Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Three

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"You have a tablet at least, right?" Asher asked Dawn.

(Yeah, lol, flip a coin or something, maybe a D3 die on the internet?)

(Sure thing. Uh, I assume Matt will start getting better in a few days and be able to move slightly. Esk's gonna be a week or so before he's at a level it's safe.. ish.. for surgery. If I remember correctly, I was wiped out for like 3 days completely unable to function and several weeks after losing 880ml. He's lost more than that, so could be a good few months before he's back to normal. But he just needs to be healthy "enough" for surgery. Shall we fudge it to 10 days or so? And yeah, wrap up Merith's trial. Maybe just have him imprisoned for x amount of time blah blah rehabilitation if possible. So everyone doesn't feel totally depressed hahaha)

(Okay, that makes sense. Merith's trial will probably be completed in about a week--maybe two--, once things are less hectic. Since your guys seem like they'll be the first thing on the to-do list, when would you like to skip to?)

(I don't mind, maybe skip forward a week or two and have esk being prepped for surgery and Matt in a wheelchair? then we'll be at the same point as the tiger timeline right? they were a few weeks ahead?)

(Sounds good to me! Want me to cook up a post if Starr's cool with it?)

(go for it!)

(I assume Starr is cool with this length of a timeskip, so I'm gonna post this now)

TIMESKIP - MID APRIL (day 45 or so at the Guild)

The Guild, and Vestia's crew, were slowly recovering from the aftermath of the Family's attack. Around the city, shops were beginning to reopen as their evacuated owners returned, the wounded tested their new prostheses and tried to adjust, the unwounded tried to help wherever they could, the rescued slaves of the Family tried to figure out where the heck they were and what they were going to do now, and thousands of people of every description called upon their various beliefs to honor and mourn those who had fallen in battle.

Once the Guild was at least somewhat returned to order, the Inquisitors called for the completion of Merith's trial, so that he could be sentenced properly, since the trial had been so rudely interrupted before. Everyone from the case (who hadn't been killed in battle) was called back together, and after many tedious hours of deliberation, the Inquisitors sentenced Merith to many, many decades of community service and imprisonment, and promised to attempt to have him cured of his disease and addiction. It was about as good a deal as Merith could hope to get.

The people who had been so vocal in their hatred of Merith before were still pretty tired, so the protests weren't as loud or scary as before.

Inari's Followers were still in a state of maniacal fury on their asteroid. They were well contained though, and the Guild was searching to find Inari if they could.

~~
Ellie remained loyally by Matt's side when she could, although she also had to do her job in Hydroponics, and sometimes she did need time to herself. But she figured that Matt needed her, and so she tried her hardest to be there for him. She really seemed to be doing okay herself, and had healed up nicely from her battle injuries.

She was a little bummed that she was going to be dead many, many decades before Merith was released, but by now she was starting to think he deserved it anyway for what he'd done.

~~
Asher did his very best to act like his usual, cheerful self, but he was still struggling to cope with this new situation. For someone who had spent his whole life being told he was only as valuable as the work he could do, suddenly not being able to do the work he was good at was a bitter pill to swallow. He tried desperately to find work he could still do while in a wheelchair, and spent some time with Hewitt, and tried to not be too clingy toward Kay, even though he wanted to. He really missed Danika as well, which didn't help at all.

He wrote a letter to the family of his spotter who had died during the battle, and also tried to work out more details of his plan to free the androids.

He didn't mind Merith's sentence, it seemed fair to him and it didn't involve any executions, thank goodness.

~~
James continued to be surprisingly useful, helping around the med bay and trying to chat with the wounded, including trying to cheer up Esk a couple times, which probably didn't go so well. He wrenched his damaged arm a couple of times and had to have Mourn repair it, but mostly he was okay, and seemed to have coped well with the psychological effects of the battle. He spent a fair bit of time with Skye, and some more with Dawn. He also tried to help Asher, because he knew Asher well enough to see when he was faking his positive attitude.

He was mad that Merith hadn't gotten the death sentence.

Armin spent a great deal of time at his alter, praying for the safe return of their friends. He took to travelling into the city more and more, trying to help wherever he could.
Some of this was him simply wanting to help and feeling guilty he couldn't be part of the fight, another was because he wanted a distraction. He missed Starr, and Sawna, and all the others and he was desperately worried for the Queen of Star Dragons. She was a near god-like being to his culture, her safety and wellbeing was especially important and above all that, she was his friend.

It was far too quiet in his shop without the cafe open and he didn't feel like he could do much on board vestia, and so out into the guild he went, to offer any assistance possible to any who would take it.

He tried not to think too hard on Merith, he had faith it was for the best.

