nysalogs | Slow me down

[The second dart looks so much like it's going for the gold that she can't help the disappointed noise when it bounces right off of the wooden board behind it.

She leans in, giving him a (slightly worried) smile, holding Blue that much tighter,]

What is the human saying, third time is the winner?

[Oh NO. Lance hears that disappointed sound like it's thunder. He glances briefly in her direction, looking a little stern. Really, he's starting to get irritated as a matter of personal pride. Rigged or not, he's the sharpshooter of their team and he's got a reputation to live up to, damn it.]

No, the phrase is "third time's the charm."

[...Just don't ask him why the phrase is that because he's got no clue there.]

And there's about to be a heckuva lot of charming around here, so get ready.

[The problem, he's decided, is that he's overthinking the hell out of this. There's nothing getting in between this dart and a popped balloon. It's fate, it's destiny, the stars have aligned to make it so, etc. Give him a second to wind his arm up, draw it back and let dart #3 fly.

By some miracle, and we really mean miracle because rng sure wasn't on his side for this, this one pops a balloon with, nice and clean. For a moment, even Lance seems surprised by this.]

[The balloon pops, and it’s the sound of victory.]

You did it!

[Allura’s face brightens and, maybe she was expecting the worst, because she’s so excited by the unexpected victory that she crossing the short space between them and catches Lance up in a full body hug, enough to pick him up off of the ground. Meanwhile the proprietor seems to deflate, and there’s a halfhearted sort of congratulatory spiel as he slouches against the back counter of the booth.

Setting him back on the ground, she turns to pick up the blue lion, looking deep in it’s button eyes,]

I will need to think of a name for him.

[It should have occurred to him to be offended by how surprised Allura seems by this, but the truth is that he's equally as surprised as she is, and the grin that splits his face in two when she throws her arms around him is one of pure delight. But it isn't until she lifts him up bodily that he laughs, light and carefree.]

Woah!

[His arms wrap around her shoulders, clinging a little while his feet are in the air. Gosh, this is like every dumb little daydream about getting swept off his feet by the universe's most amazing princess coming true.... and it takes him another moment before realizing his feet are back in contact with the ground and that he should probably let go.]

Any name you'd pick out would be perfect, Allura. [Just be glad he's still too dazed to make that super obvious 'purrrrfect'pun....

He steps back, still smiling, still giddy as all hell, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.]

... man I wish I knew sooner that something like this would make you this happy.

Edited 2019-01-10 23:26 (UTC)

[Her eyes are on the plush doll, face in deep concentration over the name, and largely missing the heat in Lance’s face when they break from the hug. A name…

The last bit seems to pull her out of it, and she looks up, a sheepish smile tugging at her lips.] I have never had a prize won for me at a festival before. Well, I have never been to a festival like this before at all.

[Most of the ones hosted by Olympia or Wyver involved a lot of drinking and carousing. And-]

I’m having fun.

[Ah. She’s feeling a little bit warm. Tucking the large stuffed animal under an arm, she turns towards the blinking lights of the Ferris Wheel nearby.]

In any case, now that we have this, shall we continue?

[His eyes widen in surprise hearing that. Allura's never been to a carnival before? There've been so many festivals and the like that are hosted here that this is a little unexpected, but he's also not complaining. Allura's first carnival and she came with him. It's not a date -- of course it isn't, but he wants this to be a good first for her. God knows there've been lots of awful moments at Nysa.]

Hold up. Lemme grab a picture of you two cuties first!

[He whips out the phone, angling the camera juuuuust right to get the perfect shot. He adds with a more earnest smile:]

That way you'll have something more than just a memory to look back on.

Edited 2019-01-21 06:08 (UTC)

Oh!

[She looks a little surprised when he pulls out the camera, and there's a moment that she stands up a little straighter, smiling, but right before Lance can snap the perfect picture, she starts, as if just thinking of something.]

Wait- But you need to be in the picture as well!

[And she'll have no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They came here together and the memory wouldn't be right if it didn't include the both of them. Looping the plush in one hand, she strides forward, taking Lance by the elbow and pulling him to stand next to her. Much better.]

Can you still take a picture like this?

[.... oh. Oh. So they're taking the picture like this now? It only takes Lance a second before he laughs in earnest.]

I sure can!

[Allura is, after all, talking to a sharpshooter, the grandmaster of stealth and the patron saint of selfies. He's quite the multitalented fellow, Lance is.]

I'll just do one of these-- [Translation: Raise his arm at what is a very practiced angle.] aaaand say cheese!

