Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Eight

First topic message reminder :

"Cause Esk is lazy and he wants someone to wait on Dawn, even though he has a massive crush on her and could wait on her himself," James grumbled. "At least that's what I assume was his motivation," he amended. "Your brother is weird. So Dawn's probably okay and not infected, that's good at least."

Kay shook his head, looking grim [I've asked a vavare doctor to come visit tomorrow morning, but whether it's at all practical for them to stay or if they'll simply have some information for us I don't know.]

---

Esk was on another floor, oblivious to all this nonsense and rather content to remain so. He was sketching, feet up on a table in an abandoned coffee shop or something.

Starr waved and headed out to go to a rec room. She wanted to be findable if anyone needed her for anything.7

"Great." James sighed. "Well let's hope they can help us a ton, cause I'm not sure I'm qualified to help with a vavare molt, even if I'm just helping out. And you guys are kinda... not super able to help out, no offense. Needing a breathing apparatus or a wheelchair is kinda... not ideal for emergency situations."

Asher nodded. "We know. We're thinking of having Vestia stay here on Terra until the molt is over, so that hopefully we'll have access to better medical help for Armin."

James frowned, then nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. If this doctor guy can't help much, we should totally keep looking for someone."

~~
Ellie found Esk, poking her head into the shop where he was. "Hey Esk! How's life?" She looked as enthusiastic as ever, although not quite as energetic. She was tired from the tour.

Esk barely restrained a flinch at Ellie's sudden interruption, glowering at her. "What do you want?" He sounded disinterest and rather like he'd sooner she was anywhere but here.

Shane would stay with Hytar until he left the ship, then go to eat something

Ellie hesitated slightly at Esk's glare, but didn't leave. "What are you drawing? Also are you going to the meeting tonight?"

~~
Tala eventually left the dragons to settle into their new home, and went to eat. "Greetings, Shane," she said. "How fare you?"

Shane looked to RTala and smiled at hey. "Hey Tale, I'm alright, how are you?"

Esk's expression soured even more and he closed the sketch book. "What do you want?" he repeated.

---

Kay nodded to James. [We'll do everything we can.]

"I am well. It is gladdening to be aboard this ship again," Tala said. "I helped the dragons to settle in, and now am most hungry. What have you done upon our return?"

~~
"I asked you a question, man. What do you think I want?" Ellie asked. She folded her arms. Man, Esk was so grumpy.
...Maybe because she'd rudely barged in on him, but she wasn't going to admit that to herself yet.

~~
"Yeah. We'll keep Armin safe," James agreed. He smiled suddenly, "Oh! By the way, we got my shoulder fixed! And one of the new androids used to work at a hospital, so maybe she can help us here in the med bay. In case you needed some good news." He just assumed Asher had told Kay about the new androids already.

"Ellie wanted to give Hytar a tour, so I went with them to keep an eye on him.

"To annoy me?" Esk snarked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Shouldn't you be off making doe eyes at Shane and wishing he'd actually show you any physical affection?"

---

Kay hesitated. [New... androids? What new androids?] Had Mourn been allowed out alone again?

Tala snorted softly. "That must have been amusing. Did Hytar not grow tired of the ceaseless commentary?" Tala would totally have gotten bored, she knew.

~~
Ellie glared at Esk. That was a low blow, grrr. "I asked you a question! And guess what? At least I CAN touch people if I want to, unlike YOU."

~~
James blinked. "You didn't tell him?"

Asher smiled wryly. "We were a bit busy looking up vavare medics and researching, you know."

"Ah." James nodded, that did make sense. "While we were getting my shoulder fixed, Helen decided to buy all the androids at the shop. They're Terran Uniteds, like us, only different manufacturer. They seem nice."

"How many are there?" Asher asked warily.

"Four of them. It's okay, they don't outnumber us," James said brightly. "So yeah, new medic to help out around here, maybe! That'll be nice."

"He seemed to like it actually" Shane said then shrugged a little.

"Excellent. Do you know when the meeting is, when we decide what to hire Hytar for?" Tala asked.

Kay looked a little surprised, then nodded slowly. [Have they been subjected to Mourn's enthusiasm yet?] He asked. Ahh Mourn, no doubt eager as anything to get into more android's code. That guy was weird.

---

Esk leaned back in his chair, sour look not fading. One low blow deserved another sure, but he forced himself not to react just so she wouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing she'd hit a nerve.
He grit his teeth instead.
"No." He answered simply. "I'm not going to the damn meeting. Not unless Rigel tells me I have to."

"Not yet. I had the other androids show them around though, I'm sure a visit to Mourn will be part of the tour," James said with a laugh. "Wonder how long it'll take him to break into their brains. The new code might be an actual challenge for him for once." He looked amused.