---

Mourn and the random metalworker he'd roped into helping managed to get together a working casing for Amity, but Mourn was still trying to put the little drone together again.
Integrating old systems with custom built casing was more difficult than he'd anticipated and getting the sensors neccisary to give Amity eyes, ears and a form was proving quite a bit more tricky than he'd anticipated.
He simply didn't have the fine motor skills to construct new holographic projectors, they were so fiddly and had to be so precise. He'd need to get Aketi help and the engineers stranded here didn't seem overly willing to help with a host drone. Mourn suspected they didn't know how to fix him either.

Mourn hated not being able to do something, so he sulked. In a box, in his room, with a lot of canned tuna.

---

Hewitt recovered mostly, the bullet holes slowly closing over and his leaves looking healthier.
He enjoyed his chess matches with Asher but for the most part didn't involve himself in most of the crew's affairs.
He was looking forward to returning home, he was already working on the speech he'd give the representatives of the Cruise Line.

But whether he'd admit it or not, he missed Ethan and Amity. He'd given up asking Mourn about the drone, Mourn just got grumpy and told him to go away and the novelty of getting a rise out of the felid had worn off on about day 4.

---

Matt was able to sit up at least, and move a little, but he still couldn't walk.
He took particular delight however in proving he could still wiggle his toes.
For some reason that amused him.

He'd been pleased with Merith's trial result, it seemed fitting. Locked away because he was a dangerous lunatic and serving time for his crimes, it felt fair and just.
It improved his mood rather a lot.

But he missed Thalia terribly and being restricted as he was really WAS getting him down. He was doing a remarkably good job of hiding it, but cracks were starting to show.
He was frustrated and grumpy during any physio appointments with Kay, and even though a few of these involved the pools, even that wasn't enough to stop him snapping at his brother over tiny stupid things.

He was trying so hard to keep it together, but there was a limit to how well he could act like everything was fine.

---

Kay worked hard, he refused to take time off but it was clear he appreciated the help from James and Asher, particularly James who seemed to actually be pulling his weight.

The news of Merith's punishment had honestly been a relief. A chance of rehabilitation was, in Kay's mind, the best outcome they could have gotten here. It was unrealistic to expect the guild to just let him walk free after everything he'd done. At least they weren't going to kill him and maybe, maybe one day he'd be well and sane again and get a chance at a decent life. It was reassuring to believe Merith had a future.

He let James take most of Esk's checkups for his own sanity though, though he told James it was because Esk preferred someone he considered crew to his annoying older brother.

He was trying desperately to be there for Asher as well, but truthfully, despite having watched people go through this whole coming to terms with a disability process before, he still didn't really know how to help.
He tried just pretending like it wasn't an issue, because he felt like Asher would hate for him to coddle him. But then he fretted that made him seem like he didn't care or wasn't acknowledging it and arghhh, what did you say or do when your partner was struggling like this?
He had no idea.

He missed Danika too, desperately and feared the worst. The Imperium wasn't a good place, and how were they supposed to contact them with Matt unable to shape space? How would they let them know they were alive, and that they were coming to get them? How would the kids be able to tell Vestia they were fine?

And what of Starr?

So he worked, and worked, and found even more work to do even if it didn't fall under his responsibility.
He took over Matt's job mopping floors, cleaning down surfaces and brought people breakfast even though the bots could do that perfectly fine. He just NEEDED distractions and keeping busy gave him distractions.

---

Esk was miserable. Much like Asher, he'd lived his entire life feeling like he had to make himself USEFUL. If he wasn't useful he was gotten rid of, that was his experience and right now he felt about as useless as anyone could get.

He was strong enough to move around at least, but he couldn't eat much due to the intense nausea that the medics told him was a normal side effect of liver damage. He was constantly exhausted, he felt weak and his temper was more frayed than ever.

He'd grown to resent people visiting, because it made him feel like an invalid. He'd convinced himself that every time Dawn came to see him it was because she felt sorry for him and that made him angry and annoyed. He saw pity in her eyes even when there was none, his insecurities and feelings of helplessness making him borderline delusional and more antisocial than ever.

He tried to avoid his room because it just depressed him. Instead he spent a lot of time in quiet parts of the ship just staring out into space. He hadn't drawn anything in weeks, he just couldn't bring himself to pick up a pencil.

Kay made the mistake at his final checkup to suggest Esk might be depressed and Esk had punched him.
After that Kay had given up trying to talk to his brother and decided it was safer to leave him in the care of James, who had more patience for Esk's crap and couldn't get hurt if he flew into another completely irrational rage.

Kay had however found a surgeon who had, as Esk had suggested, become suddenly more available after a large sum of credits had been offered.

Esk was still sick, his blood count was going to take months to recover but he was, for the time being at least, stable enough for surgery.
Besides, Kay suspected that his brother's mental health was somewhat more important and waiting any longer was going to result in someone getting hurt.

He really hoped he wouldn't regret this decision.

