revivalproject | Sitting Pretty Isn't Something He Can Do

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voltron: keith (dfau)

Sitting Pretty Isn't Something He Can Do

WHO: Keith, OPEN
WHERE: Station, Planet, Glitter Food
WHAT: Exploring, Haunting, Trying not to get in more trouble
WHEN: During the haunting event (backdated)
WARNINGS: Will add as needed, but yes... creepy stuff's going on in here... also emeto mention in the space station part, but not because of Keith

Exploring abandoned space stations, planets with very thin air, gathering data that he probably wouldn't understand so that someone else could study it and come up with an answer... This was all stuff he'd done before in various ways over the years with Voltron, and also a bit with Drift Fleet. Keith figured he could handle this, even with a healing ankle and while recovering from a concussion. He was fine.

The added bonus was that he wouldn't be running for his life or worrying about an attack like when they'd been doing all this with Voltron, too... right? It would be light work, he'd stay busy, and wouldn't be going stir crazy sitting it all out while bored.

Sure. Whatever. Famous last words. Sorry, Tae...

=====

Is This a Space Station or a Liminal Space?

Zero-G was no problem. He'd gotten used to dealing with it while with Voltron. Plus, it actually made things easier on him for the moment since he didn't have to worry about overdoing it on his bad ankle. Navigating around was easy for him thanks to his previous experience, and he was willing to give anyone else a hand who might need it. Though, he might chuckle or be amused at others who were adjusting and having some issues at first. Here was hoping people could handle a little snark.

Just as long as no one got sick... He knew someone with that problem, and it wasn't pretty if that happened with a closed helmet on.

Keith wasn't really intimidated by the empty creepy factor as much as some others might be, and he surged ahead confidently enough, having brought both his weapons with him. Though, once he'd realized that they were dealing with Zero-G, he knew that his wolf wouldn't be very helpful, so, once again, he was out there without Kosmo's teleportation help. He was beginning to wonder if things were happening to him on purpose to get him to not have the animal with him...

And that actually made him a little more nervous than an empty spooky space station.

It wasn't until he had to dodge several surprise attacks that he really started to get worried, and began to wonder if there was something else going on here.

"Hey! Look out!" he yelled at someone's back before flinging his Blade towards a robotic information sign about to paddle the daylights out of them with its screen. The knife pierced through it, sticking out the other side, leaving it momentarily immobilized and sparking.

=====

Surface Woes

While he couldn't actually be the pilot, Keith had been hoping that maybe going to the planet would be less strenuous than running away from the station's automated defense systems.

Boy, was he wrong.

Nothing against Gladio, of course. Those storms were pretty rough, and Keith wasn't sure he could have done much better even if he'd been 100%. But getting rocked around like a loose marble in a box wasn't fun, even with seats and seatbelts. Especially when some of their cargo was getting knocked loose and flopping around with them.

Thankfully, he'd come equipped with his armor, so he was pretty well protected. It didn't prevent the onset of a migraine, though, and he was limited on how much he could carry on an injured leg. He and Gladio were a bit of a pair at the moment, all things considered, but Keith was at least a little bit more mobile. He also turned down one of the breather units.

"I've got my helmet and armor. I'll be okay," he said, gently putting his hand up. "Keep it as an emergency back up in case someone needs it." The air supply in his armor would last a while as long as he was careful. But he knew he'd have to switch to the atmosphere at some point to let it recharge. And that it would likely take longer to recharge in a thinner atmosphere like this one.

As they started their trek towards the base that they were no longer anywhere near, Keith managed to find something he could drag with him so he wasn't being completely useless. Dragging wasn't as heavy as lifting and wouldn't put as much of a strain on his ankle. It also meant he didn't have to bend down to pick it up, which was making him dizzy at the moment. But, seeing someone else slowing down? When he was already one of the slower ones in the group?

He came up next to them, concerned.

"Hey, you hanging in there?" he asked. Like he should talk with that limp, but... he was worried, okay? "Do need one of the breathers?" He had the facemask of his helmet closed for himself at the moment.

=====

It's a Glitter Food Party, or Is It?

When Keith wasn't helping with the station, or stuck on the planet's surface, he was on the Glitter Food. In fact, he kept coming back to the Glitter Food after short trips to the station for gathering information and anything else if only to avoid the stupid security measures and rest so he didn't overdo it.

See, Tae? He was trying to behave... not well, but he was trying...

And he definitely was having some rough nights. He'd been going through a lot the last several months, especially after they'd come back from exploring the mines and tunnels, and he'd found out that Lance had disappeared while sheltering from the zombie storm in Sh'Ka. Between the fire, the capture attempt gone wrong, and being pretty lonely as the last person from his reality left in this one, it was rough.

