Author's Note: I need to acknowledge, and say a big thank you to KathDMD for editorial and creative assistance. This chapter involves smoking pot, which neither of us has done. However, we have been to concerts and have friends who have experienced it. I hope what we describe in the chapter is not too far off the mark.
Mer3Girl & KathDMD: Daniel has taken control of the music!
Songs: Fearless/Pink Floyd, When The Music Is Over/The Doors, Paranoid Lyrics/Black Sabbath, Sober/Tool, No Woman No Cry/Bob Marley, One More Time/Daft Punk
Fed Up On Planet Crydor
Daniel didn't know it, but he was at the same place with Sven that Maahox was with Lotor. He had thought he had known exactly what he was taking on, in going to Crydor with Sven. The reality though was ten times worse than anything he and Vince had imagined it would be. It was Daniel's fifth day on the frozen tundra of a planet, and he was totally done with Sven, and his attitude towards everything.
The man was so negative; he did nothing but whine about his brother-in-law, his wife, and the way they were treating him. Having heard the whole story of Sven's behavior with Erik, Daniel was astounded that the Polluxian king had not thrown the jerk's ass into jail. He was amazed that someone so smart about math and navigation could be so stupid about everything else.
They were getting ready for their 'treatment', which Daniel was already bored with. Vince had tweaked the protocols for the experiment, so they were both doing the same treatment. The joints were adjusted for their weights, but otherwise, they toked every day. In the past, Daniel had smoked a fair amount of both cigarettes and joints, but had never developed the habit. Rather he enjoyed the social aspect of the ritual, and nothing else. Now, being mandated to toke a joint, it took all the pleasure out of it, as well as the circumstances under which he'd had to do it.
Daniel had made it through the entire Wagnerian opera of 'The Ring Cycle', the only high point being the nearly- naked Rhine maidens. It might have amused him under different circumstances or with better company. Sven was the only person he knew who became maudlin and morose from getting high. By now he was wondering if his companion's mood would improve with proper music to get high with, and decided to perform an experiment of his own. He had loaded a playlist into the system, and he was going to get his way. He made sure to work fast, since dinner was right around the corner.
The Viking made it a point to make sure that there were regular meals, because he knew that teenage boys needed a lot of food. "At least doing it before dinner makes eating easier." Sven observed as he stomped heavily into the common area. He hated the treatments. They wiped him out and made him so sad. Then the sadness would lead him to think about Romelle and Erik, which made him even more depressed. The whole mess was a vicious circle and he was tired of going round and round.
"Don't you find it ironic that we are both bored with smoking pot? Come on, how many people would be thrilled to do this?" Daniel's observation cut into Sven's thoughts and he regarded the young man intently. Sven had been a total bastard to the cadet, but he had to admit, the kid had taken it with a stiff upper lip. And besides, he secretly enjoyed some of the cadet's tales regarding girls and motorcycles. He'd been a teenage boy once, too, and he had his own share of stories from his Academy days.
"You're a young guy; you should be getting off on this!" Sven commented, thinking back to when he was Daniel's age. Even though he had good stories of his own, it seemed like such a long time ago that he had ever been that young.
"Yea sure if there were hot chicks, booze, and some decent music!" Daniel replied in a disgusted tone, thinking privately 'and if I wasn't stuck in the freezer with you'.
Sven looked surprised as he stated "Believe me; I understand the chicks and the booze more than I've let on, but what is wrong with the music we have been listening to!" The Viking was insulted that Daniel didn't like Wagner, and that he had not been able to improve the young cadet's taste in music.
"I already have the play list loaded, and it has nothing to do with fucking German opera or underdressed Norwegian gods! Damn it all, it never gets above forty degrees in Scandinavia, but no one in those dreary musicals wears clothes? Really? We're smoking weed here, not crack!" Daniel commented, trying not to grind his teeth. "So now we're gonna listen to classic earth rock, like Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath, while we get stoned. Black Sabbath is great because you can actually see the colors of the music when you're high. And then we'll finish with Def Techno Kat, 'cuz their finale is like nothing else you've heard!"
The Viking noticed the hard set to Daniel's jaw and decided not to fight it, but he did comment "You'd better be careful, Runt, or you will turn into a bastard like Keith and Lance." Sven's pride was still deeply wounded from the way his old friends had treated him, but up until now had been careful not to criticize them in front of the cadet.
"Hey, they're doing better than you are, so maybe being a bastard is the way to go." Daniel coolly remarked as he passed the joint to Sven, who had taken a seat at the table. He lit his, and then remarked "Of course, you are married to a gorgeous princess with a great figure, and have a cute son. Most men would kill for that kind of thing."
"What do you mean by that statement?" Sven was taken aback by Daniel's observation, and the disdain he saw in the young man's eyes. It was not quite the expression his brother-in-law had, but close to it and he wondered why he managed to get the same reaction from so many people.
