Drown Out the Sorrows

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<sub>Andromeda looked over at Reuben. How would he be taking this if he was sane? Probably very differently. Andy probably wouldn't have spat that out to Reuben anyway. He took a deep breath and then held the kid up, walking with him. No, he wouldn't ditch his biological son like that, not like how his parents did.

"No i wouldn't. As of right now, you remind me of... well, myself. A broken mirror that's about to shatter any moment. Except for me it's already shattered." He then started walking towards his ship with Reuben in tow. "Nerys would indeed like to know. You'd probably rather bunk with her anyway."

It was a bit of a long haul, but he had started to see the shape of his ship appear in the background. Now would be for him to help Reuben up and bunk him down.</sub>

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Yes, he would be taking this very differently. Reuben, while sober, would have probably doubted Andromeda's sincerity, if Andy would have even taken it sincerely at all. Either way, the boy stumbled along with Andy, teetering dangerously and even throwing up (thankfully to the side, though some rodents had to scatter) at one point.

Man, throwing up felt like hell. He smiled a bit dazedly as Andy mentioned not getting physical with him. "Good, because I was scared the few times you got your hands on me, especially last time, I don't think I'd have gotten away."

Though Andy was probably the master on what physical abuse does to a person, which Reuben wouldn't know. The boy kept moving towards the ship, blinking at it when he could see the shape in the distance, and then looked back up at Andy. "She ought to know though I don't think she'll like it, if she hasn't change any."

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<sub>Andromeda would pat the kid's back awkwardly if he threw up, of course making no comments as the kid spoke about Nerys. no, she hasn't changed. She's always been the quiet one... when she isn't fangirling over Cepheid. He then flicked some of the kid's hair in an absentminded fashion as he stopped to wait for one of the girls to lower the ladders or rope.

"... Hold on." He then picked up the kid and slung him over his shoulder, hoping the kid doesn't puke all over his back before he started to climb up. No way in hell he was letting a dizzy kid climb up on his own. He'd set him down once they were on deck, though.

"Alright, let me get Nerys and note the girls you are here. Don't let Godwine touch you. She might try and cuddle you and treat you like a pillow.</sub>

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Reuben did throw up a total of one time during the journey, at which his back was patted. Puking was not a fun experience, though he did feel a little less woozy. He was still completely hammered, though. That had been quite a bit of alcohol for a seventeen-year-old kid, and he was likely going to stay that way until the alcohol was gone from his system.

"Hang? Where?" Of course then Andy slung him over his shoulder, and Reuben heaved a little, though thankfully he didn't throw up on Andy. "Whoa, pops, I'm upside-down~."

Once he was set down, Reuben blinked up a few times at Andy as he spoke about waiting here and not letting Godwine touch him. Okay? He could probably do that. "Yeah sure?"

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<sub>Andromeda had gone to get Nerys, and told her that Reuben was there, before he went to the other girls to tell then that Reuben was drunk, unable to shoot straight, and don't attack him. He then went to return to the bridge with Nerys, helping the kid up.

"You found him wondering the streets drunk? Reuben are you crazy?!" Nerys was now chastising him over it, but Andromeda went silent.

"He's old enough to know better, but young enough to be stupid enough to do it." He spoke up. Hey that sounds just liek Andy when he was younger! he then helped the kid up to move him into Nerys's room, with the young girl following him and wondering where Andy got this kind of fatherly instinct from. I don't know, it's common for Lil's muses to be like this!</sub>

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Reuben sat there on the bridge, teetering a little bit, until Andy and Nerys came back to him and helped him stand up. The boy stumbled and almost fell on top of Andy again, as the woman began yelling at him for being completely drunk, and screwed up his face.

"Oy! I had a perfectly legitimate excuse to get hammered like this! Ugh, I feel dizzy. And I need to tell you at some point..." As Reuben was led by Andromeda to his room, he nearly tripped a few times.

"Pops, I'm not stupid." Denial. Of course he was stupid enough to get drunk. Either way, his gaze focused back on Nerys. "By the way, Nerys? You're still really pretty. I don't have any flowers though."

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<sub>Andromeda helped the kid downstairs into the living quarters, with Nerys nearby. Of course just as he opened the door to her room, with Nerys nearby, Reuben opened up again. He just grinned at Nerys, who seemed to blush at Reuben's response. Oh god, what was he saying! He was old enough to... Nerys tried not to think about it.

"... U-uh, thanks, Reuben... Wh-what's going on...?" She stammered, clearly affected by his response. Andromeda looked at the two of them and backed off as they walked into her room, which was pretty small to begin with, but pretty much had everything she wanted, including a bunny lamp that she had as a child.

"It's a bit of... unfortunate news, though."</sub>

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Of course Reuben probably tripped several times while heading down the stairs, even with Andy supporting him. Man, who knew that stairs were practically impossible to go down while drunk? Still, it was an interesting exercise. Maybe he should try it again sometime, so he could manage stairs while in this condition. That sounded like a good idea.

"Nothing I just don't have anything for you this time... I think I was seven when I last gave you a flower." Reuben frowned a bit; he didn't have a crush, he was just thinking about what had happened. "Dad found it really funny, and- oh right. Dad. And mum."

