[He hadn't — and perhaps still doesn't — understand that concept, that something could suffer equally under the brunt of too much attention than under stringent neglect. It had been natural in his eyes that the ones that Ryo had looked after would flourish; in such matters it seemed impossible for him to err, the shape of the world naturally shifting to make up for anything amiss. But Akira's attention and care (and over-attention and over-care) had inevitably cut short the lives of the plants under his care, and so slowly he'd stopped trying, always falling into familiar pitfalls despite being aware of them.]

Yeah. [His answer is soft, his gaze falling under his eyelashes as he looked down for a moment.] Yeah, that was always the problem, huh.

[The images of the controls to the various ships cause his expression to crease in confusion and concern once more, though he's distracted by it by what was brought up afterward.] You really think stuff from Earth might be able to grow down there? Isn't that stuff kinda... sensitive to a whole bunch'a things that change, depending on the planet.

[He's just thinking that all of the planets he'd seen in sci-fi stuff had looked so different than Earth, and the planet they were in orbit of seemed similar.]

Might be better off seein' if there's anything already down there that wouldn't kill us if we tried eating it.

[But that would involve getting down there, and Akira's attention is tugged back up to Ryo's face when his hand comes to rest in the bend of his elbow, a gesture that always seemed simultaneously soothing and bracing.

He exhales.]

If you think that's the best way to go from here, okay. ...Even still, that's just keepin' us alive out here. [He pauses for a moment.] Doesn't really seem like it's gonna get us any closer to home.