Terra - Ottawantreal

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A huge North American city, built in a mishmash of styles from many eras of architecture. the spaceport is bustling and filled with cruise ships, racing yachts, and transport craft. It's full of shops, clubs, gardens, and tourist attractions.

The weather is currently cool but sunny.

James told Helen the number of adults and kids, or at least what he'd last heard from Starr. "We can get them all sorts of fun stuff to cheer them up."
(I can't remember how many kids there ended up being. 20, was it?)

"Good idea. We can head back sooner, and have energy to see how Amari likes trying out his new leg," Asher agreed. "I'll text James so he knows we haven't been kidnapped."

Mourn laughed at the woman. "Spirit no need balancing, spirit just fine." He punched his own chest. "Good strong spirit." He gave her a look like she'd sprouted an extra head for suggesting anything to the contrary. Crazy lady, rocks and leaves didn't make you stronger.

Ethan snickered. "He has a mighty spirit, and he never falls over, so it must be pretty balanced."

"All right then," the woman gave them an annoyed look, but went to scoop some dried leaves from a jar. "How much do you want?"

Ethan frowned. He wasn't sure. "An ounce?" They didn't need very much for this experiment, as far as he knew.

The woman measured out an ounce into a little bag, and started ringing them up. "Can I interest you in any teas? They're very relaxing."

(20 eggs, 50 adults I think)
Helen chuckled and nodded again. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Dawn nodded and paused so he could send the message and they could go the other way at least for now. They may meet up again later, after James had lost a little of his excitement.

James got a message, and checked his tablet. "Aww, Dawn and Asher are tired, so they're gonna go pick up that leg. They're so cute. Come on, let's find a toystore and pick up some toys and coloring books next!"

~~
Asher headed with Dawn in the direction of the depot. "Maybe we should take the bus? It looks like a bit of a walk from here," he suggested.

Helen looked back towards the two and nodded "Alright, we can meet them later or at the ship." She said then looked around for a toystore

~~
Dawn walked with Asher, able to give him a little more space as they left the market and had more room. "The bus sounds like a good way to get there." She agreed, and it would give her a chance to sit and rest.

James headed with Helen out of the market, scanning the area for toystores. "I don't see any yet, we may have to look around a bit," he said. Darn, no instant gratification. Just the way he didn't like it.

~~
"Better than getting all tired out and then carrying a large box home," Asher said. He smiled slightly, "I do hope they have someone who can carry it, actually. Neither of us is quite up to that task right now." Hmm, that might be a problem actually.

Mourn made a face, eugh tea. He shook his head and tried to get a good look into the bag. Leaves? hmm, he wasn't sure how leaves were supposed to smell good but oh well.

"No tea," Ethan said, snorting at the look on Mourn's face. "Just the catnip." He payed for the bag and took it.
"Think it's best to try this outside the shop?" He asked Mourn.

The shopkeeper looked suspicious.

"Or..." Helen detoured to one of the booths, ending up buying a map of the city then going to James so they could look at it together. She had had the guy mark off a few toystores they could look at.
~~~
"We could have them deliver it to the ship for us." Dawn said, stopping at the bus stop.

"That's a good idea," James said, looking over Helen's shoulder at the map. He pointed at a toystore the guy had marked on the map, "That one's not too far from here, let's try it out."

~~
"We'd better have them do that. I keep forgetting just how many things are pretty much impossible to do these days," Asher looked momentarily glum, then smiled again. "But hey, at least I'm going to recover, so that's a plus."
They reached a bus stop.
"We might as well go to the depot, it'd be good to double check that the leg is in good condition before we reach Vestia, for insurance purposes," Asher said.

Helen nodded and looked at the roads "Alright, it's up here a couple of blocks then make a right and go two more." She said with a nod then a grin "We should be able to make it easily enough." If they didn't get distracted.

~~
Dawn nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah, we can check it, make sure it's right then send it to the ship." She agreed

"maybe back at ship, shop lady look mad." Mourn pointed out, shaking his head at the grumpy shop keeper. "silly terrans, no like robots but they made robots!" He laughed and headed back toward the docks.

"All right, let's go have a look," James said. "If we collapse from exhaustion, we can call a taxi or something, right? I think we have money for a taxi, as well as for toys." Who knew though, they were on a bit of a spending spree here.

~~
A bus going in the right direction arrived before too long. Boarding the bus was fun, Asher didn't much like needing to wait for the ramp, or having the bus driver fold up the seats and shoo some people off to make room for him, but hey. Whatever it took to get his sort-of-son a working leg.
Besides, the Terran bus driver called him 'Sir', which made him feel ever so slightly smug.

Soon they were on their way to the depot.

~~
"Good plan. We don't want to piss anyone off or get arrested," Ethan agreed. He tucked the catnip in a pocket and followed Mourn.

Helen chuckled and nodded "Or we could save the walk and take a taxi now?" She said teasingly

~~
Dawn stayed nearby, though gave him and the other people space, meaning she took a seat that had been vacated to let him in and tried not to be smug about it.

"Do you have that sort of money? I don't have that sort of money," James said with a laugh. "Then again, I've never been in a taxi. I dunno what it costs."

~~
Asher grinned, seeing Dawn's expression. "I guess we're VIPs now," he joked. It felt really weird to have people moving out of the way for them. It was both awkward and satisfying after the way Terrans had used to treat him.
They rode a few stops to the industrial district, where the depot was.

"I have enough." Helen said with a chuckle. She turned to look around then back to him "Of course we could just walk it too."