So, when things started disappearing, he wasn't sure how to react. He was finding his stuff in different places. Kosmo was smart, but he wasn't a prankster... was he? Or was Keith just forgetting where he'd put things lately because of all the stress combined with a concussion? He wasn't sure.

His bayard, his sword, his Paladin helmet... maybe some of his other items like his sketchbook, or that cute photo of him and Lance on Risa from several years ago... He'd moved most of his stuff to the Glitter Food by now, in the ship's replica of the house he and Lance had been working on in Temba, so most of it was there for this trip. It wasn't that far from the bridge, after all. Not that he was currently flying it. He hadn't been cleared for that, yet.

But when the rings he and Lance had been wearing for first their engagement and then their marriage disappeared, Keith had a fit.

Hoepfully... someone could find some of his missing stuff for him before he panicked any further...

=====

A Spooky Apparition

After getting back from the planet, though, it was a different tale. Keith had noticed the weird shapes and ghostly looking things, and he honestly thought it was another trick. The planet had those electric beings that liked to attack, so he was nervous about them at first. Was he going to be attacked? But no. These didn't seem to be very aggressive. But he'd seen 'ghosts' before from the storms back on Agra-10. These were a bit different, but Keith wasn't sure he could trust them.

Especially when they started taking the forms of people he knew... people that had been there before, which counted for a lot of the people he knew from home, as many had spent at least a short stint of time in this reality, but others as well... others who he'd been recently thinking about.

Don't mind Keith if you were walking past. He was just starting at the ghostly form of a familiar figure... He probably doesn't even know you're there.

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Radley was quiet too, not sure what to say and not wanting to be a bother. Back home he used to always try to chat it up with the quiet ones, but what happened with Kalin rather quite changed him on that point. He didn't want to be a nuisance.

He headed into the diner when they arrived and immediately looked around for any rings lying in plain sight.

Keith would probably feel bad later. He always regretted it when his temper got the best of him. He wasn't even really angry. He was more upset than anything else, but he didn't have the tools to express it differently. It was something he'd been working on for quite a few years, but just hadn't gotten there, yet.

He stepped inside, also taking a quick glance around to see if there was anything immediate. He didn't see them right away, so he began to look closer. This wasn't his place, so he tried his best not to be aggressive in his search like he'd been back at the house.

Radley was generally good at controlling his temper, but if he finally had too much and snapped, he could become very angry and accusatory until calming down.

He opened all the cupboards and drawers and even the oven and fridge and freezer. Who knew what weird ideas the ghosts might have.

At some point, Keith had started to shut down. He crossed his arms over his chest, hunching in on himself and watched Radley look in all the spots he hadn't looked at, yet. His brow was furrowed in worry. What if the ghosts had just outright stolen them? He shivered a little at the thought... or at the fact that his hair was still wet and was dripping on his shirt.

Hard to tell.

Either way, he was starting to freak out a little, and he was having trouble staying calm.

"Maybe the bridge?" he said suddenly. He was one of the pilots, after all. Gladio was the other. "We could try up there?" His voice sounded a little shaky, the anger starting to slowly fade into something a bit more panicked.

"Sure," Radley said kindly. "That's a good idea."

He reached and got out a dishtowel. "Here. You can dry at your hair while we walk."

Keith nodded, kind of absently taking the towel. It would give him something to think about as they made their way to the bridge, something to focus on that wasn't the missing necklace. He draped it over his head as they started walking, half-heartedly giving it a rub towards drying his hair.

He needed them to be up there. He was trying really hard to not panic, but it getting harder.

The trip up to the bridge was quiet again as he was focusing on staying calm, breathing, and just rubbing his hair dry. His shirt was damp now, but he got his hair at least to the point where it stopped dripping on him. He left the towel around his neck to catch anything else and hopefully soak up some of the dampness from his shirt.

Keith felt his nerves getting jumpy as they approached the door to the bridge. What if they weren't there? What if they were? He hoped they were, but he was scared they weren't. He stopped just short of going in, clenching his jaw.

"I don't know if I can look."

"I'll go check it out," Radley told him, moving to open the door. He hoped they would be there. Keith had been through more than enough stress lately.

Keith nodded, waiting for a moment as Radley went inside. He crossed his arms, hunching up his shoulders again, and then got impatient. As freaked out as he was, he also was terrible at waiting, and he ended up stepping in after him anyway. A quick glance over everything didn't immediately reveal something, but then he noticed a quick glint of silver by the pilot's chair.

Keith felt a twist in his chest.

"What's that?" he asked.

On the floor under the chair was the tied cord with the four rings...

