Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Three

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"Hey man," James said to Kay, after waiting for a few seconds for the guy to pause his work, and realizing he wasn't going to. "How you holding up?"

~~
"It's my job to care about the books," Ethan said. He tried to look like he had no emotional investment in the state of the library, with moderate success. "Vestia pays me to keep them nice and safe and organized, which they aren't." He watched Esk curiously, "Who put you on janitor duty?"

Esk snorted. "in this state he might throw something at you. " Okay maybe just glare, either way, annoying.
Maybe HE should write to Asher, but that seemed like a bit too much effort. It wasn't his problem.

Tala's ears wiggled again at that. "That would be most terrifying," she said. She'd fought in battles before, the idea of having things thrown at her wasn't all that intimidating. "I will leave him to his silliness though, since he would not welcome my wisdom."

Esk nodded "Yeah." Leaving Kay alone was a good idea.

Esk himself wandered off to go see if he could find Dawn, make sure she was okay. Why? because at least one medic needed to be okay right? yes, that was totally the reason.

Tala would probably head off in search of Jarral. She really did want some answers if she could get them.

Jarral was on the big main ship right now, the guards at the airlock could probably direct Tala to his room.

Tala thanked the guards, and would head where they directed her, knocking on the door. Her knock was probably kind of loud, not that she cared.

Jarral didn't spend a lot of time here anymore, so the room was pretty barren.

he looked up from what he was doing. "Enter." He called.

It was extremely gloomy in here, and yet he was happily sitting on the floor, legs folded, with a large leather bound book on his lap, reading.

He wasn't actually draped in shadows this time, evidently feeling no need to do so here in his own space. Without them, he was painfully thin.
He was dressed in clothing that was, without a doubt, extremely well made, beautifully embroidered in silver but all very dark and extremely archaic. It was the garb of a desert nomad, if that desert nomad had settled and become rich.

Tala went in, scenting the air curiously. She looked down at Jarral, a little surprised to see him sitting on the floor. Normally you didn't see people sitting on the floor, in her experience. Huh.

"Greetings again," she said. "I have come with a question."

Jarral tilted his head, looking up at her. He closed the book and rose to his feet.

The room likely smelled of dust, like it hadn't been inhabited for some time, mixed with the scent of Jarral himself, old blood and ozone.

"then ask." He instructed simply.

"Good morning" Rigel replied to her questioning tone. Yeah, they were in the same room.
~~~
Shane chuckled softly and rolled over to get off the bed. "Right, showers, clothes and messages."
~~~
Starr smiled when Armin joined them, holding Luna since she was done eating now.

Tala took a few more sniffs of the scent, it was different, and minotaurs enjoyed different smells. Well, as long as they weren't awful smells, anyway.

"What has become of Haakon?" she asked. "Esk says the war is over, but he couldn't say more than that for sure."

~~
"Good stuff," Ellie said. "Vestia! Please find us clothing so we aren't totally embarrassed after we take showers!"

Vestia snorted. "On it."

"how are you feeling this morning my friend?" Armin asked Starr kindly.

He bowed his head to anyone else here.

---

"haakon?" Jarral looked thoughtful for a moment. "The minotaur home world yes?" The shadows gathered a little closer around him, whispering. He tilted his head, listening. "They resist yet. The soldiers cannot break through their fortifications. Their world has been absorbed, not yet cleansed. "

----

Matt sat up carefully, wincing. His back was stiff. Ow.
Yep, definitely overdid it yesterday.

"You think we can get a message to Unity Station? " He was eager to speak to Thalia okay? "or.. I dunno, ask my nephew to send word?" He smiled weirdly. Nephew, man... so weird. He was gonna give Web shit when he saw him. Though he wondered why his son was here but he wasn't. Was he not aware they'd returned? Surely Jarral would tell him... right?

Luka smiled to herself. "Morning." she hadn't yet had the time for yesterday to sink in, too groggy from sleep and distracted by Rigel.

Starr shifted, cleansing her clothing as she did so they looked clean and fresh. "Good morning. How are you this morning?"
~~~
Shane paused and tilted his head a little "Matt will be the hardest to find clothes for, I wonder if this station will have any we could buy.
~~~
Dawn was heading to get something to eat, walking through the hallways.

"Yes, that is the place," Tala said. Her ears perked forward at the news. "That is satisfactory. Mayhap there is yet hope, then. You have my thanks." She twitched her tail a little, "I have a second question."

~~
"We still have a few tablets around, you guys can probably use one to try to contact your families," Vestia said. "I'll give you the wi-fi password for the other ship."

