acatalepsy_logs | Open - All my friends are heathens

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Open - All my friends are heathens

Who: Pidge and you~
Where: around the temple
When: arrival + up to phase one of the plague
Rating: nothing past PG-13
What: Feels. Cooking misadventures.

Week One; sometime late/early morning (the feels-y option)

Pidge had always had an interesting relationship with sleep. Before the Kerberos mission had flipped her entire life upside down, she knew that all she'd have to do was make herself a snack, or sneak up onto the roof for a while, or go fiddle around in Matt's room, and soon enough she'd be ready to sleep again.

She couldn't do that anymore. And she couldn't wander the castle ship, because it was gone. So much had happened in the last year, and she was still reeling a little. When there was something to focus on, some new, possibly suicidal mission to worry about, it was easy to distract herself. But it was times like now, when everyone else was probably asleep, that she found herself worrying.

So here she sat, at the edge of the forest, wrapped in the blanket she'd pulled off her bed, her ~~mostly useless~~ bayard at her side. It was probably ridiculous, but she felt just a little bit safer just having it with her.

"I know you can't hear me. And that probably means you can't come here, either. But it would be... really great if you could give me some kind of sign that you're okay." She's sitting facing away from the temple, and looking up toward the night sky, as though it might hold what she's looking for. Instead, all she could see were alien constellations and the silhouettes of trees if she glanced down. Any other time, it might've been enough of a distraction. But not now. "It's weird not having you here."

It was a long shot, and she hadn't really been expecting it to work. But she'd gotten into the habit of talking to Green when nobody else was around. "I miss you. And it sucks here."

Week two; noon-ish?

She'd somehow lucked out as far as whatever this sickness was. It would take more than a cold to defeat Katie Holt, but between running around trying to make sure everyone else was alright, she was starting to get a little burnt out. The lack of general direction or purpose was also starting to get to her. It might've been easier to deal with all of this if there was something to fight, or something to hack or something to do.

Possibly the worst part of all this was the fact that her bayard had been screwed up since they'd gotten here. The handful of times she'd tried to get it working had ultimately ended the same way, with a string of colorful language that probably would've made her mother grimace.

Today, though, she's taken up residence in the kitchen. She'd never be as good as Hunk, but there were a handful of things she was confident enough to make. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to find everything she needed for her Nana's ginger chicken soup. So she'd had to substitute a few things.

"Hmm..."

She's standing on a stool and peering into the large pot of not-quite-Nana's-ginger-chicken-soup. It didn't smell bad, exactly. But it didn't smell quite right, either.

Someone save her.

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A few days. Does that mean he got here around the same time she did? "Same here." There's just something about that thought that's comforting. Not necessarily the fact that there were other people who just found themselves trapped here so much as that there were other people going through the same thing at the same time. "Nah. It's never too early to start complaining."

Then again, Pidge is almost always down for a good round of complaining. Only she knows that doing so isn't going to accomplish anything aside from maybe making her more irritated at being stuck here. That question gives her pause, because of course he'd be curious about it. "I'm not sure you'd believe me even if I told you."

Takeru has to laugh at the idea of anything being too out there for him to believe. He's accepted more or less every wild story the other Circle members have told him at face value because really, why not? They're all living proof that anything is possible.

"Now I really wanna know." There's obviously a good story there, even if the question ends up being too personal for her to answer. "What's so crazy you think it'd be hard to believe in a place like this?"

Of course she realizes how ridiculous that probably sounds as soon as she's said it. Here she is, sitting on a completely different world she's never been to before, talking to someone from a completely different world than her own most likely, and she's worried that Green might be a little too out there?

"It's kind of a long story." Which doesn't necessarily mean she's not going to tell it, but she figures it'll be better to give him a heads up. "But the uh... abridged version is that I was talking to the big mechanical sentient lion I pilot." Piloted? Who could say for sure?

"Voltron?" he blurts out automatically, caught up in the excitement of meeting two members of the same team. He should probably explain that. "Hunk-san was one of the first people here I ran into, and he told me a little about your world."

Takeru might not fully understand it, but he knows enough to at least follow along.

"Your lions sound really special." Connected to their pilots in a way that he can't help comparing to Digimon. "It's gotta be tough to be separated from them. I have someone like that too, so I know it's not the same as just missing your friends. It's different when you're partners."

That certainly gets her attention, and her eyes go a little wide. There's no way he could've known about it, unless- But it's not even that surprising that he's already met Hunk. He's always been really good at getting along with people, and of course he'd be eager to tell other people about it. "Yep. Voltron. How much did he tell you?"

She's mostly curious, and it'll make things a little easier to know how much he's already heard.

Pidge can't help but smile at that. "She's amazing. It's... like nothing else I've ever done." That's putting it mildly, of course. "It's definitely weird. She's been in my head pretty much since we met, so not being able to feel her now is throwing me off a little." A lot, honestly. "You have someone like that?"

