“Yeah. I wonder who I would have been if I had been raised in a place like this. I never would have had to do the things I did. Make the choices I did. I would likely be a completely different person.”
“Are you thinking about staying after all?”
“No.” He said immediately, shaking his head, his grip on her tightening. “My place is with my crew. My… friends?”
She chuckled. “Is that a question?”
“Feels strange,” he admitted with a chuckle. “But I guess it would be true. They’re who I belong with. But that doesn’t mean I can’t come back here. I can make a relationship with my father. Learn about my people and my culture. Is that alright?”
“Of course,” she laughed, running her hand down his chest. “I’d really like that.”
Sway hesitated before saying. “He offered you a job here.”
“Hm? Who did?”
“My father.” He caught her eye, his expression neutral. “He said that your skills would be very useful in his line of work. They always need people to help coordinate and manage things behind the scenes. There’s a lot more to this operation than just finding people.”
Grace made a face. “Admin work, you mean.”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “I know how you feel about that. But I thought I would offer. Just in case.”
“No way.” She shook her head. “I told you. I don’t want to be stuck doing administrative work for the rest of my life. As beautiful as this place is, I…”
Her voice trailed off. Sway cocked his head, looking at her. Waiting for her to continue. She felt her cheeks heating under his gaze.
“Grace?”
“Erm,” she licked her lips hesitating. “I’m definitely staying with you, right?”
“What?” He frowned, like he was confused.
“I just mean, if we’re, like, talking about mating and stuff, it’s safe for me to assume that we’re going to be together. Right? I mean, we have to. Well, I guess we don’thaveto. U-Unless yours is a species that, physically, can’t be far from your mate. Though, I guess if you were, someone would have said something by now. I guess that’s not what I-”
“Grace.” He cut her off, amused. His hand went around her neck, tilting her head back so she was forced to look up at him. “The captain determines whether someone is welcome to stay on his ship or not. But he will let you stay. You will probably haveto work. But he has no reason to deny you the right to live with me. And if he does… Well, I have an open invitation to live here instead.”
She reared back, surprised. “You’d-… but you love your crew!”
“Is that what that is?” He made a face. “I wouldn’t call it that.”
“But it’s true. They’re your friends and you love them.” She touched his cheek gently. “That’s not an easy thing to give up, you know?”
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But you’re my mate, and you mean more to me. The captain won’t deny you the right to stay with me. I know he won’t. But if it comes down to it, know that it’s not a choice. I am happy to go wherever I need to in order to stay with you.”
Grace laughed, throwing herself at Sway. Kissing him happily. She didn’t know why she’d suddenly become so nervous when the idea of where she would go in the future was brought up. He said that he wanted her to be his mate. Naturally, that would mean they’d be together.
But they’d never talked about it, and her future had been nebulous and uncertain since that last moment in Covor’s office. And while she followed Sway here, chasing his past, she hadn’t given any thought to her own future. Far more focused on him. On exploring this thing between them.
But now, with this mating meal that he began offering to her by hand, they finally started talking about their future. About what they wanted it to be.
Sway didn’t have much in the way of dreams or plans. He’d already achieved everything he had set out to do in his life – namely, getting away from Rik-Vane. Even finding his fatherwas something that happened to him by coincidence. He hadn’t planned on ever tracking him, or anyone else from his past, down.
Sway, and likely the others, weren’t like normal people. Grace knew that intellectually, but she didn’t really internalize it until just now, talking to him. They didn’t have five-year, ten-year plans. They didn’t have dreams. They didn’t even really have goals. Not in the way that she would think of it. Where someone like her mother would have had her entire life planned out, contingencies in place, and multiple futures to work towards, Sway and the others really only had one purpose.
Survive.
It was likely something inherited from Rik-Vane. A habit they couldn’t break. They couldn’t plan far ahead when even tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. The next meal was the only purpose, the next victory their greatest aspiration. And while the next ‘victory’ might just be a successful delivery, and the next meal was practically guaranteed, but it didn’t break the mindset.
Sway had everything he needed, therefore he had nothing he wanted. And she imagined it would take a long time for him to change that way of thinking. If it ever changed at all.
