03 ✨ video

[lioness_rampant]

[ Hello, Network! Have one alien princess with a Pachirisu draped around her shoulders. She's out shopping, looking a little bemused in front of a sign featuring lacy pink and red heart designs. ]

Could someone please explain to me what Valentine's Day is? And what are these? [ She points at the poster behind her. ] Someone said they're hearts. Human hearts don't actually look like this, do they?


[SCREENED to: Pidge!]

[ This portion is a separate video screened to Pidge, because Allura has further questions and is a little too shy to ask them publicly. She's clearly in a department store, surrounded by racks of lacy garments. ]

Pidge, I don't suppose I could ask for your advice?

Comments

[lioness_rampant]

Theater! I haven't been to a performance in quite a long time. Best of luck to you! I've never had to audition before--I'm certain it must be nerve-wracking.

[ As Lust begins to explain what corsets are, Allura hums and nods in understanding. Looking over to the display, her eyes seem to light up with curiosity. ]

Oh, I see! How fascinating! Humans really are quite interesting, aren't they?

[ She laughs a little sheepishly when she realizes how that sounds--everyone from this world is human, though she's aware that there may be others like her who only appear to be so, in passing. ]

That is to say, my people never needed to develop such a garment, as we all have natural shape-shifting abilities.

[a_sin_for_him]

The theater scene in Ecruteak is unparalleled. The dance theater in particular, I highly encourage you to visit. But I imagine auditions aren't any more nerve wracking than trapeze work.

[And they'd performed without a net, that was half the appeal.]

They certainly are. And quite creative.

[Lust just offers a small knowing smile. She supposes she's more human than anything else at this point, it's been so many years now, but...she's still adjusting, in so many ways.]

Really? My brother was a shapeshifter back home.

[lioness_rampant]

Maybe I can could convince Keith to come with me to a performance.

[ The comment is spoken more to herself than anything. It'd have to be after Valentine's Day, of course, and maybe then only once they'd returned from their Kanto journey, but she imagines it wouldn't take much convincing.

Her brows arch at Lust's comment, but she smiles with open interest. ]

Truly? Then you're not human, either?

[a_sin_for_him]

Not quite. Close enough, I suppose, I don't look any different than I did back home. But different enough that humanity has been...an experience.

[Of varying degrees, but she likes to think she more or less has the hang of it these days.]

It's a shock, isn't it? Waking up here like this.

[lioness_rampant]

[ Saying it was a shock is putting it mildly. Allura should have been effectively dead, her essence spread across every reality so that they could continue to exist. How and why she appeared here is an incredible mystery... and an incredible gift. She's been given another chance to truly live, and she's not wasting it.

She doesn't say any of that, of course. ]

It's a shock, yes, but a pleasant one for me. Many of my closest friends are here, and... my special someone, too.

[ She smiles softly. ]

My species are quite similar to humans, phenotypically. [ With a small wave, she gestures to her pointed ears, and the the pink shade of her pupils. ] With a few exceptions, of course. In relative terms, I only recently met a group of humans for the first time, but I've learned a great deal about their culture since then.

[a_sin_for_him]

I understand that sentiment. I have family here, as well, and I've met my special someone here.

[Her current one, at least. The one that came back to her, even after all this time.]

I honestly don't know how I would have managed, if my brother hadn't already been here. He came and got me immediately. We were both well familiar with humans, though, before coming here. I even lived among them, sometimes.

[In a manner of speaking.]

[lioness_rampant]

It was the same for me. As soon as I arrived, Shiro came and picked me up. I'm incredibly fortunate to have been among friends this entire time. I like to think that I could have muddled along on my own if I'd needed to... but I'm glad I didn't need to.

[ Honestly, though, where are her manners? With a slight bow of her head, she introduces herself. ]

I'm Allura of Altea.

[a_sin_for_him]

Oh, you're friends with Shiro? So am I. He's a very kind man, I spent the last summer in his attic.

[It had been a rather pleasant get away. And more financially sound than staying in a hotel for two months.]

I'm Lust. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[lioness_rampant]

He is very kind, indeed. Shiro is one of my dearest friends. He and the others woke me from ten thousand years of cryogenic sleep. I'll always be indebted to them.

You were at the tower, weren't you? When Necrozma attacked.

[a_sin_for_him]

That...certainly sounds like an ordeal.

[To put it politely.]

Yes, I was. Which was also quite an ordeal. But...those things happen, sometimes. We always rise to the challenge, and we always will.

[lioness_rampant]

It was.

[ And it isn't really the kind of story you share with someone over lacy bustiers. ]

I myself am quite pleased that particular debacle is over. I arrived back in October, and there were Ultrabeasts everywhere. I've grown fond of a few of them, admittedly, but some of them were ... rather destructive.