Recovery
Chapter 7
Rogue Trip Part Two
A/N: Holy crap you guys it's been AGES. I'm not giving any excuse this time, I really was stumped and just ditched the project for a while. Fortunately, I picked it back up a few days ago and finished it! I will give thanks to the Voltron Force discord server I'm a part of (link is on my Tumblr @ToastHoneyandStardust) because they sparked my drive for it again <3
Thank you for waiting for so long dear readers and happy reading!
With her aunt and the boys distracted, Larmina walked out of Pizza Hole without a word. She didn’t know where she was going, but she didn’t really care. They had her location from the voltcom and she had theirs. That’s really all that mattered.
Still stuck on the conversation, Larmina went through her memories, trying to find something that showed she wasn’t living the princess nightmare she hoped to never fall into. There were memories of her hanging out with kids her age, but Pidge was there too. They were all his friends, not any of hers. As far as she knew, they never even tried to find her after the boys had left.
Whatever. If they didn’t care, then she didn’t care. Even if she did, she would walk away until she didn’t anymore. So she walked further and further away from her so-called family and found something that looked pretty rad.
It was an area filled with concrete ramps, giant empty pools, and metal railings almost everywhere she looked. At first, she thought it was an art piece, especially with the spray paint everywhere. Art (besides music) had never made sense to her. But it couldn’t have been, especially when teens her age were speeding down the slopes and grinding down the rails with their wheels.
As she walked into the park, she kept looking at their boards, skates, and bikes. They all had wheels. On Arus, most things hovered with some exceptions, including Daniel’s mega-bike, so seeing something like that was surreal to her. Hadn’t Terra already changed to hover vehicles long ago?
She sat on one of the concrete benches nearby, studying the tricks she saw and how people even did them. One boy, with blonde hair that had the same texture as Vince’s, had launched himself in the air with his board before falling back into the empty pool he came from. He didn’t slip or hesitate as the wheels seamlessly touched the ground (or was it walls, Larmina questioned), only for it to send him back up on the other side. This time he flipped forward and stuck the landing on his feet, board in hand. Giving his friend a fist bump, he took a break next to Larmina.
“Mind if I try?” she asked,
He laughed, “Don’t eat it!”
Larmina didn’t need to be taught Terra conversation etiquette to know he was underestimating her. She didn’t even understand what the phrase meant, but she went up to the biggest ramp she saw just to stick it to him. While inspecting the board, a girl with purple hair handed her a helmet.
“At least someone here is going to support me,” Larmina thought.
Putting in on, she readied the board at the edge of the ramp; the back clamped down by one foot while the front stood and waited for a push from the other.
If Larmina had to be afraid of something, heights weren’t about to be it. She finally leaned forward and picked up serious speed as she raced downhill. Except she didn’t know how to actually stand on the board, or keep it on track at all. It swerved under her, making her lose balance and fall off completely. But landing from a free-fall was something she had actually trained in, being a ninja and all.
Flipping herself upright, she slid down the ramp on her feet and finally settled at the bottom. As she took off the helmet, she instinctively caught the board as she felt it fall behind her.
Then the teens flocked to her. Telling her she was awesome and rad and everything else a lonesome teen would love to hear. After all that, Larmina couldn’t help but feel appreciated.
In the distance, Vince had finally led Daniel and Dudley to the missing cadet. Daniel tried to peek around the group of excited teens and spotted her.
“There she is!”
Not missing a beat, he ran over and pushed through the crowd to see the missing red head in the middle.
“Larmina, I’m so glad we found you! We’ve got someone you’ve got to meet!”
Vince and Dudley pushed through the crowd after him, giving her a good look at the boys ‘guest of honor’. The costume on him was loosely draped over his body, which didn’t help as he tried to look bigger while Larmina was studying him.
“This is Dudley! He’s a big fan of the force and even knows who we are!” Daniel said.
All at once there was talking in between the surrounding teens. They questioned what he meant by force and some wondered what made any of them so important for the kid in bad cosplay to even recognize them. Larmina did not like any of it. It reminded her of the whispers from the royals she met when she first got to Arus. Judgmental, harsh, and unaccepting of the girl who’d suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Guys, I don’t have time for this. I have better things to do,” she sighed, turning to the crowd instead. “I heard someone mention getting ‘fro-yo’? What is that?”
