his. "You and Mom both say that, but will you really? I swear Mom must've gone out with him at one point. Wouldn't that have some effect on killing someone?"
Ty stared at her for a moment, blinking every few seconds. Adra had gone out with someone other than Uncle Face? There was something new. On second thought, he realized he shouldn't be so naïve about that sort of thing, considering his aunt had been an Imperial at one time in her life, whether willing or not.
He watched silently as Kai shimmied over on her elbows to the edge of his bed, and balanced on her right one to fish something out of her pocket. The briefest glimpse of a datapad was afforded him, no doubt becoming very uncomfortable to lie on. She let the thing drop to the floor next to his bed, watching it to see, no doubt, where it went.
Almost by impulse, or maybe not, Ty wrapped his arm around her stomach, pulling her back toward him. Nearly a second later, he could feel Kai's muscles tighten, her quiet breathing coming in short jerks. Understanding her sudden change, Ty loosed his hold instantly, offering a hurried apology in the Force.
It took a minute, but Kai did calm down. Silently, Ty cursed himself for forgetting, even for a few moments. He was going to have to talk to Aunt Adra...and soon. See if he could get a look at her holoimage of this 'Reggie Grandar' person. At current though, he was more interested in Kai's actions.
She was on her stomach again, face in hands. Her shoulders seemed to slump, not quite in a sigh, but in something more unexplainable. After an unknown amount of time- Ty didn't bother to look at the chrono- Kai lifted her head from her hands and looked over at him. "I'm sorry," she began. Ty quickly shook his head. He didn't want to hear her say 'sorry', not when it hadn't been her fault.
Silence followed as she readjusted herself to a place against Ty's side, head tucked against his chest. Just as quietly, Ty wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. Yes, he would be talking to Aunt Adra very soon. Very, very soon.