riverviewlogs | [open] Catch-All for the Remainder of August

During the pollen infestation, Keith might seem different around Shiro than usual to anyone that knew their relationship. He seemed more upset than usual by Shiro's appearance... the shock of white hair, the scar on his face, and most definitely his right arm. This would be noticeable to anyone who knew that Keith should definitely be aware of these things when they first arrived around the same time as each other.

Keith slowly evened out about it throughout the course of the week, but it was definitely clear that the pollen had caused him to forget just how Shiro had ended up this way.

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Then word got out that there was a tea that could counter the effects of the pollen. Keith was dubious as Shiro suggested it.

"What if it tastes gross?" he asked.

Edited 2017-08-23 02:38 (UTC)

Oh, the priorities of kids... especially when they thought they were younger than they were. It didn't help because Keith had already seen his arm, but to make it less... strange, Shiro had started wearing the jacket when Keith was around. Not really that it wasn't there, but Keith didn't have to look at it.

"Gross or not, it will help you get back to yourself."

He had known from the first moment when Keith had panicked at seeing his hair and the scar that something was up. Based on questions, he had rather definitively determined that Keith didn't know about Kerberos or the Voltron Lions yet. So he was glad for the tea, sure it would help the teen.

"Besides, they said you only have to drink it once."

Well, Keith had lost about three years with the effects of the pollen. In his mind, he and Shiro were still in the Garrison. Shiro an officer, and Keith a cadet on par to surpass Shiro's own flight scores. He was top of his class. Kerberos hadn't happened, yet. He knew nothing about Voltron or the Lions. Finding himself in Quarantine all over again had been enough of a shock, but seeing Shiro had almost floored him.

"You mean get back the memories I'm missing."

He'd figured that out. After all, he had his own physical changes, too. He was somewhat taller, a little older looking, and there was a new scar on his shoulder that he didn't remember getting.

"Alright. I'll try it."

After all, Shiro hadn't lead him wrong before.

"Yes, getting back the memories you are missing."

He would have been more surprised if Keith hadn't figured out that he was missing memories. Even slight, there were physical differences in those three years. Not to mention all the questions Shiro had asked about what he remembered. It was practically stereotypical plot line for television sitcoms.

Also to be fair, Shiro had never purposely steered Keith wrong and according the person who had been bring the tea around, it was helping people so there was no reason to doubt it would help Keith.

"Good." Shiro picked up the mug of the tea he had been given, setting it down in front of Keith. "You'll need to drink all of it. I don't see what harm there is in taking your time, but if it really does taste gross, faster might be better."

Keith took the mug and gave it a curious sniff. Well, it didn't smell bad. That was a good sign, at least. Usually, medicinal teas smelled horrible, so this one had that in its favor right from the start. He nodded. It was still kind of hot, so he'd start slow, at least, as not to burn himself from it. And it turned out that it didn't really taste terrible, either, so he was able to finish it without forcing himself too badly.

"That actually wasn't bad," he admitted. "I wonder how long it takes to kick in." He didn't feel any different, yet. And, beyond what Shiro had told him, Keith couldn't really directly recall anything new, yet. It probably took some time. "But, it was kind of sweet? And had like... I don't know, orange or something in it."

Good. Didn't have to force himself to drink it. When Keith finished, he took the mug back, taking it to the kitchen to wash it.

"No idea how long it takes. They didn't give me a timeline." Probably should have asked, but he had been so relieved there was something that would bring Keith's memories back that had actually slipped his mind. "I doubt its immediate. Medication can take anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour to kick in so I'd say hopefully between that time."

Shiro raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? Sounds like it was good at least." Not that he would try it. Since he hadn't lost anything, there was really no point but also it might do weird things to someone who didn't have this amnesia.

Keith nodded.

"So, I guess now we just wait."

He hated waiting.

He was also a little nervous about what this might feel like... and what it entailed... and- "Did ayone mention any like... side effects or anything?" He was asking his now? Yes. He was asking this now. Probably should have earlier, but... too late.

"Yeah, we do. We'll figure out something to do in the mean time."

Since Keith sitting and waiting didn't happen and if it did, it was usually short lived and ended with him getting frustrated.

And that was something he had asked about but the person who had brought the tea hadn't seemed to understand what exactly he was asking. "No one mentioned any side effects, but let me know if you start feeling something." Given the number of people affected, it wouldn't be hard to find someone who knew about the tea and see if there were.

"Okay."

No... Keith and waiting weren't two things that went well together at all. He pulled his legs up under himself on the couch and got comfortable.

"No, huh? Alright." He shrugged. He was fine for now, so he'd worry if something weird happened. "What did you have in mind to do?"

Shiro sat down on the couch beside him. He hoped there weren't any side effects. There was some part of him that was suspicious of the tea, but what choice did he have? Keith shouldn't be missing any part of his memories. Plus having no memories of how Shiro had gotten this way was upsetting.

