closed / lion squad

[loverboi]

Who: Blue Lion House + Voltron House!
When: 3/18
Where: Voltron House
What: Lance invites Bernie over and lets her bring over her two cool roommates.
Warnings: None, will update as necessary!

[ it started out as a simple hang out with bernadetta. lance and bernie had gotten into the swing of going on friend-dates (which were often misinterpreted as being actual dates), and this was just going to be another one of those in which bernie was going to teach lance how to draw. that quickly changed, though, when lance remembered that felix and sylvain were her roommates, and look. they're cool dudes, okay. the friend-date turned into a mini party and lance actually had to prepare some food for everyone to dig into. gotta be a good host, after all!

he'd given the rest of the house a voltron head's up and sent them invites as well, and now, they're here in the lounging area of the mansion. well, supposedly. it's possible that cryptids like keith are coming in and out of the house, who heckin' knows. ]

Comments

[marmoron]

[At that Keith raises an eyebrow and only belatedly starts putting the knife back down. So much for Lance's claim that he and Allura are actually talking about their problems then.]

So... do you want me to tell Lance you got called in to do an emergency shift at the tea shop? [A beat.] Or I guess I can leave and you can pretend to be chasing me down.

[ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AN ESCAPE ROUTE FROM THIS PARTY, ALLURA? PLEASE TELL HIM YOU ARE.]

[quintessent]

[Perfect timing, really. And Allura looks plenty chagrined about it. It’s not that she’s keeping her irresponsible lack of a bond from Lance (She told him first) but she just doesn’t want to ruin his party with spontaneous fireworks.

She shakes her head,]

No, that’s not the problem either. [She actually wants to be here! Placing her hand on the counter near the bag of chips,] I’m having.. problems.

[On cue, one of the potato chips by her hand suddenly catches on fire in a small puff of smoke.] Oh! See!

[marmoron]

[As the chip goes up in flames, Keith lets out a surprised noise then grabs the nearest object on the counter to try and extinguish the cinders. This is, for better or for worse, the opened bag of chips which means chips go flying in every which direction as Keith slams it down on the fire.

Guess who'll be on cleaning duty? Not Keith, that's for sure. Once the fire is out, Keith gives Allura a look.]

Can't you hold it in?

[Because of course you can hold in magic the same way you can hold an overly full bladder....]

[quintessent]

[She ducks a little when the chips go flying like some kind of nacho-flavored bomb, and one bounces off of the top of her head harmlessly. At least the fire's out.]

How do you expect that I do that?

[Please tell her how to squeeze her magic muscle, Keith.]

If I could hold it in, I wouldn't be setting chips on fire or... or turning cats pink.

1/2

[marmoron]

[A wild nacho bounces off Allura's head and it takes more self control than Keith has not to laugh. Give him a second, he'll stifle that good and proper in a moment....]

How -- [Ahem. He clears his throat.] Look. I'm not the one that goes to witch school. Seems like something they should be teaching you.

2/2

[marmoron]

[>And then the ball drops.]

Wait. Cats.... as in my cat?

[quintessent]

[Oops.]

It will fade with time.

[marmoron]

[Allura that is so far beyond hte point?!]

You can put her back to normal right.

[Is this a question, is it a threat ... we will never know.]

[quintessent]

[Well, now's as good a time as any. She didn't mean to have leverage in the form of his cat but.

She leans forward, planting both of her hands on the kitchen counter.]

I need to bond, Keith.

[marmoron]

[That's hardly a surprising conclusion to the problem at hand, but it still gives Keith a moment of pause. He's not sure if there's really ever a convenient time to grow an empathic link to someone else, but right before a party ranks up there, given how awkward he already feels about socializing.]

....Right.

[He'll nod a second later, more convincing himself of the necessity than anything else. BUT JUST IN CASE...]

You're sure you can't hold it until after the party?

[quintessent]

[It’s probably not an ideal time but it’s more ideal than the alternative. Which, a sweat has broken out on Allura’s brow as she leans her weight against the hand on the counter. The look she gives him says “Really.”]

It’s either this or I leave to keep everyone else safe.

[Which isn’t meant as a dig at Keith just that seems to be the popular thing to do when your powers and transformation is going out of control.]

[marmoron]

[It may not be meant as a dig at his behavior, but it's certainly the way he takes it. Shoulders tensing, Keith looks down at the counter and bites back a defensive response.]

Fine. Let's do it.

[A beat.]

Do you hold that against me?

[quintessent]

No. [Does she? It's hard to think.] Can we talk about it later?

[But he agreed and she feels a touch of anxiety about it. Just one last moment where she considers if she can handle it herself. A nearby potato chip starts levitating in the air and that puts that question to rest.

She stands up straighter, reaching out for Keith's hand.] ...How are we supposed to do this again?

1/2

[marmoron]

Can we talk about it later, she asks and instantly Keith feels like that initial "no" isn't really the case at all. He supposes he can't really begrudge Allura for being upset about it, but it leaves him feeling awkward nonetheless. How exactly is he meant to make up missing time for people?

But then she reaches for his hand and without giving it a second thought, he holds her hand back. It's... at least something that makes it feel less like she feels resentful.]

2/2

[marmoron]

[Then she asks her question and it shakes Keith a little out of his own head. He glances up at her, then immediately looks at the floating chip because that's ... safer.]

Oh. The potion.

[He clears his throat and releases her hand. Hastily he uses his now free-again hand to snag the floater and examine it.]

We just have to drink the potion. I can go get it.

