Upon Vestia: Chapter Nineteen

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(Day 11 I think)

Ellie giggled. "I don't mind water. That's totally worth it!"

~~
"Yes, that's certainly a benefit of her being so young," Asher agreed. "All the details of the situation don't make sense, and picture books make everything better."

Luka gave her the grand tour, which wouldn't take long, the ship was tiny and cramped and a great deal of access seemed to involve ladders.
she pointed out rooms. "That's the captain's room." She couldn't hear Acus moving around, maybe he was elsewhere? who knew. She wasn't overly eager to find out, he'd probably just yell at her.
"James' room..." didn't sound like he was about either. "My room." She gestured. "Vicky and Esk... " She trailed off. "Well... I guess just Esk now, that's gonna be weird." She sounded sombre. She was still worried about him, and she was sad for Vicky.

---

Kay nodded and went back to sit on the bed. [What's the plan for this evening?] He was going to be pragmatic damnit.

Asher followed him into the room and closed the door. "I'm thinking you should stay in a holding cell tonight, just in case. We can wait until an hour or so before the moon rises so you don't have to spend too much time in there." He added apologetically, "Starr is going to the festival, she says it's important for her to attend. I'll be watching the hatchlings tonight."

Kay mulled that over, then nodded. [Starr can take care of herself, she's aware of the risks. ] He smiled softly, not letting his trepidation show. [The hatchlings like you, you'll have fun.] He looked away. Yeah, spending the night alone in a cell sucked but it wasn't like it wasn't something he'd done before. Still, it sucked.

"Starr says star dragons are immune, I suppose she'll be safe enough." Asher sighed, watching Kay, "I'm sorry, it seems wrong to make you sit around alone all night, especially since there's a good chance you won't shift at all. Maybe I can bring you some books or something."

Kay smiled weakly. [I'll be fine Asher. I have my tablet, I can surf the internet, read ebooks. ] He frowned a little. [She may be immune to the infection, that doesn't mean they can't hurt her though. Who knows how much changes when they're anamcara as well, I keep trying to convince myself the Guild must know what they're doing and must have protections in place but then I remember that butterfly, and the boar and.. ] He shook his head, this was just going to get him worked up again. [I think for my own sanity a distraction would be good right now.] He exhaled deeply.

Asher nodded. Yeah, with a tablet you really could avoid boredom and misery pretty well. He tried to look reassuring at Kay's concerns about the Guild, but yeah, he kind of felt the same way. Ugh. "Distractions are a good idea," he agreed, not wanting Kay to spiral into an anxiety attack, or honestly to think about anamcara lycanthropes at all. "What do you suggest?"

Kooshie wrote:Ellie giggled. "I don't mind water. That's totally worth it!"

~~
"Yes, that's certainly a benefit of her being so young," Asher agreed. "All the details of the situation don't make sense, and picture books make everything better."

Starr chuckled and nodded "Alright then, come along and we shall give them all a bath" She said, looking to the two girls with Ellie

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Luka gave her the grand tour, which wouldn't take long, the ship was tiny and cramped and a great deal of access seemed to involve ladders.
she pointed out rooms. "That's the captain's room." She couldn't hear Acus moving around, maybe he was elsewhere? who knew. She wasn't overly eager to find out, he'd probably just yell at her.
"James' room..." didn't sound like he was about either. "My room." She gestured. "Vicky and Esk... " She trailed off. "Well... I guess just Esk now, that's gonna be weird." She sounded sombre. She was still worried about him, and she was sad for Vicky.

---

Kay nodded and went back to sit on the bed. [What's the plan for this evening?] He was going to be pragmatic damnit.

Moone took it all in, though she didn't like how cramped this ship was. There was no room here to be able to pread her wings without getting in someone's way.

Ellie cheered and held out her arms for the two girls to climb up. "Oh man, I never imagined someday I'd give dragons a bath!"

Kooshie wrote:Ellie cheered and held out her arms for the two girls to climb up. "Oh man, I never imagined someday I'd give dragons a bath!"

