text; un: altea

[juniberries]

Has anyone here ever woken from a dream that...felt too long and too real, to the point where it MUST have happened?

Because for awhile, it truly seemed like I was back in my universe. But then I woke and
Well
I am still here. But I do not feel the same.

[PRIVATE TO: LANCE, PIDGE, KEITH.]

I must speak with you about what you went through before being brought here. Please remind me of what you remember last.

Comments

[cargoed]

[ another few minutes pass, before: ]

actually wait i lied i got it open be there soon!

[ and he will! just a few minutes later, stepping in a bit suspiciously, like he's waiting for something else to jump out at him from the walls. when nothing does, he straights, pressing down on his jacket a little like he definitely wasn't just looking as dumb as he was, and walks the rest of the way inside. ]

Piece of cake.

[juniberries]

What do you mean Shiro broke open your door?

[Yup she's not even going to give any preamble into that question she is simply standing in the middle of the lounge room, eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

And she totally noticed his suspicious and nervous demeanor upon his arrival; not that she really expects anything less from him to be fair, considering these past few weeks.]


[ooc: also holy shit i HTML failed super hard a few comments ago where something in brackets was not in brackets and it looked like she texted that LMFFF FUCK..]

[cargoed]

[ ooc omg DONT WORRY ITS OKAY



oh well that's....probably not something lance should have said oh crap. lance freezes, almost like he was the one caught in the act, before he relaxes and straightens back up again. ]

The ship was on the fritz earlier. My door wasn't opening so Shiro came by and helped. It's okay though! I'm sure it's fixable. [ there was a VERY IMPORTANT STIPULATION THAT IT NEEDED TO BE. lance is not sleeping with a broken door. ]

But what did you want to talk about, again?

[juniberries]

[Probably not. Granted, she's also used her own personal prowess to force doors open but she's at least managed to not completely break them.

So she's giving Lance a long, unflinching look, before finally letting out a sigh.]

Either Coran or I will have to take a look at it.

[Kiiiind of wishing Hunk were around. Alas.

Her composure returns, however, hands clasping before her, and she gestures for him to sit on the couch as she goes to do so herself.]

I wanted to talk about what you remember happening before arriving here via the anomaly. When you, Pidge, and Keith arrived, it seemed as though each of you remembered things differently than from what I initially recalled.

Things that happened after we were separated from the wormhole.

[As she sits, she leans forward, resting her forearms on her knees. She looks incredibly tired.]

It seems difficult to believe but I...believe I went back.

[cargoed]

[ he does kind of deflate a little at her sigh. there's something....heavy in the way she's holding herself, and lance feels bad. for either adding to that or the fact that whatever it is she's upset about, he probably can't help. ]

We can wait if you want to, until the whole ship thing stops. I don't care.

[ oh yeah no don't bring up hunk lance doesn't also want to feel sad today. so when she motions for him to sit down, he does, watching her a little confused but also slightly accepting.

as far as lance is concerned, he's had to stop being surprised about weird stuff happening. it just makes it more difficult.

when she pauses, lance just kind of blinks. ] Well, yeah. [ wasn't that.....obvious? quiznak, how long ago was the wormhole. was that really the last thing she remembered?

but then there's that - that i believe i went back - and lance makes a thoughtful look. ] I guess it makes sense. I mean, who really knows what kind of weird wormhole tech stuff they have here, right?

But yeah, no, there was definitely a lot of stuff that happened after the wormhole thing. Like. A lot lot. [ he brings up a hand to start counting- ] Hunk and I got stranded on this weird mermaid island, you came in and saved everyone from all these different planets the wormhole spit us out in, we went to that space mall because we kind of totally broke the wormhole thing, we found out there's actually a bunch of Galra rebels trying to take down Zarkon from the inside, we found out Keith was part Galra, uh.....

