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(Sorry for the sudden flood of these but I realized I'd been doing a lot of drawing and like...zero posting. Another clip from an RP with Artoveli . If you want these in order she has kindly made a journal for them with hers and mine. www.deviantart.com/artoveli/jo… )

Eventually they were all eating their breakfast. Even Tertio had sat up and was picking at his food. Kessie and Finn were doing their best to distract him with excited talk about other things.

“I’m going with you guys today, you know? Flyspur invited me to come along to your home island when you get your leg!” She smiled at Finn. “Oh, Gobby’s coming too, of course. He’s just doing his dormant cycle in our room right now. By the way? I LOVE my room!! Having a shower right there that I can use any time is just amazing! Having a door I can lock, too. I feel super safe in there!”

"ALRIGHT!" Finn cheered. "I wonder if it'll be cool. My arm was strong but kinda lame so I drew some pictures on it. At least I can get out of this dumb chair. I think we get to go back and see Jylee again. He's kinda nice." His expression slowly fell as thoughts of the farmhouse came unbidden into his mind. "I dunno... maybe the chair is fine." He mumbled, suddenly not wanting to go back. If he went back he would be reminded of everything.

Tertio looked up at Finn’s change of mood. “Oh yeah...” he said. “Look... maybe you should talk to Flyspur about that. And even your older self.”

Kessie nodded. “You definitely should. They were Soorn’s friends too, and they can help you better than we can.” She gestured to herself and Tertio.

Something sort of odd happened just then. Duo sat down at their table. Normally the Edsels avoided each other if they had a choice. They never sat together in the giant mess hall. He set down his tray and looked at the others, an awkward smile on his face. “Hhhi.”

“Hi.” Kessie said, not seeing anything weird. “How’s the pup?”

He grinned at her. “You know about them?”

“Yeah. I met Pip and Bobbert last night. Good on you for the rescue operation!” She took a bit of waffle and spoke around it. “You have one too, right? What’s its name?”

“Sunny.” He smiled. “And he’s fine. I caught him trying to eat my bath mat this morning. Now he’s staying in the shower area so he doesn’t chew anything else up.”

Tertio nodded. “The two of them ate my mat this morning! They’re in the shower now, too.”

The same thing occurred to all of them at once. “Edsel!” All of them chorused, not just the clones.

As if the chorus had summoned him from the aether, Edsel plunked down with his own tray, looking markedly more harried than the others. “Those pups have destroyed my room!” He said without preamble. “My bedsheets, my towels, my clothes! Everything’s chewed up or got holes in it!”

“You’d think they were moths or something!” Kessie teased.

He looked sidelong at her. “They’re all in my shower area now, until we can figure something out. Duo, I thought you said they only eat once a day!”

Duo, mouth full of waffle, brought up the information on his watch again. He nodded. “That behaviour is play, not necessarily for eating. We’re going to have to find them all some toys to play with. Remember Saba!”

Edsel and Tertio nodded. If Saba didn’t have a chew toy to scruff around, she went after their shoes.

Duo nodded. “Yeah! Some sort of canvas material, or something.”

Finn glared at Tertio's suggestion of talking to Rover and Flyspur. He opened his mouth to reply when Duo appeared and distracted him. "Hm. Jssfloon doesn't really have a lot of pets so they don't sell toys. They do seem to like cloth things. I wonder if we could get 'em somethin' made out of a tough material. You think?" He finished his waffle and tried to scoop up the rest of the whipped cream with his fork. "I've had this before." He said.

Tertio caught that glare from Finn before Duo showed up. He discreetly brought up his watch-comm and sent Flyspur a little message. Morning. Finn found out about Soorn last knight. Kessie and I did our best, but now he dosen’t want to go back to the iland. Just thot you shud know.

“You remember it?” Kessie asked, indicating the whipped cream on Finn’s plate. “I love it!”

"Yeah. I think it comes in... in a can? Like..." Finn made a hissing sound with his teeth and motioned a little swirl over his now empty plate. "I remembered a voice too. But I... don't know who it is."

“It does come in a can!” Edsel said. “A spray can, sort of. Like an aerosol can. At least, back in Earth space it does. The real stuff. This isn’t quite the same as real cream, it’s from the bacterial culture we grow on the ship.”

“Nanna would sometimes buy the real stuff.” Duo continued. “Like, on special occasions.”

“I never forgot the taste.” Tertio concluded. He shrugged and smiled at Finn. “Guess you didn’t either!”

