#ch: (nemo bae)

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

It was something. So much so that even Hatter caught it. He was present and careful enough to not show it outwardly but he acknowledged that it was a big deal to be included. Or maybe he just thought it was a big deal. Either way, he felt very grateful toward the kid for having said it at all.

And, look, Hatter would have shuddered at the use of the word step-dad, too. Not because he wouldn't have wanted to be such a thing, but because it felt like a gross overstepping and mislabeling.

Nemo already had a dad. Nemo had been raised by him. To Hatter, Nemo didn't need another parent, he already had what he needed in Mr. Bae and the last thing Hatter was going to do was pretend like he had some authority over the kid just because of his relationship to his father, or because he was older. He would take whatever Nemo was willing to give– but his hope was that they could at least be friends.

"I will," he agreed simply, not wanting to draw attention to what Nemo might not have perceived as deep. "Thank you. Sorry if I ask too many questions. You can always tell me to go read book on the subject instead if you get tired of explaining."

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[bdrpmemes]

Nemo, to Marlin: I see you're paying attention to someone who is not me. why is that.

[dr-drckken]

Frog Heist || F.R.O.G. Squad

@justkeepdancing-nemo @madmagicmim

The scene was this: A man was stood in the middle of the road that led into Swynlake with a car blocking both lanes, grey smoke coming out of the hood like a bonfire. The only light was the one working headlight, a flashlight the man was holding, and the waxing gibbous of a moon that had been witness to all that had caused such a thing. 

Then, a third was added to the list More headlights came down the road, the truck they were attached to having to come to a complete stop before it made contact with anything. It was slightly too big to try pulling around, the treeline too close to the road to fit without the top hitting on something. 

The truck’s back lights flickered, showing that it had gone into park, and then the engine died completely. A door opened and driver hopped out. 

“Hey, mate, you okay?” 

“Oh, thank god!” the man cried, coming around to meet the man in the middle. At the back of his car, at the front of the truck. The driver squinted as the flashlight  shone directly into his eyes, bringing his hand up. Keys jangled with the motion, still held between his fingers. The light beam darted away. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to blind you there.” 

“It’s alright, no harm done,” the driver said, blinking away the spots in his vision now. “Er, what’s going on?” 

“That’s just it, I don’t know! I hit something out here and then my car blew up!” the man replied, turning to watch the smoke still billowing up toward the sky. “It’s the darnedest thing.” 

“Have you called for a tow?” 

“No. My phone- well.” The man pulled something from his pocket and shined his flashlight on it to show a very mangled and cracked thing resembled a phone. “It fell out of my pocket earlier and then I kicked it across the way in the dark, not knowing.” 

Silence passed between them as the driver tried very hard not to say anything rude. He gave a sigh, reaching into his pocket. In went the hand with the keys and out came a hand with a phone instead. “You can use mine.” 

“Could I? Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” the man said, relief palpable. He took the phone once the driver had unlocked it.

[bdrpmemes]

@the-smartest-mallard, @dragon-prodigy, @littlebarrelboy, @un-incredibleviolet, @the-coolest-mallard, @chains-of-blood, @wilbur-robinson, @justkeepdancing-nemo, @theincredibledash

[davidhatter]

@baenxietydad @justkeepdancing-nemo

That made Hatter smile a little before he realized Nemo hadn't meant that to be amusing, the follow up questions making that more apparent. His brows furrowed slightly before he was saying, "That's apart of it but- I think you do know. It's just newer to me so that stuff stands out more rather than being something I'm used to."

At least, he imagined Nemo must have been used to it by now. Hatter assumed the meals Mr. Bae made for his son was to Nemo what the food Hatter had learned to make for his siblings was to Hatter. Comforting, reliably satisfying, and the thing one made when there was no inspiration or desire for anything else. It was so familiar to the tongue and nose that, while still maintaining it's inherent ability to be enjoyed, it didn't seem like there was any question that need to be asked. It was just an assured sure answer.

"Anyway," Hatter said, sitting back a touch as he forced himself to put the subject down before he bored the poor kid to tears talking about vegetables for the next half hour. "Do you have any recommendations?"

Just Be Chill || The Baes + Hatter

[bdrpmemes]

Nemo: I’m gonna sneak out

Chase: *catches Nemo*

Marlin: You’re grounded

Nemo: 

[bdrpmemes]

Marlin: I just need to hear those three words from you.

Nemo: I love you.

Marlin: Try again.

Nemo: I will behave.

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

That seemed like a very strange concept to him, whose understanding and liking of musicians came from some sense of them being an organic creation of themselves. But, he knew that to be somewhat of a falsehood for the grand majority of them. Franny, for instance, was a rarity since he had known her before the rest of the world had figured out her talents.

It must have been a good path to take for the artists, though, right? If Nemo was calling it the traditional way then it was the one most traveled by these sorts of people. He supposed it would make sense that the people wanting to make money would seek out the talent to do so, much like a movie or play or the like.

"Then I take it there aren't many who would try to make it on their own without the help of a company?"

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Train. That was a novel concept to Hatter, who had never particularly paid attention to how any performers went about getting ready. He'd heard words like rehearsals and classes and camp and the like, but not a training. That seemed to imply an intensity to it that he had never put much thought toward, but that was because he hardly ever sought out live shows, either in life or in recording to be watched on screen. And while Swynlake had them, and while they were well done most of the time, the scale was far smaller than anything that was going to be put on television for a large audience base.

The older he got, the bigger the world became and the more he realized he didn't know anything about a lot of things. To Hatter, this was a very nice feeling. For someone who had lived in such a small town where sometimes a week could blend into the same day, it was interesting hearing about things like this from people who had taken the time to learn and love them.

"Groups? So...then a group would approach an agency? Or do individuals and the agency groups them together?" he asked.

