theoseong

[theoseong]

Theo nodded along as he listened. If he was locked in a pod for emergency reasons, then that didn't really change his answer. He'd still want Robin and guitar...and water. "Yeah, a smaller guitar," he confirmed again. "A full-sized Robin, though. I know it's a tight squeeze." They were both six foot tall men, but he'd rather be uncomfortable than locked away from him.

"Hypothetical. I'm trying to figure out how to make things more comfortable for everyone in an emergency. It's partly a fun question, and partly a serious one. Pods are pretty safe in the grand scheme of things and well-armored, so I'd like for them to be a good place to go in an emergency. But the kind of emergency that isn't probably likely. Smaller guitar, though? I can't imagine playing a full-sized one while stuck in the pod with Robin happily," Daphne said.

[theoseong]

Theo nodded sagely when Daphne allowed him to keep his favorite part of his list. "I mean, if a smaller guitar is an option, then I'll take a smaller guitar," he said. He liked his guitar, but that could be his everywhere else guitar, and his smaller one could be his pod guitar. "Is this a real question or hypothetical? Are we getting locked in our pods?"

"...In the scheme of person/place/thing, Robin doesn't count, but I'll allow it because I didn't give you criteria," Daphne said with a small sigh. "Would you need a smaller guitar? I know technically it fits in the pod, but with Robin in there too, it's probably not the comfiest fit."

[theoseong]

Theo wasn't ready for a pop quiz. Daphne said no wrong answers, but there had to be a reason why she was asking, and Theo didn't want to choose wrong and everything stolen except for the three things he chose. "My guitar," he said first, because that was a given. "A refillable bottle of water," he added, which was boring, but he didn't want to die of thirst. "And...Robin? Does he count?"

"Think fast. If you had to pick three things that you absolutely needed if you couldn't leave your pod for three days, what would they be? No wrong answers." Daphne was sure that not everyone that she asked this question to would think very fast. She tried asking Leo the question earlier, and it looked like the gunner's mind had started buffering. She had asked Hero, and the answer had been literally 'three socks'. And now she wanted to know what this crewmate thought.

[theoseong]

"Needs an acapella version," Theo corrected himself with an amused roll of his eyes. It was such a typical Skylar conversation, where none of this would ever happened, but he didn't mind going along with the bit. "I have nothing else to do so I don't see why there can't be a mashup. We should also consider doing a version where all the vocals are done by Elmo." As in Mari's Elmo, not the red monster thing from Earth.

"Needs an acapella version," Sky corrected, as if this was a) something he had any authority to demand, and b) was part of a real project Theo was definitely doing. "If you can swing that, then hell yeah. All bass version, let's go. And then you can do a remix that's a mashup of the acapella and the bass version. You're welcome."

[theoseong]

"Sky wants an acapella version. Noted," Theo nodded seriously like this was a project actually in the works. "Would you want to provide the bass on this album? I was thinking we should do a version that's only bass and nothing else. Just a bass remix."

"Well shit, sign me up for updates on that. One of the tracks'll be an a cappella version, right? Can't do rainbow road without a cappella," Sky made up on the spot. He kind of did want to hear an a cappella version now though. "I wonder how many different layers you'd need... you've got your work cut out for you."

[theoseong]

Ah, right. Theo's legacy--sick beats. It was just like he always wanted. He was pretty sure this was the result of spending too much with Ali and Skylar. "Sick" didn't used to be part of his vocabulary. "It's only the Mario Kart rainbow road backtrack," he deadpanned. "I'm writing an album that are just various remixes of that song."

"Too late, comments like that are instantly perma-saved into my brain. I can't not think of sick beats whenever I see you from now on. But hey, look at the bright side - there's definitely worse fates for a musician than having someone think of 'sick beats' when they see you," Sky pointed out. "But you might need to be a little more specific about which sick beats, or I'll just assume it's the Mario Kart rainbow road backtrack."

[theoseong]

"I'm so sorry," Theo deadpans. He wondered just how much nougat Sky got in that bulk discount. He'd probably find out if Sky kept throwing it at him in the hall. "I'm good too," he said with a shrug. "The only thing I've been blowing up are...these sick beats." The moment he said it, he hated himself for it. "Uh...please erase that from your brain. That never happened."

"I can't believe you'd make a mockery of my real, definitely not made up lived events by comparing them to a video game," Sky countered. shaking his head in mock-disbelief. "But I am doing good, thanks for noticing. Even better now that I've got some nougat off my back - they were not messing around with the bulk in that bulk discount." He grinned. "What about you? Blow anything up lately?"

[theoseong]

Theo let out a snort and shook his head, still trying to get nougat out of his teeth. It was really sticky. "Throwing bombs while roller-skating," he echoed slowly. "Sounds like a weird video game. Thanks for the nougat. It seems like you're doing good despite all the bomb throwing."

"Well shit, there goes my plan to romance you with nougat," Sky deadpanned, keeping his expression totally blank as he nodded in response to Theo's subsequent question. "All the time. Especially when roller-skating. How do you think my aim got so good? All that time skating, I was bound to break my wrist eventually."

