-
.
Aliens were real.
Zarkon would have ever believed it, but it was hard not to do when you had been taken prisoner by them, and now you’re tied up to a table and examined by people that weren’t Galra: no purple skin, no fur, not pointed ears and fangs, and while sclera instead of yellow.
They’re scaring. Zarkon was just a pilot – fine, the best of the Daibazaal Academy, but his aim was to be remembered as the first one outside the solar system of his planet, not… the first to due for an unwanted alien first contact. He wondered where his two comrades have been taken.
“The quintessence levels are low,” one of the men talked, and Zakon started, surprised he could understand them now. Did they do something to his ears? His brain?
Another voice, hoarser, came through the comms. “Throw him to the pit.”
Turned out, the pit was a gladiator arena, where the prisoner considered not worthy enough fought for their life and for the entertainment of Terrans. They said ‘fight’, but Zarkon understood it was more a unilateral massacre.
The prisoners – Zarkon joined a group of very different aliens coming from all the corner of the universe, all captured by the Terrans – were common people, not fighter. They weren’t trained, and they had only a weak sword to attack and defend himself, where their opponent was a huge Terran, with a full body armor, a shield a very large axe.
None of them should stand a chance.
But if there was something Zarkon had is his stubbornness. Galra as a race were proud people, the kind that wouldn’t face death without a fight. Victory or death was the motto of the ancient Galra, when they were divided in different tribes.
Zarkon proved to be the rightful heir of his ancestor, fighting like a yellmore with tooth and nails, and there was a feral cruelty in him when he finally pierced his opponent’s neck with his word. H was a Terran, after all, and Zarkon wasn’t very friendly with them at the moment.
The entire arena was cheering him when he took off the sword and a sprinkle of blood erupted from the dead body. The same aliens that had captured him and forced him in a deadly match were now his fan. It was sick.
Zarkon looked around, and the audience around him, and he spotted it. He walked a little towards him to check better, but he wasn’t sure to be mistaken. All the stands are uncovered, but there was a special spot with a canopy, dark curtains cover it entirely, and a person sat there in a comfortable armchair.
He didn’t know much about of the Terran Empire worked, but that person was definitely important, more than the others around. With a swift movement, he throws his bloody sword towards the person. The sword flew through the air, and the person didn’t move at all.
The scream of triumph died in Zarkon’s throat has the sword was cut in half, and then to piece rolled on the opposite side and hit the bench. It was a red cloaked figure, now standing next to the dark curtains, a white energy sword in his hand. Zarkon couldn’t see his face, but he has the impression the figure was looking at him with rage.
The person stood up and appeared in the light. He was a broad Terran, with a square jaw and a scar over his nose. The glint of a metal arm caught Zarkon’s eyes, but more of it was the man’s look: bright yellow eyes observed the surrounding, impassible.
The entire arena falls silent, and all the Terran kneeled down at that sigh. All, but the cloaked figure.
“My Emperor! Apologize!”
Sentinels came from all the exits of the arena, and they subdued Zarkon fast, first with electrocutions that made him falling on the ground, then handcuffing both his wrists and ankles.
“We will proceed at the punishment immediately, Emperor Shirogane.”
“No,” the Emperor said. His voice was calm, warm. “I was entertained.”
Zarkon didn’t know if he should be flattened. But at least, he survived.
And surviving became Zarkon’s first priority, but he swore to get revenge on the Emperor.
The prisoners couldn’t tell much about him, just that he was a cruel and strong man, who conquered the entire universe and he lived for many centuries. They knew even less about the cloaked figure, only that he was a warlock extremely loyal to the Emperor.
Zarkon decided it didn’t matter. He would fight, he would survive, and he would become stronger enough to kill them. In the meantime, he tried to make the life of everyone a little less miserable as they’re in the prison.
Everyone respect him, even if all of them died at the end of the day.
Suprisiling, he was a Terran that freed him after almost a year of captivity.
Doctor Hunk was a tall man, with darker skin and with kind eyes, and his skin was sagging as he’d lost a lot of weight in a very short time. Zarkon had met him a couple of time before, so he knew he was one of the only Terrans to not be obnoxious in the prisoners’ regards. But being a decent human being and freeing the Champion of the arena were two different things.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked, as they run towards the hangar.
“I’ve watching you since the first time,” Hunk said. “You’re a leader, and you’re not scared. You’re the person we were looking for, I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t have much time to explain things to you.” Hunk pushed him on the pod. “Follow the coordinates and find the Pistols of Serrano. Find Lance. He’ll know what to do.”
Even with so few information, being free was still more than Zarkon could ask for. He still feared a trap from the Terrans, maybe a strange way of entertainment, but he was outside the cell, and he could work with it.
“What about you?”
Sadness appeared on Hunk’s face. “If Keith will stil consider me a friend, maybe I’ll survive, and we’ll meet again.”
It wasn’t a trap. The Pistols of Serrano knew of his arrival, and welcame Zarkon with hospitality. For the first time in almost a year, Zarkon could have a nice shower, a comfortable bed and decent food.
The head of the Pistols was a Terran named Lance, who had a nice smile and a scar that covered the right part of his face, eyes included. Still, Zarkon had the chance of looking at him shooting, and his aim was incredible.
Lance came to him a week after Zarkon’s arrival at the base.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better.” Zarkon nodded. “Thank you for everything.”
“It’s nothing.” Lance waved his hand in the air. “But now, it’s time for explanations.”
“I was waiting for them since Hunk freed me.”
Sadness appeared on Lance’s face when Hunk was nominated. “Let’s not waste his effort.”
So Lance told Zarkon about Voltron, about how it was the only weapon able to defeat the Terran Emperor and how it worked. He told him about Altea and how it was destroyed, and how the Empire is draining quintessence from the planets in order to survive.
“In those centuries, we Pistols worked hard to find a way to defeat the Empire, and in the meantime, we hid the Lions from Shirogane. Now, it’s the moment to attack,” Lance finished his tale. “In the last years, we looked around to find pilots the Lions would accept. You are one of them.”
“Me?” He was a pilot, sure, but…
“You must pilot the Black Lion and be the leader of Voltron,” Lance continued. “Hunk had observed you in the arena, and he was sure you’re the right person. I understand this may be a little be overwhelming, but the destiny of the universe is in your hands.”
“It’s fine,” Zarkon says. It wasn’t like he could return a normal person, not after what had happened, and more than that, Galra could be in danger too. “I wanted a rematch with the Emperor so bad.” And he told Lance about his first encounter with him
Lance laughed loudly. “Now I understand why Hunk chose you!” Then, his face returned serious. “But, you made a mistake. You shouldn’t have aimed for the Emperor, but for his warlock.”
“The red cloaked figure?”
Lance nodded. “He’s the real source of the Emperor’s powers. And he’s the one we will fight.”
Zarkon met his future comrades and paladins of the Blue, Yellow and Green Lion: Trigel, Blayz and Gyrgan. There was something poetic into coming for different planets, like the entire universe if fighting against the Terrans. Then, together, they reached Arus, where the Castle of Lions were hidden together with the Lions itself.
King Alfor, the father of Voltron’s creation, was sleeping here, waiting for the day he could pilot the Red Lion. With him, slept for centuries Honerva, the greatest alchemist Altea had ever seen.
And the most beautiful woman with the most wonderful and smart eyes Zarkon has ever seen. In the span of one year and a half, Zarkon had met aliens, be taken prisoner, become a Champion, be freed to become a Defender of the Universe, and found the love of his life.
Not bad.
It was Black in the end to tell Zarkon the real story of the Emperor.
The story of the first paladins, and how Lance pilots Blue and Hunk Yellow, and how they were the first defenders.
The story of Admiral Takashi Shirogane, the golden child of Earth, and how he died to protect his planet and the entire universe from the dark entities of the rift.
The story of Keith Koh, his boyfriend, and how he took the power of those dark entities for himself because he couldn’t accept the death of his beloved.
The story of princess Allura, that died protecting Voltron from the entity’s wrath, and how she left his fiancé alone.
“You should have told me,” Zarkon faced Lance.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t talk willingly about Allura. And about what we were once.”
“Why aren’t you piloting Blue anymore?”
“None of us felt worthy anymore. Shiro was our leader, and he was no more.” Then, a sad look in his blue eyes. “I’m not doing it for revenge.”
Zarkon found an old photo in the Castle’s archive, who pictured all the old paladins. Princess Allura was there too, and they looked young and happy. Shirogane’s grey eyes were kind, warm, and Koh was looking at him with a soft, lovingly smile.
Looking at the picture, Zarkon wondered how could be able to do for Honerva’s sake. Maybe using a dark entity to revive her wasn’t so far-fetched.
“Don’t mistake it for love,” Lance advised him. “Shiro is dead. He died centuries ago. What you met it’s only a puppet Keith is controlling, because is so selfish he doomed the entire universe just to pretend Shiro is still with him. When you love someone, at a certain point you have to let her go.”
Lance had told him he wasn’t acted for revenge. The look on his eyes told a different story.
The battle was tough.
Katherine Holt, former Green Paladin and freed from the prison she’d been locked up in the past centuries, had created a system to interrupt the quintessence energy on the Terran main base. In that way, all the ships and the cruiser would be defenseless, easy victims of the resistance’s force, that usually would have been weaker.
That allowed Voltron to take care directly of Emperor Shirogane.
He was a formidable opponent, and if his armor gave him the power to contrast even Voltron, Zarkon was sure that the ability of movements and strategy it was all the Emperor’s own skill. He used to be the Black Paladin once, and it showed. No normal man could contrast Voltron like that, not even with that armor.
Zarkon wished to have meet Shirogane under better circumstances.
Lance had given them some advices about Shirogane’s strategy, and it’s only thanks to that that Voltron managed to survive long enough in the battle, until Katie’s virus started to have effect on Shirogane himself.
The armor lost his power, and Shirogane remained there, in the outside space, completely unarmed in front of Voltron. He still had his sword and his shield, and Zarkon feared it could be enough. But, after all, he was only a bait.
“The Emperor is uncovered!” Zarkon screamed in the comms. “Attack him.”
Immediately, the resistance ships turned their attention from the defenseless Terran army and turned on the Emperor. Voltron backward a little and used the Yellow Lion’s cannon to try and attack Shirogane from distance.
And at that moment, he appeared. From one of the platform of the Terran Main Base, his red cloak waves around his body with the force of his power. White thunders erupts from his finger and while they wavered around to form his sword, they hit some of the nearer resistance ships and destroyed them.
“Blazing sword,” Zarkon whispered, and Alfor on the Red Lion used his bayard to make it appear.
In the middle of the battle, Zarkon recognized Lance’s ship: despite his hatred, he respected the path and rushed towards Shirogane. Koh had his attention on that, and jumped from the platform towards the one Shirogane was in.
His back was completely defenseless. “Now!” In that moment, Voltron attacked.
But the blazing sword never hit Koh: Shirogane had noticed the attack just a moment before and, ignoring completely Lance and the others’ attack, he had moved to interfere between the blazing sword and Koh. Zarkon felt very clear the sound of the armor that broke in the space.
He falls, but Koh was fast to grab him and both of them landed on the platform. Shirogane lied down, and Koh kept crawled his body, his hood fallen to reveal the mass of black hair.
Lance was wrong. Shirogane had protected Koh.
From afar, Zarkon could distinguish the words Koh was saying, a long pile of “no, no, no” as he was losing his lover again. Shirogane lifted a hand to caress Koh’s cheek, and the gesture is intimate, sweet. Shirogane still had the yellow eyes of the terrible Emperor, but his gaze, as he looked back at Koh, is soft, not very different from the photo Zarkon had seen in the Castle of Lions.
Then, Shirogane’s head falls back, and his body went limp. Tears were on Koh’s face as he took some minutes to cry over it. Then, he stood up. Magic concentrated again in the palm of his hand and he looked directly at Voltron, blue eyes flaming with pain and anger.
And Zarkon understood they couln’t win, because they’re fighting the most powerful thing in the universe: love. -
.
It’s two days before the schedule arrival date.
Curtis doesn’t expect Takashi already in their home, sitting on the couch. The room was lim dark, and Curtis ignores the shiver he feels.
“Takashi! I didn’t expect you so early!” He closes the door and steps inside, abandoning the bag on the nearest table. “I would have pick you up and the space port. Something happen?”
Now, Takashi has always been a very private man, and also one not very prone to too much affection. He’s more practical. Yet, after almost two weeks far away from Earth for a diplomatic mission, Curtis doesn’t expect from him such coldness. Takashi hasn’t even stood up to greet him.
“Something happened,” he says.
Curtis sits down next to him and tries to pick Takashi’s hand, but he moves it away.
“What is it? Why didn’t you call me? You could have-”
“I cheated on you.”
The sentence was pronounced without an inch of regret and Curtis feels a shiver along all his body.
It’s not happening. Not to them.
“Okay,” Curtis says immediately. “Okay. It’s fine. I forgive you. I know how much alien diplomats are pushy sometimes and you’re too kind when they don’t know Earth costumes.”
Takashi releases a small chuckle. “Do you think I would have betrayed you because of a diplomatic matter?”
“Well… It doesn’t matter why. I forgive you nevertheless. We can talk about it and then be over it.”
“I didn’t tell you to ask for your forgiveness, Curtis.” Finally, Takashi turns his head to look at him. “I’m telling you because it’s the right thing, and because you need an explanation about my decision.”
“I’m listening.”
Takashi licks his lips. “I want a divorce.”
Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane was the idols of everyone.
Whe Curtis joined the Garrison, Shiro had freshly gotten his degree and was preparing for his first mission in space. They didn’t talk in that period, and later on Curtis saw him only in the brief time he was at the Garrison for helping some professors with the lessons. Like everyone, he had a crush on him, but not more than that.
Then Sendak’s attack happened, and Takashi returned to Earth even more heroic than before. He’d escaped from the Galra prisoner, he’d guided a group of cadets in an interspace war and he was back to save Earth again. He took the command of the Atlas and even turned it into a gigantic robot almost stronger than Voltron itself.
The Garrison Golden Boy became the Earth Golden Boy.
Not even in his wildest dreams Curtis hoped to be at his level. But, somehow, he was chosen to be part of the crew of the Atlas’ bridge, and worked really near Takashi himself.
When he invited Takashi to drink something after a training, he did it for joke. He definitely didn’t expect Takashi to accept, and definitely did not expect that date to be the first one of a long series. When, after just a year of dates, Takashi proposed, Curtis felt he could die of happiness.
It was fast, maybe too fast, but Curtis wasn’t going to turn down Takashi Shirogane. Curtis still saw the way everyone looked at him, diplomats and solders alike. And, in the middle of everyone, Takashi chose him.
And now he’s choosing to let him.
“Tomorrow I’ll send someone to pick my things.”
“Can we talk about it?” Curtis asks, while Takashi throws his clothes inside the boxes. He can’t stand the sight of the almost empty wardrobe. “I’m pretty sure you’re overwhelming by the all thing and you’re not thinking clearly. I can sleep on the couch tonight, if you need some space.”
“I assure you, I my mind wasn’t as clear in ages.” Takashi doesn’t stop his work, meticulously taking every object that is his own, and letting down what they bought together. “I can keep the house.”
“I don’t want this stupid house. I want you.” Rage is surfacing on Curtis’ face, and he takes a deep breath. “I know you’re sincere and prideful and everything, but why do you feel the urge to leave me so fast only for a mistake?”
“Because it wasn’t a mistake.” This time, Takashi stops and a sad smile appears on his face. “This may hurt you, but the only mistake I made in this all affair, was marring you in the first place. I’m sorry.”
He recommences his work, as Curtis stands there, frozen for the horror.
“What did I do?”
“I really don’t want to put the rhetoric it isn’t you it’s me, but it’s true. I married you out of a feeling that it was the right thing in that moment, but I was wrong.”
The fear of not being enough for the great Takashi Shirogane never leaves Curtis, but at least he hoped it would have been less painful.
“And you understood it while you were fucking another person?” he spats.
“First of all, he was fucking me,” Takashi replies, but then he has the grace to regret the remark. “And second, I didn’t cheat you just because. He was someone I’ve always loved, and I finally discovered he loved me back. That’s all.”
He blabbered some other excuses, but Curtis isn’t listening anymore.
At first, they don’t tell anyone, but Curtis’ colleagues get immediately that something is wrong between the two of them. Usually, Takashi comes with Curtis to check on the Garrison base, after all is still the Captain of the Atlas, even retired. But now they come separately, and they don’t eat together either.
Iverson is the first one to approach Curtis, and he does because Takashi asked him a room in the Garrison dormitory for the time being, until he finds a definitive solution.
“What happened?”
“Oh, nothing,” Curtis feels the need to speak with someone that isn’t one of his parents, or his sister Claudia and his husband. He doesn’t need judgement, especially from two happy married couples. “Takashi just found out he loves someone else more than me.”
“Ah.” Iverson’s expression doesn’t look as surprised as he should. Maybe Takashi told him something earlier, something different. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I need you to keep quiet about it, please.”
“Of course.”
It doesn’t have any intention to let anyone fund out is a cuckold.
But of course the press finds out soon enough, especially because Curtis made a point of not signing the divorce papers, not matter of convenient the agreement is. Takashi asked him to get married, and now he has to live with that mistake with Curtis.
Takashi avoids any interview, but he leaves a statement with the Garrison press office about how it’s true he cheated on Curtis and that he’s regretful about it, but he isn’t changing his mind about being with the man he cheated on. Curtis refuses to leave any comments on it.
The public opinion is divided. A group turn the back at Takashi, ask the Garrison to fire him (ignoring that Takashi isn’t working for the Garrison anymore) and spread poison around. Another group is convinced that the mysterious man had somehow lured Takashi (who know which magic those aliens have?) because of course Takashi Shirogane won’t never. The last group is the quieter, and they believe that Takashi needs space and if he takes that decision, he knows best for himself.
Curtis doesn’t know which group should appreciate more.
What the press doesn’t know, and doesn’t find out, is Takashi’s mysterious lover.
They investigate at the conference Takashi attended, but with not avail. All the diplomats there negate any involvement, but they may be ling to protect their position. The only person at the conference Takashi knew beforehand was Keith, and – witness says – they spend a large amount of time together.
If someone know about the man, it’s Keith. But Keith isn’t going to give away Takashi’s secrets even if it costs his life, and he isn’t even available because of some missions at the opposite corner of the universe.
So, it remains a mystery, even for Curtis, who isn’t sure he prefers to know it or not.
“I’m not telling anyone,” Takashi says. “I don’t want him in the middle of this shit.”
Pity he doesn’t give Curtis the same consideration.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Takashi announces him. He comes in Curtis’ office just for this.
“Leaving where?”
“Lance will host me at Altea, until… he will be able to join me. Then, we’ll decide together where to go. Somewhere far, for the moment.”
Curtis wants to escape too. “Good for you.”
“Will you sign the divorce papers?”
“No.”
Takashi sighs. “The only results you’ll get is to make me more unfaithful. If it’s what you want, fine. But tomorrow I’ll leaving, and that’s final.”
For months, Curtis doesn’t have news of Takashi. Even the press’ last news was on Altea, but then Takashi leaves with a Galra ship and nobody was able to locate him after. Curtis tries to not think too much about the fact that he’s spending time with his mysterious lover.
Then, Takashi returns, but this and his love affair are covered by the real important news: Princess Allura of Altea is back. After years of researches conduct by the Paladins and the Altea and Galra Accademy, she’s finally able to return to a physical, human form.
Curtis doesn’t try to contact Takashi, even if he sees him often at Allura’s side, sometimes alone, sometimes with Keith as Daibazaal’s diplomat. The mysterious man is nowhere to be seen.
The months that follow that event are full, especially for Curtis that works as a communicator officer at the Garrison. It’s a happy time, too busy to even think, and people around all the universe are happy to have the princess back. Allura herself takes a long time to settle back in her life.
Still, the divorce papers remain unsigned on his desk.
When the situation calm down after Allura’s return, the Government of Altea decides to make a festival and a national holiday to celebrate her return. Curtis, as a member of the Atlas’ crew that fight in the war against Honerva, he’s invited to it alongside many of his old colleagues.
He still tries to avoid Takashi has much as he can. Rationally, he knows he didn’t do anything bad, and that it’s entirely possible to have a civil conversation with him. But he looks at him once and he sees him so happy and it’s suddenly hard to realize he isn’t happy with him anymore.
Luckily, the guests at the dinner are too many for someone to see his disappearance, especially because Alteans don’t know how to organize a party with tables. And they trust people so much they don’t even have sentinels around the palace. Curtis reaches the internal garden of the palace, enlightened only by the two moons of Altea.
Yet, in the mid light, he spots the female figure bended next to a flower bed.
“Princess Allura,” he exhales. He saw her many times on the Atlas, but they hadn’t never spoke.
She stands up and turns at him. “They sent you to call me?”
“Actually, uhm, no. I just need a break.”
“Me too.” Her gaze follows the line of the juniberries. “I’m happy to be back, but it’s a little bit overwhelming sometimes. The others mean well, but I need space and time.”
“I’m pretty sure they understand.” Curtis listened to Veronica about Lance’s plan for letting Allura rest as much as she needs.
He leans his hand forwards. “I’m Curtis,” and then, in a surge of pettiness, he adds, “Shiro’s husband.”
“Pleasure.” Allura shakes his hand, then tilts her head a little. “Husband… then you should be worried, because I just saw Shiro and Keith making up in the upper terrace.”
Curtis pales, and she chuckles a little. “Apologize. Lance told me about the divorce.”
“Ah.” He should probably apologize, but then he realizes. “Keith?”