"All I've ever heard out of you is whining and complaining about your wife and her brother." Daniel took a drag on his joint "By the way, can I give you a piece of advice? Never bad mouth a woman's family to her face; it is just asking for trouble! Anyway, it just seems to me that you are more concerned about you than you are about anyone else. That kind of attitude will get you nowhere, other than freezing your ass off on Crydor!" He was starting to feel the marijuana's effects, and giggled at the joke he had just made.
Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd smiling
Merciless the magistrate turns round, frowning
Pink Floyd was playing over the sound system, and as Sven took his second toke he started swaying slightly to the music. The pot and the music took the sting out of the comment Daniel had just made, and he gave the boy credit for his wit. He then mulled over what he had just heard, and realized that it sounded like what Lance had said to him during his angry f-bomb tirade.
"If you could swear better you would sound like Lance!" Sven swayed a little more, "This music is not bad! My brother-in-law is a fucking pompous asshole! Who told you that about women? Your father?" His thoughts were starting to jumble together, and almost appeared as words in his mind.
Daniel didn't want to hear about Bandor again, so as much as he didn't want to talk about his upbringing, he went for the lesser of two evils. "My father didn't stick around after I was born, and my mother died when I was two. I was raised by her sister, and whatever boyfriend she had at the time. Most were decent guys, a few weren't, but I learned something from each of them." He offered this information to his companion, who was stunned by what had just been said.
Sven had always assumed that the boy had parents, and was surprised to learn that he didn't. That reminded him of what Lance and Keith had said to him, that he needed to be there for Erik. He had never given any thought to his son as a young man until now, sitting across from Daniel. Having heard some of the cadet's exploits, it came to the Viking that he didn't want Erik to grow up like this boy had.
"Why didn't your Dad stick around?" Sven asked, as a different song played in the background. "What song is this?" The pot was making him feel mellow, but not sad like it had before.
"Isn't it rad? The song is 'When they music's over' by The Doors, an awesome group." Daniel had to work to focus on Sven's question, since the pot was making waves in his brain. "My understanding is that he had other things to do, and a kid wasn't in the plan. My aunt didn't think too highly of him, but she wouldn't since the guy left her sister with a baby." He had long ago worked out any anger he had, because in his mind it was hard to be angry at a nonentity.
"Romelle doesn't want me." Sven suddenly blurted out, truly believing that he hadn't left Romelle and Erik, they had left him. Daniel sighed, and toked his joint after the Viking made his statement.
"Can't say I blame her, really! You aren't good company, you wanted her to live in a dump, and you kidnapped her baby. Hello, not how to get in good with a chick!" Daniel replied in a condensing voice, the pot completely lowering his inhabitations. He was fed up listening to the man feel sorry for himself, especially since it was all of his own making.
Sven once again saw the same disdain on Daniel's face that Bandor always seemed to have when he looked at him. The Doors were still playing in the background, and as the Viking dragged on his joint, Daniel's words danced in his brain. "Who said I wanted her to live in a dump!" He knew that if he didn't have the pot in his system the haggerium would be boiling over by now.
"Pidge told Larmina that your house was a dump; she then told Allura and Lance, which was all it took. Larmina knows everything, because she eavesdrops on everyone. Or rather she used to, but I think Pidge keeps her too busy screwing all the time. She is one smoking hot lady! Hey, she has red hair like your wife does! Is it true what they say about red heads, that they are full of fire in bed?" Daniel's internal filter was completely gone now that he was totally high.
Though he was just as high as the cadet, Sven's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
"If I were you I would be so grateful to have such a hot looking wife like you do," Daniel continued. The way he figured, he'd said this much already; why not go all the way? "I would put up with her asshole brother and a whole lot more too!" The cadet had spoken with Bandor several times, and didn't think the king was that bad of a person.
"The house was not a dump! It just needed some work!" Sven muttered; if he had not been so high he would have been snarling.
"It just needed some work? Isn't that like saying 'diamond in the rough' or 'needs TLC?' Good Lord, have you ever considered a career as a real estate agent?" Daniel teased, laughing as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Black Sabbath was playing now, and he could see the music floating around, all different colors.
"When I see Pidge I am..." Sven couldn't quite put a coherent thought together, but he knew that he didn't like Pidge making comments to their friends about his personal matters. "Stuck up runt! Thinks he is so great because he married royalty! He'll find out what it is really like." Sven growled as his own life flashed through his mind.
Daniel heard 'One More Time' start to play, and when the singer got to the part about how they were going to celebrate, he groaned. Even as stoned as he was, the cadet decided that it was the wrong song to get stoned to, at least with Sven. The man had probably never celebrated anything in his life.
"All I want is my house, my wife, and my son. I want to be left alone, and to be able to do what I want. Why doesn't anyone understand that?" Sven wailed, his joint gone. He saw everything he wanted in his mind, but it seemed like it was just out of reach. "I have no life!" The tears began to roll down his face.
"God, this is getting old!" Daniel was disappointed – he had had really hoped that different music would lead to a better outcome. Every session they had done ended up with Sven in tears, and Daniel wishing he was somewhere else. It occurred to him that maybe these treatments weren't working. And if that was the case, then something had to change, and fast. Otherwise, Sven was headed for disaster, and the cadet would be right behind him.