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."

"one drink is hardly drunk." Matt finished his drink and staggered to his feet, grabbing his crutches. "You know something? I'm outta beer." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a few bottlecaps and laid them on the table. "then again, i'm not sure ten year old beer is any good."

Luka looked confused. "What?"

---

Kay read the message, smiling sadly. He replied [things are as good as can be expected. People are recovering, slowly. How are things your end?]

James huffed out a sigh. "You don't have to get drunk, you know." He picked up one of the bottlecaps, turning it over in his fingers.

~~
[I'm glad you guys are doing okay,] Asher responded. [We're doing pretty well over here. Danika's so glad you're back, as you already know. And I think Lana's been sending quite a few messages to Matt, although I haven't asked her much about it.]

"No. But I want to." Matt replied cooly, moving to go search for more bottles.

"What do you mean you're out of beer? Why do you have bottlecaps?" Luka asked, very very bewildered.

"Pocket space, I can't find anything now. Sometimes I can lay my hand on what I need but less and less since we got to this... time... whatever... it's like... nothing's where I left it." Matt replied, frowning a bit. "I had a shit tonne of letters though."
He started rummaging through cupboards.

---

[I'm relieved Lana's taking this in her stride. It must be strange to suddenly have her father in her life again.] He could sort of empathise, he'd never known his father, to have the guy just turn up one day would be... really quite conflicting.

He was still not quite willing to talk about how worried he was for Esk, or about anything truly serious, he couldn't quite bring himself to bring it up.

[I've been thinking about when we arrive, how to handle it all.] He wrote at last. Small gatherings were the best solution, but of course, he rather wanted some specific alone time with Asher as well, to come to terms with things, to talk seriously and figure out where they went from here. He was honestly extremely nervous that Asher wouldn't want him any longer, that too much had changed for him. Much as he wanted to get to Unity quickly, he was terrified of what would happen next. [I'm sure some of the people here are already trying to organise a party and i'm trying to figure out a good way to weasle out of it.]

James sighed again. His own mood kept plunging downward unpredictably, making James not much good at this social, cheering up sort of thing. He pulled himself back to normal-ish though and looked to Luka. "Wait, nobody ever mentioned Matt's pocket space to you?" he asked. "It's really big, he can fit all sorts of stuff in there. And it's shared with Web, right?" he asked Matt.

~~
[It's a weird situation and she's still coming to terms with it, but she's very curious to learn more about her family. And from what I know of Matt, he'll be a good father to her,] Asher wrote. [I do wish I'd gotten to know Matt better back on Vestia, it might have made this easier.]

[We'll have to go to the party then, I suppose. Maybe we can sneak out early. There are plenty of places we can sneak off to where they won't find us.] Asher wasn't sure whether that sounded too suggestive, so he added, [We have so much to catch up on, they'll understand.]

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt huffed and downed the last of his bottle.

Luka looked worriedly at James.

---

"She has a kind heart, of that I am certain." Armin agreed.

Starr nodded then looked around a little. "Is there anything you would like to do?" She asked in part to change the subject

Kooshie wrote:"Yeah, and we can celebrate some of the big upcoming holidays," Ellie added, smiling at Shane. "Halloween's in a couple months, and Last Day of Summer, and in a few more months it'll be Generic Holiday Season." She smiled. "We'll need to figure out Moone's birthday and Lana's birthday too, probably. Unless they don't like parties."

~~
"Seriously. You're not talking about murdering Thalia, are you?" James asked. Which he shouldn't be asking right now probably, but Matt was kind of creeping him out now.

Shane chuckled softly and looked to Ellie "Have you ever seen the list of holidays star dragons have? Basically it's one a month. I'm sure we could find something to celebrate at any time."

Kay couldn't help but be amused by the unintended suggestiveness of that remark. Ahh just like old times. He shook his head, reminding himself it wasn't old times. [We do. There's so much to talk about.]

--

Armin shook his head. "I am content simply to be in your company Miss Starr." He bowed his head. "Would you like to take another walk?"

---

"mm hmm." Matt was busy digging bottles out and putting them on the counter.

"You share space?" Luka asked.

"Yeah, it's how we send messages to one another. I dunno, never really understood it. It just IS." Matt looked at the bottles and then at his crutches. Hmm, carrying these over there wasn't gonna happen so easily.

"Do you think he tidied up?" Luka smiled, the idea amused her.

Matt shrugged. "Maybe. Ten years is a long time of pulling random crap out your pocket and being confused right?"
He cracked a smile, okay, that image WAS quite funny.

Starr nodded and smiled softly "I would like that. I'm gad things are settling down now even though not everything is settled."

Ellie smiled at that. "No, I haven't seen a list of dragon holidays before. I guess the next one would probably be next month, in September, right? I wonder if that holiday is a good one."

