therefore i am

"Yep!" Mari answered with no hesitation. She had been a fan of the Prosperity, it had been a secret in that no one had really known, and she was a girl! So a secret fangirl sounded like the perfect descriptor. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, on purpose and by luck makes sense! Like, it's a lot easier to do something you wanna do if things are in the right place at the right time?"

Beck was slightly surprised at the quickness of Mari's answer. "Oh... wow, really? I had no idea what we did got so much recognition. Were you in the smuggling business before us?" Now she was curious. "Right, exactly. You do get it. The universe has a weird way of making pieces fall together just right sometimes. I'm glad they did. I only wish I had the good sense to join up with this crew sooner."

At this point, Robin wasn’t clear on whether Beck was just teasing him and Ryder, or if she genuinely thought this about their dad. “Oh my god, no, please say “psych” right now,” he groaned, wishing he could turn his ears off. She was lucky her niece was cute enough to keep him here in the conversation so that he was less inclined to take off in the other direction. “Yeah--they live another day." He gave an unintentional sigh just then, that may have sounded as if he were dissatisfied that they were alive, which was obviously not the case. "I’m just jealous of people that are friends with their parents. But I’m dealing with the parents I’ve been dealt with. Hopefully Daniel wasn’t too traumatized by the experience. How’s your family doing, by the way?” Robin paused in his rambling. “Assuming you actually saw Jude and didn’t just kidnap his kid.”

Beck laughed, with Cleo looking at her in confusion. Maybe, if Cleo ended up swinging that way, she too would understand the important of hot dads. When Robin started talking about being jealous of people that were friends with their parents, she turned a bit more serious. "Yeah, I get that. Not the same way you do, but I can't really call me and Mum friends. Love her and all, but I don't think she ever understood me," she said with a shrug. Bonnie of course was nothing like Alisz, so she couldn't really relate much there, but she had experience with a parent who was a lot different from her. "I tried kidnapping her, but unfortunately bumped into Jude along the way," she joked. "But, everything's good in this branch of the Derringer clan. The whole Bat Ray thing has everyone on edge but... well." She had nothing more to say other than "well". "Kenna and Julia's kids got here safely, thankfully, so I'm just going to focus on seeing them when I can. Hopefully that'll make them feel better about the situation."

Yay, Beck got the crew/sibling thing too! And Beck actually did have some other kind of sibling, probably, which was where Cleo came from - so that made her opinion on the subject seem all the more official. Beyond that, it was surprising to hear Beck go so far as to say that this crew was more special than the last crew she was on, which had her actual family. "Wow! I didn't know you felt that way. But it is pretty special and fun here, so that makes sense! I guess we all lucked out, huh? Or maybe you didn't luck out, if you found it on purpose! I mean, I kinda did too, 'cause I'd heard of it before, but I didn't know anyone. Or I didn't know I knew anyone, anyway! So it's different, probably," Mari rambled.

"I guess it was technically on purpose, but also by luck if that makes sense," Beck mused. Because she already knew the Prosperity, but it just so happened they needed a pilot when she left the Bat Ray. Beck didn't really believe in fate all that much, but the universe acted funny sometimes. "Oh, you knew about us already? Were you a secret fangirl of ours?" she teasingly asked. She realized she never thought about the possibility of the Prosperity having fans. It would be deserved, of course.

Oh, okay! Asking Beck had been a good idea, because Beck answered with words Mari understood instead of sounds Mari didn't understand -- but Beck didn't know the answer, so it would be a mystery for now. "Well, I bet you'll learn Cleo-speak eventually! Or Cleo will learn you-speak. Either way!" She still wasn't really sure how long it took this type of baby to learn how to talk, but she promptly stopped wondering about that at Beck's questions. "No," she answered quietly. "But there's the crew, now! So that's kinda like having siblings," she added. Also... not, but it was nice having any kind of family again.

Judging by her response, Mari clearly had a story there but Beck figured it was none of her business to ask. "The crew is very much like having siblings," she confirmed with a nod. Beck was sure without the crew, she'd feel the void of not having her twin around much more. "You don't really get to see real family often when you're on a ship, so, it helps to have a crew simulate that same feeling. We have a lot of fun - you have to agree by now." Mari had been here ample time enough to have an opinion on whether the crew was fun or not. "And this crew is special. My last one I had actual family and it still didn't quite feel the same."

