Going To Have A Talk

She'd really screwed up this time.
Zoey Hunsinger sat on a suitcase in the Chancer V’s cargo bay, sniffling as if it could hide her running nose. She stared with puffy eyes at the open crate Stray had turned into a weapons locker, agonizing over which M6 to take with her. She'd already packed everything else.
One was hers, Stray had said, but when both went back in the locker it didn't matter which rested where. One had an easier slide for her to pull, though. For the last five minutes, she'd grappled with the impulse to take the easy one, feeling guilty for leaving her crewmates the one even so slightly worse.
She didn't want to leave. But when the Chancer V had finally lifted off after all the trouble they'd gotten in on Roma, she could see it in Gavin's eyes—or rather, the way they refused to meet hers, and how short he was the few times he spoke. He was angry with her.
And why shouldn't he be? She'd disobeyed him, taken their info to people Gavin said they shouldn't mess with. She thought she could get them all a better deal than Gavin was cutting, and the mercs had instead taken her captive and tried to steal the ship. They'd only gotten out alive thanks to Gavin's remote, using the resting Chancer’s engines to blow a cloud of dust across the landing pad, letting Stray close in while everyone else was blind. They'd lifted off quick, and without any pay to show for their intel.
She'd been stupid, and hurt everyone with it. She knew how it worked out here. A liability didn't get kept around. So she started packing before anyone could say a word and rub salt in the wound by telling her what she already knew.
Zoey had cut ties and run from places before. Why should the Chancer V be so different? It wasn't anything like the opulent hotels Judith Ives had scammed weeks or months for them to stay in while she taught Zoey how to thieve. But the engine hum and the funk of engine grease or Gavin's cooking or the couch in the lounge had started feeling like home before she even knew it. It didn't feel like just another bolt-hole, maybe because she felt safe aboard. Not untouchable, but when it came time to run, the ship ran with her.
And she'd jeopardized that.
Her throat tightened as she heard the ring of boots on the closer stairwell—not textured steel SPI, but the hollow ring of rubber on metal. She jumped up and closed the armory, turned her back to hide her face, and froze in hopes of making her presence look like innocuous loitering.
"Zoey?" Gavin's voice echoed from the stairwell. His footsteps came to a halt at their end, a few feet behind her. "We need to talk about what happened."
"I know." she answered, swallowing around the lump in her throat when the words came out choked.
"Then you know what this is about."
She nodded, and turned around only once she trusted her voice. "I'm sorry."
Gavin's face wasn't stormy anymore, but a determined set had come to his stubbled jaw. He might've put anger behind him, but he'd made up his mind to do something about her. "I know. But that's not enough this time."
Oh, god… Zoey felt her eyelids puffing again. She shut her eyes and turned away, refusing to show it.
"Look, Zoey, when you're on my ship, you need to follow my instructions. Not just because I'm captain, but because I'm the only legal adult here. I gave you one back there, and you didn't follow it. You need to understand your actions have consequences, so…"
Here it came. First place in her life she'd wanted to be since her family farm, and it was rejecting her.
"…when we get to Algidus, you're grounded."
"Huh?" Zoey's eyes sprang open. "Wait, you mean… I can't leave the ship?"
Gavin was keeping his face stern, which he'd no doubt practiced along with the speech. "No adventures, no tagging along on the delivery. You'll stay onboard catching up on your astrogation homework. I know it's harsh, but—oof!"
Gavin's breath caught as Zoey's arms suddenly wrapped around his abdomen, her weight pressing on his solar plexus.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said, breathless herself. Her head reeled, and all she could think was she had to unpack. Pushing off from Gavin, she grabbed the heavy suitcase and darted up the stairs with it, calling back, "Thanks, Gav!"
Gavin stared several long moments up the stairwell after her before smiling to himself. "So glad I read the parenting book!"
Category:The Weekly