Radley looked. Hopeful, he bent and picked them up. "Are these them?"

Keith's grip on his towel tightened as he cautiously leaned in to take a look. He released the grip with one hand for a second to rub at his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut. In that moment, it looked like he might just fall apart, but then he reached out, grabbing the rings quickly.

"They are," he said. He held them in his hand, staring for a moment, like he was trying to confirm to himself that they were real. Too many times now this place had played with his sense of reality with ghosts and zombies and making him believe people were there when they weren't. Did that happen with items, too? He had both hands on them now, rubbing the bands and the cord between his fingers for several seconds before saying anything.

He took a deep breath.

"They are... they're real," he whispered, almost to himself. He held them tight in his hands for a bit more before he finally slipped the cord over his head. He put a hand over the rings as they landed where they normally sat, tightening it around the rings for a bit, and then nodded again.

"Yeah..." He sighed. "Thanks..."

Radley smiled, relaxing once Keith determined the rings were real. "Good. At least that's solved now."

Keith nodded.

"Yeah."

He took a deep breath, feeling exhausted from the emotional stress. He rubbed his forehead.

"That wasn't cool." He tucked the rings under his shirt. "The station has some weird stuff going on, too... I wonder if it came over to the ships or something." He shifted his thoughts to try and focus on something other than the fact that he'd almost lost one of the most important things he had from his time with Lance in this and Drift Fleet's realities.

“No, it wasn’t. What’s going on at the space station?”

Radley frowned. He’d been wondering himself if they’d awakened some local spirits or something.

"Some of the stuff there has been attacking people while they're on board," he said. He'd seen it. Got smacked by a sign at one point. Considering his situation with the concussion, he figured maybe it wasn't a good idea to go back. The planet hadn't been much better considering the storms made the shuttle crash. They'd only gotten back a few days ago.

He'd been having a lot of bad luck this trip.

“Oh great. Man, these ghosts really hate people.” He scowled. He hadn’t felt he’d be much help on the station or the shuttle and he had to admit he was glad he hadn’t gone, but he felt terrible for everyone who had and had ended up with so much trouble.

"That's if they're related... they could be two different things." Keith sighed a little. He was starting to calm down, which was a good thing. "There's... there's something kind of familiar about this, though."

"Yeah? How do you mean?" Radley wondered.

"Just..." He frowned. "Back home, some Galra had tried to hijack the Castle of Lions. They hooked up a balmera crystal that was infused with corrupted quintessence to the main system to get it to power up for them. It left residual traces of corrupt code in the system even after we managed to disconnect it." He rubbed at his forehead. "I don't know if that applies here, but... if the code on the station is corrupt, like a virus or something... maybe it could have come across on to the ships?"

"... Huh." Radley pondered that. "That's really interesting. Have you told anybody else?"

Somebody who really might be able to look into it....

"No, I... I only just thought of it." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "It would need to be someone who has a good relationship with the computer, I guess... to help her find the corrupted code."

"Yeah. Hm. Tony, maybe?" Radley suggested. "I've heard he hangs out with the computer, at least." He rarely interacted with Tony himself, staying away because of thinking Tony didn't like him.

"Yeah, he does. When it comes to the computer, he's the one that has the best shot at getting anything done." Keith took a breath, letting it out in a small huff.

Tony was... Tony. He wasn't easy to get along with, but Keith had spent enough time exploring those tunnels with the guy that they at least seemed to have built up a mutual respect between each other. But, at first, Keith was pretty sure Tony didn't like him, either. It was just... Tony could be abrasive at times, and often held people at arm's length. And Keith could understand wanting to do that. He could be the same way pretty often.

In a way, Tony's personality probably sat somewhere between Lance and Keith. All showy and talkative, but distant and prickly.

"I guess I could ask him... or at least, let him know my theory... if he hadn't already figured out to look into it." Tony was pretty smart. Keith was fairly certain that, if he hadn't already come up with the idea on his own, he probably would, even without Keith's prompting.

If Keith said all of that, Radley would probably muse that Tony sounded like Kalin from home, at least about holding people at arm’s length. Although Radley still thought Kalin didn’t like him even after knowing some of Kalin’s reasons for his behavior.

“Couldn’t hurt,” he said. “If you’re able to talk to Tony anyway.”

"Sometimes," Keith said with a small shrug. "He's not the easiest to get along with, but... I guess I kinda get it.

"For now, though... I think I've had enough excitement for one day." The stress had triggered a headache with this concussion, and he just wanted to go be a vegetable somewhere for a while.

“Sounds like you’ve had better luck than I have, at least,” Radley said. “Yeah, though, you should just relax for now.”

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