Now that he remembered again, he plopped down on Nerys' bed, not really thinking about the fact that it was hers, tearing up a bit again. Be careful or he would start bawling. "You ain't gonna like it, Nerys. Mum and Dad are dead and no one knows where Caden is." He made this whining noise. And grabbed Andy, who was the nearest person.

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<sub>Andromeda sighed when he plopped on Nerys's bed, which the young woman just looked at him. he looked like a total mess. Of course, she was still blushing when he spoke about all those flowers. Now Andy knew! Her breathing quickened when Andromeda spoke about the news. And then Reuben said it.

Her breath caught in her throat and she swallowed hard, feeling a tightening in her throat. Andy himself leaned against the wall near the bed, only to find that his trenchcoat was being grabbed, and he looked down to see Reuben.

".... No, that can't... be... they were so young!" Nerys wailed, startling Andy himself. he looked over to the normally reserved woman. "... Wh-what about Uncle Isaac?</sub>

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Ah, the days when he was young and innocent. Nerys had probably thought Reuben giving her flowers back then was adorable, even if he had been perfectly serious. Now, at the least while sober, he wouldn't try to hit on her. How awkward, he would be hitting on his biological father's crewmember. Eh, Reuben didn't want to think about it.

"Tenatus... or was it tetanus? That's what it was called and who knows what Uncle Isaac did?" Here he twisted Andy's trenchcoat in his hands, grumbling in his drunken anger at the man. "Bloody man got himself arrested and probably executed! Nobody's seen Caden! Dammit, what was I supposed to do after finding out?!"

Uh, yeah. Cue Reuben sobbing onto Andy's trenchcoat.

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<sub>Andromeda was silent, trying to act as soon as he could, but right now things were getting awkward, and fast. Because now the kid has laid claim to his trenchcoat and now was sobbing in it. He could feel the pull from the coat and he toppled next to the kid, awkwardly staring at nothing.

Nerys didn't help the situation, she was an emotional wreck now and she sat by the bed to just pull Reuben, and unfortunately Andy into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I should have been with them, I really should!" She was crying now, leaving Andy in a completely awkward situation, having Sine's niece and his own son sobbing on him. He just stared into space, his cheeks heating up into an awkward blush, and he bit his still bleeding lip.</sub>

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Things were definitely getting awkward for poor Andromeda. Reuben was latched onto the coat and he practically climbed into his lap when Andy toppled down next to him, latching onto the man and sobbing his drunken heart out now. Welp, he'd gotten started with the bawling, and Andy was the unfortunate victim.

"Don't blame yourself Nerys, I should've come back! Then at least Caden would've had somewhere to go and I could've been with mum and dad a-and..." He let out a another sub and willingly allowed Nerys into the hug, probably to Andy's horror. "I'm just a bloody failure."

His sobs began to quiet off, though he was still clearly upset - he'd been tired as it was already, and clinging to a pair of people (one whose lap he was sitting on) and being drunk wasn't helping him any at all. His eyes began to close...

"Pops, am I an idiot and a failure?"

This RPer is trying so hard not to bust out laughing and scare people.

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<sub>Nerys nuzzled Reuben when he started crying. Of course she would anturally be blaming herself and now everything was a sobbing mess. Nerys then nuzzled both Andy and Reuben.

"No you're not a failure, I still love you!" Whether or not that meant romantically or familial, nobody knew. It was most likely familial love she was talking about. Andromeda just blushed hardcore with that and he gritted his teeth, sucking up the blood that was on his lip.

Then Reuben asked that. His breath caught in his throat and he looked down at the kid, who was a complete drunken mess and on his lap. To make it worse, Nerys was on his lap. He took a deep, shaky breath and then spoke up.

"You're not a failure. If you were, you'd be like me." He spoke up quietly, his breath choking up a bit. "It'll be okay. At least more okay than I."</sub>

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Cepheid had parked his own airship at a different dock, as not to attract attention. While he loved his brother, the last thing he needed was The Star Man to be known to be associated with Andromeda the air pirate.

He had, after a tiring evening, stopped at the Star Crash to rest since it was closer than the Super Arrow. He was relaxing in one of the spare rooms, going through his stock of unsold charts when he heard a commotion from the other room. What the? Was that crying?

Snapping up from his seat, he half jogged to where he heard the racket and opened the door.

"Is everything alright? I'm hearing cr-" He stopped short in action and speech as he saw the lay before him. Nerys and a boy he didn't recognize were both bawling their eyes out over Andy. ".........."

He really didn't know what to say, but stood there with an expression that was begging for explanation of some sort.

God this was awkward.

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Reuben wiped at his nose and face, but not that well; his hand-eye coordination was completely shot at the moment unless he was clinging to somebody. He sniffled as Nerys nuzzled him, and he nuzzled the woman back.

"I still love you too, always did, Nerys." He genuinely met familial; that puppy crush he'd had on her was long gone, no matter how many times he would bring it up in front of her. Oh well. Right now he was crying, he had his paternal donor there, and one of his old friends.

Then of course Andy told him he wasn't a failure, and he just wiped his nose again with one hand, staring up at the man. "R-Really? I'm not? I don't know... but I just want everything to go back to normal." He hiccuped, and glanced over at Cepheid as the other came in.

Huh, that was the second Andy he'd seen earlier but had vanished. He blinked and tilted his head in a bit of a drunken manner, then gave a weak giggle. "Pops, there's two of you!"

Heaven forbid that Cepheid think that Andy had tried to sleep with Reuben.