revivalproject | Captain On A Chill-Cation

WHO: Gladiolus, Open
WHERE: Space Dock
WHAT: Checking in, Spa Day
WHEN: During Event
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Captain On Deck

It was almost funny to think that there was some expectation that being a pilot on the ships meant Gladio should have some authority over his crew. There were more than a few of them who would never see him as such, which was fair. That wasn't how things worked back on Agra-10, and it sure wasn't how it was going to work for anyone but station administration now that they were here.

That didn't mean Gladio didn't have responsibilities here. Chances were they only mattered to him, but Gladio still wanted to live up to them. So he found himself strolling through the station, eyes always on the swivel, hoping to catch sight of any of his crew mates. And once he does, he moves immediately to get to them.

"Everything going alright over here?"

And he must be a bit of a sight as he does it too. There he is, in his full Glaive uniform, standing at parade rest, looking over someone he feels responsible for with the sort of commanding presence of a military leader. Which he was. But whatever, just humor him perhaps?

II. Nothing Like Relaxing

There's plenty of time throughout the month to do the work of acquiring parts, consulting with engineers for any modifications, and going through the (frankly recurring) process of collecting his crew from their various misdeeds. Taking time for himself hasn't been something Gladio's done often. But there is something he catches sight on in one of his strolls through the space dock that really gets Gladio off of his cycle.

The sign takes some translating, but when he's got it, he looks intrigued.

"A massage, huh?"

And then he's approaching the counter where a creature that looks much like a living granite statue, who frowns.

"I'm sorry, this is for couples. Without a companion you cannot enter."

Well, now that was frustrating.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Papps?" Keith wasn't familiar with that term.

"Paparazzi," Gladio clarifies. Makes things frustrating for him back home. But he doesn't have to deal with them as much in recent years back home

"Oh, right... those crazy photo people." Yeah. Keith had heard that term, at least. He nodded. "They're pretty annoying." Granted, less of them had been around to bother them after getting back to Earth that time, but that was because the Garrison kind of kept a lot under wraps as much as they could until they absolutely had to come clean with the truth. Once the truth was out, though? Yeah... there'd even been a direct to TV movie...

Keith had hated it.

"They're insanely crazy back home. I spent a lot of time keeping them away from people important to me."

Such was another duty of the Shield.

"Gross," Keith said. "Sounds really messed up."

"It is, but that's just something you have to deal with when you're part of the nobility," Gladio says with a sigh. He's a little too famous back home after all.

"I can imagine. That probably gives you automatic celebrity status," Keith said.

"Oh, it definitely does," Gladio sighs. "I was followed most of my youth. I was never a fan of it. The Amicitias aren't raised to appreciate the way it all plays out."

They were meant to be humble, or at least not caught up in their own name. Caring more about yourself and how others perceive you makes it that much harder to surrender your life for another.

"I wasn't anyone important as a kid," Keith said. "I was always a loner. But... with Voltron, especially after we had to fight the Galra off Earth, we became public figures, and that... it was a lot to adjust to." Granted, the notoriety with Drift Fleet wasn't much different in that, either, even if it was only in this place that they were meeting fans in person. It seemed like, every place the Fleet actually stopped, they didn't really actually know about them, in spite of all the fan mail and other things they got which might have indicated something different.

"You were you. And you're important," Gladio counters easily. Because every person is important. At least that's what Gladio believes. But in some ways he's an idealist.

"But adjusting to it can't be easy. I know my friend Prompto had some issues. Being the best friend to a Prince isn't easy, and the press loves that shit."

Which wasn't fair to a kid that was just 'normal' to other people. People who didn't know and would never know just what Prompto was.

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow and then just huffed a weird sounding chuckle, mildly amused at the idea of thinking anyone would have seen a troubled foster care kid with discipline issues as something worthy of press coverage unless he'd actually fallen over the line and into juvenile detention. He'd walked that line a lot during those years, but Shiro managed to catch him before he fell.

"Heh... yeah." He stared off into the distance for a second before focusing again. He shook his head.

"It's not," he said. "Though, Prompto's a guy I would have figured to have loved the attention." Though, considering how alike in so many ways Prompto and Lance were, and even Lance had gotten his fill of paparazzi, Keith supposed it was possible.

Thanks to Calibrations, Keith had a rough idea about who and what Prompto was, even if he might not fully understand all the implications that brought into his life.

"Prompto likes attention," Gladio says, thoughtfully, but he knows it isn't that simple. "But not when it's for no good reason. Or when it's about harassing Noctis."

And if Keith knows Prompto that well, there's a good chance the kid knows just why people would harass Noctis. But that isn't something Gladio's going to say anyway.

Not quite that much, as Prompto had been good at keeping his friend's story to himself and for his friend to tell others to himself. Prompto was loyal and protective of his friend.

"I've noticed that," he said with a small chuckle. "He's a good guy... outgoing, but loyal to his friends. I can appreciate that."

Loyal and protective definitely described the lives of those connected to Noctis. It was just how it was.

“Yeah, he’s all of those things. And a crack shot. I respect him quite a bit.”

Keith smiled a little. He could see that respect in the way Gladio talked about him. He nodded.

"He's good with a camera, too," Keith said.

Now that leaves Gladio raising an eyebrow. What would that skill have to do with the things Keith and Lance got up to? He's intrigued.

"Is that... in a serious sense or in another sense?"

Keith laughed a bit.

"Both," he said. While the engagement and wedding didn't happen until they were here, so they hadn't exactly had Prompto around for pictures to go along with those events, there had been some other stuff that had happened.

"We were messing around with a couple of sparklers during some event or other back in the Fleet, and he took some pretty cool pics of me and then gave me an album of them as a gift," Keith said. "The kicker, though, was when he pulled off to the side during a snowmobile race to take a picture of a bear-like creature on some planet, and then we had to go rescue him and knock out the bear in a fight because it got a little angry at him for disturbing its sleep."

"That sounds like Prom. Right down to the needing to take a stop on a trip or something to take a picture. Can't tell you how many times it happened to us on our journey."

Including the fighting. God, he missed the kid. And the man he had grown into.

"He's a good friend."

Keith nodded.

"He is." It was a nice little trip down memory lane for the moment.

"But, hey, I don't want to keep you if you were heading somewhere specific. I'll catch you around later?"

Gladio nods to his fellow pilot.

"Sounds fair. Have fun, man."

Captain On A Chill-Cation

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