Frankly, Robin was mystified that the baby was waving back to him on her own, and he blinked several times at her.  She was so small.  How did she suddenly know how to do things like control her arms?  He smirked at Beck when she took his words as a compliment, and widened his eyes slightly when Cleo said her name.  She didn’t seem surprised, so it must be something she did a lot.  That was…very cute.  It was clear the child really loved her aunt. “Ha, well—maybe next time, Cleo,” he told the baby fake-seriously, as if genetics were something she’d missed out on by being too late.  Robin watched her get pulled out of her carrier-thing, semi-stalling on that next question.  “He’s doing really well, I think—but he’s not hot!”  He added as he realized the addition too late.  “You’re a strange one,” Robin decided, leaving it at that.  “I guess we did catch up with them, in that we introduced our boyfriends and our mum was unable to make it less tense for the life of her by being her usual self.  Normal Astrea parent things,” he shrugged.

Beck shook her head in fake disappointment. "When are you and Ryder going to understand that your dad is a certified DILF? You're lucky he's married. Just saying." Not that being married had ever stopped Beck before, but that was besides the point. The real point was that Henry was hot. Really, both of their parents were hot but it was out of principle that Beck could not compliment Alisz out loud. "Oh - yikes. It sounds like everyone came out of it alive though. I'm assuming. I don't think I've seen Theo and Daniel recently. They are alive, right?"

When Beck and Cleo acknowledged Ellie, she did an excited little tappy dance, her nub wagging wildly before plopping down on her butt and staring eagerly up at the pair. "Kids do love to copy everything adults say," Ali said with a knowing grin. A lot of his youngest students would blurt out some really out of pocket things in class that they overheard their parents say. He wouldn't be surprised if Cleo introduced some old fashioned Australian cursing to her vocabulary before she turned two. When Beck tried to get Cleo to join the conversation, Ali gave her an expectant look before chuckling when she didn't break her focus from Ellie. "You can absolutely pet the puppy. She's very friendly," he said more for Cleo's benefit than Beck's. Ellie was usually very good with babies and stayed still to let Cleo come to her, though her tail was still wagging happily.

Beck knelt down and carefully placed Cleo on the ground in front of Ellie, still holding on to her so the toddler wouldn't try to run off just in case. Cleo excitedly started petting the top of Ellie's head and giggled. "Say hi Ellie!" she instructed Cleo. Cleo instead gave an enthusiastic "hiiiiiiii!" as she pet Ellie. "This is such a good idea. When I drop her off later she can beg her dad to get a dog," Beck chuckled. Corgis were not exactly an every day pet in Kraysha, so Beck was sure Cleo was fascinated by the cute creature in front of her. "I still can't believe how much she's grown up since the last time we were here. You really don't notice how long you've been traveling while you're traveling."

Cleo's tiny giggles caused a giggle to bubble from Ryder's lips too. Her laughter was contagious. They really were this close to taking her and running. Beck's comment threw him too much to really try though, blinking right back at her. "I don't wanna scare him," he said with a slight pout that quickly disappeared when Beck offered to let him hold Cleo. "Deal!" Ryder cheered and shoved the baggie in Beck's direction. "They're for you anyway. Gimme the baby." With a grunt, he lifted Cleo from the carrier and balanced her on his hip, gently bouncing her a few times. "Hiii, baby! I'm your Uncle Ryder. Do you want to come live with me? I'll give you lots of candy." He was so distracted by the adorable baby in his arms that he didn't realize that it sounded like he was trying to kidnap her with candy.

Beck laughed when Ryder stated they didn't want to scare Daniel. To be fair, it seemed a lot of things made Daniel nervous, so that was a fair concern. "Aw, were they? That's sweet." She surrendered the baby and immediately opened the bag of treats. "Are you trying to abduct my niece?" she asked with a raise eyebrow, before popping a piece of candy into her mouth. Cleo stared at Ryder for a few seconds, before reaching a hand out to pat her hand on their cheek. "I finally see why my Mum used to tell us not to take candy from strangers. You never know when a Ryder is gonna pop out and take you away on their pirate ship!" With one finger, she lightly poked Cleo's side.

"Oh, okay! So still yours - your niece!" Mari pointed out, not sure what the whole big reaction was for when Cleo kind of was Beck's after all. Niece was family, she was pretty sure, but at the moment she was much more interested in Cleo saying hi to her - with her name and everything! Or not quite her name, but very close to it for such a youngster. Since Hybrids? Erkuss-Hybrid Hybrids? aged slow and all, especially. Anyway, Cleo didn't have a favorite color yet - or at least not one she'd told Beck about. "Well, that's okay! You have plenty of time to decide, Cleo! Or you can just like all the colors best - rainbow is really fun! Have you seen a rainbow before? Do you know if she's seen a rainbow before?" That last question was directed at Beck, since it seemed like Beck was doing some of the question-answering for Cleo. Which made sense, since Cleo was a baby.

