Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Three

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"Hey man," James said to Kay, after waiting for a few seconds for the guy to pause his work, and realizing he wasn't going to. "How you holding up?"

~~
"It's my job to care about the books," Ethan said. He tried to look like he had no emotional investment in the state of the library, with moderate success. "Vestia pays me to keep them nice and safe and organized, which they aren't." He watched Esk curiously, "Who put you on janitor duty?"

"You mean it doesn't happen often?" not normal? sounded a lot like how the Imperium referred to aliens. "or that it's... wrong?" Luka asked, fidgeting a little.

---

Armin went to get breakfast.

---

Kay went to work, he had a terrible habit of forgetting to eat. He nodded to Dawn as he entered the medical room with his coffee.

---

Moriah was sweeping the hallway in First Class when Ivor found her. With so many bots out of service, Matt still needing crutches, and James busy with medical stuff, Vestia had been hiring the androids to handle a lot of her chores.
She saw Ivor, and smiled. "Good morning."

~~
Ellie worried about Matt, she didn't think it was a good sign that he wanted to be alone. But hey, it was Matt's call, so she didn't pressure him.
She hadn't seemed at all weirded out to just cuddle with Shane, although she sort of noticed that he did find it weird.
Sorry Shane.
In the morning she drank her coffee and sent her parents a simple message. [Mom, Dad, I'm ALIVE! Sorry for disappearing! Love you guys! Call me!]

~~
James had figured two medics on duty was plenty, so he wandered off to look for Skye. She had a sibling on Unity Station too, funny that.

Ivor ducked his head and waved awkwardly. "h.. hello... are you.. you're busy yes?"

---

"Not very busy, no," Moriah said reassuringly. "Just keeping things clean around here, since there aren't enough cleaning bots right now. How are you doing this morning?"

~~
Tala might come across Matt after her brief jog, depending on where he had vanished to.

Matt was just heading back to Vestia, wearing last night's clothes and looking a little ruffled. Hmmm.
He grinned sheepishly when he saw Tala. "uh.. morning?"

---

Ivor nodded "I'm.. alright." He hugged himself, looking awkward. Smalltalk wasn't something he was very good at.

Tala blinked at Matt. "Good morning. How fare you on this day?" She was a little puzzled that he had left the ship, she'd assumed they were only allowed to leave to ask questions of Eva or Jarral. Maybe these guys were less sticklers for rules than she'd assumed. Hmm.

~~
Moriah smiled softly. "Good." She looked uncertain though, she wasn't totally sure why Ivor was here. "Do you want help with something?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to scare the guy off, he was sooo jumpy.

Matt leaned heavily on his crutches, managing an awkward shrug. "my head hurts." Yeah he was hungover. Hungover and exhausted. It had been a busy night... ahem.
He was looking a little worse for wear and to Tala's sensitive nose, what he'd been up to was probably pretty dang obvious as he hadn't actually grabbed a shower yet.

---

Ivor frowned, uncertain. He shook his head. "no... no.. just.. " He looked at the floor. "wanted... to say thank you.. for.. for helping me..."

Yeah, Tala's keen nose could probably piece together a fair bit of the story. She huffed air out through her nostrils in mild distaste. "You need the joys of modern medicine," she declared, "As many do after drinking.
"I did not know these military folk were allowing us to leave Vestia for fun," she added curiously, "They are oddly hospitable here."

~~
"Oh. It was nothing, I'm just glad you're okay," Moriah said. Ivor was so sweet, aww. "I mean we're friends, right? That's what friends do."

Matt laughed a bit sheepishly. "Yeah well... Eva... she's... uh.. kinda not really military..." He shook his head and looked serious. "honestly? I think she's really lonely."

"f.. friends?" Ivor considered that, he'd never really HAD friends. "i.." He managed a weak smile. "I like that."

"She should not take her task so lightly," Tala said, snorting softly. "The fate of the near universe rests on this operation, from what they say." Then again, Tala did't really do lonely, so what did she know?
"Your mate is fine with you seeking other partners, then?" she asked. She didn't know about Thalia leaving, after all.

