step into the light

"You hear that, Elmo? You're a genius!" Mari told Elmo, who blurbled happily at the mention of her own name. Genius or not though, Elmo definitely didn't know to put one of her many legs into Mari's hand when she said 'paw'. Probably because Mari had never taught her that, since it had never occurred to her to. But also... "hm, I don't know if she would really learn something like that...? She mostly does what she wants to do! Like, um. When I left where I'm from, um. She wasn't supposed to come with me. I tried to get her to stay behind, but she wouldn't. But... I think she's happy here! Right, Elmo?" Elmo trilled, which Mari decided was probably a yes.

#me using my shiba knowledge on ali lol #thread: mari #thread: mari003

"She seems happy here," Ali agreed as he grinned at Elmo. "She's probably just too smart to learn tricks, no offense to Ellie." Luckily, Ellie didn't seem offended as she started sniffing curiously around the kitchen. "There's this breed of dog from Japan called a Shiba Inu, and it's actually really hard to teach them tricks because they just do whatever they want. They're so smart, it's almost like they're too good to learn them," he explained, rambling off one of his many fun facts about dogs. "I don't know if Elmo has that kind of attitude exactly, but she probably doesn't need to learn any tricks."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, I don't know... probably? She's used to eating scraps of stuff in the ocean, so I mostly try to give her stuff that's kinda like that, but! She's also pretty good at knowing what she can and can't eat. Like she won't put it in her mouth if there's no food. Or she might but then she'll spit it out if it's something that's partly food! Hmmm... tricks? Like what?"

"Wow! She's really smart. Much smarter than most dogs," Ali chuckled. "Dogs tend to put anything and everything in their mouth and don't have the common sense to spit it out." When Mari asked about tricks, Ali turned to face Ellie, who peered up at him attentively. "Tricks are like this...Ellie, sit," he commanded her. The corgi sat immediately, still staring up at Ali and waiting for her treat. "Ellie, paw." Kneeling down, Ali held out her hand for Ellie to rest her paw in his palm. "Those are tricks," he told Mari before standing up to find something to feed Ellie for her hard work.

"Yeah!" Mari agreed brightly. Giving treats was a great way to make animal friends! She looked at Ellie as Ali explained how he'd met her when she was a potato-sized puppy, and tried to imagine Ellie at that size. Aww. Elmo trilled at the sound of her name and Mari turned her attention back to the nueep, giving her another piece of food. "Elmo loves snacks, and swimming and chasing bubbles, and going on walks, and sitting on my shoulder, and taking naps, and making little noises! And hiding in the cave in her tank, or sometimes she likes to press up against the glass, especially if I put my hand on the other side! And meeting friends, I think! What do you think, Elmo?" Elmo cooed again, though whether it was in answer to the question or just a response to her name being mentioned again was unclear.

As Mari described Elma, she definitely sounded like the perfect pet for someone who lived both on land and in the sea, but also the perfect pet for Mari, specifically. She looked really cute on her shoulder, trilling as she was acknowledged. "Elmo likes to do a lot," he said with a fond grin as he looked at the nueep. "Is there anything she can't eat? Dogs can't eat chocolate or grapes, for example. Can you teach her how to do tricks?" This was also a way to get to know the species in general, since Ali wasn't familiar. When his food was ready, he retrieved it and set it on the counter to cool a little.

Elmo squished down a little harder on Mari's shoulder for a second after Ellie barked. "It's okay, she's just saying hi!" Mari assured the nueep, copying what Ali had just said. It wasn't clear if it was her words or her reassuring tone, but Elmo seemed to relax again after that. "Okay, yay!" Mari exclaimed, copying Ali and looking to the door to see if anyone was there. There wasn't, which was good if they were talking about secret things... but also it wasn't a secret for Ali to get to know Elmo, right? As long as they didn't talk about why she was suggesting it like that right now specifically, it didn't seem like there would be any reason not to talk about Elmo here. The reheating-thing was probably about to be done, so she gave Ellie a few more pats and then stood up to wash her hands again. "Elmo and I have been friends for, uhhhh, a couple years now, about! I had talked to Ian about how I maybe wanted a pet but I wasn't sure what kind, and I told them about different kinds and they said a nueep would be good 'cause then I could have a friend who could go with me in the water or on the land! And Elmo really likes snacks, so she always came when I offered them, and then she started coming over even when I didn't have any snacks, and then she started not wanting to go other places! Or! She would go other places but she would always come back! And then she wanted to go with me when I left to Molfaun go to space and stuff," Mari explained as she dried her hands off and then got her food out of the reheating thingie, Elmo cooing softly every time she said 'Elmo' or 'nueep' along the way. "How long have you and Ellie been friends?" Mari asked as she sat down at the table with her and Elmo's food. She didn't need to know for living longer reasons, but she was still curious!

