businessinfront | IC INBOX

Really? Not even at the Garrison?

[ Because it's Lance, Keith's defenses go up automatically. Maybe it was an innocent question. Maybe the implication, that's weird, is all in Keith's head. Still, he frowns. ]

Yeah, that's why I went to flight school.

Well, no, obviously not. But we still had downtime. Hunk and I threw movie parties all the time in our dorm.

I missed the invite.

It wasn't like we had a guest list...

I wouldn't have gone anyway.

[ But instead of letting that linger and get taken the wrong way (it was me, not you, stupid), he makes a conversational U-turn. ]

... I like mysteries, I guess. Not like— Sherlock Holmes stuff or whatever, but, like, action... mystery? You know what I mean, [ he says,
sounding somewhere between annoyed and accusatory, like it's Lance's fault that he doesn't know the word for that and now he sounds like an idiot. ]

[ Too late, he's taking it that way anyway, his face falling to a frown that's bordering on hurt. Luckily, Keith continuing gives him something else to focus on. ]

...Huh. I think there's probably a bunch of movies we'd both like. That's pretty similar to what I'm into.

[ And that frown just makes him feel guilty, which is... frustrating. Keith is a lot of unflattering things, but he doesn't want to be an asshole. It just seems to come naturally around Lance, like some kind of inevitable, explosive chemical reaction. ]

... What about documentaries?

[ Lance wrinkles his nose, thinking of dozens of boring documentaries he'd watched (or goofed off through) in school. ]

...What kind of documentaries?

The kind you learn stuff from! What's wrong with that?

Some of them are super boring. But I guess if it was something I wanted to know more about anyway...

Well, yeah! I don't watch the boring ones! They're boring!

Well, what are some of the ones you like about?

[ Olive branch. Olive branch. You can do this, Keith. ]

History. Places. Unexplained events. That stuff. Not facts and dates and names, I always hated that, but...

... I like learning things most people don't know about.

Okay, yeah, that actually sounds pretty cool when you put it that way.

[ He grins, but then a thought occurs to him. ]

...You think anybody would make an unexplained events documentary about us? I mean, obviously it'll get explained when we get back to Earth, but we did kinda vanish mysteriously and all that.

They probably covered it up. If anyone's talking about it, it's not mainstream.

So, you think we're part of somebody's conspiracy theories?

Sure. Three students can't just go missing without anyone asking questions. Even if they made up some insane story like you guys all died in a training accident or something, there's someone out there who knows that's BS.

Especially since we all disappeared right after some mysterious crash. Oh man, I bet we have websites devoted to us! That's awesome.

...Except, maybe not the part where they said we all died. That's— That part's definitely not cool.

[ He can't imagine what his family must be thinking, all this time. He called his mom at least once a week, every week, since he started at the Garrison. He can't think about what his family must be going through, having his disappearance covered up with some awful lies... or worse, the truth. ]

[ Keith feels an awful, sudden pang of guilt, mixed with a touch of something much more ugly than that — something he immediately pushes down as far as he can. There's nothing to envy about having someone back home worried sick, or mourning you. He knows too well how that feels, and being the cause of it... that would be unthinkable. ]

It was just an example...

[ It's a poor, awkward cover-up and he knows it. As though the specifics matter. ]

...Yeah. Yeah, you're right, that's probably not what happened anyway. Even if they don't have any idea how to do it, they gotta be at least trying to look for us, right? My abuela would hitchhike all the way to the Garrison base and personally yell at every officer herself if that's what it took.

[ It's obvious Lance doesn't actually believe any of this, but he has to convince himself that's what's happening. The alternatives are too much for him to think about. ]

[ He can hear that high, frightened edge slipping into Lance's voice, and it makes him itch to fix it. But there's nothing to fight except the cold, inescapable truth of the situation, and Keith can't do a single thing about that. Keith's never been one for denial, and he knows he's a terrible liar. "Are you all right" is a joke, and the last thing Lance needs is a reason to think his self-appointed rival feels sorry for him.

Someone else would know what to say. Keith doesn't have a clue. ]

... Stubbornness runs in the family, huh?

[ There's a tense moment where Lance is too caught up in his head to respond, but the moment breaks with Lance's almost embarrassed laughter. ]

Uh, yeah. You could say that.

[ That's better. That's improvement. ]

I figured. Guys like you don't come out of thin air.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject