fableshards | shard --1

[ Hello island, here's one (1) teenager looking at you from your mirror shards. He waits a moment before admitting, ] Okay, yeah, this is kinda weird.

Hi, for those I haven't met, I'm Lance. I've got a question for basically anyone who can answer.

I know that to the North of the lake area there's snowy mountains. To the East there's a desert apparently. What's in the South and the West? Some of you woke up there, right?

And I guess follow-up from the diving adventures, anyone know if all the weird little cubes got picked up?

[ He scratches his head, a little awkward, but decides to forge on anyway. ]

Also, I learned recently that people who're here might also straight up vanish again, so I just wanted to check if the people I ran into and actually like know by name are still here. Bucky, Saber, Monika, everyone still around?

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[ If you'd rather run into him in person (or literally live with him, hi I see you) you can find him near a house that's relatively close to the lake. There's a clearing of sorts, and he's set himself up for some archery practice with a bow made out of bamboo - it's not great. Practice is slow going and frustrating. But he's going to be here periodically throughout the day, trying not to break his arrows. ]

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[ It's all a matter of context after all. It feels nice actually, having Keith spread that mud over his arm. Nice and cool. And it's actually the sensation that tips him off about what Keith is trying to say. ] That... thing. You're uh, gonna have to narrow that down for me.

[ The gesture helps too. ] Oh, the face mask? Yeah, you're right about that, they definitely make those.

[ Wait. There's something here he's trying to put together but it's not quite working yet. Something something skin, safe to apply, cooling, soothing-- nope, doesn't click yet. ] How'd you know about this?

[He nods, when Lance figures out what he means.] Yeah. It's good for the skin. [He finishes up with Lance's arm, turning after, to wash his hand on the water.

Once that's done, he cleans it on his pants and gets his glove back on. The question, when Lance makes it, hangs over his head for a while. When Keith answers, he doesn't really look at him, instead focusing on his arm again, placing the cloth over it.] My dad taught me. [His voice is a little lower than before, as he starts to roll the cloth around Lance's arm.]

Huh. [ It still hasn't quite clicked. Just... seems like a good thing to know and commit to memory, right? Mud, even the regular actual stuff that you don't buy in stores, is good for the skin.

He watches Keith wash off the rest and put his glove back on, then holds his arm back out for the makeshift bandage. What he doesn't expect is how sad Keith looks at the mention of his dad, and immediately his mind is racing to put together what he even knows about Keith's family. He met his mom. He remembers Griffin getting punched in the face for saying Keith got abandoned by his parents, which... is enough to figure out Keith's parents just weren't in the picture at all.

He figures there probably isn't any chance they'll run into Keith's dad somewhere in space.

So all he can think to say is, ] Oh.

[ And how do you come back from that? ] I see. [ There's a stupid quip there about didn't he grow up in the desert and where would there have been any water, but he can't say that anymore. ] Thanks for this.

[Lance doesn't ask anything else and Keith doesn't dwell on it either, remaining quiet and focused on what he is doing. Once all the cloth is wrapped around Lance's arm, he reaches out for the water again, using it to help glue the tip of the cloth in place for the time being. It will be easier to get the arm-protection on that way.

At the thanks, he nods, finally looking up, to meet Lance's eyes.] Sure. [And he offers him his piece of armor.]

[ That silence lingers, and Lance isn't sure he likes it that much. It feels heavy, or at least sad. He's not sure what to do with it, if there's anything to be done with it... probably not.

It gets a little easier once their eyes meet. He offers a small smile as he takes the gauntlet, carefully fitting it over the bandaged area.

And that's when it hits him, basically out of the blue: ] Wait a second, why didn't we do this with your sunburn?! [ There it is. That's the thing he was trying to think of. ]

[He takes in that small smile, eyes wandering then, to watch as Lance gets the gauntlet on. It fits nicely even without the bodysuit, and it seems secure enough. Should be good.

He is about to start moving again when Lance's question - was it a question? - comes and Keith stops, blinking. Huh?]

... [He meets his eyes again. ... Huh.] Uh. I--... [And it's his turn to scratch the back of his neck. Hm.] I-I didn't think of it.

[ The bandages help it stay in place. Also, sometimes Lance wonders if there's some Altean magic at work with how well the armor fits, but that's neither here nor there.

He's falling into step with Keith as he starts moving, but he's frowning at him pretty hard right now either way. ] How did you not think of that? ... Okay scratch that, you were in pretty bad shape. But dude. [ You were in pain for days. And here he is with a bit of a scrape. Lance sighs. ] I guess I better remember stuff like this in the future, huh?

[The frown Keith gets only makes him frown in return.] It's not like I did that on purpose! [Okay? He just. Yeah. Exactly. He was in a pretty bad shape, and even when he wasn't anymore, it just... didn't cross his mind. He was focused on other things.

...

At the last of Lance's words though, Keith snorts.]

I... guess? [And he looks away towards the house, arms moving to cross over his chest again. Honestly? He hopes it won't be needed.] It's not a big deal.

[ He was in pretty bad shape. Lance should probably cut him some kind of slack here. And he does, it's just...

He frowns again as Keith looks away, not sure what to make of the gesture. All closed off, suddenly. He lifts his hand to put on Keith's shoulder, but reconsiders and lowers it again. He looks down. ] I just wish I could've helped you, is all.

[ But-- well.

He gets a move on, walking towards his bow and arrows. ] Anyway, let's try this set-up.

shard --1

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