inbox | acata

[juniberries]

voice | video | chat

"Greetings, this is the inbox of Princess Allura. While I am grateful that you have reached out to me, I unfortunately cannot answer you directly at the moment. But if you leave a message and wait a tick, I will surely get back to you!"

Comments

[lonered]

Yeah. Something happened. If nothing did for you, so far it looks like it's just Shiro and me. I'm waiting to hear back from Lance.

[And he quickly adds,] We're fine. It's just... complicated.

[Really complicated. Like most things in their lives honestly.] It might be easier to explain in person... maybe we can meet tomorrow. [A pause and he adds,] The four of us.

[juniberries]

"Just Shiro and you"? [a huff of a breath, because she wants to ask but Keith's quick addition had cut her off.] Well, it certainly sounds complicated if it truly is not something you can tell me now.

[a pause. and she's almost ready to agree to a meeting when she does the quick math in her head and...]

Four? Last I checked Lotor was here as well. Does this not concern him?

[lonered]

It might. But that's something we need to figure out ourselves first. It's personal, Allura.

[There's almost a pleading tone to his voice, though he's also trying to swallow back the kneejerk reaction when she brings up Lotor. The memories are still fresh in his mind, everything they found out, the final battle where he very nearly killed them all.

He manages to keep himself calm, which may be a testament to the growth he's gone through, and takes a deep breath before adding, quiet.] Please.

[juniberries]

[There's a long pause in response, the pleading nature not going unnoticed and only to serve as making her even more concerned.

It might. It's personal. But, as of late, the matter of Lotor is also personal to her, in a way she's not sure if she should tell the others. It's something she's been waiting on, a feeling that feels right, as though she's found a missing piece.

But it's a feeling she wants to keep to herself. And if this is something that may concern someone she does care about--]

Keith... [her own voice is quiet, and she does nothing to mask the worry she's feeling. there's something about the way he speaks that sounds different, but she can't understand why.] This sounds incredibly serious, and I do not wish to keep secrets from an ally.

[lonered]

After you hear everything, if you want to tell Lotor, no one is going to stop you, Allura.

[It's Allura. Keith trusts her decisions. He knows Shiro does too. But she needs to know, and the last thing they need is to have Lotor there to hear this too. Right now they're not fighting with him. They don't need to be here, with everything else going on.

Shiro thinks there's a way to change the path they're headed for. Keith is more skeptical, but he hopes he's right.]

The things that happened to me, to us, I'm not ready to talk about it with anyone besides you and Lance.

[And he means that beyond just the things that actually are about Lotor. The Shiro they'd spent so much time with back home being a clone, Shiro dying and coming back to life... all of that. Keith isn't ready to share that with anyone besides his closest friends.]

[juniberries]

[Another moment of quiet. She really wishes this were video; it's difficult to actually read into what Keith is saying by not saying much of anything.

But...they're a team. Keith is like family to her, while Lotor remains something else entirely. At this point of their relationship, she's not fond of the idea of keeping things from Lotor, but he's not--

Keith is different.]

Of course, Keith. I understand.

Let me know when you hear back from Lance.

[lonered]

[Keith exhales the breath he'd been holding, entirely relieved. Okay. They can figure all of this out, somehow. They've dealt with difficult and strange before. If they stick together on this... it'll all be okay.

He has to believe that anyway.]

Thank you.

[There's relief in his voice, a rare sort of warmth in it.]

I will. We'll talk soon.