9766/Morale Officer Reporting for Duty

Morale Officer Reporting for Duty
Date of Scene:	26 October 2019
Location:	Crew Habitat - Legion Cruiser
Synopsis:	Drake gives Lar an epic pep talk. He is the greatest morale officer ever.
Cast of Characters:	Slipstream, Mon-El

---

Slipstream has posed:
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. "Lar! I hope you got clothes on. I'm coming in." Drake calls out from the other side of the door as he pushes it open and heads inside. "Hey man, we should talk about stuff." He's dressed today in a new 31st century 'uniform' and his Overwatch bomber jacket. A little bit of old, a little bit of new. He's actually looking quite stylish in his Legion colors.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar has been doing a lot of sulking and brooding in his room recently, but when Drake comes barging in abruptly, he sort of tries his best to shake it off and look like everything's just fine. Because he is the one who's supposed to be in charge here, after all. He's supposed to have things together. For the team, and all.

    The Daxamite looks over at Drake and smiles amicably. "Sure thing Drake, what is it?" he asks, getting up from the workstation he was seated at and coming over to his friend.

Slipstream has posed:
Folding his arms over his chest, Drake says, "Hey, everyone is worried about you. You can't just live in your room you know. It's not sanitary, or healthy for your morale." He scrunches his face up at his best friend. "What is going on with you these days? You used to be so confident and now you're kinda.. I don't know man... you're always wigging out and then running off."

Mon-El has posed:
    Oh, wait now this is about -him-? Oh -no-. Lar blinks a couple of times and shakes his head, looking away. "I...don't know what you're talking about. There's just a lot going on, you know? So I need to take the time to make decisions on some critical matters."

    A pause. "You know, now that you're part of the team, you should really start studying Interlac." he says, trying to change the subject. "And the history and culture of the galactic community."

Slipstream has posed:
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of work. There's no point in me learning that when you got Brainiac IQ three thousand on the ship who by the way, I'm totally using as my trivia wingman when we go out to bars." Drake says as he frowns at him. "And you know exactly what I'm talking about because Brainhead has brought it up a few times now. Are you our leader or not? Because if you're not, you know he's going to step up and take over instead. Do you wanna give that up because of what? Pride? Ego? Butthurt feelings?"

"Lar, come on man, just talk to me. We're best friends, right? This is the part where you can just talk to me, like two friends and tell me what's going on inside of your head. Why is your confidence shaken for? Why are you lashing out?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Of course there is, Brainiac won't be with you on -every-mission. And also, good luck trying to convince him to go out to bars."

    Crap, the subject change attempt didn't work. "Yes, yes I am." Lar sighs, rubbing his head. "It's just...I don't know what to do with my family, Drake. I tried reconciling with them, but--as you might have guessed, it -didn't- go well. And then everything -else- that happened on top of that. And Kara's probably mad at me, too."

Slipstream has posed:
"Well, fuck those dudes, my dude. Who cares at this point. Your family sucks and you Kara are still friends. You worry way too much about the external noise rather than focusing on what's really important, which is /you/. You need to focus on yourself and make sure you are in a good spot, before you stress out about other people. You got a team to run. Right? You can't go out in public on TV and hold try-outs for a team that you're neglecting." Drake says as he bumps his shoulder against his. "We care about you and we're worried, and Brainy has the patience of a soaking wet cat. He's gonna get cheesed off if you keep this up."

"Look man. I know what it's like to be under stress and to have a shit family situation. My dad beat the hell out me for years. He beat me and beat me and beat me until I could barely move or breathe. My mom left us when I was young. I went from homeless to video game celebrity over night and had to deal with everyone staring at me like I'm in a fishbowl. I had to lean on people I trusted to keep me safe and healthy."

"Bottling your emotions up will lead you to toxic behavior and you'll start hurting your friends. I know man. I've been there a few times myself when I'd let the pressure of the world crush me. Your parents are noise. You're here on Earth now, you got a kick ass team of smart future people. You're hot with rock hard abs and getting a babe is easy peasy for you if you wanted. You got a lot going for you. Focus on the small wins, okay?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar sort of flops down on his back on the bed about mid-way through that, staring at the ceiling, though he is still listening to Drake's advice. Finally, he sits back up again. "I appreciate your encouragement. I do. But--I can't just forget about them." He exhales audibly.