~~
Asher hoped he hadn't accidentally said anything that could be taken the wrong way. He knew organics sometimes read waay too much into what was said. Then again, Kay had always been understanding, Asher reminded himself. Kay probably knew what Asher had and hadn't meant.
Yeah, Asher was totally overthinking things. As usual.

Asher didn't want to say all that though, so he thought for a few moments and then wrote, [You know, we could probably convince everyone to postpone the party a few days. On the grounds that everyone should have a chance to get to know each other first.]

~~
"Want an extra pair of hands?" James asked Matt, sliding off the table to go over to him. "Yeah, I bet Web's been collecting all your stuff from your pocket space. Maybe he sells it off as priceless artifacts or something."

Armin nodded. "peace, even if temporary, is a relief." He agreed, holding out a hand to her so they could walk.

---

[I like that idea. Honestly I think it's going to be overwhelming for a lot of us for a lot of reasons. Giving everyone a chance to process it all and figure out where they stand with each other after all this time, giving everyone who needs it a bit of privacy is certainly what i'll be petitioning for.]

---

Matt snorted. "Who'd want my junk?" He asked. "I think he drank all my beer though. Asshole." He didn't sound totally upset though, more amused. He grabbed one bottle and hobbled on one crutch back to the table. He only really NEEDED one crutch to get around anyway.

"Maybe he'll buy you a few rounds next time you see him in appology." Luka suggested.

Matt laughed. "Maybe." Then he sighed. "Web shouldn't get drunk though."

"Why not?" Luka asked.

"He gets depressing and morbid." Matt shook his head, his expression sober. "Of my siblings, Esk is the only vuagely fun drunk."

"He gets less.. prickly when he's drunk." Luka agreed.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, the barriers come down. " He slumped back into his seat, setting the bottle on the table and leaning his crutch against the table. "Most people's true selves come out more when they're drunk. Being drunk makes you like.. more honest or something."

[Yes, I know some of the more social people on the ship are looking forward to celebrating, which is understandable, but I think a lot of us will need a little more time to acclimate. The kids especially deserve a chance to get to know everyone before going to a Vestia-style party,] Asher wrote. [I can beg James to hold off on the big parties, you may have to do the same for the others, as I haven't been in contact with them.]

~~
James took the other crutch and the other bottles back to the table, although he wasn't sure so much booze was actually needed here.
"Let's hope Web didn't drink your missing beers then," he said, sitting on the table again. "We should get Esk drunk sometime, when the senior medics okay that, I mean. He's a nice drunk. He fought some bounty hunters when they were making fun of me once, it was sweet."
Okay, so that hadn't been exactly what happened, but hey, artistic license.

[I will try to restrain them.] Kay agreed.

---

Matt looked at James curiously. "He did?" So many stories huh?

Luka nodded. "I wouldn't say nice so much as... less defensive."

Matt snickered "Yeah he's a big pussy cat under all the bristles really. Just don't tell him I said that, he'll kneecap me."

[Thank you.] Asher smiled sadly and added, [We always made a good team. And here we are, holding back the overenthusiastic crew again. I like it.]

~~
"Tala calls him a nice young man sometimes, and he hasn't tried to hurt her yet," James mused. "Then again, maybe you can only get away with saying things like that when you're Tala."

He nodded. "Yeah, they were making fun of me cause I was a robot, so Esk told them to cut it out and got in a big fight with them for my honor. Cause at the time I still had the Laws in my brain, so I couldn't kick their butts myself. Oh, and Swarm was there, and he was protecting them too. Dude singlehandedly saved Swarm and made the bounty hunters shut up."
Hey, James liked to change the events of stories to suit his mood sometimes. Which he was doing right now. And he definitely didn't feel like mentioning Vicky.

Kay flinched a little as he wrote [just like old times.]
that hurt.

---

"That's amazing." Matt nodded, yep, he was happy to just believe James' stories, his retelling was way more interesting than actual reality. He preferred to believe the stories without question.

Luka frowned, she wasn't entirely sure that had ever happened and unlike Matt wasn't quite so willing to just believe it. "Why did he defend you?" She asked, genuinely curious. To be fair, she tended to avoid Esk, she'd only spoken to him a few times.

[Yeah, just like old times,] Asher replied. He wondered what Kay was thinking right now. After all, it hadn't been ten years for him. [It's going to be so good to see you,] he added, because he wasn't certain what else to say here.

~~
"Because he's a sweet drunk and he wanted to defend me from the bounty hunters' mean words," James told Luka earnestly. Deciding he should be a little bit honest though, he added, "Also cause they were insulting him to a teeny tiny bit, probably."

[I hope so.] Kay replied. He started to chew his lip. He was very anxious about this meeting.

---

Matt snorted and opened another two bottles, sliding one over to Luka.

Luka looked bemused, not sure what to believe of James' story.

Asher frowned a little at that. He'd never been especially good at reading people, and communicating by text didn't help, but he thought that must mean Kay was worrying.
[I realize probably nothing I'm saying is at all reassuring, and I'm sorry about that. I really am excited to see you though.] And he was also more than a bit terrified.

