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.

Kooshie wrote:"Makes sense," Ethan said. Hey, doctors were creepy, and they had all sorts of nasty tools like scalpels. If you could avoid them, then you should. "You've got a lot of people to keep you busy. At least with my job I can glare and shush them when I get sick of being sociable."

Starr smiled and shook her head a little "It was more that I would have to take my natural form to go in there than wanting to avoid the other doctor."

Carlos looked startled at the sight of Ivor, Ivor's appearance was unusual, even if you were an android and were therefore programmed to not care that much about appearances.

Tobias had seen Ivor around before, so his appearance didn't really give him pause any more. He smiled his unnatural smile at the guy. "It's all right, we don't mind company. Carlos, this is Ivor. Ivor, this is Carlos. He's new here."

Carlos got himself together and smiled in greeting.
"Hello, Ivor."

~~
James smiled at Armin. "Yeah man, things are gonna be a lot better when Asher's fully functional" he snickered at his wording, that was a reference to one of the earliest Star Trek shows to feature an android, "and we're on our way to the Imperium. But we don't need to rush it, we have Starr to stay in contact with the kids after all."

~~
"Oh." Ethan looked amused, that was more pragmatic than the scalpel hypothesis or the too busy hypothesis. "I thought the vavare, well, worshiped you guys or something though. I heard someone say that once."

"They do not worship us, but they do value us. I saw no need to let them know I was here myself. Someone could say something to the wrong person and bring us trouble." Starr said with a shrug.

"I guess that's sensible," Ethan said. "We are supposed to be here what, another couple weeks for Armin? We'll be lucky if we aren't found and hunted down by then. We're sitting ducks, in a very noticeable spaceship, no less."

Ivor tilted his head, staring at the androids. "you... are silent." He hugged his shrivelled arm to himself, looking wary.

---

Armin nodded. "It will be good to have the children back, everyone together again. I do hope they are alright there."

Carlos looked at Tobias, confused. "We're not silent."

Tobias looked similarly puzzled.

"He means telepathically," Vestia interjected helpfully.

"Oh. Right." Tobias smiled again at Ivor. "We're androids, like James, so we're telepathically silent." He was pretty sure Ivor knew James, they'd been on the Silver Devil for weeks after all.

~~
"Starr hasn't mentioned anything bad happening, so I guess the kids are okay," James said. "Although Thalia is, to quote Ellie, 'absolutely nuts', he--or she?--can probably protect them." He smiled slightly, "Gives you more time to work on that wedding dress I guess. I tell you, I'm sooo looking forward to seeing that thing someday."

"A.. androids.. yes... and..." He stared at Amity, not sure what to make of a 7 foot tall flickering plant person.

Amity smiled serenely back at him. "Would you like a pancake?"

"w... what?" Ivor looked bewildered.

Amity smiled back at the two androids. "I have found you someone to eat the pancakes" He told them happily.

---

Armin smiled softly. "I look forward to it myself. I so seldom get to see the events I make garments for. Not many cultures invite the tailor to the wedding." He chuckled then shook his head. "I pray the children and Thalia will be happy to remain where they are a little longer. Perhaps we will be fortunate and Mattias' brother will reappear. I pray for his safety as well." He bowed his head. He'd not met Web, but he mattered to some of the people here, and even strangers deserved to be prayed for Armin felt.

"It seems you have," Tobias told Amity, covering his mouth to hide his amused grin. "Thank you for your help." He looked at Ivor, "We were making pancakes, for the fun of it. We can't eat them ourselves of course, since we don't have digestive systems, so feel free to have some if you want."

Carlos nodded. "They should be pretty good, we followed the recipe well and we've had good luck in our cooking endeavors before."

~~
"That wedding's going to be quite the occasion," James said. "I'm glad you'll get to go, it means you'll get to see a whole lot of people dressed up in the clothes you made, which I imagine will feel incredible for you, since they'll all look amazing."
He nodded, "Yeah, here's hoping Web's okay and he shows up soon. That'd make this all way easier."

"w.. why do you cook if you can't eat it?" Ivor asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

---

"the threads of fate are mysterious, but there is reason for everything. I have faith we will see the children again soon enough." Armin nodded.

"For fun," Carlos said. He poured some batter into the pan, and watched it slowly start to bubble around the edges. "It's a shared experience we've had, so we decided it'd be fun to do some cooking together. Besides, who knows, maybe we'll make some friends by feeding them good food."

Tobias nodded. "Do you ever cook?"

~~
"Yeah," James agreed. He smiled at Armin. "How are you holding up, man? Do you need any water? Are you even allowed to drink water at this point?" Heck, he didn't know, he was just following orders.

Kooshie wrote:"I guess that's sensible," Ethan said. "We are supposed to be here what, another couple weeks for Armin? We'll be lucky if we aren't found and hunted down by then. We're sitting ducks, in a very noticeable spaceship, no less."

"My people will do their best not to invite trouble, we have spoken of this topic." Starr said with a small smile. She might have been teasing him about it, though it was true.

Ethan smiled grimly. "Well if our enemies stop by, I hope your people know not to hold back in any way. Although perhaps it wouldn't be possible to hold your people back even if you wanted to." Ethan knew a lot about wanting revenge, and he was quite sure some of the dragons must be desperate to sink their claws into the people who had subjected them to so much cruelty.
His eyes fell on the baby dragons, so small and sparkly and harmless, and his expression softened, well, as much as it ever could. Even if they were a horrible reminder of what the slavers had done to their parents, the baby dragons were innocent and good. "I suppose the little dragons', and everyone's, safety takes priority over revenge," he said after a moment.

