Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Five

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"perhaps this is something we should discuss with the telepaths on board, if any wish to volunteer or... have any suggestions for ways to reduce the risk?" Armin suggested, he cuddled Luna just a bit closer.

James nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine it would be." He looked cautious, "Do you mind me being here? Cause I mean if you do, then I don't have to be here." There were a lot of reasons he could think of for Esk to not want him here, beyond downing or tiredness.

~~
Ethan blinked at the artuvians, looking a little shifty. He was still feeling like a fool for talking to a comatose man earlier, well, and for caring about said comatose man at all.
"Good morning, Skye, Jewel," he said. He knew them both by sight, although he'd never really talked at length to either of them. "I didn't know you two were friends." He assumed they were anyway, seeing as they were eating donuts together.

"I am well Miss Starr." Armin bowed his head again and came over, putting a hand gently on her shoulder as a show of affection. "I trust you slept well?"

---

Esk shrugged again. He hated bedrest, he hated being stuck here all useless. It just pissed him off. "Have..." He began, but he lost track of that train of thought almost as soon as he began. Frustration crossed his face.

James frowned, he couldn't guess what Esk had been trying to say, and it looked like Esk couldn't either. "Take your time, organic memories and thoughts are sneaky things," he said. Okay, that probably didn't help much, he supposed. Darn.

"Yeah, we are." Skye replied and glanced to Jewel, who was too busy eating to speak, though the tiny girl did wave. "We share a suite now."

~~~
Starr reached up to pat his hand and smiled softly. "I slept well, did you?" She asked gently.

Ethan looked slightly puzzled by that. "You do? But there are so many rooms on this floor alone, there's no need to share."

Armin nodded. "I did, thank you." He moved his hand to twine his fingers with hers.

----

Esk's frown deepened. "You don't... " He grit his teeth. "I don't forget things." He managed. "Shouldn't... not.. not before." He rubbed his head.

"Yeah." James sighed. He couldn't imagine what it was like to suddenly start forgetting things, his brain didn't work that way either. It sounded terrifying, suddenly having to question your reality, wondering what pieces might be missing that you hadn't even noticed yet.
"What happened to you..." What I did to you, he thought guiltily. "Your brain has a lot of healing to do to recover from that. Which sucks. But you've got people who will help you, and you're doing better today. You can recover."
Or at least, that was what James was desperately hoping.

Esk closed his eyes and sighed. Yeah, give it time, wait... he wasn't good at that.

"You're one of the goddamn toughest people on this ship," James added. "I mean, you've survived like, everything. Your liver going insane, some stupid pegasus having a temper tantrum, stuff like that. You're like... the Terminator. You probably haven't seen that movie actually."

Esk looked at James in bewilderment. Nope, he had no idea what the guy was on about now. He couldn't help but think that eventually his luck would wear out though.

"Dawn likes.. happy movies." Movies where nobody died. So most of the movies he'd watched with her had been well, not action movies.

"The Terminator isn't a very happy movie," James said. "The robot dies at the end. You might like it though, it's a pretty cool movie. Up until the robot dies, I mean." James sure did have his priorities figured out, didn't he?

Esk shrugged. He wasn't in much of a state to watch movies to be fair. "okay..."

"You should watch it sometime," James decided. "I'll send you the link."

Esk nodded slowly. "okay..." It was easier to just agree at this point he decided. He frowned, there was something he wanted to ask but ... damnit.. thoughts kept flitting away from him.
He looked at the floor. "Can I leave?" He asked. He hated being cooped up, maybe if he could actually leave this damn room he might feel less of a burden to everyone.

James hesitated. "I mean, I guess you can?" he said. "I don't think you should be going out alone yet though, from what I read, you're still having seizures, right?"
Not to mention they still weren't totally sure if Esk was free or not.

Esk sighed. "Apparently." He couldn't tell, he lost time, that's all he knew of it.

James nodded. "Can you walk?" He asked. "A wheelchair might be a good idea though." Less chance of falling and getting hurt.

Esk swung his legs off to bed and stood up, reaching out a hand to support himself. No, he was going to walk damnit. He was stubborn like that. Family trait huh?

James moved closer, resisting the urge to hold onto Esk to make sure he didn't fall. "You okay, man?"

Esk waved his free hand dismissively. He felt lightheated, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He took a few steps forward unaided, good. He took a couple more and stumbled, grabbing at the nearby wall for balance. Not so good. "let.. me..."

James reached out to steady Esk, not wanting to let him fall. Probably not what Esk wanted him to do, but he was pretty worried about the guy.

Tori was watching quietly, frowning a bit. She trusted James not to let anything bad happen, but she was still concerned.

Esk swatted at James in annoyance."Can do it!" He snapped. Yep, just as stubborn as his brother.

"Okay, okay!" James said, taking a step back and holding his hands up. "You can do it. I'm just worried that all the medics will murder me if anything happens to you, you know?"

Kooshie wrote:Ethan looked slightly puzzled by that. "You do? But there are so many rooms on this floor alone, there's no need to share."

"We know, but we are social as a species. It's not good to be alone so much." Skye replied with a half shrug, trying not to move Jewel too much.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Armin nodded. "I did, thank you." He moved his hand to twine his fingers with hers.

----

Esk's frown deepened. "You don't... " He grit his teeth. "I don't forget things." He managed. "Shouldn't... not.. not before." He rubbed his head.

Starr let their fingers twine and hold there for a moment, just glad he was back. She was rather used to bouncing back from bad experiences after all, and this was not that different. She had given herself time to get over it and now would push forward, with Armin by her side if she was lucky enough.

Ethan considered that, then nodded. He could kind of imagine why some people might like sharing a room,
"I guess the suites are a bit intimidatingly big," he mused. "Are you guys planning to find a way to visit Artuvia?" He seemed to recall it being somewhere in this area of space.

"I don't know." Skye admitted, she didn't really want to, not with the way things had gotten so political there. Her sister had stirred up a lot.
"I would like to." Jewel said, looking from one to the other