matt holt (encrypting) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-11-14 20:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, matt holt, pidge gunderson |
WHO: the Holts (Matt & Katie/Pidge)
WHAT: finding their family home here
WHEN: last Thursday night
WHERE: their house
WARNINGS: nah
Pidge had expected to have enough time to find their housing, to deposit her belongings, and to return for Matt before he was released from quarantine. She had not expected to be so right that there was a wait. With the windows and what not, conversation had been an option to speed up the waiting process, but Pidge bounced from foot to foot, too excited to interact with Matt before physically pulling him out of the facility was an option.
It was a nice facility, an excellent facility, very much a place Pidge would like to work to gain access to its science. She sighed again at the way everyone had eyed her and a couple guards still were. Child labor laws were not meant to interfere with the advance of science.
All that could wait for later, as the timer on Pidge’s watch hit zero. She looked expectantly at the people around until Matt was out of the door, at which point Pidge grabbed his hand, “uh huhed” past everyone she needed to and dragged him out of the facility they had both talked about him working at. That would still happen (later).
A repeat (round three honestly) of transportation later, she continued hauling him down a street toward the house she had found. Found because it should not have existed in Tumbleweed, TX, much less in the year 2017, much less… There were plenty more questions for later, but Pidge grinned back at Matt, having pulled him down the same side of the street as the house. “You have got to see it, Matt,” Pidge repeated and began running the last few houses and across the yard toward the front door, brother still in tow.
--
Quarantine went quickly and slowly at the same time. Quickly because there was plenty to do - Matt didn’t even make much progress on his multiverse map because he kept getting distracted by researching questions about the universe he was currently in. And slowly, because everything moved so fast while at war in space, and his adrenaline was so much lower than it had been in… he couldn’t even remember how long.
He felt relaxed. Almost… dare he think it… safe. Earth, even though it wasn’t his, was an exceptionally comforting planet that he had begun to think he would never see again. A selfish part of him already wanted to stay.
Despite his perception of time being somewhat off, time nevertheless proceeded at a normal pace and his quarantine eventually ended. He knew Pidge was getting out before him, and was expecting her to show up to see him as soon as he got out. He was fully intending to hug her, but was not entirely surprised when she simply grabbed his hand and dragged him out. He followed willingly, grinning to himself.
“See what?” Matt asked, but then, two seconds later, he saw it. “Oh, man.”
Their house. Their home, from their Earth. It was sitting on the wrong street, in the wrong place, wrong universe, and yet it looked so very right. Matt glanced down at the paperwork the military had given him and then back up at the address. This was where they had sent him to stay.
He didn’t have words for how much it affected him to see it again. “Oh, man.”
--
Pidge stared at Matt, rather than the house; she had already run through it, set her stuff down in her room, and rummaged through a few drawers, in the whole few minutes she had spent in the house. But Matt’s reaction, it mattered more to him. And she felt so glad to bring him home, where his stuff was still in his room and where he had stuff that was fully his (that space base hadn’t looked that homey; the robe had been the coziest part of it!), where he had willingly left for months, yes, but not for years.
“Yeah,” Pidge grinned, “It doesn’t just look like our house. It really is our house.” She tugged again, pushing the door open almost before her free hand turned the handle. “It has our photos,” she pointed to the wall (they were better than the door, doors not having held the best moments for her in the last year or so), so she just kept moving further into the house, announcing each room until they reached Matt’s room.
“It’s got pretty much everything,” she said. Pidge had checked his closet, which was missing exactly the same outfits she had taken, including the one she’d worn into space for the first time. So, that said when the house was from. Possibly even the same day as them, as long as it had been since either of them had seen it. Pidge had left her room fairly neat, so she couldn’t say for sure whether their mom had cleaned it up. “Welcome home,” she shrugged.
--
“Oh, wow.”
Matt felt like he was in a daze. It was one thing to be back on Earth, which was familiar and homey enough already. It was another thing to be back in his home, where he’d lived with his parents and his sister and their dog. He half expected to see his mother, or even his father, although his father was here less often. Neither of them appeared, of course, but the house itself spoke volumes. It looked as lived in as he remembered. Shoes and jackets and pictures from the people who lived here, including him. It was wonderful to see pictures of Katie and their parents. It was weird to see pictures of himself, young and idealistic and dreaming of the stars. He’d had no idea how much was out there, how big the universe actually was.
