Whistle While You Work

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((June 1, 1622. Mid-morning. Anybody welcome.))

The repairs on his airship were going somewhat well. A random band of pirates had attacked him, but unlike the time with Andromeda, Reuben had actually managed to beat them off. His ship had taken a little bit of damage, but nothing that he couldn't fix quickly.

He just needed to find some parts in this pile of discarded stuff, and he would be good. If not, he could always go and speak to one of the engineers and pay them for parts. Hopefully one that wouldn't charge much if he couldn't find the parts.

He'd temporarily forgotten about Andromeda as he searched, so he whistled a bit to himself as he pocketed a few parts to pay for later. There was still no sight of Caden, but the fact that he wasn't the only one hunting for the kid had given him a bit of a boost.

"Okay, I think that's all I need..." He stood up from the pile, and wiped the sweat off his brow. He should probably get going to fix the Time Skimmer.

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<sub>Guess who is in Reuben's ship? Raiding the milk cartons? Yes, it was Andromeda. He snuck on the ship once he noticed who it was, and yes he was still in Seria. after the girls and Cepheid managed to get themselves royally sick, he had to stay much longer than he should and got in trouble with the authorities. A little bribery and explanation of a possible flu spreading around made them leave.

He'd leave for Truesdale, finally, in a few days as soon as everybody was well enough. Thank God. He didn't need to deal with that any more. At least he'd managed to get some pay from Loki (possibly) and some bounties while here.

Anyway Andromeda was out and about, stretching his legs and trying to feel better about the whole situation. And Sine... oh God Sine... She was the last person he would have expected to see. Well, Andy took his mind off of it by drinking out of Reuben's milk carton.

Hey, it was revenge for stealing his bread.</sub>

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Reuben made it back to his ship with practically little incident, still whistling somewhat. He pulled out the parts that he had been planning on using and stuffed them in a box inside his main cabin, though he was thirsty. He needed something to drink. Maybe water, or milk? That would probably be good for right now-

"................."

He wasn't quite sure what to think when he saw Andromeda raiding his milk carton. Just after he had temporarily managed to forget about him, too. How the heck had the other even snuck onboard, anyways? Ugh, great, now there was no way that he would drink out of that milk carton again, not when there was Andy spit all over it. He cleared his throat and tapped the other on the shoulder.

"I see you're a little busy... Pops."

And he had been entitled to that bread after being robbed and nearly being assaulted!

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<sub>Andromeda tipped his head back to swallow some more of the delicious milk. That is until he felt a tapping on his shoulder and he turned around, his mouth still on the bottle as he stared at the kid. Ahaha, there he was. He looked at the carton before pulling it away from his and wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his longcoat.

"Hello..." Oh he did not just call him pops. Well... counter troll go! "Sonny." He swaggered over to put the milk carton up, though assuming that Reuben would want to. Don't they share the same germs anyway being related and all? Ahaha.

"You seem quite thrilled to see me." Andy leaned against the wall, crossing his right foot over to rest it on the other side of his left foot, and crossing his arms over. Now he just seems like he's right at hime.</sub>

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Reuben stared at the carton of milk. What a waste of perfectly good milk, but there was probably no way to get the Andyspit off of that. He rolled his eyes as the other wiped his mouth, and then glared at him. Oh, he did not just call him 'sonny'!

"...You know what? Keep the milk. I'm not sure I want it anymore." So what? Who knew what else was present on Andy's mouth! Reuben wasn't sure he wanted questionable things inside him. He crossed his arms, and tapped his foot.

"...What the hell are you doing in my ship? Are you stalking me?" Honestly. That man.

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<sub>Sweet, free milk! Andromeda would grab it again and shrug, putting the carton aside for him to bring back to the ship. Well, it's his now, since his possibly unclean mouth was on it. Reuben, the last person I put my lips on was Loki. Probably. Maybe Sine.

"Suit yourself, kid." Well, it was healthy anyway, and he probably needed it since he'd nearly starved himself trying to take care of four sick girls and a gunshot victim. Oh yeah, and having to wrap his head around the fact that Sine is alive, married, and has a child of her own. ... And ditched the one she had before, the one he wanted to raise.