Shocked that she’d never even heard of the thing, the teens told her about the dessert and led her to the nearest shop that sold it to get her first taste. Daniel silently watched her walk away, happier than she was when she first got to Terra. Vince nudged him back into reality and focused back on Dudley.
“Sorry Dudley, I guess we caught her at a bad time.” Vince told him,
“Yeah, I’m, uh, not really sure what happened there.” Daniel slowly said,
Dudley grinned, “Don’t worry, girls are intimidated by my vibe. We can meet her at my place when she comes back. You guys can see my Voltron collection, too!”
Not knowing what else to do, they headed back to Pizza Hole for their rides and hoped they weren’t making a mistake by leaving Larmina alone with people she’d just met.
---
Standing in front of a directory for the shopping district, the pilots bickered over which direction to head first. Lance had recognized a new location for Texas Roadhouse where he, Pidge, and Hunk had frequented while on Terra. The cinnamon butter rolls soothed their trying times and bottled up rage. Instantly, he dropped whatever plans he agreed on to go there. Keith reminded him of Allura’s surprise gift plans for her niece, and that the helpful stores for that were the opposite way.
“Look, Larmina won’t see material stuff as anyone’s way of apologizing for not being there for her when she needed it. Why don’t we just go eat and make a plan that’ll actually make her happy and understand that we didn’t mean to basically abandon her?” Lance asked,
Keith glared at him, “We’re getting pizza soon, anyway. It’s better to just go shopping now instead of wasting our time on subpar food.”
“You did not-”
Hunk placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder, “What about splitting up? You and Allura can shop around, maybe go on a date for once, and leave the brainstorming for us!”
Allura blushed at the not so silent nudge from him. It sounded like a good plan. Maybe it’d even get Keith out of the shell nobody had gotten through, including Lance, which made it extra weird since they were so close. It’d been a long time since they had any kind of date, definitely not the first outing for them, but it sure felt like it. Keith gave Hunk an unimpressed look, but relented. Splitting up was better than arguing about nothing.
Walking away from the trio, Allura grabbed his hand and gave Keith an excited smile. They were going to make the most of it; she was sure of it. Hunk’s words about Larmina echoed in her mind. Keith wasn’t in the same boat and she’d prove it.
---
The teen boys rode further away from the city and entered immense fields with houses heavily spread apart. Every house Daniel looked at gave him the feeling he was entering an entirely new tax bracket. For how much land the residents had, there were few buildings, and the houses were bigger than any other he’s ever been in. Except for the castle of lions, but he didn’t really consider that a house since it was literally a real life castle.
Dudley gave him the last turn before his own house, only to come across the gaudiest looking home he’d ever seen. It looked more like an office building than a home or even apartment, and it was definitely larger than the rest of the houses nearby. As they pulled closer, Daniel couldn’t help but gawk at its scale.
“Wow, your parents must be loaded!”
“Yeah, it’s no big deal, but my dad is kind of a big deal.” Dudley replied nonchalantly,
He led the boy into the garage and as they pulled in; they noticed a ton of different vehicles taking up space.
“Your dad sure owns a lot of transportation.” Vince said, hopping out of his tank.
“Oh no, these are all mine!” Dudley replied,
Daniel looked around to see how many models and makes he recognized before landing on a huge mound hidden by drapes, much bigger than anything else in the garage, which was already huge itself.
“What is that?”
“Patience… That’s my grand finale for the tour. I want to save the best for last!”
Dudley motioned them to follow him through the closest door and down a corridor before they walked right into the control room for castle of lions.
“The castle control? Dude, where’d you get the blueprints for this?” Daniel asked,
“My dad knows a guy who knows a guy,” Dudley said cryptically, “But! It’s not an exact replica, as you can tell. I got rid of that stupid holographic panel.”
Instead, it was the physical control center and screen from the glory days of the team, when they had first become the Voltron Force. The comment rubbed Vince the wrong way, sure he didn’t exactly think it was the best change either, but it still looked pretty cool when it was in front of him. He looked at Daniel to see his reaction, but Daniel just looked back and shrugged. Calling them over to another door, Dudley unveiled his prized collection room.
