A/N: Based on V12 Spoilers from 86discord (also has spoilers for earlier volumes).
The feeling of multiple Para-RAID connections starting at once almost made him choke on his drink.
That background static noise, a trademark of Shin's connection, was all too familiar after all those years. Habit gave him a burst of adrenaline, but it soon faded as his logical mind told him there was no battle nearby for him to fight in.
Nor would there ever be again.
"Theo!" The four voices of the people closest to him called in unison.
"Umm, hi guys." He addressed them rather awkwardly, still coughing a little.
"Sorry, is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all..."
The person sitting across from him gave him a curious look, but quickly understood the situation and nodded at him to continue his conversation.
"We just wanted to check on you. How have you been?"
You guys don't need to worry so much about me, he thought. But he couldn't deny it was a nice feeling.
"I'm fine. Things sure are more boring over here, but I'm still managing to find stuff to do. What about you guys? Oh, and how's Lena?"
"She's doing well, thankfully. Actually, Shin called her the other day. Well, kind of."
"Oh, he did?"
"Yeah, he was having a severe Lena shortage so Kurena actually called her for him, can you believe it?"
He could hear Shin groaning behind the loud giggles, and couldn't help a chuckle of his own. Still, he was invaded by a soft wistfulness. It was not quite the level of frustration he'd felt some months ago, but he still couldn't completely suppress it. Sounds fun. I wish I could be there with you guys. Not just fighting together, but enjoying those moments as well.
But he couldn't say that to them, so he tried his best to keep those feelings to himself.
"Shin, didn't you say something that one time about clingy girls? Who would've thought you would end up being the clingy one."
A soft giggle caught his attention now as Annette, still sitting in front of him, tried to stifle her laughter behind a coffee cup with a cat drawing on it. His first thought was It's nice to see her with a brighter expression. His second thought was Oh shit.
"Theo? Are you perhaps with a girl?"
"Sorry for interrupting!"
"And to think we were worried about you feeling lonely."
"No, I'm just..." He searched his mind for an excuse, but knew it was futile. "I was having coffee with Annette, you know, Lena's friend. We don't know a lot of other people around here so..." He tried his best to sound nonchalant, and hoped he didn't fumble the explanation too much.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense."
"How is Rit— Annette doing?" Why the change?
Not sure how to go about answering that, he chose to direct his attention to the person in question.
"Hey, Shin's asking about you."
"Oh, is that so?" Then she unexpectedly leaned closer across the table, making him inadvertently hold his breath, and spoke with a raised voice to make sure she was heard through his Para-RAID. "Shin, do you really have time to be worrying about other girls right now?" The venom in her voice made him start sweating, even if it was not directed at him.
"Well, she sounds normal to me."
And with that, she retreated back into her seat.
Trying to calm himself down, Theo took a bite of his scone, which laid forgotten on his plate since the start of the call.
"Wait Theo, are you eating something?"
"...Yes?" He replied with his mouth still half full. "What of it?"
"Listen to me carefully." Suddenly Shin sounded dead serious, which made him automatically pause his chewing and focus all his attention on his former Captain's next words. "I need to warn you to never try any of Annette's cooking. Especially if it's sweets."
...
Even if they couldn't see him, Theo rolled his eyes dramatically. After all the tension left his body, all he could feel was annoyance. "And here I thought you were gonna say something serious."
"I'm serious, I worry for your life." Perhaps it would've sounded actually serious without the other three trying to contain their laughter. And failing.
"Well, you don't need to worry then, we're at a cafe." He quipped back, waving his hand dismissively. And that was his final mistake.
The silence only lasted a single beat.
"Ooh, so you guys are on a date after all!"
"First Shin, then Anju, now you, Theo? Everyone's leaving the nest, I'm gonna tear up."
"Shut up, Mom."
"What's with you guys and Alba, I swear..."
"It's not like that, I just— " But he stopped himself. He didn't feel like it was his place to speak about the full circumstances of their situation. How she'd looked down and he'd suggested coming here to cheer her up. But he couldn't come up with a convincing alternative, either. "You know what, I gotta go, it was nice talking to you guys." And with that, he hastily cut off the connection before they could tease him further, then let out an exasperated sigh, sinking into his chair. He almost felt bad for all the times he'd teased Shin over the last year. Almost.
Annette's voice brought him back to reality. "Your friends seem to worry a lot about you," she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Well, they shouldn't." Theo rested his chin against the hook on his left arm, a gesture that was becoming more familiar with each passing day.
"Sounds like they are cheerful as ever. So, is Lena doing well too?"
"Yeah... Wait, you haven't called her?" As far as he knew — not that he'd paid too much attention — Lena was Annette's only friend, and pretty much the only person she talked to outside of work-related conversations.
So, even if he was feeling a bit lonely being apart from his found family, it was probably even harder for her. Even more so with the latest backlash against Alba, and Republic citizens in particular, causing others to isolate her further.
"No, she deserves to rest. She always tries to be strong, but she's had it really tough lately, tougher than any of us. And I... I don't want to cause her any additional worry." So I can't talk to her about how things are troubling me. He could sympathize with that.
"Well, Shin talked to her and it seems like she is getting better."
"I see... That's good to hear."
There was a pause and he stared deep into his drink, debating over what to say.
"And you know... you should take care of yourself as well." He hesitated a bit. "I know it's not much, but if you need someone to talk to, well, I'm here." He felt increasingly awkward towards the end, heat rising to his face, and couldn't look her in the eye. He'd never been good at cheering people up, and the two of them weren't even that close, anyway. He was half expecting her to mock him or shrug him off.
"I know. Thank you." Instead, he was met with a small but genuine smile as she clutched her cup, which must have been empty by then.
Fearing he'd end up saying something even more embarrassing, he quickly downed the rest of his now-cold coffee in a single gulp.