[ video -> voice | un: keith ]

[tempredmental]

[The video was brief, kind of like that moment when you activated the camera on your phone and forgot it was in selfie mode. The omni shook and rotated, leaving the viewer with a dizzying array of scenery that was kind of blurry and hard to make out. It was dark, though, like the person broadcasting was in a closed room with no lights on.

As the video shifted, glimpses of a person could be seen. A hand... the fingernails-turned-claws bitten down short as if trying to cover the transformation... a burn scar on the right side of a face... dark, almost black, hair with a purple tint, long-ish, shaggy looking, a thin white streak with a extremely slight violet hue to it near the left temple... pale skin... deep cobalt eyes that looked exhausted with dark tired bruises underneath from lack of sleep...]

Shit-...

[And the video was gone. It was just voice now, Keith's voice, but raspier than usual, worn sounding, loaded with regret and guilt and just... sad.]

I um... [He was hesitant. Unsure.] I wanted to... apologize. [His tone faltered, like he was searching for words, having trouble forming them and getting them out.] I... I did a lot of stuff last month. Just um... Yeah. The Reckoning took care of it.

But... if you still want... you know. Fine. I understand. I won't stop you.

[And then the feed shut off.]

Comments

[miyagimagic]

A fighter pilot at your age?

[ Sure, there's some surprise in Daniel's tone, since.. that's not really often a thing where Daniel himself comes from - if he's judging Keith's age accurately, anyway.

(He thinks he is, but you never know in this place.) ]

That must mean you're really talented. Especially if you're so responsible about it. [ Judging by everything else the other is saying here.

.. or the alternative take is that Keith is a fighter pilot at such a young age since there's some Really Bad Stuff going on in the other's world, but Daniel would rather think about the angle he's presenting out loud. ]

[tempredmental]

[Keith blinked a bit at Daniel's surprise and then nodded.]

Yeah. I was in a training program with the Galaxy Garrison where they recruited a bunch of us from various schools around the world to come learn how to fly and be space explorers. I got recruited when I was thirteen. Most of us were around that age. I guess it could be considered like some junior officer's program or something. [Like JROTC.] Usually, you graduated around twenty-four if you didn't flunk out or get held back on something. [There was something else there, and Keith wasn't sure if he wanted to admit to getting kicked out at eighteen because he couldn't control his temper.] But, then I got involved with Voltron. Been doing that for a few years now. [Even if he skipped the part about being stuck in a quantum abyss and spending time with the Blades as an undercover guerilla fighter... But, either way, he was at least old enough to legally drink alcohol now!]

[miyagimagic]

[ .. recruited.. at thirteen?

There are so many alarm bells going off in Daniel's head right now. Keith has no idea. Mostly because Daniel is still mostly keeping calm on the outside, but.. boy, does that ever sound like potential child endangerment to him.

Especially since Daniel is such an overprotective dad in the first place.

He tries to not think about it too hard for a moment though, mostly to stay calm, so he instead asks: ]

And what's Voltron then?

[tempredmental]

[It's okay, Daniel. Think of it like a military school, but not just designed to punish rebellious kids... even if Keith happened to actually have been a rebellious kid...]

Voltron itself is a giant robot... a really, really giant robot. It's made up of five smaller robots that combine together to make the big one. It's the greatest weapon our universe has, created to defend people who can't defend themselves.

[miyagimagic]

So you are fighting to defend the universe.

[ Just.. trying to make this clear. Just trying to see whether or not he truly understood this, because that is so much to try and wrap his head around. ]

That's a very big responsibility. [ Especially for someone Keith's age, he thinks, though he's at least smart enough to not actually say it.

But it sure is on Daniel's mind as he says these words instead. ]

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded, forgetting for a moment that this was voice.]

Yeah... but, when we found out everything, and were in the moment... it just... we knew it was the right thing to do.

We had to.

[There were several moments when they had some big decisions to make early on about how they were going to handle things, if they were going to stay, if they were going to leave, whether they were going to do The Thing... and, deep down, they all just knew... there really was no other choice. The universe needed Voltron, and Voltron needed them to make that happen.]

[miyagimagic]

[ The right thing to do.

Having to.

They're not foreign concepts to Daniel - they weren't, not even when he was younger. It's just that the extent of the responsibility placed on Keith's shoulders seems to be reaching far beyond anything he ever had to deal with, whether it's nowadays or back when he was the other's age.

It makes him pause. ]

It's very brave of you.

[ The compliment sounds genuine - almost too genuine, considering it's not even like Daniel knows Keith well or anything like that. But even though he feels awful that a kid has to shoulder this much.. At least he does want to show the other the appreciation he deserves for working so hard. ]

Even if it might have seemed like you didn't have much of a choice, you still did the right thing. It's hard, and.. I don't exactly agree with that responsibility falling on the shoulders of someone so young, but I'm still proud of you for doing the right thing.

[tempredmental]

[Keith shrugged a little.]

I guess. I think, for some of us, it was probably braver than others. [Hunk, for example.] But... thanks? I think. [How did one respond to that anyway?]

[miyagimagic]

[ Daniel won't blame the other for the semi-awkward response, at least. If there's anything he's used to at this point, it's teens (and people slightly older than that now, but it's all the same when you're Daniel's age, really) being unable to tell how to respond to genuine praise, especially from people they're not super close to. ]

No need to thank me. [ He instead says, voice amicable. ] Just..

[ ... ]

Take care of yourself here, alright?

[ Especially considering how this started out. The message Daniel replied to. ]

[tempredmental]

[Keith quietly nodded.]

Yeah. I'll try.