The boys were stunned. Everything from uniforms and old outfits, to robeast fragments, and even weaponry were displayed in glass cases and shelving around the room. Daniel rushed to a nearby uniform, one that looked similar to Dudley’s costume but with black coloring instead of red and more form fitting than his.
“Vince, check out these details! Aw man, this is a fantastic replica of Sven’s uniform, Dudley!”
He scoffed, “It’s not a replica, it’s the real deal. My dad knows a guy-”
“Who knows a guy, we’ve heard.” Vince cut in,
He pointed to a blaster nearby. It looked worn and old, but still in good condition.
“I supposed that’s Keith's real blaster then, huh?”
“Yup!” Dudley chirped, “I like this because this is a weapon of that requires skill, not some lame wrist gadget where all you have to do is press a button.”
Immediately, Daniel and Vince looked down at their voltcoms, their connections to the team, to each other. Vince wasn’t about to let that slide.
“Pidge and Hunk did not design the voltcoms to be watered down to--”
“Hey,” Daniel placed a hand on his shoulder, “Let it go. We know they’re more important than that.”
He looked back at Dudley,
“Listen Dudley, it’s been a real fun visit, but Vince and I have to go-”
“Not yet!” Dudley interrupted, “I know this isn’t all that interesting to official Voltron Force cadets, but you’ve gotta stay until my big finale! It’ll be something you won’t forget, I promise.”
They didn’t miss the almost sneering tone he had when telling them to stay, but said nothing as he walked off towards the next room. Vince shot a stern look at Daniel.
“I’m not liking how he’s insulting the team's hard work. That’s not something up for interpretation. But I’m curious enough about this finale and since we’re close enough to the city, I’m willing to stay before I storm out.”
“Me too, but I hope Larmina is doing ok on her own while we stay here.” Daniel said.
---
Larmina screamed.
And it was the best kind of feeling. She had never ridden a roller coaster before, but the adrenaline was addicting. No wonder Daniel liked all that high-speed racing. Her lone day out with new friends had become increasingly more entertaining.
“Being on my own is the best thing ever!”
---
The boys walked out with a bag full of as many bread rolls as it could fit. If you asked them, it was a pretty successful day.
“Lance,” Hunk said, “You shouldn’t have been so blunt about your thoughts on Allura’s plan.”
Lance sighed, “Look, Larmina was smart enough to know something was wrong when we got put on planet arrest at the Garrison, but nobody told her anything, not even us, and we were the only people to treat her like a person! Allura should know by now that jewelry won’t cut it, especially because the only kinds she wears are earrings to fit her punk aesthetic.”
“Obviously we know that but Allura has had trouble bonding with her since day one! You could’ve at least gone with her plan before telling her it wouldn’t do much.”
“Both plans are awful honestly,” Pidge said, “She won’t fully accept the jewelry and whatever outing we haven’t planned yet to bond with her again will get seen through in an instant. We should just sit her down and just let her tear us apart for leaving her in the dust!”
“Except that means she’d actually tear us apart, Pidge.” Lance quipped, “I can handle yelling, but I’ve done enough sparring with her recently to know that she packs a punch.”
The trio walked towards the clothing district to meet up with Keith and Allura, still bickering about the best plan to help improve their relationship with the angsty teen they created. Suddenly, Hunk stopped, making the other two bump into him. He was staring at the nearby record store, which surprised him because he didn’t think they still existed. But before the other two could voice their annoyance, Hunk turned to them with an inspired expression.
“How about a concert!”
---
Keith and Allura noticed a few looks coming their way as they window-shopped for something that would catch Larmina’s eye. They hoped it was their clothing, Keith wore an outfit styled more for hunting with a loose olive shirt, tan cargo pants, and black combat boots. While Allura wore deep blue pants with gold accents that reached her waist, matching golden colored flats, and a black tube-top like shirt that had attached white sleeves and went up to her neck, exposing only some of her chest. Both of them wore their long hair loose, Allura let her curls see the light of day again and Keith covered the new undercut he sported that was done to spite Lance.
Trying to make the most of it, Allura looked around for anything to start a conversation with, eyes landing on a live band off to the side.
“Do you remember the last time we saw a live band, Keith? The energy was so lively, no wonder Hunk loves going to concerts!”
Keith grimaced, “The most I remember is running out of there because people were crowding you and one guy almost dragged you out of the venue with him.”
