Chapter Eleven
"Hi."
"Hi."
Saera seemed very reluctant to talk to Glynn as she sat stirring the tasteless stuff that was kept in large supply on the Gaellia due to its cheap price and incredibly simple storage requirements. They hadn't talked since when they'd kissed and he was sitting in the rec/dining room now, watching her eat, hoping to strike up a conversation. His attempts were, he had to admit, rather lame and fruitless.
While he was in the middle of yet another conversation-starter sentence, she suddenly flung down her spoon and turned in her chair to face him.
"Look, we don't have to talk about this, OK. It was just one of those random things that happens. And then you don't know what to do with it, or even why it happened, so it's best to just leave it alone and let it die and then pretend it never happened. I mean, it's not necessary to discuss it, is it?"
"Yes, Saera, it is," he said, as serious as he felt.
"We don't have to discuss every single little thing that happens! We never talked about, oh, Bothawui, and now look at where we are! We've almost tracked down the stupid rebel base. So we don't need to talk about it. Just drop it."
"I'm not going to drop it just because you tell me to. You may think this is all about you, but it's not. Just because you don't want to talk about it doesn't mean I don't want to. I can't pretend it never happened, Saera. There are too many hormones on this stupid crate and not enough space." There, he'd said it. It was the truth, after all. "Stop acting so childish and talk about things for once!"
"Oh, perfect, here we go with 'Oh young Saera, she is so naive' again."
"Well, maybe if you stopped to look at everything that's around you, you would just go with it and quit pining after something you'll never get!" He felt himself heaving from his angry speech, glaring at her. She matched his eye contact.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Anything you want it to, Saera. Anything you want it to." He got up from his chair. "I'm going to go pilot my ship." He strode out, leaving both of them fuming.
-
"Something I'll never get! Something I'll never get? He doesn't even know what he's talking about. Something I'll never get!" Saera muttered as she paced the floor of her room, irritated, ready to throw large, inanimate objects at the only other person within parsecs. All that was in her reach, however, where the clothes she'd messily left lying all over the floor from last night's search for a "pregnant" sweater.
That stupid sweater. It's all that stupid sweater's fault. If we hadn't been talking about procreation he probably never would have gotten the idea to...
She sighed. It was as much her fault as his. More, even, because she hadn't wanted to "talk about it." How could they possibly talk about something like that? It was just too...weird. She had never been good at talking with anyone, and she had never even attempted to talk about "romantic feelings" at all. There was a little gossip with the few girlfriends she had had on Tatooine, but nothing serious at all. And she hadn't really been thinking about this kind of thing when her mother had still been alive, and she would have never thought of bringing up the subject with her father.
So she had no clue what to do.
Gods, he's right! I'm too much of a little kid to even know what to do in this situation, let alone be mature enough to actually do it.
Well, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. By gods, she'd talk about it, and she'd do it so well that he'd think she was twice her actual age.
Wait, is that a good thing? I don't really want to be forty...
-
As soon as she heard Glynn enter his room, Saera dashed over and knocked. To her surprise, she didn't have to plead her case through the door, as she probably would have made him do. Gods, I am a baby...
"Yeah?" He looked at her quizzically, obviously doubting her motives as to being there.
"Um, do you have a moment? I mean, I think we should talk."
"Okay." His eyebrows rose slightly in disbelief as he retreated back into his room and sat on his bunk. "Shoot."
Okay...maybe his quarters aren't the best place to discuss this. But it's better than nothing...
"Do you mind if I sit?"
"Go ahead." He gestured to a chair.
"Thanks." The place was pretty nice. Very neat, a chair, smaller than her room, which surprised her, seeing as he lived here all the time.
"Well, um, is there anything you wanted to say? Because I still don't know exactly what to talk about, but I'm going to talk about it anyway..." I'm not pulling off this 40-year-old thing very well...
"I just think that we need to acknowledge that we're physically attracted to one another. You don't seem to think there's anything else there, and because you have currently have some sort of relations with someone else, I think we should note it and move on, making sure to be wary of the problem in the future." He was completely deadpan throughout his speech.
Problem? "Oh. Okay." What was up with him, had he turned into a droid or something? "That's it?"
"Unless you want to say anything else."
"No, no, it's just, that was very...straightforward."
"Would you rather I'd danced around the subject for ten or fifteen minutes?"
"Well, no..."
"Then there's nothing left to discuss. You know the way out." He paused. "Unless you've had a lapse of memory?"
She gave him a withering look. What on earth was going on?
"No, I have not had a 'lapse of memory.' Have you? You don't seem to remember who you are, AKA a human being."
"If you're referring to my lack of emotion in this issue, I've decided not to invest further feelings in the matter." He was lifeless and dead. She couldn't take it anymore, mostly because he had no feeling in his normally laughing navy eyes, and yet she could sense that he was smirking at her from behind them. It infuriated her.
She slapped him, fairly hard, across his cheek. His neck snapped to the side and he brought a hand up to touch his jaw.
"Ow."
She stared at him, watched his fingers massaging his jaw, with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. What had she just done?
"Glynn, I am so—"
"Relax. It's okay." He seemed almost as surprised. At least he had some life back in him.
"You did need it, though. I couldn't stand you like that."
"Thanks, I guess." He managed a grin. She figured this was her cue.
"I'm going now." She left.
I'm sorry this took so long to post, I just had to rewrite, rethink, rewrite! Which is no excuse, but... :P
Dunder & Blixen: Aww, thanks :) But really, you were right, so I had to make the change!