Through the Looking Glass: Chapter Three

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"I don't think either of us have eaten in a while." Prime Sara said, looking at Mirror Sara, who stood. "I-I can go get food..."

Tala shrugged. "I am merely curious. I most likely shall not have anyone keelhauled, so you may tell me if you wish."

"It is the mutt. Kaylr. He doubted my judgement, and instead of explaining his full concerns with me, chose to lie, and led me on a wild goos chase when I was only hoping to help." She casually poured the next cup of tea.

[No there aren't Asher, there's no other distractions here. But even trying to help, I make things worse. It's better I stay away, avoid everyone. I'll just hurt them. ] He shook his head, his brain was a muddled mess. [I can't DO anything. I'm helpless, powerless and I.. just can't.. I don't want to be awake. ] He went back to slump down against a wall, resting his head against it and staring up at the ceiling.

Tala blinked. "Kaylr always seemed reasonably trustworthy, despite the evils that his disease must impose. I would not have expected such from him."

~~
Asher followed Kay. "Please don't do this. Learn something, do something, rest in a bed at least. I don't know! But this isn't healthy."

Starr had fallen asleep finally, though it wasn't a deep sleep. She was in her dragon form and laying curled up on the chair.

~~~
Shane was wandering the ship with Rigel and Dawn, looking for stuff to fix and repair together.

~~~
Andre and Sawna also were wandering around curiously. They might stumble upon Inari and Tala.

"It appears he had deceived you as well, then." Was all Inari said.

Kay stared at Asher, eyes narrowing a little. [Do I really look like I care what's healthy right now Asher? At least before I had pain to distract me, now it's just me and my thoughts and all my mistakes. I've learned a lot these past few days, you know what that is? That I screw up everything I try to fix. I nearly got us stranded here, ruined our best chance of getting home, undermined all the hard work you and the others did. How you can even stand to talk to me right now? ]

Tala nodded. "It would seem so. Humanoids are most strange that way, they always surprise you." She scented the air, and turned to look at Sawna and Andre, "Greetings, peopleof this universe!"

"Greetings" Sawna said and smiled gently at the pair while Andre gave a short bow to them

Asher shook his head, frustrated. He knew this wasn't going to go anywhere, but he didn't want to just leave Kay alone again. "Of course I was angry with you. You could have trapped us here. You could have gotten yourself killed. I hate both those possibilities so much. But you were trying to protect Merith, and you were trying to protect all of us. How could I ever shun someone for that?"
He sighed, "Look, since you don't have the pain to distract you any more, how about I distract you for a while? I can teach you to wire in cameras, or you can help me figure out what in the world my new sense is telling me, or we can play a board game. It'll beat staying in here with just yourself and your thoughts, right?"

Tala snorted happily. "This is Inari, I am Tala. I do not believe we are acquainted, except in that I can tell you drink blood."

"I am Andre, this is my sister Sawna. We are Carpathians" Andre said with a smile himself

Kay sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. Asher was right of course, but Kay felt like punishing himself, he deserved that right? Least so his head was telling him.He chewed his lip and after a few minutes nodded slowly. He didn't get up though.
He wrote carefully [Vestia, can you send someone to check on Shock? ] If that guy had drunk himself into unconsciousness it wasn't good, someone in less of a mess than him had to go make sure he was safe.
He looked back to Asher. [Distractions sound good.] He admitted.

"Okay," Vestia would tell somebody to go check on Shock.

Asher smiled softly, "Any preferences, or would you rather I choose what we do?" He asked, noting that Kay hadn't gotten up.

~~
Tala looked pleased. "You smell of blood and magic," she said. "Inari has had difficulty with one of our crew. You two are honest?"

Kay shook his head [I don't want to think any more.] He looked sullen, hauling himself to his feet and rubbing his neck again. Yeah, definitely don't sleep against hard walls, it was a bad idea.

Asher nodded. "Is your neck okay?" he asked, concerned.

Kay nodded [I dozed off in here, it was not a very sensible idea. It'll be fine. ]

"We are as honest as we can be. We are thankful that your people are not afraid of us for what we are" Andre said and smiled again

"All right," Asher said with a nod. Even with his new sense or touch, he was pretty sure he couldn't get neck cramps. That was a relief, because they looking awfully uncomfortable. "Ellie told me I should stick my finger in syrup earlier," he confided, "Since it was in the context of me being reluctant to touch water, and her snickering, I suspect she doesn't think I'll like touching syrup." Completely off topic remarks were good, right?

Inari listened in on the conversation, but did pour another cup of tea. Realizing something, she jumped. "Oh! Pardon me. Tea?" She asked the group, looking at them all expectantly.

Kay shot him a weird look. [They have syrup on board?] random. He pondered that, yes Asher, random was good right now. [Exactly how much can you sense now? Hot and cold? Syrup is sticky so it's not exactly a pleasant sensation, but it could be interesting if you really want to know what sticky feels like.] He shrugged, it hurt. Ow. stupid shoulder.
[Are there any sense related adjectives you've ever been particularly curious about?]

"We cannot digest mortals food" Andre said, looking to Inari again and dipping his head "But I thank you for the offer"

Tala blinked. "You wonder if we want tea?" She asked, just to clarify. Usually nobody asked minotaurs if they wanted tea. Beer or cowboy coffee, maybe. Not tea.

~~
"I suppose they must. Maybe it's corn syrup," Asher speculated. "I think I can sense temperature, texture, things like that. Not that I can identify them by name, but I'm pretty sure things feel different when I know they should be different temperatures, sometimes."
He considered Kay's last question. "'Soft' always sounded nice. And 'crinkly'." He laughed softly, it sounded silly to say such things.

James got told by Vestia to go check on Shock, so he headed to where Shock was. "Are you okay, man?" he asked when he saw the avian. That guy looked super hung over, wow.

"Muh... Merith? No, wait..." Shock hurled another round of black goopy death down the drain before glancing up. "James, right? What's up, man? I think I'll be--" He gagged and went back to puking out every last ounce of substance in his stomach.

Inari nodded to Tala. "One cannot go wrong with tea. It's quite relaxing."

"Well at least you're getting it all out," James said, seating himself comfortably on the counter to watch Shock. "Beats having your stomach pumped, anyway. But how much did you drink?!"

~~
Tala flicked her ears forward happily. "That sounds most excellent. You have my thanks, Woman of the Foxes."