[theoseong]

As Theo finished unwrapping it, he saw the nougats Sky was talking about. They looked pretty good. "Thanks, but I have a boyfriend," he joked and picked out the maple one, popping it in his mouth. He gave his friend a confused expression as he chewed the sticky candy, taking longer than necessary to respond, because the nougat was stuck to his teeth. "Do you throw bombs often?" He asked. "Didn't you break like your leg roller-skating once? Seems like a risky move for you."

Sky snickered as Theo jumped away from the object instead of towards it. "For fun," he answered the erukuss's question. "Assorted almond nougat. Including maple almond - apparently it's a local thing," he answered with a shrug. "Good thing it wasn't a bomb though, or we'd both be dead." That probably would have been his fault for throwing a bomb and not Theo's fault for failing to catch it, but that was beside the point.

[theoseong]

Theo didn't think fast enough. Startling at Sky's sudden warning, he jumped away from the object, leading it to land at his feet. "Why?" He merely sighed at the human before bending down to pick it up. "What is it?" Theo asked as he started unwrapping it, figuring he was meant to if Sky threw at him.

( Open Starter )

"Think fast!" Beyond making sure the person he was talking to had seen and heard, Skylar gave no further warning before he chucked a small, wrapped object in their general direction. Not hard enough to hurt -- if anything, it would most likely fall short, unless the intended recipient was quick about leaning forward to catch it. Oh well, good thing it wasn't fragile.

[theoseong]

"Thanks," Theo murmured, giving Robin a half-smile as he stroked his hand. It was nice. He still felt weird for bringing it up, but hopefully they could just move on. "I'm good though. I only need to talk about soup and how stupid the main character is for following the noise in the scary movie," he added in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm down for a blanket tent. I can't remember the last time I made one of those." It was probably when he was still a kid. Thirty wasn't too old to still hang out in a blanket tent, he was pretty sure. Coziness was nice at all ages. Finishing up his coffee, he gave his boyfriend's hand a squeeze. "Ready?"

[theoseong]

Theo couldn't comment on Ly’Lor’Ke's entertainment industry, since he never visited, but the planet didn't seem to be known for it. It made sense that Daniel stayed in his own planet when he first moved though. It wasn't actually that easy to find space travel without being on a crew. He just left the planet for the first time last year. "Yeah, that makes sense," he nodded. "Different City had a pretty popular theatre scene too. It's not that far from Rungung. I took a bus to get there." He wouldn't move there again, but the city served its purpose when Theo needed it.

[theoseong]

Theo couldn't comment on Ly’Lor’Ke's entertainment industry, since he never visited, but the planet didn't seem to be known for it. It made sense that Daniel stayed in his own planet when he first moved though. It wasn't actually that easy to find space travel without being on a crew. He just left the planet for the first time last year. "Yeah, that makes sense," he nodded. "Different City had a pretty popular theatre scene too. It's not that far from Rungung. I took a bus to get there." He wouldn't move there again, but the city served its purpose when Theo needed it.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed, suddenly sounding rather deep in thought. Or deeper in thought, as it were. "Now that I've seen a bit more of the galaxy, it seems like Ly’Lor’Ke maybe isn't the best place for it...? I'd moved to the best place I could think of without leaving the planet, but there's a lot of planets out here. I don't know if Earth would really work, and I reckon I'd really rather not move to a planet I haven't been to... but to your point - maybe Kraysha, or someplace else we've stopped...? Or someplace we'll go in the future." He wasn't sure if Kraysha was really the best option either, but it was still probably a better one than Ly’Lor’Ke - even if he ignored that it would make it that much easier to see Ryder every now and then if he picked someplace the Prosperity stopped by semi regularly.

[theoseong]

"Thanks," Theo murmured, giving Robin a half-smile as he stroked his hand. It was nice. He still felt weird for bringing it up, but hopefully they could just move on. "I'm good though. I only need to talk about soup and how stupid the main character is for following the noise in the scary movie," he added in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm down for a blanket tent. I can't remember the last time I made one of those." It was probably when he was still a kid. Thirty wasn't too old to still hang out in a blanket tent, he was pretty sure. Coziness was nice at all ages. Finishing up his coffee, he gave his boyfriend's hand a squeeze. "Ready?"

Robin didn’t expect Theo to explain, but whatever vague hypothesis on why he’d been quiet for a bit… well, he didn’t expect that.  “Oh,”  he answered rather stupidly.  Robin wasn’t thinking about it, but it made a lot of sense that Theo would be.  This was his thirtieth birthday, it was sort of a big deal.  And the only family he had to spend it with was…Robin, and Robin’s family.  It was basically impossible to think of himself as someone nearly good enough to fill his family role.  He moved his hand, resting his thumb along the back of Theo’s hand that was touching his mug.  “I wasn’t…but my answer’s the same, too.  You deserve a good day.  Um, and you know I’m here if or when you want to talk about…stuff…definitely doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow or even soon…yeah.” God, he was being awkward.  Was his face red?  It probably was.  Theo certainly wanted to move past it now, so he attempted to reconfigure himself.  “You know, we should also set up a blanket tent in the rec room.”