And until now, he’d had no idea how big the multiverse actually was. It was amazing, really, to be constantly surprised by how little he actually knew.
When they reached his room, he moved inside and sat down on the bed, looking around him. It was odd to look down at himself and see his brown rebel robe next to his childhood bedding.
“Man, I missed this place,” he said. And then, with a slight grin, “Have you been up on the roof yet?”
--
She leaned back on his desk, watching Matt. That was something she had wanted for so long - to see Matt home, to see him where he’d supposed to have been, where she had been able to imagine him. It felt as good as Pidge had expected. Even without their mom, without their dad, without the Garrison nearby and everything else they knew, it was still so right. It was why she hadn’t gone home with Shiro or to where Keith and Lance had abandoned.
“Just peeked my head out,” Pidge shrugged. Just part of checking the house for authenticity. “Wasn’t really much time to do anything here.” And it hadn’t meant nearly as much without him in it yet. That echoed memories she had not focused on. They had been steps toward finding Matt, steps toward where they were, so they weren’t wholly bad. But she wanted more than those memories, the good ones and the bad. That was still sinking in, making new ones.
“Can’t see the stars yet, but do you want to go up?” They could see the sun go down, the moon come up and the stars, slowly. How quickly could he settle? Pidge wanted him to. Even as she wasn’t quite sure she’d do the same, yet. Not while their dad was still missing.
--
There was definitely a part of Matt that wanted to settle. It was a surprisingly big part, considering how the last time he’d been here, he’d spent all his time wanting to leave. Not because he disliked it here, but because he was so fixated on going out into space, following his dad’s footsteps into the stars. And boy, had he gotten what he’d wished for - he’d ended up farther out in the universe than he’d ever dreamed.
But he had always expected to come back. Their father always came back between missions. He would have come back from Kerberos with all their samples, and they would have studied them here on Earth, and told Katie all about their findings, even if it probably would have been classified and she was technically a civilian. Or, had been a civilian. She was definitely not a civilian anymore.
He had gotten used to it, but there had been times, especially at the beginning, when he’d just felt so small and scared and homesick. He had learned to hide that down deep, but the feeling hadn’t entirely disappeared. His fingers rubbed absentmindedly over the cloth of his blanket.
He was a little reluctant to leave this room immediately, even though it had been his own suggestion. But he also wanted to see the roof, to sit on it next to his sister. That seemed like it would be the most normal, homey thing that they could do.
“Yes,” he answered, “I do.”
He got back up to his feet and moved towards her, briefly pulling her into a one-armed hug - since she had finally slowed down enough for him to do that.
--
She hugged him back, breathed him in (stinkier than he’d usually been at home but nothing like asteroid hermit Matt), and pulled back to lead the way outside. That felt as regular as Matt’s old sweatshirt (in her closet, she had seen), even as they climbed the steep grade of the roof. Pidge sat near the top, where they had an excellent view of the whole town. But her eyes looked upward. Sky still looked like sky, desert sky that promised stars once the planet turned away from the sun.
“It surprised me, the house showing up, but ever since the Castle of Lions blasted off of Arus it’s become not nearly as shocking for a building to change location,” she said, laughing a little at the image of their house flying through space. The walls were nowhere near vacuum tight, but she liked it, imagining their dog there, their mom, the whole family exploring space and saving the galaxy. It felt perfect.
--
Matt followed her outside onto the roof, and sat down beside her. Whenever they’d done this before, he normally would have had a computer or a book in his lap, but right now he had neither. His tablet was in his pocket, but he didn’t draw it out, instead pulling his knees up almost to his chest and resting his arms on them, elbows folded and forearms stacked over both knees.
“I thought an alternate universe was the last thing left that could surprise me,” he said, with a slight smile. “But ending up back on Earth and in - or on,” he winked at her, “Our house is the biggest surprise of all.”
He glanced at the sky, but for once, he was more interested in taking in the planet around him. Tumbleweed wasn’t much to look at, but it was so obviously an Earth city, inhabited by humans, that he couldn’t help admiring it anyway. He hadn’t given much thought to the differences between other planets and Earth before; they were just all new and foreign and he’d needed to find his way around them. But now he considered how their particular sun lit the sky, the way that humans had built their homes, formed their cities in a way that was unique from any other planet’s civilization that he’d seen. It was also comforting to know that between Earths, those general things didn’t change too much.
