"I told him I liked him!" Pari finally burst out. "Like a year and a half ago! After the shipwreck, when we all thought he was dead and then it turned out he wasn't, and I guess I had a come-to-Jesus moment but it was a total fucking mistake."
"Why?" Sparrow asked. Pari looked about ready to boil over. "Because he didn't like me back, obviously. So I moved on, and then he started with the “oh no, I liked you the whole time”, it was a whole stupid thing. And then we ended up in Altair together -- look, it doesn't matter. None of this is going anywhere."

"How were things this morning?" Kyros wondered.

"Stupid." she said.
"Pari..."
"I don't know! He asked me out last night," she scoffed. "The dumbass."
"Why?" Sparrow's brow furrowed. Pari looked at her in disbelief. "First of all, I'm a princess. Isn't he working for Miz's thing? So he's supposed to be an "in-the-shadows" kind of guy. So it's a surefire way to fuck up his entire career."

Don't--
He bit his tongue, knowing now was not the time.
"Do you want to know what I think?" he asked instead.

"Not really." she grumbled. Sparrow elbowed her with a frown. "Give him a chance..."

He held his hands up, shaking his head. "No, it's fine. She doesn't want to hear it."

“Fine,” Pari groused. “Enlighten me with your thoughts, guy with two failed relationships under his belt.”
“Pari.”
“And an incoming third.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, face turned into a familiar scowl, and shook his head again. "I'm sure Sparrow has some things to say. I'll get to mine later."

“I just think you’re being fatalistic, Pari.” Sparrow began, but Pari was grouchy and ready to lash out. “Fancy word, Sparrow, are those secondary school catch-up classes finally working out for you?”
Her friend’s expression shuttered immediately, cheeks flooding pink with embarrassment. Pari felt the heat seep out of her body, but it was too late for that, wasn’t it?

"Hey," Kyros defended immediately, his own feelings dwarfed by indignance on Sparrow's behalf. "That crossed a line."