"Just the basics. He said you guys had to find the parts of Voltron to fight off an evil alien race, and that the lions matched up with you individually. To me it sounded kind of like... things working out the way they're supposed to, you know? Like they were waiting for the right people to come along." It's probably silly to think of that sort of thing as destiny, but he's not sure how else to describe it.

"Me and my partner can't read each other's thoughts or anything, but we have a connection that lets us fight together." As wildly different as their situations are he can still relate, and returns her smile easily. "This isn't the first time we've had to be apart, so maybe I have it a little easier.

"I do have another question, though." A pause for dramatic emphasis. "If Hunk-san's the leg, which part do you get to be?"

Just the basics, he says. "I mean... that's pretty much the gist of it. And I'd never really thought of it that way before. But it does seem like this is what I was supposed to be doing." It certainly had seemed like Green had been waiting for her, and she smiles at the memory of finding her that day.

"What's your partner like?" She's going to assume that it's not a situation quite like hers, but she's genuinely curious. Especially if Hunk trusted him enough to tell him about the Lions and Voltron. "I'm sorry they couldn't come with you. Have you been apart a lot?" She knows how much it sucks being cut off from Green, so she can sort of imagine how he must feel.

"Go for it." And now she's waiting with bated breath, because she can't even imagine what else he'd be asking about. "Hunk's the left leg, and I'm the left arm."

Well, that's practically half of Voltron accounted for. It makes him curious about the rest of the team, but that's probably a question for another time.

"His name's Patamon. He's..." Takeru cuts himself off with an amused huff. He's still not great at the whole explaining Digimon to outsiders thing. Then again, this girl is used to transforming robots, so maybe the concept of evolution won't sound completely crazy. "He looks sort of like a big orange bat." Takeru holds his hands apart in an approximation of Patamon's size. "But I can help him change into other forms. He's not from the same world as me, so we aren't always able to see each other unless there's a crisis to deal with."

Except for this particular crisis, apparently. "I can't make any sense out of what Astoria must be thinking. It's weird enough to leave Patamon behind, but you guys and your lions too... Shouldn't she want us all to be at our most effective?"

Pidge nods. She's interested enough to wait while he figures out how to explain, and she's actually enjoying the conversation even if she had originally come out here to be alone. "A big orange bat?" Her tone is more curious than anything, and she might just be trying to picture that. Was it anything like a pigeon-bat? Probably not.

It's the next bit of info that really gets her, though, and she's tilting her head. "What kind of other forms? Do you change too?" He hadn't said that, but even still. Stranger things had happened. "Yea. Green's from... well, I don't think I ever learned the name of the place where I found her. But it was a lot like this." But not quite. "I'm sorry you can't always see him."

Pidge can't imagine being cut off from Green like that. Except, now she's in the same situation. "I don't get it either. It doesn't make any sense to me. I can understand needing people to help out, but cutting us off like this?" Seems a little ridiculous. And I'm still not entirely sure what new ability she gave me?"

"Yeah, more or less. I'd show you a picture if I could charge my phone." Digimon kind of defy logical descriptions.

He shakes his head to her question about his own abilities, but has to grin at the thought. "Nah, I'm just me. Patamon's evolutions are mostly angels, but he can turn into something like a pegasus when we need to fly somewhere." He wouldn't mention that particular bit of weirdness, except it seems like the closest comparison to charging through space in a giant lion.

Come to think of it, Hunk never got into the specifics of how exactly they found their mechas. Takeru is tempted to ask for the full story, but as she continues he wonders if maybe magic talk is a better distraction than more lamenting about what they're missing. It's worth a try, anyway. "Really? No clue at all?"

"I don't suppose your ability is conveniently being able to charge phones?" Wouldn't that be an ironic twist. "Maybe I'll hold you to that if we ever get to a place with electricity."

That's almost a little disappointing to hear, though she's not really sure what kind of changes he'd even go through. Or how things worked as far as his partner was concerned. Maybe she'll bug him about that later. "Angels and a pegasus... I kinda wish I could see that." A year or so ago, she probably would've wondered if he was making this up but after everything she's seen, why not?

She's going to assume that he wasn't told much aside from what they'd been doing. And while she's still pretty bummed to discover that she's cut off from Green, she's not entirely against the idea of talking about it, because at least he seems to understand where she's coming from. "Well that's not entirely true. I know that I'm not able to turn into one of the Lions like Shiro can. And I'm pretty sure I can't fly, or run super fast, or anything crazy like that! How about you?"

"I wish." How's he supposed to inflict his questionable taste in music on the Circle if he can't charge his phone or his laptop? It's a true tragedy.

