riverviewlogs | Lola August Catch-All

"You know her, would she go back to your flying space castle if she had the chance?" This was really the question, it'd bugged her when she remembered it after her talk with Ed, which wasn't all the time. Who went home because it was what they wanted, and who just... went home. Not everyone seemed the sort to just leave. But she couldn't say about a woman she didn't know.

"That's what he said after he explained the whole robot lions thing, and I asked if they were cute." And yes, yes telling Lola it had wings did nothing to make Lola picture something badass and scary at all. Because Lola's mind is nowhere near the mark.

Keith considered that for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah..." He would, too, honestly. "It's her home. And we have really important work to do as part of the Voltron Alliance, and that includes freeing worlds that have been oppressed by Galra rule." He sighed a little. "We can't just walk away from that."

He raised an eyebrow a little, and then smiled slightly. "I guess someone could consider them cute... in a way. Red is a lot smaller than Black."

"I'm sorry she isn't here for you to see her again," She still had her doubts, but she doubted any of the stuff she and Ed spoke of would... help here, it definitely wouldn't calm Keith down or give some sense of ease. Plus, she couldn't know one way or another. "Sounds like there's a lot going on at home."

"If you decide cuteness all by size, I must be the cutest person in the Quarantine." Because Lola's definitely the shortest. She was a little dubious if that was the only qualifier Keith used for cuteness. It meant a lot of her work into what she was wearing was worthless.

"Yeah." He shrugged a little, trying to brush it off. "I was kind of surprised I ended up here... the explanation as to why doesn't make much sense. I mean, sure there were times when I didn't want to be a part of Voltron, but I never really thought about actually leaving." Well, no... he did once, but that was to test a theory and hopefully protect the rest of the team, and it had been done without really thinking of it being a permanent situation.

Regardless, he was here now... so was Shiro... and Allura had been here but wasn't anymore. He was going to have to reconcile that somehow.

"Well, size isn't the only thing, I'd think," he said. Though, then he realized that might sound a little insulting with the way she made the comment about her height and cuteness. He quickly shook his head. "Not that you aren't cute. You are. And for more reasons than just your height, which is a thing. Right? Not just short, but other things..." He trailed off, looking a little awkward. What are words again?

"I'm not, I definitely had a lot of reasons to not belong at home." Lola wasn't bothered by this. Feelings are feelings, uncontrollable and untamed. So after all the stuff with Miles, and how she'd never tell her friends all the details. She felt a little outside of everything again. So that turning into here... well it made sense for her. "Maybe it isn't a part of you that you like, but... you're here. Why else would you be here?"

She's smiling so his complete fumble at trying to say nice things at least amused her. She could tell where he was going he just wasn't able to really express it properly. She'll assume she's too cute to put into words and not that he's just really bad at this. For his ego, and for her own, ego all around! She stops and smiles, "This is the place."

Inside was one of those parkour gyms. Full of various surfaces to run and jump over. An entire wall is designed with climbing handholds. And of course there's a foam shard pit that totally isn't like a plastic ball pit. But this place is totally for adults and not children. "I figured you needed fun, a lot more than trying to rush this someplace romantic, right?"

Lola's words definitely hit home judging by the thoughtful look on Keith's face as they walked. There were a lot of things about the current situation back home that he should be dealing with, but, deep down, had wanted to run away from. So, maybe it wasn't as surprising as he initially though, but he had never thought his feelings for leaving would be that strong that some weird interdimensional portal would grab him and pull him out of his own universe.

At least, not at this point. Maybe before, when he and Allura had actually left the Castle of Lions, but... now?

He wasn't sure anymore. It was confusing to think about.

He looked up as Lola pointed out the building and they walked inside. Okay, he was impressed. No wonder her instructions on what to wear had included something he could move around in.

"Woah. Heh." And, congrats, Lola. He smiled a bit. "I didn't know this place was even here."

Lola was very pleased with that reaction to her choice. It meant she did it right. But she was awesome at stuff, so of course she managed to pick out something good. "I've been here a while, I know where cool places are. Although... I never really saw the need to come here before. Just not really me."

Although the idea of learning how to climb walls would be pretty neat. Given how short she is.

"So that's what your smile looks like." Lola way to drag him on your date.

Keith blinked, looking slightly startled at her comment about his smile, and then that quickly shifted into something like mild embarrassment. He looked to the side.

"I smile when I have a reason to." His tone was only slightly defensive, but also maybe a little amused. He could admit it. He'd been caught. Not that he tried to be serious all the time, but that was kind of his default mode, so to speak. He shrugged, trying to dismiss it like it was nothing.

