Kee shined brightest of all of us, and her attention was like basking in sunlight. Take that attention away, and the world turned a little darker and colder. It was as if the sun decided to shine on everyone but you. Eli and I both had been on the receiving end before, but we had been smart enough to apologize, promptly and profusely.

We’d see how long it took Varro to learn the same lesson.

We all had a second glass of wine, and the delicious alcohol was just strong enough to lower guards and smooth some of the group’s hard edges without tipping anyone over into belligerent drunkenness.

And so we survived our first dinner without resorting to threats, violence, or insults.

Torran eventually ate his lasagna without a single word or expression to indicate what he thought about it. Not that I was watching him that closely, but all of the other Valoffs had expressed their appreciation for the meal. I reminded myself that it didn’t matter what he thought, as long as he ate.

The newly minted duty roster put Eli and Chira on clean-up duty. It was partially as punishment for the fight earlier, because as first officers, they should’ve known better. It would also show the Valovian crew that they weren’t doing anything that the first officers hadn’t already done.

As people started to stand from the table, Kee bounced to her feet. “I got the new episodes of Crash Crush while we were on-station.” She turned to Eli and me. “Rec room in thirty?”

We both nodded. The romantic drama was Kee’s latest obsession. We’d watched the first episode two weeks ago because Kee had randomly grabbed it with her last media download. Then we’d had to wait until we were closer to a distribution server to pick up the newer episodes. Kee was dying to know what happened to the female lead who’d accidentally wandered into enemy territory—and straight into the male lead’s arms.

“I love that show,” Anja said. “What episode are you on?”

“The first one,” Kee wailed. “I’ve been waiting forever to see what happens.” She waved a finger at Anja. “Don’t spoiler me.”

Anja mimed locking her lips.

“Would you mind if I joined you?” Havil asked tentatively.

Kee beamed at him. “Of course not! Are you a fan of the show?”

Havil shook his head with a rueful smile. “I’ve never seen it, but I have enjoyed other human productions. Maybe you could recap the first episode for me before you start the second?”

She grabbed his hand with an excited little hop. He stilled, but she didn’t let it deter her. “Even better, we’ll watch it while the others clean up.” She looked around, skipping straight past Varro. “Anyone else want to join?”