Masks

Lance

Set before the group encounters Matt.

Lance looks at the container of... mask stuff Coran has just handed him. "No way – it's really the same thing masks are made of?"

"As far as the Castle can tell, within a thousandth of a percent of accuracy," Coran confirms, already tidying up the area around the replicator, the model of efficiency, "Never seen anything like it, but it's a match – could be a compound native strictly to Earth."

"Maybe," Lance allows looking at the fine, powdery white stuff, "Would you be able to make more of it? There's not a lot here."

The Altean frowns, considering, "Technically, yes, since the computer has the recipe for it now, but practically speaking it's got some pretty fancy materials in it. We used up the last of the unobtanium making that lot, and it was hard to get even before the Galra were running everything!"

"Mmm," Lance nods, glances at Coran, does a quick scan of the room, then slides his mask over his face and takes a calculated step, "Better make sure nothing happens to it, then – though it'd be pretty funny if-"

He never finishes the sentence. Mostly because at that moment Coran turns and, not realizing until far too late that Lance has moved directly into his blind spot, crashes into him full tilt, and the two of them are pretty close in the height department, but Lance is seventeen and still growing, whereas Coran is both fully grown and an adept warrior. In an amazing flail of limbs, Lance goes down hard, catching an elbow and a foot on two separate cables, yanking on the replicator and causing worrisome levels of sparking and smoke, the container of mask stuff flying out of his hands and straight into one of the vents where it shatters just in time for the room's filtration system to kick in full tilt, sucking out all the potentially harmful fumes and every single grain of mask stuff. By the time Coran has staggered up, wheezing due to the fact that his solar plexus had made very firm contact with Lance's knee on the way down, the computers are rebooting, the newly-input data on masks gone up in smoke, and Lance's mask is on the side of his head like it never moved.

When it comes to comedy, it's all about timing. It had been nerve-wracking enough to risk having that formula in the first place, because... being able to fabricate masks on a whim? Um, ew?!? But at the same time... they're in a war, and, even now, masks still get lost or broken in battle sometimes. Back on Earth this is slightly less of a problem – there's always the potential to find a new one and ways to mend one that's been broken, but here in space...? No so likely. And with the way Shiro had been before he found his new mask by accident... it makes Lance sick to think of any of them going through that, especially the idea of Shiro going through it twice and this time with no spare on hand.

And that's when it came to him. Wouldn't it be funny if there were a way to make it so masks could form here in the Castle as well? That would be hilarious, especially since science still isn't sure how they form in the first place. He has no idea if this will work – comedy can be surprisingly tricky to work with at times, especially if you're going for a really specific outcome – but he's done his best. Now only time will tell if the joke's on him or the universe.

OoOoOoOoO

As many people have pointed out, if you sit down and look, Lance is actually pretty good at coming up with solid plans. Do they all work? No, but he has a good head on his shoulders, and we all know he's a worrier. Will this work? Dunno, haven't decided yet. But Lance wanted to at least try, so I decided to let him. Coran's never gonna get a chance to re-enter that data on masks, though, funnily enough. ;)

Fun fact - Lance is actually the most knowledgeable of the group on the subject of masks, their meanings, and their uses.