He pulled the thick, waxy covering from the top of the bottle and then removed a delicate composite stopper. The stopper had a built-in grip and what looked like a one-way valve. It was as pretty as the rest of the bottle.

Torran poured the wine into glasses and I distributed them to the table. He handed me the next-to-last glass and then picked up the final one for himself. We returned to the table, and he raised his drink. “To success.”

We all raised our glasses and then drank. The first sip slid down my throat like liquid velvet—smooth and rich. It was like no wine I’d had before and probably never would again. It was too rich for my meager bank account, but now I understood why people paid ridiculous amounts of money for it.

Kee made a delighted sound. “Keep bringing wine and you can stay as long as you like.”

“Considering how much this wine sells for, I would agree to that deal,” I replied with a grin. “But that means you can’t drink it all.”

She clutched her glass close with a dramatic flourish and laughter rippled around the table.

We passed the food and everyone served themselves. The Valoffs were more hesitant, but Kee and Eli dug in with gusto and I did the same. I hummed in delight. It was a good batch, and it’d been a long time since we’d had lasagna.

It reminded me of home.

I hadn’t seen my parents in over a year, but we kept in touch with asynchronous video or text messages, depending on how deep in the galaxy I was. And I carried fond memories of their tiny, warm kitchen and my mom’s loving smile with me wherever I went.

Chira, who sat on my right, made a faintly surprised sound after trying a bite of the lasagna. “This is good.”

“Tavi’s lasagna is the best,” Eli confirmed. His first serving was nearly gone, and he was already eyeing his second. Luckily for him, we hadn’t put much of a dent in the two big pans, so there was plenty left.

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it. I’ve never cooked for Valoffs before, so you’ll have to let me know if things are too spicy or too bland or otherwise don’t agree with you. You won’t offend me. I’ll be far more upset if you’re hungry and miserable in silence.”

I tried not to notice that while Torran had eaten his salad, he hadn’t touched the lasagna on his plate.

On my other side, Varro ate in silence. Across the table from him, Kee chatted with Havil and Anja, and even occasionally drew Torran into the conversation. The only person she pointedly excluded was the silent Valoff next to me.

So he hadn’t apologized.

Poor bastard.