He had expected to be blown away by all the new things he’d seen in space. He hadn’t expected that he would come back and see everything on his home planet with entirely new eyes.
--
For a minute Pidge just sat there, looking up while Matt looked out and around. Her eyes came down because he looked across the town. It certainly was earth, humans. Pidge had seen a hundred different ways to build houses, towns, and cities, built of any number of supplies (even trees and lumber weren’t the same on other planets), so it certainly was human and earthly. Yeah, there was more in common with their home than not, if she looked at it that way.
Her head leaned against his shoulder, if anything higher than the last time they had sat here (she had grown, but he hadn’t stopped in his absence). It was easy, almost, to forget about everything else, everything they had to do, and just be glad together, the two of them. When she had left their house, she had planned to drag him back to it. And now she had. Sooner than expected, but Pidge smiled. “Not going to have to do laundry nearly as often here,” she laughed. There had been pajamas, slippers included, and a few other things for them, on the castle. But they’d all had limited options there too. “Think I’ve forgotten what having a whole closet is like.”
--
Matt’s arm went around his sister when she leaned against him. He’d been so damn happy to see her again, even if part of him had also been afraid for her, especially because of the bounty hunter that had shown up two seconds later. Of course, it had become immediately apparent that she could handle herself better than he could, and was a part of the most powerful team on their side of the war, a powerful force for good. He’d always believed in her. It was amazing to see her realizing her full potential. Even more amazing to be a part of it with her.
He was grateful for the chance to be here so that he could sit and reflect on that. Grateful to be able to recognize it for what it was - something temporary - so that he could appreciate it properly.
He laughed. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to wear normal clothes.”
--
“Wearing armor, a jet pack, feels normal,” Pidge retorted. Sure, no one had paid too close of attention through town, but it had looked out of place for her part. On other planets, as a part of Voltron, a paladin, it had felt normal to look and to dress differently than everyone else. Part of who they were. But with humans all around, it wasn’t normal. No one here was jetting off into space. Even the Garrison usually had only had uniforms. As unusual a place as this was, even with the references she had seen to an incident with Gremlins, it felt more peaceful than any moment in space had. So sure, jeans, t-shirts, some large sweatshirt at night.
It was going to be… different not to be interrupted every couple quintants by a Galra plot or distress call. They were always traveling, too, either with the castle or in their lions. Keith and Lance showed that was still possible, but Pidge had no reason to take the bus to California. So, yeah, it was going to be more “normal.” A new one. “We could get you a poncho, if you wanted to keep this look.”
--
Matt laughed. “Maybe on rainy days. And hey - it’s going to snow soon. I could probably get away with wearing my robe when it does.”
He was kind of looking forward to wearing shirts and jeans again. He also suspected it was going to feel a little strange. He couldn’t quite step back into the shoes of the Matt Holt who’d lived here, who’d never been to space. A part of him wanted to try, just because it was home and it was safe. But he had promised himself not to be a coward, to be the person that saved others, not the person who needed saving. Would it be so bad if he let himself settle back into his old life just a little bit, though?
--
“Many more planets than I expected don’t get precipitation,” Pidge laughed. Perhaps it wouldn’t have always been water or safe, but then many planets didn’t obey to the logic of roundness and spheredom. Their physical understanding of the universe had expanded, and science had some catching up to do.
But this one did. And they could wear ponchos or simply use umbrellas. With snow, it was likely back to layers. Warm as her armor could be (hey it operated in space!), she liked layers and thick sweaters too. Earth wasn’t a bad place to be. “We have options,” Pidge said. “Though, you might have outgrown some of your clothes. You’re a lot taller now.” Not a problem she had.
--
“I guess you’ll have to wear them instead,” Matt said, amused. He looked down at himself again, at his longer legs. “I’m not sure where this growth spurt came from. Space food or lower gravity or something.”
He stretched out on the roof, finally, and folded his arms behind his head to look up at the sky. It was just starting to show some sunset colors. He thought that he wouldn’t mind staying out here until the sun had set and the stars had come out.
Maybe he’d just stay out here all night. Frankly, this roof felt more like many of the places he’d slept recently than his childhood bed did.