She had tried to forget that. Allura felt like she’d never get used to being touched, though she reasoned it was because she didn’t know or trust the man who did that. The silence paired with the sullen attitude from bad memories made Keith feel awful. She was only trying to bond, and he dashed her opportunity. He looked towards the closest boutique and picked up another conversation there.
“That pink sundress in the window reminds me of the one you used to wear. If Nanny was still working in the castle, maybe she’d actually let you wear it, especially because it’s your favorite color.”
Nanny was a bittersweet memory. She was Allura’s old governess that stuck around far too long in her opinion. She was now retired in a nearby countryside and Allura was grateful for that, especially because she was far away from the outdated and harmful opinions Nanny had of what a princess should be and do. Though she still loved her immensely and appreciated the work she did around the castle during the Zarkonian war.
“That skirt would probably hit around my knees. Nanny would have a heart attack at the thought of half of my legs showing.” She lightly laughed, “Besides, pink isn’t my favorite color. It’s yellow, remember?”
Now he did, she had told him years ago, after he got her a small bouquet of pink roses. He reasoned that she always wore pink, from her dress to her piloting uniform. Even her nightgown had pink on it. It must’ve been her favorite color, but he was wrong. She liked the flowers but corrected him on the color, saying that she liked yellow because it reminded her of the brightness from the sun. The color instead reminded him of the soft hue of her hair.
They didn’t entirely salvage the mood, but now Allura was just... melancholy? She wasn’t sure if that was the right word, her common, or English as Terrans called it, was pretty good, but sometimes the words just escaped her. The minor mistakes each of them made wasn’t a big deal, but it only reminded her of Hunk’s words when he was feeling left out of cadet bonding.
Keith wasn’t a stranger to her. She knows that! Those slip ups didn’t change anything, except for the fact that maybe they don’t actually know each other anymore. Allura was hardly the weak girl who got kidnapped regularly anymore. She was a seasoned soldier, and closer to becoming a queen than ever! But what about Keith? He wasn’t the optimistic and bubbly chief he was before. He was cold, closed off... and hurt, she noticed.
Maybe what they needed was more than a single date to set things right.
---
One. Hour. And. A. Half.
One whole damn hour and thirty minutes.
He and Vince just spent an entire ninety minutes sitting and reading fan fiction with Dudley after following him through the next door. Daniel knew he was being a little unreasonable here. Not all of those ninety minutes were bad, Dudley’s writing was good sometimes. Though it was boring after Daniel realized he had read some of them before, and it was uncomfortable when he remembered the screen name these were posted under. Maybe he shouldn’t offer his, knowing they’ve had online arguments long before meeting in person.
“Look Dudley,” Daniel said, “This tour was awesome, but we’ve got to find Larmina now.”
“But you just got here! Don’t you want to see my big finale?” Dudley said,
“We need to put our teammate first.” Vince told him.
Dudley tried to get them to stay the entire walk back to the garage, but nothing worked, and the cadets drove off after saying goodbye. But he had only given them a nasty look in return. Before they could leave the property, an electric fence suddenly sparked to life and trapped the boys inside.
“What the-?” Vince started,
A loud thud came from behind them and when Daniel whipped around to see what the resulting dust cloud was hiding, Voltron was staring right back at him.
“I can’t let you leave!” Dudley cried from inside, “You’re fans of Voltron are just like me, so I should be a cadet just like you two!”
Daniel still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Voltron was still right in front of him and Vince. He wasn’t paying attention to any of Dudley’s rant, instead he noticed that the copy defender was smaller and definitely the older version than the one they have now. Copytron, as Daniel dubbed it, was boxier than their modern day hero, and the thud he heard from before was weirdly hollow.
Dudley yelled, “I’ve studied everything to do with Voltron. You’ve seen my proof! I can be useful to them if they just let me on the team!”
That was all he had left in him, and without any more yelling, Dudley threw a punch straight at the boys. Their training had done them good, and they immediately pulled away from the incoming fist. The chase had begun and Dudley was hot on their tails as the boys retreated towards his house again. A weird glass dome caught Daniel’s eye and after Dudley punched and missed him again, he rammed right into the fragile walls. It turned out to not be the best plan, because he soon lost control after trying to brush away the glass shards, sliding sideways and smacking into a wall.
