UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

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Asher considered his words for a few seconds, glancing around the room as he thought, then looked to Kay again. "I've been thinking over everything that's happened today, and I feel like it would be wrong for me to leave Terra before the androids have been granted their freedom," he said. "I think it might be in the best interests of the children and the androids if I stay on Terra while Vestia goes on to the Imperium." He wished he could have phrased it better, but he just didn't know how. Ugh.

Starr looked from one to the other then nodded. "I must hide my true form from outsiders, else they would be trying to capture me. Some already are simply because of who and what I am." She said then shifted to show the kids her star dragon form. To answer the other question, she made a simple necklace of gold before shifting back and holding it out to them. "Creation magic is what we were given as a species."

Ivor's eyes widened at the draconic form and when she created a necklace out of nowhere he backed away a few paces. Magic was still so alien to him, he could handle shape changing and telepathy, mostly, but creation? that was just mind blowing and honestly, rather scary.

Silence stared at Starr and held out a claw for the necklace to touch it. "Can talk in true form?" She asked.

"I won't hurt you. " Starr said gently then looked to Silence again, letting her have the necklace if she wanted to see it. "I can, though not every form has the larynx to speak."

Silence drew the necklace up to her face to look at it better.

"w... why... outsiders... want to capture you?" Ivor asked. He didn't come any closer, he was a bit too spooked.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Kay waited patiently, an unpleasant churning in his gut. This was all a bit too sudden. He moved closer to Asher, reaching out to put an uncertain hand on his shoulder.

Asher looked up from his pile of unneeded things at Kay's touch, gaze softening. "You're going to be all right while I'm gone?" He asked quietly.

Kay hesitated, then nodded. [Just keep in contact, so I know you're safe. Please.] He smiled sadly at Asher, stroking his cheek affectionately.

"I'll try to write every day if I can," Asher said. "You'll do the same? I don't care how boring the news is, I want to know how you're doing." He learned into Kay's touch a little. His optimistic nature wanted to believe everything would be fine, but there was still that fear that something would go wrong, that this would be the last time they saw each other. And he knew that fear was only going to get stronger as the time to leave drew closer.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Silence drew the necklace up to her face to look at it better.

"w... why... outsiders... want to capture you?" Ivor asked. He didn't come any closer, he was a bit too spooked.

"Because my people are too good and they can." Starr said with a shrug. "They want us for what we can do and because we have traditionally not fought back enough to make it not worth their while to take us." She said then chuckled softly "We were too good for our own good. That is one reason we want to make all slavery illegal, so we can go back to being peaceful without losing our lives to those who want our power."

Kay nodded, of course he'd write, and fret over every little thing, that's what he was like.
He felt the knot in his gut tighten, trying not to wince. He wasn't so good at optimistic thinking.

---

Silence listened and nodded. "Kill them all. Like man does."

Ivor frowned. Silence was a little bloodthirsty at times. It worried him.

Starr shook her head a little then sighed softly. "It is not that simple. When one is killed, others take their place and retaliate. Some are very highly placed and important people." Though that called for death more than the lower ones in another way. "We went to the man because he can do things we can't or won't do."

Asher hesitated, then moved closer to try to pull Kay into a hug. They were alone here, but it was still hard to be certain how Kay would react to being touched when he was this stressed. So Asher gave him time to indicate if that wasn't what he wanted right now.

Silence shrugged. "Can't be infinite supply."

Ivor looked at the floor, all this was making him distinctly uncomfortable.

"Brother no like conversation." Silence offered the necklace back to Starr, it was still dangling from one of her claws.

"No, not infinite, but too many." Starr said then nodded, taking the necklace then looking to the two. "Alright, what do you want to work on first?"

Silence looked at Ivor "Help brother."

Ivor looked uncomfortable and uncertain, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt anxiously. He wasn't entirely sure this woman COULD help.

Starr dipped her head then looked to Ivor again. "Telepathic communication shouldn't be too different, will you let me hear what you hear?" She asked kindly. This was why she had wanted a room away from others, so he would be more comfortable.

"le... let you .. hear?" Ivor stared at her, he didn't understand.

"You can do that?" Silence asked curiously.

(I missed some posts)

Kay tensed for a moment, but reminding himself they were alone, he relaxed into Asher's hug, resting his head on Asher's shoulder and hugging him back.

---

Hewitt looked around the games room disdainfully.

Starr nodded and smiled "It's telepathy, just another form of it." She said gently.

Asher looked relieved that he hadn't judged wrong, although Kay probably couldn't see his expression at the moment. He hugged Kay for a while, then asked softly, "Is there anything you'd like to do with the time we have left?" It sounded so final to say it that way, but he didn't know how else to phrase the question.

~~
Ethan peered into the room, mouth twitching with amusement at Hewitt's disdain. He was oddly fond of Hewitt's judgement and scorn for some reason. He headed over to some boxes of games, picking one up to look at the description. "This one uses lots of dice. Just what you like, Professor."

~~
James went looking for Skye, if Skye was free at the moment.

Ivor still looked uncertain.

Silence looked at him and nodded, letting him know it was okay. She was here, she would protect him.

He nodded back and looked to Starr. "H... how?"

---

Kay flinched and shook his head. [Just keep me company. Please?]

-----

Hewitt made a noise of disgust and came over to look at the selection.

Skye was in her usual place, the room at the top of the ship, watching the stars.

~~~
Starr smiled and shook her head. "Right now, I am just gathering information, all you have to do is allow me to hear what you hear, to let me in." She said gently. She didn't want to force her mind into his.

Ivor frowned, he wasn't totally sure how to do that but he nodded. "All... alright."

Starr smiled softly and closed her eyes to connect to his mind. It was very good to have so many elders to talk to and learn from. For now, she would just listen to his mind, what he heard from the others on the ship and seeing how he heard them so she could try to help him learn to control it himself.

Ivor shuddered, this was weird and he was very very unsure about it all. He clasped his hands, closed his eyes and waited.

His mind was, honestly a bit of a mess. He had exactly had a normal upbringing, so his own thoughts were scattered and erratic. One thing was consistent though, fear, he was very very scared.
Listening in, Starr would be able to hear Silence's thoughts as clearly as if she were speaking, and the thoughts of anyone else nearby. This far from the rest of the crew it was less 'room full of people all talking at once' and more a dull and difficult to decipher background noise. But it seemed Ivor's telepathy was so strong he simply could not differentiate between speech and thoughts most of the time, both were just as clear, just as loud.

He waited, worried and troubled by what Starr might say. Certain though she was that she could help, he wasn't quite so sure.

"Wow, I didn't realize it was this loud for you." Starr said kindly "Can you try to make things quieter? Like you have put on headphones to block the noise."

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Kay flinched and shook his head. [Just keep me company. Please?]

-----

Hewitt made a noise of disgust and came over to look at the selection.

"I'm not going anywhere yet," Asher said gently. "Later I have to talk to James, but that's not now." He added, "Do you want a distraction of some sort?" In his experience, Kay seemed to prefer blocking out his stress when he could.

~~
There were a nice selection of popular board games, mostly Terran in origin, but also a handful of games from other empires and cultures.

Ethan looked through them, still amused by Hewitt's disdain. "This one has drawings of candy on it. I'm sure you have just as deep an appreciation for candy as I do," he said, straight-faced. Neither of them could eat the stuff, after all.

Starrnico wrote:Skye was in her usual place, the room at the top of the ship, watching the stars.

James found Skye and went over. "Mind me barging in?" he asked, smiling softly.

Skye looked over then smiled softly "I don't mind. How are you?" She asked curiously.