Last Video. UN: ilikehorses

[shoplifter]

... I am back in town. 

[It had been longer than she planned, really. She had a lot of things to think about — after all the harm she'd done, even if it wasn't her will to do it... It left a lot of room for uncertainty. Fear and panic for those she cared about. Part of her wondered if it would just be better, to stay out there like some little hermit child. It left room to think, though, about her time here. She's so much different, isn't she? Not in blinding ways. But she would like to hope that she's... improved. Became something bigger and better than the girl in the small cell, back in Mexico City.]

I'm back in school, too. People like Strange would be upset if I played 'hooky' anymore, even with them gone. I will — keep trying. To live like a person, to be someone. I think it is important to the people before me. It does not change what has happened... any of it. But it is making something for later, I think. That is what I've settled for, in my head.

To be better. And to not be what I was made for; I want to... think about things I can be... when I am older.

[She fidgets with the old, raggedy strap of her backpack, considerate. There's no limit of hesitancy to her voice, but even so—]

Is there something... You think changed for you? As a person?

After staying here.

Is there something you would still like to change?

... Maybe we can work on things together.

[She hopes, in the end, that it'll be enough to make her father proud of her.]

Comments

un: TheStrandInstitute

[nobasisinfact]

Career-wise, no. Personally, there has been quite a bit.

[shoplifter]

What sort of things?

[Obviously, you must be open about sharing these things, yes? :)]

[nobasisinfact]

Nothing of note in particular.

[Totally doesn't want to talk about it.]

[shoplifter]

... There has been quite a bit, but also nothing in particular?

[Is she smirking a little behind her chewed nail? Never.]

[nobasisinfact]

Both can be equally true.

[11calls]

I'm glad you felt you're ready to come back. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?

[shoplifter]

[Alex, you know she can't turn down a free meal.

But maybe she should at least pretend to play hard to ge-]

Sí, sí! What are you making?

[Nevermind, she's easy.]

[11calls]

I'm not making anything, and you should be really glad for it.

[There's a laugh in her voice, but Alex means it. She burns toast. Three times in one day once.]

I think it's beef stew that he started this morning. It's definitely long-cooked whatever it is.

[shoplifter]

Está bien, I would probably burn things, too. [Linda burns stuff sometimes, too, bless her heart. Laura hasn't dared trespass on her tradition of forgetting she's cooking and almost burning the complex down.] That sounds nice. I will even use a spoon this time.

[11calls]

There's nothing wrong with burning things. Sometimes anyway. [Yeah, there's an audible laugh in her voice before she chirps:]

Good! Any requests for desserts? I can grab some on my way home.

video; un: yakyuu.luvr

[yakyuuman]

I think I became a bit more responsible? This is the first time I got to keep a job for longer than a week, or... lived alone, too.

[ A sigh. ]

Not sure if those changes will stick once I go back home, but that's something I can only find out if I decide to leave.

video; un: yakyuu.luvr

[shoplifter]

Responsibility is important.

... Not for most things, but. For some, it's important.

[She cocks her head to the side, studying him in earnest through the feed.]

It is the first time you've lived alone?

[yakyuuman]

[ He nods, rubbing the back of his head. ]

Lived with my family, even shared a futon with my brothers every night!

Sleeping alone for the first time was a nightmare... that's why I set up that slumber party, you know?

[shoplifter]

... I see. I remember that night.

[The night of the booger-eating. She won't forget it, being able to make someone else happy.]

I was used to sleeping in a cell alone; it is strange, to share a big room with so many now.

[yakyuuman]

... I see we've got it in reverse, huh?

[ He's not touching the bit about cells because that's quite messed up. ]

Was it hard to have so much company all of a sudden?

video; un: finn

[bythehand]

A lot's changed for me here. Yeah. I've just been trying to live like a person, too. Now I know what it feels like.

[ Having a place that feels like home. Building a life with friends and a job and a really dumb-looking pet fish and stuff. Very easily at the top of the list of things about being stuck here that are good. ]

It's good that you're gonna keep trying. I think trying's one of the best things you can decide to do. You're a person even when you're on your own. Pretty important to make sure you choose for yourself.

video;

[shoplifter]

[Laura nods in solidarity. If there's anyone here she trusts to understand her feelings, it'd be Finn for sure. Because as much as she understands and relates to the superpowered and mutants here... he gets what it's like, to be a prisoner to someone else's cause. He knows what it's like, to taste freedom — and to know how daunting and scary it can be, and sometimes for such mundane reasons.]

As long as you keep trying, I will, too.

voice: un: ragnarsdottir

[like_quicksilver]

I've had to rely more on myself. That's good, right? [She wasn't entirely sure.]

It's good you're back in school. Camping was fun, but I think it's best we go back. [Of course, she would support her friend as much as she needed it, but it was still nice to have her back.]

[She took a closer look at the strap.] You also could use a new backpack.

voice:

[shoplifter]

[She considers the backpack with a thoughtful curl of a smile growing on her lips.]

Maybe... I like when things are worn down, though.

It makes it feel like it belongs to you.

Re: voice:

[like_quicksilver]

Then atleast let me repair it for you. It looks like it might fall apart at any moment otherwise.

[She's rather handy with a needle and thread. In school, word got out that she made her costume, and some girls are even asking her to make garments for them-for a price of course.]

voice:

[shoplifter]

You would like to?

[She's not surprised, per se. Gyda is a kind girl, after all.

But it is nice to hear such a thing from a friend, anyway.]

[ video ]

[tempredmental]

Welcome back.

[He considered her question for a moment.]

I think, there's always something we can change. We might not know what it is right away, but it's not a bad thing to always strive to be a better person, right?

But, here? I was able to find a connection to people. Back home, too, to some extent, but... yeah. I have Lola here. I didn't have her back home. She helped me find another side to myself... something I never thought I'd have before.

Right now... I do still need to get home... but, I think that's okay, too. Maybe I'll be able to come back here someday. I think that would be nice.

[ video ]

[shoplifter]

[She smiles a little.]

It is nice, isn't it? To have connections...

I had some, before, but we were not... allowed to be ourselves. We do not know each other as well as we should, for how long we lived with each other.

Re: [ video ]

[tempredmental]

[Keith couldn't help but smile slightly in return. He nodded.]

It is. [Sometimes, he wondered if he'd still be that loner kid in the desert if it hadn't been for Voltron helping him connect with others back home, or coming to Riverview and finding a way to connect with people without Voltron's help.]

You have the chance to change that here. It's good you want to. [Not even gonna lie... but Keith did worry about Laura. After all, his first meeting with her had been him trying to help get her out of being in trouble for shoplifting. There were obviously a ton of other issues she had that he didn't, but the troubled kid stealing thing? He'd known that spot all too well and extremely personally, and it had spurred him to keep an eye on her. She deserved to get the chance he'd been given to get away from that.]

[ video ]

[shoplifter]

[A nod, considering his words with some weighty silence.]

Because it means I am not just a thing.

[That was the important part, wasn't it?

To not be a weapon, to not be used.]