Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Three

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"You have a tablet at least, right?" Asher asked Dawn.

Asher smiled softly at Esk. "If you'd rather not try to accelerate your healing for whatever reason, that's absolutely an option. I shouldn't have assumed to know what you wanted."
He was pretty sure Esk was just being difficult. Esk did that sometimes. "We'll get you a goat, if you don't want it, we can always take it back."

Dawn stood up and headed for the door "I'll go grab one."

"Take Kay." Esk told Dawn.

Kay frowned, why did he have to go help wrangle a goat? [Do you need help?] He asked Dawn.

Ah yes, Esk and Kay's wonderful familial relationship. Asher kept his expression neutral. "Would you rather I go too?" he asked Esk. Not that he could help much with a goat, but maybe Esk wanted to be alone.

Dawn shrugged and chuckled "The goats like me." She said, and turned to go. They could come or not, she didn't mind.

"That'll change once they work out you keep leading them to their death." Esk told Dawn dully.

[They're not that intelligent.] Kay reasoned.

"Animals instinctively know not to come near me, that makes them a thousand times smarter than any humanoid." Esk shrugged.

Kay shook his head. Yeah, going with Dawn gave him an excuse not to have to deal with Esk. He followed her.

"I don't care what YOU do." Esk told Asher. "Go, stay, whatever." He yawned and settled back against his pillow.

"I'll stay here. See you guys in a bit," Asher told Dawn and Kay. He didn't think wheelchairs were likely to handle golf courses well.

Dawn smiled at Kay and matched her pace to his as they headed to go get a goat

Kay nodded back to Asher and walked with Dawn in fairly awkward silence. He didn't really know what to say to her.

---

Esk closed his eyes. "So how long are you stuck like that then?" He asked. He hadn't really had a chance to talk to Asher since the battle, nor really sought to.

Dawn looked to him again then ahead "How are you holding up?" She asked softly

"Until we can get our hands on a very hard-to-acquire replacement part," Asher said, assuming that Esk must be talking about his partial paralysis. "Looks like it might take a trip to Mars to get one."

Kay shrugged. [Better now I know he's awake and alert. If he has the energy to be rude to me, that's a positive sign. Which is about the only time i'll ever be positive about his attitude problem.] He shook his head.

---

"Is it safe for you guys to go anywhere near mars?" Esk asked. "From all James has ever said about Megabrain, doesn't sound much like somewhere you want to risk finding out about your whole... not under their control any more thing." All it took was one of them acting wrong and someone would click right?

Dawn nodded and chuckled. "No, his ability to be rude is still there and strong."

Asher shrugged. "You may be right, I may need to stay on Vestia, to avoid arousing suspicion. I've always been better at playing the part of the harmless android than James has, but there's always a risk of discovery. If nothing else, I'll wait until it's time to execute my plan, and get the part shortly before that. I'm getting used to this, it's inconvenient, but certainly not unbearable."

[Annoying as it is, at least it means he's improving.] Kay reasoned, he looked drained. [Then again, i'm fairly certain he saves up most of it especially for me. You seem to actually get on fairly well with him.]

---

"your plan? the whole, give us freedom or give us death thing?" Esk looked over at Asher. "I expect my brother isn't quite so keen on you staying wheelchair bound is he?" Ew. He shook his head to cast that thought out, glad for his lack of vivid imagination. "Can't we just send someone to pick the part up and keep you all on the ship, in orbit, far away from any security or customs officials?"

Asher nodded, "Yes, that plan." He looked amused at Esk's remark about Kay, "I didn't know you worried about Kay's opinions on my health so much."
"Yes, something like that might work. We'll work out the details later, I think. There are too many variables in the coming months to really plan when I can get that part yet."

Dawn shrugged and nodded "Yeah, I let most of it go because part of it is wanting to see what will get under your skin. He found out I am practical about some things that tick others off and likes that about me."

