Open Catch-All

[tempredmental]

who: Keith, OTA
what: Catch-all!
when: For the rest of December and the beginning of January
where: Around town, and outside the wall if anyone wants to explore
warnings: Just Voltron Season 4 spoilers so far, will update for others if needed later

Catch all for December

Open prompts for Perimeter Guard patrols, training at the gym, out and about town (all are after the canon update, but I can do before if you'd like... also please let me know if you'd like to avoid season 4 spoilers but still want to interact with him post canon update)

Closed prompt to Shiro for canon update

Feel free to start your own prompts if you have any other ideas you want to play with me or you can reach out to me on plurk at duches77. You can also PM this journal.

Comments

Closed to Shiro

[tempredmental]

[Keith picked up the canister that had been left for him, and stared at it. He knew what this was. He'd seen other people get them.

But why did he get one and Shiro didn't? He was nervous.]

Hey... Shiro? You're sure you didn't get one, too?

[lionunchained]

[Shiro had been surprised to see this canister that had been left for Keith, knowing what it was as well. He was even more surprised that he didn't get one. He had looked and even Black had looked as well when the lion realized this was a thing that needed to be found. Shiro had since been assured by Black that - whatever this thing was - there was not another one on their property]

It doesn't seem so. And Black doesn't think so either.

[It made him nervous. What did this mean? Why didn't he receive one when Keith did?

But there was no denying it. Keith had gotten one and they could probably shove it in a closet and ignore it, but he also knew that it would eat at both of them, both wondering why Shiro hadn't gotten one and if the answer to that question was hidden inside that canister]

Why don't you go ahead and open it.

[tempredmental]

[Keith looked worried.]

But...

What if it means...?

[Nope, he was ready to face that. Please, no...]

[lionunchained]

It could mean that. It could also be for another reason I didn't get one.

[Trying to be positive here. Yes, he had a morbid outlook on his life, but this... somehow was different. He couldn't do anything about it and Keith would be the only one to know for sure]

Besides, if you don't open it, it will keep bothering us until it is opened.

No matter what those memories say, I'm still here with you.

[tempredmental]

[Keith listened as Shiro spoke. He wasn't wrong. It would bother the daylights out him until he did open it. He knew that. But, he was also scared. He'd gone through losing Shiro before. He'd gone through losing his parents. Did he want to risk having to go through it again? Even if Shiro was here now, he remembered what it felt like to get that rush of memories after the whole amnesia pollen incident.

He looked down at the canister, his grip tense around the sides, and hesitated, visibly weighing everything in his mind on just how badly he wanted to know what was in it versus how much he wanted to avoid what might come out of it.

Keith closed his eyes for a moment, and then nodded.]

Okay.

[He used the code they gave him to open it, and then braced himself for the worst.

It was a little different than the memory tea fix to the pollen problem, and it left Keith feeling dizzy and overwhelmed. He dropped backwards on to the couch, definitely shocked by everything hitting him at once like that, and then it was gone... like those memories had always been there. Though, he still felt slightly out of breath.

He blinked a few times, squeezing his eyes tightly for not quite a second each time. Then, on the last one, he rubbed them, like he was trying to clear away some cobwebs or something from his head.]

That... wasn't as bad as the amnesia thing...

[Which felt oddly far into his past right now... yet, still only a couple of months ago. That was a weird overlap...

Still, he held his head for a moment, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.]

[lionunchained]

[Shiro sat quietly while Keith decided. Ultimately it was his decision to open the canister and he'd respect whichever choice he made, but he knew it would be harder for both of them if he didn't. He watched as Keith gripped the canister, willing himself to be quiet to let his teammate decide. Keith needed to think through the options and Shiro speaking would interrupt that process.

He nodded to show Keith that he understood and gave him a faint smile, hoping to reassure him it would be okay.

Everything seemed fine after he opened it... until Keith literally collapsed backwards onto the couch]

Keith!

[Shiro helped Keith sit back up again and kept his hand on his shoulder as the younger paladin breathed heavily, sounding like he had just run a race]

Well, that's good at least.

[He kept his hand on his shoulder until Keith seemed to be collecting himself a little more then ventured the question]

So... do you want to share?

[tempredmental]

It's... it's a lot to share.

[Keith frowned.]

Like... it feels like it's been a few months? But... [He shook his head.] I need to sort this out...