“I can’t believe nobody else realized it,” she scoffs. “But, to your defense, you didn’t see what I did.”
“What?”
“Before we returned to Earth, Shiro was… sick,” she says. “She was dying, and not even my alchemy can do anything for it. And then… Keith just pleaded him to not leave him, and Shiro… recovered immediately.” She smiles softly. “I thought they would kiss there and then, but maybe Keith didn’t want in front of his mother.”
“I didn’t know…”
Of course, legends and tail about the Black and the Red Paladins spread around after the Earth war, but they were mostly about how Takashi guided Keith into becoming the leader of Voltron, as a mentor, or a big brother. Most people at the Garrison remembered the time Keith was a cadet and Takashi took him under his wing with the purpose of making him his hair as the new big Garrison pilot.
And even the Paladins seems to consider them just close friends, the kind you find once in your life, someone you love but you’re not in love with. They all, Curtis included, interpreted Keith’s glare at the wedding as Keith’s protectives over Shiro. The type, ‘I’m going to kill you if you ever make Takashi sad’ kind of thing.
But now little things come on Curtis’ mind.
The way Takashi’s mood improved every time Keith called after a mission.
The way Takashi always managed to put Keith in any conversations.
The way Takashi thought about Keith first in every occasion.
The fact that, with the except of their honeymoon, Keith has always come for every vacation they took, even if for just a couple of days.
They’ve been so blind. Curtis has fought with the ghost of the relationship with Keith – a relationship he can’t top, not matter how much he tries – for all his marriage life, and he doesn’t even norice.
Probably Takashi himself has been blind all this time, Curtis realizes, remembering his words after the affair.
“If I would have been there, maybe I would be able to settle things between them before you ended up in the middle, and I’m sorry for this.” Her tone is quiet. “But if there’s a thing I’ve learned, is that Keith is always able to bring Shiro back.”
The terrace is on the upper side of the palace, but it isn’t dedicated to the party. A perfect way to have an affair in, a dark place no one will attend. Curtis is relief Takashi and Keith aren’t making up when he arrives.
He doesn’t come near. He watches them by far, the way Keith’s fingers rub Shiro’s metal arm, and the way Takashi is keeping his hand on Keith’s back. Their gazes are soft, the lips curled into sweet smiles, almost hidden. There is an intimacy between them that looks almost magic.
And in that moment Curtis understands he has been the lover all along.
The first thing after returning home is to sign the divorce papers. -
.
A blue light flashes in the control room of the Atlas, and then a cosmic wolf appears inside along with Shiro and Keith. The room is empty, dark.
Shiro reaches for the seat Veronica occupies. “Here it is,” he exclaims satisfied, lifting in front of him his datapad. “I completely forgot that I had Veronica taking it for making some upgrades.” He turns to Keith. “Sorry if we had to come back just for it.”
“No big deal,” Keith shrugs. “And you need it to work.”
“Kosmo, please, can you bring it to our hotel room?” Shiro asks to the wolf, that without a bling takes gently the datapad between his two fang and disappears in the air.
Keith lifts an eyebrow. “How do we come back now?”
“We are at the space port now, and the ambassador had been so nice to prepare to hoverbikes just for us at one of the hangar.” Shiro smiles and comes near Keith. He puts his hand on his hips, as Keith’s lips turns into a smile. “I was reserved them from tomorrow, but since we have to came back we may take advantage of it.”
“Oh?” Keith purrs, and his hands are already on the buttons of Shiro’s uniform. “A warmer-up at the beginning of the holiday?”
“Why not?” Shiro replies, and he kisses Keith neck. “The meeting the the Vahal’s ambassadors went incredible well.” Another kiss. “The planet is flourish and they accept to host us for a little while,” kiss on the cheek, “as we wait for the Daibazaal representatives to come.” Kiss on the mouth. “We have a couple of days off, and I have every intention to take full advantage of it.”
“And you also give every one of the crew the days off,” Keith adds. Shiro’s jacked is almost pulled off, and Shiro’s prosthetic hand is working on Keith’s belt. “Which mean we’re alone in here.”
They stop talking altogether, their mouths too focus on finding any free space on the free skin to kiss, and their hands too focused on taking off as much clothes at once.
Then, the lights of the room turn on. Shiro and Keith froze on the spot, hand always one in another. The high hissing of the metal door indicates someone is about to enter in the room. They realize immediately they won’t have the time to make themselves decent in front of whoever is going to be.
“Here,” Shiro nods as he keeps pulling up his pants.
There is a panel behind Veronica’s seat, with a space it was once used for caves, but it is now empty after the improving of Atlas’ technology. Shiro divests the cave and pushes Keith inside, before following him and putting back the panel to cover them entirely.
The space is little, and breathing is hard, and it’s even hard being so near and not touching each other, but hopefully they won’t stay there for long.
***
The entire Atlas crew has left the ship to taking their place at the hotel it was reserved for them. Including, of course, the Captain and the Leader of Voltron, that were the first one to leave, in the morning, since they have a meeting with the ambassadors no one else was invited. They brought their suit with them, so they had no reason to be back for at least two days.
It was the ideal moment for the secret meeting she organized.
But, just to be sure, she decided to choose as place for the meeting the control room: even if someone will come back, it will probably for the dormitory, or the hangar. The Atlas will be decked there for two days, and no one else has access to it.
The guests take seats around the room, some of the chairs, some directly to the panel on in the ground. As the organizer, Veronica stands on the Captain’s usual spot.
“We all know why I reunite you here,” she starts. “And, Pidge, I would like you to appreciate the fact that I asked Sam and Coleen to not attend it.”
“Ugh,” she’s her only response.
“The same goes with you, Princess. I distracted Coran with something with Slav about catching a yellomore.”
“Thank you very much,” Allura exhales.
“Hey, what about me?” Lance asks. “We’re going to talk about it and you’re my sister.”
“Big sister. So, if you want to leave, that’s the door.”
He crosses his arms, annoyed. “No. I’ll stay. I need to vent.”
“We’re not here to vent,” she reminds him. “We’re here to resolve the age-old problem about the sex life of our Captain and the Leader of Voltron. For this reason, I invited Kolivan in advance.”
“I don’t really want to be here,” he says. “But unfortunately I was victim of the situation too, and I will be glat it won’t happen again. I miss Keith’s stunts in the blade, to be honest.”
“So, Kolivan, can you tell us something about Galra’s sex life?” Veronica ignores his complains. “We’re trying to understand if there is a correlation between Kogane’s biology and his necessity to jump on the Captain at every hour.”
“Galra puberty hits around thirty decaphoebs old,” Kolivan starts, voice and face impassible. “But Galra’s most fertile period is around eighty and one hundred decaphoebs, after what the Galra is considered an adult.”
“Keith isn’t so old!” Lance complains.
“Using a conversion system between the Galra system and the Terran one, and considering the different life span between Galra and Terran, I consider Keith’s most accurate fertile period being between twenty-five and thirty,” Pidge comments.
Lance pains. “It just started!”
“I want to be precise,” Kolivan adds. “You Terran seems to considerate Galra very similar to those fluffy creatures you called cat. But we don’t have heats in which we’re urge to make sex with one another. We’re just more incline to remain pregnant for women, and have a little refractory period for men.”
Veronica starts to think it wasn’t such a good idea invited Kolivan: hearing him talking about those things with that serious expression was embarrassing.
“The short refractory period may explain why they have sex so often,” Princess Allura murmurs.
“That’s true,” James comments, and Veronica feels some envy in his voice. “But I don’t feel fair to attribute all the guilt to Keith. We have photographic proves that the Captain is often the one to initiate some intimacy moment.”
Ryan pulls off his camera. “Before starting, I have to say that in my defense I wasn’t try to spy on them. I just go around trying to make my documentary about the Atlas’ mission.” He turns on the camera and project on the cell. “They’re just everywhere.”
Photos and videos proves that most time it’s the Captain to keep his prosthetic hand on Keith’s hip, a gesture that sign the begin of more, most of the time.
There is especially clear in one of the videos, where Ryan is filming Collen’s garden and the Captain and Kogane are there in the background. First, the Captain places his hand on Kogane’s back. The gesture makes Kogane coming near the Captain, basically stick on him, while the hand on the back turns into a full hug. Then they turn their face to look at each other, and a second later they were making up, ruining Ryan’s video.
“By our estimation calculation,” Ina says at the end of Ryan’s presentation, “the captain begins the physical affection in the 54% on the time.”
“So Galra biology has nothing to do with it,” Veronica concludes. “Well, it has to be try. Next attempt: Garrison regulation. Iverson, did you look at it?”
“I dug back in time to collect back all the laws and rules the Garrison made about personal relationship,” Iverson says, taking out his datapad. “Unfortunately, the relationship between members aren’t forbidden. The only rules are that the two person in the relationship must have the same grades, to avoid superior officer taking care of their position.”
“Can we consider the Captain to be a superior office?” Nadia asks. “After all, he’s the commander of the Atlas.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” Iverson shakes his head. “Kogane was a cadet, but it was expelled and his position inside the Garrison hasn’t never be stabilized after that, unlike the others,” he throws a look at Pidge, Lance and Hunk, “who were still cadet and they never resign the position.”
“And Keith’s the leader of Voltron,” Allura reminds him. “He will consider himself at pair with any Garrison office.”
“I doubt Keith will accept a similar conclusion, if it means being separate from Shiro,” Hunk adds.
“The only thing I find out was about the behavior of single person,” Iverson resumes his datapad. “Most of it is about personal hygiene, the way to keep the dorm and the uniform, things like that.”
“I guess there’s nothing about two superior officer fucking in every corner of the ship,” James snorts.
“But there is a section about ‘decency’,” he reads. “No one could ever assume a behavior that could bring his colleagues in embarrassment.” Iverson closes the datapad. “It was more about flirting with someone not interesting, or in a too harder way, but I think it can be useful for our case. We are all very embarrassed by them.”
“Maybe they didn’t realize,” Allura comments. “They’re in love and finally has some time for themselves.”
“No, they did,” Curtis intervenes for the first time. “Do you all know the lift at the end of the hallway? The one that brings directly to the database? I need to take it often, because compiling the database is part of my job. Do you know how many times I found out the Captain and Kogane inside it? I give you a hint: it’s a number with two decimal.” He takes a deep breath. “Last time, the Captain was at least a little bit embarrassed, and he tries to apologize, but Kogane! He glares at me like I was the one in the wrong place, with his yellow eyes and his fangs! I was there to work! I need that lift, and I need it without fearing to find them inside fucking.” After his outburst, he deflates in his chair. “Please, help me.”
“We should tell them directly,” Allura says. “Despite everything, they’re good people. They will understand our discomfort.”
“I agree,” Veronica nods. “Who’s going to do it?”
“The Paladins!” James yells. “They’re closer, after all.”
“I’m not talking with Keith about his sex life!” Lance rebuts. “And you knew Keith from before. You were rivals!”
“I thought you consider yourself his rival.”
“Hunk, Lance and I can’t do it,” Pidge says. “Both Keith and Shiro are our superior office, and we talked about the Garrison regulation.”
“That’s the same for us, and for the entire bridge crew,” Nadia is fast to add.
“I don’t feel it’s my place, being the Queen of an entire planet,” Allura comments. “And I’m both a superior and inferior office for Keith. But Kolivan could do it, it’s a colleagues of Keith at the Daibazaal government.”
“To be fair, as an ambassador, I’m his superior officer in a sort,” Kolivan states. “And I’m not doing it.”
“Ask Krolia about it?” Hunk says hopefully. For obvious reason, Krolia wasn’t invited to the meeting.
“I’m not talking with Krolia about his son’s sex life.”
“We can let the fate deciding,” Veronica murmurs. “Chose a number?”
“I have a better idea,” Allura proposes. “We’ll send on their datapad the information about the Garrison rules, hoping they get the message. If they don’t, the first one that caught them in some… compromising position, will be the one to talk.”
They all agree on that, and Veronica consider the meeting concluded. Maybe the two day off will wear the two leader enough to have some peace.
***
When the light turns off, Keith and Shiro still wait a little before coming out from their hiding. Apparently, no one notices their presence, despite the fact that Shiro has found incredible difficult not to scream listening the others discussing their sex life.
But it was for the best. If would have been embarrassed from both part if they would have been discovered.
They come off with both pants still down their ankles, and Keith’s dick is still pretty hard and visible. Shiro has felt it all the time inside the small space. It isn’t the time to point it out.
“So…” he murmurs.
“That was bad.”
“Yeah.”
“Not bad, like bad. Bad like I’ve never been embarrassed more in my life.”
“I agree. This even surpass my graduation party, and that was bad.”
“It surpassed even Lance’s last birthday, and that was worse.”
“I really don’t realize how much we…” He trails off, still embarrassed.
“Fuck?” Keith completes the sentence for him.
“Yeah. I mean, kissing and hugging, yeah, I realize. I don’t want to keep my hand off you,” and he winks, “but I really think that our little… quickies weren’t so many.”
“To be fair, they could be more,” Keith comments, and Shiro really envies his self-control. “I just didn’t realize how many time they saw us. Rude, by the way. We should have told them how many time they interrupted us, to be fair.”
“Better not,” Shiro pains. “I really want for us to take a low profile from now on. I have an office, a romm, you have a room…”
“And a Lion,” Keith adds.
“And a Lion,” Shiro completes. “Plenty of spaces where we can be out everyone’s way and having our privacy.” His eyes fell of Keith’s naked legs and his erection. He didn’t pull on his pants too. “But…”
“But?” Keith says, innocent.
“Maybe we can start our decision at the end of the holiday?” Shiro proposes. “I don’t really like leaving things unfinished.”
Keith smirks and pushes Shiro against the control panel. Shiro places his hand there, to maintain his balance, and closes his eyes and he feels one of Keith’s hand on his dick and two fingers inside his butthole. He pants hard under those touches, the way the fingers push inside more and more.
“God, Keith,” he screams. “Don’t make me wait.”
“Eager?”
“I haven’t spent at least half an hour inside that hole with you stuck against me as people remembered our performance for you to take long.”
“So much for asking me to fuck you,” Keith laughs, but obeys. Shiro’s pants become full screams as Keith pushes inside him, with both hands this time on Shiro’s hard dick.
He’s about to come when Lance decides to enter back in the room, for whatever reason he may have. Shiro’s scream are too loud for them to notice, and Keith’s only cell brain is focused on Shiro, like usually. So Lance walks inside and finds them like that.
They realize only because Lance’s screeches of terror is higher that Shiro’s moans.
“Oh, for fucks’ sake!” -
.
Shiro doesn’t notice at first.
It’s just a lingering feeling, some emotion that turns inside him suddenly, in a way Shiro doesn’t recognize as his own. He guesses it’s the Black Lion’s soul remains inside him, after so many months trapped in the astral plan.
Spending the journey back to Earth in the Green Lion helps keeping those foreign feelings under control. Not travelling with Keith helps ignoring the temptation to touch his hips and caress his back when he’s in his under suit.
Then him awakening the Atlas happens.
The voice start with a whispering, a buzzing at the neck, like Shiro is in a room full of people, even when it’s alone. He can’t distinguish the words at first, he just has the feeling that someone is speaking with him. He’s almost scared it’s Haggar again.
The buzz turns into full sentences, and they’re not casual. They answer and speak as they listen with Shiro’s ears. The voice sounds like Shiro too.
But there’s anyone else behind Shiro when the voice speaks. The voice is without a doubt inside his head.
It’s in the silent and dark of the Atlas’ control room that Shiro is able to access at what seems the Astral Plane but it’s actually his own consciousness.
And it’s there that he meets him. He has the same aspect that used to have in life, with his normal clothes and not his Paladin armor.
“You’re the clone.”
“You seem surprise to see me,” the clone says, and his voice resounds in Shiro’s ears.
“It is surprising.”
“This is my body, did you forget? You’re the guest here, technically.”
“We thought you died.”
A small smile appears. “I thought so. But after Allura puts your soul in here, I was just too weak to manifest. My quintessence was mostly gone, but enough for me to still exist in a corner of your brain. And now, as you’re being able to control the Atlas, I gained back enough quintessence to be back.”
“But then…”
“Relax,” the clone smirks. “I’m still too weak to take back the control of my body. And, to be honest, I don’t want to.” Sadness is in his voice. “You’re the real one between us.”
“So, what are we going to do now?”
Shiro has seen A Beautiful Man. He doesn’t want to end up like the main character.
The clone shrugs. “I don’t know, but I’m not going anywhere.”
Living with Kuro (that’s the surname he gave to the clone, and the clone himself laughed at the irony of it) isn’t easy. Kuro isn’t only able to affect his emotions, but he has the habit to whisper his opinion in Shiro’s ears at the worst moment even.
It’s not like he and Kuro has different opinions on things. Most of the time they agree: they both agree that the Garrison’s claim over the Lions is baseless, they both consider it’s their duty to protect the Voltron Coalition from the Garrison’s influence and they both fear Earth may become a second Galra Empire.
What they disagree with it’s the way to deal with those situations.
Shiro, as the usual friendly Golden Boy, tries the way to diplomacy, in which is second only to Hunk. He’s sweet, and calm, but firmly in refusing the Garrison’s requests.
Kuro, instead, prefers a more direct approach, he wants to scream to the Garrison’s higher-ups’ faces until they understand they have to stay put. And he doesn’t lose any occasion to suggest Shiro that course of action, especially when Shiro is talking (and trying to focus) to said higher-ups.
The only opinion Shiro and Kuro disagree with is Keith.
Kuro is firmly convinced Keith is in love with him (them?) and that Shiro should make his move.
Shiro doesn’t understand where that belief came from, and he feels embarrassed every time Kuro makes some remarks about Keith than may be considered sexual harassment ground.
He doesn’t see me like that.
He literally confesses to you Kuro reminds him.
As a brother!
Kuro rolls his eyes. I can’t believe I was cloned from this idiot
Shiro ignores him. He prefers Kuro to think he’s an idiot, than seeing his uncertain about his own feeling for Keith. He’s really in love, or it’s just Kuro’s influence? He can’t even consider speak with Keith at the moment.
The bigger problem is sustaining Kuro’s presence when he has conversation with other people. Most of the time it’s like having two different conversations, one on his mind with Kuro, that gives his opinion on everything, and one with the person he has in front.
Most of the time, Shiro loses the grip of which ones is answering to, and instead of yelling inside his mind at Kuro, he yells at the poor unfortunate soul in front of him.
The day Shiro ends up yelling against Nadia, it’s the day he decides he has enough.
With his teeth gritted, Shiro rushes in the control room of the Atlas, luckily empty at that time. He places his hands on the controls.
What are you doing? Kuro demands, a little fear in his yell.
This ends now.
He activates the quintessence of the Atlas: blue lines start running in his direction, but instead of using the power to transform the ship into a mecha, he channels the power inside him, with the intention of using the quintessence to destroy Kuro’s one entirely.
There is a little guilty in Shiro’s mind, but he is Shiro, and the clone is curse to live in his mind. It’s a merciful act, in some way, for both of them.
The power creeps inside his body until Shiro can’t take it anymore. He shuts down the controls suddenly and then faints on the ground.
He wakes up in his bed.
He blinks, looking around and trying to call Kuro in his mind. No answers.
“Did it works?” he asks loudly, and the only answers he gets is the silence of the room.
With still a little fog he stands up and looks at the clock, realizing: an entire day passed from his attempt with the quintessence!
In a rush, he puts back his uniform (probably someone found him in the control room and brought him back in the room): he shouldn’t have afford losing a day! He’s supposed to have a meeting with the Garrison’s higher-ups yesterday, and even if he guessed it was rescheduled, his sense of duty regretted it.
He enters in the control room and none of them seems surprised to see him there. Strange, for a man – the Captain! – that was found unconscious at the control panel and slept an entire day after that.
“Damn, Captain,” Veronica chuckles. “Lance told me about the meeting.”
“You were really scary, Number One,” Coran adds. “Great, bur scary.”
“I’m so mad I miss it!”
“I hope this won’t have consequences,” Iverson comments. “But at least the higher-ups will let us stay for a while so we can prepare our next mission in peace.”
You’re welcome
Kuro’s voice resounds in Shiro’s mind, amused and satisfied, and Shiro shivers.
There is a relief of not having killed him for real, but he’s also scared.
What did you do?
That bust with quintessence? I take you down for a while, and I can’t let us missing the meeting, so I take your place. Don’t worry, the effect was temporary
What did you do? Shiro repeats.
I was just very, very persuasive
Turns out Pidge has a record of the meeting. Shiro sits down watching himself – or Kuro in his own body – yelling at the frozen higher-ups and literally saying them to fuck themselves, that he’s the Atlas Captain and former Black Paladin and if they have something against that they can kiss their ass because nothing will change the situation.
There is admiration in Shiro after layers of incredulity and awkwardness. After all, he wished to say them the same things for weeks at that point.
By the way, you have dinner with Keith tonight
Shiro would have prefer face the higher-ups again.
Yet, he hasn’t the courage to find an excuse for the dinner. Kuro has apparently chosen their favorite fast food in town (it re-opened from a couple of week) and Keith looks happy, relaxed, after weeks of annoyement about his duty as the pilot of the Black Lion. Apparently, Shiro’s stunt took off from Keith’s shoulders some worries.
And seeing Keith so happy makes Shiro more relaxed too.
They order their favorite hamburger, like the old time, and Keith chats a lot, more the usual, about everything: the way the Paladins are helping the people around, how Krolia and Kolivan are gathering the Blade again, how the wolf is learning fetch now that he spends time with Pidge’s dog. And Shiro points out at Keith’s photo on the next Earth magazine, embarrassing him.
