Chapter Text
If there was one thing that Lord Phobos had noticed about Doctor Sung in the few months Phobos had known him, it was that the doctor was always doing something. Whether it was writing music, fiddling with his prismatic core, or even just reading through random articles on Wikipedia, Sung seemed to avoid inaction like the plague.
At one point, Lord Phobos had mentioned to Havve Hogan that Doctor Sung avoided boredom like his life depended on it. Phobos could have sworn that the robot’s glowing eyes brightened just a fraction at his observation, and that the voice in his head held a hint of mirth when Havve responded with “YES, YES HE DOES.”
Lord Phobos didn’t fully comprehend the irony of his statement until the day that Doctor Sung ran into the living room, clutching a phone so tightly that Phobos was almost afraid the poor thing would be crushed. The grin on Sung’s face looked almost painful, and he was almost vibrating with excitement.
“Guys,” Sung said, and importance of his tone was enough to make the room stop and listen. Phobos closed his book, Meouch paused his game, and Havve stopped petting Dangus. They looked over at Sung and waited as he paused for dramatic effect. “Humans are immune to boredom.”
There was another pause as Sung’s declaration settled in. Lord Phobos shared a glance with Commander Meouch and was admittedly relieved when he realized that Meouch was thinking the same thing. Meouch voiced the shared thought, in his usual eloquent manner of speaking: “Uh, what the fuck are you talking about?”
Doctor Sung seemed a little surprised at the commander’s reaction, but caught he himself quickly, chuckling nervously. “Well, I mean of course humans still like, experience boredom, but it doesn’t actually cause them any harm! They don’t get sick, and they can’t actually die of boredom! It’s just a saying!”
There was more silence as Meouch and Phobos tried to decipher Sung’s wild hand movements and rapid-fire speech pattern. Havve simply nodded, as if this revelation was something he was already aware of.
Commander Meouch opened and closed his mouth a few times, pausing each time before he finally settled on what to say. “Did...did you actually think that humans could die from boredom?”
“Well, yeah,” Sung said answered slowly. His smile was gone and his excitable bounce had turned into a nervous fidget that only got worse when Meouch burst into laughter, startling everyone else.
“H-holy shit dude,” Meouch tried to say once most of his laughing fit was over with. “It’s an expression, dumbass!”
“Well, I know that now,” Sung muttered lamely.
“I mean, you’re hearing this too, right?” Meouch asked Phobos, who nodded more out of surprise from being called out than an actual answer, although Meouch took it as one and turned his attention back to Sung. “What the hell even made you think that ‘dying of boredom’ was more than just an expression?”
“Well, I know that some species are hypersensitive to boredom, and when I heard someone say it I got really worried and--”
“Dude, what the fuck? What species are you even talking about?”
“The Orn, the Una’ri, the Phyrax, the Fn’e--”
“Just because they can get sick from boredom doesn’t mean they can die from it.”
“Well then it wasn’t too much of a stretch to believe that humans could!”
“Humans use idioms and shit all the time! Why the fuck did you think that dying of boredom wasn’t one of them?”
“Because that’s what happened to my parents!” Sung’s voice had been steadily rising during the conversation until he was finally shouting. Phobos’s eyes widened behind his helmet as everything suddenly clicked into place. How Sung bounced from project to project, his constant focus, even his insistence that Havve, Meouch, and Phobos stay entertained.
“Bullshit,” Meouch said, and Phobos nearly gave himself whiplash with how fast he turned to the feline, his mouth agape in shock. Meouch was nearly snarling at this point, his hackles raised and his blue eyes seemed to be glowing. Phobos had seen Meouch like this only once before, when he was in the midst of the chaos he had caused on Phobos’s home planet. Later it was explained to Phobos that Meouch’s species occasionally went into a state of blind fury, their predator instincts taking over and their logic shutting down almost completely. It was difficult to tell what exactly would set off this rage, but it was a rare thing. Phobos had thought that it was only triggered during battle or something, but judging by Meouch’s state, it was clear that it could happen outside of battle.
Commander Meouch stormed over to Doctor Sung, almost towering over him even with the cone. Phobos was intimidated even from a few feet away, but Doctor Sung stared right back, unperturbed by the six and a half foot lion man right in his face. “It’s not bullshit,” Sung spat back, filled with as much fury as Meouch was.
“The only species that could have died of boredom went extinct over ten billion years ago, dumbass.”
“They’re not extinct!” Sung yelled, and Phobos swore he heard his voice crack.
“Oh and how the fuck would you know?”
“I just...do, okay?” Sung faltered a bit, biting his bottom lip nervously before turning and making a beeline for the living room door.
“Then fucking prove it!”
Sung froze in the doorway, a hand on the frame of the door clenched hard enough that his knuckles were white. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, before spitting out a bitter but resigned “Fine.” In one fluid movement, Doctor Sung whirled around to face the other three members of the band and pulled off his helmet. Meouch took a step back in shock and visibly deflated, his appearance shifting back to normal as he slid out of his rage. “Is this good enough for you?” Sung asked, his tone laced with bitterness.
“Sung, I--”
“I don’t care,” Sung muttered bitterly, tears in his eye. “And obviously, neither do you.”
“Sung wait--”
“Fuck off,” Sung deadpanned before turning around and leaving the room as fast as he could.