#thread: mari #thread: mari003 #idk if a microwave is right or if they use something more space like but i can fix it lol

Ali retrieved his food and a plate before placing it in the microwave to heat it up as he listened to Mari, nodding along intently. He knew Ian and Mari met on Molfaun, but he didn't realize Ian was the reason Elmo came to be. The Ian and Mari lore ran deep, apparently. "You became friends by giving her treats," he observed with a grin. "That's the guaranteed way to get an animal to trust you." He peered down at his dog when she asked about her, who was already begging at Ali's feet for his dough-pocket. "I got Ellie as a baby about six years ago. She was about the size of a potato back then," he said fondly and bent down to scratch behind her ears. The microwave beeped once his food was ready, so he stood upright and pulled it out. "I wasn't sure how well she'd adjust to living on a spaceship, but she just seems to love having all these crewmates to hang out with. What are some of Elmo's favorite things to do?" He asked, turning his attention about to the nueep so he could learn more.

Elmo blurbled from her perch on Mari's shoulder at the sound of her name, swaying back and forth a little in apparent happiness. "Oh, yay! We can have lunch time together then! You and me and Elmo and Ellie! Which - hi, Ellie! how are you?" Mari crouched down to greet Ellie, which mostly involved giving her head pats and lots of rubs. After awaiting Ellie's answer (nonverbal, of course - she knew that dogs didn't speak), she looked up to Ali. "Do you know what you want to eat yet? There's all kinds of food here! Dough-pocket things with fillings, soups, nuggets, some kind of dough stick thingie - oh, that's two dough things - meat on a stick.... uh! I saw other stuff too. Smoothie ingredients? Oh, also! Do you think now would be a good time to get to know Elmo? Or would you want to do that another time? For, you know, getting to know each other reasons!" Yep, Mari was doing a great job of not divulging Ali's life-extending secrets in a place where someone who wasn't crew could easily walk in.

Ali grinned at Elmo as she seemed to respond to his greeting. Obviously, he never saw a nueep until Mari brought her on board, but he was a big fan. Ali was pretty easy to please when it came to pets though. "Sounds perfect," he said with a nod. As Mari pet Ellie, the corgi wiggled her butt excitedly from the attention before letting out a single bark when she noticed Elmo. Ellie was still getting used to the non-Earth animals. Katara was a big adjustment for her, but they were becoming good friends. "That means 'hello' in Ellie speak," he explained. He stayed quiet as Mari listed off all the lunch options. It all sounded pretty good to him, but he wasn't picky. Before he could pick, Mari quickly changed subject to Elmo. It wasn't the best spot to bring up the whole lifespan thing, but at least she didn't actually mention that part. "I'd love to get to know Elmo over lunch," Ali said, eyeing the door to make sure no one else was coming in. "I think I'll dough-pocket things while we talk. How long have you and Elmo been friends?" He asked as he moved to find said dough-pocket things.

( Closed starter for @aliothizan )

The back and forth between Earth and the outpost planet Dolnoh was a pretty big change of pace, as far as Mari was concerned. She'd never been to Earth before, so that part was super exciting! The crew was stopping on a part of the planet that was kind of cold at this time of year, but she was pretty well insulated and used to withstanding the cold temperatures of the deep sea, so that wasn't a problem. And it was so much fun to finally see the planet she'd heard so much about! She was doing a pretty great job of blending in, even, she was pretty sure... but it was kind of a bummer that she couldn't bring Elmo out to explore with her, so it was really good that they were stopping on Dolnoh so often so that the two of them could hang out off the ship there!

It was kind of weird not being on a ship but still being inside all the time, but the Stronghold had a lot to do, and she was having a fun time exploring all of it. After an interesting time in the foam play center she'd wandered over to the kitchen in search of food, Elmo safely perched on her shoulder. She dug through the freezer until she found something that looked like it would be good, and popped it into the microwave to reheat. While that was happening, she grabbed a snack for Elmo from her pocket, opening it up and holding it up to her shoulder for the nueep to nibble on.