~~
Moriah's expression brightened. Something good had come out of that battle, then.
Not that she really knew how to be Ivor's friend, but she liked him. She wanted to try.
"I'm glad we're friends, then." She hesitated again, then said, "I don't have to sweep right now, if you'd like to go to the library or something?" She knew Ethan wasn't there currently, which was the only reason she suggested it.

Matt winced, averting his gaze. "Thalia's gone Tala... " He sounded angry more than sad, his grip on his crutches tightening a little. "So who cares what she thinks."

----

Ivor nodded hesitantly. "you.. won't get in trouble?"

Tala hadn't expected that. Huh. "That is most unfortunate. She left? Or did she die?" she asked, wanting to clarify.

~~
"Oh no, Vestia doesn't mind us taking breaks, as long as the work gets done eventually," Moriah said with a smile. "She's a great boss. A lot more patient than the people I used to work for. And the pay is so good!" Well okay, it was minimum wage, but to an android, that was amazing!

"left, just... ran off." Matt shook his head, he didn't want to talk about this, his head hurt. "I'm gonna find painkillers..."
Nope, even a night of drunk casual sex hadn't made him feel any better,did he really think it would?

---

Ivor nodded "I wouldn't want you getting into trouble." He mumbled.

"I am sorry for your loss," Tala said. She might not be the best at sympathy, but even she knew that had to be awful for poor Matt. "May your search for painkillers be of great success," she added.

~~
"I won't. It's fine," Moriah said reassuringly. "Does the new library sound good to you? It's starting to look... library-ish."

Matt nodded "yeah..." He mumbled and painfully continued on his way.

---

"starting?" He was confused, nobody had really explained about the exploding of the previous library had they?

Tala watched Matt go, then headed off down the hall in a different direction. Thalia had left. Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected, she supposed. Still, Thalia had left within ten years. If Thalia had left after such a short time, then would Nadira still be waiting after twenty-two?

Of course she would, Tala told herself.

But it was an unsettling thought nonetheless.

~~
"The old library got destroyed in the battle," Moriah said quietly. "Ethan's setting up a new one with some help from us. It's not fully stocked or anything, but it's making progress."

Matt made his way to the medical room for pain relief.

---

"oh.." Ivor replied simply.

Moriah nodded and set her broom aside. "Come on, I'll show you the new place."

Ivor nodded and followed obediently

They'd go to the library, and Moriah would show Ivor around. It wasn't anywhere near fully stocked, not with the book collection decimated as it was, but there were comfortable places to sit and a couple posters on the walls so... that was nice at least.

"it's brighter here." Ivor remarked, looking around curiously. "Where is the librarian?"

"Yeah, I like how much more space and light there is. The old library was nice, but I think this one might end up being even better," Moriah agreed. "Ethan? I'm not sure. He's kind of a loner, and I think he's sad about losing the old library, so maybe he's taking some time off."

"I mean it doesn't happen often." Rigel said to reassure her. "I would have said before if it applied to our situation."
~~~
Dawn waved back, going over to talk to Kay. "I think we can let some more of these people go back to their rooms."
~~~
The only reason Shane found it odd was because he liked her and couldn't help but think of that. He woke wen she moved and got up, rubbing his eyes. "Morning."

"Hey Shane," Ellie said, reaching out to ruffle his hair a bit. "Good morning." She'd come back with her tablet and her coffee. She had to prop them precariously on the bed so she could ruffle his hair, which probably wasn't the greatest idea ever, oh dear.

Luka nodded slowly. "how.. how do you know that someone is... the one? "

---

Kay nodded. [Or at least can select new rooms for themselves.] mm, most of these people didn't HAVE rooms any more.

Shane chuckled softly and shifted to his Felid form for her, staying as still as he could so he wouldn't knock the cup over.

~~
Rigel sighed softly, thinking about that feeling. "It's hard to describe. Not everyone has the same experience, but most say things along the lines of the two souls recognizing one another and not wanting to be apart from one another."
~~
Dawn nodded "Did you want to give the releases, or did you want me to?" She asked curiously. Who knew, it might help him feel better to deliver good news instead of always being triage.