[ text | un: keith - fail anon ]

[tempredmental]

[So, not being the tech genius that Pidge is, Keith's attempt at making this an anonymous text kind of failed... So, have fun, guys.]

So how do you apologize to your girlfriend for walking in on her in the bathtub?

Comments

[angewiesen]

Nah, I mean with the same girl.

We were in the military together. Sometimes you just have to strip down for some reason or another. To treat a wound, or jump in the creek for a bath...

[tempredmental]

Oh... yeah. Well, I mean, that's different, I guess. I dunno. I mean, we did the quick change thing with Voltron a few times, and all that, but it just never really registered back then, I guess.

Maybe because the relationship was different at the time.

[angewiesen]

I can get that. I was such a prick when I was in training, I wouldn't be surprised if someone would rather have eaten shit than date me back then.

[tempredmental]

[Keith blinked, staring at the message for a second. Was this guy him?]

Yeah. That was definitely a thing. [He rubbed the back of his neck.] I wasn't exactly the best teammate.

[angewiesen]

[Keith, do not compare yourself to this asshole. At least you're usually not purposefully antagonistic.]

The training back home was kinda biased towards high-flying aces rather than teamwork, but... Yeah, most of that was on me. I didn't turn my act around for real until it was kind of too late.

[tempredmental]

[No. That job went to Lance.]

Too late...? [That sounded ominous.]

HOLY SHIT I'M SORRY I MISSED THIS

[angewiesen]

My best friend died in our first real battle. I didn't even see how it happened, I just found his half eaten corpse once the dust had settled.

It's been years, and the hurt's healed over, but it's still a regret. You can't really let go of that kind of thing.

No worries!

[tempredmental]

[Oh. Okay. Yeah. Just as ominous as it sounded then. Keith frowned a bit, but then nodded in something akin to sympathy. He would just... not really acknowledge the graphic description...]

No. You really can't.

[Honestly, Keith was glad he could get to know Thace and Ulaz here. He hadn't back home before... well, not half-eaten, but they were definitely 'not around' anymore. Same for Regris.]

[angewiesen]

It sounds like you've got an idea of how that works. Are you military too?

[tempredmental]

[Keith huffed a little.]

I guess. I never really considered myself to be, but... yeah. I guess I am.

[Voltron counted. The Garrison counted. The Blades counted. So, sure... Keith could be considered military. Just maybe different kinds depending on which particular group was being talked about. The Blades were more guerilla warfare and special operations. Voltron was a small elite team for special missions. The Garrison was a bit more traditional, with larger teams and the formal structure, even if they dressed it up to sound like they were going to be 'explorers' and not 'soldiers'.]

[angewiesen]

You guess?

It's not supposed to be a vague term.

[tempredmental]

It more depends on what you consider the groups I was a part of to be. [He shrugged.] I never really thought about it before, but... The Galaxy Garrison had all the makings of the military, but they called themselves space explorers. Still, they basically ended up being a military group when Sendak and his army came to Earth and attacked.

There's also Voltron. We fought battles, and did different kinds of missions, but we had no real military structure other than having a team leader and a second, since there were only five of us. Seven, if you count having two support people. But we weren't like an army or anything.

And, it was kind of like that when I was with the Blade of Marmora. That was an undercover group of operatives working secretly to take down the Galra Empire. There was a loose structure of mission and team leaders, and then there's the leader of the whole group... And we also fought and did missions and stuff. But it was all in secret and we really didn't have anything formal. It was easier to deny something existed if you had less structure for people to take notice of.

[angewiesen]

The Garrison definitely sounds like a branch of some kind of military. But after that... Maybe you were a kind of mercenary? Or part of a special task force?

{The idea of being a part of a group of destined heroes has not and will never occur to Jean.]

[tempredmental]

Probably both. [He shrugged a little. After all, he supposed the Blades could kind of be considered either one or the other. Voltron was more a special task force type situation. Neither exactly got paid.] Either way, I've got experience with fighting in battles, so I guess that's where I'm going with it.

[angewiesen]

Yeah. Feels like we've got a lot in common.

[tempredmental]

Yeah... I've noticed that with a few people I've met here.