"What? No I'm not. I haven't even seen you or thought of you in the past two or three weeks anyway, probably because I... I don't know." He rolled his eyes and then uncrossed his arms. "Had to take care of some flu victims and a gunshot wound. I figured I might as well drop on in anyway."</sub>

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Reuben rolled his eyes as Andy snatched the milk back up. There were probably Reubengerms on the milk, too, considering that he was the sole human on the sip and still invoked in habits like that, but Andy probably didn't care if it was his son. Especially considering he probably didn't care no matter whose it was.

"You seem somewhat out of it, though I'm wondering how much if you are coherent enough to come here and steal my milk." He had no idea about everything that was going on, at the least, until Andy told him about the flu victims.

"...I haven't thought much of you either, I've just been looking for my brother. And dealing with pirates that I easily escaped from. And stuff." Of course then he mentioned the flu victims and Reuben got... well, he got slightly alarmed, though it showed from the widening of his eyes.

"Flu victims? Nerys and the others got sick?" Nerys, stop getting sick! It might pass from her to Andy to him, and that wouldn't be good for him at all since he couldn't take medications!

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<sub>Andromeda drummed his fingers on his arm as he looked over at... well, nothing. he really didn't care about the Reubengerms anyway. It's not like there were multiple humans in Reuben's ship, anyway. He'd look back at Reuben when he spoke up. He wouldn't reply to that comment though, however he did want to give Reuben some interesting news.

"Speaking of which. Not too long ago I ran into your little brother. I couldn't bring him home, not without looking so questionable since I'm a wanted criminal. Plus all my girls were sick at the time so I didn't want to make him sick. Caden's fine. He's with a man named... Uh, Benedict I think. He's a priest." He explained. Of course Reuben seemed alarmed this time. Now that caught his attention.

"Nerys, Dani, and Godwine are all sick, and it doeslook like it's the flu. Selena's got allergy attacks still. My twin brother got shot, and I haven't properly eaten in days." He spoke, his voice dry. Of course he completely forgot that Reuben met Cepheid when he was drunk and didn't remember it.</sub>

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Figured that Andy wouldn't care about Reubengerms, not when he had been so willing to be quite... intimate with the boy before learning that he was his son. Oh well, there wasn't much that he could do about it now, and it was likely he would catch whatever dirty things Andy was immune to if he didn't keep the milk.

"...!" Now that definitely caught his attention. Caden... was alive. And apparently doing alright. That was such a huge relief to him that he couldn't stop himself from outright hugging the man in front of him. "Oh thank god, I'll have to go find that priest named Benedict- wait."

...He was hugging Andromeda. Reuben blinked and let go, pretending that he hadn't just done that. He'd have to clean off the Andygerms later. Later though. Nerys was sick with the flu, and knowing his luck, he was going to catch it just from Andy being there.

"Well... keep the milk, it might help, make the girls soup, I'm blaming them if I catch something, and what the hell did the Star Man do to get himself shot?" Yes, he had met Cepheid during his post-drunken hangover, and that guy honestly didn't seem to be the sort of person to get shot.

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<sub>This man was minding his business, not really realizing what he said would affect Reuben that much, but then he found himself hugged by Reuben and he was talking about Caden and then Benedict and... this was awkward. Andromeda hit the awkward bug yet again and just stared at the kid when he hugged him.

"... You're hugging me." What an astute observation, Andy. He then took a deep breath, leaning against the wall again, rubbing his head.

"I'll have to check the churches around here as well. I'm... looking for someone." He paused, wondering if he should explain it. Should he? ... Not right now. Reuben was asking after his brother. Okay so he made the observation that The Star Man is his twin brother. This might not be good if he ever gets Cepheid's name.

"Well, he had a run in with a Dula crime figure, one I knew before. Nerys's father. He's dead now, though." He spoke nonchalantly.</sub>

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Andromeda was rendered speechless, if it hadn't been for the conversation topic, Reuben would have found it absolutely hilarious. As it was, he backed off upon Andy making that extremely observant note, and coughed in a somewhat embarrassed manner. For the love of god... he had to note that he had hugged him.

"That never happened." He crossed his arms again, idly brushing some Andygerms off of him, as the other mentioned that he was searching for somebody. Oh? Now that could be interesting, who would he be searching for?

