UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

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Ethan nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Do they execute the ruler, or do they have to keep them alive?" He probably had too many questions.

~~
"Oh, I know that feeling," Vestia said sympathetically. She watched Amari snooze. Aww.

Matt lay on the tiled floor and sighed. "yeah... " He didn't seem overly enthusiastic.

Kay looked worried. Okay so realistically Matt wasn't going to just come out of his depression in a few hours because someone yelled at him, but still, he'd kinda hoped he could pretend for just a little bit.

Ellie sighed and looked at Kay. Yeah, this really stank. Even Esk, with all his clever words and perception, couldn't magically fix her friend. She went and awkwardly hugged Matt where he was lying. "Hey man, things are gonna get better. Really." Did Asher and Starr talk to you guys about the slaver kid? Matt seems so gloomy still. She thought to Kay.

That had been Rigel's point, so he simply nodded and sipped his drink again.

~~
Dawn shrugged and smiled "Well, you have to talk some people into getting a surgery or preventative medicine."

Kay frowned and shook his head. Asher has mentioned him briefly, he always wants to help everyone even if it's not practical or safe. Still, that was one of the things he loved about Asher wasn't it? His good heart. What'd they want?

Matt frowned at them. "It's rude to do the telepathic thing."

Kay actually smiled.

You never complain when you're involved.

"Yeah, that's because I don't feel left out." Matt grunted and tried to pull himself into sitting position.

Kay put a hand on his chest to stop him, looking stern.

Matt grumbled. "If it's about me i'm FINE, least.. i'm not about to go do anything dumb okay?"


----


"So just sedating them is bad practice right?" Esk smirked.

Dawn chuckled at that then winced. Yeah, still hurt to laugh too much. "Yeah, bad practice." She agreed.

Asher sighed. "I guess I'll leave you to your coffee. Thank you for hearing me out." He was glad only Ellie had been outright opposed to Amari staying so far.

~~
Ellie looked worriedly at Matt. She didn't want him to hurt himself, omg. "Asher wants to keep the slaver's kid. He says the kid can talk and isn't as feral as we thought. Starr agrees, apparently." She looked sad, she hadn't liked hurting Starr's feelings earlier.

"Still, can't say you've never been tempted. It does make people way easier to deal with." Esk shook his head. "careful, you'll start bleeding again."


---

"wait.. WHAT?" Matt protested, trying again to get up.

Kay helped him into sitting position, frowning deeply.
Does Amari want to stay? He wasn't so convinced on the not feral thing.

"Didn't that asshole say he was totally basically a fucking animal?" Matt asked.

He said he had strong feral instincts and certainly implied he was potentially dangerous yes.

"So why would he lie about that?" Matt asked. "Unless he's not the kid's dad and just wanted to make sure we wouldn't try to talk to the kid. Oh fuck, what if he's just a slave and that asshole's been lying to try to keep him,thinking we'd just drop em both off and he could get away with it?"

Kay's frown deepened. I didn't get that impression...

"Well all we have is that asshole's word that the kid is his right?" Matt reasoned. "And why should we believe a piece of shit like that?"

"I don't know if he wants to stay, Asher seemed to think he did," Ellie said. "And Asher also seemed to think that that kid was nice, so did Starr. I dunno, man, I'm not sure about this either. Maybe you'd better ask them what the heck they're on about and what they think of Marcus. Well, ask Asher. I accidentally said something to Starr that I shouldn't and she's bummed out now." She sighed. "Ugh, I should apologize to her again later."

