Space Criminal and Chillboi

Nova continued to pace for a few moments, arms now wrapped around herself protectively. She had a mental alarm sounding loudly in her head, not to mention she was now worried about there being other bounty hunters out there on the lookout for her. If Tarvis had literally set a bounty on her head instead of just sending one of his own goons, then he was really pissed. It was only two stupid crystals, this seemed a bit dramatic. She focused her gaze out the window and took a breath before she began, her every instinct balking at the idea of just casually telling someone who she was.

“My name is Nova Wiley,” she said finally.

“Wiley,” Jay repeated slowly. “You mean, as in-“

“Yeah,” Nova interrupted. She continued to hug herself and stare out the window. “The extensive crime family. Forgers, hackers, art, car, jewel thieves, con artists and blackmailers, arms dealers, jail breakers. I have one uncle who’s actually a hit man, and a grandma who’s a Madame. You remember a few years ago when that ridiculous necklace was stolen from the Thorne Auction House, the one with the giant pink diamond? That was me.”

Jay looked startled. “But you must have been really young.”

“I was seventeen,” Nova said dully. “I’ve been a professional criminal my whole life. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? I guess in a manner of speaking my family is just as well-known as everyone else’s on this ship, but for very different reasons.”

“Are you on the ship because you were planning to commit a crime?”

She paused, grimacing. “I mean, I did use a fake ID and hack the system to get myself a room onboard,” she admitted. “But aside from that little count of fraud, I wasn’t going to do anything else bad,” she added quickly. “I paid for all my candy, and I wasn’t going to steal from you, or from anyone else, I promise. I just…I needed to get away from Xaria. I didn’t have time to find another way. That bounty hunter we met was sent by Corbin Tarvis, and he’s a really bad guy. I mean I’m a bad person too but he’s a straight up psychopath and I…kind of stole from him. I had to smuggle in a supply of Crillium crystals for him and I took two.

It was stupid but selling them got me enough money where I finally felt like I had enough to run away. I don’t want my livelihood to be committing crime. No one asked me if I wanted this to be my life. I mean, shit, the first birthday present I remember getting is a lock pick set. I thought what we did was normal until I got a little older. And now I couldn’t even start a new life on Xaria because I’ve wreaked so much havoc there. I’d been wanting to leave, I was even saving up. I was going to just slip out of this quadrant and change my name and be a different person. And then I stole from Tarvis so I had to leave anyway, because he’s so fucking melodramatic. I mean there were a couple hundred crystals in that shipment, like losing two is really going to set him back. He sells them at a stupid high markup anyway…”

Nova trailed off, realizing she was rambling. As if explaining herself was really going to make a difference. Jay may have been non-judgmental about her hair or her choice of dresses, but this was a lot to take in. This was way worse than a social faux pas. He may have promised not to, but he could still turn her in. Whatever kind of makeshift jail they had on the ship, she was fairly confident she could escape it, at least. And just to add to the list of problems, this bounty hunter now had Jay on their radar, too.

“Look,” she said quickly, “I know you have no reason to trust me, but you said you’d believe me and if you keep your promise and don’t turn me in, I swear I’ll leave you alone and I’ll get off at the next port and I’ll just disappear. I have an active bounty on my head, which means Tarvis definitely wants me. Especially if he’s offering as much as that hologram showed. And of course Tarvis picked a damn mug shot where I had a black eye, that fucking dick. But that bounty hunter we saw won’t bother you if he has to come looking for me.”

She had begun to pace rapidly again, and she jumped as Jay suddenly stood up and blocked her path. She immediately tensed and eyed him warily.

“Jay, if your plan is to subdue me and then call security, please know that while I really don’t want to hurt you, I can kick your ass if you force me.”

“I’m not trying to subdue you, I’m not calling security, and I definitely believe you can kick my ass.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“If you keep pacing like that I’m going to get motion sickness,” he said. “And I don’t want you to disappear.”

“Why not?” Nova frowned. “He was only interested in you because he’ll want to ransom you, but he’s not going to give up my guaranteed bounty to chase you down when you’re on a ship like this. He clearly recognized you and so he’ll know you can get extra security. Bounty hunters are kind of assholes most of the time but they’re not stupid. Tarvis is offering a lot of money for my capture. Honestly, I’m a little flattered even if he used that picture. That time wasn’t even my fault, someone else started the bar fight. I only stabbed that guy a little, because he tried to slam my head into the bar. It’s not like he died, it was like ten stitches…” She trailed off again, realizing Jay was watching her with an eyebrow raised. She cleared her throat.

“But the point is,” she said, “you won’t be in any danger if you’re not with me.”

“I’m not going to let you just wander off into the jungle or whatever the hell it is at the next stop. I promised not to sell you out, remember? Just ditching you like that would be selling you out to that bounty hunter.”

“I guess,” Nova said slowly. “But I don’t get it. Why would you help someone like me? I’m literally scum of the galaxy.”

“First of all, I don’t break promises. And second of all, I don’t think you’re scum.”

Nova gave him a skeptical look. “You saw the mugshot,” she pointed out. “And I’m literally here because I double crossed a crime lord.”

“Yeah, well. Your background is as colorful as your hair.”

She almost smiled but she was still looking at him like he was crazy. Which he probably was, if he was willing to not rat her out and wasn’t running as fast as possible in the opposite direction. But she probably shouldn’t question it too much.

“Speaking of promises,” she said finally. “You said you were going to tell me why you’re ‘really’ on this ship. I assumed you were here for a run of the mill vacation. Are you committing a crime?”

“No. I’m actually…being sent to meet my fiancée.”

“Your what?” Nova exclaimed, eyes wide. “I don’t think I should be hanging out in your room if you have a-“

“I don’t plan to go through with it,” Jay interrupted. “I’ve never met her, and I didn’t arrange it.”

Nova’s brows scrunched. “I don’t understand.”

Jay sighed. “Just sit down, and I’ll explain everything.”