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Oh noooooo.

[Allura's voice is loud in the room. Too loud. Sure this was her idea, but that doesn't mean she can't feel embarrassed about it when fantasy starts giving way to reality. She'd done the research, found a costume (really, it was just a bra and panty set with some sheer chiffon making up the "dress"), her hair was done up in a neat braid, and she'd even managed to bind her wrists together behind her with a pair of light bonds she'd found. That was the easy part. She's currently sitting on her bed, knees under her, with plenty of pillows and drapery around her to make her bedroom look... different at least. Somewhere between a harem chamber and just like she hadn't picked up in a few quintants. That was the easy part.

She thought the hard part would be convincing Keith to go along with her silly fantasy. To her surprise, he'd agreed much more easily and with a lot less convincing than she'd expected. Even managed to wrangle up a costume of his own, which she was pleased about. But now that they were here?

She clears her throat, dramatically laying in a supine position on the bed as she takes up an affected accent,]

You've caught me, Dread Space Pirate, Keith. Whatever shall I do?

[Her voice raises dramatically on the last syllable, and she peeks an eye open when there's not an immediate response, peering down.]

Keith?

quintessent

[Missions go awry. That much is predictable. The nature of what they do makes the unexpected pretty much a given and it’s why group cohesion is so important. Because when everything else fails, it’s vital to know that there will always be a constant in the form of teammates — the other paladins.

She’d given a speech like that a long time ago. Long before she became one in the same with the other paladins, thrust into the position of a rebellious right hand and sent on a mission to build trust with the new head of Voltron. (Building ‘eye-hand coordination’, as Hunk put it)

Things didn’t go awry as much as they went completely disastrous. What started as basic formation drills (that were already going poorly, with Allura growing increasingly frustrated) turned into an unfortunate run into a space storm, and ended with an emergency landing.

Allura sat in silence, hands on Red’s controls. But no matter how much she willed it, the systems stayed dark. (And, as much as she knows it isn’t, it felt just a little bit personal, given how Red’s been behaving with her). With no sign of a response, she finally releases her grip on the controls, fingers sore from how she’d been white-knuckling them, and she massages her wrists in her lap for a moment before finally pushing herself up from the pilot’s seat.

Keith is already out of his lion by the time Allura joins him, red dust kicking up when her boots hit the ground.]

Is there any response from the Black Lion?

[The answer is obvious enough, but it feels important to ask.]

lotoriety

( shenanigans )

marmoron

[The return to Earth is different from what they'd all imagined. Even Keith who had neither friends nor family to be reunited with back home had his minimal expectations crushed into dust by the Galra occupation. After everything that happened to all of the other paladins, after everything they'd dreamed of waiting for them back home while they were all lost and dying in deep space, learning the truth of what's become of the planet they most wanted to see feels like a knife to the gut.

He wanted the others, at least, to be happy. Catch a break with their loved ones, spend time getting reacquainted with the places they used to hang around, but even that's become a bittersweet prospect. And in some cases, even "bittersweet" isn't an option. He sticks around long enough during Pidge and Lance's respective reunions with their families, but then he has to leave -- clear his head of some unnecessary clutter.

He didn't think he was going to be nostalgic about being back at the Garrison. After all, he'd left the place a cautionary tale about what happens to cadets that lack discipline, but as he wanders through the base, he has to admit that a lot's changed since then. But then again, a lot hasn't. He enters the dimly lit conference room, taking a seat at one of the empty chairs. Last time he was in here, he'd been getting chewed out by a disciplinary committee led by Iverson before being told to pack his bags immediately.

There's another person entering the room though, and Keith turns to look over his shoulder. Part of him wants to laugh humorlessly. Speaking of his shitty conduct....

But he doesn't laugh. Instead, he gets to his feet, not knowing if he ought to stay or leave.]

Hey, Allura.

[Stated as neutrally as possible. Up to her if she wants his company or not.]

pretsd

( in the judgment free zone )

wingliner

( steps in the right direction; )

$marmoron: by request of the icon creator, pls do not take (teeny fraction of not hate)$

marmoron

[No one can say for sure what the future holds. After their fight with the Komar-Mecha, concepts like the future had all too quickly become something nebulous and intangible for all of the paladins. The explosion happened for Keith in slow motion, a searing white light coming towards him, the voices of friends ringing in his ears, last thoughts, last hopes that Earth at least would be safe...

And then nothing.

