HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Jacinthe had been told of this performance, but she wasn't certain Robin had seen her yet in the nearly full dining room surrounding the stage. Nevertheless, she had claimed she would attend, and she proudly did so!

If Robin should look her way during her song, she would give an encouraging smile. If not, Jacinthe would simply hunt her down find her after — the bouquet had to find the hands it meant to congratulate.

Besides, it gave her more of an opportunity to connect with familiar face when she was done. She hadn't missed Jacinthe in the crowd of customers, not when she had such a strong presence and sense of fashion.

“My files say I was hummin’ and singin’ nonsense before I could talk in full sentences.” Till likes to imagine that’s the kind of story his mother would have told him had they not been separated.

He waves away her justifications about her choice to freelance easily. “Nah, I get it. I’ve never gotten on well with, uh… agencies historically, so… But, I mean, Ismael is good people if ya ever did want t’ sign with anyone. Ivan seems pretty happy, too.” Well, at least Ivan didn’t seem unhappy. It was definitely a huge improvement, even if Till found Ivan’s decision not to branch out with his newfound freedom baffling.

“S-superstar? I-I wouldn’t say I was a superstar, but I w-was pretty well known in my world too…” It was one of the many reasons he liked being here so much. It seemed like everyone back in his old world had known everything about him and had already judged him on it before meeting him. The best-case scenario was that other humans would look at him with pity. He hated it. Curse Ivan and his big mouth. Till swore that man would tell his entire life story to a stranger if they sat still long enough to listen to it. But, at least that was her only big takeaway from her conversation with Ivan, and not how 'charming' he was or something.

“S-speaking of...” Till scratches at the brand on his neck self-consciously. “How… What kinda things did Ivan tell ya about our world? We do come from the same place, yeah. We went t’ school together. I’ve known him since we were kids.”

Till looks around. It is getting pretty late. Do the buses even run this late?

“Oh, yeah, I’m Till. ‘Robin’, huh? Like the songbird? That’s nice. ‘S like whoever named ya knew or somethin’.”

She'd spent a lot of her under the labels of other people. It might be nice to work under her own independence for a change!

So, not a superstar. But famous? There were artists like that. Perhaps he was a novice on the big stage, or perhaps he did shows or competitions. Of course, Ivan's claims to have been shot several times was something she couldn't tie to showbusiness in their world, but she had entertained the possibility. Till brought it up himself. "Not... a lot. Just that he was injured after seeing an old wound on my neck. They were from different circumstances, however."

"I do wonder if that's why my parents gave me that name. I wasn't much of a singer as a baby, but my mother enjoyed singing. I can't deny the likelihood that it was related. Although it wouldn't explain why they named my twin brother Sunday." A songbird and a day of the week made for an interesting set of names for a pair of twins.

Lily examined the carts, busy with considering the voiced concerns. "You do have a point. But I could always use pushing them as an opportunity for strength training". If it proved a trial she'd not thought through, she had the luxury of spots to rest along the way, and the elevator to get onto the condo's floor for reprises. But as promising it might be as a challenge, making a sensible decision ranked higher as a priority.

Still, if it was just pushing a cart home then she could probably manage.

The pink-haired Pokemon trainer, who has a hold on her Eevee, gives a small curtsy to the singer. “My apologies, that is probably too informal of a greeting.”

She straightens up. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

He left out the fact that he'd be there even if there was nothing he wanted but her company. In many ways, Sunday still felt that he had to do more to earn his sister's affection and trust once again. But since meeting her here in Spirale he realized there was no reason good enough to keep apart. He left Penacony without properly saying goodbye and he didn't plan on doing anything like this again.

"You're right." he looked up for a moment. "I don't think we were ever not being watched one way or another. But I don't believe The Family is here. We would have known..." He hoped.

Sunday's first mistake was thinking that his sister wouldn't call him on his bluff. "Oh, really brother? What were the things you needed? Do you have a list?" Her tone was light and playful, clearly letting him know she was skeptical about his motivations as any sibling might. She wanted to ask him if he'd met anyone in the city that had recognized him back home, for better or for worse, but left that topic aside for the time being.

" So, I was kinda mulling over some ideas on what we could do. Had some concept ideas for maybe a line of casual wear and some accessories we could put out with your endorsement. But then I remembered how Summer's around the corner, so maybe it'd be best to focus on that for now. "

For a moment Django pauses to take a sip of his iced coffee (4 shots of espresso just cause he likes living on the edge) before continuing with...

" By the way, you're more than welcome to look at the concepts in case that's something you'd wanna go back to in the future. "

That wasn't a guess. That was just how things worked with these sorts of arrangements.

"An intergalactic songstress is impressive. I suppose this would count as the second planet I've sung on, although I am no stranger to alien life. It may be more sufficient to say that seeing this many humans feels alien to me." Not a segyein in sight, well, except Orthus, but he was a good boy.

Robin expected that this wouldn't be the first time she might hear a pitch for an agency. "That does sound appealing, but I hope you don't find it rude if I decline, at least for the time being?"

"You familiar with this?" Hyuna hasn't seen this kind of treat before. Then again, it wasn't the kind of luxury she was really able to get her hands on.