Upon Vestia: Chapter TWENTY

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Heny stood there and listened as the two spoke, her heart beat rising. She had visited him a couple of times but found it too painful with eveything going on.

Tala shook her head a few times, earring swinging with the movement. She rubbed her eyes, scratched behind one ear, stood up, swishing her tail, and apparently finally got her mind working fully. Greetings, Kay! Is it at last the light of day that greets us?

~~
"Shhhhh," Ellie said again, "Noises hurt."

Kay nodded. Can you let me out?

---

"Oh dear, perhaps isolation would be preferable?" Amity suggested, STILL not keeping his voice down. He didn't really seem to get it. But he made the coffee.
Sawna could deal with the money, she seemed to have a better grasp of how the till worked

Most certainly, Tala opened the cell door and stood aside for Kay. I do hope you are not attempting to deceive me so you may attack me. Her ears wiggled. She was joking.

~~
Ellie took the coffee with a mutter of gratitude and stumbled over to a table, not caring about her money at this point anyway. "Don't you know how to talk quietly?" she muttered to Amity.

Kay didn't look overly amused, he just looked tired. Thank you. He gathered his things and left the cell. It was a relief to be out of the cage.

Tala nodded and went to get her tray from dinner last night to return. Will you join me in the consumption of breakfast, or shall I return your tray as well?

Kay considered that, he was pretty hungry. He nodded slowly and forced a weak smile.

Tala nodded, pleased. She headed off toward the cafeteria, obviously expecting Kay to follow. She didn't seem to notice his hesitance, caring about peoples' feelings wasn't one of her greatest talents.

Kay headed after her, clutching his tablet to his chest and trying to ignore the pain in his neck. Next time he'd figure out a more comfortable bed, yep.

Tala lead the way into the cafeteria and left her tray on the counter, then went rooting in a fridge for vegetables, which she put on a large plate and started eating raw. She didn't feel like having cooked food this morning.

Kay grabbed whatever was already prepared, making himself a cup of coffee too and finding somewhere to sit and blearily eat.

You look half dead, Tala remarked. Perhaps you should have had a pillow. She kept eating.

Kay smiled weakly. It isn't easy sleeping in a cell. Not to mention worrying about everyone all night, dealing with his brother, eugh.

I suppose not. I was once arrested for parttaking in a brawl, I did not rest well in the cell that night, Tala said understandingly. She efficiently shoveled food into her mouth, chewing busily. Guard duty was hard work, even if you did sleep for most of your shift.

Matt always manages it, I don't know how but he can sleep soundly just about anywhere. It's uncanny. Kay smiled a genuine smile this time. I suppose he's had a lot of practice sleeping in cells though. He ate slowly, not savoring so much as trying to keep his energy from lulling completely. The last thing he wanted was to pass out into his toast and eggs.

Matt has such a deep love of thievery, it is most unfortunate for him he is so often caught, Tala looked amused. Perhaps being drunk helps one to sleep well.

Sawna had taken the money and brought the change over to Ellie and sat beside her. "Will you let me help you?" She asked gently.

Ellie eyed the change, confused. The idea of getting money back didn't make much sense to her right now, nor did Sawna's offer of help. She took a careful sip of coffee to see if her stomach could handle it, then looked at Sawna again. "What?"

"I can make the pain stop, if you wish." Sawna said gently.

Oh, now it was starting to come together. Right, Sawna had healing magic, and it was really really good. "Yes please," Ellie mumbled, setting down her coffee. This hangover was unusually nasty.

Amity just watched all this, completely clueless about what was going on.

---

Kay nodded. I wouldn't know. I try to avoid getting drunk. He stared down at his food. I'm an extremely undignified drunk. He admitted, shaking his head slowly. Matt just.. I don't know, doesn't seem to care. He'll eat anything, sleep anywhere. I think i've become far too accustomed to being comfortable.

Web found the cafeteria, silently congratulating himself on not getting horribly lost.
He smiled when he saw Kay.

Kay nodded vaguely.

Tala snorted. Matt is a pragmatic young man. She looked up at Web curiously. "You do not smell like Matt," she informed him, "Are you an impostor?"

Web looked a bit bewildered. "I hope not." He smiled and folded his hands, bowing his head politely. "I'm Web."

Twins Kay reminded Tala. He fiddled with his tablet and wrote [How was the party?]

Web sat down. "Not bad. Had a talk with er... Ethan?"

Kay tensed slightly.

Web looked quizzical. "What's that about?"

Kay shook his head. [It's complicated.]

Web looked bemused.

[Not THAT sort of complicated. ] Kay glared. [It's just a long story and I don't much want to go into it right now. ]

"I get the impression there's an awful lot of long stories you guys don't want to talk about." Web mused. He shook his head. "I won't force the issue. "

Kay looked grateful. [I'm sorry.]

Web shook his head again. "Look, the way I see it, if you want to tell me something you'll tell me. Just remember that I DO care about you all and I DO worry."

Kay frowned, nodding slowly.

Web turned to Tala. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Tala blinked at that odd exchange. She only caught Web's half of it, which made it even more cryptic. "I thought you and Ethan were on decent terms," she said to Kay, puzzled. She nodded to Web, "Ah yes, Web! I did not expect you although I had heard you were here."

Web nodded. "Yes, it sounds like leaving may be somewhat more complicated than I anticipated. I just hope my scribes can handle things without me for a few more days." He smiled softly, he had every faith in those scribes to hold the fort.

Kay shrugged at Tala's question. Things are always going to be difficult given his history. He didn't mention the whole altercation the previous afternoon though, best to just pretend that didn't happen.
Ahem.

"What do you mean by smell?" Web asked Tala, curious. "What does Matt smell like?"

[Alcohol and cleaning products?] Kay suggested.

"We are most pleased to have you here," Tala said politely, taking another forkful of vegetables. She tilted her head at Kay's explanation, still puzzled. It seemed more like Ethan's problem than Kay's, so why was Kay worrying about it? Oh well, weird humanoids and their feelings, she'd never really understand.
"You smell of earth, Matt smells of chemicals, perhaps from the swimming pool or from his excursions with the small robots," Tala said. "And you must eat different meat, it effects your smell."

Sawna smiled and reached over to touch Ellie's forehead, closing her eyes and taking the pain away then removing her hand. "How's that?"

Ellie gasped as the horrible throbbing in her brain faded away. Suddenly she could actually think again, whoa! And the lights didn't seem so bright any more. "Wow, Sawna. You're a miracle worker!" She said delightedly. She looked at the money Sawna had brought back, "It's okay, you can totally keep the change."