Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Nine

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Ivor was pretty thankful for Tala's quiet thoughts, if her unshielded thoughts were anything like her speaking voice, he'd have had a headache already.
He nodded slowly.

Ellie considered that. Hmm, date vs friendship party, that was a tough choice. "Let's invite Matt. Later we can like, go out for dinner or something, like, going on a date." You could have friendship and dates on the same day! Whee.

Kay nodded, looking a little happier with that. [Let's see what Starr says.] He smiled weakly at Asher.

---

Luka blushed a little, averting her gaze. She wasn't good at lying. "Well uh... we tested the ship. Rigel made some modifications, he wanted to see how she was handling.." She realised Tala probably meant in general, not just last night. Oops? "Uh.. wow... not that much interesting actually. Some of these guys are still pretty down about the kids being so far away I think. Uh.. we got a load of new androids. Mourn bought some and then James and Sawna brought some more back." She shook her head. "So we have loads of androids on board now. I.. haven't really talked to them though." She shrugged. "Or the two Hytar told us to take care of. They seem to kinda.. keep to themselves." Well, Ivor did. She'd seen Silence around and been pretty terrified so yeah... She tried to think, hmm. Honestly she didn't really spend that much time with Vestia's crew, she probably should try to be more social huh? She couldn't quite remember what stuff had happened before Tala had left. The weeks had sort of blurred together while they were in space.

Shane nodded and looked up. "Vestia, where is Matt?" He asked curiously.

Asher smiled uncertainly back, and wheeled toward the rec room to talk to Starr and Mourn.

James tagged along, he was pretty invested in making sure his brother didn't do anything stupid before he'd even left.

~~
Tala noticed Luka's blush, it was kind of hard to miss her awkwardness. "It is good to see Ivor and Silence beginning to settle in. Ivor is fearful, but he is a fine young man, and Silence has much courage. That is amusing that there are more androids now." She looked curious, "Are you and Rigel together, then?" The blushing was suspicious.

~~
Vestia would check around to see if Matt was free at the moment.

Matt was eating a late breakfast, hey, he had nowhere to be right?

---

Kay followed along, actually rather glad James was here too. It meant someone else to talk sense into Asher and make sure he didn't take stupid risks.

---

Luka's blush deepened and she looked even more awkward. "uh.. I... " She sort of squeaked, damnit Tala! "Maybe?" She managed. "I d.. don't really.. know.. I mean... it's... it's complicated." Well it wasn't really, just kinda confusing for her to actually have the object of her affection return the feelings. Although she had no idea what would happen, Rigel had made it pretty clear he didn't know how much he could give after all.
"please don't tell anyone!" She insisted suddenly. "not till...we work things out at least.. please? "

"Matt's in the cafeteria," Vestia said.

Ellie grinned and led Shane to the cafeteria.

~~
Asher led the way. James followed with Kay. Pretty soon they reached the rec room.

Asher smiled when he saw Starr. "Good morning."

~~
Tala looked amused. "I will not speak of it to anyone, I know how secretive you humanoids are about matters of mating and love. It is well that you have both spoken at last though, one cannot wait all one's life and pine for someone, it is silly."
Then again, Tala was a little biased. In her tribe, getting a partner usually involved one interested party shouting their interest to the other, and the other party shouting back their interest or lack thereof. Her tribe didn't really do subtlety.
"You only became of partnership yesterday?"