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Right. Hatter nodded, knowing now upon hearing Nemo's answer that it hadn't been a very good question. Enjoyment was a subjective thing. He had just been thinking since Nemo had seen these programs and seemed to understand the sort of mindset someone would have to go on the show, that he might have some insight. Hatter was usually good about not trying to assume another's thoughts or feelings, so why ask someone else to?

He had been willing to let the subject rest there, not wanting to blunder any more– but then curiosity got the better of him again.

"Traditional route?" he echoed back to Nemo because no. No, he did not know what that entailed. Did that just mean putting their music out into the world and hoping that it would garner fans?

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Hatter breathed in, brows rising a touch as he listened to those descriptions and thinking about people who were so committed to something like performance to the point of emotional outbursts or overworking themselves was a foreign concept to him. He didn't quite understand how something like that could be important to the point of depriving one's self of proper care.

But, then, he had done the same thing in his life. For different reasons but like Nemo had said, the driving force behind it had been desperation. So, it wasn't all that different. Just the motivation behind it.

He nodded slowly as he came to terms with it in that respect. That someone could care about a performance and execution of said performance like he did his siblings, it would make sense as to why they would push their bodies and minds to the brink.

"I wouldn't say nutty. That seems rather...negative," he said. "But they enjoy that? Putting themselves through that sort of endeavor?"

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

No, not really. At least, not in the setting that Hatter was imagining– which was to say, where there was nothing on the line but giving a nice performance for cameras and a crowd. Since he didn't know the stakes, the intricacies, or the work put into that of the competition being held, he didn't quite understand the pressure or loss that could come of not doing well.

Sure, he knew what desperation looked like. He had been unable to clean the stench of it off of him for years after his mother had died. It was what had driven him to the point of making the deal for the tea. But– that was obviously very different and not something he could apply to what Nemo was talking about.

"Is that desperation or desire?" he asked.

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Without knowledge of the shows, Hatter only understood so much of what Nemo was saying. Though it probably had to do with his own personal bias because he didn't know the terms quality and reality television could be related to one another. As far as he was aware, reality tv was where shows like Challenge Anneka and Streetmate with Davina McCall and The Living Soap. All of which he had only ever seen in passing when his siblings would have something on and he would hear something absolutely ludicrous coming through the speakers followed by their cackling.

But those hadn't been about singing and dancing. Maybe that had something to do with it, that there were performances being done. Plus the technological quality had probably gone way beyond what they'd been capable of back in the late 90's and early 2000's.

"Okay," he repeated, making a mental note to ask Mr. Bae next time he saw him watching something like that. Then his brow furrowed as the rest of what Nemo said had filtered through. "Wait, how is desperation a good thing? Aren't they performing?"

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Yes, that smile of Nemo's had been very potent– so much so that Hatter, who was hardly familiar with picking out reagents of someone's person, was momentarily blinded by it. It was like a reflection of the sun coming in through the shoppe's window, bouncing off someone's windshield as they drove past. He squinted against it, and when he opened his eyes fully again Nemo was suddenly no longer on the couch.

He looked up at the kid as he spoke and...yeah, he didn't understand how Mr. Bae didn't see himself in his son. They had that same ability to convey passion for something without inhibition, with a desire to share what they enjoyed with others. Even someone like Hatter, who didn't believe himself capable of liking something that much.

"Okay," he said, and not just because he felt an obligation to. Hatter wasn't someone who cared about that sort of thing, if he didn't want to do something then he would say it.

Besides, he hadn't been steered wrong by a Bae when they suggested he listen or watch or read something yet.

"Is there a place to start?" he asked.

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

Hatter pulled his gaze away as he thought about that, playing a sport simply for the exercise and social aspect. That must have been freeing. Since his only engagement with sports from a very outside perspective was seeing it at the highest level of professional leagues, where it was all high stakes all the time, or the lowest level of whatever was going on in the park between whoever had shown up that day with boots and a ball, it didn't occur to him that other pockets of sports leagues were taking place. Even in such a small town as Swynlake.

And as he was contemplating this, Nemo said what he did next and it made Hatter blink, turning his attention back to the kid. Mostly that Nemo had wanted Mr. Bae to make friends outside of the Hollow, which he figured to be the case but still enjoyed hearing. Again, they were alike in their desire for the other to succeed and be happy in life.

Maybe that wasn't such a odd thing to find between father and son, or even just between family members, but to Hatter it was a significant detailing to the pair. That they were both trying to take care of the other since, from what Hatter took away from Mr. Bae sharing about his life, they'd been all one another had for a long run of time.

"He may not be into sports–" or most sports, since Hatter had found him watching baseball (of all things) sometimes, "–but he seems to really get into those...reality shows. Them erm– the ones with the singers? Or groups?"

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter

[davidhatter]

@justkeepdancing-nemo

That was an odd way of phrasing it, wasn't it? Just? Was a rec league supposed to be lesser than or something? It wasn't as if Nemo was aiming to play the sport professionally, right? He wanted to dance? Hatter hadn't meant the question to demean the level, he had just wanted to know how involved it all was. Like when Nemo had gone to...where had it been? Norway? For the volunteering that one spring break, when Mr. Bae had been both very proud of him and very sad to be away from his son for the period of time.

Hatter nodded, if Ramirez hadn't already gotten word out about it when it had first started, the whole announcement Simba had given at Mufasa Lyon's memorial about the scholarship for the program would have broken the news to Hatter's quiet corner of the universe.

"It was about time. You'd have thought the Magick friendly school would have had it a while ago, but...I guess it's always a money thing," he said with a slight shade of disappointment. "But erm– for volleyball, do you play for anything? A bracket? Or is all just for fun."

Help! I'm Trapped With My Dad's Socially Awkward Boyfriend! || Natter