“I’m glad you find some time for me, now that you are so famous,” Shiro jokes. “I fear you may have forgot me.”
Keith doesn’t catch the humor. “I won’t ever forget you. I mean, I wouldn’t be there otherwise.”
I feel this is the best moment to confess you I asked Keith this dinner with a bouquet of red roses
A what
He’s probably thinking it’s a date
Shiro blinks. And swallows. And then says, “do you think it’s a date?”
A shade of pink appears on Keith’s cheeks. “The bouquet was a little give away.”
“Oh, God, Keith, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
What
“I really miss your company and I regret not having time to come visit to you in the hospital.”
What are you doing
“But I’m very bad at this.”
Stop please stop
Shiro wishes there is someone able to stop his blabbering. “I didn’t want to confuse you, sorry.”
“Oh,” Keith murmurs. The hand he was about to place on Shiro’s returns on his lap. “Of course. Don’t worry, I’m happy you found some time for me. I know you’re a lot busy too, being the Captain of the Atlas and everything.” He stands up. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Keith hasn’t never been a great liar.
You are an idiot
When Keith returns, the waiter has brought the hamburger. Keith takes it and starts eating, in silence. Shiro doesn’t miss the red on his eyes.
Kuro waits until Shiro is back in his room before exploding.
What the hell did you do?
What it was right
How it was right to deceive Keith about the date?
I didn’t, you did. Without my consent, by the way
Of course, you’re going to blame me, that’s what you did all the time
Because it’s true. You’re always there, screaming in my head a screw with my life
You stole my body
You’re my evil clone
He doesn’t think that. He knows, deep down, Kuro isn’t evil. They’re the same after all.
Fine, I’m you evil clone but what wrong I did this time? Giving you a chance with Keith? Now he’s probably think you don’t love him the same way
He doesn’t love me the same way
He accepts a date with you, what else did you need to realize he really loves you?
Shiro doesn’t disagree with that sentence. He doesn’t know the right question.
You hurt him
And you’re an expert of hurting him, aren’t you?
The satisfaction of Kuro’s shocked expression covers his guilty feelings.
After their discussion, Kuro disappears.
Shiro knows he’s still there, but he refuses to appear or talk, not even when Shiro calls for him explicitly.
The peace allows Shiro to return to a sort of normality. He has to admit that Kuro’s outburst with the higher-ups helps him. Yet, he’s all the work Shiro has done before, the friendship he has built in the course of the time, and the relationship he has as an actually good and reliable person that allows Shiro to go away with screaming at his superior offices and not being destitute from his position as Atlas Captain.
Despite what the higher-ups say, they know they have to accept Shiro as Captain, because he is, in fact, the savior of Earth and someone that won’t use that power for something else but the greatest good.
“Maybe it was good for you,” Hunk says to him at a certain point. “As a diplomat, that wasn’t the best choice, but you deserve it. You know, I didn’t notice the first time we met, but now I know you well enough to understand that sometimes you keep your feeling too much bottled up. It was a matter of time.”
But it wasn’t Shiro, it was Kuro to explode.
And, Shiro realizes, Hunk is right in a way. All the feeling he doesn’t want to express are what Kuro want to.
It’s again with his hand on the panel controls of the Atlas bridge. In the Astral Plane, Kuro can’t pretend isn’t here. He can’t escape.
“What do you want?” he snorts.
“Apologize.”
“It’s not me you should apologize to.” Kuro scoffs.
“That’s not true. I tried to destroy you, that was bad of me.”
Kuro lifts an eyebrow, surprise but interested. “And why did you change your mind?”
“We’re both victims of the situation,” Shiro states. “It was… hard to me, looking at you trapped inside the Black Lion while you live my life.”
“I didn’t know. I thought I was you.”
“I know.”
They remain in silent for a while, none of them sure of what saying or doing next.
“What do you want to do?” Kuro asks.
“I’ve thinking… I can’t give you your own body.”
“I’m not even sure it’ll be right. I am you. Becoming someone else might be… difficult.”
“So become me.”
“What do you mean?”
“We should meld together. We are the same. We think we can make each other better.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“We can try. If you want.”
“Well, the alternative is remaining trapped here and have to watch you the day you’ll finally fuck Keith, so…”
Shiro rolls his eyes. “I won’t be able to be fucked by Keith without your help.”
“True.” Shiro smirks. “I guess I don’t have much choice, for the sake of your sexual life.”
“I thank you for your gentle concession.”
Blue flash of energy spreads from Shiro’s hand, and he feels the Atlas’ quintessence flowing inside him. This time, though, it isn’t something for destroy, but for built. Inside his consciousness, him and Kuro touch hands. Kuro is smiling.
“I’ve always dream having a brother. Thank you for being one.”
When Shiro opens his eyes again and the light is gone, Kuro isn’t in his mind anymore. Unlike the time Kuro hid himself, Shiro can still feel his presence somehow. And Shiro feels whole and sure of himself like he hasn’t been for a while.
Now, he hopes isn’t too late to repair his relationship with Keith. -
.
This was absurd.
Shiro doesn’t know how he ends up in that situation.
Well, no. He knows. He knows very well he shouldn’t have asked Coran for help.
In Shiro’s defense, he couldn’t imagine that Space Sexy Shops work in that way.
He could have suspect something when they asked him everything about his supposedly ideal man, and he was definitely his fault for basically describing Keith.
But he went there for a dildo, maximum a high technologic vibrator.
Not a life-sized sex doll that looks exactly like Keith.
He grabs the instruction manual to check for the procedure of return.
Your dream partner
The most technological sex doll, with eight different levels of pleasure
Instruction Manual
Shiro tries to ignore the instructions for the doll. He tries very hard, as he leaps through the pages.
Curiosity gets the best of him.
4 – Choose the position
Menu -> Sex -> Position
Position 1: Standing
The doll is able to remain balanced on any ground
Position 2: Sitting
For this position, it’s needed a support platform, like chair, bed, stair, washing machine, etc
Position 3: doggy style
Aaaand he’s not reading it. He has enough fantasy about Keith by himself, he doesn’t need any more ideas, thank you very much part two.
He gets at the end of the manual; reading the summary should be safe enough, and allow him to find immediately instruction not-sex related.
5 – hand job
6 – blowjob
7 – penetration (bottom)
8 – penetration (top)
Shiro groans. He closes the manual and throws it on the opposite side of the room.
He isn’t going to listen to Coran’s advices ever anymore.
***
The ATLAS is kind enough to open the door of Shiro’s room for him, so Lance slips inside before someone notices him wandering around the Captain’s quarters.
The conversation he wants to have with Shiro is a private one, one they can’t have in public space. So, Shiro’s room will be. Lance is ready to wait all day for Shiro’s return if necessary.
Lance gives a quick look at the room and his plan flies out of the window: Keith is there, sitting down at Shiro’s desk, back at the door. Lance would recognize that mullet anywhere, and he has the red uniform on too.
What, he’s there for love advices too?
“Hey!” he calls. It doesn’t look Keith has heard Lance’s arrival.
“Hey,” Lance calls again. “What are you doing here?” He gets near. “Are you listen to me, uh, team leader?”
Keith hasn’t moved an inch from his position, hand placed on the table, at the point Lance wonders if he’s asleep. But his eyes were wide open, looking the wall in front of him.
“Why are you ignoring me?” Lance’s shakes him by the shoulder.
And then he watches with surprise and horror as Keith’s figure bends to one side and then fall as dead weight in the floor.
“Are you okay? Keith, it’s not funny!” Lance kneels at his side and shakes him again, increasing panic in his voce, as Keith remains immobile, eyes wide open. “Come on, buddy. You’re scaring me.”
Until he notices: Keith isn’t breathing.
So, he does the most obvious and coherent move, giving the circumstances: he rushes outside Shiro’s room, reaches for the Paladins’ private lounge and screams: “KEITH IS DEAD!”
Pidge, Hunk and Coran all lift their head in sync from the screen they’re studying, all three off them looking at Lance as he’s crazy. Allura, on the right sofa, coughs a little.
“Who’s dead?”
Lance turns his head and sees him, Keith, on the other sofa, a datapad in his hand and a frowned expression on his face.
“You… You…” Lance sputters. “It was all a joke? I was about to cry for you! I was worried. Not cool man, not cool at all!”
“What are you talking about?” Keith replies indignant. “I’ve been here all afternoon.”
“Well, then how do you explain the dead body that looks just like you in Shiro’s room?”
Coran sputters. “Uhm, Number Three, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine, thank you! And something fishy is going on.”
Allura stands up. “Giving that Keith is alive and well, maybe we should go and check what you saw?”
“Yes! Thank you, Allura.”
Keith looks annoyed by the entire situation. “What were you doing in Shiro’s room in the first place?”
“None of your business!”
The frown on Keith’s face increase, and he stands up: it signs the decision to follow Allura’s advice, so they interrupt their doing to head for Shiro’s quartier.
“We should call Number One,” Coran says.
“Diplomatic meeting,” Pidge informs him, and Coran cringes a little. Lance doesn’t understand why: he’s the one he almost had a heart attack because of Keith’s fake death.
“Oh, God,” Hunk murmurs. “That… really looks like Keith. A dead Keith.”
“Told you!” Lance exclaims triumphant.
“Be careful,” Allura says. “We don’t know what it could be… maybe a shapeshifter or something like that.”
Pidge kneels down and scans it with his equipment. “It’s not a living creature, so, good news, nobody dies today. It’s an android.”
“How could you mistake Keith for an android?” Hunk comments.
Lance snorts indignantly. “Just look at it!”
Hunk gets nearer to the android and nods. “This is fine work,” he admits. “Even at the touch, it’s hard to say it’s an android.”
“I wonder who was able to create such an incredible android.” Pidge’s eyes are shining.
“Yeah, everything is amazing and all, but why would Shiro have an android with Keith’s look in his room?” Lance asks.
“Maybe it’s a present from one of the coalition planets,” Allura guesses. “As a Paladin of Voltron and pilot of the Black Lion, Keith is definitely well-known to think people may gift him of effigies and such.”
Keith crosses his arm and leans against the wall.
“Or maybe is one of Haggar’s robeast,” Hunk responds. “She’s an incredible scientist, right? Maybe she tried to create another copy, like she did with Shiro. Or to train her people at our weakness.”
“We should definitely speak with Number One. Later on. I’m pretty sure he has a reason,” Coran intervenes. “Now, we shall go…”
It’s late, Pidge’s already checking the android. “It should have a USB spot I can access on. Hunk, help me.” He moves the android to sit on the floor, as Pidge examines it. “Here it is!” she exclaims.
The access point is on the neck, hid by the black hair. Pidge connects a cave and downloads the information on her datapad.
“Okay, let’s see what it can do.” She taps on it. “It really looks he has some standard movement and sentences… But I guess they’re in code, because I’m not sure I understand the meaning.”
“We should inform Number One immediately,” Coran tries again. “It’s even possible he doesn’t know about it because it’s all a Haggar’s trap.”
“Well, in that case, we should discover as soon as possible what Haggar ordered the android to do,” Lance replies. “Go, Pidge.”
“Okay, let’s try this one. If I translated correctly, it says something like light dom top.”
“Doesn’t sound good,” Hunk comments. Coran screeches.
“Oh, you.” The android turns on, his eyes bright. It tilts the head on the side and smirks. “Will you be a good boy for me?”
“This is… so creepy,” Lance says. Even the voice is exactly like Keith’s. Just… The tone is off. And Lance definitely doesn’t need the imagine of Keith saying something like that in his mind.
“Good boy,” the android says again. “I may reward you later.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Hunk murmurs, “but I’m not sure we can consider it a gift from the coalition. Or at least, I hope it isn’t!”
“Come on, good boy. Let me. You will feel so good. So good.”
“It don’t look an Haggar’s robeast either,” Allura replies.
“Oh, yes, yes, good boy. Just like that.”
“I think is enough!” Lance’s voice is high and desperate.
“Come for me, good boy.”
Pidge shuts down the datapad. The android turns off and slumps back on the floor.
At that point, it’s hard to not understand what that android is really for. They turn their head to Keith, who keeps his eyes on the floor as the entire situation do not concern him.
“I suggest we don’t talk about this ever again,” Allura says, and everyone else nod.
“I’m pretty sure Number One has a very good explanation for this,” Coran comments again, once they’re out of the room, the android back at the desk as it were originally.
Maybe Shiro has, but Lance isn’t particularly interested in asking.
He wonders if he can forget everything if he drinks enough.
***
The obvious choice would be talking with Shiro.
Definitely not pretending to be the doll and lying down on Shiro’s bed, that would be utterly stupid.
The sound of the shower stops and the hairdryer’s starts. The hardest part should be remaining completely still, but Keith finds himself completely out of breath in the moment he hears Shiro walking back in the room. His heart almost stops as Shiro lies down next to him.
“Good night,” Shiro murmurs, a small kiss placed into Keith’s head.
He turns off the light with his prosthetic and curls next to Keith, the left arm around Keith’s torso.
Keith waits a couple of minutes before opening back his eyes. In the dark room, the blue light of the prosthetic shows the face of an asleep Shiro. He seems quiet, at ease.
Sadness feels upon Keith, who swallows to restrain a sob.
It was stupid from his part to believe, even for a second, that Shiro may be interesting in doing certain things (naked) with Keith. Or with a doll with Keith’s appearance.
It wasn’t Shiro’s type after all. He should have known better.
It still hurts.
He should leave before Shiro finds out the exchange. But Shiro’s body against his own is warm and smells good.
It makes Keith’s remember they used to sleep together back at the Garrison, after Shiro’s break-up and when Keith had a particular bad day with other cadets or with the school. They were simpler time, time Keith could be blissful unaware of his real feelings for Shiro.
It hurt less.
Keith misses that, he misses that kind of relationship with Shiro. He is aware that he probably put Shiro in a complicate position, after everything that happened with the clone.
It’s wrong, but Keith decides to indulge a little into Shiro’s arms. He won’t stay for long, and he will definitely leave before Shiro wakes up.
Just a couple of minutes.
***
Shiro turns off the alarm and curls a little more under the sheet. He slept well, better than ever to be honest.
It’s definitely the doll’s work, as Shiro can imagine lay down next to Keith, feeling the softness of the dark hair, the warm of his body, the regular beating of the heart, the gentle, warm touch of his breathing…
No. Wait. Reload.
The doll is definitely a work of art, similar to Keith in any way. But the doll doesn’t have a heart, doesn’t breathe, and definitely doesn’t droll with his mouth half-opened.
“K-Keith?”
Shiro sits on the edge of the bed, eyes wide, looking at Keith as he stretches a little and moves the head to hid it on the pillow.
“What the quiznack…”
Dolls don’t turn into people. Or maybe they do? Maybe it was a clone all along and now it was activated to become alive. Shiro has learned at that point that space is a mysterious place filled with magic.
But no, explanation is simpler this time. That’s the real Keith.
Keith blinks awake and, as soon as his gaze falls on Shiro, he panics. They open their mouth at the same time.
“I can explain, I swear. I’m so sorry, Shiro, I know this was a stupid idea and I just, just should have talked with you but…”
“There is an explanation, I swear. It’s all Coran’s fault! I didn’t know space sex shops work like that, and then I can’t manage to get rid of it because it looks exactly like you and the manual instruction is even worse… ”
They stop talking in the same moment and, despite the situation, a small smile erupts on their face.
“You first,” says Keith, as he diverts his gaze from Shiro.
“I never use that doll, I swear,” Shiro says. “I only… slept with it. Sleep-sleep, not, sleep like having sex with it.”
“Why?”
“It helps me sleep,” Shiro admits. “I still have nightmares sometimes, and so…”
“I see.”
And, despite everything, Shiro prides himself to be still able to understand Keith’s actions, especially when he does the contrary of what he wants.
“It helps me sleep because I can imagine being with you.”
This time, Keith understands. “You could have just asked me,” he replies, blunt. “I would’ve helped you.”
“I know.” Of course Shiro knows. “I didn’t feel it was right.”
“Did I do something wrong?” Keith asks. “I mean, I know I should’ve asked you about the doll instead of doing… all this,” he widens his arms, “but I’m not sure you would’ve answered. You’re a bit distant recently.” He presses his lips together. “I got it, you have a lot of responsibility and such, I shouldn’t be a bother yet…”
Oh, no. No, this isn’t going to happen. Not in Shiro’s watch. No way Shiro would some way be a cause of Keith’s insecurities to come back.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been a good friend recently,” he says. “But it’s not your fault. The point is that,” he takes a deep breath, “it’s easier with the doll. With you in my bed, well, I don’t think I would have been able to sleep at all.”
Keith’s eyes widen.
“Because I would have… other thoughts. Thoughts the doll was supposed to fulfil, but it doesn’t, because it wouldn’t be fair for you, and because the doll isn’t you.”
Keith frowns. “Are you telling me you want to have sex with me?”
Oh. Well, Shiro supposes, it’s a way to say that.
“Yes,” he admits. “But it doesn’t have to change anything, you know? You’re my best friend. This is my problem to deal with-”
The next thing he knows, it that there are lips on his own, and a hand on his dick.
***
Things can’t go on like that.
It’s embarrassing.
Lance approaches Shiro at the end of a meeting.
“You know, man, we don’t judge you. I don’t, really, not even for your esthetical preference,” he says. “But could you stop using your doll where we can see it? It’s embarrassing.”
Shiro looks at him. “What are you talking about, Lance?”
And he smirks. Lance understands he won’t like the rest.
“I got rid of that doll weeks ago.” -
.
At the age of twenty-five, Shiro has already faced, in order:
a degenerative illness that risks to paralize him entirely
depite said illness, he became the youngest pilot of the Garrison
and the first to reach the far corner of the solar sistem
just to be kidnapped by an evil alien empire
and survived an entire year of fights and scientific experiment
escaping from the evil empire
returning into space with a group of inexpert cadets with a spaceship that has the form of a Blue Lion
Despite all those, Shiro finds himself still able to be amazed of everything space has to offer: in that moment, what it looks like an ancient palace of an ancient alien civilization that was incredible evolved from a scientific point of view. Like Atlantide, but bigger and in space.
He’s loving every moment of it.
“Hey! What is it?” Lance exclaims, with his high-pitcher voice. “Watch out!” Despite being totally useless, he places himself in front of Allura to protect her. She looks annoyed, while Hunk moves behind her.
From the floor of what it seems the control room of the castle, a culumn erupts. Cold smoke whistles from the base, to reveal a glass door, that opens with a screeching sound. Blinking and grunting, a figure walks outside the column.
The most beatiful man Shiro’s ever seen appears. White long hair, big violet eyes with long dark eyeslash, delicate features in his face with two red marks behind his eyes, elf pointed ears, and he wears a elegand blue and white tunic, like a fairy tales prince.
The man blinks again at them, and Lance does a tentative steps in his direction.
In a second, the man lands Lance with a well-placed kick on the chest, and then he keeps him on the ground, the foot steadly pleaced on Lance’s neck.
“Who the quiznack are you, and where is Queen Krolia?”
Shiro may be definitely in love.
Prince Keith and his advisor Kolivan are the only survivers of Altea, a planet that was destroyes 10.000 years ago by the same empire that took Shiro prisoner. Shiro doesn’t expect to be turned into a defender of the universe, but he surely doesn’t mind it.
It has a nice ring, to be honest.
He isn’t too knee of having cadets fight with him, but they don’t have much choice, as Keith clarifies enough when Sendak appears with his ultimatum. Also, he’s a fighter.
“We’ll stay, and we’ll fight,” he states. “The universe needs us.”
“Well, first of all, speak for yourself, you don’t even pilot a lion,” Lance protests. “And, if you haven’t notice, we’re two lions short.”
“The Red Lion is on Sendak’s ship. We may recover it.”
“And how do you plan to do this? Slipping inside that scary guy’s ship?”
Keith turns to Allura. “Can you do it?” he asks. “You’re the Red Paladin, it’s your responsability get your lion.”
Allura ignores Lance’s protests and nods slights. But she’s a little tense, so Shiro places a hand on her shoulder. “You won’t be alone,” he assures her.
“Do you have a plan?” Keith inquires.
“I do.”
“Well, then.” Keith turns his back at them and places his hands on the castle’s control: the castle springs to life.
Shiro is firmly convinced Keith isn’t a bad person. But he’s a prince, probably instructed how a certain type of behaviour. Kolivan looks like the most strictly advisor of all time, after all. Keith is extremely blunt, both in espressing his disappointment and in pretending something from the Paladins.
And losing his sentire civilization definitely doesn’t help Keith into being the most social persona around: he’s strictly focused on defeating Zarkon and, as much as Shiro agrees with it, not having a second to relax may become tiring.
And he’s firmy convinced that, as a team, they need to ger along.
Unfortunately, Keith’s attitude clashes a lot against Lance’s paranoid, and Hunk, as good friend, sides with him.
Pidge is mostly fine, but she doesn’t like the way Keith underestimates her feelings about his father and brother only because the universe is more important and everyone needs to make sacrifices.
Allura, since he lost her parents at a very young age, is probably the one that understands Keith’s situation better, yet even her becomes annoyed from time to time.
As the leader of the team, Shiro feels is his responsability to bring peace in the group, and Kolivan seems to expect that too. Yet, it isn’t easy: Shiro understands Keith to some extend, but they’re not friend enough for Shiro to try and speak with him. Also, the fact that Shiro has probably the huge crush ever (which is bad, because, again, intergalatic war against an evil empire) and that Keith is a magical prince coming out directly from Shiro’s dreams don’t help.