Starr chuckled softly at that as the girls climbed up to take a shoulder each, looking around from the height cheerfully. Starr turned to lead the way to her room

Luka lead the way up to the cockpit, which was her domain. She entered cautiously though, just in case Acus had decided to booby trap the place again.
"the captain thinks it's funny to set trip wires." She explained. "had the whole place rigged up with various traps when I joined and didn't bother to tell me about them." She rolled her eyes.

---

Kay looked uncertain. [Usually i'd suggest a walk but i'm still not entirely sure i'm completely rational and calm.] It was less moon now, more just general anxiety and stress levels.

Moone blinked at that, that was odd. But she followed, looking around the cockpit curiously from where she stood. "That doesn't sound very nice."

Ellie followed, walking carefully to make sure the two dragons wouldn't lose their balance and fall. That would have been super awkward!

~~
Asher nodded. "It might be wisest to not go for a walk, the wrong people have a habit of popping up at the worst moment." It was kind of impressive how often the wrong person appeared, hmm.

Starr went to her room, holding the door for Ellie. The babies were not in danger of falling, they were balanced and had their tails overlapping the other's so they could stay put.

Ellie was still going to be careful, she didn't want to hurt the babies. She didn't race into the room, she just walked. "We need to all pose for a family photo," she mused suddenly. "I mean look at us all, this entire ship is like... adoptively linked now." She nodded.

Starr chuckled at that and nodded "True enough, even if some ties are not official, we are like family to one another." She said, coming in then going to put a couple of inches of warm water in the tub as well as the toys the babies played with.

Kay nodded. [And you don't believe me that i'm cursed.] He smiled a little forcedly. [We could play a game? Or.. watch something?] He tried to think of things you could do when you were confined to one room. bah.

--

Luka shrugged. "He has a weird sense of humour I think. I see it as a sort of hazing ritual. No worse than what they did back in military school. " She stroked the control panel affectionately. "I think she's enjoying a nice rest."

Moone tilted her head at that, curious. "Hazing ritual? Is that something from your culture?"

Ellie looked in the tub curiously. "Ooh, bath toys. I used to have a rubber floaty moose, oh my gosh I just remembered!" She looked delighted by the memory.

~~
"It's not you, I'm pretty sure it happens to everyone," Asher said sensibly. He considered, "Do you have any of those Fast and Furious movies on your tablet? Those are always idiotic but entertaining." Hey, they'd discussed watching those a few weeks ago. Maybe now was a good time.

Starr chuckled and set Kerr in the water, turning to grab some soap and hand towels to wash with then sitting down beside the tub. "A moose? I didn't know those were even made in that shape."

Ellie moved near Starr so Starr could pick up the baby dragons off her shoulders and put them in the water. "It had weights in its feet so it wouldn't capsize when it was floating," she explained. "Very nice design. Most people don't seem to have rubber moose toys, what a shame."

Starr chuckled softly and picked up Vela to put her in the tub then did the same for Danika before handing Ellie one of the rags to help wash. "It does sound like an interesting design, most seem to be in the shape of these ducks unless you get them custom made."

"People need to be more imaginative," Ellie said, taking the rag and swishing it in the water for the dragons to try and catch, "Moose swim. Spaceships swim. Castles can be sunken castles. Everything is better with water."

Starr chuckled, watching the babies try to catch the rag. "Maybe so, it would certainly bring variety."

Vela caught the rag by standing on one corner then held on as she was pulled a little. This new game was fun

Ellie giggled and let Vela have the rag to play with. She took another. "So, how do you wash a baby dragon?" she asked. "This is so not something you learn in school."

Starr shrugged and glanced to Ellie then got her rag wet so she could put soap on it "I suppose it is the same for all creatures that use a tub?" She said then reached for Kerr to start washing him with the soapy rag. "Get them soapy, rinse them off then dry them off, and with babies let them play as they wish."