[theoseong]

Theo definitely knew what Daniel meant. If he didn't just rip off the Band-Aid and move to Different City, he might've lost his nerve to pursue music. He wasn't sure if giving his dad plenty of warning would've helped either. He might've just given Theo the silent treatment for weeks or handcuffed him to the diner so he couldn't leave. "It probably can't be done perfectly," he agreed with a nod. "Yeah, it's not over yet. Maybe you just haven't found the right place yet. There's cities in Kraysha that have a decent theatre scene. You know Earth does too, but that might be harder to pull off." Only because Daniel wasn't human, but that didn't stop Ian or Ali.

Daniel nodded slowly as Theo pointed out that he was the one who would have to do the farming if he had decided to stay home the way his family had wanted. "Yeah," he agreed quietly. "And I know that I'm - well, what I'm doing now isn't really that far off from farming, but... I haven't given up. I would have done by now if I'd stayed home. Sometimes you just have to... leave. But it's a hard thing to do perfectly - I don't even know if it can be done perfectly, especially if there's people you're leaving who aren't ready for you to go. But there are definitely things I wish I'd handled differently," he admitted, sighing. "And then again, when I left the city to come here. So... here's hoping the third time will be the charm, I suppose?"

[theoseong]

Theo just waved a hand when Daniel apologized. It was nice, but he didn't need one. Everything that happened was his own doing. It'd be a lie if he claimed he never regretted it. It felt like a lot of sacrifice for almost no reward, but the alternative was working at the diner for the last decade and not gaining any kind of musician experience. "You're not wrong for it," Theo countered without hesitation. "I don't regret that I moved, but I guess...I just wish I handled it differently." He didn't have to wait until the night before to tell his dad the truth or cut off all communication, but he was young and really stupid. "Not everyone's going to like what you're doing, but it wouldn't be fair to you to cater your life to other people. If you don't want to be a farmer then don't be a farmer. You're the one that would have to do it." That was more or less what Theo told himself when he decided to leave the diner a second time. It came with a lot of guilt, but his dad was gone. Theo was the one that had to force himself to do something he didn't want.

Theo said that's good, at least, but it didn't really sound like he thought it was good? Or perhaps he just had other matters on his mind. He didn't have time to wonder about that for long before Theo continued, and the probable reason for the way he sounded was explained. Daniel frowned sympathetically. The way Theo said and we never talked again sounded so... final, and he didn't know what to do with that. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, even if he wasn't entirely sure what he was saying sorry for. "Yeah, I - I understand why they'd want to avoid that. I suppose for myself, I just... don't know how to do that...? But I do wonder if I'm in the wrong for it, sometimes. It feels like I make life more difficult for everyone around me," he admitted quietly. This really wasn't the sort of thing he said to people he wasn't especially close with... or the sort of thing he said to anyone at all, really. But it seemed like Theo could relate to him quite a bit more than he'd realized, and he was doing his best to be more open of a person, so... perhaps it would be alright?

[theoseong]

Theo nodded along in understanding as Daniel described his own experience with his parents, feeling a small pang of jealousy. It wasn't really fair of him. It wasn't like he gave his dad a chance to come around if he even wanted to. Theo ran away, changed his number and deleted his social media. Unless his dad hired a private investigator, he really didn't have a way to find Theo. Deep down, he had a feeling that was why he did it. It was easier to make the decision for them both than give his dad the option to reach out to him only to never do it. Going against his parents wishes was probably still really hard for Daniel even if the eventually accepted it.

"That's good, at least," he said and tried his best to sound encouraging, but it came out more flat than he meant it to. "My dad wanted me to take over our family diner one day, but I didn't want to. I told him I was moving, he got pissed, and we never talked again. So..." He trailed off with a weak shrug. It was the watered down version of the story and didn't include the part where his dad died, but he didn't need to get into that. "I guess I can't blame Robin or Ryder if they want to avoid that."

Daniel nodded slightly as Theo mentioned him having met the twins' mother. That had been a terrifying experience. Even so, he was glad he'd gone - he'd genuinely enjoyed getting to know Henry, at least, and meeting Alisz had been... well, he was pretty sure it was good for his relationship with Ryder that he knew their mother, at least, and he felt like he had more perspective now than he had before, as well. Give him time. That was fair. Daniel still sort of wondered if Ryder would ever leave his medic role even given all the time in the universe, but he couldn't blame them if they didn't. To Theo's point, going against a parent was hard.

"It is difficult," he agreed quietly. "I thought I'd had a hard enough time with my parents - they'd wanted me to go into farming, but... they did at least semi come around to the idea of me having other plans. Eventually." He laughed a little dryly at that. He still got pretty regular reminders from his family that there was always a place and a job for him back home. He knew they meant well, but it wasn't exactly helpful. He cast Theo a curious look. The way he talked about going against a parent made Daniel curious about his own experiences on that front, but he wasn't sure if he could ask.