While reflecting on the best course of action, Shiro finds himself in the lions’ hangar. Even at Garrison, the hangar has always relaxed him as a familiar place. He doesn’t expect to find Keith there.
He’s in front of the Black Lion. Slowly, he lifts a hand and, with a second of hesitation, he places it on the magnetic shield. It trembles a little, but doesn’t turn down. Keith’s hand becomes a fist who smashes with a little frustration on the shield.
As Shiro walks near, the Black Lion lowers his shield, and Keith takes a step fowards.
“Prince Keith.”
Keith startles. “Shiro. I didn’t see your coming.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” he says, with a smile. “I though you were in the training room.”
“I got tired of it,” Keith scoffs, and it was a lie.
One, Keith never gets tired of training, Shiro has seen him in the past days and he appreciates the way he put all himself in getting stronger (Shiro’s appreciation is only a mental one, he hasn’t definitely look at him because it’s the only moment Keith lets himself go, with a more confortable very tight suit and with the sweats and the red cheeks that definitely doesn’t make him more attractive).
Second, because Keith is a very bad liar.
“Did you pilot a lion, once?” Shiro asks instead, ingnoring the lie.
“Never.” Keith shakes his head. “My mother, the Queen… she used to be the Red Paladin. Maybe I would be her successor, but then the war happened, and, well.”
“Would you like to have a try?” Shiro nods at the Black Lion that, in aswer, opens his mouth to let them on board.
“It would be reckless from our part,” Keith murmurs, uncertain. “The Black Lion is too much important for the destine of the universe…”
“We won’t get too far from the castle, and Pidge already checked we are in a safe area.” Shiro takes two step fowards and gestures at Keith to follow him. “Come on.”
A small smile appears on Keith’s face as he decides to go fro Shiro’s idea. Shiro tries, very hard, to focus on piloting and not in the way Keith’s body leans against the pilot chair and how his armi s dangerously near Shiro’s one. But, at the same, he tries very hard to show off a little his ability as a pilot: it’s been a long time since he made dangerous stunt with the hoverbike in the desert.
Keith’s mouth is half open and his violet eyes shine. “I wish I can pilot like this.”
“You can’t?” Shiro asks.
“I can, but not like this.” Disappointment is in Keith’s voice. “Before the war, my mother preffered for me to focus on altean alchemy, because she said I have a very uncommon quintessence sensibility. And she was right, I suppose, but I also liked piloting more…”
“You’re still on time,” Shiro assures him. “You’re already piloting the castle, and that’s very important for us. And then, once we defeate Zarkon, I will show you more.”
Keith smiles softly, then his expression sadness a little. “I wish I was like you.”
“A prisoner of the Galra, forced to fight for their entertainment?” Shiro jokes. “Strange dreams, but I don’t judge.”
“Not that,” Keith’s expression doesn’t falter at Shiro’s black humor. “I mean… being a leader.” He sighs. “I was taught to be decisive, strong, when it comes to give orders. But I see the way the other look at me. And I don’t know how to change that.”
As Shiro suspects, Keith suffers for the situation too.
“But you… They’ll follow you around without a question,” Keith continues. “You’re the epitome of a good leader. Black chose well.”
Oh, so that was the reason Keith was in front of the Lion. He wanted to see if he can be a good leader, and the results don’t increase his already low consideration of himself.
“I don’t think you’re a bad leader,” Shiro murmurs. “There is a reason for this situation.”
“Which is?”
“They’re kids coming from a very far planet, with not progress experience of alien life. Everything here is new for them, and also they’re fighting in a space war for the sake of the universe. They’re overwhelmed.”
“I understand this,” Keith says. “I wouldn’t never asked them if I have another choices. But the lions…” He takes an annoyed sigh. “Take Lance, for example. Blue chose him specifically, but he isn’t such a good pilot. He’s over the top about it. He needs to learn how to focus on situation. A bad take can lead all the team to death.”
“I agree with you,” Shiro nods, “but you can’t tell him like that. He’ll only feel you’re doing it to make him feel bad because you’re better than him.”
“But I-” Keith tries to protest.
“You’re a space prince from an ancient super-technology alien civilization, able to restore an entire planet with his magic,” Shiro points out, with an amused smile. “Why do you think he calls you Prince Charming? In their eyes you came directly from a terran fairy tale.”
For a long minute, Keith remains silent, his look towards the Black Lion’s windows. “I’m not like that,” he says at least. “Altean alchemy isn’t magic. But I can see why you may think like this.” And he looks at Shiro with his deep, and big, and violet eyes…
“How can I do it? Teach me.”
“Well, you may try being a little more… like them?” Shiro proposes, turning his head a little bit from him. “Even if you slept for 10.000 years, you’re still young just like them, right?”
“Based on Altean/Terran conversion, I’m around ninteen years old.”
“See, just two years apart. They should be able to understand you a little better if you try to be their friend.”
“Friends…” Keith murmurs. “That would be nice. Except Kolivan, I don’t have anyone anymore.”
“You have us now.” And Shiro’s hand ends up on Keith’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” Keith says. Then, totally ignoring any form of personal space, he rubs his fingers on Shiro’s white floof of hair. “We can be friend even if you’re older, right?”
“Hey!” Shiro protests, with a little pout, and it’s grateful it gives him the excuse to gets a little bit farer from Keith’s face. “I’m not that old.”
And then Keith does something beautiful: he laughs. Shiro looks in awe at the crystal amused sound and the way it makes Keith even more beautiful than usually.
“I know, I was joking,” he says. “But I have Lance making fun of my hair long enough.” And his pointed finger rolls around one of his lock and Shiro swallows.
“Your hair are beautiful,” he says without thinking, and inside he dies a little bit. Keith stops his finger, eyes a little wide opens, and his cheeks turns more of the color of his altean marks.
Kolivan calls from the castle to free Shiro from their misery.
They reach the main deck of the ship to discuss their next course of action. “Where’s prince Keith?” Shiro asks to Kolivan, the only one waiting for them.
“He’s coming. It was doing something,” and by the tone, it was something he doesn’t approve.
“He woke us up at five but he can be late,” Lance complains, as he lets himself fall on his chair, arm crossed. “That’s unfair.”
“I woke up at five too,” Keith says, entering the room. “But I apologize for my delay. I didn’t realize this clothes were so difficult to make.”
They all look at him incredulous, Shiro’s mouth is unwaring opened. “What the quiznak…” Lance exhaled.
Keith looks like a Terran, with raven hair and blue eyes, no marks and normal ears. He also wears Terran clothes, like a pair of jeans and a too short red jacket.
“Alteans are a camaleontic race,” Kolivan explains. “We can turn our body to imitate other races, that’s the reasons we’re good diplomats.”
“I realized it must be hard for you be so far from your home,” Keith says. “I hope this will help you feel a little better. Even if Kolivan doesn’t agree.”
And Kolivan huffes a second, before turning himself into a very big and scary Terran.
“That’s very nice of you,” Allura says, while the others sink Keith in questions about how the transformation works. It gives Shiro the time to recover from the shock and then from his disaster moment, and also the time to wonder if he will find Keith so attractive even if he turns into a Galra.
(Spoiler: he will).
(It’s almost tempted to ask him to do it.)
(He doesn’t, because he’s a functional leader)
“Okay, guys, that’s enough,” he says when he gains back enough cell brain for not stuttering in awe, because that will be embarrassing. “We have works to do.”
Everyone nod and take their seat. Keith smiles in Shiro’s direction.
“It wasn’t what I had in mind when I talked to you about being more like that,” Shiro says, amused.
“I know. But after all, we alteans used to do this in the past to put people at ease, so I feel it may be a good start.”
“I didn’t mean it wasn’t. Just… surprising.” Shiro clears a little his voice. The Terran attire made clearer that Keith, despite being slender and small, has a very nice body too. A very nice ass Shiro isn’t absolutely checking out.
“I hope my hair are still beautiful,” Keith whispers, enough low so Kolivan won’t be able to hear him. He isn’t looking at Shiro, but he can imagine the pink on his cheeks.
At that point, Shiro is sure that won’t be Zarkon to kill him, but the heart attack that Keith keeps giving him, completely unaware of it.
“They are,” Shiro still manages to say, with hoarse voice.
And since they are risking their life daily against an evil space emperor, well, having a crush on a gorgeous and brave space prince who’s leading them in the battle doesn’t sound so bad after all.
“You are.” -
.
It happens by pure accident.
They were in bed together, Shiro is reading and Keith is scrolling lazy his twitter account.
A photo set lures Keith’s attention: it’s a man in bondage. Dressed with elegant pants and shoes, and a very tight shirt, the man (whose face has been cut out the photos) as a great body, broad and muscled, and the rope around his chest enlightens it even more. In one photo, he’s in a lying position, with his great ass in plain sight.
A cough moves Keith’s attention to Shiro, and he frowns looking at the slight pink on Shiro’s cheek.
“I follow strange people,” Keith says.
“This… is me,” Shiro says instead, flustered.
Keith’s gaze passes between the phone and Shiro, and yes, he can see the resemblance of the body, and my God.
“I didn’t think they were still around,” Shiro adds, with another coughs. “I was at college, and I need money, and some people from my group had the idea of making some set photo about scenes and I said, why not.”
“Scenes?”
“Yes, like… roleplay. The theme of mine was a business man that was taken hostage by a robber.”
“Oh, oh, I see…” Keith’s eyes keep failing on the phone. “What a strange group.”
“It was a BDSM group,” Shiro clarifies.
Keith blinks.
“I met Adam there,” Shiro continues, and he has his expression that means “please, someone stop me”.
“It’s okay,” Keith murmurs. “I was just surprised. You never told me and, well, I suppose I’m not the kind of man you used to date.”
After all, Keith was virgin when he met Shiro.
“You’re my vanilla boy.” Shiro lets the book go to hug him and places a kiss on his cheeks.
“Vanilla boy,” Keith repeats. His eyes fell on the photo and he really, really doesn’t want to imagine Shiro in that attire if it was Adam that tied him up.
“Yep, and we have usually great, incredible, vanilla sex,” Shiro smiles. He understands Keith way too much. “You don’t have to worry about it. I used to like it, but it’s fine.”
Keith wants to believe him. He doesn’t.
It’s a bad idea. Worse.
Asking your former boyfriend’s boyfriend about said boyfriend’s sex kinks is bad enough. Asking it when said former boyfriend is also the professor college trespasses in sexual harassment ground. If Keith ignores that Adam may have some resentment, especially because Adam believes Shiro and Keith were lovers even before Shiro broke up with him.
Yet, here it is. Adam looks at him, incredulous.
“Let me get this right,” he says. “You’re asking me what Shiro likes in bed when it comes with BDSM preferences?”
“I know this is strange…”
“Understatement.”
Keith stands up. “It was a mistake. I apologize and-”
“Sit down,” Adam orders, calmly. Keith obeys, hands in his lap. “I can’t tell you about it. First, because I’m your professor and it would be inappropriate because I should talk about my preference too. And second, because it wouldn’t be fair to Shiro.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Things like that need to be discusses between lovers. Talk to Shiro about it.”
“I tried,” Keith confesses. “But he said it’s in the past, it doesn’t matter anymore, that vanilla is fine. But I fear he did it only because he didn’t want forcing me into trying something I may not like.”
Adam nods. “Sounds like Shiro.”
“I’ll try again,” Keith says. “Thank you and sorry.”
“Wait.” Adam stops him and scribbles something on a piece of paper. “I can’t tell you a thing, but I can suggest some books to you. Something to introduce you into Shiro’s past world.”
Keith reads the books. Looks at the website. Checks around for some suggestions.
He still isn’t sure BDSM is something for him
In two weeks, it will be their first anniversary together. Keith has every intention to make it memorable, and to make Shiro happy, because he loves him. He takes the decision to go forwards with it.
The evening of the anniversary, as soon as Shiro enters the apartment they share, Keith jumps on him. He pushes him against the door, with force but being careful not to hurt him.
“Baby?” Shiro asks. He doesn’t struggle, but he left his bag fall on the ground.
“Shut up,” Keith orders, as he ties up Shiro’s wrist behind his back (silk rope, of course: only the best for Shiro). “I’m taking you hostage.”
“Okay…” Shiro murmurs, a mix of curiosity and doubt.
Keith drags him towards the already set table and he forces him to sit down in one of the two chairs, then he ties up Shiro’s ankle together and at the back of the seats, together with the hands.
“Do you make this?” Shiro nods at the table, with the plates, and the red candles, and handkerchiefs with the form of hearts. “It’s so nice. And the smell is so good.”
“Listen well,” Keith says, placing a hand on Shiro’s knee and tapping Shiro’s lips with his index finger. “You’re in my power now, so do as I say and maybe I’ll be nice.”
Shiro’s eyes scrutinize Keith’s body, the way the black tight suit underlines it. “Where did you find this suit? You’re hot in it.”
Keith’s cheeks burn. “Did you listen what I just said? You can talk only if I tell you!”
“Or what?” Shiro’s voice is sweet, but amused. “Are you going to punish me, mister kidnapper?”
“O-Of course!”
“And how are you going to do so?” The smirk on Shiro’s lips widens. “Will you put me on edge until I’ll beg you to let me come?”
It’s too much. Keith fells on his chair and shakes his head. “I’m very bad at this.” He takes off his ski mask and smiles sadly at Shiro. “Very bad.”
“Oh, baby.” Shiro laughs, but it isn’t a mocking gesture. “I’ve told you I was fine. You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but…” Keith sighs. “I love you. And I don’t want you to give up something you like for me. I should have talked to you before, but it’s our anniversary and I wanted it to be special…”
“You’re sweet.” Shiro struggles a little in his restraints. “And good jobs with the knots. But, to be fair, I wonder if I had to be offended that you decided I used to be a sub.”
“What?” Keith blinks.
“Being a bottom has nothing to do with other preferences.”
“That, I know. But the photos…”
“It was just a scene, and to be honest I don’t mind to be tied up by my sub.” At Keith’s perplex expression, Shiro smirks again. “It’s unusual, but not unheard. Do you doubt I can give orders even like this?”
“No, just…” Keith sinks his head in his hands. He can’t believe how much he screws up, but he took that decision and now he has to live with the consequences. “How can I make this up?”
“Did you cook dinner?”
“Hunk helps,” Keith confesses. “With the recipes, but I did the rest.”
“What did you make?”
“There are canapé for appetizer, then pomegranate rice and-”
Shiro interrupts him: “Bring the canapé. And no, it’s not necessary you untie me.”
“Sure.” Keith hurries towards the kitchenette and takes off from the oven the tray where he already disposed the canapé to form the ‘love’ word. Then, standing in front of the table with the tray on his hand, he tilts his head.
“Are you ordering me around?”
“Yes,” Shiro answer, and he’s quiet. “Do you mind it?”
“No… not really.” He’s just surprised how much Shiro can sound in charge even if he’s the one tied up to a chair.
“Good. Chose a safeword, so I will know if you want to stop.”
“Red,” Keith decides, with not much fantasy.
“Very good, baby. Now put the tray down and describe me the canapé.” Keith obeys and points out at every one: there are five different type of them, two of each type. “Let’s start with the tuna one,” Shiro orders. “Give me.”
Keith takes it between two fingers and places him on Shiro’s mouth; he takes all the time to chew it and enjoy it, eyes closes. One after another, Shiro eats them, and he sucks Keith’s fingers after he’s been fed. He eats all of them, even the ones that were supposed for Keith.
“They were great,” Shiro murmurs. “Good job, baby. I’ll let you kiss me now.”
An order Keith is pretty eager to obey, brushing his hand in Shiro’s white hair and literally pressing his entire body against Shiro’s. The fact he can’t move has his advantages.
“Nice, baby. Now, what are you going to do to please your master?”
“Can I serve you the first dish? Or maybe, some wine?”
“Wine sounds good, for start. But do not use the glass.”
Again, Keith is surprised by the easiness of Shiro’s orders. His tone is calm, controlled, yet there is a hint that show he won’t accept any of Keith’s disobedience. And all this being still tied up to the chair.
From Keith’s prospective, it’s still nice enough. He’s ready to give Shiro the world, feeding him, or let him drink wine from his mouth isn’t so bad.
There is a strange ritual in the way Shiro concedes Keith to lick his lips and his chin if some food drips from his mouth. They both enjoy that almost-kisses, yet Keith is feeling like a slave his master his granted his favor.
Maybe it hasn’t start in the better way, but Keith isn’t regret his decision.
“You’ve been good, baby,” Shiro says, once he’s done with the second dish, the red wine pot roast. “I think it’s time for you to eat something now.”
The way the ropes tie Shiro’s ankles doesn’t let him to move the leg forwards, but he’s still able to open the knees enough to show his groin. Shiro doesn’t say anything, and Keith swallows, understanding.
Knelled behind the table, Keith untied the belt and opens the zip. Shiro doesn’t have an erection yet, so Keith takes the dick on his hand and massage the testicles with the point of his finger. Shiro’s breath fastens, but it isn’t until Keith sucks him that he opens his lips and yells.
Shiro is usually loud in bed.
“Just like this, baby, eat it up,” he manages to say, between one moans and another.
Keith knows Shiro well enough to have seen him many time before, the way his cheeks redden and the way he licks his lips in order to contain the screams, and the small brightness of his eyes. Yet, it’s strange because Shiro is literally in Keith’s hand, being tied and stimulated over there. Keith can edge him, making him beg for it.
But Keith is a good slave, and he eats it up just like he’s been ordered.
“Good job,” Shiro exhales, once his breath is again under control. “Now bring me to bed.”
“Yes, sir.”
And it shows that Shiro himself is involved in it, because at being called ‘sir’ he stops and looks at Keith with wide eyes. It lasts few second, but then a soft look follows Keith’s movement as he loses the rope that tied Shiro to the chair and lifts him in his arms to place him down on the bed.
“What else I can do for you, sir?” He repeats the word because he understands Shiro’s loving it.
“You’ve been very good, baby,” Shiro murmurs. “And you learn fast. Take my tabled and search what I tell you.”
Google shows Keith an intricate bondage style, and the instruction to do so. “I’m not good at this.”
“You are. Do it.”
The best decision Keith made is to buy a lot of ropes. Slowly, he opens Shiro’s shirt, button after button, appreciating the sigh of Shiro’s bare chest revealing in front of him. Shiro takes off his pants as Keith prepares the ropes, and remains naked in front of Keith.
As if tying him up again isn’t distracting enough, the way the rope turns around his skin and underlines his muscles. Once Shiro is trussed up again, he asks, “are you hard?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Show me.”
In front of him, Keith frees himself of the dark suit, his erection in plain sight. Shiro licks his lips.
“Did you make dessert too?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it here. Now,” he adds, because Keith is about to protest.
Naked and excited, he reaches the kitchenette and warms up the chocolate muffle as Hunk told him. He returns to the bed with a spoon on it. Shiro lies down, back and ass up, and the bondage at his arms in plain sight.
“Good smell. Eat it, you deserve it.”
“Shiro, please…”
“Do it.”
Spoonful after spoonful, he eats all the muffin, eyes burns for the painful erection. There is no way he can enjoy the taste of the chocolate, not when Shiro has his leg spread in front of him.
“Sir, please…” he begs, once the dish is empty.
“You earned it, baby.”
Usually, Keith takes his time to prepare Shiro, to let him enjoy the fingers inside him before fucking him slowly. Now, he takes few time, what is enough for not being painful. He wants Shiro so much, he wants to please him. And he wants to be praised.
He still follows Shiro’s orders, slowing and fastening his movements as he prefers, but he arrives at a point he doesn’t stand anymore, hands clasped on Shiro’s shoulder, and he falls on Shiro’s body, panting hard once he’s done.
Shiro chuckles. “Have you any intention to free me sooner or later?”
Keith blinks, and realizes he doesn’t even ask for a safeword for Shiro too, considering he’s the one tied up. In a hurry, he takes his knife and cuts Shiro’s restraint. The mark of the ropes is clear on Shiro’s wet skin, red around his wrists and arms.
“I’m a disaster in this.”
“You’re not.” Shiro cups his face and kisses him gently on the forehead.
Still, as they cuddle on the bed, Keith takes his hand and rubs it until the mark disappears.
“I love you,” he murmurs. “So much. I wanted to make you happy.”
“You did every day, Keith. You don’t have to be more than you are.” Shiro kisses him again. “I love you too.”
“I know. I should know, but…”
The uncertain about him being enough for Shiro is back, and it was the main reason for his decision about trying it despite all the odds, despite even Shiro’s himself and his desire.
“Are you angry?”
“You mean, are you hungry?” Shiro jokes. “I know my dick is big and you ate it all, but…”
Keith hides his head against Shiro’s neck, amused and embarrassed at the same time.
Then, Shiro says, “you won’t even take the wrong decision by choosing me.” -
.
It was hard piloting in that situation. Keith may have a great talent, but he doesn’t have the real experience of driving a ship inside a solar storm while a pirate ship shot at said ship. He’s still able to avoid major damage to the ship so it can still navigate, but it’s too slow to hope to shake off the pursuers.
In front of him, a little on the right, an asteroid belt appears. Keith was the best in that kind of simulation. Following his instinct, he turns the direction of the ship on the right: Red is smaller, so it can slip towards the asteroids, but the Black Lion is bigger and it may have problems web if they have a good pilot.
But before he’s able to sink the ship inside the belt, a shot hit the ship on the side, a shot Keith wasn’t able to avoid it. The hit makes the ship swings on the right and Keith loses his balance. He falls down and crashes on the wall. He hits his head and stays there for few minutes, a little bit disoriented.
