When Arlo countered that the differences in the fletching might be due to the handedness of the fletcher, rather than the archer, Vega's father shrugged and seemed completely unconcerned. "Maybe," he said at Arlo's explanation, "but it's not somethin' I've got to think about or care about. So I don't." Vega looked up and grinned. "There's a whole speech after that bit, isn't there Pappa? All about not worryin' for worries sake, not tryin' to unpick a knot just cos it's a knot an' the futility of swimmin' against th'current." Her gaze on her father was adoring, even as he apparently casually threw a rag at her that hit her square on the forehead. Vega grinned and said no more. Jo'qet, though, turned to Arlo and said most seriously, "U'frek forbid you ever have a daughter. They are contrary and difficult creatures."
Vega appeared not to hear, but she shot Arlo a grin and she looked pleased. She was, in fact, because that sort of teasing normally didn't happen when there was an outsider here, so that must mean that Arlo was more or less accepted by her father. That sort of nuance was probably lost on the young lad himself, though, she accepted. She'd tell him later, or not. Probably not, she had to admit because it might give him a big head or make him suffer from delusions of adequacy or something like that. Vega's eyes showed her pleasure, though in a rare moment, she kept quiet.
It ought to be easy? "Yeah, it ought t'be. Most times, it's the stuff what ought to be easy what's most complicated, I think." Or something like that. Vega knew what she meant but, like so often, she didn't quite put it into the words that she meant. It was close enough, "Like you. Ought'a be easy, complicated as can be." Funny, she'd meant that as an insult she realised, but it came out sounding almost fond. Had she had time, Vega's face would have grinned at his assessment of her cousin, but the expression stopped half on her face as he asked his question. So bluntly asked, as was his way but it shocked her at the same time.
Her eyes swirled lilac and yellow and Vega shook her head. "It's. That is. Alright, so. Well. When my father an' my mother got together, he was disowned by his family an' she was disowned by hers." Vega's attention appeared to be entirely on what she was doing, but he knew her better. "They were livin' on a sloop, a little ship. Far as his family were concerned, he'd chosen not to be a member of the clan no more. They had no one. They'd gotten turned away from both lots." The frown on her face might appear to be one of concentration to anyone who'd never met her before. "If they'd been able to go to one of them for 'elp, maybe she'd 'ave lived, I dunno. When she died, he was left with me." She gave up pretending to be putting feathers on arrows and lifted her head to look at Arlo. "I guess there were difficult conversations with 'is parents, but I don't know about that, I only know he rejoined his family with a newborn baby to care for." It wasn't a conversation she'd ever imagined, the one between her father and grandfather, Vega said. If she had to guess? She'd think it was lively. "But none of that's real to them, is it? I mean, Reese an' his twin, they're younger'n me by a couple of seasons. Huw, the eldest, he's ten arcs older. He remembers my father arrivin' but he knows nothin' of what went on in those conversations." Besides, she explained, this had been her grandfather's ship then. It wasn't until he died that his sons, her father and uncle, took it over. Now that her uncle was gone, her father was the one in charge.
"To my cousins, I mean, he's the oldest man in the family and he has been since our grandfather died. Plus, he's one of them, an' I'm not. They were shits as children, I always felt different, felt left out. Bein' seasick didn't 'elp either." Vega gave a grin at that, more amused than anything. "But I didn't help it either, Arlo, didn't help meself. Maybe if I'd tried to be like them, pretended to ignore my Sev'ryn 'alf, maybe they'd have stopped this nonsense. But I wouldn't then an' I won't now. It's who I am. An' I'd rather be that an' feelin' left out or on my own than bein' like that bunch of losers" Picking the arrow and he feather back up she looked at him and suddenly gave a grin which lit her face, a very genuine expression of mirth. "Or, maybe they say it to me cos my father's their uncle an' they don't want 'im to chuck em off the ship. Huw'll inherit eventually, after all." She shrugged. "Family's complicated I suppose. I can't do this, it's stupid." The stupid in question was the fletching of the arrow, which Vega was making a royal mess of. "How're you doin? Got any decent ones I can pass off as mine?"
