Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Four

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Dawn chuckled and shook her head a little "I don't need a party." She said softly, chuckling.

~~~
Skye looked to the door then came over to open it "Mourn? What's up?"

James sighed. "Yeah. Hopefully Hytar will be able to slaughter those monsters for us. They deserve to die, every last miserable one of them."

Skye nodded then shrugged a little "Maybe we will be able to help, who knows."

"I hope so. I am so sick of people not understanding that people aren't property," James said. He sighed. "Anyway. Wanna do something to try and forget how crappy people are for a bit?"

Kay nodded. [I also worry for her new hatchling, I don't know at what point they start being able to detect telepathic projections but from all Starr has said, it sounds like it starts before they even hatch. That child has enough problems without that as well. ] He frowned, unsure how any of the crew would be able to suppress their conflicted feelings around that child. Poor kid, it wasn't their fault.
He chewed his lip. [Perhaps this is something you should discuss with her. You and Starr are basically family, and you're far gentler than I can be anyway. If we can obtain something to block her telepathy, it may help her as well. Being able to block out all our anger at what's happened may be helpful.] He knew Esk had some anti magic cuffs but he didn't like the thought of cuffing Starr, that just seemed utterly inappropriate. Was she in a good enough state to repair that bracelet though?

Asher frowned at the mention of her hatchling. "That's true, this is all going to be very complicated for the baby. Another issue is that young star dragons need a telepathic link to a parent in order to survive, don't they? So the baby will need to be able to bond to someone if her mind is blocked off." He was pretty sure Starr wouldn't want to have a surrogate parent raise the child instead, hmm. "Yes, I'll bring this up to her after she's rested. She understands the situation better than we do, so maybe she'll think of a good solution to this."

"Like what?" Skye asked curiously as she looked to James.

James tried to think of something good to do. "At some point before we leave, I gotta go to the android dealership and visit my old buddies, but that can probably wait. We can go to the city though, or do something on the holodeck, or find someone drunk on the beach to pick a fight with... scratch that last one, that's a crap idea."

Kay nodded. [We could block the telepathy of everyone else, but it does seem less efficient an option.] Hmm, awkward. [Let's let her rest, we can tackle this in the morning. ] He rubbed his face, this was so difficult. Eugh.

"Yes, we don't need to solve all the problems at once," Asher agreed. "Once she's rested up, that's when we can start figuring this out." He looked up at Kay, poor guy looked just as tired and unhappy as he felt. "Maybe we should get out of the med bay for a while. We've done what we can for now, I don't think anyone could fault us for wanting a change of scenery."

Kay nodded. [Good idea. ] He paused. [It's... probably not a great idea to go out there is it? Not after last time.] Yeah, he didn't much want to run into Scott again. That just sounded like a great way to get everyone in trouble.

Asher sighed. "Probably not a good idea, no. I'd rather not have an overly curious android dealer asking me questions I'd rather not answer." Trying for humor he added, "And I'm pretty sure wheelchairs don't handle well on beaches. I think we'd better find something to do here on the ship."

Kay smiled softly at the last part and nodded. [I think a break would be nice. So let's get out of here before someone stumbles in bleeding.]

Asher turned off the computer and wheeled toward the door. "We'll have to avoid everyone, or they'll find us and bleed all over the place anyway. And we don't want that." Whoo, half-hearted humor.

Kay hurried after Asher. [Then we best go somewhere far away and very private.]

Kooshie wrote:James tried to think of something good to do. "At some point before we leave, I gotta go to the android dealership and visit my old buddies, but that can probably wait. We can go to the city though, or do something on the holodeck, or find someone drunk on the beach to pick a fight with... scratch that last one, that's a crap idea."

Skye chuckled at that then shrugged "Why not go to that shop?" She asked curiously. She wouldn't mind that.

"If we go to the top level, someone will crash their ship on our skylight, so we can't go there," Asher said. "Maybe one of Vestia's abandoned gardens would be good, or one of those cafes."

~~
"You don't think going to a shop where they sell people is freaky as all heck after the day we've had?" James said. "Cause you know, I totally get if you think it is."

Kay nodded. [As long as it's far far away from anyone else and all their problems.] Yeah maybe that was super selfish, but he just couldn't deal with any more other people problems today. He needed to sort out his feelings about Starr's situation first damnit.

Skye shook her head then shrugged "I don't know. It may be weird, but it is a chance for you to see some old friends, and maybe to be able to buy one or another of them so they can be free too."

Asher nodded, and led Kay to one of the teleporters. He beamed them up to a quiet level where there were lots of furnished shops and cafes, just waiting to be sat in. "This should be a safe spot," he said.

~~
James nodded. "Okay, if you're okay with going there, we might as well," he said, managing a smile. "It'll be nice to get out of the ship, at least."

Skye nodded and turned to go back outside again. Yeah, not being on the ship with her emotions scattered was good.

James followed Skye out into the spaceport. "Let's hope the sky isn't as huge as last time I was here."

(To the beach planet!)

Kay nodded, yes, this looked good. [one day we really need to make a proper map of Vestia, but I suspect she'd find a way to rearrange things just to spite us.]

"I'm sure she wouldn't cooperate with an organized attempt to map her," Asher agreed, "this ship does like to have her secrets." He spotted a shop with a nice couch. "Want to just sit for a while, or would you rather keep moving?"

Kay nodded. [Let's sit. ] he did so, curling his feet under himself and looking around. Vestia had so many secret places, so much that had never been used. It was on one hand sort of sad to see things so empty, but on the other hand, it meant there was always somewhere to get away from everyone and everything else.

Asher nodded. Just sitting sounded good to him. Deciding he wanted to commit to being here a while, he transferred himself from his wheelchair to the couch. Practice had made getting out of his wheelchair easier at least, and now he could do it reasonably quickly.
"I do hope everyone can avoid getting in trouble for a while," he said. "That would be nice."

Kay smiled softly as Asher hauled himself out of his chair. He really was getting good at that. Massive upper body strength helped right? He nodded. [Here's hoping they have the sense to take their feelings out in productive manner. ] Mm he didn't much want to have to deal with people knocking themselves out hitting punching bags too hard or going jousting or something equally foolish.

"I fully expect to be handing out painkillers for hangovers in the morning," Asher said, sighing. "Hopefully they can avoid brawls though, that'd be nice." Knowing these guys, you couldn't expect too much though. "At least we're sober."