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The trio exchanged glances as Tommy took a... big black circle from somewhere. And it was flat as well. Philza couldn't even begin to question whatever it was, because the human also managed to find some strange, old-looking device. At least, judging by the peeling paint and numerous scratches on its corpus. It was wide and rectangular and the elytrian still had no idea what in the Chiming’s name it was.
"Alright lads!" Tommy exclaimed, his hands on his hips. It would've been considered a threat if the human was on Philza's home planet. Instead, pure pride radiated from the human as he gave them a toothy grin.
Philza blinked. Then looked back at his crewmates. They were as clueless as him. The elytrian opened his beak, but Wilbur beat him to it.
"What's that thing, Tommy?" the phantomling asked, wings unfurling in confusion. "And, the other one too. The round one?"
"Ah! Of course you don't know," the human laughed, taking the flat shiny thing in his hands. He held it really carefully, Philza noted.
"This is a..." Tommy faltered, then frowned. "I don't think there's a word for that in Common speak. Not as far as I know. But in my language, it's called-"
Tsk!
Philza moved his head sharply. Huh? Did someone call him?
There... There were no elytrians on this ship. Then who made the call?
Philza turned back around. Tommy looked strangely at him.
"Sorry, mate, I got distracted there for a tick. Now, what's it called?" Tommy huffed at Philza's words. He tapped the shiny surface and opened his mouth.
Tsk!
Philza's vision zeroed on Tommy. The human frowned. They tend to do that a lot. Move their brows. That was a strange way to convey emotions, but who Philza was to say that?
"Are you okay, big man? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Tommy's concern grew into defensiveness real fast. Philza shook out his wings, puzzled.
"You're making the call? The tsk sound?" Philza replied, equally confused. Tommy stared at him, and then something clicked.
"Dude, that's the name of this thing!" Tommy waved the item in the air. "That's so strange, though."
"But what's it do-o-o," Wilbur whined, his desperation for knowledge real visible. Techno seemed intrigued as well. His face was unreadable, as most netherlins were, yet his ears perked up.
"So it has really small lines engraved into it," the human explained, excited. "And when this thing," Tommy slapped at the other device lightly, "converts it using this needle, it makes music!"
... Huh? What kind of old technology uses physical means to convert information? Philza would understand using instruments, those were essentials for many cultures. But having something pre-recorded deciphered by some... machine?
"So it's a data storage device?" Wilbur hummed. Tommy shook his hand side to side. He once told them it was a "kind of" gesture.
"You could say that, yeah."
"What kind of music is there?" Techno asked, awfully curious. The thing was, music was important for most aliens. Netherlins used chants during their hunts or rituals; phantomlings sang to find their mates for life or before dying. And elytrians used windchimes in almost every aspect of their lives, from the very day they were born.
"That's a good question," the human bobbed his head, laying the flat circle on the device. "Fuck if I know."
Tommy fiddled with the machine a bit more, and then the circle started spinning. A creaking noise escaped the machine, a faint fuzz of needle on the circle's surface. And then, the first notes of a song started.
Tommy yelped, and the trio sharply turned their heads in his direction. Was something wrong? Was this song too personal for anyone else but the human?
"I fucking love this song, man!" Tommy crowed ecstatically, his hands stopping the circle from moving. It made a strange wooping noise. It made Philza chirp quietly under his breath.
"Why did you stop it?"
"I want to listen to it, but from the very beginning," Tommy said, shifting his feet. Was the human worried? Tommy only did that when he felt nervous.
The song started again.
Here's a dance you oughta do
Let me introduce to you...
Philza knew nothing about Tommy's language, so the lyrics were completely incomprehensible for him. And yet...
Tommy sang under his breath, his legs, his hips, his entire body moving from side to side as the song quitened for a tick.
Then it became louder. And Tommy closed his eyes, even his head was bobbing to the seemingly clear rhythm. There was not a single limb of his that wasn't moving, and when Philza caught the sight of the human's face, he saw a smile there.
Philza was confused. The song continued.
"Techno," Philza said in a low tone, "is this human courting us?"
"Uh," the 'lin looked uncomfortable at the mere idea. "I don't think so, no."
"Then what the fuck is he doing?"
"Honestly, I thought those were seizures," Techno replied, side-eyeing Tommy. The human was as oblivious as ever, moving even more energetically. The voice in the song became quieter, climbing to its crescendo...
Tommy grabbed Wilbur's hands, and the phantomling screamed.
"Tommy, what are you-"
"Shut up and dance, bitch!"
Tommy spun Wilbur awkwardly (key word awkwardly, as the phantomling had wings and still had to duck them when going under Tommy's arm). The human barked a laugh at Wilbur's clumsiness, and Wilbur just shot a frightened look in Philza's direction.
But the elytrian could see it; Wilbur was also too scared to back down from the dance. What if he interrupted some incredibly important human ritual? He really didn't want to make the human sad. No one here wanted to.
So the phantomling just tried to go along with Tommy's moves. After some time tension disappeared from Wilbur's shoulders as his body loosened. His face lit up, all five eyes crinkling.
"Wait, this is kind of cool," he muttered. Tommy spun him again, smoother this time.
"I know right?!" the human laughed. The song seemed to loop at some point, as it sounded suspiciously like it did in the beginning. Philza spared Techno a glance.
Techno glared at him.
"Philza, no."
"Philza, yes," the elytrian replied, cawing a chuckle. His species only danced for courting mates, and Techno's danced after an especially successful hunt. But both of these dances were nothing like what Tommy was doing.
"No."
Philza's beady eyes turned mockingly pleading. "Please-e? One dance, only one."
Techno's eyes darted to Wilbur and Tommy for a split moment. The duo was laughing and moving to the fast rhythm, even if their movement was quite repetitive and basic.
He witnessed the moment Techno's resolve crumbled. The netherlin shook his head, and Philza's wings fluffed up in excitement.
"Alright. Only one."
It, in fact, wasn't the only dance. Tommy had to stop his movement just to restart the song, and then they switched partners several times. Tommy seemed to have fun with Techno the most as he couldn't spin the netherlin that easily. Instead, he showed Techno how to do it, and immediately shrieked with delight when Techno spun him several times in the row.
Philza was dancing with Wilbur when that happened. And Wilbur's already pale skin whitened at seeing how fast Tommy was spinning.
"Infinite seas," Wilbur uttered, "I'm so glad Tommy couldn't spin me like this."
And, well.
Philza took it as a challenge. You see, while elytrians were quite light themselves, they were also strong. Well, not as strong as netherlins, but he knew for a fact he could carry Wilbur with ease.
He grasped at the phantomlings wrists. Wilbur looked at Philza, a question at the tip of his tongue.
"Phil? What are you-"
Philza's feathers ruffled with mirth.
And then he lifted Wilbur from the ground, starting to spin.
"PHI-I-I-L!"
Philza wheezed with laughter, Wilbur clinging to the elytrian's arms for dear life. Philza had to be careful, though, his own wings making the movement unnecessary difficult.
The day cycle ended with them all out of breath, Tommy laying on the floor like a strange creature he was, and the trio lounging on the couch. There was buzz in Philza's limbs, the want to continue, and yet exhaustion won at the end.
"Well," Tommy said, slightly out of breath. "T'was good, innit?"
Techno hummed an affirmative and Wilbur just trilled, not even bothering to use the words. Philza may have spun him too hard.
In his defense, it was really funny.
"We should that again sometime," Philza said offhandedly, and Tommy's eyes lit up, while at the same time:
"NO!" Wilbur screeched, and all of them (except the phantomling) bursted in laughter. And yet, Philza wasn't lying.
He would really want to dance like that in the future.