Asher shook his head. "They're in for an interesting adventure, being here. I hope they settle in well."

"They will. United androids are a snobby bunch, but they're not that different from the rest of us." James smiled slightly, "So when's this vavare doctor coming by? And how often are we going to be visiting Armin until then?"

~~
Ellie looked disappointed when Esk didn't visibly react to the jab. Nope, she had no control over her emotions really, they all pretty much showed on her face. "Well okay then. I guess I'll leave you to your snit," she said grumpily. She huffed and turned to head for the door. "You never told me what you were drawing."

Kay looked a bit bewildered, he had no idea what made one lot of androids different from another or somehow snobby, but then, James was just a bit odd wasn't he?
[Maybe it would be kind to let them settle in before any... brain surgery, so to speak.] He shook his head, poor androids, it can't have been easy to adapt to sudden freedom being well, forced upon you.
[I'd suggest daily checks on Armin, perhaps arrange a regular visit so he can anticipate one of us? The doctor should be here for 9am]

---

Esk smirked as Ellie turned away. "No, I didn't." He hesitated, he still wanted to know why the hell she'd come looking for him. it was weird. "You didn't come here to ask that, or to ask about the meeting, you could have gotten Vestia to do that one." He mused aloud, frowning a little. "Why ARE you here Ellie? What do you actually want?"

Asher gave James a stern look. "Don't go stereotyping the new guys. We're all a family here."

James looked sheepish. "Right. Sorry."

"They accuse us of forgetting they exist, we accuse them of being snobby. It's exactly as dumb as it sounds," Asher explained briefly to Kay, shaking his head resignedly. Yeah, robot-robot racism was a thing too. Oops.

James still looked sheepish. "Yeah, it is pretty dumb." Returning to the topic at hand, he nodded. "Okay, one visit a day sounds good. Maybe even twice daily? I'm not sure how fast his condition is supposed to change, are you?"

~~
Ellie frowned. She wasn't entirely sure honestly. Huh. "I met Hytar earlier today. He was... kinda less evil seeming than I thought. It was weird," she said. "I mean I know not to trust him, and he looks evil, but it was still weird."

Kay shook his head. [There isn't much detailed information available, I imagine they didn't much want to broadcast such a large weak spot to everyone in the universe or something.] Or nobody thought to write that point down.

---

Esk's eyes narrowed at the mention of his father. His tone serious he told her "He's really good at manipulating people Ellie. It's all an act. Everything he does is an act, serving only him. "

Kooshie wrote:"Excellent. Do you know when the meeting is, when we decide what to hire Hytar for?" Tala asked.

"Seven this evening, here in the big conference room Vestia showed us to." Shane replied.

"That's a good point," James said with a frown. "Hopefully they'll be more willing to share with us once they meet us. We look harmless, right?"

"We can scan him again this evening, and then again in the morning before the doctor arrives," Asher said. "Better to err on the side of caution until we have an expert to tell us more."

~~
Ellie frowned. "Yeah, they all say that. And he does look creepy as heck. But like, he could have changed or something?" Or maybe she was just too trusting of random dudes who listened to her gossip. That might be it.

~~
"Excellent," Tala said. "We shall look forward to this momentous occasion, and to the slaughter of many more despicable dealers in slaves!" She looked pleased.

Starrnico wrote:

Lord Heny wrote:
Amari would coil into the wall, his back arched like a cat hissing in pain, “H-head hurts.” He would say with a raspy tone. The poor kid looked miserable.

Sawna nodded a little and offered the blood bag without moving closer yet. "I know, I was sent to take the pain away if you woke with pain." She explained gently.

His stomach churned at the thought of food, he shook his head rapidly no face paled. At this point with the pain he may end up vomiting any blood drank which could lead to other issues.

Esk shook his head. "No. Assholes like him don't change. He's screwing with you" He didn't trust the guy at all, that much was clear.

Lord Heny wrote:
His stomach churned at the thought of food, he shook his head rapidly no face paled. At this point with the pain he may end up vomiting any blood drank which could lead to other issues.

Sawna frowned a little but nodded, putting the bag away again "Alright, I have to touch you to take the pain away and make you feel better and if for some reason it doesn't work for you then I will help you back to your room so that you can rest comfortably" She added the last only because he was an unknown species to her.

Shane chuckled and nodded "Yeah, we will free the slaves."

Ellie frowned. "But like, how do you know? Some people change." She shook her head, "I'm not saying we give him the keys to Vestia or something, but maybe he's not like he was."

~~
Tala nodded cheerfully and went to get herself some food. "Where is your mate? I would think she would be over with the tour by now."

Esk stared at Ellie like she'd grown a second head. Could someone really be THIS stupid? He sighed. "Fine, don't believe me. Just don't come crying when he fucks you over."