The plan was to keep Dudley away for some time, with him not wanting to risk his father’s property with any more damage than it already had, but it turned out he didn’t care and broke through the glass right after Vince. When Daniel looked up, he saw the castle of lions. Maybe he hit the wall too hard, he thought. Though his own knowledge of the castle immediately told him differently, it was the version before the modernization again.
“Do you like it?” Dudley asks, “It’s a replica environment, where I train to be the next Voltron Force cadet!”
Daniel didn’t want to admit that he was kind of impressed, not to the guy who had a weird parasocial relationship with the defenders of the universe. That was definitely hypocritical, though. He had written fan fiction of the team before, and that wasn’t a good thing since they were real people, after all.
Dudley’s question was rhetorical anyway, and he threw another punch at Vince, who was busy distracting him, so Daniel could get back up again. Once he was ready, he put his very stupid and very concerning theory to the test by speeding full force into one of Copytrons legs. That terrified Vince, and frankly, it terrified Daniel too, but it proved him right as they watched the bot go down.
“Are you nuts!?” Vince yelled, “Why did you even ram into that thing!”
“Didn’t you hear the thuds as he was chasing us? They were hollow!”
“And? That doesn’t change the fact that Dudley is in a huge copy of Voltron!!”
“Nobody is rich enough to have an actual metal mech copy of Voltron, Vince! Him falling just proves it. It’s just a plastic replica!”
Vince was stunned. Of course, Copytron was made of plastic! Dudley was a collector, after all. He needed to test it out for himself though, and shot at him while he was still down, leaving a partially melted divot on the green lion. Dudley grumbled, but neither of them caught what he said, though they already knew he wasn’t happy about the turn of events.
---
“A concert?” Lance asked, “Do we even know what bands Larmina likes?”
“A better question would be, are they even playing on Arus?” Pidge added,
“After helping them with their vehicles, I got to know the cadets pretty well! And I know for a fact Larmina’s favorite band is Stereolactic!” Hunk said,
Pidge looked deflated, “Oh yeah, getting the most mysterious and universally famous band to play on Arus, except for the fact that they never play live.”
“Obviously I can’t get her to see them in concert, Pidge, but I know her genres and if I know Larmina then with the right type of bands, she’ll come around!”
---
Daniel grunted. Being punted by Dudley did not feel good.
“Larmina better come around soon! It’s been way too long without contact with us!”
Vince was busy avoiding the lasers that Copytron apparently, and frighteningly, had. Dudley was taunting him as he followed the tiny turret.
“I’m not sure why they even keep you around! Maybe they just judge you until better people can take your place!”
---
“I’m not sure what type of earrings she’d like, princess. Though if we’re comparing how much shiny jewelry the two of you have, she’d never take your place. You beat her by a mile, even if you’re both royals.” Keith said,
That irked Allura.
“She’s not taking any place of mine. Larmina is her own person, and I’d never expect her to be just like me. Plus, I thought you’d notice she doesn’t wear shiny jewelry like I do, much less her own crown.”
Keith wasn’t the only one out of the team who didn’t understand the little spitfire living inside the castle, but he was the one who was the most lost when trying. Allura knew that. He was out of the loop, that’s all.
Out of the loop on a lot of things.
---
Vince kept blasting at the plastic robot in front of them, making cover as he and Daniel sped towards it.
“Can you contact Larmina?” He yelled,
“No time! Dudley’s getting ready to fight back again! Wherever she is, I hope she stops taking her damn time and gets over here with us!”
---
Larmina heard a loud crack in front of her, and then a flood of cheering from all sides. She’d seen baseball before, from her time with Pidge’s friends, who played with whatever they had. It was the only familiar Terran sport for her, so she wanted to see a professional game of it.
She kept her eye on the ball. It was the most interesting thing on the field, at least. Then it wasn’t on the field and heading very much near her. Her friends gave Larmina a mitt earlier to play the part of a fan, so she went after it after she saw others do the same. She pushed through them, and with her height, easily caught the ball.
Her friends cheered for her, impressed she caught a home run ball at her first game. She was definitely happy here and chose to take her time enjoying every minute of it.
---
From across the way, the pilots all saw each other again. The trio didn’t make a move to walk any faster, allowing the couple to have some time for more private conversation. Except Keith didn’t have anything to say and picked up his pace to meet them.
