Larmina wasn't paying attention to the movie, but Daniel's reactions to it. He was providing her entertainment and, more important, distraction at the moment. Technically, she was supposed to be on duty in the Control Room with Vince, but she had begged out of it after learning it involved something going on with Lance and her Aunt Allura. She had been doing a pretty good job of avoiding them in person since the kitchen incident, but it was completely impossible not to hear about what they were doing with the whole castle talking. The last thing she wanted to hear about was her aunt's sex life; that was just wrong.
"Oh, that is so what Voltron would sound like if he talked!" Daniel suddenly exclaimed.
She shook her head. It was hard to believe he could be so into the old movie about sentient transforming robots from the collection that Hunk had brought him from Earth. She had tried to explain that this was just silly, considering they spent every single day around a giant robot, in addition to a smaller one of their own. He had given her a look that clearly said she was missing something vitally important. At least now she knew where he'd come up with the idea of calling Awesometron 'Voltronimus Prime.'
She decided to try one last time. "Okay, the car chases and stuff are cool, but I just don't see why you like this! Can't we go back to one of those movies with the sword fighting? Now that was cool."
"While I won't deny that sword fighting is pretty cool…" he trailed off as the door opened. "Vince! Explain to Larmina why this is an awesome movie."
She looked toward him, ready to argue with whatever he came out with, but decided against it. "Wow, Vince. You look like King Alfor just popped in on you in the bathroom!"
"That may have been less weird." He held up his Voltcom to show them a new addition.
Larmina pretended not to notice how Daniel's eyes lit up. "Is that…?"
Vince nodded, still looking shocked. "Red Lion's key. Lance can't fly for something like the next week."
"Why not?"
"There's some kind of problem with Lance, Allura and their Lions. Larmina, you're going to be in Blue."
"Stupid leg," Daniel groused. "You guys are going to get solo time in the Lions while I'm stuck here with my leg tied in a torture brace."
Larmina shrugged; she would have been fine with him getting his own Lion key. "At least they didn't have to amputate."
"Gee, thanks. Now I feel so much better." He rolled his eyes and turned up the volume on the movie. "Can we get back to this? This is the good part."
"You keep saying that, but I still haven't seen why…"
"Hey, Larmina," Vince interrupted her. "You're Arusian."
"Um, duh?"
"Well, I just figured you'd know something about bonding, right?"
"Bonding?" She laughed derisively. "Have you been reading old Arusian romances? Between those and this dumb movie, it's amazing you two have any higher brain function."
"What? No! It's just that there's some neurologist lady here using Lance and Allura as lab rats to study bonding. I was just wondering if you knew what…"
Larmina shot out of her chair, drawing a cry from Daniel as she bumped his injured leg in her haste. "They're bonding?"
"Uh, that's what they said. They've got some kind of telepathic connection going and it was really screwing with the Lions."
"This is insane! They…they can't!" She realized that she was holding her staff and deactivated her Voltcom. That was a habit she really needed to work on. "Aunt Allura and Lance just can't!"
Daniel was shaking his head in a bemused way. "It's funny, because before I met everyone, I always assumed it would be Keith dating Allura. I mean, leader of the Voltron Force and the ruler of Arus? That just made sense."
"They're not dating!"
She saw Daniel and Vince exchange a look. Daniel said, "Well, it may not be dating, but they sure sound like they're together. I have to congratulate Lance next time he comes to visit."
"Don't be disgusting."
"What? He deserves it! Allura is hot!"
"If you don't stop it now, I'm going to break your other leg."
"Come on, Larmina. It's not like she's that much older than we are. What, like six or seven years?"
"It's not about that! She's my aunt. And the Crown Princess of Arus! The heir to the throne! She's not allowed to do things like this! Coran is gonna be so mad when he finds out."
Daniel still didn't seem to understand how serious this was, any more than she got his giant robot movie. "Can you imagine how annoying Lance would be as king? I mean, he's bad enough as a flight instructor, but King Lance?"
"You have to admit it has a nice ring to it." Larmina snapped her head around to see Lance smirking from the door of Daniel's room. Aunt Allura was standing behind him, looking no less amused. "Although I'd hate for us to get ahead of ourselves."
She lost her temper, reactivating the staff from her Voltcom. "Why not? If you're bonding with Aunt Allura you're obviously going to marry her. Then what?"
Lance seemed unfazed by her anger. "And then they lived happily ever after?"
"This is…you can't…" she trailed off in sputtering anger, giving her staff a threatening spin.
"Larmina, could I speak with you for a moment?"
She deactivated her staff based solely on her aunt's commanding tone. "Sorry," she muttered, edging past a still smiling Lance in the doorway. She could hear him laughing with Daniel and Vince as she walked away, which only made her madder. Her staff was in her hand again when she walked through the door of the waiting room they'd occupied while Daniel had been in surgery.
Aunt Allura had her arms folded and was standing in the center of the room, projecting that regal aura Larmina never wanted to copy; every attempt she'd made in front of the mirror in her room had been a total failure anyway. She had never even tried the voice that went with it, which she was hearing now. "Well. Should I be armed as well?"
Larmina scowled, but once again deactivated her staff. "I'm not calling him Uncle Lance."
"Fair enough." She uncrossed her arms and sat down on one of the sofas, again becoming just Aunt Allura. "First, I need to apologize to you. Lance and I were not behaving appropriately in the kitchen the other night and I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."
"Oh." She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Okay. Right."
"Secondly, I need to…"
"Oh, no. I do not need to hear about how when a man and a woman love each other very much, they…"
"Larmina…"
"I mean, I know you're bonding and that's a big deal, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about…"
"Could you behave like a lady and not a spoiled child for a moment?" Aunt Allura was holding out her key to the Blue Lion. "I suppose you've heard that I can't fly Blue while Lance and I are bonding."
"Oh. This is just for a few days, right?"
"Hopefully."
Larmina pushed the key into her Voltcom. She was unable to hold her tongue, though. "Did you know that this king on Earth a couple hundred years ago married a commoner and they made him abdicate the throne?"
"So?"
"So? SO? Lance isn't exactly a prince! What if you have to abdicate? You know who's next in line, don't you?"
Aunt Allura laughed – actually laughed! "Is that what you're worried about?"
"If you marry Lance and can't be crowned queen…Aunt Allura, I don't want to be queen! It's bad enough being Lady Larmina! I mean, I get that diplomacy is important, but I still say the wrong thing and…can you imagine how many planets would be in line to attack Arus if I were in charge? I'd totally kick all their asses, but…"
"Larmina, do you know what the best thing about being the sole heir to the throne is?"
"Um, what?"
"No one can argue with you once you've made a decision." She walked out with a wink and a smirk.
Larmina felt a little strange as she watched her walk out of the infirmary hand in hand with Lance a moment later, saying something about a waterfall. She glanced at the key, newly added to her Voltcom. "If anyone tries to make this permanent, I'm breaking my own leg," she muttered to herself before returning to Daniel and Vince.
Daniel gave her a triumphant look. "Lance agrees with us that this is an awesome movie."
She rolled her eyes. "Boys are so stupid. I have no idea what Aunt Allura sees in one of you."