[ he has to pull up his second hand here, still counting off on his fingers as he makes various facial expression to match each of the most recent things that have happened to them all that he remembers. ]

There was that weird planet where like, robots and nature were the same thing and Pidge got to ride in a planet robot thing, uhhhh. Hunk and Keith had to go into a giant space whale planet thing to get stuff to help the generator, Shiro and I had to go and save Slav from this prison thing, we try and infiltrate Zarkons ship because we are working with the rebels and all that and then there's another huge battle and Zarkon has this huge Voltron looking thing and we all fight it and we kicked his butt and Shiro got a bunch of new powers from Black and yeah.

[ he crosses his arms over his chest, having run out of fingers - not that it really matters - and he looks pretty smug. ]

Oh, and then when Zarkon was about to self destruct we all outied. Except when we finally regrouped and got back to the Black Lion Shiro wasn't there. I'm guess because he came here? I don't know.

[juniberries]

[And despite Lance's...usual use of various emoting, while he goes through everything he remembers happening, she remains looking away, hands still clasped together as her forearms rest on her knees, focusing on a random area of the ground if only to keep herself grounded. Because so far, she remembers everything he's saying, quite vividly, in a way that continues to cement that what she had gone through while apparently asleep and unmoving, had simply not been a dream.

She does eventually turn to Lance, to tell him of the 'issue' regarding Keith and his Galra heritage, that Keith still doesn't know about that, but when he gets to the fight with Zarkon, the fact that they had succeeded (despite her memory only being that they had taken heavy damage, and that she was to venture onto Zarkon's ship with the Blade before waking) and--

More concerning

That Shiro had disappeared.

She remains quiet for a prolonged moment, staring at Lance with wide eyes, before her brows finally knit together in both confusion and concern.]

Lance, I...the last that I remember, before waking, was that I was to leave the Castle-ship with the Blade of Marmora to help aid your fight. I do not recall defeating Zarkon, nor-- [She pauses, giving herself another moment as she swallows thickly, looking away, seemingly searching the ground for answers before turning back to Lance.]

Shiro not being in the Black Lion following Zarkon's defeat is troubling. But I do not think it has anything to do with the anomalies experienced here.

In fact, you seem to know...most of what had happened. More than Shiro, than Pidge and Keith and Coran, and even me.

[And finally, because even though she did promise no more secrets, if what had happened to her was truly at least a mental return to where she belongs, what goes on here has little effect on what happens back in their galaxy. And before Lance could even get even more smug about knowing more than the others in this realm, she reaches out to rest her hand at his forearm, determination settling in among her mixed emotions.]

Shiro does not know about the battle with Zarkon, or of his disappearance. And Keith-- he does not know of his own heritage.

Lance, I implore that you do not tell either of them about these events. I fear such knowledge would hurt more than help our current situation here.

[cargoed]

[ if lance were a more observant person (which isn't to say he isn't, just, in this moment if he had been) he probably would have noticed allura's tells. the little things like how this could maybe be a lot to take in, how maybe she's a little stressed, how this might be a great chance to kind of - you know - practice some tact and let her take it in at a moderate pace.

but lance has started to explain, and has gotten on a roll, and can't quite pull himself out of said explanation for long enough to notice. he'll probably feel bad about it, in a minutes or so, but for how he just plows on.

and then stops. like actually stops - frozen to his spot at the image of allura looking back at him with those wide, concerned eyes. did he say something wrong? he doesn't... ]

Wait... [ his expression drops with his arms (which had been kind of flailing around to help with the explanation), looking back to her with just as much confusion. ] Really? [ his voice is...smaller, but not small. like he's trying to take all of this in at once, nevermind the fact he'd just been the one who had just dumped all the info. ] You don't remember any of it? The fight, Zarkon's big Voltron-looking-thing...nothing?

[ there's a weird kind of feeling that comes over him, then. like a chill down the back of his neck. something is...off. ]

Why not? I mean- about Shiro disappearing. We all kind of disappeared and ended up here because some kind of universe-hopping mistake. Why wouldn't-

[ oh, well, that's....interesting. lance's eyes narrow a bit as he watches allura. ]

You want me to keep secrets from the other paladins? From Shiro?

[ he's not sure he agrees with this tbh. ]