Keith wasn't exactly tall, but he was taller than her. She was probably like the same height as Pidge, really, if he thought about it. As he glanced around, her comment about this not being her thing came back to him.

"So then why come here? I mean, I'd think this should be something both of us can enjoy, right?"

"I'm glad I found you a reason to smile," see, Lola smiles because smiling is cuter than frowning, not as cute as pouting but that's a lot of work she doesn't normally need to do. She can take that win.

"Oh, I'll have fun, just not if I was doing it on my own," Lola could figure out how that might be confusing. Like Lola picked something he'd enjoy, but wouldn't give her anything. Well, nothing but the satisfaction of making Keith have a little fun anyway, "I have a friend at home. Shay, she really loves to do athletic stuff. And I enjoy doing all of them with her, but they aren't really my thing if she wasn't doing them."

Lola stayed active to stay fit, she didn't get much out of being the best volleyball player, she'd never hang her future on her ability to to do much of anything outside of what she's good at. But it was fun to do stuff with friends, even if they left her all sweaty and gross after.

Okay. Keith nodded. That was understandable. And, yeah, he was still smiling a little.

"Well, then we'll have fun, I guess," he said. He was glad for that, at least. He looked around at the place a bit, and then nodded towards the check-in counter. "Guess we should go check-in first, yeah?" He was also getting used to having her holding on to his arm, so that was cool. He lead her over towards the counter.

"Right, I think they'll probably want you to leave your knife in a locker." She wasn't sure how attached he was to it. She knew that she'd need a locker for her purse. She wore something she could keep her phone on her for selfies and photos during their time here. But she was pretty sure that a knife would be unwelcome in a safe establishment such as here. They were well inside the city and the chances of needing a weapon were, well, zero.

She wasn't directly aware of how comfortable he was, but he hadn't shaken her off of him so she was okay with that bit. But... they would need to check in, get a locker key, and some security harnesses if they wanted to take on things like the climbing wall or anything with a fall that could kill someone.

"Oh, yeah... that." He hadn't wanted to leave it in the communal housing, honestly, because he hadn't wanted it to disappear. It was easier to take than his armor, anyway, so there was that. Plus, it had sort of become something of a security blanket. He rarely left it behind, even just walking around the Castle of Lions, so it was more of a habit than anything else that he had strapped it on to the back of his belt before leaving. He nodded, though. He could see them not wanting something like that being carried around in the building. Locking it up in a locker wouldn't be bad.

Keith nodded a bit, and they headed over to the counter for what they needed. With a big enough locker, they could put everything in one, so the guy gave him a key for something that was medium sized to fit Lola's bag and his knife together. He then told them to come back to be weighed and fitted for their harnesses by one of the climb instructors.

She's still a little curious about it, because it's obviously important. But not curious enough to actually ask about it. Not right now, anyway. She'd managed a lot of headway with him thus far and the date had barely started. With their possessions locked away, time to get weighed and put in harnesses.

Lola, fortunately between her ego and her diminutive stature, had no trouble being weighed. She looked good, she felt good, and a harness could only do good things for her butt. Look, Lola's weird, just... accept it.

She walked up to the climbing wall, it seemed really tall. Kinda intimidating, but not in a bad way. "I'm ready."

Keith didn't care, either. He was a skinny but muscular 19-year-old. Whatever. He definitely wasn't one to get hung up on that kind of thing. If anything, he seemed more wary of the person fitting the harness on him than being weighed, and actually watched as much of the process as he could without being disruptive to it. It was partially curiosity, and partially because he wasn't sure how he felt about this. Once fitted, though, he joined Lola at the wall. he looked up.

"Good." They were hooked up to the ropes then, and given the go ahead as their respective spotters took their positions. He moved closer and grabbed a couple of handholds. "Have you done this before?" He figured not because of her comment earlier, but he didn't want to assume she was a newbie to it if she wasn't.

Lola grinned, "Nope. Never." As if never having done something is a perfectly acceptable mindset when trying it for the first time. Of course, this was the sorta thing Lola was just good at. Physical things, moving things. She could see a few places the handholds got a bit too far for her tiny frame, but there were plenty of creative paths she could manage.

"But I'm guessing we go up, and do it one little rock thing at a time."

Keith smiled a bit back.

"Yeah. Pretty much." It was a very simplified way of thinking about it, but he liked that. It worked. "Let's do it, then." And, he pulled himself up to start.