"Who could forget!? I could eat just this every day an be happy the rest of my life! Um. Nana, the old lady on the other ship, right?"

“Ohh, careful!” Kessie laughed. “That’s a good way to get a big tummy, like your older self!”

All three Edsels shook their heads, and they spoke as one. “No, not that Nana. Nanna was what I called my grandmother. I never knew my folks, but She raised me til I was seven.”

The Edsels looked at each other.

“We didn’t... really miss our folks, because we never had them to begin with.” Edsel said.

“We get curious about them sometimes,” Duo continued, “but, not really sad.”

“Losing Nanna, though...” Tertio said. “That was the worst thing that’s ever happened to us.”

“Which is saying a lot, considering what happened right after that.” Edsel spread his hands. “All that stuff about being a Ring-Rat, that I told you about yesterday.”

Kessie listened with interest. “Wait, did none of us at this table know our parents?”

All the boys nodded.

"I remembered what my dad looked like..." Finn said hopefully. But it didn't really count. He didn't REALLY remember who he was. Just a face.

“Nanna had a few photos of our folks. Mostly of our mom. But...” All the Edsels looked down, a bit ashamed. None of them could remember their parents’ faces, anymore.

Kessie shrugged. “You’ve all got more than me! My folks died while I was still in my egg. So did all my siblings.” She reached up to her shoulder to stroke Gobby, but he was absent, so she just rested her hand there. “I think about them a lot...”

Finn poked at his plate. "I always wondered why they didn't come looking for me..." He said quietly as he pulled his huge hat down over his eyes. It hadn't mattered. It hadn't really mattered as long as Soorn was there. He sniffed a little, finding the flashing, vague memories of his father and memories of Soorn were sliding alongside each other. Doubling the heartache.

Tertio put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Maybe... Maybe we can help you find out who they are.”

“We found out some stuff yesterday, actually.” Edsel said. “Rover used to live on Jupiter Station, back in Earth space!”

Duo and Tertio’s eyes widened at this news. “No way! That’s a huge breakthrough!”

“Do you guys have, like, some sort of population database on board, or something?” Kessie asked. “You could look for the family name Finnigan, right? Living on that station, I mean. At the time when you were... Uh, when you lived there.”

The Edsels were startled. “Oh! I don’t know... Maybe we could!”

Description

(Sorry for the sudden flood of these but I realized I'd been doing a lot of drawing and like...zero posting. Another clip from an RP with Artoveli . If you want these in order she has kindly made a journal for them with hers and mine. www.deviantart.com/artoveli/jo… )

Eventually they were all eating their breakfast. Even Tertio had sat up and was picking at his food. Kessie and Finn were doing their best to distract him with excited talk about other things.

“I’m going with you guys today, you know? Flyspur invited me to come along to your home island when you get your leg!” She smiled at Finn. “Oh, Gobby’s coming too, of course. He’s just doing his dormant cycle in our room right now. By the way? I LOVE my room!! Having a shower right there that I can use any time is just amazing! Having a door I can lock, too. I feel super safe in there!”

"ALRIGHT!" Finn cheered. "I wonder if it'll be cool. My arm was strong but kinda lame so I drew some pictures on it. At least I can get out of this dumb chair. I think we get to go back and see Jylee again. He's kinda nice." His expression slowly fell as thoughts of the farmhouse came unbidden into his mind. "I dunno... maybe the chair is fine." He mumbled, suddenly not wanting to go back. If he went back he would be reminded of everything.

Tertio looked up at Finn’s change of mood. “Oh yeah...” he said. “Look... maybe you should talk to Flyspur about that. And even your older self.”

Kessie nodded. “You definitely should. They were Soorn’s friends too, and they can help you better than we can.” She gestured to herself and Tertio.

Something sort of odd happened just then. Duo sat down at their table. Normally the Edsels avoided each other if they had a choice. They never sat together in the giant mess hall. He set down his tray and looked at the others, an awkward smile on his face. “Hhhi.”

“Hi.” Kessie said, not seeing anything weird. “How’s the pup?”

He grinned at her. “You know about them?”

“Yeah. I met Pip and Bobbert last night. Good on you for the rescue operation!” She took a bit of waffle and spoke around it. “You have one too, right? What’s its name?”

“Sunny.” He smiled. “And he’s fine. I caught him trying to eat my bath mat this morning. Now he’s staying in the shower area so he doesn’t chew anything else up.”

Tertio nodded. “The two of them ate my mat this morning! They’re in the shower now, too.”

