“You have a point... I can’t complain about the company, this time,” she agreed, looping her arm around the one he had snagged one of hers with as she let him lead her along, listening as he went on about this place and how much it meant to some people - everyone, if he wasn’t exaggerating. It was hard to tell just how serious he was, because as far as she’d seen, Earth had the tendency to be like that. She wouldn’t have been entirely surprised to find out that the majority of their cultural happiness and status depended on visiting a certain location that cost a small fortune to visit.
Earth was hardly original in the concept, though - and at least as far as she’d seen, this planet was a little more rational about it than some other worlds - and species - she’d encountered, before. A lot of them had similar ideas of what meant happiness and honor, and what meant shame and hopelessness. She supposed she was just glad they didn’t put such a high standard on self-mutilation, here, like the Vong did. Visiting a location was a whole lot better, as far as she was concerned.
“So does it live up to the expectations, or is it all about really, really good marketing?”
Either way, she was already feeling a great deal better than she had been - although she had a feeling the location had less to do with it than the company, and the thought behind the trip itself. Whether he would deny it if asked or not, Jaina was sure this wasn’t just because Gabriel had been bored. She hadn’t even been in any physical danger, this time, there was almost no chance of her even being hurt, let alone dying and stealing his entertainment away. Which meant that, at least to some degree, he cared about more than just his own amusement.
There was a small, petty part of her that wanted to rub that fact in Jacen’s face - prove that Gabriel wasn’t as bad as her brother seemed to think he was, that he wasn’t just playing games, after all... or, at least if this was all still a game, it wasn’t the same game as they’d started out playing - and she wasn’t entirely sure which one of them had changed the rules.