Ellie cheered.

"Also I think I can find something Matt can wear for now. Don't worry Matt, you won't be naked yet," vestia said with a laugh.

"Hey i'm not fussy." Matt was pretty damn used to wearing stuff that didn't fit that well. Story of his life man.
He looked excited at the prospect of being able to contact people. "thanks Vestia!"

---

Esk found Dawn on the way from the dining hall then. "Oh, you're up."

---

Jarral bowed his head. "Then ask." He sounded less than enthused but eh.

---

"I am .. well enough." Armin admitted. Ten years was a VERY long time to a vavare, they only lived 60 years.

Vestia would send a few of her remaining bots with clothes, and a couple of tablets that hadn't been spaced or exploded during the battle. The clothes would probably fit everyone moderately well. Whooo.

~~
"Why do you sit on the floor?" Tala asked. "Most humanoids do not." Asking the important questions here, definitely.

Jarral stared at her. Now THAT was a weird question. "It is what I am accustomed to." He put the book down onto the bed. "And this is extraordinarily awkward to read any other way." It was a pretty big book, it dwarfed his fragile frame.

Dawn smiled at Esk "Yep up and already did a round of the patients, now I'm heading to eat." She said then shrugged "What are you up to?"

~~~
Shane would take the clothes and send a quick message to Asher at the Unity, saying that Vestia had no wifi and they were borrowing from a ship at this rift thing. No one was sure what had happened, but it seemed 10 years had passed in a moment and none of them had aged in that time. He sent that off then went to get a shower and change.
~~~
Starr nodded and motioned to the table she was at. "You are concerned about this time phase thing too? Have you contacted your family to see how they are doing yet?"

Esk shrugged. "I found clean clothes. Well, Vestia did. " that was about all he'd managed this morning. "How are the wounded?" They'd lost three people at least in that fight. Maybe they should do something to acknowledge that.
hmm.
"as soon as the third floor's repressurised it might be worth seeing what we can salvage."

---

"I have not had a chance." Armin admitted, averting his gaze. "yes, I am concerned. It is.. an exceedingly long time to be gone. My neices and nephews will be grown." huh, now there was a thought.
He wondered if Farhde ever got off Vavaren. He hoped so.

---

Tala considered that, then nodded. "The kevali are a very frugal people, I have heard," she said. "Your reasoning makes sense. I would have thought that all humanoids would adopt chairs though, your bodies are well designed for them."

~~
Shane would shortly receive a message from Asher: [Thank you for updating us. Welcome home, we're glad to have you back]

Dawn frowned a little then nodded "I didn't think to ask Vestia for clothes." She admitted "I hope something is salvageable. The injured have stabilized, those that can be were sent to their rooms the rest just need attention until they heal enough."
~~~
Starr nodded "I contacted the kids, so they at least know we are alive and back, but I am not sure if anyone else has sent messages yet. It will be good to know who is alive and well still."
~~~
Shane didn't get the message until after his shower. He was glad Asher replied though.

Jarral shook his head. "I do not spend much time in this place any longer." Which certainly explained why this place was so barren and lacking in well... anything.
Maybe.

---

"Message Shane! you got a message!" Matt called, maybe a bit too eager for contact. He didn't really know what to say himself though, he and Thalia hadn't exactly parted on good terms and then there was a child he'd never met... wasn't there? And anything could have happened in this time. He was super nervous.

---

"Yeah, we'll see. Might make some people feel slightly better if we can rescue at least a few things." Esk shrugged, he didn't really know how to handle this or the angst around them. It wasn't so difficult to adapt when you had nobody you really cared about out there.

---

Armin frowned, though Starr woudn't be able to tell under that mask. Who is alive and well still, what a morbid and depressing thought.

"Where do you go, then?" Tala asked. She was a bit curious about this guy, he had weird shadows around him and sat on the floor.

~~
Ellie would fidget with excitement, wanting to know what the message said. "Oh man, the little baby dragons are gonna be so big now. Crazy to think about," she said.

"Alright, you can look if you want." Shane called. He would check it himself when he was dry and dressed.
~~
"From what I can tell, there have been a lot of births among my people." Starr added

"home." Jarral stated simply.
He wasn't one for longwinded answers was he?

---

"that is surely a cause for celebration. Are they all free as yet? Did your contact fulfil his contract?" Armin asked, glad for a change of subject to slightly more positive subjects

Tala decided that meant Jarral didn't want to talk about it. "Thank you for your help," she told him. "I am sure I will see you again."

~~
Ellie checked the message. "Well, that wasn't very informative," she said, a little disappointed.