Chase the Stars

Mila walked a couple of paces behind Charlie and his long lost actor family. They put her on edge, with all their loud talking and the way her father's unnervingly young female companion kept hanging off of Charlie's arm. She wouldn't have expected Charlie to have been raised by such boisterous people. They made a spectacle everywhere they went, and not in a good way.

They burst through the door of a tavern and Lewis called for drinks all around. Ellyn had herself wedged between Lewis and Charlie, while Mila made sure she had a seat on the very end of the table bench. She was right across from the older woman whose dress looked like it was about to give up and split at the seams.

They sat around drinking and singing bawdy songs for a while, clearly annoying most of the other patrons. Mila's mug remained untouched. She didn't want to be anything but sober and alert around this bunch. Lewis kept clapping Charlie heavily on the shoulder and laughing.

"After all this time, my boy shows up at my own show," he said. "What've you been up to, son? You an actor like your old man?"

"He's something of an amateur paleontologist," Mila said. "You know, doing something that's actually useful."

"Oh, I like this one," Lewis chortled. "Little spitfire, aren't you?"

I'd like to spit in your eye, Mila thought but she settled for staring coldly at him.

"Like father, like son. Snagging up lovely young things, eh Charlie?" Lewis laughed again and punched Ellyn's side, making her yelp and giggle. Mila felt her lip curl in disgust.

"No one did any snagging," she said stiffly. Lewis was unfazed.

"Charlie boy, why don't you be a peach and go get some more ale, huh?"

"Sure," Charlie mumbled, sliding off the bench and heading to the bar.

"So where'd he find you, anyway?" Lewis asked.

"We share some common interests."

"I'll bet you do," he chuckled. Mila was about to call him a number of foul names but Charlie returned then and she snapped her mouth shut, settling for glaring at Lewis. He asked Charlie a few more questions, barely giving him a chance to answer any of them. Ellyn peppered him with questions too and Mila shuddered to see the girl casually flirting with both Lewis and his son. After nearly two hours of nonstop drinking the entire acting troupe was thoroughly intoxicated and staggered out when the barkeep hollered at them to leave.

"It was good to see you again, Charleston," Lewis slurred, patting Charlie on the shoulder while Ellyn giggled maniacally and hung off his arm. Her face was bright red and she kept hiccuping between laughs.

"It's Charlie," Charlie muttered, the tips of his ears going red.

"That's what I said. Oh, blast," Lewis said, patting his jacket pockets. "Son, I seem to have left my coin bag in the tavern. Would you be a good boy and fetch it for me?"

"Sure," Charlie said quietly, sounding resigned. He shuffled back inside the tavern.

"My boy certainly has good taste in the company he keeps."

Mila turned to Lewis, expression hard. "He is not your boy," she said flatly. "And he's nothing like you."

"Such animosity," Lewis said, blinking at her with bleary eyes.

"You're a pig. He deserves better than you." She spotted Charlie coming back out of the tavern. She glared at Lewis again. "Not that it will interest you to know, but Charlie is ten times the man you are even on his worst day."

"Here's your money," Charlie sighed, reaching them and handing the pouch to Lewis.

"You'd best be careful with this one." Lewis gestured drunkenly to Mila. "She's a real little firecracker. You should come visit us again, you should."

The actors stumbled away down the street, misquoting lines from famous plays as they went. Charlie watched them go, and Mila felt a swell of sympathy for him. The feeling caught her off guard but Mila knew what it was to have a father who wasn't really a father. She gently took Charlie's arm and pulled him back toward the harbor.

"I put in orders for all the supplies we need," she said. "But they won't all be ready yet. We'll have to stay here for a couple more days. But we don't need to see any more plays."

Charlie barely even seemed to hear her. He leaned on the rail and stared out to sea. Mila chewed her bottom lip, searching for something to say. Abruptly she turned and went below, returning with a box of chocolates. She went to stand beside Charlie, setting the box on the rail between them.

"Would you like some? They're some of the best in the whole Empire."

Charlie stirred slightly then, glancing at the chocolates and back to her with an almost-smile. "You're offering to share those with me? You've been keeping them under lock and key since I met you."

"Yeah, well, I'm still not telling you where I keep them. But you can have some."

They stood in silence for a few minutes, just staring out over the water. It was the quietest Mila had ever seen him.

"So. You grew up around a bunch of actors," she said finally. "That explains why you're so weird. I'd been wondering about that."

"Mhm."

"I guess the skills come in handy when you're stealing from people."

"Mhm."

Mila rolled her eyes. Clearly she wasn't making any progress here, and the mere fact that she was even trying to cheer him up was alarming. Mila kept her distance from people. She wasn't in the business of trying to comfort them. And she didn't go around defending them to their useless fathers, either. She edged slightly away from him, emotions torn.

"You can finish those," she mumbled. "Good night, Charlie."

He did glance at her then, looking surprised. "You called me Charlie."

"Well that's your name, isn't it?" Mila replied, trying to summon her usual sarcastic tone but it lacked its usual edge. He was watching her with a weird look on his face that she couldn't quite decipher and she didn't know why her cheeks were starting to grow hot. Mila spun on her heel and hurried belowdecks so fast she almost slipped down the stairs.