video;;

[yablueit]

[ As the TAB's video feed switches on, the only thing in view is one blue eye, as someone gets a closer look at the device before he realizes it's actually already recording. ]

—Whoa, okay, is this thing on now? I think it's on. [ Lance pulls back from the camera and steps back, clearly leaving it balanced on something as he stands back far enough to be beside Keith, both of them clearly in view.]

I'm Lance. Pilot of the blue lion, Paladin of Voltron, master sharpshooter, [ He pauses for a moment to make double fingerguns at the camera. ] and kind of a big deal. [ He elbows Keith, who tenses and glares back at him. Keith obviously isn’t thrilled about being on camera or about being elbowed on camera, but he elbows Lance right back, as subtly as he can (not very). ]

And I’m Keith. Also a Paladin of Voltron. If that means anything to any of you, contact us.

[ Lance elbows him back again, and it's really unsightly how these two are both all sharp angles. It's a wonder no one's getting stabbed. ] Dude, come on, you gotta give a better introduction than that! That's super lame.

Finger guns are super lame! [ ELBOW. ] It was concise.

[ ELBOW. ] Your face is concise!

That doesn’t even make sense! And stop elbowing me! [ ELBOWS. TWICE. Lance tries to get out of the way of Keith's flurry of furious elbows, but only succeeds in knocking down whatever it was his TAB was balanced on, the video remaining on as it tumbles down and settles on a view of their feet. After a moment of not moving, Lance leans down to peer into the camera again.]

—Okay, so uh, we're gonna go, but first, um… no one's happened to see any giant robot cats around, have you?

Comments

[patchricide]

When we came through, almost everyone was short a few items. Shiro and Pidge both lost shoes, for example.

[She doesn't point it out, but she is not wearing her crown.]

[businessinfront]

[ His hand goes to the knife on his belt instinctively. ]

I... don't have much to lose.

[ Though he is trying to figure out what looks different about her. Give him a minute. ]

[patchricide]

[She catches the motion, and she remembers what Hunk said. A knife, Galra-made.]

[She probably shouldn't be wishing that the Ingress took that away.]

... we also came through a different Ingress. It's possible that this one doesn't have the same problems.

[businessinfront]

[ He's about to ask what she means when it hits him. He can't be sure, but he can't remember seeing her without it. ]

Your crown...?

[ And he feels a pang of inexplicable guilt that she'd mentioned shoes first. ]

[patchricide]

[It's uncomfortable to talk about. The fact that it's Keith is only part of it -- the crown actually signifies very little now, with what's become of the Alteans. But it is still a symbol of her family...]

Yes. As well as my helmet. It's surely just coincidence that both were for my head, and yet...

[businessinfront]

Does it ever give things back? Or...

[patchricide]

Supposedly, yes. But no one ever actually explained how.

[Out of the blue, she's acting more like herself.]

[The situation with Keith is still... it bothers her, but it's also hard to fully process. She wasn't there, she didn't see these Galra that Hunk has told her about. She looks at Keith, and part of her still sees the human she knows.]

[But all her aggravation over that quiznaking Ingress? That's fresh and real.]

Members of the crew said that it would simply show up at our rooms, sooner or later. No one could say how, why, or when it would happen -- never mind what caused the disappearances in the first place. They urged patience and said it would appear in my room.

Shortly after, I no longer had a room.

[businessinfront]

Do you think there was any significance to it?

[ Regardless of what she was told. She has to have her own thoughts on it. ]

It's... awfully symbolic, for a random disappearance.

[patchricide]

Well... yes, actually. I have to wonder, despite what others have said. My circlet isn't something that can slip off easily -- it stays on even when I sleep.

[She doesn't elaborate why, so feel free to draw your own conclusions, Keith. Security reasons? Secret crown powers that activate in her dreams? Because it'd be too much of a pain to get it back on again, what with her hair? The list goes on.]

[businessinfront]

[ It's probably inappropriate to ask a lady something like that, anyway. ]

I'm sorry, Princess. I know you don't have a lot to remember Altea by. It's not fair that you had to pay that price, too.