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 chuckled softly and looked to him again. "It is good to have telepathy sometimes." She said gently.

Soon enough there was a knock at the door.

"Of course. Androids are badasses, they'll save themselves, or my baby bro will save them," James said. He was eyeing Swarm though. "Seriously guys, I'm getting kinda worried about you. I know you've been sneaking off lately, on the space station and on Terra too, I'm pretty sure."

~~
"Don't tell him anything, maybe. Just say you lived off the land for years, hunting wild animals, until some Satare found you and brought you home. Satare are big fans of resourcefulness, right? And only people who can pass as Satare or Hexenfolke are going into the Imperium, I'm pretty sure." Ethan figured it was fine to lie if it made things easier. Sadly he'd never been a great liar in spite of that though, darn it.

Luka frowned, she wasn't sure she was that good at lying. "and I.. don't know how to tell them I don't intend to stay. I.. miss my family, a lot, but... " She sighed. "I care about the people here too."

----

---we--- ---don't--- ---sneak--- Swarm protested. The chittered amongst themselves for a bit, then added ---don't--- ---worry--- ---we--- ---are--- ---just---.... ---fragmented---


-----

"it would seem so." Armin agreed and called "You may enter!"

Ethan blinked. "You're not going to stay there? But you love the Imperium. And Vestia's some sort of magnet for magical dangers, which I doubt you're a fan of."

~~
James still looked kind of worried. He really did care about his tiny friends, they were so fragile, and he couldn't really understand the way they thought because they were so alien. "Okay, if you say so." He managed a smile.

Two dragons came in, glancing around then going over to Starr and Armin, dipping their heads to them. "Hello, I am Kale, this is my wife, Elara." The male said with a dragon smile.

Luka frowned, looking awkward. "I.. have a responsibility here. And... these people are my friends." She looked at the floor. "i'm not totally sure how easily I can drop back into the mindset that all aliens are monsters when I know it's just not true." She sighed. This was a painful decision to have to make, and she still wasn't sure she'd made up her mind.

---

Armin smiled politely and bowed his head in greeting. "I am Armin." He told them pleasantly. "welcome. thank you for coming."

----

Swarm bobbed up and down. They didn't much want to have to explain that they couldn't birth enough to replace their numbers and were slowly but surely dwindling every generation. It would just make James sad.
---not--- ---everyone--- ---wanted--- ---to--- ---celebrate--- they observed.

Ethan considered that, then nodded. "That makes sense," he said. "The Imperium sounds like the sort of place where they wouldn't be okay with you being buddies with aliens. And I don't know who your friends are, but I know James would hate to see you leave." And you know, Ethan kind of liked Luka too. She seemed nice enough.

~~
James wanted to keep questioning his friends until they told him what was going on, but he was respectful enough to not do it. For now, anyway. "I guess it's not the sort of day everyone wants to celebrate. I mean, not all of us have people we love waiting in the Imperium. Still, people love booze, so here they are."

Luka nodded slowly. "Yeah... " Family or friends, what a horrible choice to have to make. She looked torn, but she wasn't telling Ethan everything of course. It wasn't just friends she'd have to leave if she chose to stay.

---

---having--- ---most--- ---together--- --again--- ---will--- --be-- --good--- ---though--- Swarm decided. ---we--- ---are--- ---curious--- ---to--- ---see--- ---this--- ---region--- ---of--- ---space.--- ---will--- ---we--- ---also--- ---visit--- ---haikon?---

Kale nodded and smiled at him. "It is our pleasure. What kind of haircut were you wanting?" He asked then glanced to his exoskeleton and back to his face. "And let us know when it is safe to color your hair, Starr has told us you are fond of colors."

Ethan shrugged. "Well if you stay, I guess you'll be able to teach me more about flying."

~~
"Yeah, I think we're gonna be visiting the minotaurs, to try and rescue Tala's hot minotaur bride," James said. "And also yeah, I guess seeing how people live out there might be cool. Maybe we'll run into some new species or something, that might be interesting." There were some things to look forward to, he decided.

Luka grinned at that. "have you been practicing?" Hey, she liked flying.

---

Swarm bobbed up and down. ---it--- ---will--- ---be--- ---interesting--- yes, seeing Hakon before it was destroyed by the Imperium would be worth doing they thought. That was something all of them could agree on.


----

Armin ran a hand through his hand. "Shorter." He went to find some paper and a pencil to draw, it was easier to do so than to explain. Vavare hairstyles tended to be a bit eccentric after all.

Kale followed to watch him draw curiously. He mostly did the males hairstyles anyway. Elara sat to talk with Starr until and unless she was needed.

"A little," Ethan said. "Haven't had that much time to practice." That probably wasn't the real reason, the library couldn't possibly keep Ethan that busy. Really he was just becoming too fond of peace and quiet.
Ethan resolved to work on maintaining his stabby persona a little better in the future. "Are you missing flying the Silver Devil yet?"

~~
James nodded. "I wanna find out if other minotaurs are as confused by Tala as we are." Hey, Tala was weird. "Speaking of confusing, heard any good gossip around Vestia lately?"

Armin would happily discuss style with Kale, it was after all a passion of his. Maybe not hair, but hair was part of a whole "look" wasn't it?

