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?"

Ellie shook her head, "I guess dark caverns aren't a great place for small talk. Too gloomy."

~~
Asher tried to not watch anyone eat. That was always the awkward part about being in dining areas. "I guess we'll all be curious to see how this goes. Maybe if it goes well, we can start being an interstellar traveling farmer's market." He looked amused.

Web chuckled. "I suppose not. There's an old saying I remember hearing once, it's lonely at the top. " He shook his head. "It's nice to have some time to just be me and not Ishvara for a while."

---

Esk made a face. "At least it means we might not have to stop so much for resupply."

[We? You're thinking of staying too?] Kay asked.

Esk shrugged. "I go where my crew goes, if Rigel decides we're going, then i'm going. But the lot of them are getting cozy here, I expect it'll be difficult to convince them to go."

"Vestia good ship." Mourn nodded. "Big, comfortable. Lots of space. "

"What happened to your captain? the Avian?" Armin asked cautiously.

Esk shrugged. "he left. I guess he figured same as me, nobody would want to leave so he counted his losses and bailed on us."

"That is most unfortunate." Armin bowed his head. "I pray he finds what he is looking for out there."

Kay looked sombre.

Ellie nodded. "I hope you don't like respect much, because we kinda don't respect anyone. I mean, like, there was this four-winged chicken boy who hung out with us one time and wanted to be treated extra nice, and James named him Todd, and Todd ripped a hole in the universe and sent us though as punishment. So yeah, we treat everyone normally here." She snickered.

~~
"Well we certainly wouldn't mind you guys sticking around, we like having you here," Asher said. He looked sad about Acus, he'd heard the news of course, but he still didn't like it. "Rigel seems like he'll be a good captain. Whatever he orders, I'm sure he'll consider the crew's interests and opinions carefully."

Web smiled softly, not quite sure how to take that. "No, I don't particularly care. It's refreshing to just be treated as a regular person for a while."

---

Esk shrugged. "He's relatively sensible and Pandorians are good at pushing their emotions down, and he's not a sexist, emotionally unstable nutcase so there's that."

Kay frowned. [Acus wasn't that bad] Okay he had no idea, he'd barely met the guy.

Esk stared at Kay placidly. "Oh he was. " He had a pretty low opinion of Acus, especially after the whole James fiasco. Gross.

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Ellie said. She finished her coffee and went to pour herself a refill. "You're a nice guy, it's obvious you and Matt are related, even if you look kinda different." It was hard to tell if that was a joke or not.

~~
Asher frowned. He hadn't been told about Acus' feelings for James yet, but he didn't have an especially high regard for Acus after what James had told him a free weeks ago about that hookup. He knew Acus had issues, so he worried about the guy's mental health still, but it was hard to think highly of him after he had taken advantage of James like that.
He returned his expression to careful neutrality. "Acus has had a very difficult life, and perhaps it was sensible of him to relinquish command," he said carefully.

Web looked bemused, unsure if she was kidding or not. Ellie was a bit odd he decided, not odd in a bad way, just.. odd.

---

Esk snorted. "Boo fucking hoo, lots of people have shitty lives. Doesn't give you a free pass to do whatever the fuck you want."

[Then what's your excuse?] Kay couldn't help himself.

Esk waved a hand dismissively. "I don't need an excuse, I just don't like people. But hey, at least we don't have to deal with Acus' shit anymore."

Mourn grabbed some more food and sat down again. "When captain not fit to lead, pirate crew mutiny. Take over, put better person in charge and make old captain leave, or just shoot in head." He nodded sagely.

"The crew are all too weak to do something like that, so I suppose he did us a favor doing it for us." Esk shook his head and finished his breakfast.

Asher shrugged. "I wouldn't want to speak overly poorly of someone I never really spoke to," he said. "From what I've heard, he wasn't fit to lead though."

At that point, James came in. He was done scrubbing down the cargo bay, and he wanted to have his owner files updated, so he was looking for Mourn in the most likely place he could think of. "Hey guys! Oh Asher! What are you doing here?"

Asher looked startled, then smiled at his brother. "I'm just visiting. How about you?"

"Visiting with people eating breakfast? The horror, it's sooo awkward to watch them," James teased, sitting down on the edge of the table, because why would he use a chair? "I'm here looking for Mourn," he said, "hey Mourn!" He waved.

