Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-One

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Luka made a face. "gross. Computer, regular clothes please." She looked relieved as the gown disappeared and she was just in her usual cargo pants and vest. "Who should we go annoy then?"

"He said he wanted to talk to you sometime," Asher said. "He specified 'civilly', so he seems to mean well." He shook his head, unsure. He didn't know how much they should trust Ethan, every time he considered it, he remembered Ethan helping Kaylr to torture people, and showing every sign of enjoying it.

Kay frowned, looking a little uneasy. Unlike Asher he wasn't really scared of Ethan, he couldn't quite bring himself to be, if anything he felt weirdly sorry for him. It hurt to see someone who looked so like someone you loved so broken and to know that someone who looked just like YOU was responsible for so much of that. [Why?]

Asher thought back too the conversation, wanting to remember Ethan's exact wording. "He said he doesn't want to hide from you, because that's what Kaylr would have wanted, and he thinks talking to you would be better for him than just hiding from you. Or that's what he told me, anyway."

Kay's frown deepened. He wasn't sure he wouldn't just make things worse. [I don't know what I could say or do that would make anything better.] He chewed his lip, the other him had really screwed with his emotional state as well and he tried to push down the memories of his own face leering back at him and laughing. He shuddered.

Asher nodded and tried to look reassuring. "I know. It's a difficult situation, and I'm not sure how much talking would help. I can talk to him if you would prefer."

Kay shook his head. [If he wants to speak to me I should speak with him, at least hear him out. I'm just not sure we'll ever be able to not feel extremely uncomfortable around one another. "

"That's probably true, I really doubt this is a situation that can be resolved entirely happily," Asher agreed. He looked unsure at Kay's decision to talk to Ethan, "Take your time, you don't need to talk to him today, or probably even this week."

Kay smiled softly. [You're worried aren't you?] He reached out to pat Asher's arm reassuringly.

Asher smiled weakly. "I know he's seemed safe enough so far, but I always wonder."

Kay nodded. [I think, if he was going to hurt me, he'd have done so yesterday. Instead he looked... terrified. It was horrendous.] He bit his lip, the memory of how out of control of his own emotions he'd been and how genuinely scared Ethan had looked haunted him.

"You may be right. Ethan said something similar this morning," Asher said. Ethan didn't seem like the sort of guy who would plan a calculated attack, if he was going to hurt Kay, he'd do it in a moment of lost control, Asher thought. Not cold blood. "I can't help worrying, but that's most likely just be me being paranoid."
He looked at Kay with sympathy. It must be awful to see someone so familiar, so scared of you.

Kay nodded. [I understand Asher, and I appreciate that you worry.] He hugged him. Sure, he knew exactly what this universes' Asher was capable of, and the mirror universe seemed to bring out the worst in most of them, but Ethan had shown no hostility to anyone since they'd gotten back here. Besides, Kay had trouble not trusting that face. He knew it was ridiculous, but he trusted this Asher and this one had actually intentionally hurt him of his own free will. Why shouldn't that extend to his mirror duplicate?
It was just all very very confusing and stressful to think about.

Asher hugged Kay back, not really sure at this point whether he was comforting Kay or himself. Ever since the Family captured them, things had been complicated. Asher knew what he was capable of now, and going into the other universe had introduced another potential threat to the mix. Still, Ethan hadn't ever hurt Kay without orders to do so, unlike Asher himself. Hmm.

"Maybe ask Vestia to station 1812 nearby when you talk to Ethan, just in case?" He asked quietly.

Kooshie wrote:Asher smiled softly. "We'll do our best to make sure she knows it's good to be a dragon. At least she gets everyone's telepathic adoration, that must be encouraging."

~~
Ellie picked up Danika, slowly lifting her to table height. "I'm not gonna let go, you're safe."

Danika looked down at the floor then to Ellie as she flared her wings out. She still looked scared, but she was trying for Ellie.

Kay pulled away a little, nodding. Not that he thought 1812 could do a heck of a lot but if it made Asher feel better...

Ellie smiled at Danika, and when she was ready, lifted her up a bit so it was almost like she was flying. "You okay?"

~~
Asher thought the little robot's taser would be a heck of a lot better than nothing at least.
"Or I can be there," he suggested, in case the other idea was silly. Of course, him being there might be worse.

Danika curled her tail around Ellie's hand and held to her fingers, though she did keep her head up and her wings out. She was trying

Kay smiled softly. [I will be fine.] He reassured him. After all, worst came to worst, he wasn't totally helpless against an android. He just really would rather not HAVE to defend himself.

Ellie smiled encouragingly and slowly lowered Danika to the ground. "Basically flying," she told the little dragon proudly. "Good work!"

~~
"You're right, I'm just being paranoid," Asher smiled sheepishly, he knew Kay wasn't helpless. Asher just worried too much about some things, he always had. "Shall we head to the med bay to make sure the hung over people haven't arrived?"

Kay nodded and pulled his shoes on, which meant he planned to work.
[They'll regret sleeping in.] He joked.

"We can both glare at them. They won't know how to handle it," Asher said, face deadly serious except for the amusement in his eyes. "Not that you need the help to terrorize them, of course."

Kay looked amused. [Didn't we already confirm you were utterly terrible at playing bad cop?]

"I keep trying to forget that," Asher said. "But you keep reminding me, because you're not very nice." He headed for the door. "As usual, you can have the monopoly on scaring hung over idiots."

Kay smirked and followed.

They headed down to the med bay, Asher still trying to look grumpy, but failing pretty badly. When they arrived, nobody was there.
"Looks like you'll have to wait to have fun," Asher said, trying to look smug.

Kay tried to look disappointed but honestly he was rather pleased not to have to deal with hungover idiots. He went to his desk and arranged things, someone had moved his stuff, grrr.

Asher watched Kay tidy his desk, amused. He did love Kay's perfectionism. He went to his own desk and made a show of sorting his pen collection, which had started growing again at some point.