[It wasn't like he was missing time and this filled stuff in. This was like... inserted weirdly into his brain and combined with the memories of being in Quarantine... and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.]

I uh... [He looked at Red for a moment, and then lowered his gaze, almost sad. Red hung her tail, the tip actually resting fully on the floor.] I tried piloting the Black Lion again.

Perimeter Guard (HQ & Patrols)

[tempredmental]

[He was getting past the shock of the new memories and where his life was at the moment, but he was taking extra shifts at the perimeter guard as a way to avoid having to talk about it. Find him getting paperwork together at headquarters or pick up a patrol with him.

He actually does NOT have Red with him for once... which is odd for anyone who's patrolled with him since the Lions arrived.]

HQ

[bunnyhopped]

[ He might find Hana on one of those nights, just barely having recovered from her illness. She was in the special, designated space in the headquarters where she had been allowed to keep her mech when not otherwise keeping it at her apartment or at Cisco's workshop; sitting on top of her mech, and gesturing and typing away at a holographic screen. The lights on her mech were active and glowing, too - she was running diagnostics on the machine to make sure it continued to run smoothly. Nearby there was a table with a box of tissues, a bowl of noodles in soup (and very hot, judging from the steam rising from it), and some cough drops.

Hana was also wearing a mask over her nose and mouth.

Though she had been absorbed in what she was doing, she did spot Keith out of the corner of her eye eventually, but the look on his face, the way he was carrying himself - all of it suggested that he wasn't in the best mood, or maybe she was just tired and imagining things. Either way, she won't be initiating conversation with him right away, in case he didn't feel up to it, though she would definitely be watching what he did. ]

[tempredmental]

[He honestly was in a terrible mood, even more so than his usual air of grump. He didn't have Red with him today, which was probably odd and noticeable. He didn't have Black, either, though... why would he? It would be an odd thing as well. He seemed to pace through the area, definitely out of sorts, and then paused at the table.

He could feel Hana watching him. That seemed to almost bother him a little, and he glanced back up at her mech, noting the diagnostic screens. He wasn't a mechanic or anything like that, but he knew a diagnostic screen when he saw one, regardless of language and character set on said screen.]

Everything okay? [He furrowed his brow a little, wondering if there was something up with her machine.

Hana might notice he was wearing civilian clothes today, too... not his Paladin armor.]

[bunnyhopped]

[ She most certainly did notice that, when usually she saw him around here in his Paladin armor and with Red following him... and both were noticeably absent at the moment. She cast him a momentary glance before looking back at her screen, answering, ]

Yeah, just making sure everything's still running okay.

[ There was a beat of silence before she added, ]

Though it feels like I should be asking you that question, hmm?

[tempredmental]

[Keith opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself. He sighed, lowering his gaze to the floor.]

Is it really that noticeable?

[He knew it was pretty much a matter of minutes to have all these changes occur. But, for him, it had been practically a year. Noticing any changes in himself over a longer period of time like that, it wasn't as shocking.

And he was getting a little miffed at just how noticeable it apparently was.]

[bunnyhopped]

[ Hana finally pauses in her work to regard Keith, if only so she could level a slightly judgmental look at him as he looks down at the floor.

She and Keith were similar in some ways... being an open book seemed to be one such way, judging by how things went during that Harvest Festival. She wasn't going to call him out directly about that, though. ]

Kind of. So, what's wrong?

Gym

[tempredmental]

[Keith was spending a lot of time here recently, taking out his frustrations on the equipment. He might break a punching bag or two. And he's definitely overworking himself. Spar with him? Or talk him down?]

[holds_up_walls]

[Lyle had decided to go to the gym today. He was bored and wanted to do something to keep entertained even if it was just working out.

Well, he'd had no idea how exciting it was going to be when he walked in, but it was definitely getting more exciting by the moment when he saw Keith in the gym essentially pummeling a punch bags so hard it looked like he might damage it... or himself. Lyle immediately raced over, catching the bag on a swing, which probably counted as his exercise for the day by itself]

Hey hey hey! Don't hurt yourself!

[tempredmental]

[Lyle was lucky Keith had some semblance of control left, or he might have ended up getting hit when he intervened like that.]

What are you doing?

[holds_up_walls]

[Yeah, he was lucky. One of those punches could easily have come his way]

Trying to figure out what this punching bag did to you that you are willing to break your knuckles trying to kill it.

Is everything okay?