"We can play a video game. I borrowed one from a friend." Since Keith thought he was a younger teen than he was, it had seemed appropriate.

Keith shrugged.

"Okay. That can work." He glanced around for a second and spotted a game system. Good. "What kind of game is it?" He went to go see if it was hooked up properly. Sitting around and waiting was definitely not going to work.

"It's one of those piloting game where your flying a ship and trying to complete levels."

He'd thought that would keep Keith's interest enough to not get easily bored while waiting for the tea to kick in. Shiro got up as well as Keith to see if it was hooked up.

"Since that's what you're into."

Wait until he remembers the lions though...

"That sounds cool." Once the system was set up, Keith made his way back to the couch while Shiro got the game itself started. He grabbed one of the controllers.

"Is it coop or versus?"

"I thought you would like that." It was a very Keith thing to like. To be fair, he liked it too so he wouldn't complain. After the game was in the machine and starting, Shiro picked up his controller.

"Versus?" He knew that would make Keith more competitive, but it would distract him better.

That got a smirk in response.

"You sure you wanna test that?" Keith was definitely on board with that. Oh, yeah... he was going to be competitive. Here was hoping Shiro was up to the challenge he just gave himself. And the potential gloating if Keith won.

"I'm sure I do."

Heck, it will keep Keith distracted. Besides, he'd dealt with Hana at the arcade and that was a trip and a half so he thought he could handle Keith being competitive. And gloating. All of that.

Edited 2017-08-31 01:20 (UTC)

That got a grin.

"Okay, then."

Keith was so ready for this. He settled in, leaning his elbows on his knees, having crossed his legs up under himself on the couch. Controller in hand and ready, he waited for the game intro to finish before they were able to select their options. He flipped through the shuttle features, going for speed more than anything else, and then waited for Shiro to finish selecting his options.

Shiro sat on the couch next to Keith, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He watched the intro. He hadn't played this one before, only seen in it but it had seemed interesting.

As for what Shiro picked for a ship, it was still fast but he had looked other stats as well such as handling. So it may have taken him a bit longer to look between them but finally he made his selection.

"Ready to lose?"

He's going to go with it too.

Keith just quirked an eyebrow at Shiro and then smirked.

"Am I ready for you to lose? Sure am."

He looked a little smug about that, and then focused back on the screen again. He hit the button for a random setting. Might as well make it interesting.

The game offered them a decently challenging course. Good. It counted down, and then Keith shoved the small joystick forward on the controller as soon as he could.

At Keith's response, Shiro just laughed. Of course he would come up with that. If he was going to lose to Keith might as well go all the way and add in the trash talking.

Random level was good, let's see what they ended up with. He was pleased that it wasn't going to be an easy course. Both of them would have to work at it. As soon as the counter reached zero, he pushed his joystick forward as well, trying to get as much speed as quickly as possible and navigate the course. His wasn't as fast as Keith's, but hopefully the other stats would help with this course too.

Keith had sacrificed handling and a few other things to get top speed, so he was definitely having some trouble staying on the track. But the straightaways were his each time. There were only three laps, and, with Keith catching up every straightaway, it was going to be a tight match...

Shiro kept losing ground on the straightaways but when the course began to turn, Keith had more trouble staying on course while Shiro's more balanced craft was able to stay inside the course better. They seemed to be fairly well neck and neck through most of the course. This was really going to be a photo finish to see who got the right to gloat...

Keith suddenly gasped and dropped the controller to grab the sides of his head with a small groan. He curled in on himself, not sure how to process what he was feeling. It wasn't actually pain, but it was definitely uncomfortable as things started to come back to him all at once. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled up into the corner of the couch, breathing hard.

Shiro looked away from the game long enough to process what had happened when Keith dropped the controller, instinctively pausing the game. As Keith pressed himself into the corner of the couch, curling in on himself, Shiro moved over to close the gap, putting his arm around Keith's shoulders as the teen held his head. He could only guess that the tea was working now.

It was a lot of emotional whiplash to deal with in such a short time. The Kerberos Mission, being told they had crashed and were all killed, that it was Shiro's error, getting in trouble and subsequently kicked out of the Garrison, feeling completely lost, the compelling urge to search and those lion carvings pointing to an arrival, that arrival being Shiro and having to break him out of the Garrison bunker, finding the Blue Lion, bonding with Red, Voltron, all the battles, and fighting, and almost losing Shiro, then finding out about his Galra heritage, the fall out, losing Shiro again, and then ending up in Riverview... with Shiro...

Keith wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry or what, but let Shiro pull him into a hug, curling up against him and clinging to him as he tried to just process almost three years worth of baggage in the span of a few minutes...

Amnesia & Recovery (Shiro thread closed, other amnesia things open to others if wanted)

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