Beck had no idea if Cleo had seen a rainbow before. That was hard to determine when she saw her niece once a year. There was a bit of guilt there for a moment, but nothing that would suddenly make her re-think her life choices. She still felt like she was at a place in her life she wanted to be. "She hasn't seen a rainbow while I've been here. Cleo, have you seen a rainbow?" Cleo spoke some more gibberish, this time in a more sing-song manner. "I'm still trying to learn Cleo Speak. The last time I was here, she was freshly out her Mum's belly," Beck explained. "You got any nieces or nephews, Mari? Or... siblings in general?" She realized she had no idea.

As usual after landing, Ali tried his best to take Ellie on daily long walks to help her stretch her legs properly. She was plenty active on the ship, chasing her ball down the halls, but it wasn't the same as getting fresh air and some real grass. His corgi trotted happily down the streets of Rungung, pausing to smell anything she could get her little nose on. As they rounded the corner, he spotted a very familiar person, but with a surprise addition.

Catching sight of Ali and Ellie, Beck gasped at the latter. "Look Cleo! It's Ellie! Hi Ellie!" Cleo seemed very pleased to be in the presence of a cute corgi, because she started bouncing in the carrier excitedly. Beck looked at Ali. "Well, this is my first time babysitting so we won't be getting into the cuss words until at least the fourth or five baby sitting job. Jude would never let me baby sit again if I did that now," Beck told him with a laugh. She was being serious, though. "She's pretty good with repeating back new words though. Right, Cleo?" Cleo was entirely too focused on Ellie to be listening right now. Which was fair. "I see she got her dad's short attention span, also." She pulled Cleo out of the carrier held her. Cleo then proceeded to reach her hands out in Ellie's direction. "Okay, I get it, you want to pet the puppy. We're supposed to ask people before we pet the puppy. Ask, 'Ali, can I pwease pet the puppy'?" Cleo simply made a noise that was probably toddler speak for "make haste!".

Ryder had been worried about Beck ever since the news broke, but especially now that they were on Kraysha, where she'd eventually meet up with Kenna and the twins. Early that morning, Ryder stopped by their old favorite candy store and selected a mix of candies for Beck that weighed about a pound, hoping it'd cheer her up a bit. Ryder didn't expect to run into Beck on his way out of the store, but they quickly realized she probably didn't need cheering up when she had an adorable baby with her.

Beck was flattered on behalf of Cleo that her cuteness caused her friend to squeal. She hadn't been old enough when she was Cleo's age to really bask in how cute of a baby she had been, so this was her time to live vicariously through her niece. "Say 'thank you Ryder'!" she told Cleo. All she did was giggle, which she assumed was Cleo speak for thanks. She blinked at Ryder suddenly saying they wanted one. "Well, don't look at me. Talk to your boyfriend about that," she teased. She turned Cleo towards them so they could pick her up from the carrier. "I'll trade you the baby for the bag of goodies?" she joked.

Mari was out wandering the streets on her own, which wasn't something new or unusual for her - what was new and unusual for her was that she was doing it on Kraysha, a planet she had never been to before. She even had money, enough money that she could buy pretty much anything she wanted! This still hadn't stopped her from swiping a few things, but she'd always made sure to pay when it seemed like the shopkeeper needed the money and wasn't a jerk. Also whenever it seemed like not paying might get her caught. She had people to not cause trouble for, now, and she was intent on not causing trouble for them. Oh, speaking of her people! She smiled when she saw Beck a ways away with what looked like a mini-Beck strapped to her, and beelined on over. "Beck! Oh em gee! Is this your baby? They're a cutie!" Mari promptly turned her attention to the toddler, putting a hand in the air to match. "G'day, Cleo! What's your favorite color?"

Mari couldn't have known, since she was relatively new to the crew, but that didn't stop Beck from physically flinching in discomfort at the implication that she could be a mother. "Mine? God, no!" She laughed. "This is my niece! Cleo, say 'hi Mari'!" Big gold eyes looked over at Mari, and repeated "hiii Mawi". Close enough. Cleo didn't have an immediate answer to Mari's question. She was, after all, just fourteen months old and hadn't grasped the concept of 'favorites' yet. She was very much in the "I either like this or I don't" phase of life. She spoke some gibberish in response, then wiggled in the carrier. "Y'know, I'm not sure if she's picked a favorite color yet. I have some predictions, though. She looks so cute in purple. And blue. And red. And yellow. And pink. And green. And orange. So, maybe any of those." That really narrowed it down.