She saw someone else entering, and looked up. "Oh-em-gee! Ali! Hi!! How are you? Did you come here for food too?" Probably, considering this was a kitchen, but you never knew for sure.

Ali had to admit that he hadn't been fully focused on this mission, which probably wasn't the best thing, since he was the earth expert. He spent most of their back and forth trips planning on how to prepare his announcement to the crew. It was hard to come up with a concise way of offering to extend an entire ship's life. He had already practiced a few times with Sky's parents, the twins, and Daphne so it got easier to know what to say and what questions to expect.

Even with the announcement out of the way, Ali still didn't feel like he could devote his time to CW set pieces, because he would have to start planning one on one time with the crew members he wasn't as close with. Fortunately, it didn't seem like anyone needed him too badly, so he allowed himself to divert his attention a little.

For now, it was lunch time for him and Ellie, so he led the corgi into the the stronghold's kitchen and smiled when he saw Mari was already there. While he was distracted, he still made sure she was properly prepared for Earth, as promised. "Heya, Mari and Elmo," he greeted her with a peace sign. "I'm good, you? Yeah, it's lunch time for me and Ellie."

"Good deal. We have a goal now," Ali nodded, lips twitching from the urge to laugh. He still didn't know how exactly hybrids aged compared to humans and Erkuss, but Robin's explanation helped a little more. It was always hard to tell when Robin looked closer to a twenty-six year old human, while Ryder could pass for twenty. "Sick! I was still asleep when I was two, so I understand you."

#i think this works as an end?#they can do a korean lesson after this lol #finished #thread: robin #thread: robin004

“Nice. Go team,” Robin briefly held up a fist. Their new mission to find a tracksuit for Ellie was very serious and perilous, not many could do it. “Yeah, see, same thing, slow growers,” Robin joked. Their birth situations were not similar at all, but he knew that and Ali knew that--no need to point it out. “Sleeping doesn’t seem so bad, either.”

“We’ll just have to look out for one, then,” Robin replied, just as serious. He was certain he’d never seen one before and would never see one, but there was no harm in keeping one’s eyes peeled. He’d also never seen Ali stick crayons up his nose like he was insinuating now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. “I don’t know what I thought was a good idea when I was two--we age a little slower than humans… Laying around and crying? You know what, yeah, I could get behind that,” he chuckled.

#thread: robin #thread: robin004 #we can probably start wrapping this one up unless you wanna add more!

“Yes,” Robin agreed a thousand-percent. Could he picture Ali wearing a tracksuit? No, not at all. Did he even own one? He’d never seen it, if so. But was this all important for the bit? Certainly. “And Ellie needs a matching tracksuit to wear, while you’re at it,” he said. Now that would be cute. He couldn’t say he agreed it was more appealing now to stick crayons up his nose than it was when he was a kid and learning what fit up his nose and what didn’t…but maybe it was something about the years of experience he couldn’t understand. “You were sticking crayons up your nose at a bingo hall?” Robin raised an eyebrow. He knew Ali didn’t mean at once, but he couldn’t help but combine them.

#thread: robin #thread: robin004

"Oh, absolutely. I'd pay good money for a corgi tracksuit," Ali nodded very seriously. He didn't spend much of his paycheck since joining the crew, but that would absolutely be a worthy purchase. "Yes," Ali nodded again when Robin question his old man activities. "You'll understand when you're in your 80's, Robolo. The things you thought were a good idea when you were two, suddenly seem like a good idea again when you're old." Granted, Ali wasn't actually old as a Djayyar, but he spent a lot of time with the elderly and knew what they were about. Crayons up noses happened more than once.

“Oh, a band mum who’s also a wine mum, even better,” Robin smiled. It fit Ali, strangely. He thought that Ali had exactly the temperament that those three needed in a band member--very easygoing, but was going to protect them if it ever came down to it. That was just the sort of person Ali was, though. He scoffed at Ali’s further teasing. “How dare you insinuate I stuck crayons up my nose…I mean I probably did, but still. How dare you,” he laughed. “Meanwhile, you were probably hanging out at the bingo hall every day.”

#thread: robin #thread: robin004

"Now I just need to bring Ellie and wear a tracksuit," Ali joked. Soccer moms always had little corgis. That wasn't his intention when he got her, but it worked out well. The tracksuits weren't as easily accessible. He didn't really wear those. He stuck to shorts and tee's on the ship, since he ran so warm. He barked out a loud laugh at at Robin's response to the crayons jibe. "I was at the bingo hall actually," Ali nodded sagely. "Also sticking crayons up my nose. It just feels more and more appealing the older you get too."