[quintessent]

[One floating chip turns into two, which Allura snags the extra one out of the air, then quickly goes to eat it - as if she wasn't just spontaneously making chips float now.]

Please do.

[Her voice sounds strained.]

I'll... try to keep it under control until then.

[marmoron]

[He raises an eyebrow as she eats her chip, then hands her the one in his hand as well. If Allura's apparently gonna be stress eating, then who's he to stop her?]

Okay. Hang in there.

[At the very least, he's fully registered that bit about urgency. He takes off from the kitchen at a run to go retrieve said potion. It gives him pause to physically see and hold the bottle in his hands because as much as he does sincerely want to help, he's still not sold on this empathy link with ... anyone, really. But then he spots the cat hiding on a closet shelf with her new electric pink striipe. He stops to give her a skritch under the chin and heads back towards the kitchen.]

Allura, where do you want to do this?

[quintessent]

[She just kind of holds onto the other chip as Keith disappears. And when he returns the kitchen is starting to look like a scene from the hanger of the castleship. Specifically, the hanger when the artificial gravity has been turned off. Bowls and chips are floating like little satellites and when Keith opens the door to the kitchen, he might feel the tug of anti-gravity pulling at him too.]

You're back!

[Luckily she's pretty good at navigating like this, and she uses the cabinets to make her way over to where he is in the door way, reaching a hand out not unlike when they'd been ejected into space moments before they came here.]

Can we do it here? [She sounds exasperated,] I don't want to risk bringing this to the rest of the house.]

[marmoron]

What the--

[And there goes his footing on solid ground. Windmilling his arms a little to keep himself from doing a mid-air somersault, he whacks a half open bag of marshmallows across the kitchen. Marshmallows spill out of the bag like a slow motion Catherine wheel and float alongside them. Lance, in other words, is going to have a great time on clean up duty.

Teeth grit, Keith semi rights himself by the door frame and kicks himself off the wall to grab Allura's extended hand. ]

When I said "hang in there" I didn't mean it literally, you know.

[He fumbles one handed with the stopper on the potion, which incidentally is also affected by zero g, so hm.]

[quintessent]

[Ha ha Keith. It's a great time to try his stand-up routine when neither of them are doing much standing. The bag of marshmallows bounces off of one of the cabinets, several of the tiny white puffs escaping to fill the air around them as they float somewhat haphazardly, linked by their hands.

Keith goes to uncork the bottle and Allura gets out a "Wait" before the deed is done and some of the liquid starts to float between them in globules. Oh dear.]

Okay, it should still be okay, we can just. Open our mouths and catch it. [It hasn't floated away yet, this shouldn't be too hard. She meets his eyes.] Are you ready?

[Said as a marshmallow lands in her hair and sticks.]

[marmoron]

[Keith needs three hands to count off everything that has gone sideways in just the last ten minutes of his life alone. Maybe that's just par for the course. The look Allura gets when she suggests that is one of sheer incredulity. The little marshmallow that wants to be a hair accessory just ... okay. He needs to triage this situation.]

No.

[NO, HE IS NOT READY WHAT KIND OF PLAN IS THIS!!

But rather than waste time and watch as the globules of potion drift apart, he opens his mouth,after making a disgruntled face.]

Let's just get this over with.

[He pushes off a cabinet for momentum and floats towards the shimmering suspended liquid. He can't even begin to imagine how stupid this has to look, but he does manage to get a mouthful of potion. How sweet the taste of victory.....]

[quintessent]

[She's just working with the situation as it presents itself! She's not the one who told Keith to uncork the potion in the middle of a no-gravity situation.

But thankfully he's playing along and she gives him the space he needs to... catch it in his mouth. Honestly it would be ridiculous to watch if she wasn't amped up on worrying how else her magic could go awry. At this point they could put it in a water pistol and shoot it in each others faces for how imperative it is that they bond right now.

As Keith's mouth closes around the potion, she goes for one of the free-floating globules, close enough that she can feel the warmth from Keith's cheek when she catches it.

And one swallow later-] Do you feel any different?

[marmoron]

[Instinctively, he turns to look at her when the question is asked. And just as instinctively he attempts to flail back when proximity proves to be more of a problem than anticipated. Unfortunately (?) for Keith, the physical closeness quickly becomes the less intrusive matter at hand. The potion forges a makeshift, temporary bond and at the same time he feels this surge of magic like an IV of serotonin jabbed right into his carotid. Whatever grumping he'd been doing is wiped clean off his face as he stares wide-eyed. People had been telling him that a bond would help take off the edge for weeks now, so why is this surprising?]

I..sure do.

[Judging from the sound of it, he's also bracing himself for something more unpleasant to follow.]

Do you?

[quintessent]

[It takes a beat but instantly something is different. She sucks in a breath and all at once she feels - at ease. The magic was still there, but instead of the incessant buzzing under her skin there was an instant pressure release that was so potent she almost expected one of them to start glowing.

She releases that breath and at the same the gravity in the room starts to return to normal. She reaches out for Keith's arm but there's no abrupt dumping on the ground, but slowly. Gradually. And instant sense of relief.]

Wow. [That should answer that.]

[marmoron]

[And down the go, along with all the snacks and utensils that had been floating around. After his feet make contact with the ground, he gives Allura a look. It takes a couple of seconds for him to register that some of the relief he's feeling right now isn't actually his, which quickly makes him look away. Because obviously eye contact is the issue here.]

Okay. Well that's that. I'm gonna go now.

[For reasons. Probably. Don't ask him. But before he actually does so, he pauses.]

You have a marshmallow stuck in your hair, by the way. Might want to do something about that.