“So how’d it go?” Lance asked in a singsong voice,
“We couldn’t decide on anything for Larmina,” Keith said, “I don’t know anything about her anymore, so I wasn’t much help.”
Lance shot him a look, that wasn’t the royal he wanted to hear Keith talk about. Though before he could say so, Hunk reassured him,
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ve made a plan! And you can learn all about the cadets while you help us out.”
Allura beamed, “That’s a great idea! Now we can all get to know the cadets better.”
After some vague plans, they walked towards Pizza Hole again. Their order had been ready for a few minutes now, and the cadets were bound to regroup with them soon.
---
Larmina was still giddy from the game. The outing was a dream come true for her.
“So, what are we going to do next? I’ve still got so much to catch up on!”
One of her friends laughed tiredly, “Sorry Larmina, but we’ve been out all day. We’ve got to get back home now. Our families are starting to worry.”
“Oh.” She said
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get to go out more soon. You should get going too. I’m sure your family is waiting for you, too.”
“Yeah... I guess they are.”
The now small group of friends that had lasted until the end of the day parted with her. Larmina checked her voltcom to see just how long she’d been gone and oh gods, it had been a long time. Their order must’ve been completed now, and she knew her aunt is expecting the boys to be with her when she returns. She pulled up their locations from their voltcoms and ran back to her ride to find them again.
---
The team had their boxes ready, but hadn’t seen the cadets arrive at all. Lance was teasing Keith and Allura for their earlier date, after they told the others about the awkwardness. Hunk took the chance to look for the cadets’ location and saw how far Larmina was, only to see she was getting closer to the boy’s position. He assumed she was alone after the conversation earlier and decided to give the cadets more time to get together before letting Allura, or Keith, freak out.
“Man, Keith, don’t you remember anything about your own girlfriend anymore?” Lance continued to tease,
Keith gave him a sharp look, “It’s not that I don’t remember, it’s that I haven’t seen her change.”
That was the ultimate confirmation Allura needed. Keith really didn’t know her in the wake of her change and she didn’t know him either after his.
“Let’s start over then.” She said, “We’ll all take this chance to catch up with each other while we wait for the cadets!”
Hunk seized the chance as soon as he could,
“Good plan! That five year lone wolf trip must’ve been weird, but what was the weirdest thing that happened to you, Keith?”
Everyone looked at him, which made him nervous, but he had an answer, at least.
“Well... I’m not sure how it happened, but I swear to you guys I woke up one day with these really weird electric blue eyes.”
---
Dudley had finally caught them, well, more like stomped on them. Whatever was helping Dudley control Copytron was heavy enough to stop Daniel and Vince from getting out from under him.
“You’re nothing but a footnote in Voltron’s history!” Dudley laughed,
That was too easy, the boys thought.
“Once the pilots see how easily I’ve defeated you, they’ll definitely ask me to become a Voltron Force cadet!”
“You’ll have to go through me first!”
Dudley looked towards the bratty voice, only for Larmina to make an entirely new hole in the glass dome from above and tackled him to the ground with her vehicle. She landed just fine and waited as the boys pulled up next to her.
“So,” Daniel said, “Did you enjoy your vacation?”
She rolled her eyes, “Any time away from you dorks is a vacation.”
“Can we focus on the plastic threat getting back up to attack us now?” Vince snapped at them.
“Full throttle?” Larmina asked,
“Is there any other way to do this?” Daniel asked rhetorically,
They sped off away from each other before turning right back around, and heading towards their center full speed.
“Let’s Voltron!”
Just like before, their beloved little mech had come to life. Daniel still sulked that he wasn’t at the head instead of Larmina, but they didn’t have time for bickering. Dudley still wasn’t off the ground, yet he was staring at the new mech that was only slightly smaller than his.
“So, you want to make it a fair fight, huh? Not a problem! You just gave me an excuse to bring out my ultimate weapon!”
Copytron finally stood up, and suddenly his stance was all too familiar.
“Form blazing sword!”
The two lions smashed themselves together and in an uncomfortable flash of light paired with an unpleasant rubbing sound, Copytron had finally completed his look. Except the boys knew better, and Vince spotted exactly the confirmation they needed.
“Near the hilt! It’s a plastic replica too!”
