thisavrou | [VIDEO]

[WE INTERRUPT YOUR DEMONS AND MAYHEM TO BRING YOU...]

[Based on the setup of the ACE camera, this isn't just an impromptu video recording. Allura looks like she took extra care in preparing her own appearance (complete with earrings that are more sparkly than usual) and the backdrop, the common area of her team's shared units in the ______ Suites.]

Hello, everyone! I hope this day is finding all of you well. First, I'd like to take a moment to thank those of you who came to my father's assistance after his investigation of the Kaittos flora went off the rails. It's much appreciated, and you'll be happy to know that the vines should all be gone now.

[With a small emphasis on 'should'. Her eyes sweep the room briefly, as if she's expecting those seeds to burst open and photobomb her recording. So far, though, so good!]

But that's not why I'm making this video. Today, I am celebrating Grogory Day! ... I have to confess, though, that I don't know if it actually is Grogory Day. Attempting to convert the Altean calendar is a troublingly complicated matter, but...

Regardless! Grogory Day started as a celebration of peace accords, and grew into a holiday of peace and friendship. And you can all join in, too! All you have to do is give compliments to the people you meet — such as, "Your hair looks fantastic today!" or "You have such a handsome smile!" Another way to celebrate is by doing something nice for a stranger, just because you can.

With that in mind, I would also like to offer a special Grogory Day drink, to my neighbors in the Suites and anyone else who would like to stop by! It's not quite the traditional Grogory Day drink, but — I found something that should work, in the Kaittos market. It's blue and sweet, at least!

[... it's very sweet. Very, very sweet. Drink at your own risk.]

You've all been very patient, listening to me ramble on like this! Happy Grogory Day to all of you, and I hope to see all your gorgeous faces today!

[TL;DR: Reply or Action, get free compliments and a holiday greeting.]

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[Alfor sighs a little at that.]

I'd have hoped that maybe he could have eased a little now that things have quieted down a bit.

I know it might be impossible to completely relax, and even I have my concerns in being away from home. But with little that we can do to change that situation, it helps to have something different to focus upon.

[Or to have reminders of the positives in being in such a place, such as who's standing beside him.]

That sounds like an excellent idea, Allura. I think a group outing will do us all some good.

Not unless something changed about him during his coma. [She's not joking about that in the slightest. Since he came back with more knowledge of what happened, he could have gone on something of a spirit quest. However, she'll believe it when she sees it.]

He feels it's his personal responsibility to keep others safe. Not just our team, but those he's met here as well. Even before we came here, there was one time that I fell into enemy hands so he could escape safely, and he still thought of it as him failing me...

[It's a glum, slightly annoyed tone with which she recounts the memory. Her moment of heroism, treated as some sort of mistake. But she makes the effort to brighten up her tune again.]

Still, Darin and I did talk about it, some. That if we can't control the situations, we can control ourselves. [Meaning the group outing is going to be training exercises. Of course it's going to be training exercises.]

[That's not a point that Alfor would disagree upon. Given everything that Shiro's been through, it seems like the best way to help him cope is to have gained a new perspective of things.]

I suppose we'll see.

...I have realized that. I hoped to remind him that it's not a burden he should feel the need to shoulder alone.

[Why he accepted the armor of the Red Paladin from Shiro when it was offered, specifically clarifying that he was only doing so to help them hold on, not wishing for anyone to think he meant to replace Keith.]

That's true enough. And I think it would do us well to have something of a bonding exercise. You all know each other far better than I, at least, and while I've spoken to the other Paladins, participating in activities with each other lets us learn a lot more than any conversation could allow, sometimes.

Precisely. Perhaps it's easier to notice when someone else is literally your shoulders, and the rest of the arm. And someone else supporting you, as the legs. If we had Voltron here...

[But she trails off with that.] ... planning around something we don't have isn't going to get us anywhere, though.

Of course. They even had an opportunity to meet you, in a sense — but it was hardly the same thing. Merely a record you had left behind. [She shakes her head.] More than that, though, I think that the pain over the pieces of the team we're missing has made it difficult for them to embrace the pieces we've gained.

[Alfor's smile fades as he looks askance, thoughtful even as he listens to Allura. For a moment it looks like he wants to say something, ask a question, but then he hesitates.

Given the touch on the subject, it might not be difficult to guess what he'd considered asking.]

... ... ...

[She did bring it up, didn't she? That she was trying to speak more openly, and not keep difficult truths from others.]

[Talking to her father about the future? That's certainly one of those things.]

... it was... the AI of the Castle. You stored your memories within it, to give me guidance and answers when I awoke from stasis.

You hadn't told me about it. After all, if things had gone better... I never would have needed it.

[It's a subject he's actively been avoiding, equal parts curious and dreading to hear what happened in the future he will never see for himself.]

...I wish things hadn't turned out as they had, that you had need of it. I'm sorry, Allura...

Something happened to that AI, my memories, then. Is that what you referred to in your messages to Darin?

[She shakes her head.]

It wasn't your fault. [She says this in spite of the fact that Alfor's memories had called it a terrible mistake, an error that fell upon her to correct.] Zarkon had already become our enemy. Fighting him with Voltron was too dangerous of an option. And... that didn't leave many other options.

[Rather, it had left no other options.]

... you heard all those messages? [She nods softly.] It was when we took one of Zarkon's commanders prisoner. We thought to try using the memory extraction on him, to gain information on what Zarkon was planning...

[She's looking down and away in recollection.]

But we weren't able to keep him isolated from the ship's system. He started overtaking everything...

There's still... a lot that I'm obviously missing for details. But I'm not going to ask you those.

[Not today, a day that his daughter had decided to meaningful and happy for all. He's in fact sorry that the conversation has taken this turn, but there's no avoiding that now.]

...tainted the systems, and you couldn't easily purge it without...

[Without also somehow purging his memory core. Alfor makes to pull Allura close again, his strong, brave daughter.]

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