“My mom.” Dany’s tone is just sharp enough to not be properly flat. “Oh, no, I might get upset at that, Lexi. After all, I do [i]everything[/i] my mom tells me. That’s why I decided that going into space to prove that humanity is ready to reclaim this amazing universe was a waste of time and that I should just sit in my palace like a [i]good girl[/i] with my bodyguards all around me still pretending to be my friends. Yeah, if you told me something that made my mom seem like an overbearing...”

She trails off, not quite able to come up with an insult that’s both appropriately contemptuous and doesn’t make her feel dirty.

“It’d probably destroy our entire friendship,” she continues. “You know, the one where you don’t give a flip about me, just like Mynx or... the other one.” Her voice is raw for just a moment, and so she doubles down on the acid, picking up a crab and wiggling it as she speaks. “So don’t you do it, Lexi! Don’t break the dumb, innocent princess’s view of her perfect, perfect mommy! Everybody knows Nero is basically an Olympian already, and if you disagree with her, she’ll appear on the wings of the universe and give you [i]spankies![/i]”

Arguably, Redana is not handling what happened on Baradissar well at all. One might be reminded of a hedgehog[1]: bristles on the outside, but a belly as soft as cream within.

***

[1]: oddly enough, hedgehog-servitors make up a majority of culinary servitor roles. Something about their taste buds, or perhaps how cute they look in those tall white hats!