“Easy pickings.” Larmina almost growled,
Copytron swung wildly at Awesometron, trying to catch them off guard. Unfortunately, Larmina was in control of their movements, and she actually knew how to wield a sword. In one hand, she caught the dull blade and snapped it with ease.
Dudley gasped, “That was a limited edition!”
If Larmina hadn’t had enough before, that one sentence definitely did it. She swiftly pulled back and with as much power as Awesometron had, decked Copytron in the face, sending him flying back into the replica castle behind him. Dudley sat in his seat dazed, not processing that his plastic mech no longer had a face, and instead a gaping hole that let the cadets look straight at him. They had all gotten out of Awesometron, and Daniel didn’t hesitate to drag the scrawny little boy out of the wreckage.
“Wow uh... you guys really totaled that thing...” Dudley hesitated,
“That’s a natural response when someone's trying to beat you up,” Daniel sneered.
“I’m sure your dad will buy you a new one anyway.” Vince offered,
Dudley almost shrank into himself, obviously trying to work himself up to something.
“I don’t need one... Look, I’m sorry. I got so jealous that two of the Voltron Force cadets were fans, and I spiraled from there.”
Daniel sighed, “We weren’t chosen because we were fans, Dudley. Vince and I were cadets at the GA before and the team thought our skills were promising.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, even if you don’t get to be a cadet there are still lots of ways you can help Voltron. Destiny has a plan for you even if it’s not as close to the defender of the universe as you hoped.” Vince added,
“Really bringing out the Auntie Allura there, Vince.” Larmina teased,
She looked back at Dudley, who acted even more skittish after they made eye contact. There wasn’t enough energy left to deal with that, she decided. After Dudley turned off the electric fence, which made Daniel question if it even worked since Larmina had busted in so easily, the three finally sped off towards Pizza Hole again.
---
“I was getting worried about you three!” said Allura.
The cadets walked in the pizza parlor and before the princess had noticed them; it looked like the pilots were having a great time, even Keith.
“Turns out when you know nothing about someplace, it’s a lot more fun to explore.” Larmina said, hoping it’d tide her aunt over.
It did. Though it was a little sketchy when they asked the three about their day, they hadn’t connected their stories yet. Hunk seemed to notice, but he gave them a wink to show their secret was safe with him. The pilots were just about to get into their fractal when security guards spotted them, not because they were the outlawed Voltron Force, but yelling about some kind of disturbance caused by the cadets’ vehicles. With no time to lose, everyone immediately ran to their respective ride and bolted from law enforcement. Keith wasn’t too happy about it, but he had a smile to match the laugh the others had from the situation.
On Arus, they set up the holo tables in castle control and the team got to eat the Earth pizza they missed so much once again. Keith had gotten back into work mode and was checking sensors while off to the side. Allura walked up to him and handed him a slice of the pie.
“Thanks,” Keith said, “Princess, I’m sorry about our date. I shouldn’t have brought up that sour memory. You were just trying to spend time with me again.”
As he took the paper plate that was stained with pizza grease, Allura only gave him a sympathetic smile.
“You tried to make it up to me already. I don’t think you were expecting to feel bad for forgetting my favorite color after I reminded you. It’s been five years, only natural for things to slip.”
“I know, but I’ve been home for a month, princess. Instead of spending time with you, I’ve been glued to my work.”
“You did an important thing today, bonding with your team again. If you’re so worried, you can start spending more time with us now.”
“Except that this war with the Galaxy Garrison is stressing me out. Most of us are fighting our home, our allies.”
“Then, for now, just take a break. You can get back to work soon. The rest of the team is waiting for you.”
They both looked at the rowdy table nearby. They were having fun. Anya and Nat had come by to steal some slices, Anya specifically to grab the box she asked Hunk to order. They both ended up staying to eat with the group instead and Lance turned from the girls who were busy sassing him to look back at Keith and Allura.
“Are you two done with your cryptic couple's corner? The pizza is getting colder, and I know at least two people who won’t mind eating the leftovers!”
To prove his point, Pidge and Hunk opened up the next box and stacked their bent plates with more slices. Keith rolled his eyes while Allura laughed. At least one thing was the same: their gluttony. Work could wait, Keith thought, and he walked over to the table with Allura’s hand in his.
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