No One's Ever Ready for That Kind of Burden

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Who: Darin and Allura, and Darin and any of the Voltron paladins
When: Recently!
Where: Lion House, Kauto 5
What: Shiro needs some time to sort through his thoughts and has left the team in Darin's care (HAHAHAHAHA I KNOW RIGHT?)
Warnings: None as of yet but it's Darin so...

A.[Closed to Allura]
[He could scarcely believe what was happening. One second, Darin was calling up Shiro to congratulate him on the recovery of his entire team. It was meant to be a bittersweet call. With the rest of the Voltron paladins recovered, Darin was beginning to feel that maybe he'd overstayed his welcome. Given the events of the month, with Shiro being hurt thanks to Darin's inaction, he'd been feeling...restless. Undeserving of being a part of the team Shiro had welcomed him into. In fact, mentally, Darin had one foot out the door.]

[Then, something happened. Shiro needed time away from the team. To sort himself out. Darin was more than willing to let his friend have this, but Shiro's last words rooted Darin to Lion House once more.]

[He'd placed them, his team, in Darin's care. Only until he could sort himself out but, regardless, the weight of that responsibility sat on Darin's shoulders. A weight he'd never felt himself capable of bearing. But, in the end, his duty to Shiro trumped his own personal insecurities. First thing's first though; he had to talk to Allura. He'd spent the last few weeks avoiding her altogether, afraid of facing her judgment after Shiro's injury. Now, he was making his way to her room. He knocks quietly on her still visibly broken door.]

...Hey. Princess. It's Darin. Do you have some time? I'd...like to talk.

B.[Open to the rest of the paladins]
[After his talk with Allura, Darin began making his rounds. He didn't really know what to expect when he told everyone that Shiro had left them temporarily in his care. Two of the paladins had only just arrived; neither of them had any reason to trust Darin in the slightest. Hunk would likely be the most accommodating; the guy was practically a walking teddy bear. He may need his help to get the others on his side. And Pidge...? Well, they'd barely spoken since she met him in the waiting room of the hospital after Shiro's injury. He wasn't looking forward to appealing to her either but...in the end, it had to be done. So, Darin wanders Lion House, searching out the paladins so that he can hopefully have one-on-one chats.]

[How does Shiro do this, anyway?]

Comments

B. [in which Darin is in for A Surprise]

[pidge_out]

[Pidge can be found in her room/lab. That's where she can usually be found at pretty much any point in time, anyway. And not because she's hiding or avoiding anyone or anything like that; simply because that's where she feels the most comfortable. She's sitting cross-legged on the floor of her room, her laptop to one side while she works on finishing up her TV, brows furrowed and tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth.

When she hears the knock on her door, she calls out with her automatic response.] It's open!

Re: B. [in which Darin has no idea what he's doing]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin takes a deep breath and slowly cracks the door open.]

...Hey. Pidge?

You busy? I uh...I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes.

[Darin only sticks his head in, leaving himself shielded by the door.]

B. [in which Darin can suck it up and deal]

[pidge_out]

[The familiar voice has her looking up, blinking in surprise. Mostly because she hadn't exactly pegged Darin as the knocking type.

Something must be really wrong.]

Uh... Sure? Come on in.

[She even puts her tools down and turns so that she's facing him, head slightly tilted to one side.]

Re: B. [in which Darin comes prepared for the worst]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Right. Come in. He takes a deep breath and pushes the door open...]

[Revealing the fact that Darin is clad head to toe in armor fashioned from every pot and pan in the house. It looks ridiculous but it also looks surprisingly sturdy. He also sounds like a wind chime made of gongs.]

So...

[Yeah]

B. [in which Darin is about to get mocked]

[pidge_out]

[That just makes Pidge's eyes go real wide. What is he doing? Why is he doing it? How can this even work?]

...Are you... Are those all from the kitchen?

Wait wait- [She holds a hand up as a gesture to hold still while she gets her TAB ready. And then she's absolutely taking a picture of him like this.]

Re: B. [in which Darin is about to take it like a champ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah, every single one. I had to wash a few, but I successfully adapted every single piece of cookware in the kitchen into a functioning suit of armor.

Oh, and check this out.

[He reaches up and flips a colander down to protect his face.]

You're not breaking my nose this time!

[Is...Is this what he wanted to come in and talk about...? Why does he sound so proud of himself?]

B. [in which Darin becomes a meme]

[pidge_out]

[She's trying so hard not to laugh outright. Instead, she's just kind of smirking as she takes another picture of him with the added protection.]