When his legs are able to sustain him again, he rushes towards the helm, but it’s too late. No matter his efforts, the ship isn’t following his orders anymore, and there are only two possible explanations: the engine was hit and it’s now broken, or the pirates are boarding them.
With his gun in his hand, Keith returns in the upper desk and finds himself in the middle of the fight. Zethrid is fighting with his bare punches, slowing down the pirates as Ezor helps her to push them back. In the middle of the fight, both Allura and Shiro have torches in their hand, but apparently Shiro was right and the ritual to kill the pirates only works if they’re tied to a rock: the pirates’ clothes burn but they don’t slow down, and it’s even more dangerous for the ship itself, that already has some small burn on the ground. Romelle is on the back, and shots flame arrows directly to the Black Lion’s deck, hoping to damage it enough to force the pirates to focus more on it.
“Gentlemen,” Lotor’s voice sounds clearly despite the chaos on the decks. “Now that we’re all here, my suggestion is to calm down.”
Sendak grabs Shiro by the collar and smashes him on the ground. “You lied to me, and now you’re gonna paid,” and his voice is calm despite his feral expression. His gun his pressed against Shiro’s throat.
“I’m pretty sure we can settle things right if we just stop to talk, and if any of us does something stupid.”
Without thinking, Keith jumps on the parapet and places the gun on his own neck. “If you don’t stop and let Shiro go, I’ll kill myself!”
Sendak’s expression doesn’t change, but he stops. “And why should I care?”
“Because I’m the son on the person that stole this blade on the first place,” Keith says, and he shows the blade on his hand. “And you need my blood to destroy your curse.”
“Something stupid like this,” Lotor ends up disappointed.
“Why should we believe you?” Sendak asks, even if his pirates talked to each other about how much Keith resembles to Krolia.
Keith takes a breath and relax as Shiro taught him. The blade in his hand turns into a sword and everyone around gasp. Sendak smirks, predatory.
“What do you want?”
“Let Shiro go!” Keith orders immediately. “Don’t kill the others too!” he adds, looking at Allura.
“If I may…” Lotor tries to intervene, but Sendak cuts him off.
“Granted.”
“You’ve gotta kidding me.”
Lotor looks with an incredulous opened mouth the desolation of the destroyed base. At his side, Shirogane frowns, but he seems quieter than he should be.
“Sendak, you liar!” Keith is screaming from the Black Lion. “You promised to let Shiro go.”
“And that’s what I’m doing. If you’d like for me to bring him into a specific place, you should have told me before. Now stop pestering me, boy.”
Keith tries to protest again but his yells got cutting off. Lotor should have been angry at him for being so stupid, but to be honest somehow he understands it.
“Well, Lotor, looks like you remember this was the place we abandoned you last time.”
“Yeah, I’ve recognized him.”
“Good luck in surviving this time too. Wonder who’s the real immortal now.” Sendak leaves with a last, satisfied grin.
“What’s this place?” Shirogane asks, once the Black Lion was far at the horizon and Lotor walks towards the inside of the base, his steps resounding on the empty space.
“An old abandoned Garrison base,” he answers, since Shirogane is following him. “The build him during the war, to monitoring this area, but the solar storms are too strong here both for transmission and movements so it became soon useless.”
“And they left you here, after you killed the previous captain.”
Lotor gritted his teeth, but not correct the statement. “Don’t remember me.”
“How did you escape last time?”
“Smugglers.” Lotor points out at one of the closed metal door, then he pushes to open it. Dust and webs fly around. “They utilized this base to hide their goodies, and I negotiated a lift with them. But, as you can see, they aren’t around anymore so we’re trapped here.” He takes a bottle from the room, shakes a little to free it from the dust, and takes a sip of rum. “Be my guest.”
“Lotor,” Shirogane says.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, we’re going to die now that they have the last blade and the last blood, so, who cares.”
“Another good reason to tell me everything. You’re the one that bring Keith to them after all.”
“Fair,” Lotor rolls his eyes, “but you can imagine Keith wouldn’t have accepted to stay back with you in danger.”
“That’s probably true.” A soft smile is on Shirogane’s face. “But you lied to him, or at least kept some informations for you, so spill them.”
“There isn’t much.” Lotor realizes Shirogane isn’t Keith, and he isn’t let it go, as a true Garrison Captain. A pain in the ass. “When I realized what my mother’s plan was, I tried to stop it, and I failed. My father killing himself was useless, and I was kicked off from my own ship. Then, I found out the crew has become immortal, and I immediately realized the dark entities from the legends was freed.”
“You mean the nanomachines?”
Lotor nods. “But I was wrong. I believed it was my mother’s doing, and that I could stop them by taking back the blades. But the fact the pirates stole the blade in the first place freed the nanomachines. The dark entities behind them is still trapped, but not for long.”
“The blood…”
“Yep. Returning the blade and make sacrifices with blood will untied the spell that the first owners of the blades use to trapped the entities.”
“It makes sense,” Shirogane reflects to himself. “The blood isn’t part of the original legend. And I was wondering why Sendak would want stop his immortality, despite his explanation… The nanomachines are controlling them for free their boss. But then, how do we stop it? Returning the blade without the blood can be enough?”
“That, I don’t know. After my failure with my army, I searched for another solution, but without results. I hope to keep at least one blade away from Sendak, but now…”
Shirogane chuckles, and Lotor lifts an eyebrow. “This story teaches us something: don’t steal!”
Lotor looks at his stolen rum bottle and shakes his head. “I’ll keep in mind in my next life.”
He doesn’t notice Shirogane’s disappearance, not until he ends the bottle. Then he turns to take another one from the room and sees he’s alone. With a frown, he follows the strange sounds and finds Shirogane in the older control room of the base. Shirogane tries to connect two caves and presses some buttons. The control beeps and then dies again.
“What are you doing?”
“Even if they’re old, I know how this controls work. I can send a sos around.”
“To the Garrison.”
“Well, this is a Garrison base.”
“May I reminder you I’m a pirate and Garrison aren’t my favorite people.”
“Oh, it means you don’t like me?” Shirogane replies, a fake wounded expression on his face. “Don’t worry, you already stated you prefer spending your last hours here, drinking old room and drowning in self-pity.”
Lotor is going to be petty about it. He kicks the machine, that beeps again. “Those things are too old, I doubt they can send a signal so long to be caught.”
He leaves the room and returns to the outside, in time to see a Garrison ship floating upon him. Shirogane reaches him with a smug smile. Lotor snorts.
“Oh, bite me!”
Between all the people, Shiro is happy Adam is the commander of the rescue ship. He hopes Adam’s easier to convince.
He’s wrong, because even if Adam listened to Shiro’s explanations, he immediately gives order to the ship to return to the base.
“Have you understand what I tell you, Adam?” Shiro says, and his tone is annoyed.
“I did, Takashi,” Adam speaks as he’s a baby. “Immortal pirates that are about to free an evil dark entity? It’s hard to believe. And it comes from a pirate’s mouth too.” And he throws a look at Lotor, who’s still on the main deck, even if his hands are already handcuffed behind his back.
“You fought with them back there, haven’t you noticed something strange?”
Adam sighes. “I had. But still, it isn’t a bigger reason for us to turn back to the base and explain the situation to everyone? With the information you got, we can prepare more efficient countermeasures.”
“But Keith will be death at that point,” Shiro replies.
“I’m not happy to leave him too, but I have no choice. I can’t risk my men – our men – only to save one person.”
“You came for me.”
“It’s different,” Adam immediately says. “I have orders for you, and you’re a Garrison Captain. Keith is someone that ignored orders and plotted with a pirate, even helping him to evade from a Garrison prison.”
“To save me,” Shiro points out.
Adam shakes his head. “Like I said, I can’t go back for only one man, not matter how much I want to.”
“Fine, then,” Shiro snorts. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to marry you then.”
“What?” Adam looks at him baffled.
“I’d like to marry you, but I won’t build my own happiness by the idea that I or my husband would leave the man who saved my life to die. Not if we can avoid it.”
The conflict is clear on Adam’s face. “Fine, Takashi. Let’s try to save him.”
With his hand handcuffed behind his back, Keith is dragged to the cave again. He looks with wide eyes at the jaguar pictures as they place him in front of the only free spot from the blades. Sendak is behind him, with a hand on his shoulder.
“Finally, it’s time.”
“I won’t do it if I were you.” Lotor’s voice resounds in the cave, and Sendak growls.
“You again!”
“Me, yes.” Lotor walks steady towards him, the pirates that glare at him but not attack him, not until a direct order. “And you should be grateful for it, since I’m here to warn you about the fact you have a Garrison ship just outside the cave, ready to kill you. I don’t think dying is the best way to spend your freedom for your curse.”
“Where’s Shiro?” Keith asks.
“Safe, as I promised. He’s going to marry a man named Adam as he promised. And you’re going to die, as you promised, so we’re all men with one word.”
“What do you want, Lotor?” Sendak growls. “I gave you two occasion to survive and leave us alone, you should have taken them.”
“I excuse you bad manner because I understand it’s a tense situation.” At this point, Lotor is in front of them, smiling sweetly. “I came here early to warn you about Shirogane’s lies, and to deliver you the real Krolia’s son, and you refused to listen. Now, will you listen to me about the Garrison ship?”
Sendak narrows his eyes. “So you’re telling me you’re trying to help us all this time? Why should I believe you?”
“Because, at the end of the day, I’m a pirate,” Lotor answers, as his right fingers rub the rock wall. “I don’t care about the Black Lion anymore, but a nice, long, comfortable life. I gave you him,” and passes his left arms on Keth’s shoulders, “and now I valuable information. I think I ca accept something as payment,” he kicks one of the golden vases in the ground, “and then I’ll be my way.”
In all this, Keith doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t understand Lotor, at all. Allura didn’t tell him Lotor is a bad man, just one ready to do everything. And in that moment, he’s giving Keith some time and, if Shiro is for real with the Garrison, they know how to kill the pirates even if they’re immortal. It’s better playing with Lotor’s plan, even if he may be wrong.
“Decide fast, Sendak,” Lotor says. “In few minutes, the Garrison will attack.”
Sendak turns to his men in the cave. “Go. Kill them all, and fast. We have a sacrifice to make.”
“Wise choise,” Lotor murmurs, once all the men but a couple, who remain to surveil the entrance of the cave.
“I don’t like you,” Sendak says. “But maybe, finally, you’ve became a real pirate, like your father.”
“Maybe,” Lotor nods. “Or maybe not.”
In a flash of light, the blade he stole secretly before turns into a full sword he uses to cut Keith’s handcuffs. Keith rolls on one side, just when Sendak, with a yell, screams angry at Lotor and tries to shot him. Lotor’s body startles under the shots, but he doesn’t fall. A smirk appears on his face.
“This time, stealing was the right answer.”
With a swift movement, he opens cut a wound on Sendak’s arm: nothing that can hurt him for real, but Sendak is force to let the blade go, and Keith rushes to take it. He stands up next to Lotor, sword already transformed.
“Go help your Shiro,” Lotor says, in an amused tone. Then, his face hardens. “I take care of him.”
“Be careful,” Keith whispers before rushing towards the exit.
He doesn’t let the two men on guards stopping him and he kicks them out of the way and exits the temple. In front of the stair, the battle explodes. There are fires under rocks, and Garrison soldier with their uniform fighting pirates.
He sees Shiro and runs to him. -
.
Next year Shiro’s birthday will come with a long series of astral conjunctures:
1)it’ll be a leap year, so Shiro’s birthday will be Shiro’s birthday for real
2)it’ll be the birthday after Shiro’s break-up with Adam
3)it’ll be the birthday before Shiro’s departure for Kerberos
4)it’ll be a Saturday, so a free day for him
Keith has every intention to put up a four reason for this day to be special: spending the day with Shiro and giving him the best present ever.
Giving a present at all will be nice enough, since in the past years Keith gave him just a present card drawn by him and a small call before Shiro spent the day with Adam.
It isn’t enough for Keith: he wants that day to be something Shiro can remember with happiness and fondness. He wants to see Shiro big, amazing smile again.
He got his idea, he has an estimate of the money needed and the time to reach that amount. He still can’t be sure it’ll work entirely but, first, he needs the money.
The worst part of his secondary job is not having free time anymore, which means, for Keith, not time to spend with Shiro.
There is some irony in the fact that Keith’s attempt to do something for Shiro steals time he can spend with Shiro.
At first, it wasn’t so bad, because Shiro was busy with test and simulation for preparing himself for the Kerberos’ mission. He wasn’t around as much as before. But Commander Holt’s preparations have an interruption period around December, which Keith dreads.
He knows he won’t be able to hide Shiro about the secondary job.
And, as a matter of fact, Shiro intercept him in the Garrison cafeteria the day after his return to the base with Commander Holt. He’s enthusiastic about all the training and Keith lets him blabbering about it for a while, enjoying the familiarity of seeing him eating a gigantic mac and cheese portion.
Shiro wipes out the cheese from his mouth and smiles.
“Racing this weekend?”
“I can’t.” Keith keeps his breath.
Shiro’s smile fell. “Oh, okay. Next week then?”
“I can’t,” Keith repeats, with a sigh. “I’m… working at a fast food on the Sixth on weekends.”
A mix of emotion crosses Shiro’s face, staring with a frown to a worried pout. “Keith. Secondary jobs are for people that prefer not continuing the career as Garrison officers.”
“I know.”
“Did something happen? Because I can-”
“It’s not that,” Keith interrupts him, angry for having worried Shiro. “I need some money, that’s it. My clothes are getting smaller for me. I’m growing up. And I need a new pair of shoes too.”
Talking too much should be enough to not betray himself.
“Oh,” Shiro mutters. “I can buy something for you. I have enough found and, after all, I’m about to leave for a thirteen months long holiday paid by the Garrison.” He chuckles. “You don’t have to work.”
Keith shakes his head. “I don’t want your money, Shiro.”
“You can give them back later, really, it isn’t a problem.”
“I can handle it,” Keith assures him. “It’s just for a couple of months.”
Shiro looks at him and presses his lips together. “You’ll have the mid-semester exams on January. You sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Shiro lets himself smiling. “But I’m still getting you a couple of new pants for Christmas.”
“You don’t even celebrate Christmas,” Keith points out. “And I don’t either.”
“Well, fine, then. But if you still receive something, don’t blame me but Santa. That man can’t keep things for himself.”
Keith laughs.
He missed Shiro so much.
Keith wakes up in the infirmary’s bed, with an IV in his arm. Shiro’s there too, and he smiles as soon as he notices Keith’s gaze on him.
It’s enough to bring Keith back to reality. “The tests...!” He tries to stand up, gripping Shiro’s arm to lift himself up. Shiro, gently but firmly, places his hand on Keith’s shoulders and push him back on the mattress.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “Doc said you have severe dehydration caused by excessive use of energetic beverage. I spoke with Iverson, they’ll permit you to take the tests next week. You passed all the writing tests, so they consider unwarranted have you fail on your best strength. You can rest for now.”
Keith’s sure it was Shiro’s influence more than Keith’s results that convinced the professor, but he still takes a relief breath.
“You force yourself enough,” Shiro murmurs, revealing his worries behind his smile. His hand is caressing Keith’s hair. “Sure now you’ll have enough money for new clothes.”
“And I don’t need the shoes anymore,” Keith adds, remembering the red wrapped present he found out in his dorm the Christmas morning. “But no. I still need to work.”
Tickets bought. Apartment rents. Translator paid. But he needs some money in case something goes wrong.
“Keith-”
“Just two more weeks, Shiro, I promise.” He turns his head to look at him. “And I won’t accept double shifts anymore. I will rest, I’ll take my exams and then work for just two more weeks.”
“Fine,” Shiro nods at last. “But tell me if you need any help, okay?”
“There is something,” Keith says. “The 29th. Can we spend the day together?”
Shiro’s eyes widen a little. Even if they don’t express it with words, they both know what that day is.
“Of course,” he smiles softly. “It’ll be nice.”
Shiro does remember the promise because the 29th morning he shows himself at Keith’s door in the dorm, his casual clothes with the leather jacket on and the smart smirk who’s about to do something the Garrison won’t approve.
Keith really missed it.
He left Shiro to decide how to spent the day, and Shiro’s decision for his birthday was to racing with the hoverbikes all days in the desert – he even prepared the lunch, two very bad sandwiches.
“Thank you for today,” Shiro says, when they’re returning towards the Garrison base in the late afternoon.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You stay with me. That’s enough.”
Keith’s throat is dry as he murmurs, “before going back, there’s a place I need to go. Can you come with me?”
“Sure,” Shiro answers, with a curious look.
They reach the city: the apartment Keith has rent is on the Fifth, in the quietest area of the city. It’s an apartment at the last floor of a ten-store palace, with two rooms, a terrace and a big dining room, nice enough for spending a couple of days.
Shiro hasn’t ask anything, just following Keith around quietly, but once they reached the door of the apartment, he smirks.
“You organized me a surprise party, don’t you?” He winks, as Keith turns his eyes away. “Don’t worry, I’ll try to be surprised.” And he rings at the door.
The Japanese woman that opens the door is short and thin, with a long pink dress and a white apron that grip his thin waist even more. His face lights up as she sees Shiro, and the wrinkles around her eyes almost disappear.
“Takashi,” she says, and even her voice is thin. She adds something in Japanese Keith doesn’t understand.
Shiro’s mouth has fell opened. She ignores it and reserves him a brief, light hug before turning his head inside and speaks again in Japanese. Keith pushes Shiro inside and closes the door behind him.
The room is filled with a strong smell and something is boiled on the stove.
A Japanese man stands up from the couch. Keith saw in the past a photo of him, but Shiro’s grandfather’s presence is overwhelming. He’s taller and broader than Shiro, something Keith considers impossible, but with his same squared jaws and the same sweet grey eyes. He’s obvious older, and the maturity and the experience makes him impotent.
“Jiji…” Shiro manages to whisper before his grandfather grabs him into a tight hug, one that makes Keith wonders if he’s going to break some of Shiro’s bones.
Then his attention moves to Keith. “Nice to meet you, Kiito-kun,” he says, voice deep, in a not steady English. But he shakes Keith’s hand with force, and Keith bows his head and tries to remember the few Japanese Shiro taught him.
“Hajimemashte, Shirogane-san.”
He murmurs something, the frowns and turns to Shiro with a severe look.
Shiro blinks a little. “He said you can call them Hitoshi-san and Sumire-san,” he says to Keith, and then adds something in Japanese with an annoyance that Keith sees very rarely in it. But to his questions it’s his grandmother to answer, despite being focused on her stove. Keith doesn’t understand a word, expect his name.
So they’re talking about it.
“You did this?” Shiro’s eyes are back on Keith, and he shrugs.
For a second, he fears he made a mistake. But he remembers the way Shiro talked about his grandparents, about the fact that they were the ones to encourage him to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot, and how he missed them but since they’re old he doesn’t dare to ask them to fly all way to America…
“How?” Shiro demands. “They don’t even speak English!”
Keith shrugs again. “I paid a translator to send them a letter, and two plane tickets. They accepted, so I paid for the apartment and for another translator to stay with them until you arrive…”
“You did this…” Shiro murmurs, with a soft voice. And then pouts. “I can’t believe it! They’ve always say they’re scared to fly!” And he repeated it to Hitoshi, who just laughs.
Sumire gives Shiro a funny look, and says something that makes Shiro pouts more and crosses his arm. Hitoshi pats him in the back before sitting down at the already set table.
“They’re assholes,” Shiro comments, but he’s smiling. “Come on, my grandma’s ramen is the best thing around.”
“Should I trust you?” Keith grins. “You consider the best thing around the mac and cheese at the Garrison’s canteen, and the hamburger at Mc’s.”
“Fair,” Shiro admits. “But I won’t lie on my grandma’s ramen.”
And it’s definitely one of the best thing Keith has ever had in his life, with a strong flavored miso soup and the soft meat. Shiro had already showed him how to use sticks, so keith can focus less on the dinner and more on the way Shiro behaves around his grandparents, even if they’re talking in a language he doesn’t understand.
Shiro’s expression and way of talking are different from the Garrison Lietenaunt Keith knows, and even from the smart bad boy biker that races in the desert. He’s at ease, with his defense low, and his almost childish in the way he pouts and waves his arms around. Hitoshi laughs a lot and pats Shiro’s back a lot, choking him in the soup most of the time. Sumire scolds them and smiles at the same time.
Once he finishes the ramen, Keith excuses himself and let the three of them alone in the dining room. He sits down in the terrace outside, with his backpack at his next. From the city, even if the sky is clear, seeing the star is impossible. He closes his eyes, letting himself culled by the Japanese words that come from the inside.
He opens them again when he heard a rumor next to him: Shiro moves another chair and sits down next to him.
“Do you need help with the dishes?” Keith asks.
“Nah.” Shiro shakes his head. “My granma cares about roles, she would be offended if we help her.”
His face his relaxed, he looks younger than usual. Keith haven’t see him so much happy since he was chosen for Kerberos: even if it’s his dream, a lot of stress came with it.
“I haven’t realized how much I missed them,” Shiro comments, the smile still in his face, as he looks at the sky. “How do you get this idea.”
Keith shrugs. “You talked a lot about them. I’ve started to know you well enough to understand that you wouldn’t have selfish enough to ask them to take the plane and come here, so I did it for you.”
Shiro tilts his head to him, and scanned Keith: he has the new shoes, but he’s still dressed with the old red jacket and the jeans with the holes below the knees.
“Have you bought some clothes for you?”
“It remains something, I think I’ll manage to get a couple of new shirt.” Keith lifts his hand to stop Shiro. “I know what you want to say. That I shouldn’t have do it, that I almost failed the exams because of it, that you’re not worthy it.”
“Well,” Shiro starts, “it is true. Don’t let me wrong, I appreciated it, but-”
“No, Shiro. You deserve it. You deserve everything. I wasn’t anyone before you, and I just want to give you something special. I want to see you happy for yourself for once. Let me take care of you this time. Rest.”
The hug happens so suddenly that Keith takes few seconds to realizes that Shiro’s strong arms are pressing on his back and his face is squeeze on Shiro’s broad chest. Keith snuggles in the embracing and slowly moves his arm around Shiro’s torso.
“Thank you, Keith,” Shiro says, and his voce breaks a little. “Nobody else ever done something like this for me.”
Keith swallows. “I’m pretty sure it’s not true.”
“It is. Everyone else… is just there for what they think I am. You don’t. That’s important for me. I’m so happy to be your best friend.”
Best friend. Right.
“I’ll always be there for you, Shiro.”
When Shiro, with an embarrassed smile, Keith knows everything was worthy.
Shiro sighs. “Now I really need to find a way to surpass this for your birthday.”
Keith rolls his eyes. “You’ll be on Kerberos for my birthday.”
“Damn,” Shiro complains. “You don’t like easy things, don’t you?”
“Nope,” Keith replies. “And by the way, I have another thing for you.”
“Another?” Shiro’s tone is a mixture of annoyance and surprise.
“Happy birthday, old timer,” Keith comments while he passes him a wrapped up in red present.
Shiro smirks and unwraps the present: it’s the special illustrated edition of the Simmariol. Shiro already had The Lord of the Rings of the same collection, and expressed the desire of having all Tolkiens’ books.
“Damn,” Shiro swears again, as he passes his hand through the pages, with a big smile on his face and bright eyes.
And looking at him like that, Keith thinks back at Iverson’s suggestion about what his objective should be. But Keith already knows it.
He wants to reach the stars, of course. That was a dream of him. But his first mission is and will always be making Shiro happy.
As long as his reward is Shiro’s smile, Keith can be happy. -
.
One of Shiro’s favorite thing of going to classroom for recruiting is the daemon’s behavior.
At first, they stay put, quite, a little bit scared of the stranger man in the classroom. Their appearance is usually small, mouse, squirrels, hedgehog, little birds, and they remain on their person’s desk or shoulder, in silence.
Then, once Shiro explained his reason to be in the class and the all trying-the-flight-simulator-game, chaos explodes in the classroom. The daemon turns into bigger animals, from dogs to horse to lions, filling the space of the classroom both with their bigger bodies and their call, roars, lows, barks are all around.
It’s Shiro favorite moment.
For this reason, he notices immediately the outcast of the class. The boy – Keith, he’ll learn later – doesn’t seem interested at all in Shiro’s presence, looking languish outside the window with his chin placed on the palm of his hand. At a first glare, his daemon isn’t anywhere to be see, but at Shiro’s trained eyes doesn’t escape the glint of yellow on one side of Keith’s black hair.
A butterfly.
Not unheard off, especially from introverted people, but insects aren’t an aspect daemon take often when they can mutate from animal to animal. As youngster, they usually want to be notice. Yet Shiro remembers the day Atlas used to be a scrabble inside his sleeves, because Shiro himself wants to be left alone.
Because he felt alone.
Outside the classroom, Keith’s daemon takes the aspect of a black cat, and Keith plays with him, rubbing his belly and waving a piece of grass in front of it. He stays a little bit far from the flight simulator and from his classmates, back towards them.
Shiro keeps observing him from afar, while he lets every kids try – and fail – the simulator.
He loves fighting.
The simulator isn’t the same of a real flight, of course, but it gives away some of its feelings, like the adrenaline of the fly and the power sensation of the ship moving around at his command. He wants Keith to try it too, wants Keith to feel something.
When he turns to him, Keith’s daemon transforms into a panther, walking around him in a protective stance, while Keith doesn’t move from his position.
“Looks like you’re the only one left,” Shiro says, with a smile. “Do you have what it takes?”
Keith’s face turns to him, surprised. Even his daemon, still in panther form, deflates a little. It’s the face of someone that has been never considered before, and it pains Shiro a little.
The daemon returns back into a black cat and cuddles on Keith’s knees as he sits down on the simulator. His movements are slowly, controlled, but once the simulation starts, the grip on the controls tightens and he moves his hands with confidence. His posture is relaxed, yet Shiro doesn’t miss the moment his daemon transforms into a small hawk, wings that widen open once Keith makes a difficult maneuver inside the asteroid belts.
A smile appears on Shiro’s face.
It’s the first time he loves seeing someone else flying.
Stubborn is definitely one of Shiro’s traits.
If Keith thinks he’s going to let it go only because he stole his car, well, he’s wrong. Giving a chance to young pilot to lear to fly, to love flying, is one of Shiro’s pleasure in life, a building for when he won’t be able to be a pilot anymore.
Keith’s going to love flying, Shiro will make sure of it.
“I don’t understand,” Keith murmurs as Shiro bails him out of prison, his daemon trotting behind him as a turtle. His surprise face is already a rewards.
“Now you owe me one. And trust me, I’ll make it worthy.”
“Why should I trust you?” Keith murmurs, but he takes the visitor card. The daemon slips around his waist as a snake and put is small head against the visitor card, his forked tongue licks one of the corner. “Kosmo, stay put.”
A clear sign Keith is interested, but not ready enough to show it.
“You have great talent,” Shiro says. “What do you want to do with it it’s up to you.”
“I just used the simulator once…” Keith shrugs.
“And you loved it?”
At that, Keith doesn’t answer. Kosmo takes the visitor card with his teeth from his hand.
With a small sigh, Shiro opens a little the jacket of his uniform. Inside it, there is a pocket. With a small frown, Keith looks at the small head of a Japanese squirrel appears from the pocket, watching Keith with his big black eyes.
“Meet Atlas,” Shiro introduces him, using his index finger to rub the daemon’s little head, just behind the ears. Atlas crawls outside the pocket and jumps on Shiro’s shoulder, still looking at Keith intensely.
“Everyone deserve a second chance.”
Shiro knows most people attribute him, wince all his successes, a great Daemon, something scary and imponent. But his Daemon is just a cute, little thing he can put in his pocket. So Shiro is ready for Keith’s surprise expression of knowing that – an information not much people has.
“What is it?” Keith asks instead, as Kosmo immediately turns into Atlas’ appearance. “I’ve never seen an animal like this.”
“It’s a Japanese squirrel, you can only find there.”
Keith caresses Kosmo’s belly and smiles. “It’s cute.” His eyes shift from Shiro to Atlas and back. “It suits you.”
And damn. Shiro is supposed to understand Keith, not the other way around.
Every year, the Garrison received the curriculum and the presentation letters from the students that want to be admitted at the Garrison Courses. They selected the worthier ones, who will be faced a couple of aptitude and physical tests and then they’ll be choose. There are limited spot of the Garrison.
Few luckily people can be exonerated from the tests, and are the students that, for some reasons, are considered worthier from their examiner.
Keith Kogane is one of them, as Shiro recommends him with insistence.
“I don’t know,” Iverson says. “This Kogane kid… his grades are below the average, and for a fourteen years ago, his police records are a little bit… impressive. In a bad way.”
There is a squirrel on the windowsill of the open windows. Shiro leans limply on the wall next to it, and throws some nuts at the squirrel.
“But have you see the record of his flight simulation? It’s superior to every new student, even to some cadets at the first year. And I’m pretty sure he could have done even better.”
“If he didn’t decide to quit for stealing your car, you mean?”
Shiro rolls his eyes. He knows why keith did that, it’s just too hard to explain to people sometimes how it is not having anyone on your side.
“Do you really want to risk losing the best pilot you can have?”
“Better than you?” Iverson inquires.
“Yes.” Shiro doesn’t falter, but his attention focuses more on the squirrel. “And I won’t be around for long, you know.”
“Fine,” Iverson says at last, not wanting to deep in Shiro’s health situation. “I’ll propose this candidation to the higher-ups. I can’t guarantee they’ll accept, though.”
“I’ll speak with them,” Shiro murmurs absently-minded. The squirrel crawls near to take a nut and Shiro takes his chance to rub its head.
A shiver crosses his entire body. The squirrel freezes, just a second, then turns into a dobe and flies far, high in the sky.
It was a daemon all along.
As Iverson keeps blabbering, Shiro looks outside the windows, but the daemon’s owner was nowhere to be seen.
***
It’s been a long time since Keith has learned to not love anymore. People leave, dreams shatter. Loving becomes too painful at a certain point, and Keith just gives up. He can’t say is happy, but not being sad is still better.
Shiro came on his life to destroy all Keith’s belief. It’s not like Keith doesn’t try to prove Shiro will be just like everyone else, but ven Keith and his stoic behaviour wavers in front of a man that took him out of prison like it was nothing.
And it’s hard not to believe it when he has such a cute Daemon (and Keith suspects Shiro hides because of course people are going to judge him for that).
But every wish he has after his meeting with Shiro and his promise to join the Garrison meets with the wall of his classmates’ distruts. Of course they find out about Shiro’s doing, and of course voices about Shiro reccomending Keith (Keith!) of all people spread around the entire school.
James, the jerk, is the first one to jump on the possibility of making Keith’s life miserable again. First, he complains about Keith cheating in some way at the flight simulator, as Keith has any possibilities of hacking in a Garrison system. Then, he confabulates with his friend about the fact that Keith was just a pity case for Shiro, because Shiro is just that good, but that the Garrison wouldn’t never accept someone like Keith with them. They have stardard, he says, implying Keith is far low than that.
Lukily, James’ ego is big enough to get tired fast of Keith’s situation, and the argouments around the class become fast James’ own future at the Garrison as Shiro’s best student.
Without anyone noticing, Keith submits his curriculum and his letters – without any recomendations, of course.
Now, Keith has a secret.
It’s something he discovered later in his life, when his father was already dead. But he still rembered his recomendations: if you feel, or have, something strange, something that humans shouldn’t have, keep it hidden. For you own safety.
So, Keith never reveals to anyone that Kosmo can wander around as he likes, even very far away from Keith.
He doesn’t usually do so, because Kosmo loves being around Keith – he’s the only one, and probably it’s because he’s the manifestation of Keith’s soul. But it has happened in the past tha Kosmo runs away in the desert alone, and returns back in the evening.
No one else, at least for Keith’s knowledge, can do something like that. Daemon shouldn’t be separated from their humans. They can’t, or they lose themselves. Maybe, Keith guesses, I can do this because I already lost mysef.
Despite it, there are some advantages of Kosmo’s ability.
When he’s far away, Keith fakes he’s turned into a scrabble and he’s hiding inside Keith’s sleeve, a light lie everybody believe because Kosmo isn’t stranger to assume insect forms, and he does it often.
Keith can’t see what Kosmo sees, but they can communicate later. It’s thanks to Kosmo that Keith manages to pass tests sometimes, as Kosmo spies the results from the teachers’ offices while Keith is quiet in class.
It’s just a matter of time before Keith asks Kosmo to fly to the Garrison and spy on the students’ admission list. He does want to be prepare for rejection: it’ll still hurt like a bitch, but at least he will know, the day James will come to him gloating about his own admission.
He’s in class, trying to focus on the lesson, while his gaze is outside, looking for the sky, when the shiver hits him suddendly.
Panic surges on his throat and he stumbles from his chair.
Someone touched Kosmo!
“Kogane,” the teacher’s voice is harsh.
“Sorry, ma’ma. I don’t feel very good.”
The teacher looks at him and he probably has something on his face because she nods. “Go to the infirmary, maybe you need some sugar. You’re so skinny…”
Always stumbling and ignoring the chuckles behind him, he gets out of the class.
Kosmo reaches for him when he’s resting in the infirmary’s bed, and informs him of the worst possible situation: it was Shiro who touched him. It was a mistake from Kosmo’s part, but after all he’s part of Keith’s soul, and Shiro lures Keith too, as the entire Garrison deal demostrated.
And maybe everything will resolve for the best.
Shiro shouldn’t know who that daemon is, after all.
And yet, Shiro is waiting for Keith at the end of the lessons. Keith can hears the whispering around him when Shiro nods in his direction. With his head low, and Kosmo turned into a butterfly on his hair, he walks towards Shiro.
“Hey,” he murmurs.
“Hi, Keith,” Shiro smiles. “Want a lift?”
No, should be the answer, but Keith doesn’t feel he can refuse the invitation. So he nods and places himself in the passenger seat, in the same car he stole the day he and Shiro met. Atlas is sitting down next to the wheel.
Has Shiro orders to bring Keith in some secret facility where Garrison scientist sill study his Daemon? For all Keith knows, studies on daemons are forbidden, but…
“I heard you don’t feel so well,” Shiro says, once he drove the car away.
“Just tired,” Keith answers. Then, he adds, “I didn’t expect you here. I mean, you should be a very busy man, right?”
“Not as much as you may think,” Shiro replies. “And taking care of cadets is part of my duty.”
He winks at Keith, with a big smile, and Keith blushes before realizing. “Cadets?”
“Of course. I’ve told you so.”
Happiness springs inside Keith’s heart, and Kosmo turns into a very exciting squirrel running on his shoulders.
“For real? So you’re not bringing me into a secret Garrison facility to study on me?” he blabbers out.
“Of course not. Why should I do something like that?”
“Oh. No reasons,” Keith scoffs, and turns his head.
He’s a bad liar. That’s what his foster parents told him a lot, and why Keith never managed to get away with anything. He hopes Shiro won’t inquire more, as Keith keeps his gaze on the window.
“Today I touched another person’s daemon,” Shiro murmurs.
Keith swallows.
“It was very rude of me. I wish to apologize,” Shiro adds. His tone is calm. “To my defense, I didn’t realize it was a daemon. Still, I’m sorry.”
There’s nothing Keith wants to answer, so he doesn’t. Shiro doesn’t expect him to do. He changes subject and starts to talking about the Garrison, about the fact that it’s a very difficult school but Keith can do it and Shiro is eager to help him in any way. That Keith can come to him as much as he likes.
“Here we are,” he says, as he parks the car in the home’s street.
“Thank you for the lift. And… for everything,” Keith murmurs. Kosmo is again a butterfly on his shoulder.
“Do you think the daemon’s person has forgiven me?” Shiro asks, as Keith gets off from the car.
“I’m sure. More than sure,” Keith answers.
“Good.” And he smiles.
Keith thinks he’s doomed.
Shiro made it: he made him feels love again. -
.
It’s raining.
With his hood on his head to protect his face from the water and his feet that slip into the wet grass, Shiro runs over the hill, the egg steadly in his arms and closes to his hear, under the coat.
The lights of the town are getting near, so despite his short breath and the pain on his knees, he doesn’t stop.
His attempt to make his pursuers losing his traces has brought Shiro outside the route he was following. He has no idea which town it is, but he smiles has he spots the familiar lights of a Poke Center just at the edge of the town.
The glass doors are closed because of the late hours, but the nurse at the desk notices Shiro even before he got the chance to ring the bell. He’s probably a very unappropriate vision, with every clothes wet from the rain and the mud that dirties his shoes and pants until his knees.
Yet the nurse opens the door and looks at him with a worried look. Shiro opens his coat to reveal the egg behind it.
“Please,” he says. “They tried to stole it and it fall down. I took it back immediately but…” At the top of the blue-spotted white egg there is a small crack with the form of a star.
“Come in,” the nurse says immediately, as he gently takes the egg in his hand.
“Uhm, you should be informed it’s a water type egg.”
The nurse nods. He closes the door behind Shiro and then, without another word, he hushes inside the clinic bringing the egg with him.
With a sigh, Shiro looks around in the dim light: it’s like every other Pokecenter, with a welcoming hall with the desk, a sofa, the computer for the pokeball traiding and a small shop, now closed. Since they aren’t in a very big city, it doesn’t even have the upper floor for the pokemon traiding.
Shiro hopes they have at least the right instrumentation for healing a cracking egg.
He takes off the coat and hangs it, before sitting down on the sofa. He’s dripping water from every clothes and even himself, he notices passing an hand on his white hair floof. He opens the backpack to take a sip of water and looks at his cellphone; it’s too late to call Sam and advises him about the incovenient during his journey back.
But he checks on the map his current location: Marmora Town.
In the night and the rain he hasn’t recognized it. Marmora may be a small town between the mountains at the edge of the Johto region, buti t has a very harsh pokemon gym of ghost type, so hopefully their pokemon center, yet small, should be advanced enough.
And Shiro isn’t too far from the route he was supposed to take. Passed the Moon Cave, he can reach Altean City and takes the train to Olkari from it.
A shadow appears on his coms and Shiro lifts his head: the nurse is in front of him, a cup with something hot in his hands. Shiro looks at him and in the light he remains a little bit stucked in the blue-violet eyes of the nurse.
“I bought you a coffee,” the nurse says, with a little smile. “I feel like you need something to warm up.”
“Thank you.” Shiro accepts the cup and takes a sip of the bitter drink. He helps him thinking clearly. “How’s the egg?”
“I’ve done a smal check-ups and they I put it in the water container,” the nurse explains. “It doesn’t seems the crack made the egg losing the water inside, but depending of how developed is the pokemon inside, we may be proceed of a force opening.”
“That may be a problem,” Shiro murmurs. “But the important thing is the pokemon is safe.”
“We can’t be sure until we perform some x-frame analysis,” the nurse continues. “I called the Doctor, he’s coming so we will proceed as soon as he arrives. If you’d like to rest, I can suggest you a nearby hotel.”
“Can I wait for the Doctor first?” Shiro asks. “I need to know the egg is safe.”
“Of course.” The nurse adds. “If you had been in a fight, do you want me to treat your Pokemon too?”
Shiro realizes that, without the clothes, the six pokeballs he has at his belt are visible. “That will be nice, thank you.” He takes them off and lends them to the nurse, who disappears once again inside the clinic.
The second time, it’s the Doctor himself to come for Shiro. The empty cup rests on the sofa next to him and his clothes are still wet.
“I wasn’t informed our guest is the Champion of the Elite Four,” the he says, shaking Shiro’s hand. “I’m Doctor Ulaz. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Thanks, but I’m not the Champion anymore.” He left that position when Garrison didn’t stand with him after the infortunate explosion at the Unknown ruins, and Shiro felt he lost all his motivation of being an example for young trainers. “How’s the egg?” he chances subject immediately.
Ulaz nods, understanding. “It’s fine, the fell hasn’t hurt the inside. It won’t necessary forcing the birth either. My advice will still to keep the egg under observation here until it hatchs himself.”
“I was ask to bring the egg to Doctor Sam at Olkari,” Shiro says. “I may try to contact him, but I won’t be able to move the Pokemon from here once it’s born.”
“What about a Pokeball?”
“I don’t want to capture it.”
Ulaz nods. “Let me patch up the egg and I can have you transport it into a special container. The egg should resist until your arrival in Olkari if you take the train from Altea.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good, then,” Ulaz says. He lends him a visit card. “Go to the gym, we have a dormitory there. They’ll lend you a room where you can rest. I need some time to prepare the egg.”
Shiro admits he’s tired, especially now that the adrenaline wears off and the egg is safe, so he accepts with gratitude the visit card and asks for direction to reach the gym.
He wakes up that the sun is already up and warming the room from the small window. He got some nice hours of sleep and he’s ready to walk his way towards Altea.
He puts on his clean clothes and climbs down to give back the key
“The gym leader wants to meet you,” the man at the reception informs him, with a small gesture towards the hallway that bring to the main room of the gym.
Even if Shiro’s hungry and eager to take back the egg from the Pokemon center, it’s rude to refuse a gym leader’s invitation, so he nods and follows the direction he received.
Marmora’s gym is minimal, dark, with purple walls and sand on the ground. The gym challengers aren’t there at the moment, probably they won’t expect any trainers for the day. Shiro has heard of Kolivan, even if he hasn’t meet him before, and he admits Kolivan i sas imponent as the voices said.
Still, Kolivan is kind enough to ask, “do you have breakfast?” and to bring Shiro to his office after the negative response and offer him biscuits and tea.
“I was informed about your arrival yesterday,” Kolivan states. “You had a bad encounter with some poachers on the Zela Mountains. Do you think they were Team Rocket’s members?”
“They don’t look like that,” Shiro answers. “Just regular poachers that want the egg to sell it at the black market.”
“I guess the egg is special?”
Shiro can say it to Kolivan: between all the gym leaders, is known to be one of the fighter against Team Rocket and overall crimes against Pokemon. “It’s the first finding of a Mantine. It may lead to the discovery of a previous evolution of it, that’s the reason I’m bringing it to Doctor Sam.”
“And the reason you don’t want to capture it or having him hetching here,” Koliva understand, with a small nods. “Unfortunately, Team Rocket’s activites increases in the area since someone spreaded the voice one of the three legendary dogs is around.”
Shiro’s attention sparkles at it. There is a moment on his life, where he was a young trainer, that he loves exploring the world just to meet new Pokemon, and of course the legendaries were on the top of his wish list.
“For this reason,” Kolivan continues, “I’d prefer if one of my gym will accompany you during your journey to Altea. Even if you’re totally capable to win fight by yourself,” he adds, to prevent Shiro’s complains, “he knows better the route to take towards the Moon Cave, and it may be easy to protect the egg if there’s two of you.”
Shiro reflects on it: he isn’t used to travel with someone anymore, yet he needs to think about the egg first, and one of the reasons it got hurt in the first place was because Shiro had to fight with his own Pokemon. And he’s a little out of shape, he admits.