He had no idea if he'd ever see, hear, feel or touch anything ever again. But when he did finally open his eyes, gentle rays o sunlight were filtering in between the blinds and Krolia and Kolivan were there smiling... along with a headache that wasn't going away.

That had been a week ago, and now that he's finally been discharged from the Garrison's med bay, there are four people he really wants to see with his own eyes. He knows they all made it, it'd been the first thing he demanded to know when he had the presence of mind to demand anything, but there's nothing that can put him at ease better than being in their presence again.

As soon as he's able to leave, he heads straight back to Garrison barracks, heading directly to Allura's room. He figures Pidge, Hunk and Lance are likely with their families and doesn't want to intrude on any festivities. Festivities are... deeply awkward, you see.

Evidently he's not the only one who thought to come visit the princess though, and he stops short when he spots a familiar figure about to rap on the door.]

Lance?

[God help him, there's already a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.]

dramamines

( there's nothing that makes a man hungrier than coming out of an incredibly intense battle — it might not be the end of a war, but they're getting close — and he really can only stay cooped up for so long before he starts going stir crazy. yeah, that's right. you heard right. the cabin fever might not be on the same level as, say, lance's fidgeting in his own room in the med bay, but it's at least enough to be on the scale in the first place, and when hunk's nerves get the better of him …

he needs to cook. needs to take his mind off of everything they've just gone through, all the lives lost in comparison to all those they managed to save by the end of it, and they might have been able to take earth back from the galra, but that still leaves the whole rest of the known universe, and if he doesn't find something to occupy his noggin with he's going to end up going batty. he doesn't want to go batty. going batty absolutely does not sound appealing to him at all right now.

which means that when they're all finally released from their captivity ( read: discharged ), if anyone ever finds themselves in search of one ( 1 ) hunkadoodle, all they need to do is check the nearest kitchen.

he tries not to make a menace of himself, staying out of the way in the mess hall as much as he can but he needs something to do and there doesn't seem to be any shortage of food-related things that require his attention. mainly, he'd like to add some new things to the menu that maybe no one else has thought of, things that both cadets and officers can enjoy, and maybe see some of the speedier individuals actually sitting down to enjoy a meal every once in a while. because it isn't really a meal if you aren't enjoying it, right? right.

that was absolutely a rhetorical question.

so. it's a pretty slow evening and he's presently alone in the kitchen, hming and ehhing to himself as he looks over some ingredients he has at his disposal, thinking that he might try some new dessert because everyone loves that sort of thing. seriously. who doesn't love dessert?

that was another rhetorical question. duh, everyone loves dessert.

anyway. he isn't expecting any company at this time of the evening but if anyone could be expected to be wandering about … on his own … at any given time it would be keith, and when the other enters he picks his head up from where he'd been staring at a measuring cup with the kind of scrutiny one might give an ant through a magnifying glass ( except without the impending death by being fried by magnified sunbeam ), and his expression immediately brightens. ) Keith! Hey, what are you doing roaming around all by your lonesome?

turbolion

( paladin overhaul )

marmoron

[So here they are back on the swap moon at the space mall. Keith would say he has no idea what the fuck he's doing here with Lance and Allura, but..,he knows damn well what he did and that this whole thing could've been avoided if he'd just kept his mouth shut about sparkly shit.

Okay, so maybe he wouldn't be quite as unenthused if he didn't have to t bargain with Coran first to get some usable currency to pay for whatever the heck it is that Allura wants, but that sure was A Thing.

As the three of them pass by the first booth, Keith stops and grabs the first shiny object he sees which happens to be a rather tacky looking goblet of some sort.]

How about this?

[Are they done now, y/y?]

wingliner

( to say that he's still reeling from. everything would be putting it mildly, so far on that end of the spectrum that it might as well be off on its own, even if he's been trying to convince himself that nothing else that crosses his path will end up surprising him.

but. maybe he'd never expected to come back from the dead, and maybe he'd never expect to have ended up in another body with a whole slew of memories that still need to sink in, to some extent, like a novel that's been skimmed over and needs some closer attention. read front to back and then over again, just to let everything sink in and make sense, even if there's still some part of him that isn't sure that's going to happen soon.

it makes him tired. he feels like he's been tired for too long but that just comes with the territory, doesn't it? not even coming back from the dead means waking up feeling refreshed, apparently.