    "The last time I saw my parents, they tried to raze an entire civilization to the ground. Thankfully, we stopped them from outright destroying everything, but they left some of their own behind to die..."

    He looks away again, staring at a wall. "..including my brother."

    "He needs the anti-lead serum, but if we give it to him and let him go, I don't know if we can trust him not to take it back to our m--to Queen Rhea. If they get their hands on it, they'll be unstoppable. But I can't let him die or keep him a prisoner forever, either."

Slipstream has posed:
"So, if your parents are super evil assholes beyond redemption who slaughter whole planets, why not just kill them? I'll go sharpen a pencil or something and speedy stab 'em in the back of the neck or something." Drake says as he shrugs his shoulders. "Then you'll have like a week of emotionally crippled guilt, but then you'll move on and get over it and know that in about ten thousand years they'll be back to do it all over again because you're in the past and they'll be in the future, again, and so technically you're only getting rid of present Lar problem involving your parents."

Mon-El has posed:
    "-No.-" Lar replies very resolutely, his expression hardening. "One, you don't understand time travel. If I kill them now, they -will- be gone forever, at least in this reality. I may have been to the future, but I'm not actually -from- there, originally."

    "And two, I don't care if they're assholes who steal candy from children or assholes who destroy entire planets, even entire star systems. I am no assassin, and neither is this team. We only kill if and when it is necessary. Therefore--I can't let my brother die, no matter what has done, continues to do, or will do in the future."

Slipstream has posed:
"I understand Time Travel perfectly fine. I watched every episode of Sliders and Quantum Leap." Drake says seriously, though there is a small twitch of his lips at the corners. He knows Lar would have no clue what the hell he's talking about.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar rolls his eyes. "You can't say you know time travel better than I do simply because you've watched more television than me, especially since I've -actually- done it and especially television created by people who haven't actually done it themselves, either." he retorts, folding his arms, although he is smirking slightly. Yeah, he definitely noticed that little twitch.

Slipstream has posed:
"How do you know? What if those TV shows were developed by people who came back through time and decided to make TV shows based around time travel to plant seeds in the minds of humanity so that we would eventually create time traveling devices using inspiration from the shows?" Drake says as he grins. "And if I was a time traveler, that's what I'd do. I'd show off."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Because I know what it's like and none of the shows I've seen are actually accurate." Lar replies. Not that he has actually seen that many. "Pff, just shut up and admit I know what I'm talking about and you don't." he laughs, winking.

Slipstream has posed:
"Sure, if you tell me that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to your 'drama' and take my advice and let that shit go like Elsa from Frozen. You need to focus on what's in front of you, rather than what 'could' be. At least for the near future, because this team is thinking you can't cut it as our leader if you keep sulking and pouting." Drake says as he nudges him with a grin. "What we need is a team building exercise and that involves pizza and hanging out. Not being superheroes. Just normal clothes and having fun. Let's go to a sporting event and watch a game. Let's just hang out as bros."

Mon-El has posed:
    "You don't understand. I can't just let it go, because we have to make a decision about Del." Lar sighs, shaking his head. "If we can't trust him, then we have to find a way to at least come to some kind of agreement with the rest of Daxamite royalty. As much as you may want to write them off, it's just not that simple." he shrugs. "Even sending him to Takron-Galtos wouldn't stop him from giving them the serum, because we'd still have to give it to him to keep him alive."

    He arches a brow at Drake's suggestion of a 'team building exercise'. "I guess that couldn't hurt. Why don't you organize it then?"

Slipstream has posed:
"Then don't forget him. Tell him that you want him to join the team and be a good guy and this is his chance to be awesome." Drake says as he lifts his brows upwards. "Tell him you'll forget about all the crap of the past if he joins up with you and be your bro and to not be a dick and to help you out."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I thought about that." Lar answers. "But I don't know if I can get the rest of the team to trust him enough. And I also don't know if..." he trails off momentarily. "Well, let's just say he and I didn't exactly have a very good relationship growing up." he admits with another sigh, his gaze going toward the floor. "I was always the favorite for some reason, and he hated that. I guess I don't blame him."