---

Luka laughed a little. "Yeah... she's a good ship." She glanced to a camera. "you know, as far as non sentient ships go." Ahem. Yeah she didn't want to offend Vestia, and Fleet pilots were pretty notoriously supersticious about upsetting their ships.
----

Swarm bobbed. ---We--- ---see--- ---much.--- ---small--- ---people--- ---forget--- ---we're--- ---there---

Vestia's lights turned a warm rosy hue. Yep, she was listening in. As usual.

Ethan snickered. "Maybe you miss being on a ship where the walls don't have ears? I do sometimes."

~~
"It's one of your best talents," James said. "I've never had your talent for blending in, I was born to be a star." And he was so humble about it, too. "So it's good we have each other, huh? You to get me the gossip, and me to tell you dramatized stories."

Luka looked a little embarrassed. "Not ALL the walls have ears..." Ahem.

----

Swarm chittered in amusement. ---what--- ---did--- ---you--- ---want--- ---to--- ---know?---

"A lot of them do though," Ethan said. He looked amused. "It's a little creepy when you think about it."

~~
"Any hookups or breakups I should know about?" James asked. "Then again, everyone here is so professional, seems like hookups never happen around here. How about big, shouty fights?"

Luka looked awkward. Yeah, it was a bit hard to get used to. "it's.. probably better not to think too much about it."

---

---we--- ---have--- ---not--- ---witnessed--- ---any--- ---large--- ---arguments--- ---lately.--- Swarm admitted. ---The--- ---captain--- ---and--- ---the--- ---pilot--- ---keep--- ---disappearing--- ---onto--- ---the--- devil.---to--- watch--- movies--- They thought, what else was interesting around here? ---Esk--- ---and--- ---Dawn--- ---have--- ---made--- ---up---. ---They--- ---watch--- ---movies--- ---together--- ---too---

But they hadn't really witnessed anything overly juicy, alas.

---Starr--- ---visits--- ---the--- ---tailor--- ---frequently--- ---but--- ---we--- ---cannot--- ---enter--- ---that--- ---room--- which annoyed them. ---you--- ---helped--- ---him--- ---to--- ---molt--- ---yes?---

"Probably," Ethan agreed.

~~
James sighed. "Man, you'd think with all the new dragons on board, we'd have all sorts of drama. But star dragons are so dang nice, they just don't seem to do drama much. Maybe being telepathically linked to everyone around you makes you more chill." He frowned a little at the mention of Luka, he hadn't talked to her much in quite a while, not since before they'd gone off on that Mars trip, really. "Dang, more movies? I hope they know what they're doing."
He nodded at Swarm's question though. "Yeah, I helped Armin molt. I've been visiting him every day for checkups and stuff, probably not spending as much time with him as I should though. Glad Starr's been keeping him company, he must love that."

---he--- ---is--- ---rather--- ---fond--- ---of--- ---her--- Swarm agreed. ---what--- ---was--- ---the--- ---molt--- ---like?--- oh they'd have loved to witness that.

----

Luka nodded. "yeah.. " She looked awkward, not really sure what to say now. "so uh... we should arrange another flying lesson right? I mean, if you want to... you don't have to."

"It was... kinda surreally awful to watch," James said. He considered patient confidentiality, then decided that Armin and Swarm both had no sense of privacy, so it was probably okay. And nobody seemed to be listening in right now. "I mean, there wasn't blood or gore, but watching someone peel their skin off is all sorts of creepy. Afterward he was so translucent too, you could see his heart beating. And it took hours. Poor Armin, I have no clue how the vavare can do that every few years. It looked like such a miserable experience."

~~
"I guess we should," Ethan said. "Can't learn without practicing, and I do want to learn." He looked thoughtful, "Tomorrow, or maybe the day after?"

---many--- ---creatures--- ---have--- ---similarly--- ---painful--- ---experiences--- Swarm reasoned. ---Childbirth--- ---shifting---

---

Luka smiled softly. "Tomorrow morning?" She suggested.

"I mean to be fair, I totally ran off during Heny's delivery, and didn't come back," James said. He didn't seem embarrassed to admit that. "I dunno what pain is like, but I can tell you, I never want to find out. At least shifting is relatively quick, but allll pain looks bad."

~~
"Sure. What time?" Ethan asked.

---you--- ---could--- ---find--- ---out--- Swarm mused. ---if-- ---you--- ---ever--- ---wanted---

----

Luka thought. "ten?"

"True." James shivered a little at the thought. "Asher says it's distracting and awful, like there's just constantly something nagging at your mind. He says crinkly things are fun, but that pretty much everything else is just frustrating, and sometimes your clothes move unexpectedly and surprise you." He kind of smiled at that, the idea of clothes moving unexpectedly was kinda funny.
"I don't think it'd be worth it, especially with the pain. You guys must know more than I do, though, since you're organic and have senses and stuff. Not worth it?"

~~
"Sounds good," Ethan said. "See you then."

---we--- ---do--- ---not--- ---know--- ---any--- ---different---- swarm pointed out.

---

Luka nodded. "Alright. I should go.. see how drunk people are yes? " She laughed, hey maybe they werent' all moping right?

"Good point," James said. He shook his head, "Maybe someday if I'm feeling really reckless I'll try it, but for now, nah."

~~
"Have fun," Ethan said. He took those books Luka had returned, and went to the desk so he could start scanning them back in.