I'm totally gonna send this to everyone in the city. [Only then does she put her TAB down, instead giving him an amused, curious look.] And why would I break your nose again?

A FOR ALLURA, OF COURSE

[patchricide]

[It's been a while since they last talked.]

[Why was knowing Darin like this? From the start, it felt like he was antagonizing her needlessly, even when she tried to make friends; then, they had it out in vicious blows, and somehow that eased the tension enough for them to find common ground; and then, something happens with Shiro and he's nowhere to be found.]

[It's dizzying in some ways; and since her mind was needed elsewhere, she couldn't afford the focus. The paladins were returning, and yet somehow what should have been a tender reunion had led to complicated feelings and unexpected distance.]

[She pretends she didn't hear the knock at first. She's sitting at a desk in the room, splitting some dry crackers with the mice. She's in a small, simple world right now, and she's not sure she wants him to overturn it.]

[But she can't hide from these things, and she knows that.]

[So, she rises up from her seat, and begins walking towards the chair.]

... yes, I'm free. What did you need, Darin?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

I uh...there's a few things I wanted to talk to you about.

A lot of things, really. I don't...I don't really know where to start. But, if you're busy or if I'm interrupting something, I can come back later...

[patchricide]

[She opens the door. She's still dressed in her nightgown. Although, all things considered, it might as well be a regular gown, complete with a cardigan. It looks cozy, but also like the purpose of nightclothes might be completely lost on her.]

[Her expression isn't the most welcoming, exactly... but it's also strangely subdued. She shakes her head.]

No, you aren't interrupting anything. Just a small snack.

[Small for Allura, that is. Platt has an entire cracker stretching out his mouth and he's okay with this.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin takes a step back, suddenly feeling his nerve falter. It would have been so much easier to just...ditch this. Run away. Get the hell out of here before he could ever be missed. He even looks like he might do just that, shifting his weight to the side like he might just bolt off.]

[He shakes his head. No...he's better than that. He has to be better. He might not like it but...he can't let Shiro down. They're his friends. They took him in when they had no reason to.]

[So he takes a deep breath and takes another step back.]

...Princess...

[With that, he bows low, at the waist.]

...I'm sorry. For everything.

[patchricide]

[That's a good start.]

[In some ways, it'd almost be nice if he had chosen to do something more ill-advised instead. If he could draw the anger out of her and force her to vent some of what she's felt that way.]

[But given their history -- about how much he resented her urging caution, and how easily she could be lording that over him right now -- that must be one of the most difficult bows he's ever had to perform. And to say it's appreciated is an understatement.]

'Everything' about Shiro's injury, you mean.

[Before she goes forgiving, though, she wants to hear everything he has to say. Not just an apology.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

No. Not just that.

Shiro and I were on a mission together. It was...it was my inaction that caused him to shove me out of the way of a blow that could potentially have hurt me. [He fudges the truth here. That wasn't why he didn't move, but it's not the point and he's not ready to share that side of himself with Allura just yet.]

Because of me, he was severely injured. I carried him back and sought out the best treatment I could...

But...that's not all. I also ran from here. I ran because I didn't want to face whatever rightfully deserved judgment you and Pidge likely had for me. I accept my share of the blame...I accept that I should be held accountable, and by all means, I accept whatever punishment you deem fit, even if it means I have to leave this house.

I know you never wanted me here in the first place and...if that's what you want...I will take my leave. It's what's right.

But...I also apologize for running in the first place. For avoiding you, for acting as if I was above reprimand for my part in Shiro's injury. The truth...as to why I didn't want to face that kind of judgment...

[He takes a shaky breath.]

...The truth is because I am immensely happy here. I'm happy living here. I'm happy being a part of something that I've never had before and I didn't...

... ... ...

I didn't want to lose it. My actions were selfish. And I'm here to tell you, before we talk about anything else, that I am sorry for that...and I will take whatever you decide to heart and will take the appropriate action.

[He doesn't lift his head throughout his entire explanation. Even now he feels the knot twisting in his gut. He prefers to stare at the floor. At least this way, he couldn't attempt to read her expressions; couldn't attempt to speak or come to a decision for her by trying to assume what she was going to say. No, this was better. And he waited in silence for her response.]