"Who is it?" For all he knew it was someone that he had met. And why was Andy surprised, the Star Man had called Reuben his 'nephew', after all. He doubted that Andromeda had so many brothers. Children, Reuben wouldn't be surprised if he had over 9000 half-siblings, but brothers? Nah. Ah, Nery's father had shot the man, but at least he was dead now.

"Good, Nerys did used to tell me that I was lucky." Lucky in having Michael as his father. He did muse about how weird it was that he could easily troll Andy by calling him 'Pops', but couldn't acknowledge the man as his father.

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<sub>Andy flicked his hair back and coughed when Reuben said not to remember that. He definitely won't... or will. It's his son. It was going to be a bit awkward for him anyway. He shied a bit on who he wanted to look for, obviously hesitating, but he would address the issue with Reuben being lucky.

"Luck is like chocolate. Sweet, but it's going to run out eventually and you won't have any more to depend on." That's all he said on the subject, of course he bit his lip, took a deep breath, and spoke up.

"You're probably aware I might have more than one son. Well... there is one. He should be about your age, I think. Maybe..." He went quiet. "I had recently found Sine, my girlfriend from years ago before we ran away from Dula... She lives here, married and with a kid, and I had no idea." He shook his head. "You know, I could have had a normal life with her if we found each other after escaping that company, but that didn't happen. Not too long before I found out about you, my brother said that he met her when she was sixteen, pregnant, and she apparently left the baby at a church in the eastern part of Seria. Supposedly a boy, black hair..." He trailed off. "I don't know anything else though. Not even the name."</sub>

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Well, Reuben was probably going to remember it, even if he told Andy to forget and that he would probably forget it anyways. This was Andromeda, and it was impossible to forget anything involving the man unless one was extremely drunk and he didn't want to get into your pants at the time. Either way, Reuben shrugged.

"Oh, trust me, I know that, only a little too well. I don't feel too lucky at the moment." Like getting shot down, having a bounty put on him, learning Andromeda was his biological father was 'lucky', and then losing his family. He didn't really feel lucky at the moment.

He quietly mused that yes, even serial rapists had to have girlfriends. Either way, the thought of him having another half-brother made him raise his eyebrows. Well, he wouldn't be surprised. It probably did sting, though, to learn that your girlfriend that you'd been searching for for years was happily married to someone else and had a child.

"Boy, black hair, around my age but a little older?" That didn't help too much, there were lots of black-haired boys his age in Seria, and he hadn't seen one with Andy's features; for all he knew his half-sibling took the appearance of his mother and didn't look much like Andy at all.

"That's not much to go by... and I probably wouldn't have existed if that had happened." The bit about him possibly having a normal life. Yes, his mother would have been spared, but he... Reuben, wouldn't have existed if Andy had had a normal life. Maybe that would have been a good thing, considering that a lot of people wouldn't be victimized. Small things change life in huge ways.

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<sub>Andy felt much better after that, but at the same time his own pride hurt. Sine ditched the only child he had... the only legitimate child too. He took a deep breath and leaned his head on the wall, staring at the ceiling. What was he to do...?

"Better than me. I feel like I've aged a million years." He spoke up, sliding down the wall and just staring at the floor this time. He didn't want to go on a self pity session, but... honestly that's what it felt like.

"It's all I have. But... I don't know. Hell if I know this kid would even see me as a real father after all of this. You know what I've done and all." He glared down at the ground. "I find it unfair for the kid, actually. Sine left him... I know she was young, but... she married another guy! I mean good for him and all but... She has another son that she just... left."</sub>

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Andy definitely looked somewhat unhappy, and Reuben actually found any annoyance he had for the man dissipating upon looking at him. He had had it rough; it was no wonder that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown at the moment.

"...How old are you, anyways?" Andy didn't look that old, he probably had to have been quite young when he had been conceived...

And there he went, ranting about how he didn't know whether his son would see him as his real father, how unfair it was, Sine left them both and married another man, and such. Slowly, Reuben dropped down next to him, and patted the man's shoulder awkwardly, not really sure what else to do.

"I don't know her, so I can't really judge her. I suppose it... depends on him, and how he was raised, lord knows I was in denial for the longest time upon learning about... that. Who knows, maybe... my half-brother is happy where he is."