Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Six

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Ellie frowned a little at the question. "Yeah, I've talked to them. They're glad to know I'm okay. It's so strange how much older they are now, though." In the photos she'd seen, they both had a lot of gray hairs she didn't remember from before.

~~
Ethan looked amused. "The library's always open. You can stop by any time you want, as long as you don't get sugar on the books."

Matt managed a weak smile. "this family tree is getting fucking confusing." He agreed.

"Someday someone's gotta make a chart," James said. "It's gonna be confusing. I mean like, are you and me kinda brothers? How many aunts and uncles does Lana have? And other big questions like that." This was a light topic, suitable for cheering Matt up. Well, James hoped it was, anyway.

Shane nodded, gathering the dishes to put them in the cleaner first. He would walk with the two females quietly as they headed to see Hewitt.

~~~
Dawn looked to Esk after a while and watched him playing with the pencil a bit. "Do you feel better?" She asked softly

Matt looked thoughtful. "Shit man.. I dunno." Who the hell was related to who now? Shit this was a confusing mess.

---

Hewitt was as he ever was.

----

Esk frowned. "Define.. better... better than what?" He asked.

Starr went over to Hewitt and knelt beside him then looked to Ellie. "I will need you since I am not that proficient with plants." She admitted gently

~~~
Dawn shrugged a little "Feeling better, more normal, more...yourself?" She said and looked back to her plate with a flush.

James snickered. "I like the thought of us being brothers. I like adopting siblings, man."

~~
Ellie followed Starr in. "I mean, I've tried using my magic on him, and it hasn't done much so far. Do you have any ideas?" She frowned, looking at Hewitt. She didn't like Hewitt, but it still was unpleasant to see someone like this and not know how to help.

Hewitt's fingers twitched a little at the voices, was that a sign he could hear them?

----

Esk frowned. "thinking is... hard. Slow. " He told her flatly. "Hard to.. hard to explain. " The thoughts were there, just putting them into words was extremely difficult.

---

Matt patted James on the shoulder. "Why not? You can never have too many adopted siblings right?"

James smiled a little. "Heck no. I have, let's see... Asher, Lark, Ethan, maybe Luka although I'm not sure whether she is right now..." He counted off on his fingers for effect, even though his computer brain didn't need the help, "You. And since you're one of my siblings, does that mean your other siblings are mine too?"

"Definitely." Matt nodded. "by extention." He managed a half grin. "So... aww shit, does that mean Asher and Kay are now brothers? that's squicky. Nah man, we gotta exempt them or like.. make Asher my almost brother in law which he kinda... maybe... is? " He hesitated, shit, it HAD been ten years for Asher, would he and Kay still have a relationship to go back to? that was... not gonna be easy. "fuck... they better make this work. Someone's gotta retain a relationship out of this shit damnit."

"Oh maaan, that's just wrong," James said, laughing. "Yeah, we'll make them be... not brothers." He frowned a little, "Yeah, it'd be nice if they could make this work. Asher says he's planning to see how it goes, whatever that means."
Although he had his doubts about whether Asher and Kay were going to be a good couple any more. But maybe that was just because James had had that fight with Kay, and thought the guy was kind of a jerk now.

Matt nodded slowly. "I hope they manage. Asher's good for Kay."

"Wellll, not sure I'd call Asher good for Kay when he spent so much time running off without Kay," James mused. "But I'd like to see them happy, one way or another."

"no no, trust me... having someone like Asher is GOOD for Kay." Matt nodded sagely. For all the shit those two had been through, Asher did seem to make Kay happy. Least so Matt believed. "They deserve some good, both of them."

James shook his head. "I guess so. It seems kinda exhausting sometimes, though." He smiled slightly, "Guess everyone wants different things in life, huh?"

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Hewitt's fingers twitched a little at the voices, was that a sign he could hear them?

----

Esk frowned. "thinking is... hard. Slow. " He told her flatly. "Hard to.. hard to explain. " The thoughts were there, just putting them into words was extremely difficult.

---

Matt patted James on the shoulder. "Why not? You can never have too many adopted siblings right?"