Slipstream has posed:
"So, your parents suck ass and this is your chance to show him that you love him and that you don't care about your parent's opinions and you just want to save the universe from their stupidity. That's a great reason to form a sibling super team." Drake says as he bobs his head. "But you need to give him a chance and talk to him honestly. No posturing. Wear normal clothes when you do it so you don't come off as a dick without meaning to." He gives a long stretch of his body. "And you're the leader. Team has to fall in line with your decision and trust you."

Mon-El has posed:
    "...and if he refuses to join us?" Lar asks as a follow-up, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Slipstream has posed:
"You stick 'em in a superhero prison and send him a postcard on his birthday once a year." Drake says as he bobs his head. "If he's a danger to us and others, he needs to be kept away from those he can harm. That or stick him on a planet with no one he can hurt with enough supplies to last him for a few years and a communicator for him to contact you once he's ready to be normal."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Soooo, 'join us or go to jail or isolation'?" Lar chuckles. "I guess so. The only problem is that still wouldn't stop him from giving his parents the serum." He shrugs. "I...suppose we'd just have to hope that if we save his life and trust him with the serum, he'll at least think twice about handing it over to the people who left him to die."

Slipstream has posed:
"Why can't you just take the serum from him? How hard is that?" Drake asks with a furrow of his brow. "Did he eat it or something and you can only get it from his blood?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Lead poisoning is permanent for us, Drake. He was exposed to it on Theseus, when the Guardians attacked." Lar sighs. "So if we take it away from him for too long, he'll die." he explains. "And the same thing would happen to me if I somehow lost access to it."

Slipstream has posed:
"So, get Brainy to clone it or something. If he can fix me and answer any question in the universe, I'm sure he can do this, right? This is right up his wheel house." Drake says as he flops down on top of Lar's bed, bouncing a bit on the mattress.

Mon-El has posed:
    "What do you mean? Of course we can manufacture as much of it as resources allow, if not I wouldn't still be alive. But the issue is we either give it to him and trust him to keep it away from his parents, or we don't give it to him and let him die." Lar explains.

Slipstream has posed:
"So, negotiate with him. Tell him he gets his freedom in the form of a kickass superhero team and hanging out with the most awesome dudes in the galaxy and he has to promise to not talk to your parents, or you stick him in carbonite like Han Solo." Drake says as he sprawls out on the top of his bed, tucking his arms behind his head. "Just talk to him, do a dry run, see what he thinks. If he doesn't like it, go back to the drawing board."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Yeah. I guess we'll just have to take it one step at a time." Lar sighs, looking down at Drake as he sprawls out on the bed. There's a pause.

    "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. It's just been... a rough couple of months."

Slipstream has posed:
"I know, and it's why I'm here, to do the best friend duty and drag you back to your senses kicking and screaming." Drake says as he gives him a grin. "I love you, dude. You're the closest person I have in my life to a brother, or any type of family. I know you differently than your team does. You just need someone to be blunt with you and not dance around stuff. You're gonna be fine. You just needed someone to talk to."

Mon-El has posed:
    "This team is the only real family I've ever had." Lar admits. "I know I haven't been my best recently, and that embarrassment of a recruitment drive didn't help any." he says, running a hand through his hair. "But at least I know I'll always have you guys."

    He smiles, and pats Drake on the shoulder. Gently. "I'm glad you're here, Drake. You're a valuable addition to the team."

Slipstream has posed:
"Nah. I'm annoying and barely even a superhero. I'm just comic relief for the team. The goofy side kick that gets hurt a lot. That's my trope." Drake says with a wink up at him. "The recruiting drive was awesome by the way. That was amazing. You know how many clicks we got on the Internet from it? Like fifty million my dude. I posted it on my social links and had my Overwatch team retweet the hell out of it. You got into a super person fight with Darkseid's daughter and looked like a badass doing it. Dude, we are /trending/ now."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Ugh, would you stop self-deprecating?" Lar chuckles, letting go of Drake's shoulder and elbowing him playfully. But also hopefully not too hard. "And yeah, of course we're trending. Embarrassing videos are always trending." he rolls his eyes. "And of course people like to see someone like me get angry. Doesn't mean it wasn't stupid."