"I don't much care about him, but I do care that he'll get bitchier than usual if he's not getting his way. I don't want to have to deal with him." Esk shook his head. "you really don't mind being stuck like that for however long? Either you're seriously deluding yourself, or you're doing that whole, putting everyone else first thing. " He tilted his head. "Whatever makes you feel better about it I suppose."

---

Kay nodded. [He can't push you away as easily. ] He glanced to her. [But why do you put up with it? ] He frowned. [I understand that he's good at what he does, he's practical and pragmatic and extremely efficient, But warm and approachable are not words I would use to describe my little brother. ]

Asher shrugged again. "I won't pretend to like it, but I'm not going to throw a tantrum or endanger my people just because I can't walk. And Kay's sensible. He understands why we can't go rushing off to get me repaired."

Dawn shrugged and smiled again "He helped me and I helped him. It's kind of the way our relationship is. We get eachother well enough to not get in one another's way much and to be able to just be ourselves. We don't have to have a mask around each other."

Esk snorted. "Yeah, yeah." He shrugged.
He didn't actually dislike Asher, the guy had always seemed to be fairly sensible and pragmatic.
"I never thought you were the sort to throw a hissy fit over anything, but the whole stoic thing you got going on? Long term it's gonna fuck with your head. " He hauled himself into sitting position, tucking the cushions behind himself and hissing in pain at the movement. Oo these stitches were annoying.
"Don't find excuses not to fix this. It might take time, but shit, it's not like we've really got anything better to do. As soon as we find out what's happened with Starr, we can get outta here. If Matt's not able to do his whole teleporting trick, we're gonna have to go through Terran space to get to the Reich anyway. "
He reasoned.

---

Kay's expression softened. [Just be careful you aren't just seeing another mask. I've seen what my brother is capable of, his ability to detach is... frightening. Don't delude yourself into thinking that side of him isn't the real him. Another facet of his self that he doesn't want you to see.] He frowned, was he projecting his own uncertainties about Asher into this? Certainly Asher had that same ability to switch off his emotions and commit horrible acts in the name of the greater good, yet Kay convinced himself deep down Asher was a good person because he had to believe that. But sometimes he felt that niggling doubt. He shook his head. [You know him better than I do. I trust your judgement.] He decided. Dawn was sensible, if she had faith in Esk, then Kay figured she must have good reason, like he had faith in Asher. Maybe they were both blind fools, but maybe they weren't. Time would tell.

He managed a weak smile. [Whether I understand it or not, i'm glad he has you.]

Asher smiled oddly. "Oh don't worry, I have no intention to spend the rest of my life like this. Once I find that part, the first thing I'm going to do is get James to help me install it. But again, I'd rather not mope around while I wait for that day to arrive." Although yeah, he had been moping a lot lately. Oops. He watched Esk sit up, frowning. "I'm not going to try and stop you, but I recommend not moving too much so soon after your surgery. It's going to be hard on your body."

Esk snorted. "yeah, I noticed." He grimaced in pain. Yes, he did often envy the androids for not feeling pain. Bastards.
"Good. We don't need two medics moping about feeling sorry for themselves. But you're also way more useful to everyone if you can walk. Unless we get you some kind of extending grabber for high shelves." He snickered at the thought.

Asher winced a bit. No, he really wasn't very useful this way. Struggling with doors, needing people to slow down for him, unable to do maintenance on Vestia because dragging himself around with his hands was too impractical. Ugh.
He forced a smile back onto his face. "I'm sure we'll think of a good solution for the shelves."

Dawn smiled softly and looked at Kay "Don't worry, I have seen the bad side of him, but I have also seen the side he does keep hidden, the vulnerable side that he seems to hate showing. I won't quit being his friend." She said then went in the room to pick out a goat that wasn't pregnant for them to use.

Kay nodded, tucking his tablet away so he could help Dawn if she needed help.

---

Esk looked satisfied. "yeah. "

Asher noticed Esk's look of satisfaction and frowned. Was Esk just trying to get a rise out of him? Probably, actually. Esk seemed to like trying to find people's vulnerabilities for some reason. "And how about you?" He asked. "What are you planning to do once you can walk again?"