Shane nodded and headed for the cafeteria to ask Matt if he wanted to join them.

~~~
"Good morning." Starr said as she looked to them with a smile.

Luka looked extremely embarrassed. "I don't know... quite where we stand right now okay? He.. Pandorians, are only supposed to have one love and... he had that, but she died. I'll never compare to her but... we wanted to try. We don't know if it'll work though." She shook her head, it was very confusing. "If it doesn't, then we'll figure something out." She smiled weakly. "Wouldn't be the first time i've had to remain professional around someone's who's rejected me."

---

Kay nodded to Starr in greeting. He looked tense.

----

Matt looked up as Shane and Ellie came in, licking blood from his very rare steak off his fingers. "Uh.. morning?"

Asher wheeled into the room, smiling at Starr. "I need to talk to you about my replacement part that needs to be picked up on Mars. Since Vestia is staying on Terra for Armin's molt, I'm asking the Silver Devil crew to take me to Mars for repairs. Since you're technically still my owner, I'm going to need some written form of permission from you so somebody can take me in for repairs on your behalf, since I'm assuming you're going to stay here on Vestia with Armin and your people."

"We also think he should have a star dragon bodyguard," James added.

~~
Tala considered that. "It is an odd situation," she agreed. "It is good that you have confronted it though, one cannot experience much happiness by hiding from the world, or by taking beliefs of one's species for granted. Mayhap Rigel will not be able to be happy with anyone other than his mate, but mayhap he will. Only time can tell such things."
She took another drink of water. "Perhaps like you, I have been rejected a great many times over the years, by prospective mates and temporary partners alike. When I was a young heifer it at times caused me great sadness, for most of the heifers I liked had eyes only for the young bulls. But I decided that it is worth asking even if there is a risk of rejection, and it is worth trying even if the situation is not certain to end in the way you desired. The chance that there will be success is well worth the risk of failure." She cow-smiled at Luka, "I wish you luck in this mission. Mayhap Rigel will find he can love again. It is certain that he deserves it."

~~
"Hey Matt!" Ellie trotted over to pat him on the shoulder. "We're going to the city. Wanna come shopping with us or something?"

Luka hesitated, unsure how to take that speech, but she nodded at the final part. "He does..." She mused. "I just.. hope i'm good enough." She shook her head. "Most of the men i've had feelings for have.. had a lot of reasons to decline. I sort of.. expected the same thing with Rigel. He surprised me. But now I don't... really know where to go. I've never really done a proper... long term relationship you know?" She wasn't even sure why she was confiding in Tala. Her matter of fact attitude though meant she was always going to be painfully honest, and in a way, that made her quite trustworthy Luka felt.

---

Kay nodded. [As you well understand, going back to Mars is a big risk. We need to be certain they won't get suspicious and if things do get dangerous, can get out of there quickly before they realise the true extent of it all.] This could be catastrophic, not just for asher, but all the androids. What a horrible thought.

---

"Shopping?" Matt shrugged and eyed them suspiciously. "Is this a pity invite or do you guys want my third wheel hanging around?" He half grinned to show he was teasing. He kinda liked being their third wheel okay?

Tala considered that, ears turned forward in interest. "Relationships are often complicated among humanoids, full of doubts and mistakes," she said. "I do not understand the complexities of them so well, they mostly seem silly and frivolous, and easy to fix if the partners were not so shy. What do you want from him? What does he want from you? If you do not already know, you should ask him."
Tala shook her head, "Do not fear overmuch whether you are good enough. He is already interested in you despite his species being verymonogamous, so you must already be doing many things right."

~~
"Well we need someone to carry the shopping bags," Ellie teased back, "I mean Shane can carry some, but he needs help. Besides, you can bare your teeth at the salespeople to get us better bargains."

Luka blushed again, nodding slowly. Tala had a point, Rigel had expressed interest despite his supposedly only having one love ever thing... but was he just trying to be nice? He'd insisted he wasn't but eugh, she was always going to wonder.
"Sounds like things are a bit simpler for minotaurs huh?"

---

Matt laughed. "Oh i'm great at that!" He wheeled away from the table. "Plus I got the wheels already. I'm the ultimate third wheel!"

"Much simpler. Some tribes and cityfolk are silly about such things of course, but in my tribe it is most common to say what you want, and state your disagreements directly. Mayhap the truth will hurt, but lying is a waste of time, and the truth is more harmful the longer you bury it." Tala snorted softly. Anxiety about relationships seemed like more trouble than it was worth to her.

Luka shook her head. Minotaurs really were very alien weren't they?

"There are things some species cannot understand. It is unfortunate," Tala said. She set down her water mug. "I must complete my workout now. Good fortune be with you, Luka."

Luka smiled softly. "yeah.. thanks Tala." She waved. "I'll see you later."

Tala waved, then went back to her fitness routine. She hoped Luka and Rigel would work things out happily, she didn't want any workplace drama, and she liked Luka and Rigel well enough to want them to be happy.
But ultimately it was up to them, not her.
Still, should be interesting to see how this turned out.

Luka hit the showers so she could start her day properly, thinking about Rigel and how much they still had to talk about and how awkward that all was. She didn't really want to bring it up, she just wanted to enjoy time with him. Eugh.

Starr nodded in thought a moment. "Alright, There's a female that is willing to go with you to Mars and I can have that paper ready after I reach my room."

~~~
Shane laughed lightly at the banter. "We kind of like a third wheel like you, sometimes at least." He teased.

Asher smiled softly at Starr. "Thank you. This means a lot to me." And judging by James and Kay's expressions, it probably meant a lot to them too that he stayed safe. "We'll probably be heading out tomorrow or the day after, it isn't fully decided yet."

"Yeah, thank you," James said. "Our creators are jerks and Asher's a reckless delinquent, so it's good to have you and that star dragon's help."

Asher looked sheepish. He was kinda reckless. He didn't mean to be, but it did happen sometimes.

~~
"I mean, you could be like, our seventh wheel too, cause of your wheelchair," Ellie mused. "Bottom line is, we need you man!"

"yeah man, I mean I love you guys but there's some things you NEED your space for." Matt grinned at Shane and wheeled back and forward a little. "okay, sure, let's go buy crap we don't need. Why the hell not?"

---

Kay smiled softly at Asher. [I know you won't take any unnecessary risks, not intentionally but please, stay in contact. As soon as you leave Mars, let us know you're safe.] This trip was gonna be hell wasn't it?

Asher nodded. "Don't worry, I'll keep you guys updated so you know what's going on." He pulled out his tablet and held it up. "I'll even send you guys messages if nothing interesting happens, and all I have to tell you about is how somebody got in a fight over what to have for dinner." He was trying to lighten the mood, it wasn't easy though. He was pretty worried too.

Shane chuckled and headed for the ramp "Yeah, let's see what's out there."

~~~
Starr smiled and shook her head a little. They were being silly now, but it was nice.

"We'll kick you out if we need to have an unexpected makeout session," Ellie told Matt with a giggle. She bounced after Shane, happy to be going exploring with her buddies.

Matt snorted. "harsh." He'd follow along though.

---

Kay shook his head. [You should get ready then.] He told Asher.

"I can get started on that letter." Starr said and stood. "The female is named Nova. She will go to the Devil to meet there." She added so they would know.

Still looking more than a little anxious, Kay nodded to Starr. [I'm going to get back to work then.]