Be safe Asher" Rigel said and waved to him. Yeah, he didn't care much so long as everyone was safe.

~~~
Dawn sighed and tried to settle "I know, and yeah, it would be easier sometimes."

"What'd you say?" Matt asked.

Kay chewed his lip. He could probably guess.

Can you help me get him into his chair? He asked Ellie. I'll talk to Asher once i'm dressed. Yeah he didn't really intend to spend the rest of the day in swimming shorts.

---

"Back in the Imperium, the doctors do just sedate difficult patients. Well, they get a choice, cooperate, or you're gonna get sedated. Still whined like fucking babies about it though." Of course he just got medical stuff tossed at him and told to make do, bah.

"I said we shouldn't have slaver's kids on board. I kinda forgot where her kid came from," Ellie looked guilty. "Sure, I'll help." She'd help get Matt into the wheelchair as best she could.

~~
"Thank you," Asher said with a smile. He wheeled off out of the cafe. Whew, more people talked to.

Dawn smiled and shook her head "Yeah, but this is here. I do try to be nice."

~~
Rigel waved as Asher left, then looked back to Sawna "You and he think this kid is good, I hope you are right."

Asher decided to go see Ethan next.

Ethan looked up curiously. "What brings you in here? Need a new law book? Or a reference guide to the Zeta Albion system?" He raised an eyebrow.

Asher smiled softly. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm actually here about something else." He explained about Amari, and what he'd seen of the kid.

Ethan frowned when Asher finished. "So the kid's a former slave who had a shitty master, and he doesn't have the faintest clue what to do next, and nobody trusts him."

"Pretty much," Asher said.

"Sounds familiar."

"A little bit, yes," Asher agreed, looking at his twin with sympathy.

"You're not trying to get me to tutor him, are you? Because I'm still figuring out how to deal with the baggage from a life like that myself. I'd be a fucking useless tutor," Ethan said drily.

Asher shook his head. "The idea never crossed my mind. I just wanted you to know who I'm trying to add to the crew."

Ethan nodded. "Fair enough. For the record, I think it's a good idea. It's not just the cute, sweet robots and sparkly star dragons that broadcast love who deserve a chance to have a less sucky life. The creepy-looking vampire kids with the barbed tails and the trauma should get the chance too."

"Yes, I think so as well," Asher agreed.

"Good." Ethan looked pleased. "Now do you want those books, or is that all?"

"I think I'll wait on the books. I still have some more people to talk to," Asher said. "Thanks, Ethan."

Ethan nodded. "Okay, I'll hang onto them. See you later."

Asher left the library, looking for his next person to talk to.

With some effort they'd get Matt into his chair.

Matt sighed. He hated having to be helped, it was awful.
"To be fair, he kid's dad is probably another slave right?"

Kay frowned, it wasn't something he wanted to think about.

"And man, we still don't even know who this kid actually IS, or how fucked up he is." Matt looked to Kay. "You're not gonna seriously consider this right? He's semi feral, we just got rid of the fucking psychos on this ship, we don't need to start getting new ones!"

Kay shook his head. Asher's sentimental, but I trust his judgement. And Starr's. We should speak to them before we jump to any conclusions.

Matt groaned.

Let's get all the facts first. Kay nodded and tied his towel around his waist. We can go talk to Asher, see what he has to say, see what's actually going on. and he kinda didn't much think Matt should talk to Asher or Starr alone, he was a bit too emotionally invested in this. Let's get dressed first.
Kay really didn't much like being semi naked. It made him feel way too exposed.

He went to collect their clothing. Ellie, can you tell Asher we'd like to discuss this? We'll meet him in the rec room just down the hall. If he's not busy.

"Okay, I'll find him," Ellie said. She hugged Matt a bit. "It's okay man, we're not gonna let rabid beasts roam this ship freely. We'll make sure it's going to be okay." She headed off to find Asher again.

"thanks Ellie..." Matt mumbled.

Kay nodded to Ellie and they both went to get changed.

Ellie went to find Asher, with some help from Vestia.

Asher smiled a bit when he saw her. "Hello again, Ellie. What's up?"

"Matt and Kay want to talk to you about the kid," Ellie said. "Come on."

Asher frowned at her tone. "Okay, lead the way."

Ellie led him to the room Kay had suggested.

Kay and Matt met them there. Kay still had wet hair. Matt looked grumpy and wary.

Asher managed a tentative smile. "Hey guys. So I take it Ellie mentioned Amari to you," he said. Matt's expression didn't look promising. He hoped this wasn't going to go really badly.

Ellie watched and fidgeted.

Kay nodded and got his tablet out. [Has he asked to stay?]

"What's the full story Asher? Kay insists we need all the info before we can protest." Matt said, he didn't look overly impressed as he was fairly sure nobody cared what he said anyway.

"He hasn't asked directly to stay, I'm not sure he's able to think about what he wants that clearly," Asher said, "After all, he was a slave, and that makes decision-making a lot harder. But he does seem to like it here, he thinks his room is pretty comfortable. And he likes me, and trusts me."
He nodded at Matt's question. "So, it turns out Amari can talk, he doesn't talk around Marcus, but he's okay with talking to other people. He says his old owner would hurt him when he talked, and even though Marcus hasn't hurt him yet, he's scared to ever talk in front of him for fear of what he might do. Marcus' story matches Amari's, he says that Amari's old owner was a vile person, and that Amari doesn't trust him at all because Marcus bought him to rescue him.
"As you might know, I've spent the last two weeks handling Amari's checkups. During that time, he's never acted aggressively toward me, and he always seems happy to see me. I brought Starr to see him today, and he was nervous to talk to her, but not aggressive. We both agreed that we think he should stay, but obviously we didn't want to go behind anyone's backs in a situation like this. So that's why I'm here to see what you guys think."

Matt frowned. "Why doesn't his dad want him?" He asked bluntly.