“You have my gratitude.”
He returns to the Pokemon center and finds Ulaz at the desk. “Here you are,” he greets Shiro. “Give me a minute and I’ll be back to you.”
While he waits for Ulaz, Shiro buys some medicine at the shop; he notices they have different kind of pokeball, some of them of the most recent types, and he turns his gaze away from them, painfully.
“Here we are.” Ulaz returns with Shiro’s pokeballs and a quadrangolar box full of water; inside it, the egg has been tight secured and it has a bandage upon the cracked spot. “It has a sound alarm, that warn you if the egg is about to hatch of if something of its conditions change, so you can monitor him.”
“Great.” Shiro pushes the box inside his backpack and puts the box inside.
Whe he lifts his gaze again, the nurse from the previor night is in front of him; not more the uniform, he now wears jeans and a red leather jacked. At his belt, six pokeballs.
“Here’s your guide,” Ulaz says.
“I didn’t know you’re a trainer too,” Shiro comments, baffled.
He answers at it with a strange sound. Then, “I’m Keith.” And he shakes his hand.
Keith walks steady, a person that knows those places very well. He stays one step ahead Shiro, cheking the path for him, and doesn’t say a word. Shiro follows, wondering if he should start a conversation. He’s been a long time since he walks with someone, and it’s even possible Keith was pushed from Kolivan in being Shiro’s guide and he isn’t liking it very much.
“Sorry,” Keith says suddendly. “I’m not a great company.”
“Oh, that’s not it,” Shiro hurries to clarify.
“It’s just I’m used to be alone,” Keith adds. “And I like the quiet here. You know, the silence of the woods. I come here everytime I can.”
Shiro smiles. “I understand.”
They continue their journey in silence, but now Shiro walks next to Keith, and they look at each other and speak with gaze when they meet a pokemon or a particulary nice view.
When night come, they make the camp in a clearing. Shiro prepares the food and then lets his Pokemon free from the pokeballs. Bellossom immediately grabs Shiro’s pants and demands his attention, while Emolga grips his shoulder and licks his ear. The others are more discreet: Dragonite sits down next to Shiro, waiting for food, Arcanine starts to lick itself and Poliwrath curls agains Arcanine’s fur.
It’s a little bit strange to have them around another person, it’s something Shiro doesn’t do anymore. Yet Keith doesn’t seem to mind, focused on his own Pokemon to feed. He has only evolution of Eevee.
Shiro looks baffled while Flareon jumps around him, askng food.
“What?” Keith frowns a little at Shiro’s staring, a little red on his shoulder.
“Nothing. I just thought you would have ghost type, giving the Marmora gym.”
“Oh, that.” Keith hums. Jolteon tries to joke with Vaporeon’s tail as it waggles it nervosly. “Kolivan is my uncle and sometime I train in his gym, but I’m not a member of it.” Then, a sigh. “I used to be a trainer, you know.”
“Oh,” Shiro murmurs. “For real?”
Keith nods. “Yeah, children’s dream, you know. But my father was great – my mother at the time was MIA because her investigation about Team Rocket – and captured for me this little guys,” he rubs Umbreon’s nose, and it wringles. “Well, he was an Eevee back then, that’s how I become obsess with them. Anyway… my father died so I didn’t really get any chance later.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Keith murmurs, as Espeon jumps on his back and tries to stole food directly to his hand. “I like my work at the hospital. They say I’m pretty good at Pokemon battles, but I think taking care of Pokemon is what I really want to do.”
There is a part of Shiro he wants to ask more, he wants to see Keith’s battles. Damn, past Shiro would have asked for a match. The present Shiro just hope Keith won’t ask him anything about him or his pokemon, or about the fact he quitted his job as the Elite Four Champion.
Leafeon rubs his body against Keith’s legs and he bends down to caress him. He still looks at Shiro, with a sort of sadness in his eyes, but he doesn’t ask anything.
The Moon Cave looks scaried from outside, and Shiro knows it’s easy to lose direction inside the labyrint. Yet, Keith walks like he’s in his home, and with the light Jolteon flashes, they’re able to see around like they aren’t inside a cave.
“You come here often?” Shiro asks.
“Not so often as I’d like,” Keith answers. “But I’ve explored enough. Sometimes my uncle comes here at night for ghost pokemon hunting.”
“Looks scary but funny.”
“It is.”
Despite the light Jolteon gives, the cave is still full of tunnels and secret passages, and for someone that’s exploring it a long, it’s easy to trap someone else. That’s how Shiro and Keith find themselves surronded by Team Rocket’s members, all of them with Zubat and Geodude at their side. Kolivan told Shiro about their presence, but they don’t expect such a large group: it looked like the Kanto’s invasion at the time.
“Surrender your Pokemon and we let you go,” one of them says.
Keith grits his teeth. “You shouldn’t be there.”
Leafeon and Vaporeon are outside their pokeball in a swift, and they join Jolteon. They are all well-trainer, and with some powerful moves that only expert trainers teach to their pokemon. Keith has a good grip on the situation, but even fi the men’s pokemon are weaked, they’re in a greater number.
Shiro’s hand is unwilling on his own pokeballs, but he can’t push himself into summoning his pokemon. He stands him, freezed, as he watches with big eyes as the zubat fell on the ground after a thundershock, or the way the vines whip the geodude around.
“Shiro? Are you okay?” Keith yells, and Shiro blinks, registering that a geodude is about to hit him with one of its hand. Vaporeon sends it flying with a water splash. Shiro’s gaze fell upon it and he starts trembling.
“No… no…”
Mist feels upon the group and Shiro feels someone dragging him fowards. His weak legs manage to substain him.
“Shiro. Look at me.”
The mist disappears and Shiro finds himself at the beggining of a tunnel, the entrance closed by a wall of ice. Keith’s hand are on Shiro’s face, to keep him steady.
“You’re having a panic attack,” Keith says. “Just breath, okay? Follow my lead.”
Shiro does, and he finally gets a new grip on himself. Still, his gaze fell on the three pokemon, tired and battered at Keith’s feet.
“I’m sorry.”
Seeing him quieter, Keith releases him, and the warm disappears. “What happened?” There isn’t curiosity on Keith’s eyes, just a desire to understand.
“I can’t fight anymore,” Shiro confesses. “With my pokemon.”
“Okay.” Keith nods, and it looks that the explanation is enough for him. It’s not enough for Shiro.
“I was captured,” he continues. “Back at the Kanto’s emergency against the Team Rocket. They… they made me fight against their super-powered pokemon, to prove their strenght. That’s how I lost my arm… and that’s how I had to defeat many pokemon with my own hands.”
Keith’s eyes widen in horror, and Shiro’s heart fell. Of course Keith would look at a pokemon killer like this. But then, Keith hugs him tight.
“I’m so sorry, Shiro.”
Shiro leans on him. “I can’t… see pokemon hurt anymore. Not because of me. I can’t let my pokemon battle for me…” he whispers. Keith helds him tighter.
The ice wall cracks and Keith is forced to let Shiro go to prepare for whatever is coming. They aren’t prepared at what appeared.
“Sendak!” Shiro exhaled. Why one of the big bosses of the Team Rocket is there? All his rock pokemon are behind him, ready to fight. Steelix, Rhydon, Camerut, Gigalith, Aloah Graveler, Machamp, all of them.
“A pleasure to see you again, Champion. Boss will be happy when I’ll bring him your pokemon.”
Flareon appears next to Shiro and opens an escaping route with a powerful fire move. Keith jumps between him and Sendak, Umbreon and Espeon that join the battle alongside the others.
Shiro looks in awe as the battle begins. Keith’s pokemon are varier, and they have more moves from their side, but three of them were already tired from the battle before. Plus, Sendak’s has a couple of rock pokemon like Camerut and Aloha Graveler, and they make difficult for Vaporeon and Leafeon to have the upper hand.
One of Shiro’s Pokeball opens by itself, and Dragonite appears at Shiro’s side, looking at him with decise eyes. It wants a gesture, a something, to throw itself in the battle. Shiro looks at it and all he images was to see it hurt and bloodied. And he can’t stand it.
“I can’t… I can’t…”
Then, the air seems tremble and coolder around them. A vibrating wave passes throught them and everyone freeze on the spot. A blu shadow jumps between Keith’s pokemon and Sendak’s: with a huge wave of water, both Sendak and his pokemon get pushed away, back in the darkness of the main cave.
The shadow turns and Shiro helds his breath: it’s Suicune, one of the three legendary dogs.
It’s beautiful, with his blue aura around him and his long purple mane.
With a sigh, Keith makes all his tired Pokemon returning in their pokeball. He lends his hand fowards and, with Shiro’s surprise, Suicune moves next to him, rubbig his muzzle against Keith’s palm.
“My Pa always said I have a special connection with Pokemon,” Keith murmurs as he turns towards Shiro. Suicune’s muzzle is on Keith’s chest. “But this time Suicune didn’t come for me. It came for you.”
“For me?”
Keith nods and Suicune walks towards Shiro, sniffing the air around him. With a smile, Shiro bends down and lets Suicune cudding in his arm. He smiles softly.
“I understand you’re scared for your Pokemon and that you’re tired of battle,” Keith says, “but often Pokemon just want to help and protect us. And they’re fine with that, even for game battle.”
“I know. I’m just not that person anymore.”
“I tried to get accepted at Garrison once,” Keith says suddendly. “It doesn’t work in the end, because, Kanto’s war and everything, but I tried. And I tried because I saw you, because you said to me that I shouldn’t give up on myself. Because I wanted to be a trainer like you.”
“You…” Shiro’s eyes widen and he remember the little, scruffy guys with an Umbreon that he met during one of his journey around the region.
“So you are that kind of person,” Keith assures him, with a smile, before Shiro has the time to apologize for not recognizing him before. “I should return to Marmora to warn uncle Kolivan about the Team Rocket’s presence in the Cave, they’re plotting something for sure. But you better bring that egg to Doctor Holt.”
“Without your guide?”
Suicune moves from him and sits down with all its four paw, suggesting Shiro to hop in its back.
“You’ll have a better guide than me.”
Racing with Suicune was amazing. It run delicately, as its paws don’t touch the ground, like it was made out of wind. Shiro let Dragonite free to fly next to him and since the Kanto’s war he felt reconected againt to the Pokemon, he felt young again when he just loved being around them and discovering them.
It was like living in a dream, or in a fairytail, and was hard to let Suicune go, but its last gaze seems to indicate they will meet again. But Suicune can’t accompany him in the city, so he left Shiro at the end of the hill, and Shiro walks his way throught Altea, returning in the real world.
The train is supposed to depart in half an hour. Shiro buys the ticket and sits down in one of the seat in the empty carriage. Just when he’s about to relax, a insistent beep wake him up: it’s the box with the egg, ringing to advise Shiro. He takes the box out of the backpack in time to see the egg covered in crack before breaking entirely.
A small fish compars on the box, floating in the water. Immediately, Shiro opens the upper part of the box and let the Pokemon pushing its muzzle over the water surface. It’s definitely not a Mantine, so Sam is right when he suspected there could be a previous evolution of it. Shiro lets the point of its fingers touching it’s back and the Pokemon lends towards the touch.
Shiro rums inside his backpack to find some food, and his hands touch an empty pokeball, the last one remained unused, one Shiro couldn’t force himself to throw away. He takes it and, after letting the pokemon eats, he show it the ball.
“Will you?” he asks, and the Pokemon looks at him with expectations. It’s probably too little to understand, buti t seems to trust Shiro enough. “You’ll be fine, I promise,” he murmurs, rubbing his back again before touching its head gentle with the pokeball.
The Pokemon disappears inside in a flash of red light, and then the pokeball is automately teleporter on Shiro’s database, since he already has six pokemon with him. Shiro watches a little in awe before taking his cellphone and calling Sam.
“Shiro! I was waiting for you! Where you are?”
“I’ve been occupied. And unfortunately, the egg hetched before we thought.”
“Oh, well. But are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Shiro assures him. “And you were right, it’s a new Pokemon finding for the first time. I caught it, so it’s in my database now. Can you pick it up and check on it? It’s so small, I don’t want to leave it alone.”
“Of course! I’m so eager to see it! I’ll take care of him in the meantime. When will you manage to arrive on Olkari?”
Shiro looks outside the train’s windown. “I don’t know. I have something to do first.”
He leaves the train and the city behind him, his pokedex again in the pocket of his jacket. Suicune is waiting for him in the same spot of before, and Shiro smiles at the sight.
“Let’s go back.” -
.
If Sendak thinks Shiro is demoralized by the all “sacrifice things” or that he will accept his fate without a fight, well, he’s incredible wrong. Just, Shiro doesn’t do pointless fights. And fight a pirate ship in the middle of unknown space doesn’t seem the best course of action for Shiro in order to survive.
Patience yields focus has always been Shiro’s motto, and that his way to survive during the travel. His only chance for saving himself is to act once they reach a planet.
From his cabin, definitely more comfortable than a cell, he can’t see outside because the window has been closed with iron boards. Still, Shiro has enough knowledge of spaceships to realizes just by the way it moves if they enter in one planet’s atmosphere.
When Haxus comes for him in his cabin, Shiro already knows it’s the time.
Unfortunately, Sendak is a prudent man, and he sent Haxus to take Shiro even before the ship moors on the planet, which makes Shiro’s plan of escaping a lot more difficult.
“Put this on your eyes,” Haxus orders, throwing him a piece of clothes from the door, that Shiro catches with his left hand, “and then put your hands on your back.”
Before obeying, Shiro scrutinizes Haxus: he has two guns at his belt, alongside a sword and a knife. Not enough to defeat an entire army of pirates, but something Shiro may need to defend himself. Then, he blindfolds himself and focuses his attention of his earing.
Steps of Haxus that approaches him, and then stops behind him. Shiro waits until Haxus is about to close the handcuff around Shiro’s wrists, then he stomps one of his feet into Haxus and, even before he has a chance of screaming, he put his head back and hit him in the face, then he let himself falls backwards to crush Haxus on the ground.
It doesn’t have much time considering they are immortal, so Shiro takes off his blindfold and gags Haxus with it, then he handcuffs him to the bed. He steals all his weapons and goes out of the cabin, closing the door behind him.
Reaching the main deck may be too dangerous, since mostly pirates will be there, preparing for the landing. And Sendak doesn’t appear like a patient man, so he doesn’t have much time before someone else is sending to check on Haxus. So, contrary of every reasonable decision, Shiro takes the stairs that bring on the upper quartier of the ship.
He doesn’t need to escape at the moment, just to understand where they are. So his main mission is to find a window to look around, and he’s luckily enough to find one main hall, probably the crew dinner room. There is a nice window there.
There is dark outside, but it’s the dark of the night, not of the space. Shiro already knows they’ve entered the atmosphere, but now he can realize how much they’re near to the surface of it. There aren’t any lights on the planet, but from the light of the stairs, Shiro notices below him there is just dark water. An island stands in front of the ship, far enough so the ship will land directly in front of them, or at least Shiro guesses by the height the ship is in that moment.
He doesn’t have any choice. He takes the tablecloth and uses the knife to cut them into smaller straps. He ties them together to create a long rope, the ties one of the end to the leg of the metal table, that is stuck on the floor. He grits his teeth and curls his right metal hand into a fist before smashing it into the windows. He doesn’t break it, but it cracks the glass enough so he can crash it throwing a chair on it.
The cold air swooshes inside and almost sucks Shiro outside as he throws the rope outside it. The sound lures the pirates inside the dining room, but it’s too late. When they try to shot at Shiro, he already pushes himself outside the windows, his hands on the rope as he lets himself sliding down.
The pirates can’t kill him, so he’s sure they wouldn’t have cut the rope. But they grab it and tries to collect him back to force Shiro back on board. Shiro swings in the air, looking between the ship and the dark water below him. He hurries to reach the end of the rope, but he’s still too high.
With a last look at the pirates, that laughs and insults him from below, Shiro stops his breath and lets the rope goes. He hears the screams of the pirates as his body fall fast towards the water. In the air, Shiro tries to put himself in the most comfortable position to the impact, still the pain as he smashes on the water. Unable to recollect himself immediately, he sinks down.
Water penetrates in his lungs and Shiro’s brain awakes despite the pain. He waggles the arms and the legs and he manages to put his head back outside the water, coughs heavy, throat burring for the sea water. The ship is still upon him and it seems to have stop his movement: every lights are now turned on.
Sendak will sent the hoverbike to look for him soon enough. Shiro looks around to find back the island in the dark and starts swimming in that direction.
When he reaches the beach of the island, every fiber of his body aches except for the metal arm, because it’s made of metal, of course. It’s stupid, but his black humor makes Shiro smiles. He sees the hoverbikes hovering on the dark water, so he crumbles outside the beach and inside the forest.
He needs to find a place to hide to recover himself; he would need any piece of his strength to fight the pirates. The situation isn’t ideal since the island is probably Sendak’s lair, but Shiro hopes to have enough time to set up some traps that will let him have a little advantage.
He walks outside the signed paths, but his mind is still lured by the gigantic tree at the middle of the island; dawn is arriving fast so Shiro, despite the protest of his body, accelerates his steps. The tree seems far like it was on the beach, which makes Shiro stumbles. Yet, he doesn’t stop because he sees something behind the forest.
And then he finds a clearing in front of a mountain, and lent against the mountain there was an unmistakably human building made of stone. Shiro observes him with open mouth: it’s a pyramidal building, at least for the three face that aren’t against the mountain, with a big, stone stair that goes from the ground to the small alcove at the top of the pyramids. At each side of every steps of the stair there are jaguar stone statues, with sides of the pyramids are decorated with scene of killings: in those, the jaguars are hung up, burned or sliced up.
As stupid as it is, Shiro feels the eyes of the jaguars on himself. And it may be true: Shiro guesses this may be the place where the pirates’ curse started, which meant that the people that created that building were probably so technological advanced that create both nanomachines and living jaguar robot machine.
He has a desire to enter the pyramid and explore the inside, because it’s clear there is much more there than a pirates’ lair, but in the end it is the pirates’ lair so the worst place for Shiro to hide. With a last look, he steps behind not letting the jaguar statues looks at his back, and then returns back in the forest.
During his Garrison day, people told Keith he has a sort of sixty sense, the one that made him so good during fight. He doesn’t really believe it, but he has a gut feeling that Shiro is still alive, and it’s the only thing that make him stay sane during the journey. When he pilots Red, he has enough distractions, but when Acxa takes his place to let him rest, Keith is left alone with his thoughts about how many things can go wrong with Shiro’s rescue plan.
For this reason, he’s happy Romelle joins him on the main deck. She’s a little too much exuberant, but a good distraction nevertheless. And at least she’s better than Ezor, who only want to mock him, for whatever reasons.
“For you,” she smiles, offering him a bow of maize soup.
He groans. “Why haven’t we load something more than maize?”
Romelle sits down in front of him and takes a spoon of the soup. “Maize is a very important element of the nature. All humans born from it, or so Allura says.”
At the mention of Allura, Keith turns around to look at her. She’s on the front part of the deck, near the figurehead of the ship. Lotor is there with her, and they both stands there, in silence. They both wore a jaguar band at their right arms.
So much for someone that warned Keith about Lotor’s danger attitude.
“What are you looking to?” Romelle asks. She’s licking her spoon.
“Nothing,” he says, but she hasn’t missed her stare.
“Nice couple, aren’t they?”
“Are they together?”
“Dunno? They have known each other for a long time, even before Lotor is kicking out the Black Lion and went around searching for us all.”
Keith blinks. “Wait. Lotor was on the Black Lion’s crew?”
Romelle’s turn to blink. “Yes. The first captain of the Black Lion was his father. I though you knew, since you asked him help to track down it.”
“He was the only pirate around,” Keith shrugs.
“Lotor will be so offended if he found out,” Romelle giggles.
But at this point, Keith is curious. “Why Lotor has been kicked out?”
“It’s kinda of a long story.”
“We have time,” Keith replies, and finally takes a spoon of his soup.
Romelle takes a look to Allura and Lotor, but they’re not paying attention to other than the horizon. “Okay, but keep in mind mostly of it sounds a lot like a legend.”
“The Black Lion’s pirates are immortal,” Keith points out.
“Fair enough.” Romelle sits down better on the floor. “You see, Allura and I descend from the people of one of the older planets of the galaxies. Now that planet doesn’t exist anymore, it’s been destroyed when the Earth started colonized around.”
Keith chokes on his soup.
“The only surviving were the people that had already starting exploring the universe. For quite some time, they were a closed group that married inside themselves to make our culture and race surviving despite the destruction of our planets.”
“I fail to understand how it connects with Lotor’s story.”
“I’m getting there!” Romelle complains. “Sit up and shut up. What I was telling… Okay, so, Lotor’s mother was one of us, and she had an incredible knowledge of our legends. Only Allura’s father surpassed her on that. And then went away and married Zarkon. Lotor’s father,” Romelle clarifies.
“I guess it was a disappointment.”
“A little, but nobody could stop her. We were a group, not a cult. And none of us realized back then what tragic results it would bring. And we didn’t know about it until Lotor came to us.”
“What did his mother do?”
“She was following an old legend of our tradition to find a way to save his husband from dead,” Romelle says. “She reached Oriande, a sacred a secret place for all of us, a knowledge that only the descendant of the royal family should have known. Between us, only Allura knows where it is, after his father passed away. But Honerva found it anyway.”
“Oriande is the place we’re going right now,” Keith states. “What’s there?”
“To explain it, I have to tell you the story of Hun Hunhapu, the maize god.”