~~~
Dawn nodded and glanced around "I'm just glad to have a bit of space" She said softly, getting up when they reached their stop so they could go through the hassle of getting the wheelchair off the bus.

James laughed. "Maybe we'd better save the money for the trip home, when we're loaded down with shopping bags. My legs don't get tired, so I don't mind walking if you don't."

~~
Asher nodded. "It's nice to have a bit of room to yourself," he agreed. That market had been a bit crowded for his tastes too.
He got the wheelchair unbuckled with a bit of help from the bus driver, and headed down the ramp after Dawn. "Right, the place should be one more block that way." He pointed down a street.
There were fewer people out here, it wasn't a popular tourist area. The buildings were bigger and looked more like warehouses too.

Mourn bounded ahead, almost losing Ethan in the crowd a few times. Thankfully, despite being small, his white fur did mean he stood out quite well even in crowded places.

Ethan didn't want to be left behind by Mourn, not out here among the Terrans, so he broke into a run to follow. That felid was fast.
(To Vestia?)

Helen chuckled and shook her head a little "I don't mind, exercise is good after so long on a ship. Besides, being on a planet again feels good."

~~~
Dawn nodded, walking beside his chair though with personal space between them now, since there was room. "I kept thinking people would run into me there, it's part of why I stayed so close to you and your chair." She said then changed the subject "Do we need to pick up more blood while we are here, for Amari and Sawna and our supply?" At the rate they were collecting blood drinkers, they may have to take a room and turn it into a supply room just for bagged blood. She thought humorously.

"Right, we'll walk then," James said cheerfully. He set off, heading in the general direction of the toy store. He did stay kind of near the buildings, to hide under overhangs when he could.

~~
Asher nodded. "It was pretty cramped in that market. I'm glad we didn't get bumped into more than we did."
"Yes, we should pick up more blood. We don't know when we'll find another place to restock, so it's best to get a large supply while we're here."

(to vestia!)

Helen chuckled and nodded, walking with James and not minding how he hid from the sun as they made their way to the toy store. She went in when they reached it then paused and looked around.

~~~
Dawn nodded, agreeing with him then giving a soft smile. "How large of a supply should we get? I know Sawna has her cooler for her supply, then the stuff for the medical lab, varied as that needs to be, but how much does Amri need?"

James looked into the toystore. "Perfect. Come on, let's buy the place out and pray Vestia compensates us!" He grinned.

~~
"We'll need a lot. Amari is still growing, which means he'll need extra to keep up his energy," Asher said. And my goodness, Amari did burn energy fast he just loved to run and climb. "Kay did some calculations, we may need to spend a small fortune on blood." He listed off the calculations. "It'll be well worth it though, to keep Sawna and Amari happy and healthy."

Helen chuckled and grabbed a cart to start looking for toys for the young ones.

~~~
Dawn nodded then chuckled softly "We will need a room just for the blood supply, won't we?"

James started looking around, starting by looking for coloring books. He found some with dragons, and took all of them after making sure they didn't have any dragonslayer pictures, and also picked up some books with robot pictures, because he could.

~~
Asher laughed. "Maybe so. I'm sure Vestia has a plan." They reached the depot, and he led the way into the pickup area.