Victory Road IC Inbox

[pidge_out]

 


Hey, it's Pidge. Can't answer right now-- Rover quit it! --so leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can.
Rover, what did I say--?!?!

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[pidge_out]

[She drops her hands down into her lap as soon as Shiro starts helping out, frowning at the mess of tangles. Pidge missing coffee is a given; missing Lance's fancy conditioner is a surprise.]

Technically green tea has higher caffeine than most coffee, so you'd think that would do the trick. [She makes a face though. Because it doesn't.]

Even on the castleship we had some kind of coffee supplement. We're going to die out here. Coffeeless.

[shiro2hero]

If it's even actually green tea.

[Pidge, how do you - how do you have this many tangles? How is this physically possible?]

We're not going to die... we just... need to hydrate. And maybe chew tea leaves.

[pidge_out]

[That earns Shiro an odd look. Somewhere between surprised and utterly confused. Because honestly... in her caffeine-less daze she hadn't even considered that particular possibility.] You think the green tea isn't real??

[Pidge would be seconds away from just flopping over dramatically with a frustrated groan, but Shiro has a hold on her rat-nest hair (enjoy that, Shiro. she hasn't had hair this long in years for a reason). So she can't. But that groan comes out of her anyway, loud and drawn out.]

That's the worst alternative I've ever heard. I hate it. There has to be something else we can use.

[shiro2hero]

Well... the berries aren't any kind we're used to, right? I just wonder if the tea leaves are the same too.

[He's really got his whole right hand in there, working the brush free. And then trying to carefully ease it through her hair. Maybe he should go grab Allura for this...]

If there is, I'm not allowed near the cooking pits to find it.

[pidge_out]

[Shiro can probably see the moment Pidge's eyes go unfocused while she considers this.] ...Huh. And the only real way we can figure that out here is by trial and error.

[She gets snapped back into the present when she winces at a particular tug in her hair. Even as gentle as Shiro is being, her hair is being particularly unforgiving at the moment.]

Maybe if we all beg Hunk for caffeine together, he'll magically find a solution faster.

[shiro2hero]

Pidge, if you want to run around eating berries and leaves... Just remember we don't have pokemon centers here.

[He's mostly teasing. But pauses as soon as she winces:] Sorry. You've got it bad.

[The bedhead, he means.]

Too bad we can't use the pokemon to help.

[pidge_out]

[Her expression drops into something more deadpan, giving Shiro a kind of side-eye from beneath the mess of tangled, matted hair. Don't tease her right now, Shiro. She has no coffee to revitalize herself with, and--]

If Lance can't make his fancy conditioner here, I'm getting rid of it. [The hair, that is.]

Yeah, they wouldn't exactly be able to tell us if it tastes like coffee.

[shiro2hero]

Well... you could. I'm sure Keith's found a knife somewhere. You could pull off another Garrison Gambit.

[He's just going to roll with this. If Pidge really wants to - he couldn't even stop her if he tried.]

Or if it has caffeine. Best we can do is painkillers and hydrate.

[pidge_out]

[She raises an eyebrow at that suggestion, even as she carefully files that little tidbit away for future consideration.] ...I think I'll wait until we can engineer some scissors.

[That shouldn't be hard, right?]

[Pidge then groans in frustration, wiping a hand down her face as if that might magically help them out.] That's not the same. And we don't even know if these painkillers are made out of the same stuff we're used to. We could be exacerbating the problem!

[shiro2hero]

They have to have scissors... they cut their hair here, don't they?

[When were scissors invented anyways? Maybe they could just meet a friendly Scyther.]

[Shiro has to freeze at what he's doing when Pidge moves.] Easy -

How would a different painkiller make things worse? Genuine question.

[pidge_out]

[Pidge's brow furrows for a second. She needs to check her mental database, please hold.]

...They should have scissors here, then. [And then she promptly puts one hand out, palm facing upward as if asking for the tool in question.] Give.

[But at least she's obediently going back to staying still, closing her eyes with a sigh.]

I'm about 80% sure that because our bodies aren't used to being on the diet that the locals here are on, ingesting something without knowing what exactly is in it could have adverse effects on us. On the other hand, everything here is organically made and nothing is processed, which ideally should be fine long term. We just have no real way of knowing with a minimal margin of error.

[shiro2hero]

... Pidge, I don't ... have any on hand.

[Unless you want him to try and use his robot hand and the brush. That's what he has right now. What do you want him to do with that.]

[But when she goes still, he goes back to work. There - that's one tangle down.] This is why I don't wear my hair longer...

[And then silence, while he listens.]

So we could be at risk of getting sick from what we're eating here? Or - when we get back?

[pidge_out]

[Her hand drops back down into her lap, and Pidge is absolutely not pouting. She just needs caffeine. Stat.]

This is why I wasn't sure if I should let it grow back out. [It's been too long. She traded any hair care knowledge she had for more useful things. Like fighting Galra and raising Pokémon.] ..But Lance wanted to see it, so...

[Lance. Him and her stupid soft spot for him.]

Well, I mean... Like I said, I'm only 80% sure. There's always the possibility that whatever power brought us all back in time in the first place has made it so we won't get sick from just existing.

[shiro2hero]

Is it always this bad? When it's long? [Another moment of pause, brushing. Detangling with his fingers.] Maybe my memory's gone - [Har har.] But I don't remember hearing about you having hair trouble...

[On the subject of Lance:] You know he'd understand if you needed to cut it again.

Well, it hasn't done much for our coffee need. So... I'm not sure if I want to trust it that much.