UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Asher considered his words for a few seconds, glancing around the room as he thought, then looked to Kay again. "I've been thinking over everything that's happened today, and I feel like it would be wrong for me to leave Terra before the androids have been granted their freedom," he said. "I think it might be in the best interests of the children and the androids if I stay on Terra while Vestia goes on to the Imperium." He wished he could have phrased it better, but he just didn't know how. Ugh.

Dawn chuckled too and shrugged "It's just something to give to people that they like."

"Like a reward," Ellie nodded. "And glitter is amazing because it gets everywhere. And it's super pretty."

Tala looked unconvinced.

Kay bit his lip, looking tense. He carefully considered his response. [Best for the children?] He asked. Okay so he got it, and shouldn't have been surprised, of course Asher wanted to stay and sort out the mess he'd sort of helped to make. But it was dangerous out there wasn't it? [Is it safe? ] Of course it wasn't safe. [What if you get caught up in a recall? what if another of those gangs shows up? ] He closed his eyes, stopping himself from writing more because he was kinda freaking out about what ifs.

"The children need their parents," Asher said softly, "and Thalia will be having her baby in just a few months, that will go much better if there are medics there who have access to information about keeper biology. I can't ask Vestia to stay here, not when there are so many children hoping for her return."
He didn't like the fear in Kay's expression, he'd expected it of course, but it was still awful. "I would ask Starr if one of her people is willing to stay and keep me safe, like Nova did when we went to Mars. I know it might be dangerous, but with a magic user there, it would be much less so. I have no desire to get myself killed, I'm going to be careful."

Kay thought hard, his heart ached. He wanted to go to Danika, but she was safe where she was right? She'd be safe once vestia got to her. Asher though? Asher wouldn't be, he'd be here, alone. [You saw how the terran police reacted to the Star Dragon's magic, they'll be arrested if they try to defend you, and you'll be impounded] He really was going worst possible scenario, he couldn't help it, he was, by nature, a pessimist, much as he tried not to be.

Asher frowned, that was a good point. "Hopefully it won't come to a point where I need magical protection. But if such a situation arose, I'm sure the star dragon could evade capture, or possibly even evade detection in the first place. I don't think the Terran Empire is all that well equipped to deal with magic yet, judging by the fact they were going to call in a specialized unit to deal with magic instead of handling it then and there."
He sighed. "Look, I know there are a lot of reasons why staying on Terra would be risky, and reasons why it would be good for me to stay on Vestia. If you think my skills are needed here on Vestia or that it wouldn't be right for me to stay on Terra, then I'll stay on Vestia. I haven't committed to this plan, and I won't unless you and Starr say it's all right.
"But I played a huge role in starting this revolution, and I feel like it would be wrong to leave before it's over. Maybe it'll end in success, or maybe it won't, but I think I owe it to my people to stay and help them however I can."

Kay winced, chewing his lip. He was being selfish wasn't he? He could just hear Esk berating him, eugh. Jackass. Slowly he wrote a reply. [I understand that.] Did he really? He'd never really done anything like what Asher was doing, but he desperately wanted to support him. At the same time though, he was terrified of losing him. [If you stay, let me stay with you.] He wasn't really thinking about Danika now.

Asher hesitated. Part of him really wanted Kay to stay with him, he knew his time on Terra would be difficult, and it would be easier if Kay was there with him. Not to mention it would be slightly less painful for Kay, and putting him through less crushing misery would be good. But, well... "Danika should get to see you when Vestia arrives," he pointed out softly.

Kay looked away, his expression pained. [She'll have Starr.] He reasoned, even though it was a pretty weak argument and they both knew it.

Asher sighed. Yeah, it was true that Danika was Starr's daughter too, but he really doubted it would be the same for her if she didn't have Kay. "She's always been closest to you. She loves Starr of course, but you're the one she bonded to first, and I'm sure you're the one she misses the most." He could remember just how excited Danika had always been at the prospect of seeing Kay, and how gloomy she'd been the day he'd had to avoid her because of the full moon. After all these months without hearing his mind, he could only begin to imagine how much she must miss him.

Kay nodded slowly, an agonised look in his eyes. [I can't force you to stay.] He chewed his lip, thinking frantically for some solution.

Asher watched Kay miserably. He knew that expression all too well, and he wished it wasn't because of him. Seemed like Kay was constantly being put through painful, anxiety inducing decisions, and it was usually Asher's fault. It sucked to be responsible for so much pain.
"I'll stay if you need me to," he said quietly. "This isn't like when I led that mission to Inari's realm. I haven't made up my mind that I'm going yet."

Kay's expression softened. [Asher, you can't run away from this now. ] He knew Asher well enough to understand that. He was frantically trying to think of ways to make it less terrifying though. [Starr's people can help protect you right? and get you back to us.] Something seemed to occur to him [How long will this take?] An inelegant way of putting it but he couldn't think of a more polite way of saying what he was thinking.

Asher looked grateful, he knew how hard this was for Kay, and he really did appreciate how hard Kay was trying to be understanding about this. "Yes, I'm sure whoever Starr would send would be able to protect me very well. And help or no help, I'm going to return to Vestia as soon as I can." He frowned at the question though, it was a good one and he wasn't sure he could give a good answer to it. "I don't know how long this will take. Years ago, last time they investigated the android situation, it took them ninety days to reach their conclusion. Maybe it'll be faster this time because the androids are speaking for themselves, maybe not. I plan to return to Vestia when they've reached a conclusion, and if one isn't reached, I'll try to find someone else to lead eventually, I suppose. It's all very uncertain, and I'm sorry about that."

Kay winced. That wasn't very reassuring. [We'll get Danika and come back here then.] He decided. It would take months to get there and back sure, but if this dragged on, would Asher be able to leave?

Asher nodded, looking unhappy. "Whatever gets us all reunited the fastest. I don't want to be away from you any longer than is absolutely necessary." They still needed to figure out all the details, but things were better when they were all together, he knew that much.

Kay nodded slowly, he looked miserable. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Not at all.

"I'm going to be alright," Asher said softly. "We both will be. It's not what we want, and I'm sorry I can't think of a better way to do this, but we'll make it work out." He wished there was something he could say to make this suck less, but there wasn't anything he could think of.

Kay looked glum, nodding slowly. Rationally, Asher was right of course. Kay was just paranoid and pessimistic and a little codependent.
He reached out to hug Asher, unable to think of anything more to say at this point.

Asher was weirdly good at looking on the bright side. Yeah, he was worried and he didn't like the plan, but it was a controlled sort of worry and he felt fairly certain they'd be reunited safely.
Maybe it had something to do with his upbringing. When you had zero opportunities to have a better life, you kind of had to make the best of it or it'd crush you. Or maybe it was just that he was an optimist by nature.
He hugged Kay, knowing that the guy had every right to be afraid about this, and wished he could share some of his certainty that things would work out right.

"I should probably go talk to Starr about this," Asher said reluctantly after a while.

Kay pulled away reluctantly, nodding slowly.

"Would you rather come along, or should I come find you afterward?" Asher asked. He knew that being around Starr was pretty uncomfortable for Kay, after all.

Starr had left the gathering after a while to go to the 'nursery' where her egg was with the other baby dragons. It was a way of socializing the baby before it hatched, something that hadn't been a problem before since there had been three. This also gave her time to be around her people and talk to them as just another mother.