Dawn had gotten better after a few days of rest and good food. She tried to visit Esk and the others and did what she could to keep their spirits up, but even she could see how this many injured was fraying on everyone. She started spending more time at the holodeck, working on a program there with Vestia so that Matt could pretend to be moving like normal, even if he couldn't move himself. It might even work for Asher if the android wanted to give it a try. It was a kind of anti-gravity with the visuals tilted so that the person could be laying immobile and 'move' around the space given. (kind of like "Avatar") Dawn didn't know what to do for Esk though, she had gone so far as to point out that there was no work for any of them until the other crew returned anyway.
~~~
Skye helped where she could, but for one, she didn't know how to deal with Esk or Asher; and with Kay seeking sistractions, she kind of felt in the way, so she flew around the city, helping there and spending time with Orel when she could.

Orel was recovering well from his wing injury, the bullet wound had closed and he was able to fly short distances, albeit with a fair bit of pain. He had certainly appreciated Skye's company, not just because she was hot and he had trouble stopping himself from looking at her, but also because she was smart and kind, and willing to listen when he started telling her about his computer projects. It was nice to have a sort-of girlfriend, even if she did believe blasphemous things.

His parents liked Skye, but they weren't really pleased about this.

~~
James was currently in the med bay, playing a game on his tablet. These days he liked to stay near the med bay in case he was needed, even though he was getting kind of sick of the med bay, and he didn't find Kay and his obsessive work ethic anywhere near as endearing as Asher did. Ah well, he was needed as a medic, and he was going to step up and do his part, just like all the glorious movie protagonists named James had done. It was his destiny.

~~
Ellie was probably wherever Matt was. She seemed to have become his personal assistant.

~~
Asher was in the library, researching Terran Imperial Law. It wasn't fun, but it was informative, and he wasn't getting in anyone's way, and maybe it'd help him out when he was freeing his people. One of Vestia's bots had gotten a lot of books down for him, and he had them all set on a study table.

Kay had found somewhere relatively out of the way to finish filling in the forms he needed to fill in for surgery and working up the courage to ask his younger brother to sign the consent form.

--

Matt felt a little guilty about Ellie being around all the time, so he was trying not to be super needy and actually be considerate.

Much as he'd talked about wheelchair racing though, his heart wasn't much in it.

He was in one of the rec rooms currently, having found, of all things,a puzzle to do. It had a brightly coloured happy rabbit chasing a fawn, it was rather ridiculous. He needed ridiculous.

---

Ellie didn't seem to mind spending a ton of time with Matt. Hey, they both had missing significant others, they might as well hang out. She helped him with the puzzle a bit, but tried to not take over completely. Her eyesight was way better than his, so that was tricky.

Dawn wandered around the ship, just trying to find something to do now that she was better. Eventually she would end up at the med bay, looking for something to do to distract herself.

Matt was wearing his glasses at least, he still hadn't gotten around to getting a proper prescription filled and it hadn't occurred to him the guild could probably fix his vision with their magic crap anyway. Would he take them up on that though? hmm, probably not. He was kinda used to being half blind.

"You know, this is a really complicated puzzle for such a cute child friendly image." he remarked. 500 pieces seemed excessive for a kid's puzzle. So who the heck was this aimed at?
"it.. IS kid friendly right?" He started to doubt himself.

James looked up when Dawn came in, and smiled. "Yo there, Dawn. What's up? Need a band-aid?"

~~
Ellie peered at the puzzle suspiciously. "Do you think it has inappropriate hidden pictures in it?" she asked Matt.

Matt laughed. "oh man, that'd be so twisted! Vestia, have you been ordering subtly profane puzzles?"

"Umm," Vestia said. "If I did, why would I tell you guys?"

Ellie burst into giggles.

Dawn shook her head and smiled "No, just looking for something to do, I'm bored." She replied then shrugged "Want to help me find a medic test?"

"A medic test?" James asked curiously. "You mean so you can get a license?" He blinked. "You do weird things when you're bored, Dawn."

Matt laughed "Well, the kids aren't getting any puzzles then." He peered suspiciously at the partly completed puzzle. "You fiend Vestia."

"From now on, the kids are banned from using puzzles," Ellie agreed. She looked at the puzzle very carefully, "I really don't see anything yet. If there's something here, it's so sneaky."

Dawn nodded then flushed and looked down. "I need the license to become a doctor and I have the time now since I can't do much else."

"Ah." James nodded. "Well I guess if getting a license is what you wanna do, then that's great." He added, "I'm not sure exactly when Esk is gonna be going into surgery. We might wanna check with Kay about that before you take any tests."

Dawn nodded and found a seat "It is something I want to do and I am well enough now, but yeah, I don't want to be taking a test while Esk is in surgery, I wouldn't be able to focus."

James nodded. "For now, I guess we'll need something else to do, huh?"

Dawn nodded and smiled a little at him "Yeah, I'm well enough to go back on the roster to give all you some help and a bit of a break."

"Good. The other medics are such workaholics, it's tiring to watch them." Also James had noticed Asher's quiet gloom, and that was tiring to see too. He'd like to spend more time around Dawn, she might be a workaholic, but at least she wasn't his depressed brother. "It's good to have you back."