[And of course in true pro selfie fashion, he takes three pictures so they can choose their favorite one from the bunch. He lowers his arm, holding the phone between them for them to look.]

Oh man. I'm keeping all of these.

[Even the one where Allura and him both got caught mid-blink because that's just..,,, oddly endearing.]

[In true selfie fashion, she leans in close so that they can both be in the picture, one arm propping up the lion plush so that it's also “looking” at the camera, and her other arm looping through Lance's elbow. For lack of a better place to put it, but also because it felt right.

When the pictures are finished, she takes a step away, but leans in to look at the pictures as he swipes through, laughing at the one where her eyes are half shut. But they're nice. They both look happy. And there's something about the multicolored glow of the festival lights around them that makes the picture seem even more dream-like.

She smiles, stepping away.]

Now we will both have a souvenir from our evening.

[With her hand still loosely hooked on Lance's elbow, she starts pulling him along once again.]

Are you ready to go?

[Lance catches her eye as she tugs on his arm, and his heart skips a beat. He's always felt so lucky to have Allura as his friend, but this is a little more than just feeling lucky to be able to share a happy moment together. She's so beautiful, always has been, but she's so much more than that. She's the most courageous, giving and wonderful person he's ever known an in his heart of hearts, he knows there's a good chance that he could live an entire lifetime and never meet another person as special as Allura.... and more than anything else, he wants her to be happy.

And maybe he wants to just tell her how important she is to him, but it's such a strange thing to say in response to her question that he has to laugh at himself a little and shake the thought from his mind.]

More than ready! If this is your first carnival, we can't just stand around all day, we gotta try everything there is to offer!

[Keeping their arms linked, Lance starts walking along with her towards the ferris wheel line. Luckily, it's not too long and there are only a few people ahead of them. He fills in the wait with more enthused chatter.]

We gotta do all the classics like whack-a-mole! Oh! And we gotta try and find you some cotton candy. It's not a carnival until you've had some good old sugar to top it all off.

Edited 2019-01-25 06:44 (UTC)

[She’s smiling, listening to him chatter. She’s not sure why they need to whack any moles or how they made candy out of cotton, but she’s happy letting him fill the space between them with his enthusiasm. It’s always been like this between them, and as much as sometimes it could get a little overwhelming, she wouldn’t trade it for anything else. There was something inherently comforting about moments like these, walking arm-in-arm, listening to his excited chatter and letting herself enjoy the moment in all of its simplicity.

It was something she’d missed dearly in the time that they were apart, something that she’d taken for granted, the easy way they could talk, how naturally Lance could pull her out of her own head. She wasn’t sure if he realized it, but she considered his positive influence was just as much the heart of Voltron as anything else.]

Perhaps at the next game I can win you a prize- or maybe if we go back to the balloon game we can get a second lion- Oh, we’re moving!

[It doesn’t take long at all for them to reach the front of the line, and she releases Lance’s arm when the carnival worker opens the gate for the next open basket on the ride. The whole thing wobbles a little when she steps on, and she gives a little woah, before sitting down, setting the lion in her lap and offering her hand to help Lance up next.]

[That gets a fresh burst of laughter as he takes Allura's hand and steps into the small compartment.]

Oh man, if you won me a prize, I'd treasure it forever and ever.

[He takes a seat, and the attendant closes the gate.]

Not that I don't already do that when it comes to you - [Uh. wait. This is getting real cheesy for talking to a friend -- ABORT. He rubs the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.] Heh.

[Yeah, just "heh." Real. Real smooth transition there, Lance. But he's spared a little because the ride begins to move and their basket swings a little as they move up into the air.]

Woah, alright we're heading into the sky! Bet the view's really something up on the top of the world.

[Allura gets quiet when Lance turns up the cheese, and she can feel a tightness to her chest as she turns away, in a show of appreciating the view (which was just slightly-above-ground-level tents and trees at this point). It’s not the first time she’s felt like this, not even the first time this night, and she’s not obtuse enough not to realize what it is she’s feeling — she felt it in the moment that her mice told her about Lance’s true feelings, in the relief of seeing him on El Nysa and a dozen times in between.

But that doesn’t make it any less complicated.

She’s quiet for a bit, fiddling with the plush lion in her lap while she thinks. Abruptly, without looking at him,]

Lance, back home, do you remember… a conversation that you had with the mice?

[Being trapped on a ferris wheel is the perfect time to bring up vague awkward feelings. (And a great time to forget that their memories might not exactly match up.)]

Edited 2019-02-04 22:57 (UTC)

Slow me down

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this is too cute I'm dying

im also dying...

this thread is so cute ;_;

all our threads are murder

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