This was definitely a different kind of workout than he was used to, and it required a lot of hand strength, oddly enough. His arms were pretty strong, but actually gripping on to the holds was a unique challenge for him. Still, though, it was actually kind of fun. He liked things that he had to work through like this. Every once in a while, he'd glance back to see how Lola was doing.

School was not Lola's thing. It involved thinking, explaining, and putting words to paper. It was all so complicated and too much work. But as much as she wasn't driven to athletics like Shay, she could keep up with her best friend in these things. Simply because she was good at it. The answers were right there and easy. At least in Lola's eye.

She wasn't really having any trouble going from one handhold to the next. Standing and balancing on lower handholds to find the next one to grab up with. Lola was secure knowing the harness would keep her from going splat, so she wasn't showing much fear. The only thing slowing her down was the effort pulling herself up took, "Maybe I should just add this to my workout routine. Instead of using one of those silly weight machines. Way more interesting."

"Yeah... straight lifting can be pretty boring," Keith agreed. "This is way more of a challenge." He looked down again. "It works different muscles, too. I can already feel the difference." It was a good workout feeling, though. He was definitely enjoying this. He was also subtly making sure he was still ahead of Lola. Keith was secretly competitive...

"But it's good for keeping my arms defined, but not too bulgy." Lola was very much looking to look good. Being the strongest, or the fastest, or any of that wasn't the point. Plus she's having fun, so she doesn't mind Keith is winning. "This is better though, much nicer view."

Keith being in the lead means Lola can check him out as she climbs. Which if he was thinking about it might be a worthwhile reason to let her lead a little while.

That got Keith to pause a little.

"Well, I mean, if that's your goal, then yeah. I can see that." He shrugged a bit. Everyone had their own fitness goals. He wasn't going to fault Lola for hers. He was momentarily confused by her view comment, though, and had to think about it, actually looking up for a second before it clicked and he almost blushed.

"Oh... uh... th-thanks..." Haha. Ha. Ha... Now he was a little flustered, and there was a good chance Lola could pass him if she wanted to while he was in this state.

Boys get so weird about being checked out. Boys check girls out all the time but the moment a cute girl gives them the once over they get all weird and discombobulated. Lola isn't immune to competition, she just generally isn't hurt to lose.

But she totally takes this chance to get ahead of him. She's a lot of energy in a tiny little form and has no trouble going handhold to handhold. Letting the fun wash away her concerns about how this might impact the look of her arms. Leaving him with a smirk as she passes.

At first, Keith's competitive side kicked in, and yes... he totally did want to win. Not that he was an overly sore loser when it was a good challenge and the winner didn't rub it in his face too much, but he liked to win.

But, what kind of late teens male would he be if his hormones didn't give him that nudge to actually check her out as she went past? Not that he hadn't before, but sure, he was going to again. And he was definitely going to notice the cute... and that she had a nice shapely figure... and- wait. Was he being creepy? Was that a thing? Lola had definitely never given him the idea that she didn't like being checked out, but Keith was pretty aware that some people didn't appreciate it.

He softly cleared his throat and focused back on the wall for a moment, still sort of stuck in that spot while his head worked through his thoughts and feelings a bit, and then finally started climbing again. Yeah. Get it together, Keith.

Lola had been focusing on climbing but she had been listening for movement. The fact that Keith didn't start moving right away was a little concerning. Until she glanced back to see where his focus was. The smile on her face says 'yes she knows' and also 'she quite likes being looked at.' At least when she knows whose doing the looking, and appreciates them in some way. It makes being appreciated a little more meaningful.

She may have winked at him? Just to sell the point. If the smile and the knowing look didn't. Still, with that out of the way she's climbing again. She's good but Keith can catch up if he can focus. It probably helps Lola's a lot better at teasing, being checked out, and checking others out, than Keith is.

Keith felt his face get warm for a second, meaning it was extremely likely he was blushing, so he immediately looked at the wall, attempting to hide that. He didn't want to be Lance here or anything. Just... climb the wall, Keith. That was what you came for.

He pushed harder now, focusing more the the climbing and the idea that he could probably get to the top first, even with Lola's current lead. That was a safer train of thought.

Though... if she got stuck and couldn't reach something? He'd probably actually turn back and help her...

Keith got to pass Lola because Lola had to find interesting ways up the higher she got from the floor. The handholds kept getting further apart and some were just... clearly designed for someone a minimum of 5'2".

Something Lola is not.

Still she went into the vacant lane next to her for some handholds. Not strictly how it should be but nobody was telling her not to. It slowed her down letting Keith take the lead again. Of course, him in the lead meant Lola could admire the view. She didn't get awkward about it, and she could multitask.

Lola August Catch-All

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