Howl Disc Con Prompt! (pt.1)

Theo… was worried.

He paced around his house, waddling from one side of it to the other, only to repeat the motion over consistently. A few times he paused to watch his fish leisurely swim around its large tank before he went right back to his stimming.

It was only a convention. An event settled on a beach and one that focused on his special interest of marine life. He should have been ecstatic.

But there’d be so many Howls there! It’d be cramped and too overwhelming—

Maybe he shouldn’t go…

Before his thoughts could spiral further, there was a knock on Theo’s door. It made him jump, jostling his octopus (who, in retaliation, lightly bopped a tentacle against Theo’s head). His pacing was broken, and he went to open the door.

On the other side was Mako, bag packed and hanging off of their second dorsal fin, and surfboard resting next to the doorframe. The Snake Howl was almost twice the size of Theo, so the Pip had to crank his head up to meet Mako’s eyes (or, rather, to meet the empty space just to the right of his head).

“Yo!” Mako greeted, voice soft but excited. “Read to head out soon?”

Theo looked to the side as shame burned its way through him. He was, in fact, not ready to head out. He hadn’t even started to pack yet.

(There was just too much to do, and so much to worry about! The only thing he had been able to get ready was Fishie’s carrying case.)

Even without words and through Theo’s blank expression, Mako was able to easily read him.

“Ya aren’t ready, are ya?” Mako asked, and Theo didn’t have the spoons to try and analyze their tone. When Theo didn’t move his gaze, Mako sighed, “Ya didn’t even start?”

Frustrated tears pricked at Theo’s eye. However, they didn’t fall because Mako entered the house in a grand, sweeping motion as he spoke again.

“Don’t’cha even worry! We’ll do this together!”

— — —

First off, they had to actually find Theo’s duffle bag. It was buried so deep into his closet that Mako had to help dig it out.

“Do ya ever even use this thing?” Mako commented, and Theo picked up on the teasing lilt.

The Pip shrugged in response. Honestly, Theo hadn’t used it once since he had acquired the thing. He didn’t need to— after all, the only traveling he did was to his local coast line, which wasn’t a far walk.

However, the convention they were heading to was hours away, and they decided to spend the whole weekend in that area during it. So, a packed bag it was.

Mako let the subject drop, and they moved onto the next step: actually filling the bag.

Theo… had never gone to a convention before. He had never gone anywhere for longer than a handful of hours at a time. So, he didn’t know what he might need.

(When he tried to pack earlier that day, this was one of the first hurdles he ran into.)

Theo used his wing to tug lightly on one of Mako’s, and looked helplessly at the duffle bag in Mako’s mouth once he got their attention. Mako easily took the hint and set the bag next to Theo’s nest.

“Right. It can be hard to figure out what to take,” Mako admitted. “Let’s see… Well, I brought things I thought would make our downtime fun. Like my surfboard and my favorite magazines to re-read.

“Why don’t we pack something like that for you?”

Oh, that wasn’t a bad idea.

Theo’s mind quickly zeroed in on what to bring, and the Pip waddled over to the bookshelf next to Fishie’s tank. In his new found excitement, Theo piled his wings high with books all about marine life and the ocean. So much so that, on his way back to the bag, he nearly tripped.

Thankfully, Mako was there to catch both Theo and the books.

The Snake chuckled, “Maybe that’s too many books. Let’s see if we can settle on just a few.”

Slightly deflated, but undeterred, Theo nodded seriously and plopped down on the ground. He spread his books around him and triumphantly selected two. Quickly, they were stored in the bag.

Next, Mako recommended he take a few nick-nacks in hopes of chasing away any home-sickness. This process also went quickly, after Mako steered Theo to non-breakable items.

The last to go into his bag was Fishie and Octo’s food (already rationed out for the correct amount of time they’d be gone. That had been ready to go long before Mako had arrived).

With Mako’s help, Theo’s first adventure in packing had gone off without a hitch. But with the excitement of the task out of the way, Theo’s anxiety returned tenfold. Yes, he was now technically ready to leave for the convention. But was he really ready?

Mako was attempting to usher Theo gently out the door after they transported Fishie into its travel bag, but the Pip began subconsciously dragging his feet and ruffling his fur and feathers.

Would he even fit in at such a place? Unable to communicate verbally and more often than not tactilely stimming? Would he annoy the other con go-ers with his extreme interest in the subjects?

Once again, Mako broke Theo from his train of thought, this time by physically getting in front of him.

The Snake crouched down to be at eye level with Theo, and spoke slowly but firmly.

“Listen, Theo, it’ll be fine. We’ll have fun, and you’ll be with me at all times, okay? I’m sure everyone else there is going to be as big of a nerd as you are, so don’t sweat it.”

That helped to calm Theo’s nerves somewhat, and the Pip hugged his fish closer to his body in comfort.

Maybe Mako was right, and the convention would be alright.

…there was only one way to find out, Theo supposed.