Starr tilted her head a little, looking to the fingers then reaching for them to hold his hand while trying to speak to him telepathically. Hewitt, can you hear me?

~~~
"I understand." Dawn said gently then shook her head a little "I'm sorry."

Aketi minds were bizarre, if Hewitt could hear her, he couldn't respond. But she got a sense that he was indeed alive, just not really fully aware.

---

Esk frowned. "Not your fault."

---

Matt nodded. "Yeah... maybe Esk has a point and relationships are just way more work than they're worth." He wasn't so sure, but then again, he hardly had a great track record when it came to healthy relationships.

"Ellie, I need your plant expertise" Starr said, holding a hand out to the other female. "I can feel him, but he's not fully aware yet."

~~~
Dawn looked to him then smiled and shook her head "What was done had to be done, that's not why I said that. I'm sorry you had to go through it and that you are having trouble now." She said then looked down again "She should never of tried to hurt you or us."

Ellie looked to Starr, then took her hand. "Do I try to talk to him? Or do you want me to try healing him?" She really wasn't a pro at healing people, and she wanted to know what Starr had in mind.

~~
"Yeah, Esk has a point" James said. "I mean, I know relationships aren't in my future. I hooked up with Acus one time, and then he fell in love with me. There's no feeling quite like getting boyfriendzoned when you thought you were friends with someone." He shook his head.
"But I mean, everyone has different needs. If a relationship is something you want, then I'm sure you'll find the right partner eventually."

Esk grunted. "Lots... happens that shouldn't... that's life." He looked at Dawn. "Didn't hurt you.. did I?" It was something that did worry him, even if his tone remained even and flat as he asked it.

---

Matt made a face. Acus and James, hmm. He wasn't really sure how to feel on that one. It raised uncomfortable questions given James wasn't free till he met Mourn.

"I dunno, I mean, I always liked the idea of having kids but... relationships? I'm sure you've heard my brothers jokes about how I have the worst taste in sexual partners right?" He scoffed. "I dunno, I think I was actually happier single..." Huh, that was a wierd thought wasn't it? Life before Thalia was far easier, less conflict, less drama, less sacrifice of himself and his own needs. Maybe relationships weren't supposed to be like that, but he had no real other frame of reference. Thalia was his first and only long term relationship and had left him rather bitter about the whole idea.
"The situation with Acus sounds... really awkward. You okay?" and there he went, diverting attention from himself.

"Just use your magic to check on his health, heal him a little if you can. I just need to see how your magic is interacting with him." Starr replied and smiled softly.

~~~
Dawn shook her head "No, you didn't hurt me. It hurt me to have to hurt you, but it was the only way to get her out. She tried to hurt me emotionally, guess she hasn't interacted with Pandorans before, huh?"

James nodded. "I guess good sexual partners don't necessarily make good long term partners," he said. "I mean I'm sure there are people out there who can be both though. Regardless, maybe taking a nice, long break from dating is a good idea."
He shrugged, "I'm fine. It was a bunch of dumb decisions on both our parts, but hey, these things happen."

~~
"Okay," Ellie said. She placed her other hand on Hewitt's arm, and sent out her magic, trying to sense any changes in his condition and heal him a little. "Like this?"

Matt snorted. "yeah sounds about right."

---

Esk managed a wierd half smirk. "You're too tough for that."

---

James waved a hand vaguely. "Guess the moral of this story is, people are unpredictable as all hell and we should all just avoid each other from now on." The tone of his voice showed he was joking.

Starr watched Hewitt, trying to see if he was getting any better Hewitt?

~~~
Dawn shrugged and looked back to him again "I gave her the emotions she wanted. I had to see if that could let me reach you. She couldn't know that I was still in control of them, even when I didn't seem to be. When I realized that wasn't working, I left to center myself again."

Matt snickered. "Somehow I don't think that's gonna work out."

---

Esk met Dawn's eye. "I don't... remember.. a lot. " He told her quietly. He couldn't hide how uneasy that made him.

---

Hewitt stirred ever so slightly in his sleep to Starr's words.

"True enough," James agreed with a smile. "And honestly, I like people too much to avoid them."

~~
Ellie watched, fidgeting a little. "He's sorta kinda conscious. That's gotta be a good sign. I think." She looked to Starr, who knew more about magic than she did at least.

"Same" Matt agreed. "most of the time anyway."

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