Robin wasn't surprised to encounter a Beck out in the wild, but he did stop short when he approached and saw she was not alone. Where did she get a whole baby? Oh...wait, was this Cleo? He was a little bit aware that babies grew quickly, but he had zero frame of reference for that as he'd never encountered a baby until this one. The last time he saw Cleo she was kind of like a loud wrinkly prop that everyone was holding, and now she was basically a whole person with curiosity in her eyes and a wide smile. And apparently she could talk. “Ah, g’day, Cleo,” Robin cheerily waved with both hands, making sure to enunciate his Australian accent so he could do his small part in this baby picking up on the accent as well. "You kind of look like a mini version of your aunt," he continued to her in an amused tone, glancing between her and Beck and their matching heads of curls.

Cleo giggled at Robin, and started waving her arms around in response to Robin waving his hands. "Aw, you hear that, Cleo? Looking like your Aunty Becca is the best compliment you could ever get," she told her niece. "Baba!" Cleo exclaimed, which was her version of saying "Becca". She laughed and looked at Robin. "She wishes I gave birth to her instead, I'm sure, but she's gonna have to make Jude's genetics work, sadly." She pulled Cleo out of the baby carrier and held her instead. "You catch up with the parents yet? How's your hot dad doing?" she asked with a smirk. Cleo proceeded to pat Beck's cheek repeatedly, fascinated by it currently for whatever reason.

Marshall wasn’t entirely sure why Beck needed an internal detox, and it didn’t feel like her place to ask.  She very much doubted that was a topic she wanted to talk about, anyway.  “That would be interesting,” she wasn’t actually considering causing any sort of scene at her extended family, but it was true that they would be the family to do that.  “It would help that they’re very extended, as in, a whole planet away.  If I stirred up any drama, my dads could do nothing about it.  It’s a good backup plan if something goes wrong, they start it or something like that,” she laughed.  She hadn’t seen any of them in a long time, maybe they’d become a mess since the last time.  “As for close family, drama is more my baby sister’s style,” she provided as a fact.  After holding the door, Marshall moved in front, guiding them over to an area to set down the boxes, gesturing to the floor space to set them down.  Beck’s answer wasn’t very surprising.  She’d trained to be a pilot from a young age, after all.  And now they were on a ship that rarely made stops in Rungung, so if she truly wanted to be among very familiar locations all the time, then she’d be in the wrong line of work.  “Me…I used to really want to stay in familiar places, probably forever.  I don’t think I’m the opposite now, but I have learned to really appreciate new places, be more adventurous.  But I honestly do miss familiar food and not having to guess what something is going to taste like in new places.”  With the boxes set down, Marshall turned to Beck.  “Hey, thanks for the help.  Are you in the mood to go get those drinks now?  Or we can take a raincheck if you’d rather.”

Marshall didn't seem the type to purposely stir up drama, and now hearing she was an older sister made the math add up there. "Ah, well, maybe your sister should be invited to this family outing then. Just as a social experiment. How many siblings do you have?" She wondered if Marshall was the oldest. She gave "eldest" energy, anyway. "I'd hope you were at least adventurous if you're here." Otherwise, why would she be here? "That's a healthy balance, I guess. Although, trying new food is always fun. Even if you end up eating the most unpleasant things your taste buds have ever touched," she chuckled. She gave a small nod at Marshall's thanks. She wasn't really busy after this, and she was the mood to drink, so she may as well take Marshall up on the offer now. "Sure. I'm gonna guess you didn't have a favorite bar when you lived here." That was a joke, since, well, Marshall was a kid when she lived here.

"Maybe I'll visit you in jail," Theo retorted as he lifted his own plate and gave it an experiment wiggle. His lips twitched in amusement as the pancakes jiggled just like they did in Japan. It was really satisfying. He was with Beck when it came to eating them. He kind of just wanted to stare at them, but then his stomach growled, so sacrifices had to be made. Before trying it himself, he watched Beck from the corner of his eye to see her reaction. He wouldn't say he was the kind of person who thrived on others enjoying his cooking, but he was glad it wasn't gross. "Good," he said before digging his fork into one of the pancakes. "That menu hasn't been changed...ever. It's about time she adds something new." Theo paused to take a bite, and, yeah, these were fucking good.

"Maybe? You better visit me in jail. Otherwise, when I create my in-prison criminal empire, I'm gonna hire some prison dudes to beat you up." That was totally a thing, she decided. She liked that the pancakes tasted like Sunrise pancakes, but lighter. Almost like a cloud. A pancake cloud. "You know old people. They love not changing ever," Beck commented with an eye roll. "But maybe trying this will change her mind. Plus, who could resist this jiggle?" She lifted her plate to jiggle the pancakes again. "This alone would be a best seller. The real money maker."