Takeru's so accustomed to talking about this stuff that he doesn't stop to think about how utterly insane angels and a pegasus must sound out of context until after he's already spoken, but to Pidge's credit, she rolls with it like a champ. "I'd love to see Voltron in action too. Who knows, maybe Astoria will bring them all here soon and we'll both get our chance." It seems unlikely at this point, but he doesn't have the crest of hope for nothing.

"Knowing what powers you can rule out isn't a bad start. If it doesn't change you, then maybe it affects people or something else?" Which is still an awfully broad category, but the magic Astoria grants is so varied that it's hard to be sure about anything. Takeru's lucky in that his ability is at least straightforward enough to manifest. "I'm still getting the hang of what I can actually do with mine, but the basic idea is making light solid."

"I wonder if someone does have that ability." Because now she's honestly curious about it now. It would certainly be useful, though she's not sure if Astoria's magic would allow for that kind of thing.

And to be honest, angels and a pegasus probably should've sounded pretty strange to her, but she's seen so much that she's not even going to think twice about it right now. Maybe later, after she's had a bit to think about it? "Voltron's great! And somehow I doubt she'll end up bringing the Lions here. I feel like if she was going to bring them, they would have come with us." Or maybe she's completely wrong.

He actually has a point about that, too, so she's just going to shrug a bit. "That makes sense." Though now she can't help feeling curious about what Astoria gave him. But she doesn't have to wait long, and she kind of just blinks up at him in response to that. "How do you make light solid?" Which is actually a pretty silly question, she realizes, but it's also not something she's expecting to hear.

It wouldn't be the most outlandish power he's ever heard of. A guy can dream.

"We know we aren't the first group of people she's recruited, so it's hard to guess what the pattern is." It'd be nice to think they're going to be the last--if only so no one else gets ripped away from their homes--but that's an equally doubtful scenario. "It's probably a selfish thing to wish for anyway. As much as I'd like to see Patamon again, it wouldn't be worth it if my other friends got dragged here too."

His own magic is a lighter topic, and he laughs when she asks how it works. "No idea. Maybe you can tell me." He could be way off, but those glasses remind him so much of Miyako he has to assume she's the brainy type. He figures he owes her a demonstration, so he holds his hands out and takes a deep breath. After a moment light sparks between them, spreading out like a pane of glass that's equally solid to the touch.

"We probably won't be the last group, either." Because it seems like they were all brought here for some purpose, and she feels like the more outsiders the witch brings in, the more likely it is that that purpose will be fulfilled. Or something. But there has to be some kind of pattern, and if there is, Pidge is determined to figure out what it is.

"Maybe it is selfish. And I know the feeling. I wouldn't want to drag anyone else here, either." As much as she'd love to see Matt or her parents again, she wouldn't want them to end up here. But the subject of his Astoria-granted ability is a suitable enough distraction for now. "Let's see it then." Fortunately she doesn't have to wait long. She does, however, move a bit closer and reach out a hand. Though she stops just short and glances up at him instead. "May I?"

How many people does it take to carry out a plan as far-reaching as Astoria's? Balancing even a single world is a job without an ending, and they have no idea how many are supposedly being threatened by the darkness now. Rather than admit any of that, though, he just grins and says, "Unless we all work really fast."

Considering they've spent these last few days doing as they please at the temple without so much as a single sign of trouble, that's... probably not in the cards.

Takeru nods when Pidge reaches out, lowering his hands so she can take a better look. "Sure. It should be safe." Despite glowing brightly enough to light up the area around them, the magic itself feels oddly cool. "I can't manage anything more useful than just activating it yet."

At this point she's mostly wondering how long they're going to be stuck here, waiting to see what happens next. Being kidnapped to a strange new world isn't as irritating as having nothing to do. Which probably says a lot about her, but whatever. "How fast do you think we can figure this out?"

Clearly not fast enough to make them the last group Astoria brought here, if the last few days were any indication. They don't seem to be getting much done.

Maybe it seems a bit silly to ask first but it seems like something she should ask about. Or maybe she's just overthinking. Either way, she takes that nod as the permission it clearly is and pokes at the space between his hands. "I dunno. I think it's really neat." It's certainly more than she can do at the moment. "Maybe you just need more practice."

"Does a week seem fair?" Takeru isn't bored with the relative peace so much as unsettled by it. The Digital World was awful sometimes, but it always kept them on their toes and prepared. Here? He still has no idea what to expect, and it turns out that might actually be worse. He never thought he would miss the random attempts on his life, but at least with angry monsters you know where you stand. "We've only gotta find out who our real enemy is and then save pretty much every world in existence." No big deal or anything.

Once Pidge has had a chance to examine the light Takeru lets it fade, his hands dropping to his sides. "Yeah. I'm sure you'll figure yours out soon too." All kidding aside, practice is something they have plenty of time for. A couple seconds later something else occurs to him. "Oh, hey. I just realized I know your lion's name but not yours. I'm Takeru Takaishi."

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Open - All my friends are heathens

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