Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-One

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Luka made a face. "gross. Computer, regular clothes please." She looked relieved as the gown disappeared and she was just in her usual cargo pants and vest. "Who should we go annoy then?"

Kay frowned a little. [Tablets?] Confusing. He indicated Asher follow him into the room, running a hand through his ruffled up hair and rolling his shoulder which was still a bit stiff from sleeping in a cell all night.

Asher followed him in and closed the door. He pulled the tablet he had been handed earlier out of his pocket to show Kay. "They say we can use them. Apparently they got a whole cupboard full since they know tablets have a habit of getting broken around here." He watched Kay's movements with sympathy, they really needed to set up those calls now comfortably at some point.

Kay looked bewildered. [That was... kind of them.] He looked suspicious. Part of Matt's attempt to get on his good side? Were they stolen?

Kooshie wrote:"Then your dads will fix it up for you," Ellie told Danika, putting her hand gently over the little dragon like a blanket. "Your wing would hurt at first, but they can make it better. Remember, Kerr falls and gives himself owies all the time, but he always gets better."

Danika pressed her head against Ellie's hand then looked to the other dragons as they played. She thought about it a minute then flared her wings out to look at them. "Dad doesn't like flying either, he scared too" She said then looked up to Ellie again. "I feel that."

"Ellie and Shane were involved in buying the tablets, so I assume nothing was stolen and no ulterior motives were present," Asher said, guessing Kay's train of thought.

~~
"Your dad isn't a dragon though. Flying is in your, like, spiritual essence or something," Ellie told Danika.

Kay nodded slowly. Ellie maybe might go in for stealing stuff but Shane was generally sensible and mostly law abiding, well, in the sense he didn't steal stuff.

"Mom likes to fly, she wants all her forms to have wings." Danika said and looked to her wings again, licking the little scar she had.

Ellie nodded. "For Starr, flying is the awesomest thing. She's not scared of it, and you don't need to be either. You're a dragon, sweetie."

~~
Asher smiled. "They're good guys. Chaotic and unpredictable, but they mean well."

Kay nodded again. [True, despite their flaws, they do mean well. And spare tablets are always going to be useful. ]

Danika looked to Ellie then to the others again. Flying might be natural, but she was still scared of it. "I try" She said quietly.

Asher considered whether to bring up any of the other things that were on his mind just yet. The odd conversation last night with Danika, the just as odd conversation this morning with Ethan. He wasn't sure what to make of either one. "Danika told me something interesting last night while we were babysitting Heny's babies," he said after a moment, "she said she wanted to be humanoid like us."

~~
"Okay, do you want me to hold you the whole time?" Ellie asked her.

Kay tilted his head. [Well eventually she will be able to shift forms, just like Starr and Shane right?] Starr and Shane both spent most of their time in humanoid forms, for different reasons of course, but even so... [The books mentioned that they were likely to emulate their primary caregiver and being able to hide what they really are may keep them safer in the long run, but as with everything, it's her choice what form she wants to take. It's difficult because I don't really know how much of her desires are being influenced by some subconscious projection from me, or Starr. ] He looked troubled by that.

Asher nodded. "It's not unexpected for her to want to look more like us. I always look humanoid, and you and Starr have plenty of reasons to stay in humanoid form. I'm just a bit concerned that she'll grow up thinking there's something wrong with looking like a dragon, which would be unfortunate. I told her it's okay to use whichever form she prefers, and that humanoid and dragon are both good, I'm not convinced she agrees though."
He didn't want his daughter to be insecure about her species. He'd gone through that himself, and it was no fun at all.

Kay nodded. [Hopefully Starr can help with that, i'm not exactly the best person to talk about embracing your true form and I fear my own issues might somewhat... detract from any attempts to convince her] He looked grim. [At least everyone reacts to her with positivity rather than recoiling in horror, that should help.] He smiled weakly. Yeah, he was well aware he was terrifying and bizarre to look at and it freaked people out. At least dragons were just flat out cute.

Danika swallowed and nodded, looking to Ellie again "No let go"

Asher smiled softly. "We'll do our best to make sure she knows it's good to be a dragon. At least she gets everyone's telepathic adoration, that must be encouraging."

~~
Ellie picked up Danika, slowly lifting her to table height. "I'm not gonna let go, you're safe."

Kay nodded. [Ellie's thoughts particularly.] He managed a weak smile.

Asher laughed. "That's very true. Those three dragons have a very enthusiastic aunt."

Kay nodded. [She adores Star Dragons, specifically Star Dragons. It's a little odd.] He shook his head and checked his reflection to make sure his hair wasn't sticking up any longer.
Satisfied he didnt look totally ridiculous and like he'd just woken up he looked back to Asher. [Is Starr awake yet?]

"Who knows, maybe she has a bit of star dragon in her DNA," Asher joked. "I don't think Starr's up yet, I haven't seen her today, and Matt and Ellie didn't mention seeing her either. She must have had quite a busy night. Or she's tapped into her people's rage again, but I doubt she did anything that would trigger that last night."

[I hope not.] Kay shuddered, all that anger was not a good thing.

"It's unlikely, but I can check on her if she's not up in an hour or two," Asher said. "Last time we were able to wake her up, I'm sure we can do it again." And not get smote, hopefully. "I'm sure she's enjoying a break from being a mother to triplets, too."

Kay nodded. [Let's hope it's just exhaustion. ] He glanced to the door. [We should probably get back to work, in case the hungover people start crawling out of bed late.] He smiled softly.

Asher smiled. "Yes, maybe we should." He considered for a moment before adding, "By the way, when Ethan stopped by earlier, it wasn't just to drop off books."

Kay looked wary. [What did he want?] He assumed it was something along the lines of keep that lunatic away from me, right? He looked pained.

"He said he wanted to talk to you sometime," Asher said. "He specified 'civilly', so he seems to mean well." He shook his head, unsure. He didn't know how much they should trust Ethan, every time he considered it, he remembered Ethan helping Kaylr to torture people, and showing every sign of enjoying it.

Kay frowned, looking a little uneasy. Unlike Asher he wasn't really scared of Ethan, he couldn't quite bring himself to be, if anything he felt weirdly sorry for him. It hurt to see someone who looked so like someone you loved so broken and to know that someone who looked just like YOU was responsible for so much of that. [Why?]