Space Criminal and Chillboi

Nova could hardly believe that she was hanging out with someone as important as James Whitley, and that he didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t very chic or polished. Though, he wasn’t exactly as polished as she would have expected him to be. She actually had fun talking to him, even if he did pilfer her candy. And talking to him helped distract her from her current situation and the fact that someone wanted her dead and she didn’t actually know where she planned to go after she left the Utopia. Sitting in the corner of the library with Jay and throwing jelly beans at each other kept those troublesome thoughts at bay for a while.

“So why have I never run across you before?” Jay asked. They had spent the whole afternoon in the library and were now wandering a little aimlessly.

“My family isn’t exactly from old money, so I haven’t spent much time in such illustrious company until now.”

“What does your family do?”

“Uh…trade and acquisitions,” Nova said, trying not to smirk. It was a very dressy way of saying they stole things and sold things other people had stolen. Technically members of clan Wiley had attended plenty of parties with people like the ones onboard, but never by official invitation.

“It’s all pretty boring,” Nova lied. “Not nearly as exciting as making droids sing songs and do ridiculous dances.”

Jay laughed. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He glanced over at her. “So, tomorrow we’re supposed to be docking at Sorix Delta. Have you ever been there?”

“No.“

“When I give my cousins the slip, do you want to maybe go exploring with me, then?”

Nova smiled slightly. “Sure, since you clearly enjoy my company so much.”

“Someone got cocky,” he laughed, flicking the end of her braid while she stuck her tongue out at him. He glanced at something over her shoulder and grimaced. He grabbed her arm and tugged her around the corner. She peeked around and saw one of his cousins approaching one of the cabin doors.

“Oh, that must be your room,” she guessed. “Right. Top deck.”

“He’s probably looking for me,” Jay sighed. “Again.”

“I can get rid of him so you can sneak back into your room,” Nova offered, getting an impish smile on her face. A room service droid was zooming down the hallway with a tray of champagne glasses, and he was about to cross paths with Jay’s cousin. Nova slipped back around the corner and made a beeline for the droid. She timed her collision just right, pretending to swoon dramatically. She crashed into the droid and knocked the tray of champagne glasses out of its arms, and all over Jay’s cousin. He yelped as he and his expensive suit were drenched in champagne.

“Oh!” Nova exclaimed. “You poor thing, I’m so sorry. I’m just such a klutz!” She plucked the frilly handkerchief out of his pocket and did an intentionally terrible job of trying to mop up the champagne on his clothes, smearing it around more and apologizing profusely. The droid had produced napkins from its assortment of room service supplies and was also trying to clean up the mess. Between the two of them they nearly knocked the cousin over.

“I’m fine,” the disgruntled cousin snapped, waving her off. Looking extremely put out, he stomped away, muttering about his ruined suit. Jay approached her after he left, and burst out laughing.

“That was great,” he wheezed. “I wish I could have saved a picture of his expression. Michael is very particular about his clothes.”

“You're welcome,” Nova said, laughing too. Jay recovered and straightened up, though he was still smiling.

“Do you…want to come in?” he asked, gesturing to the door. Nova raised an eyebrow.

“Into your room?”

“No, into the ventilation ducts.”

“Someone put on his sassy pants today,” Nova said, punching his arm lightly. He smirked and opened the door to his room. Nova hesitated only slightly before following him inside. Her eyes widened. The room was absolutely huge; it was more like an apartment. She let out a low whistle and he grimaced faintly.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a lot,” he said. He seemed embarrassed by that fact and Nova found it a little endearing. She wandered over and sprawled across the couch.

“You stay in this giant room all by yourself?” she asked. “Do you ever get lost?”

“I’m not all by myself, you’re here.” Jay gently pushed her legs out of the way so he could sit down, since she’d flopped down and taken up the whole couch.

“And there’s the butler droid,” he added. Nova sat up and laughed.

“Of course there’s a butler droid,” she said. “This ship is ridiculous.” Nova hopped up and wandered around the huge cabin. It had a few windows with very impressive views, and she paused in front of one to just stare out at the stars and planets that they sailed past. She didn’t get tired of that view even though she kept seeing it all over the ship. She’d never been off of Xaria before and it was exciting, even under the circumstances. Jay came up next to her.

“You’ve probably traveled off world a lot, right?” Nova asked.

“Not recently, but I’ve space traveled in the past.”

“Do you ever get used to this,” she gestured to the window. “Because I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed.”

“That’s good. Anyone who can start taking space for granted is probably a week from turning into a serial killer.”

Nova flashed him a smile.

“I know you ate about five pounds of candy today, but are you hungry?” Jay asked. “I can order something if you want. It should arrive safely now that the candy-colored hurricane has been cleared from the halls.”

Nova grinned. “Well if you ever need it back to scare your cousins away, feel free to summon me. There’s a lot to do on this ship but I gotta be honest, spilling shit all over that guy was super fun.”

“Yeah it was pretty fun to watch, too.” He returned her grin.