[tempredmental]

Yeah. I'm fine.

[He totally wasn't. In fact, he looked pretty angry. Then again, he often looked angry. He was just angrier looking than usual.]

I wasn't going to break anything.

[The little stream of sand coming from one of the bag's seams said otherwise. He was close to doing some damage there.]

[holds_up_walls]

You sure? You look very angry, like someone just walked up and slapped you. And that punching bag seams to be bleeding.

[He can hear the trickle of sand on the ground, a sign that its damaged and may not last much longer]

So what's up, kid?

Around Town

[tempredmental]

[On some insistence from Shiro, Keith was occasionally around town with either the Red Lion or the Black Lion. He is around town trying to work with whichever one is with him at the moment, but seems hesitant to do it heavily.]

oot and aboot!

[sonofab]

[Damian is up in a fruit tree, he reaches over to pluck one of the ...well he's not sure what it is. Fruit? Seed? Poisonous? Who knew, but this place was all about discovery, right? and looks it over. Does it have seeds? Could he plant them? Maybe he could just plant the whole ...whatever it was and get a tree of more whatevers. He never was much for farming, but living with a farm boy that had no sense of vegetarian eating has made him consider using Jon's know how to grow some food.

I mean, the defective super had to be good for something. He pauses his pondering though when he sees a familiar face walking with an even more familiar lion. Black? What was he doing with this guy? Where was his ...what was that term the big guy used? Plebians? No, "P" something, oh no matter.

Wait, did he have another one with him?! Oh, now he remembers where he's seen you!]

Hey... [Damian frowns and drops the whatever he was holding, letting it gently bounce off the guy's head.] What are you doing with Black? You're not the big guy.

[tempredmental]

[Keith heard the kid, but almost didn't look up... until he felt something bounce off his head.

What the quiznak?

He stopped short, immediately tensing up, but didn't snap right away. Instead, he looked up at him, glaring slightly.

Oh... it was him.

And then something else clicked, and the glare faded into confusion.]

You've already met the Black Lion?

[Not that he and Shiro had been keeping the Lions secret. It was kind of hard to do that, anyway, as they were something of an attention-grabber, and there had never been any reason to keep their Voltron affiliation a secret.

Black rumbled a soft greeting, and then lowered his head to investigate the dropped fruit. Red, on the other hand, looked mildly insulted that this kid had dropped something on her... well, former Paladin's head.]

[sonofab]

[Damian’s lip threatened to turn up in a small smile when Black seemed to recognize him. He resist the urge to wave at her, instead putting his focus back on the surly yet confused looking man. He looked like he was having a bad day and if he turned out to be a thief then it was about to get worse.

Todd did tell him this place was relatively peaceful... on the other hand the guy was a possible friend of Todd so that already earns him a spot on his watch list.]

Yes, and his handler. For which you are not. [For you are no large and muscled guy with a robot arm.] They showed me his flight capabilities. [And let him ride the lion. It was all quite memorable. Not that he'd admit to something as childish as have fun.]

How did you get him to follow you? The bigger guy said they only follow their specific paladins. [YES, that was the word! That makes much more sense than guardian plebeians.]

[tempredmental]

Well, yeah. They do... but it's kind of a long story. [Keith lowered his gaze, looking almost sad.] We found out that they can change who they bond with when it's needed, but they don't really break previous bonds. So, Black is kind of bonded to both me and Shiro right now because of some things that happened back home.

[Red rumbled a little, stepping forward as if to study Damian now that she could see him in person instead of on that tiny video screen. Well, if Black and Shiro had trusted this kid, then he wouldn't pull something, right? Because, if he did, she'd protect Keith, and not in a soft way.

Keith, in the meantime, was kind of stuck between the two Lions, almost unsure of really being with either one.]

[sonofab]

[Damian tries not to get distracted by the Red lion looking at him like it wanted a challenge. Oh, oh, no, don't do that or Damian just might take you up on the offer Robot cat. It has been a long time since he had to wrestle with a jungle cat for his life-- Wait, your question is being answered!]

...I see... but why do you look so uncertain about your own words?

[Was he lying or were the lions switching up their paladins more confusing than it sounded?]

And is that one a boy or a girl? [Because of the fact that Shiro assigned a gender at all to Black seemed ridiculous. Robots aren't supposed to have genders. They didn't reproduce and make small robot feline offspring.... unless these... do.

]