"It's fine," Alice says, but I can sense the hesitation in her voice.
"I'll make him clean it up," I promise her. I know she likes a tidy living space. She always cleaned up our ship in the jungle, and in the last few days on the Jabberwock, I've caught her straightening up behind me. It's tidiness…and probably a dash of control issues. Knowing that just makes me love her all the more.
"We're good, I promise." She gives my shoulder a squeeze as I pop the hatch on the shuttle. "Is he making the nursery? Jade mentioned that."
She sounds calmer. "Yeah. He's letting out a wall between Zoey's old room and a storage closet, but he ran into some wiring issues. We'll get it all fixed up." I bound down from the shuttle and then hold my arms up so I can help her down. She easily goes into my arms, and I kick aside a bit of worn wiring fragments. "One thing I should mention before we go inside—Adiron's a keffing slob. Mathiras and I usually keep him in line, though. So it might be…messier than usual in certain areas."
"Poor Jade," is all Alice says. Her hand goes to mine and she clings to me tightly. "Give me the grand tour."
So I do. I show her into the main living area of the ship first, guiding her down the halls. I show her the guest quarters, when we're running outlaws or fugitives. I show her the storage bay and the hidden compartments for hiding away the really questionable stuff. I show her the wire-covered chamber that was once Zoey's old room and try not to mentally throttle Adiron, because tools are everywhere, along with all the metal he's pulled down. Wires hang from the ceiling, along with the light fixtures, and there's nothing left that looks like living quarters. "I imagine this is a work in progress."
She just chuckles. "Poor Salvotor. I guess this is where he'll be sleeping? Once it's all pulled together again?"
"I'd prefer not to have him snuggled up with us, so yes."
"That makes two of us." Alice nudges me. "Where's your room?"
I lead her past Adiron's room, where he's now sharing it with Jade. Mathiras's room is at the end of the hall, the door sealed for privacy even though he's not around. I get suddenly nervous, because I need this to make Alice happy. If she hates it…I'll have to find a new ship for us. Take her somewhere else. Something. I need my Sunshine to smile.
The door to my room opens, a bit musty, and I inwardly wince, waiting for her reaction. I came back earlier to straighten up, because Adi had mentioned that when the ship was stolen, they'd gone through everything and ransacked all the valuables. My old blaster collection is gone, the spot on the wall where the display case hung is now empty. My closet is mostly empty, too, but those are just clothes. I watch as Alice wanders in, looking around. She touches a pillow on the bed that Zoey gave me for a gift one year, and her fingers graze the small table and data pad dock there. "For you to check on your lungs?"
"You never know." I haven't been as obsessive about it lately, which is nice.
Alice moves around the room, looking at the small, round window above the bed that lets me gaze out at the stars past the Sister's wing. She eyes the neatly made bed and then gazes down at the rug in the center of the floor.
"It's not like it was before," I admit. "They stripped all the good stuff away. I had an old chair from Homeworld that I liked to sit in, and my blaster collection and…"
She moves to the wall, where a vid-still of Zoey, Mathiras, Adiron and myself hangs. It's all of us in front of the Sister, and I have my finger in Adiron's ear as he makes a rude gesture behind my head. Zoey's in front of us, sticking her tongue out, and Mathiras has his usual long-suffering expression on his face. She touches the frame and the vid activates, showing the little clip in a brief loop.
"What do you think?" I can't help but ask. She's so quiet.
Alice glances up at me, pulling her gaze away from the vid-still on the wall. She looks around the room again. "We'll probably need a bed for Sterre, and possibly her cub or cubs. And I'll need some of your closet."
"You can take everything in this room," I promise her. "Just let me sleep in it with you."
My mate smiles and takes my hand, moving me toward the door. "Show me the bridge?"
It's impossible to read her mood. I do as she asks, taking her hand and showing her up to the bridge. We make brief visits to the ship's shower facilities and the mess hall, which Adiron has also been working on, judging from the amount of loose wiring hanging from the dispensers. I show Alice around the bridge, pointing out Mathiras's captain's chair, Adiron's defense station, and the nav booth, which is now my place since Zoey's left us. "The comm station is empty," I point out. "We all take our turns to check on things, but that used to be my spot before Zoey abandoned us to go mate with Sentorr."