"Robot brother!" Mourn grinned at James. "Why you here?" He looked from one android to the other suspiciously. "robots being weird today."

Esk snorted. "James is always weird."

Armin set his glass down. "Good morning friend James, how are you today?"

Kay finished his coffee.

James stuck out his tongue at Esk, then smiled at Armin. "I'm doing great, how about you?" To Mourn he answered, "I need my owner file updated so if I get impounded or something, they'll know who to call to pay my bail. Think you can help?"

Asher sighed. Owner files, eww.

Armin nodded. "I am well. " He bowed his head.

Esk smirked back at James.

Mourn tilted his head, then nodded. "Who you want listed?" he asked.

Kay flinched, owner files... yuck.

"I'd like it to be Rigel," James said. "We'll probably need him to come along and supply his ID information, right? I'm not totally sure how this works."

Mourn nodded. "Get new owner, I get computer. Come room yes?" He nodded and stood up, looking eager. "Come find, I change files."

"he is way too excited about reprogramming people." Esk remarked dryly as Mourn bounded off to go get a laptop and set things up.

James grinned. "Well someone has to get excited about our robot brains, right?" He headed off to find Rigel.

Asher watched James go, then laughed softly. "This room certainly is eventful. Almost busier than the med bay."

Rigel was still on the Devil, checking their supplies level. Hey, if they had to run, he wanted them to be fully stocked, and if they didn't, well, they would have what they needed.

Vestia told James Rigel was on the Silver Devil, so James headed over there and went looking around for him. After a bit he spotted Rigel. "Hey man, I need you for something," he said.

[You miss a lot at breakfast.] Kay teased. [It's chaos in here. Now you see why I usually eat and run]

Esk got up carefully and took his plate to be cleaned.

Armin chuckled and bowed his head to Asher. "It is seldom quiet during meals that is for sure."

"only because none of you lot ever shut up." Esk called back.

Armin ducked his head.

[Don't let him get to you] Kay wrote to Armin.

Armin nodded, watching Esk warily out the corner of his eyes.

Esk just grunted and left them to it without so much as a goodbye.

Rigel looked up then tilted his head a bit "Need me for what?" He asked, though he stood and put his tablet away. Yeah, he could finish this later.

"I'm grateful that I can just plug in for the night, it gives me more freedom to decide when to socialize." Asher smiled reassuringly at Armin, "There's nothing wrong with enjoying conversation."

~~
"I want to get my owner file changed," James said. "I talked to Mourn, he's happy to help us get it updated, and he's probably waiting for us super impatiently right now."

Rigel chuckled and nodded "That Felid is rather impatient, isn't he?" He asked, heading for the door so they could go to Mourn's room

"He's a funny guy, that's why we love him," James said. He followed Rigel off the Silver Devil, then took the lead to show Rigel the way to Mourn's room. "Genius though, and a total hero."

Rigel nodded and followed James to the room, thinking about this deal of him being the owner now.

"Yo Vestia, tell Mourn we're here!" James called when they reached Mourn's door.

"On it." ---Hey Mourn, James and Rigel are here---

Mourn had set up a computer, and a chair for James to sit in while he uploaded the new info. he bounded over to the door and pulled it open. "Come come come." He ushered them inside excitedly, into the absolute mess that was his bedroom.

--

Kay nodded, if he could socialise on his terms, well, wouldn't that be nice?

Armin rose, picking up his glass and gathering Mourn's abandoned plates too. "Do you two have plans to how do they say it... kill time before the trial?" He asked conversationally.

James smiled at Mourn's excitement. The felid's enthusiasm was so infectious. He followed Mourn in, before giving Rigel an encouraging look. This was fine! Really!

~~
"No specific plans yet," Asher said. "There's quite a bit of time until the trial, so we'll have to think of something."

Rigel chuckled and came in, finding a piece of the wall to hold up as he watched them.

Mourn ushered James to the seat. "you plug in." he demanded, looking to Rigel. "When have access, you put in detail, then we save, all done. You get robot yes?"
He laughed. "Like legal guardian almost. Responsible for"

James sat down in the indicated seat and opened the panel in his arm to pull out the data cable, which he plugged into the computer's data port. "Yeah, sorta like a legal guardian. I feel like I might be too old to need a guardian though," James laughed.