B

[yablueit]

[ Lance has been exploring the whole house, and in fact, most of the neighborhood of their region. But Darin manages to catch him at home, in the backyard where he's tied out his pet cow, Kaltenecker, with her hoverboard. Eventually, she's going to need some kind of barn stall, but for now, he's found a tarp and stretched it out in a lean-to from the side of the house for her, and that's where Darin finds him, sitting on a chair he dragged outside, tying a bow into her tail hair. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Well, so far so good. This was getting easier as he went along. Maybe things would be okay. Maybe he actually could handle being in charge for a little bit.]

[Darin takes a step outside for some fresh air and stretches his arms. That's when he spies Lance.]

Oh...Lance! Hey pal, just the paladin I wanted to see.

[He makes his way over and...starts to slow as he sees the lean-to and what wasn't beneath it.]

Is that...a cow?

We have a cow?

...When did we get a cow?

... ... Does Shiro know about the cow?

[PLEASE LET SHIRO KNOW ABOUT THE COW]

[yablueit]

Darin, hey! Meet Kaltenecker!

[ He beams. This boy is super proud of his cow. She doesn't seem interested in anything but the grass she's chewing. ]

And yeah, of course Shiro knows. I introduced him to her before I even got planetside! [ Because it was a last ditch attempt to distract from having an adult conversation, but still. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Oh thank the Gods above. Thank you for telling him. I was literally mentally three quarters of the way through a cover story about how we obtained a cow on a hoverboard.

...I guess I'll just log that away in case a similar incident happens down the line.

Anyway...I actually wanted to talk to you about Shiro.

[yablueit]

If you wanna borrow the real story, Pidge and I looted an alien shopping mall's fountain for enough money to buy a video game console, and then the guy running the store gave us a free cow. Which we used to run away from a mall cop.

[ Lance's life is stupid. ]

Oh, uh, sure?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

... ... ...Everything about that story sounds amazing and I think you and I need to go on more adventures.

[DISTRACTIONS. Hurriedly, he shakes his head to snap out of it.]

Listen...Shiro and the Princess had a bit of a...spat? Falling out? I don't know what to call it. And Shiro's been through the wringer as of late. He was hurt on a mission pretty badly...and he's over-worked. Tired. So he's taking a day or two off to collect himself, get his head back in the game.

That said...he kind of...left me in charge of you guys. Not that I think you need supervision...

...Provided there's no more surprise livestock.

a week late and he doesn't even have space starbucks

[businessinfront]

[ Keith hasn't actually spent much time around the Lion House yet. For several reasons, he finds himself resistant to the very idea of settling in. Planting roots somewhere. He's glad the rest of his team is here, sure, and grateful that they've all found somewhere to stay... but he can't shake the feeling that there's somewhere they all need to be. Somewhere he needs to be.

He can be found coming home late from a day of exploring, opening the door as quietly as possible, like he's trying to sneak into his own home unnoticed. ]

but what drink are they going to bond over now??

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin was...not really in the best mental states. Despite the fact that all of his talks had gone well so far, he still wasn't sure if he should be doing more.]

[He's downstairs, laying across the couch with his feet propped up, staring at the ceiling when he hears the door open. It's quiet, and Darin does his best not to alert Keith, but he swings his legs down and sits up from the couch.]

Hey...Keith. You're home late. Everything okay?

[He wants to punch himself in his own face. Keith doesn't owe him an answer. Hell, they barely know each other. And yet here he was trying to sound like Shiro when he sure as hell wasn't.]

[businessinfront]

[ Keith freezes just inside the doorway. Stares for several long seconds in silent bewilderment. Blinks. ]

It's... fine?

[ At least he's too taken off-guard by the question to be testy about it. They'd gotten off on the wrong foot, but a relative stranger asking him how he's doing is just unfamiliar enough that he forgets to be cranky for a second. ]

... I was just out exploring. There's not much for me to do around here, so...

[ He shrugs stiffly. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Oh...yeah, I get that way too. Trust me, once you hit your groove there's tons to do around here. It's actually a really exciting place once you start to get out there and see what it has to offer.

[He stands and wanders over, but stops a solid five or so paces from Keith.]

Do you...have a second? I wanted to talk to you about something.

...About Shiro.

[businessinfront]

[ His face changes, then, a mix of concern and suspicion. ]

What about him? Is he okay?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah yeah...look, he's fine. Trust me.

He and the Princess had a bit of a...falling out? Misunderstanding? I won't go into the details because it's not exactly my place to but...

He's taking some much needed time off. Trying to get his head together so he can be a better leader. He's going to be fine.

But...in the interim. He kind of...put me in charge.