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“So,” Scott starts without missing a beat. “You and my sister, huh?”
Liam realises there is a distinct possibility that Scott Ryder wants to kick his arse. While he’s prepared for that eventuality, believes himself to have the skills to defuse such a situation even, Scott must be able to read the apprehension on his face because he laughs and holds his hands up in resignation. “Nope, not gonna go all grr-grr-protective-big-brother on you,” he assures, “Sara would never let me live it down. At the end of the day, I’m the little one.”
Liam laughs. Suddenly, he thinks he and Scott are going to get along just fine. “She does say she never lets you forgot it.”
Scott smiles ruefully and inclines his head. “Nor anyone else, for that matter. Anyway, she’d totally kick my butt if she knew I was talking to you about this at all, so, keep this between us? Please?”
“Sure,” Liam agrees, more quickly than he thought he would’ve because he is hammered with the sudden realisation that if everything goes to plan, this man is going to be his future brother-in-law. Family. He sits down on the bed beside Scott, who leans forward, elbows on knees.
“I was out of it for a long time,” Scott starts, propping his head up on one hand. “Hey, are the six-hundred-year jokes getting old yet?”
“Probably,” Liam says after a moment of consideration, “but it doesn’t seem to stop anyone.”
Scott chuckles, shaking his head. “Well, I won’t make you relive that one. In any case, I slept in. And with everything that happened while I wasn’t around… I know it must have been tough for Sara. We’re not as close as we were as kids, and I know one of the reasons she’d say we came is to explore the unknown, but deep down, I think what we really wanted is to be a family again.”
Liam doesn’t know what to say. His own decision to leave his family behind in the Milky Way had been tough, but not impossible. He was an optimist at a crossroads with dreams and hopes bigger than the galaxy. “It’s been hard for her,” he starts, slowly but surely, “she doesn’t talk about it much.”
“Honestly?” Scott says, rolling his shoulders, “that sounds like her. She’s never been the feelings type.” He punctuates the word with air-quotes before resuming his previous ponderous position. “I almost couldn’t believe it when one of the first things I heard when I got out of cryo was ‘Sara has a boyfriend now, and it’s looking pretty serious.’”
Liam suddenly, desperately wants to know who’s told him, but without even being asked, Scott shakes his head and makes a miming motion over his mouth. Lips sealed.
“So,” Scott continues casually, almost too casually, like he’d be a step away from draping an arm over Liam’s shoulder if only they were closer, “is it? Serious, I mean.”
“Yeah,” Liam says, without even having to consider it, simply revelling in the rush of warmth that travels through him when he thinks about their future. “It is.” And even though he has Scott’s reassurance, he’s still going to do his best to handle himself respectfully. “We’ve been through a lot together. I love her,” he continues, throwing discretion to the wind. He figures once you’ve proposed to your girlfriend during a holovid livestream, there’s no sense in hiding things anyway.
As awkward as this conversation is, Liam takes some guilty consolation in the fact that it’s just Scott he has to talk to, and not Alec Ryder himself. He didn’t know the man well but had nothing but the utmost respect for him, which would probably just make things all the more harder. “We’re not going to have a problem, are we?” he asks, before hastening to add, “Because that’s the last thing I want.” What he wants, in fact, is the opposite. While he knows that ultimately, Scott’s approval with have little practical effect on his relationship with Sara, he still finds himself craving it. That approval. It’s important, he thinks.
Fortunately, he is more than gratified when Scott breaks out into a big cheesy grin, one that reminds him of the striking similarity between the twins. He’s never known fraternal twins to be so identical before. “Problem?” Scott asks in mock alarm. “Hell, no! I’m ecstatic. You obviously make each other happy. That’s what matters to me. Like I said, honestly didn’t expect it to happen. She’s a bit of a handful, you know? You’d know. It’s too late for that warning, isn’t it?”
Honestly, Liam’s still a bit dazed by Scott’s apparent happiness that he barely remembers to respond. Thinks about all the time’s Sara’s gotten up to things that have probably taken months and years off his expected life span. He smiles wistfully. “A bit, yeah. Mightn’t have stayed away, regardless.”
Scott’s eyes twinkle as he claps Liam on the back. “Now, that’s the spirit! Welcome to the family.” Liam cannot deny the way his heart swells at the words. Family. Home. They made it. Lowering his voice conspiratorially, Scott adds, “I heard tell there might be some little Kosta-Ryders running around in the not-so-distant future.” Liam chokes, because truth be told, he has been thinking about it. Dreaming about it, really. Still hasn’t figured out a way to bring it up with Sara, yet.
It is then that the door slides open to reveal Sara standing in the doorway, decked out in full armour and clearly on return from a mission. “Boys,” she starts in a disapproving drawl, hands firmly planted on hips, “you wouldn’t be talking about me behind my back, would you?”
Liam and Scott share a look, then shake their heads in unison. Sara raises an eyebrow, not buying the act for a second, but after a moment’s hesitation, she seems to decide to let it slide. “Right. Well, lovely as it is seeing you, Scott, I think it’s time you got out of my room.”
The Ryder brother doesn’t need telling twice as he jumps to his feet. “All right, all right, Sis, I get it! Right in the feelings. Pow!” He crosses Sara’s path as he heads towards the doorway, and she makes her way towards Liam.
When the door closes behind her twin, Sara pulls Liam down into a quick kiss. “I hope he didn’t give you any trouble.”
“Not at all,” Liam answers as Sara settles down next to him, drapes a leg over his lap. “Quite the opposite, in fact.” He jerks a thumb to the doorway. “Did you have to kick him out like that?”
She smiles at him, eyes bright and clear. “For what I have in mind?” she says as she makes herself comfortable, “Yeah, I did.”