video; un: shiro

[shiro2hero]

[Oh hi Shiro, long time no see on the network. That's because this is a last-ditch effort. He looks pretty darn not great, despite the fact it's Sleep Season for Warmbloods. Maybe it's the Arena. Maybe it's the River. Something honestly, sincerely traumatic that's happened already.]

[His face is in his hands, hunched over the counter in his kitchen. The omni in front of him. Voice haggard and quiet. Like he has a migraine.]

I will pay... however much anyone wants. For coffee beans. Espresso beans. Don't even have to be cooked. Roasted. Doesn't matter.

[... Or it's caffeine withdrawl.]

Or tea leaves. I don't care.

[Please, he is Suffering.]

Comments

[shiro2hero]

Hey, you know me. Who am I if I'm not worried about you guys?

[That's never going to change. Not any time soon.]

[His shoulders flex in a shrug, glancing away instead.]

Doesn't look like it. Guess I was late to the party when they were handing those out.

[azurestar]

You'd be you, but way more chill.

[He grins slightly, teasingly. Then he reaches out with a gloved hand and shoves at Shiro's shoulder.]

Eh, powers are not all they're cracked up to be. You get to be the badass normal.

[shiro2hero]

You know I don't understand the meaning of that word.

[His shoulder rolls with the shove, regardless of how hard Lance pushed - gotta let him get a win.]

I wouldn't go that far. Definitely normal, though.

[azurestar]

[The most deadpan face.] Yes you do.

[Then he scoffs and crosses his arms.]

Dude, I've seen you take out enemies twice your size with your ultimate bitch slap of a robot hand. Don't tell me you're not badass.

[shiro2hero]

Nope, never heard it in my life.

[Deadpan meets deadpan.]

Yeah, well. I think the squid zone shorted it out... Having a hard time getting it to be more than a flashlight.

[azurestar]

Shiro, it's been popular slang since before you were born.

[Flat as a pancake.]

And maybe have Hunk take a look at it. He can fix anything.

[shiro2hero]

No, I was born in the time of the dinosaurs. I thought we all agreed on that.

[Oh come on, Lance, it's a little funny.]

Maybe. Or... maybe I need a flashlight and not a lightsaber, these days.

[azurestar]

Alright, that's it. You're totally banned.

[Maybe. But he wouldn't be a proper young person if he didn't react this way.]

So… you're saying you're actually glad it's not working right?

[shiro2hero]

Pfff, yes sir.

[Okay, now he's laughing. Just a bit. Only to turn more somber as he thinks over the question.]

In a way? I think... maybe I am. [If it's just a fancy prosthetic now, then. It isn't the weapon forced on him. Now it's a heavy flashlight.] Weird, huh?

[azurestar]

[Lance hum slightly as he thinks about that and then lets his head fall back onto the back of the couch. That feels better.]

Not weird. I think I'd feel like that too. [If he lost his star powers, goes unsaid.]

[shiro2hero]

[There's a quiet pause for a few moments. Logically, there's no sound when he moves his right hand. He knows that. But... sometimes, in moments like this, he swears he can hear it.]

Well. Here's hoping someday you get to feel weird with me.