~~
James smiled serenely. All his stories were totally real, honest. "You know," he added, "When I first met Acus, he and Tala had to save me from a tsunami on the Beach Planet. It was terrifying. But Tala and Acus are really good swimmers, and they dragged me back to land safely."
He wondered idly whether Tala or Acus could actually swim at all. Hmm.

[As am I.] Kay replied. [Just anxious. It's a lot to process. It's only been a few months for me.]

---

Luka looked a bit flustered. "that never happened!" She protested.

Matt laughed and swigged his beer. "Should have, it's a way better story."

Luka frowned at Matt.

Matt gestured to her beer. "Drink, relax, just roll with it."

[It's very confusing. I know I keep forgetting it's been such a short time for you, even though I should be able to remember that,] Asher replied.

Asher had to keep reminding himself that he Kay had still been writing to each other pretty much every day during those months. Physically they'd been apart for a few months, but they'd still talked a lot. And then from one conversation to the next, everything had changed.
It was no wonder they were processing this reunion differently.

~~
James waved a hand at Luka's protests. "It's my story, and if I think the facts are a little better this way, then that's how I'll tell it." Clearly he'd decided rewriting history was the best way to deal with his problems for now. "What other pieces of history do you want to hear?"

Kooshie wrote:Ellie smiled at that. "No, I haven't seen a list of dragon holidays before. I guess the next one would probably be next month, in September, right? I wonder if that holiday is a good one."

~~
Asher hoped he hadn't accidentally said anything that could be taken the wrong way. He knew organics sometimes read waay too much into what was said. Then again, Kay had always been understanding, Asher reminded himself. Kay probably knew what Asher had and hadn't meant.
Yeah, Asher was totally overthinking things. As usual.

Asher didn't want to say all that though, so he thought for a few moments and then wrote, [You know, we could probably convince everyone to postpone the party a few days. On the grounds that everyone should have a chance to get to know each other first.]

~~
"Want an extra pair of hands?" James asked Matt, sliding off the table to go over to him. "Yeah, I bet Web's been collecting all your stuff from your pocket space. Maybe he sells it off as priceless artifacts or something."

Shane moved away from Ellie so he could shift back and take his tablet out to show her the list of months and the celebrations in each. "Here"

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Armin nodded. "peace, even if temporary, is a relief." He agreed, holding out a hand to her so they could walk.

Starr nodded, taking his hand to walk with him wherever they ended up going.

Ellie looked through the celebrations curiously. "I didn't know you guys had set up a calendar with all the celebration dates. That's so neat," she told Shane. "Feast of Dragons is top secret, huh? Very mysterious," she added, reading the description.

Armin happily led Starr on a walk.

---

Matt considered James' offer. "How about... hmm.. what other interesting things have happened to you guys before you met up with us?"

Luka sipped her drink, bemused more than anything else. At least it seemed to have cheered Matt up.

James thought about that. He hadn't actually been on the Silver Devil that long before they had met Vestia, so he had surprisingly few stories to work from. "Let's see.. well there was the time when Esk attacked me. He got mad because he thought Vicky was attracted to me, see. I tried to explain that she wasn't really because I'm not a brooding bad boy, but he was super jealous so he punched me a lot. Which broke his fist, because duh. So then I, being the wonderful guy I am, bandaged him up and offered him my forgiveness, and we became sorta friends after that."

Matt laughed. THAT definitely never happened. But it was hilarious.

Luka frowned. "Vicky was nuts." She sighed.

"Well she wanted to screw my brother so.. yeah.. probably." Matt joked.

Luka tried not to smile. "He's not THAT bad."

Matt smirked at her.

"not my type." Luka added hastily, shaking her head. Noooo way, nah uh.

Kooshie wrote:Ellie looked through the celebrations curiously. "I didn't know you guys had set up a calendar with all the celebration dates. That's so neat," she told Shane. "Feast of Dragons is top secret, huh? Very mysterious," she added, reading the description.

"Yeah, with all these elders free, we have been able to learn a lot of what used to be. The Feast of Dragons is kind of secret, it's a lot of coming of age and marriages and stuff like that, basically 'family' only." Shane agreed

~~~
Starr walked with Armin, knowing Vestia would alert her if Luna woke or Luna would. She was relaxed with him finally.

"Vicky was definitely crazy," James agreed. "She got mad at Esk for not being in love with her even though he always said he wasn't, so she punched him in the face and yelled at him. And she ran off to chill with Hytar for a while so... double crazy I guess."
He looked at Luka, he still hadn't had his suspicions about Rigel confirmed or denied yet, after all this time. But he bit them back again and said, "Yeah, Esk's a good guy, but... probably not a great romantic partner."

~~
"That's so nice," Ellie said. "Top secret holidays are the best. We had lots of Humanist holidays that were secret, it was fun." She smiled at Shane, "Which of the dragon holidays are you looking forward to, do you know yet?"