"Oh, soon? Okay! I'll get to thinking of questions! And I guess it'll just be a surprise who all else comes, besides you and Skylar!" That was fine; it didn't even occur to her that it might be weird if she ended up in a sex ed class with no one except for Ali and his husband. "And then Earth crash course sometime after that, maybe? Whether that's just me, or if there's other people who go too? But I guess we're more likely to have people who need to have sex ed knowledge right now than Earth knowledge, 'cause we're not on Earth and don't have plans to go there right now?" There were no immediate Earth plans as far as Mari was aware of, anyway, but there could be people wanting to do things with sex ed knowledge and not having that sex ed knowledge as soon as right now. Not her, obviously, because she was talking to Ali right now! But still.

#thread: mari #thread: mari002

"Hopefully more people come than just you two. The Bat Ray is on the ship with us this time, so I guess they could join if they were interested," Ali said. That would would make for an unique class. He wasn't sure which crew would ask more out-of-pocket questions, theirs or the Bat Ray. It really depended on who was there. "We can do an Earth lesson after. We probably don't technically need to have a solid plan of when we're visiting next. It's always good to learn more about a planet we visit a lot," he shrugged. "Sex ed might be more urgent though. Daphne seemed pretty concerned with the crew's level of knowledge last time I taught these sessions." That was how they started actually, and he wasn't sure how helpful they were, but no one seemed sick and there weren't any babies, so that seemed like a positive to him.

"Oh, that sounds fun! I can write anonymous questions and put them in a box," Mari answered brightly. She also wouldn't have had a problem with asking non-anonymous questions beforehand, but it didn't occur to her to ask about that part of the format. "And then more during the class, probably! Unless I don't end up having any new questions during the class, I guess! Ooooh, when do you think we might do the class? Who all came last time? Do you think they'll come again?"

#thread: mari #thread: mari002

"Since we don't have any immediate plans, we can probably do it pretty soon," Ali said. He didn't think he'd need much time to prepare either, just permission. That meant the Bat Ray would be able to attend, but that might not be such a bad thing. Between Mark and Leo, some education was probably needed there too. "There was quite a few people last time. Sky, Ryder, and Stella. Then our former crewmates, like Lydia, Salem, Kryss, and Blue. Sky will probably just go to support, but I don't know about Stella or Ryder. They were both pretty flustered last time..."

“They’re doing really well,” Robin agreed. “Great music, they seem to get along great--or I assume, but if GSW were having dramatic band fights I’d probably know…” considering the band partly consisted of his boyfriend and his brother. Those three were some of the most laid-back people he knew, so he’d be very surprised if they didn’t get along. “Just having their back when they need it is fine. Be their band mum,” he teased. It would be good of Ali to ask Henry about it--their dad always seemed very interested in what went on in the band. He nodded, agreeing that Sky should definitely be looped in on the plans early on. “He’s probably traveled to more places on Kraysha than we have,” he replied. “Well, and just more places in general.”

#thread: robin #thread: robin004

Ali tried to picture any combination of those three getting into a fight and couldn't see it. His husband was extremely easygoing, Theo was quiet, and Ian just seemed happy to be included in just about anything. They made for a good band. "Nah. I don't think that's something we need to worry about," he laughed. "I don't mind being the band mom. I can bring them snacks during rehearsal and drink wine while listening in." It sounded like a pretty good gig to him. He nodded in agreement when Robin mentioned Sky's travel experience. "That's true. You were still sticking crayons up your nose when he was on a pirate ship." Ali didn't know if Robin ever stuck crayons up his nose, but he couldn't help teasing him a little.

Oh, it kind of seemed like Ali was getting into teaching mode now - neat! Mari listened studiously as he explained that there were a lot of nuances with sex that should be talked about before experiencing it, though he didn't elaborate on what those nuances were. Probably because they were so nuanced. Or - ooh, because he was thinking about a whole entire class again! "Oh, that sounds fun! I would go to a class! Should I think up questions? Or is it more of a thing where you come in and say stuff and then people ask questions and add stuff based on what you say?" She'd never been to a class-class before, so all of this sounded much more formal than just asking her dad or whoever, whatever questions popped into her head. But she could be such a good student, probably!