Kay frowned. [Of course he's scared, that's only natural but what makes you think he'll regard the rest of us with any less fear than his father? Surely he understands that Marcus isn't his old master? If he's able to talk to other people without fear, in time he'll feel safe enough talking to Marcus as well. But only if Marcus actually tries to speak with him.] He chewed his lip. [Why did he claim Amari was so dangerous when it doesn't seem that he is?]

"Marcus does want him, from everything I've seen, he genuinely cares about Amari and wants him to be happy," Asher said, "But Amari doesn't understand that Marcus is different, at all. All he knows is that his old owner hurt him, very badly, and that he doesn't want to do anything to make that happen again. The reason he trusted me at first was because he assumed I was a slave, and therefore not a threat. I think if we can convince him Marcus is still his owner after Marcus leaves, he won't feel especially fearful of us.

"And Marcus also thinks Amari might be disliked in the former slave colony where they're going, because he looks different from the other arran," Vestia interjected. "Apparently they're kinda racist there."

Asher frowned. He hadn't heard that part before. "So those are the reasons why Marcus would prefer us to take him," he said. "I think partly he claimed Amari was so dangerous because he barely knows the kid himself, and wanted to be cautious. Apparently he did only rescue Amari about two weeks before his ship was wrecked, so I can't imagine that Amari was very willing to go anywhere near him."

[Won't he simply view us as his new masters? Or worse, live in constant fear of Marcus returning for him? ] Kay reasoned.

"So basically, Marcus wants rid of him because it's a bit hard to look after him?" Matt rolled his eyes. "typical fucking slaver, giving a shit only about themselves." He shook his head. "If we just tell him his master is elsewhere he'll never believe he's actually free, he'll view himself forever as a slave. That's not okay."

Kay frowned. [Amari will always view Marcus as his master and not his father is Marcus makes no effort to change that. Walking away from him now is going to mean he'll never be able to have a proper relationship with him. Does he really want that?]

"We don't know anything about their species either." Matt pointed out. He did kinda feel sorry for the kid though, not his fault his father was a raging prick. "how the fuck are we supposed to help him learn what it's like being him?"

Kay nodded. [It's not fun growing up without a mentor who can teach you about yourself and your abilities. None of us really can do that. We have no frame of reference, we don't really even know where to start in what sort of needs he might have or what sort of abilities or instincts he may have to learn to control. ]

"But do we really want to leave the kid with a guy who can't be bothered rehabilitating him?" Matt asked.

[I'm concerned we'll face just as much of a job rehabilitating him as Marcus does, only with less knowledge to actually help the youngster.]

Matt snorted. "It's a big fucking universe, why the hell does he think WE are the safest option? We're just convenient right?"

[I think i'd like to talk to Marcus, to understand why he's so keen to walk away from his offspring after going to so much effort to free him.]

"Isn't it obvious? he didn't want his kid a slave because he's HIS but he didn't want to actually parent him either because it's too much work. Selfish slaver assholer, they all only care about themselves." Matt argued.

[What would you have us do?] Kay asked.

"I dunno man, I mean, this guy is a fucking slaver, he's complete scum. We don't even know for sure he WANTS the kid to think of him as anything other than an owner, for all we know his whole sob story is just to stop us shooting him. I don't think he gives a shit about the kid, when do slavers ever care about anyone else? If they gave a shit about people they wouldn't be slavers. " Matt sighed, rubbing his temples. "I don't think we can send the kid with this guy. We can't trust him and if the kid's an innocent party, it's not fair to force him to live with someone he's terrified of."

Kay nodded slowly. [But there's absolutely no guarantee he won't be just as terrified here. ]

Matt nodded. "yeah, I guess... and if this asshole IS his dad, it's pretty shitty to abandon your kid. What kind of a person does that?"

Kay lowered his head, nodding slowly. [I want to speak to Marcus.]

Matt groaned. "Why? Do we really NEED to know his motives? He's a dick, end of."

[Because I want to understand, and because if we do decide to give this boy a home, I want as much information about what to expect as possible.] Kay reasoned.

"I hate this." Matt complained. "We need to stop taking on other people's causes and focus on ourselves man."

Kay smiled softly. [You wouldn't be happy ignoring the plight of others, you know that.] He patted his brother's shoulder.

Matt whined. Kay was of course right, but damnit, he WANTED to be selfish.

"In time, hopefully we could convince him he was free. He practically had a panic attack when I told him he was free though, so I had to back off. It's likely to be a long process to convince him he's not a slave any more," Asher said.
He sighed. Yeah, Matt and Kay were both making good points. It was pretty dumb to take in kids from species you knew nothing about, wasn't it? But he really wanted to, Amari just looked so scared and sad, and he wanted to give the kid some of the happiness he'd experienced thanks to the kind people in his own life. Even if it was crazy and dumb to try.
"Yes, you should talk to Marcus, and maybe to Amari as well. If you don't think we should take Amari in after you've talked to them, then that's fair. But I do think you should hear them out."

Kay nodded.

Matt frowned. He wasn't convinced saying no would change Asher's mind, he looked pretty set in doing this.
But on the other hand, keeping a slaver away from someone seemed like a good thing in his mind. "you taking a vote or what?" He asked.

"No votes," Asher said. "For a situation like this, it seemed wisest to talk to people individually to hear their concerns. If you think that keeping Amari here is the wrong call, then i guess we'll have to tell Marcus he has to keep him. I don't think we can afford to be divided on this."

Ellie frowned. "I sorta said it was okay by me to keep the kid here," she told Matt, "but I dunno. At least the kid isn't a slaver?"