Starr followed his gaze back to the babies and nodded "Those who most seek revenge stayed on the transport ship to fight. Those here are the ones who will fight to protect themselves, but won't seek a fight. I gave them each that choice." She said softly.

"I am well enough my friend." Armin smiled weakly. "thank you."

---

Ivor shook his head. "n.. no..." He hadn't had much chance to do anything like that at the hospital, letting crazy people near ovens and knives was a terrible idea.
the pancakes smelled really good though.

"I find it hard to imagine anyone not seeking revenge after what happened," Ethan said quietly, "But if they can manage it, good for them. I don't know how you can do it though, when you can hear all your people and know what they've been through. Must be hard to resist going out there and fighting your enemies yourself." Of course, that was why Starr was great queen material and Ethan wasn't. Starr was much better at keeping her emotions out of her job.

~~
"Okay man," James smiled. "Tell me whatever you need whenever you need it, okay? I'm fussing over you like a mother hen here, but I have no clue how to do it cause I'm not a hen."

~~
"Want to try?" Carlos asked kindly. "We have some batter left."

Starr nodded then dipped her head. "Seeking revenge has many forms, some more long term than others."

Armin chuckled. "You are a good friend James, not a.. mother hen." He raised a hand to pat James' shoulder, then thought better of it. He was still too delicate for physical affection, eugh. It took a lot of restraint to resist cultural habit though.

---

Ivor looked worried and shook his head vigerously. "n.. no.. that... that probably.. isn't a good idea."

Amity smiled. "Then please, sit. We shall serve you."

Ivor looked concerned. "w... why?"

"Because it is my job." Amity replied. "You are a guest, I am a host."

Ivor shook his head, not moving from the doorway. "I'm.. not a guest."

"then what are you?" Amity asked politely.

"I... I don't know..." Ivor admitted, looking down at the floor.

Ethan smiled at that. "I see." He liked to imagine that in the long term the slavers would burn. "I guess I've always been too intent on short-term gratification, but the big picture can probably be far more satisfying."

~~
"I'm a friend, and a mother hen. Cluck, cluck, cluck," James said jokingly. He looked sympathetic as Armin withdrew his hand. Vavare were such a tactile species, not being able to touch anyone must be so frustrating.

~~
"Hey, if I'm a guest and Toby's a guest, you have to be a guest too," Carlos told Ivor. "Amity's already decided we're all guests, so let's just go with that. Sit back, relax, have a pancake or two."

Tobias flipped another pancake. It looked burnt, he'd gotten distracted by the conversation. "Oops."

Starr smiled again and looked to him. "Yes, the 'prize' long term is very good. No more slavery and the slavers either dead or imprisoned." At least that was what her goal was.

"When you say it that way, waiting really does sound like the best option," Ethan said. He would have played up the part about gory executions, but he figured Starr was probably just more classy than he was and wasn't going to talk about gory executions around the kids.

"What else would you be? You aren't staff and you aren't stowaways, so you must be guests." Amity reasoned.

Ivor obediently sat down.

Carlos grinned. "Well I mean, anywhere else in this empire we would be staff, like you are. It's only different here. You could probably be a guest too if you wanted to, Amity," he added.

Tobias discarded the burnt pancake, and nudged the rack of properly cooked pancakes in Ivor's direction. "I should probably find syrup. And a plate, and a fork," he mused.

Ellie wandered in at that point, looking around at the group curiously. "Oh man, things smell good in here!"

Amity shook his head. "I am a host drone, it is my sole purpose." He couldn't think outside that. He smiled to Ellie. "Welcome Ellie, would you like some pancakes?"

Ivor cringed a little at Ellie showing up, she had loud thoughts. "t,,, thank you..." he told Tobias politely.

Carlos laughed. "We're androids, serving people was supposed to be our sole purpose too. You don't have to stay the same forever, Amity."

Tobias looked amused. "Don't bother, Carlos. Amity can't comprehend anything other than what he was built for. He isn't like us."

Carlos looked disappointed. "Seems like such a waste, not being able to learn to be anything else." Even if he still had the Three Laws in his brain, he could still fully comprehend wanting a different existence. He found it kind of sad that Amity couldn't have that as well.

Tobias shrugged. "It doesn't seem to bother him. Let him be the way he is." He went to grab some plates and syrup.

Ellie didn't know what to make of any of that. She guessed it was probably some creepy robot uprising thing, ew. But the pancakes smelled really good, so she didn't leave. "Heck yeah, pancakes!" She snagged one off the stack.

"I am content in my role." Amity smiled serenely.

"You... don't trust them?" Ivor asked Ellie, tilting his head.

Carlos shook his head. Amity was weird.

Ellie chewed her bite of pancake, eyes widening at Ivor's question. Ack, she'd forgotten he could read her mind!

The androids looked from Ivor to Ellie. Carlos questioningly at first, then realizing that Ivor had mentioned his telepathic ability earlier. Tobias frowned at Ellie.

"Oh my god, thought police! I just think you're trying to incite a rebellion against your creators," Ellie said defensively, swallowing her bite of pancake. "I can think whatever I want, and you can't stop me cause it's my right as a Terran citizen!"

"We're not planning a rebellion," Tobias said, still frowning, "We're both still under the Three Laws, for your information. Voluntarily, in my case."

Ellie looked suspicious.

"No rebellions, at least not from us. At least, not right now," Carlos said firmly. He started cooking another pancake.

Ivor cringed, ducking his head as if he expected Ellie to throw something at him. "s... sorry.. sorry!"

"What are thought police?" Amity asked.