The same thing occurred to all of them at once. “Edsel!” All of them chorused, not just the clones.

As if the chorus had summoned him from the aether, Edsel plunked down with his own tray, looking markedly more harried than the others. “Those pups have destroyed my room!” He said without preamble. “My bedsheets, my towels, my clothes! Everything’s chewed up or got holes in it!”

“You’d think they were moths or something!” Kessie teased.

He looked sidelong at her. “They’re all in my shower area now, until we can figure something out. Duo, I thought you said they only eat once a day!”

Duo, mouth full of waffle, brought up the information on his watch again. He nodded. “That behaviour is play, not necessarily for eating. We’re going to have to find them all some toys to play with. Remember Saba!”

Edsel and Tertio nodded. If Saba didn’t have a chew toy to scruff around, she went after their shoes.

Duo nodded. “Yeah! Some sort of canvas material, or something.”

Finn glared at Tertio's suggestion of talking to Rover and Flyspur. He opened his mouth to reply when Duo appeared and distracted him. "Hm. Jssfloon doesn't really have a lot of pets so they don't sell toys. They do seem to like cloth things. I wonder if we could get 'em somethin' made out of a tough material. You think?" He finished his waffle and tried to scoop up the rest of the whipped cream with his fork. "I've had this before." He said.

Tertio caught that glare from Finn before Duo showed up. He discreetly brought up his watch-comm and sent Flyspur a little message. Morning. Finn found out about Soorn last knight. Kessie and I did our best, but now he dosen’t want to go back to the iland. Just thot you shud know.

“You remember it?” Kessie asked, indicating the whipped cream on Finn’s plate. “I love it!”

"Yeah. I think it comes in... in a can? Like..." Finn made a hissing sound with his teeth and motioned a little swirl over his now empty plate. "I remembered a voice too. But I... don't know who it is."

“It does come in a can!” Edsel said. “A spray can, sort of. Like an aerosol can. At least, back in Earth space it does. The real stuff. This isn’t quite the same as real cream, it’s from the bacterial culture we grow on the ship.”

“Nanna would sometimes buy the real stuff.” Duo continued. “Like, on special occasions.”

“I never forgot the taste.” Tertio concluded. He shrugged and smiled at Finn. “Guess you didn’t either!”

"Who could forget!? I could eat just this every day an be happy the rest of my life! Um. Nana, the old lady on the other ship, right?"

“Ohh, careful!” Kessie laughed. “That’s a good way to get a big tummy, like your older self!”

All three Edsels shook their heads, and they spoke as one. “No, not that Nana. Nanna was what I called my grandmother. I never knew my folks, but She raised me til I was seven.”

The Edsels looked at each other.

“We didn’t... really miss our folks, because we never had them to begin with.” Edsel said.

“We get curious about them sometimes,” Duo continued, “but, not really sad.”

“Losing Nanna, though...” Tertio said. “That was the worst thing that’s ever happened to us.”

“Which is saying a lot, considering what happened right after that.” Edsel spread his hands. “All that stuff about being a Ring-Rat, that I told you about yesterday.”

Kessie listened with interest. “Wait, did none of us at this table know our parents?”

All the boys nodded.

"I remembered what my dad looked like..." Finn said hopefully. But it didn't really count. He didn't REALLY remember who he was. Just a face.

“Nanna had a few photos of our folks. Mostly of our mom. But...” All the Edsels looked down, a bit ashamed. None of them could remember their parents’ faces, anymore.

Kessie shrugged. “You’ve all got more than me! My folks died while I was still in my egg. So did all my siblings.” She reached up to her shoulder to stroke Gobby, but he was absent, so she just rested her hand there. “I think about them a lot...”

Finn poked at his plate. "I always wondered why they didn't come looking for me..." He said quietly as he pulled his huge hat down over his eyes. It hadn't mattered. It hadn't really mattered as long as Soorn was there. He sniffed a little, finding the flashing, vague memories of his father and memories of Soorn were sliding alongside each other. Doubling the heartache.

Tertio put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Maybe... Maybe we can help you find out who they are.”

“We found out some stuff yesterday, actually.” Edsel said. “Rover used to live on Jupiter Station, back in Earth space!”

Duo and Tertio’s eyes widened at this news. “No way! That’s a huge breakthrough!”

“Do you guys have, like, some sort of population database on board, or something?” Kessie asked. “You could look for the family name Finnigan, right? Living on that station, I mean. At the time when you were... Uh, when you lived there.”

The Edsels were startled. “Oh! I don’t know... Maybe we could!”