Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-One

First topic message reminder :

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?"

"Apparently he has been more depressed than normal today, I am not certain why." Dawn replied then shrugged "That and he basically hasn't left his room since Avia. Esk was worried about him. Thank you Vestia."

Kay looked bewildered. Esk having self control? Worrying about other people? it didn't add up. He chewed his lip. [Just be careful Dawn, it only takes one lapse in judgement... ] He hesitated, he really didn't trust his brother did he? He shook his head. [If he's concerned about Acus he must have a reason. Perhaps we should send a search party.]

(We really need to decide what we want Acus to be off doing, haha)

"We'll try getting the Guild to look for him if he doesn't turn up soon," Asher suggested. "They might know where he went."

(hahaha we do. Poor Acus. Maybe he hitched a ride with some hot avians. <_<)

Kay nodded. [True, they seem to have guards on every corner after all. ]

(Haha, maybe he's found some other guilty war vets to hang out with. Or he left on a shuttle. Maybe he left a note.)

"We'll find him," Asher said softly, "wherever he is." He sighed. He was a bit worried about whether they'd find the guy alive. He was kind of famous for being depressed.

Kay bowed his head. [You should go check on Esk, make sure he's alright.] He pet Danika, trying to shake the worry from his mind.

Asher nodded. "You're right. I definitely should go check on Esk." He smiled weakly and headed for the door.

"I have to go back to town to set up a delivery of some creatures and see what, if anything I can do to help search for Acus" Dawn said, waving to Kay then following Asher out.

Asher smiled at Dawn, then made his way to Esk's room to see him.

Dawn headed back towards the city

Kay frowned, not sure what he should do now. Should he worry about Acus? He was more concerned about his baby brother, and Dawn's blase attitude toward it all. Hmmm.
He really hoped Esk had more self control than he thought he did, and that Dawn wasn't underestimating her ability to keep herself safe.

Asher knocked on the door to Esk's room. "Esk? It's Asher again," he said helpfully.

Esk had managed to prop himself up with a bunch of pillows on his bed and was trying to convince his hands to stop bloody shaking damnit. He looked over at Asher's knock.
He didn't get up, his voice level and dripping with his usual borderline boredom. "It's unlocked."

Asher came in, smiling apologetically. "I have painkillers," he said, "and of course I can get you other things too, although I think Dawn is getting the animals sent over. Do you want me to get you anything?"

Esk shook his head. "So she sent you, one of the few people I can't actually hurt huh?" He looked Asher up and down and snorted. "Smart girl." Asher rather than James too, even better, an actually competent medic.
"Hand the pills here." He held out a gloved hand, palm up. They were trembling.

"She said you were in pretty bad shape, it seemed wisest to not have organics visit you for now," Asher agreed. He handed over the pills and went to get Esk some water.

Esk grunted vaguely and dry swallowed the pills, gulping them down.
"i'm not used to being this hurt." He admitted flatly, looking down at his hands in annoyance. "Usually I can... grab something close... usually the person or thing that caused the injury. Small animals don't... have enough energy in them. Not for this. " He looked frustrated.

Asher nodded, returning to Esk to hand him a full glass of water. "Being suddenly unable to do the things you're accustomed to doing, must be very frustrating. Sadly it seems you may have to tolerate this condition for a while, but the good news is that in time you should be able to heal just fine, even without the help of a large animal."

Esk glowered and sipped the water. "I can't work like this." In his mind, if he couldn't keep the crew safe, if he couldn't do his job, what use was he? He'd survived his whole life by being too much use to just get rid of, too indispensable to just kill.

"No, you really shouldn't work like this," Asher agreed. "You'll recover quickly though, and then you can resume your duties."

"how long?" Esk asked abruptly.

"It's hard to estimate exactly, since you heal differently from most people. I'd guess you'll be able to function mostly normally in about two weeks, maybe less if you rest a lot," Asher said. "Pain may last longer though, and you'll probably still have lower energy than usual fir some time after that."

The delivery would arrive, at least 20 large goat-like creatures and a couple of giraffe-like creatures, each one in an individual crate.

Esk made a face. "And what happens if there's an attack? If another stupid thing happens and everyone's in fucking peril as usual?" He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. He hated this. "Find Acus. I don't give a shit what he's planning, but whatever it is, the crew deserve to know so they can prepare and adjust. We need to know if we'll even still have a damn job come morning, or if he's just sulking again."

Asher sighed. "Look Esk, I can't just magic you better, so we'll have to deal with any emergencies without your combat skill. Your mind is fine though, and your strategizing is one of your most valuable skills anyway, so we'll be all right." He nodded, "We'll keep looking for Acus."

Esk looked skeptical. "good, find him and try not to get yourselves maimed or killed or captured for the next two weeks." He shook his head. "Heck, it'd be nice if you lot avoided getting into shit for longer than that but let's be realistic, that's not happening with the people on THIS ship."

Asher smiled wryly. "We'll do our best." Hmm, he should probably start carrying his gun again. He didn't really need to be extra diplomatic now the androids had been reclassified, after all.