The Edge

Arian: Part One

So, this was the score.

Pretty much everyone was pissed at him to varying degrees, including maybe Tola. Arian wasn't completely sure she was, but considering how she'd looked at him when they first got back to the ship, she was probably at least a little miffed. Now, did he deserve that?

...he didn't want to say yes. But he probably should. Objectively, he had kind of screwed Tola, and he could understand being mad about that, but he hadn't meant to. He hadn't blabbed her big secret with the intention of handing her over to those weirdos one day. He'd just been shooting the breeze, talking about what it was like growing up in a big, weird family.

Which was a totally normal thing to do, but they had to go and make it a big deal or whatever...

Arian kept pacing around his room. There wasn't a lot of pacing room, but it was pretty much his only option. He couldn't go to any of his usual places without risking being sought out and pounded into the dirt by Gideon.

Ah, shit. Gideon was mad at him. He was so dead.

He wouldn't actually kill me, right? Arian didn't want to think so. Gideon's killing days were over.

Then again, my thieving days were supposed to be and look how that went.

Someone pounded on the door. It didn't sound strong enough to be Gideon, but that didn't stop Arian from freezing in place. Could he pretend he wasn't there? The doors sealed pretty tightly, so he didn't think they'd be able to tell that he had the lights on. If I don't make any noise...

The room's intercom hummed to life. Damn it. He'd forgotten to turn that off. "Asshole, I know you're in there!"

Oh. It was Adoette. That was fine. She was one of his more reasonable siblings, even with the insults. Arian opened the door; Adoette was standing outside with her hands on her hips and a more no-nonsense look than usual. "I'm going to pick up something for Matteo," she said. "You're coming with."

Arian scowled. Adoette was usually reasonable, he remembered, except for when she wasn't. "Why?" he asked.

"Because you seem to know your way around here and I don't want any bullshit while I'm out. Besides, it'll give everyone a chance to cool off. C'mon."

Arian could see the logic, but he wasn't happy about it. "What if I refuse?" he said.

"You really want to be on this ship after the bullshit you pulled?"

Another good point. On top of that, Adoette had a look that said she'd drag Arian out by the ear if she had to. She absolutely would, too, because Adoette was terrifying, and also they were the same height so he couldn't dig his heels in and just refuse. Damn it. Why'd Luca and Gideon have to take all the height?

"Fine," Arian grumbled. "Just give me a second."

That "second" was used to change clothes. He could make people think he was wearing different clothes, but that required more mental effort than just changing his face, and he was tired. Better to just manually eliminate one potential way of being recognized and work from there. Once that was done, he stepped out into the hall. He half-expected to see the rest of his siblings gathered there for an intervention, but it was still just Adoette.

"Gideon's not waiting somewhere to ambush me, is he?" Arian asked warily.

Adoette raised an eyebrow. "Buddy, if I wanted you dead, I'd just do it myself," she said.