The wanderer cupped the lenacht's body, shifting it higher on his shoulder to a position that was more stable. "Using me as a temporary host after its birth was necessary for it to gather strength. As long as it is in a healthy state, it will remain in this form."
The lenacht nuzzled the wanderer's cheek.
"It's Lathan." At her questioning look, he added, "My name. I'm assuming you didn't know."
"I didn't ask."
Mostly because she didn't care. He seemed like a nice enough person. Or as nice as someone apprenticed to Pallas and fighting for survival could be. But Kira's attention span was finite. Particularly in times of crisis. She only had so much to spare for people and things that didn't directly affect her or her goals.
That's just how it was.
To say nothing of the fact that names held a certain significance. Attaching a name to a person meant you knew them on some level. It made it more real when something bad happened to them.
Kira had more realness in her life right now than she could handle. She wasn't looking to add to it.
"No, I suppose you didn't," Lathan agreed, showing no offense at her rejection.
Well, well. Wasn't he just the understanding sort?
Lathan patted the lenacht absentmindedly. "I didn't expect to see you here so soon. I thought the meeting would take longer."
Kira’s body tensed. "You know about the forty three?"
His status as Pallas's yer'se was just barely within the realm of possibility. Just barely. She could picture Pallas picking up an apprentice from some back alley somewhere and taking him for his own.
To apprise him of matters pertaining to the forty three? No. Nuh uh.
If true, it would make Pallas the biggest hypocrite alive. All the shit he'd given her. The threats if she ever told the Curs about them. Then for him to turn around and bring a stranger to their super-secret meeting.
She'd kill him. Maybe not in reality. But in her head. Over and over again. In increasingly creative ways.
"Enough to not understand why you’re here, trying to steal this ship, rather than with your adoptive family."
Kira relaxed, lounging in the captain's chair as if it was her own. "Let's just say, my relationship with the forty three is a little complicated. We have history."
A long, fucked up history similar to that which biological siblings might have shared.
"You're angry with them," Lathan guessed, moving closer.
"You could say that."
She was also disappointed and hurt.
For some reason, she kept hoping that the forty three would act like the siblings they named themselves as. And every time they did something like this, she was reminded of how vast the chasm between them really was.
Kira was aware she wasn't being entirely rational or fair. After all, she still hadn't apprised them of Jin's predicament or what it could mean for Kira.
Maybe it would have mattered. Maybe it wouldn't have.
Damn it, Elena alone should have been enough to compel them to action. She shouldn't have to drag Jin's name into this to get them to see reason.
"Pallas advises me not to allow emotion to blind myself to reality," Lathan said.
She gave him a sardonic smile. "Does he now?"
How very ironic.
"How did you two meet, anyway?" Kira asked, curious.