with so many passengers and a lack of castle-ship to hold them all, they periodically move themselves around both for the sake of doing so and breaking up the monotony of travel — and, in some cases, to give someone a break from someone else, even if there will never be any outward admittance of that being what it is. shiro is currently the sole passenger on the red lion, and he's still not entirely sure how that happened, but he isn't about to complain. there have been very, very few moments in which he and lance have had any measure of time on their own, and given the stretch of deep, dark space in front of them, there's going to be a decent amount of time to get anything out in the open that needs getting out.

of course, that means someone has to bring something up first. whatever that ends up being.

he tries to stay out of the way as much as he can, never wanting to infringe on anyone's personal space but there's only so much room behind the pilot's chair, and while it would never be surprising to find someone like keith or lance himself riddled with restless energy, this space roadtrip is making even shiro just a little restless himself. maybe it's just the nervous energy threading through him at the thought of finally returning to earth after so long, or maybe it's something else entirely, but whatever it is, it isn't sitting well with him. or comfortably.

he's stretching his legs a little now, slipping in close enough to where the younger sits to peer out into the endless expanse of star-speckled space, dark and ominous, and still strangely beautiful despite all of its hidden, unknown agendas. or maybe because of them. ) How's it going up here?

marmoron

[It seems like an eternity ago that Shiro had promised the crowd at Earth that they would return triumphant. Technically, it's a promise they've managed to keep with the combined strengths of all the people in the Coalition, but the victory doesn't feel like triumph.

Keith turns away from Cosmo to look at the sunset. This had been how he chose to spend his last night on Earth before the mission -- lots of different feelings about their upcoming battle against Honerva and her fleet of komar infused Robeast. Back then, he could only believe they'd win because losing wasn't an option. It's bittersweet that losing, in some messed up sense of it, was ultimately their only option.

Itt'd been easier to look Lance in the eye back then when his biggest problem was this date he had with Allura. The way things are now, he wonders if things really will be okay. Then again.... it's probably the wrong way of looking at it.]

You know, Lance. Maybe it goes without saying but... [A beat.] You know I've always got your back, too.

[So if he needs to talk about things, he can.]

quintessent

[She floated.

It's impossible to tell for how long. Timelessly her consciousness traveled through the cosmos. Or perhaps traveled isn't the right word. It was part of it. She saw to the farthest corners of the universe, and every spiraling tendril of reality that split and branched like a great tree, grown back and stitched together and infinite.

And she felt a warm embrace.]

It is not yet time for you, Daughter.

[The next thing she felt was cold. Not a deep, existential dread sort of cold, but the sort of chill that a midcycle night on Altea would bring. If she closed her eyes, she could even hear the distant call of the Kathalta birds from her childhood, as they prepared to nest for the evening.

No. She could hear them. Just as clearly as she could feel the cold night air on her face.

Allura opened her eyes. It was all she could do, at first, with the great wariness that seemed to weigh her down, as if she'd been sleeping for millennia. Again.

Slowly, as her senses started to come back to her, she could hear talking nearby — familiar voices — from the other side of a great structure. A statue, even if she didn't bother to look to see who it was of. Slowly, on aching limbs, she climbed, hands grasping at the statue for support and step-by-step. She still hasn't caught up with just why and where she is, but the first step is always just to move forward.

And so, one (1) long dead princess appears, shadowed in her own statue. Hair hanging limply and dressed in the same paladin armor she'd been wearing the day she disappeared.]

Hello...?

particlebarrier

[It's dark in space. Lance knew that for a while already, but he never realized just how dark it really is out there in the universe when the only lights around are the soft blue ones on their armor. It's been a very long time since he was a little kid who slept with a nightlight on to keep the monster in his closet away while he sleeps, but with nothing else to distract him that's where his mind goes.

Home. Family. It's ironic how something so close to him can be so impossibly far away.

He can't allow himself to think so fatalistically. Morale is already so low and the only thing he can still do for everyone is to not lose himself in his own head and withdraw completely. At first that had been easy enough. Start pointless conversations, get either polite small talk or be told to shut up in return. Either one was fine by him as long as it wasn't quiet. As long as they had some affirmation of their existence that's all that mattered.

But now that they've agreed to taking turns sleeping so that at least one person is awake to keep an eye out for either help or danger and it's Lance's turn to keep vigilant, he's nauseated by how oppressive silence is. He shouldn't be making any noise while people try to sleep, but.... under his breath he begins to hum a song.[