Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Nine

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Ivor was pretty thankful for Tala's quiet thoughts, if her unshielded thoughts were anything like her speaking voice, he'd have had a headache already.
He nodded slowly.

"Good morning," Ellie said, grinning at Sawna. "I'll have one of my usual coffee, extra syrup please." She got out some money. "And a bagel, with some sort of cream cheese," she added. "Did you go party in the city last night or anything?"

~~
Tori smiled when Kay came in. "Good morning. I left you some work," she said.

~~
James watched, wincing a bit in sympathy. That looked so painful, geez. He fidgeted a bit, then tried to stop himself. Be calm for Armin, James. CALM, he told himself.

Sawna chuckled and nodded "I like this city at night, there is much to see and do." She said as she got the meal ready and brought it over.

"Thanks, you're the best," Ellie said approvingly, taking a sip of her drink. "Did you go fishing with the wolves?" She asked jokingly.

Sawna chuckled and nodded "I like to do as much as I can while we are planet side"

Ellie burst into giggles. "You didn't bring Matt, did you?"

"No, I did not want to upset him about his chair not being able to go. Does he like wolves?" Sawna asked with a frown. She didn't think he did.

"Wait," Ellie blinked. "You went to see actual wolves?" She shook her head, "I was making a joke, about how you and Matt went out at midnight to the Guild to visit the lycanthropes... or at least how that was what you said you did." She still found it funny to imagine Matt and Sawna hooking up, and using 'fishing with the wolves' as some sort of euphemism. Even though she knew that had never actually happened.

Kay looked grateful. [Thank you.]

---

The doctor put a hand on James' shoulder, then went to Armin's side.

Armin winced as his exoskeleton split further, revealing the dull green of his fresh soft shell beneath.

A lot of this process was rather similar to giving birth, a lot of breathing, encouragement from the doctor and a lot of difficult pushing.

Over the next few hours Armin would slowly and steadily push out of his old shell, starting with his upper body and assisted by his own hands and the doctor's careful assistance he pulled the last sinews and threads of tissue away from his face and neck.

The small vestigal limbs on his shoulders helped him wriggle free of the upper body, struggling a little to get his arms out.

Slowly but surely he'd molt, staggering back to rest against his hammock web so that he could lay with his spider belly up and try to get his legs free.

The doctor held him, helping him assume a position that was a little less awkward. She indicated James should help.

Sawna chuckled and nodded "We did, though he was a bit hesitant at first. We had to wait for the sun to go down to actually fish. The sun was too much for me. Last night, I went to see real wolves at a zoo."

Tori smiled and nodded to Kay, then got back to work.

~~
James went over to help, he looked a little freaked out from watching Armin basically peel off his own skin, but he was determined to help his friend as best he could. He'd follow the doctor's orders carefully, trying to not seem as freaked out as he was.

~~
"Ohhh," Ellie grinned. "That's awesome." She swigged her drink. "You like wolves? They are pretty cool." The kind that didn't bite your face and give you diseases were cool, anyway.

Sawna nodded again and shrugged "I like learning new things, and these wolves are different in more than just not changing shape. Also, there were other animals there."

Ellie nodded. "That's fun. I didn't know they had zoos that were open at night though. Big city thing, I guess?"

Armin panted a little, resting for a while in James and the doctor's arms.

"You're doing fine." the doctor told him.

It was pretty humid in here, beads of water were forming on everyone's faces. Vavare didn't sweat, but the moisture in the air sure made it look like they were.

The next stage was getting all eight legs thorax and abdomen out. This was even more tricky, eight long limbs complicated matters immensely. He closed his eyes so he could focus on wriggling each leg out.

The doctor held his hand and made supportive noises.

"You're doing great man," James told Armin, "I know I wouldn't do this well if I was the one molting," he added, trying for humor. He wiped some water condensation out of his eyelashes with his sleeve, wanting to be able to see what was happening clearly, then moved his hand back to help steady Armin, trying to be very gentle since man, this had to be agonizing for the guy.

"Apparently" Sawna said with a shrug.

Armin smiled gratefully at James, then went back to focusing. He got most of his legs out, grunting in pain as his damaged one gave him trouble.

The doctor watched warily, she was concerned about that leg. Armin had managed several molts previously with it, but that didn't mean it was not a potential problem.
"Take it slowly, no need to rush yourself." She told him.

Armin whimpered softly.

Ellie smiled. "I didn't go to any zoos yesterday. Maybe I should take Shane to one. Or go with you. Or both!"

~~
James bit his lip nervously, then forced himself to stop. Calm. He needed to be calm, for his friend's sake. "Take a few breaths, think of how handsome your new skin will look when you're done," James said. "You're already handsome of course, you're one hell of a good looking vavare guy any day of the week." Was he helping? Probably not. He had no clue how to reassure people in pain, especially not hours of slow, agonizing misery. Why hadn't his extensive and carefully designed programming covered this?

Armin managed a weak smile. "I... will be able... to dye my hair a new colour." He told James, trying to look on the bright side.

The doctor had her scanner in her free hand, studying the readout thoughtfully. "How are you holding up?" She asked.

Armin groaned. "Exhausted..." he admitted.

"You're nearly there." She encouraged.

Armin rested, catching his breath. He really did look done with all this.

"just one more leg." the doctor told him. She had a good poker face, but she was concerned that her patient was flagging. His energy levels were depleted, she wasn't sure he had enough for the final push he needed.

Sawna chuckled softly. "I would not mind going with you two, though you might get sleepy long before I do."

"So many color choices," James said. "I'll come along and help you pick. Something muted, like silver, or a nice bright magenta maybe." He looked up at the doctor, shooting her a brief look of concern, he knew this leg was the one with the old injury, and it kind of worried him that it was the last one left.

~~
"You can make us coffee, with extra shots in it," Ellie told Sawna brightly.

It was a good ten minutes before Armin had the strength to try again, crying out in pain once more as his old injury flared. Even Vavare, with their ability to regenerate lost limbs, didn't do so without leaving a lot of internal scars and damage.

Armin had been far more active this year than previously, and carrying his tanks around for far more time. His regenerated leg was also longer this time around, so took more effort to pull out of the old sheath of exoskeleton.

Sawna laughed and nodded again "That is true" She agreed softly.

James stayed where he was, knowing better than to try to help without the doctor's orders. "You can do it, man, just take your time," he said gently.

~~
"I'm so glad you opened this shop," Ellie said, finishing her bagel.

Sawna smiled happily at that and nodded "As am I, it is good for all of us."

time ticked on. Armin had his eyes closed, looking worn out.

The doctor waited, but the longer this dragged on the more concerned she became.
At last she decided she'd have to intervene.
"hold him." She instructed James.

Armin opened one eye.
"w... wha?" He murmured weakly.

"I'm going to make a small cut, which should help you pull the last part of your leg free." The doctor explained. "I need you to remain very still. "

James looked nervously up at the doctor, then nodded. "Okay man, I'm gonna hold you still. Just try to relax, I'm going to be as gentle as possible."
He looked at all Armin's legs, trying to figure out how to do this. He could hold Armin's bad leg still no problem, but the other seven might wiggle, maybe. He wasn't sure how much energy Armin had left. And did his body need to be held steady? He looked at the doctor again, "Any tips on how I should do this?"

"just keep him up, stop him falling." She told him as she slipped away from Armin to fetch her medical kit.

Armin looked worried, but he was too weak and exhausted to put up much of a protest.