--
It was just as well he suggested she wear them. Pidge had already stolen part of his closet (he hadn’t needed it), so she could inherit the rest. “Perhaps I’ll grow in five years or so,” Pidge suggested. She hadn’t had a growth spurt pretty much ever. Grown, yes, as there were marks on the wall to testify to it. But it had always been slow, unfelt like the rotation beneath their feet. Five years felt forever away, mostly because of the uncertainty about what would happen between now and then, but presumably, if she didn’t die, she stood a chance of getting taller.
If it were genetics. Space food and less time in gravity had not helped her out any.
But none of that helped her grow now, so she leaned back next to him, glad to have the evening sky above them. It grew dark early in autumn, so it was a good time for stargazing. “I didn’t think we’d come back here so soon,” Pidge said simply. The Castle’s maps had earth; they knew where home was. It simply hadn’t been a priority. And for good reason.
--
“I think you’re perfect as you are,” Matt told her, and he meant it. Pidge was small, but strong, and she had clearly done just fine for herself without needing to be any taller. She was a paladin of Voltron and savior of their universe. He wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up being a savior of this universe too. With a portal open between universes, it wouldn’t be long before something went wrong.
He grew quieter when she changed the subject. Matt had not expected to be back here so soon either. “Technically we’re not back where we started,” he pointed out, not that he expected her to need the clarification. “But if this Earth overlaps with ours… it’s closer than I expected to get.”
--
“Mm,” Pidge agreed. In the large scope of things, the vast distance away they were (with some variation, certainly, but that variation was larger than the circumference of the earth at the equator), they were back where they started. Wrong spot on the earth. But even without the lions or other spacecraft, they could get wherever they wanted to on this planet, with just a little effort. So, other than being in an alternate reality, it was close enough.
And she hadn’t committed any crimes in this reality. She grinned as she thought about that. What the Garrison didn’t know didn’t hurt them. Possibly, they hadn’t even figured out Pidge Gunderson was Katie Holt. She had planned to leave earth one day, from the get go.
Her head turned toward Matt as it caught up to the last part of his sentence. “Even after I found you?” She had plenty to accomplish before ever going home, and Pidge hadn’t entirely thought through what she would do if they all got done, but… going home, together, had been a possibility. If Voltron weren’t needed, if they had also found Dad, if that’s what Matt and Dad had wanted to do…
--
Matt turned his head to look at her, curious. Somehow, he hadn’t expected taking him home to be a part of Pidge’s plans, although now that she said it, it did make sense. He knew she had been looking for him, but she had just as much responsibility - if not more - to the rebellion. If there were a time when he might get to go home, he’d expected it to be when the war against the Galra was over, one way or another. Although if it didn’t go in their favor, the odds of either of them surviving were pretty slim.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I wanted to come back. I just didn’t think my chances were very high. They did get higher when you found me.” He paused. “But then we were both still fighting the war. And we haven’t found out what happened to Dad.”
--
He wanted to; that was enough for Pidge to make it happen. Some day. Not right away but some day. When it didn’t mean letting the Galra win. When they had found Dad. He certainly was likely to make that go faster. But someday. Goal accomplished? She wondered. But not really. It was close, but it wasn’t close enough. They had to get back, get him back, in their reality. Fortunately she was used to long difficult to do lists.
“We have a break from the war now,” Pidge replied, “We do still need to find Dad. But we’ll do it.” Just like that. Even with everything depending on it. Even though she had nearly died more times than she could count before even finding him and one time, so far, afterward. She smiled at him, to reassure him. This home, close as it was, was only a stepping block.
--
“Yeah,” Matt agreed. “We will.”
It seemed much more possible to him now that he was reunited with his sister. Not just that, but reunited with his sister who was a paladin of Voltron. The rebels had ships, but whether one of them would have made it back to Earth, if he could have found Earth, he didn’t know. And he had tried to find his father, but he didn’t have the same kind of resources she did. He had been fighting almost every day just to stay ahead of the bounty hunters.
But things had changed. He had started to allow himself to feel a little more hopeful. Knowing that the mission against Naxzela had been a success made him hope even a little bit more. Maybe they could win the war, find their father, and they could all go home.
They had to get out of this universe and back to their own first, of course - but they could start worrying about that tomorrow. Matt had a feeling tonight was going to be his most restful sleep in years.