[open!]

[falsesmile]

Who: Ves (falsesmile) and general!
When: Day 6, afternoon
Where: The Ruined Hull
What: General exploration post!

[ The Ruined Hull has been unlocked! The go-team has been in the area for a while, the stay-team members who are so inclined have probably meandered over here somehow by now -- time to go exploring, but keep an eye on those suit power levels ♥ ]

Comments

[ceruleo]

[ He huffs, pauses long enough to turn towards her and watch her, expression uncharacteristically pulled taut. He draws a breath. ]

I miss Earth, okay? [ It comes out in a long frustrated exhale. ] I miss home, and I just—wish that for once, for just once I could catch a break. [ He assumes she'll find that dumb. He's already on the defensive, bristling. ] Look, I know that all this—[ he motions around them ]—stuff is old hat to you? But...

[ He has to stop. He ducks his head again, his jaw tight. He hates how his voice wobbles. Talking to Coran about this, ensconced in the safety of the Castle of Lions, felt vastly different from this, the knowledge that he could very well die out here hanging over his head. ]

Whatever. I told you it was stupid, so just leave me alone.

[resnipstance]

... You're homesick.

[Of course he's homesick. Isn't that only natural? Most people feel that way. Ahsoka feels that way, sometimes. But in her case, Ahsoka's "home" doesn't exist anymore. She's homesick for a time and place she can never return to. There's no point in dwelling on it, so she never pays those feelings any attention.

Lance, on the other hand-- Lance's home still exists.]

It's not stupid. I'm sure everyone here feels like that.

[ceruleo]

Yeah, well—yeah, well...

[ He crouches between the lines of terminals, his weight heavy in his heels, and frowns deeply at his knees, trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes. ]

Blue picked me. [ Ten thousand years in a cave, just for him to come along, or something. He can't imagine his life without the Blue Lion, but also he can, and he feels guilty about it. ] It's my job, this is my life now, I can't just go, you know?

[ What he's trying to say is: even if he could go back to Earth, the choice is already made.

Pidge almost had, when it was her brother and father on the line; Lance thinks that if it was his parents out there, or any of his sisters and brothers, he'd have done the same. But as it stands the responsibility weighs on him like an iron cloak, the knowledge that the only thing between Earth and the Galra is them.

In a few weeks, or a few months, or maybe a few years, he'll probably be like Ahsoka, not paying any mind to those feelings, too busy worrying on a thousand other things. But right now, the ocean is too fresh in his mind. ]

[resnipstance]

Your job?

... Oh. You mean, with Voltron...?

[ceruleo]

Yeah. [ He sniffs. ] The lions pick us. We're bonded. I couldn't just ditch Blue, we're...connected. It's just tough, you know?

[ It wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting out of his career. ]

[resnipstance]

I understand that.

[Boy does she ever.]

But... you can go home in between missions, right? It's not like Earth is gone.

[ceruleo]

[ He blinks, and it dawns on him that he'd failed to communicate the most salient point, the crux of the issue. ]

Wh—no, Ahsoka. I can't just go back to Earth. Even if it wasn't way too far for even Blue to reach on her own, the Galra would follow me there. I'd be painting a target all over my own planet.

[resnipstance]

How would they know you were there...?

[ceruleo]

[ He rubs his face with the heels of his hands. ]

You don't get it—Zarkon's been after the lions for ten thousand years. He couldn't track them when they were hidden, but now that they're awake? Forget it, there's nowhere we can go before the Galra come hunting.

[ Sighing, he looks up at the ceiling's flickering lights, eyes red. ]

My mom doesn't even know I'm out here...what if she thinks I'm dead?

[resnipstance]

[She pads over to Lance and puts a hand on his shoulder.]

I'm sure she doesn't. But if it's worrying you, you can always send her a transmission at least, right?

[ceruleo]

[ His face drops into his hands, but it's not from sadness. ]

If I could do that, don't you think I would have?

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka sits down next to him, then.]

... I'm sorry. You must miss them a lot.

[ceruleo]

[ His breath is a long rattle when he exhales. ]

Yeah. [ He bites his lip. Keep it together, he tells himself, but it doesn't stop his hands from shaking or his eyes from watering. ] Yeah...

[ The dam is about to break, and Lance forces his head up, sniffing loudly, then stands, just as Ahsoka is crouching next to him. He doesn't want her to see him cry. ]

O-okay. No sense moping around, right? [ He turns around to look at her, eyes still red but trying, visibly, to be upbeat. ] We still got the rest of this place to catch up on.

[resnipstance]

[ She offers him a genuine smile then, so different to her usual cocky grin. ]

... Okay.

[ Ahsoka understands well what it feels like to not want to cry in front of others, so she leaves it at that and stands. ]

If you want, though... if we ever figure out how to get back home from here, I'd be happy to take a message to your family for you.

[ceruleo]

[ His face heats up, a mixture of embarrassment and a kind of warmth he can't name, and so he glances away. ]

Thanks. Really. [ And then glances back. ] It means a lot.

[resnipstance]

[ She shrugs it off, a little embarrassed herself. ]

Yeah, well-- you know. It's not like I was doing much else anyway.

[ceruleo]

[ What's this? A moment of genuine connection??

TIME TO RUIN IT. ]

You could be doing m--

[ Because the gods above have decided Lance should be kept PG-13, he trips over a thick cable running across the floor, which makes him tumble right on his ass and into yet another terminal. He slams his head pretty hard, which serves him right, and incidentally dislodges a panel, revealing an inner compartment. ]

Ow...

[resnipstance]

[ Ahsoka just shakes her head. ]

You deserved that. [ Then she relents. ] Are you all right?

[ceruleo]

My head...hey!

[ If nothing else, at least he bounces back fast. He sits up, peering at the broken panel. ]

I think I found something.

[resnipstance]

[She pads over, curious.]

What is it?

[ceruleo]

[ He turns, on his hands and knees to reach inside the compartment-- ]

Oh, gross! [ And retracts his (thankfully gloved) hand with kharid innards all over. ] There's a busted egg in here...and I think some other stuff.

[resnipstance]

Eugh! [Ahsoka recoils too.] What's an egg doing inside the ship?

Wait-- when you say other stuff. Do you mean other eggs?

[ceruleo]

No, I mean like... [ Shuffling back inside with a wince--trying not to look too hard--he pulls out some battery-lookalikes. ] Like that, whatever those are. Batteries?

[resnipstance]

Let me see.

[She takes one from him.]

Huh. This looks like plasma-based technology. That's something, at least. I can work with this.

[ceruleo]

Hngh--man, this is nasty--there's more, just...wait a tick....!

[ If he reaches in deeper, past the rotten egg debris, Lance curls his hand around a cylindrical object. Like a really big pen?

Pulling it out, he marvels at it. ]

What's this?

[ It should be a lot more recognizable to her. ]