“Again with the maize…” Keith isn’t going to shit on someone’s else belief, but it’s getting ridiculous.
“Told you it was important. But anyway, Hun Hunhapu wasn’t a god at first. He was a man, and for helping humanity he challenged at duel the god of thunder and lightning and won. He did it to convince the god to help humanity against the force of evil, that they’re usually represented in jaguar forms. At least, they seem like the Terran jaguars in our pictures.”
Keith throws a look at the jaguar skin both Lotor and Allura wear.
“The god of Thunder accepted to help humanity, and did a pact with Hun Hunhanpu: he conceded him one of his lighting and he forged with it a group of swords which were delivered to a group of worthy men. With them, they managed to defeat evil and sealed him away in Oriande. That’s how Hun Hunhanpu became a god among men. For generations, though, my ancestor still haunted jaguars to avoid the evil to returns.”
“I guess they’re extinct now…” Keith murmurs. “It really sound like a legend more than an actually story.”
“But it isn’t. Or at least, Lotor was sure it wasn’t. He feared his mother finding Oriande and messing with the last traces of Hun Hunhanpu on Earth would destroy the balance.” Romelle’s expression softness and sadness as he speaks, “Lotor knows how to persuade people. He convinced us we’re the ancestors of that worthy men and, like once, we had to go to Oriande and take the sword to fight evil. We believed him. Allura believed him, and she revealed him the location of Oriande.”
“And you followed him to Oriande?”
“I didn’t personally, but mostly did. Including my all family.” Romelle nods. “But when we reached Oriande, the blades weren’t there. The pirates had already taken them.”
“And was the evil free now?”
“The pirates are immortal,” Romelle states, like a matter of fact, and Keith can’t reply anything to that. She sighs deeply. “Without the blades, and without any military training, they were all wiped out by the pirates.”
“That’s why you beat Lotor,” Keith understood.
“He convinced my family to fight for his battle, a battle we couldn’t win.”
“So why do you still work for him?”
“He pays well.” Romelle comments. “Also… Allura told me we’re going to save a friend of you. It seems something good to do.”
Shiro. He’s always present in his mind, but Romelle’s story has distracted him a little. “Yeah,” he smiles, hardening his gaze. Then, he realized, “you haven’t told me about why Lotor was kicked out the Black Lion.”
“Oh, that. I didn’t know the details to that. But for what Lotor said-” she doesn’t manage to finish, because Lotor steps in his direction.
“If you’re done having lunch,” he says, and he sounds a little crueler than usual, “get ready. We’re almost there.”
Without adding anything, he goes in the below decks. Romelle shrugs and follows him. When Keith stands up, picking up her bowl of soup too, he finds Allura staring at him.
“Once we land, only you and Lotor will get to the island. It’s safer. We’ll be waiting for you, ready to run once you’re back with your friend.”
Keith is about to ask if he can trust her to wait for them, but then he realizes he probably can’t trust even Lotor, and he’s going to be alone with him in his way to save Shiro.
“Keith,” Allura murmurs. “I’ve been in Oriande before. It won’t be the same for you probably-”
“Because I’m not a descendend of an ancient maize god, I guess.”
“But the magic there is overwhelming.” She bits her bottom lip, ignoring his sentence. “But the maize god has always been a god of creation. Do not believe people that consider blood sacrifice a viable way. It’s not how we make things, and it only bring chaos.”
Allura always speaks as she’s declaring prophecy. Keith has enough of Romelle’s stories, which, by the way, are more gruesome since they talk about
“I’ll keep in mind.”
Another thing Shiro reflected about when he was prisoner of the Black Lion is how to kill an immortal man. Sendak showed him what nanomachine can do into repairing the human tissue, so Shiro decides to try for a more direct approaches.
He’s hiding in the forest, a place that gives him wide space of maneuver. Two pirates come in his direction, but Shiro waits. They split up, a very bad choice usually, but not for immortal people apparently. Shiro is about to find out just how much immortals they are.
He takes a sword in his hand, and then he hides his arm behind his back. In the other hand, he has a gun. He jumps off his hideout, just behind the pirate, and shots at his hand so he lets his gun fall on the ground. The pirate turns around, a satisfied smile on his lips, and takes a step in Shiro’s direction.
Shiro’s gun touches his chest, and Shiro shots again. The pirate doesn’t even falter, still smiling. That moment of distraction is what Shiro was waiting for: in a swift, he moves the other hand and uses the sword to decapitate the pirate. The head rolls two time before stopping and the body crumbles on himself.
There hasn’t been any yell, so Shiro has still a couple of minutes to check the situation. He observes as the nanomachines erupt from the neck and create a bridge towards the head to collect it back. With a horrified fascination, he watches as the nanomachines drag the head near the body.
So there isn’t a way to kill them? Not even the decapitation… and then Shiro stops. He remembers the pictures he saw at the strange building back then, where the jaguars were burned after being tied up to a rock.
The other pirate isn’t around yet. Swiftly, Shiro takes off the pirate’s belt and, after taking the weapons for him, he uses it to tied up the pirate to one rock nearby, with the feet that don’t touch the ground. The nanomachine doesn’t disturb him, just continuing their work to reattaching the head. Shiro creates fast a small flame from two branches and, as soon as the pirate regains consciousness with his head on his neck again, Shiro presses the flame on his chest.
The body burns immediately, faster than human should do. There hasn’t been any scream yet, just a long, desperate whistle that hurt Shiro’s ears. The body crumbles and becomes ashes in front of Shiro.
He can’t wait anymore, so he disappears again in the forest with his new knowledge.
The thing Lotor is most worried about isn’t facing Sendak and his men, but keeping Keith under control. For the little time they spend together, Lotor has one thing clear: Keith is ready to do everything for saving his Shiro, which means doing the most reckless things. Lotor, instead, needs him to stay under control.
“Stop here,” he says, after looking at Keith for understanding what he’s thinking.
“Why?” Keith asks, but obeys.
They landed Red not far from the island and, once they spotted the Black Lion, they circumnavigated on the water in order to park on the other side of the island, so they wouldn’t see them. Them, Lotor and Keith left with the hoverbike, following the line of the beaches.
“There is a small tunnel here, under the rock. I’ve made him myself.”
After the first, disastrous time on Oriande, Lotor has spent quite some time there, trying to find new ways to defeat Sendak inside his own lair. That’s the reason he digs the tunnel that brings from the beach to the secret cave inside the mountain, just behind the sacred tree, so he can access to the cave without passing from the temple’s entrance.
The tunnel is big enough for Keith, able as he was, to drive inside with the hoverbike. At the end of the tunnel, it’s possible to see at the cave below without being spotted because two rocks blocked the entrance. Keith doesn’t hide his surprise at watching the cave.
The ground of it is completely full of treasures, everything Sendak has collected in the past twenty years, and they flick grim at the light of a couple of lamps. Sendak sits down in what seemed a golden throne, alone.
In the opposite wall from the entrance there is a big mural depicting a jaguar; the mural is ruined by countless blades stuck inside the rock, as to figuratively kill it. They are a lot more than last time, so Lotor feared they almost collect all of them. Keith is looking at the blades and Lotor hopes that, from that distance and with the low light, it’s impossible to recognize which kind of blades they are. Then, Keith turns to him.
“Where’s Shiro?” he whispers, and Lotor takes a relieved breath.
“Maybe they’re keeping him prisoner somewhere else,” Lotor guesses. “That’s how we act. I’m going done to speak with Sendak, hoping to make him reveal where he’s keeping your Shiro. You’ll stay here,” he underlines the word because Keith is ready to protest, “to be out escaping route. Take the hoverbike ready to run away if we need to.”
Keith doesn’t look happy, but he nods. So Lotor slides down the rock of the wall and then walks steady towards Sendak, trying to give the impression he arrives from the main entrance of the temple.
When Sendak sees him, he smirks. “I didn’t expect to see you again here. One defeat wasn’t enough for you? Or I should say, two?”
“You’ve been lucky,” Lotor replies. He stops few meters from him.
“Lucky,” Sendak growls. “I should have killed you when I had the chance, for what you’ve done.”
“I did nothing. You lied to everyone about it.”
“It wasn’t a lie. The reason Zarkon died was you.”
“My father killed himself.”
“You forced him to do.” Sendak snaps and stands out, his sword already in his hand. “All because your stupid belief that a suicide is somewhat honorable, that you have a hung goddess that bring suicide to a promised paradise. Suicide is the way out of cowards, and Zarkon wasn’t one.”
“He was dying of an illness, and it helped him to have a nice, fast dead. A mercy one. Don’t blame my religion when you used it to become captain instead of me.”
“He should have been saved. The witch was trying to find a way for immortality…”
“And it worked perfectly for you.”
“I’m still a better captain than you.”
Just before Sendak is about to attack him, Lotor stops him. “Parley.”
“Pardon?”
“Parley,” Lotor repeats. “I’m not here to fight, not to steal you the Black Lion. This time, I have information you may interested in, and I wat to discuss it with you.” And with a smile, he adds, “you still have some pirate pride, don’t you? Don’t dishonor the parley.”
“I won’t,” Sendak mutters low. “But speak fast.”
Lotor nods. He has prepared the speech long before this moment, in a way to not rise suspect on Keith. He doesn’t get the chance to speak, because a confusion comes from outside and then Haxus enters the cave dragging a wounded and battered Captain Shirogane.
Lotor swears under his breath. The timing is terrible.
“Glad you finally join us, Champion,” Sendak mocks him, a triumphant grin on his face. Shirogane throws a terrible, not defeated at all gaze, as Sendak adds, “you only slowed us down a little, as time matter for us. Haxus, proceed.”
“I was about to speak,” Lotor tries to stop Haxus. “You can do this later.”
“No. First my interest, later, if I’m still in the mood, yours,” Sendak says, excitation in his voice. Haxus pushes Shiro against the wall, against the jaguar picture.
“Don’t do this. You’re making a mistake.”
“Shut up.” And he lifts the blade, the same Shirogane fought Lotor with.
And disaster happens: a hoverbike fells from the sky and literally runs over Haxus and Sendak: Haxus is thrown in the air, while Sendak fall on the ground, face afainst his own treasure.
“Get up!” Keith yells. Lotor observes, like the unwilling watcher of a movie, as Shiro’s eyes widen looking at Keith, then he bends down to take back the blade in his tied up hands, before jumping in the hoverbike Keith has already moved towards the exit.
The hoverbike passes just next to Lotor, but he’s too stunned to move for hopping on it. The sound of the engine disappears on the far as Keith drives towards the exit of the temple. Sendak sputters as he stands up again.
“What the hell was that.”
“I would have explained you, if you gave me the chance,” Lotor mutters. “You had the wrong person. Shirogane isn’t Krolia’s son.”
“He had the blade, he told me…”
“And you believed him? A Garrison boy?”
“And you know who he is?” Sarcasm is in Sendak’s voice, but Lotor knows he has his attention.
“I know where he is. We can talk about it.”
“Later.” Sendak growls. “The Champion took back the blade. I need it. You’re coming with us.”
Lotor sighs and nods. Thatìs not the ideal solution, but if Keith doesn’t do any reckless thing, not more than he already does, maybe they’ll get out of it.
The moment Sendak lifted the blade, Shiro thought it was the end. For sure he doesn’t expect Keith to appear out of thin air, and take him away with his hoverbike. Keith is focused on his driving, his ability to swift the hoverbike inside the forest without being slowing down, and Shiro is still too bummer for asking him something.
But the sight of Red wakes Shiro up from his surprise. “The Garrison is here? You brought him here?”
“Er… not really,” Keith murmurs, embarrassed, as he flies the hoverbike on the dek of the ship.
Shiro frowns. “This has something to do with Lotor, right?”
There’s no need of answers: the sight of the six girls on the ship is enough. Red may be a Garrison ship, but the crew definitely isn’t. Pirates. Lotor’s, Shiro guesses.
“Where’s Lotor?” asks one of the girls.
Keith swallows, but his voice is hard. “You told me that I should be careful about him. I had to leave him behind.”
The girl’s expression seems sad for a second, before her eyes move on Shiro and nods. She turns to the rest of the crew. “We’re leaving!”
And everyone, despite their perplex expressions, hurried to prepare Red to departure. Keith, at his side, sighs, a long one of relief.
“Keith… you… you saved me.”
“You’re hurt,” Keith states. “Come, I’ll patch you up
He takes Shiro’s hand, and he frowns, seeing the handcuff and the knife. He doesn’t add anything, though, just guiding Shiro in the medical room in the below desk. Shiro looks with sweetness as Keith bandages his wounds, that luckily aren’t so deep. The pirates took him more because of tiredness than strength.
“Keith,” he murmurs softer, while Keith takes his hand for the cut on the palm. “Did you really go and join a bunch of pirates just to save me?”
He scoffs. “Did I have another choice? Garrison was too slow and I needed someone to bring me to the Black Lion.”
“Try to not risk so much next time?”
“Try not to get capture next time?” Then, Keith expressions softening. “Are you okay? I was so worried… when I saw that pirate with the blade…”
“I’m fine,” Shiro assures him. His eyes swifts on the blade placed on the near table, and Keith follows his gaze. He stands up and takes the blade in his hands, swiping his thumb on the hilt.
“What happened?” he asks.
With a small sigh, Shiro recollects what Sendak has told him about the course. He summaries it to Keith, about how the pirates are immortal and how Shiro managed to let them go away from their town, until the fact that the blood and the return of the blade will make the pirates turn back to normal.
“So this is one of the blade of Romelle’s story,” Keith mutters under his breath. “But Allura told me the blood is wrong, isn’t something their ancestor would use.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. But I feel there is something wrong in Sendak’s plan. I understand them being immortal is bad because of the nanomachines influence… what about the nanomachines are influenced them more than just feelings?”
Shiro’s eyes widen. “You’re saying returning the blade with their blood may have a different result than they expect? Something… worse?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” Finally, he turns his head at Shiro. “But this is my blade.”
“You remember it?” Shiro exhales.
Keith nods. “I thought I lost it time ago. It was the only memory of my mother…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why did you have it?”
“You had with you when the ship found you… the day we met,” Shiro explains. “I saw it and I thought it was a pirate symbol, so I took it. I didn’t want them to become suspicious of you.”
“I see,” Keith murmurs. “So my mother was a pirate.” Disappointed was in his tone. And then, he realizes, “but she’s supposed to be immortal too. She stole the blade after all.”
“She was, but Sendak told me they threw her on the outside space,” Shiro says. “Even if she’s still alive, finding her it’s almost impossible at this point. I’m truly sorry.”
“It’s fine, it’s not like I remember much about her.” But despite his words, it’s clear that he’s hurt by it, so Shiro grips Keith’s arm to comfort it.
“We may try to look at her.”
“Maybe,” Keith concedes. “I wonder if, years ago, my ship was attacked because of this blade.”
“Unfortunately, you’re probably correct.”
And Keith swears under his breath.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I… I know, but…” Keith takes a deep breath. “They almost killed you because of me, right? It’s my blood they wanted, since they can’t have my mother.” A deep, bitter laugh. “The sins of the parents…”
Shiro didn’t explain much about the blood sacrifice, but apparently telling Keith about the connection between that and the thieving of the blades was enough for him to understand. “It’s not your fault,” Shiro repeats, thigens his grip. “I’m the one who kept the blade.”
Keith looks at him. “Why haven’t you tell me?”
“You never said anything about it, so I guessed you didn’t remember it, or it wasn’t yours.”
“But you kept it.”
“I did.” Shiro smiles. “The day of the ceremony… it was the first time I brought it with me. It was usually hidden in my drawer. I guess now it was the reason the pirates found it.”
“Why?”
“Maybe… I wanted you with me during the ceremony, somehow.”
They look at each other. “Shiro,” Keith whispers, and he leans a little towards him, his hand places on Shiro’s knee.
Their face are so near they look they’re about to kiss.
And in that moment, the ship trembles and the rumor of an explosion arrives at their ears. They break the eyes contact and looks at the door. They run on the desk.
“Allura,” Keith calls. “What’s happening?”
“They’re following us,” the woman with the white hair answers. “And they may reach us very soon.”
Shiro watches over the parapet: the Black Lion is on sight, the canons already out and shooting in their direction; even if they’re still too far to be hit, the shockwave of the explosions are enough to disturb the ship’s movement.
“Red should be faster!” Keith exclaims.
“It should,” Allura murmurs. “But unfortunately in this area of space the Black Lion, with his three sails, has an advantage on us.”
Keith grits his teeth. “Then we should stop and fight. They’ll never let us go.”
“They’re immortal,” Allura reminds him.
“They can be killed,” Shiro intervenes, and the two of them turn to look surprised at him. “I’ve killed some of them back at the Island. I took the idea from the pictures on the temple there, the ones where jaguars are killed.”
“Jaguars are a symbol of evil in my culture, but I never associated it with the pirates.” Allura sounds truly impressed. “How did you do?”
“Fire is their weakness,” he says. “But to be honest, I didn’t know if it’s just the fire or the entire process. On the island, the pictures show the jaguars tied up on rocks as they are burned, so I did the same. I guess you don’t have rocks on the ship, do you?”
“Unfortunately no,” Allura nods. “We may try to prepare as much as we can so weapons that use fire, but to be honest I think the best way for us is to escape. Using fire on this kind of ship may be too much dangerous and it could backfire.”
“But-” Keith tries to protest. “This may be our chance! They know Shiro knows, but they probably haven’t the time to prepare some countermeasures.”
They turn their head at Shiro, asking him to tip the balance. He sighs and places a hand on Keith. “You’re right about it, but if the right way to kill them is with the rocks, we won’t have any chances. And we’re weaker than them, since we’re few people here. At this point, it’s better if we escape and bring this information to the Garrison. They’ll have the means to use this knowledge to prepare an attack to wipe out those pirates once and for all.”
Keith turns his head away. “Fine.”
“It’s decided, then.” Allura nods. “Keith, you’re the best pilot out of us, go take Acxa’s place. You may be able to make Red go faster and take routes the Black Lion can’t follow us. In the meantime…” she turns towards the main deck, where the other girl are waiting for orders, “everybody, take your weapons and get ready to fight back!” -
.
Galra doesn’t have Daemon.
The natural consequence is their growing interest of their Terran prisoners and the strange animals they carry around with them.
Shiro, Sam and Matt were out cold as they were captured, but they soon woke up once the Galra tried to separate them from their Daemon. They stood there, scared, each one of them hugging their Daemon; Matt especially was crying and pleading them not to separate him and his Daemon.
In the end, the Galra – at that time, Shiro wasn’t able to understand their language at all – seemed to understood that, whoever they was, the Daemon and the human should stay together, even if it wasn’t necessary that they touched.
Still, the considered dangerous to let the Daemon run freen. They were closed in special cage, which were put inside their cell. Between the bars Shiro could touch his Daemon, Atlas, little paw, and rub his small head, the only comfort gesture he got from the cold of his cell.
He knew, deep inside, it was only a matter of time before the Galra would start experiment on them. Even on Earth there are some group interested into understanding better the secret of the Daemon, but it was doomed as illegal since it brought the dead of the person and his Daemon in all cases (even people who survived without their Daemon, they didn’t do for long).
Galra doesn’t have that kind of Earth, neither that kind of attention. Shiro suspected they weren’t above murder either, and at the time he didn’t even understand the endless power of the Empire, not their cruelty.
But if it was the Daemon’s presence that sparkled the interest of the terrible woman even Galra called “a witch” behind her back, it was Shiro’s own behavior to turn her attention into a full obsession.
What Galra have and Terrans haven’t is the secondary gender.
Shiro learned about it mostly thanks for his conversation with his cellmates at the gladiators’ pit and catching the conversation between the Galra guards or the Galra scientists that examined him from time to time.
He suspects his knowledge of the secondary gender isn’t accurate, but enough to understand how it works and why the witch made a big fuss about Shiro as a prisoner.
So, there are three different type: Alpha, Beta and Omega.
He doesn’t know exactly what different on the reproductive system the secondary gender have – surely Shiro isn’t going to ask any galra to show him their genitalia, his being a hopelessly gay has his limits, and being a prisoner definitely is one of them.
Yet, he understands the difference at physical level.
Alpha are inclined to be taller, broader, and stronger. They don’t necessarily are prone to leadership, as mostly Alphas are guards or soldiers, but they’re loyal to their leader and their love for fights come from it. All Galra army is composed of Galra.
Beta are as tall as Alpha, usually, but less broad and strong. They’re inclined more about scientific matters and overall her QI is higher. They’re still part of the army, especially in those faction where strategy is mostly needed. Shiro hasn’t been able to identify Beta from Alpha at first sight yet, but he’s pretty certain the doctor that heals him after every fight is one of them.
Omega are smaller and weaker, still loyal, but inclined to stay out of trouble. There is some hatred in the way Alphas speaks about Omegas, but Shiro isn’t sure is directly at omegas themselves or just at him because he’s a prisoner from a weak planet. Still, he wouldn’t surprise Shiro if Omegas are being ostracized by that culture that pride in fights and bloods.
From Shiro’s understanding, there aren’t Omegas in the Galra army.
Galra decided that the animal companion the Terrans have with them is the physical manifestation of their secondary gender.
Sam was considered a Beta, both because his intelligence and because his daemon, being a ostrich, is as tall as him. Despite being as smart as his father, Matt was deemed as an Omega, because his daemon, a brown poodle, is shorter than his knees.
And of course Shiro was also considered an Omega, since Atlas is a small, fluffy and fat Japanese squirrel, with big adorable eyes. Except for Galra being furries themselves, Atlas is probably everything they hate. Shiro is so used to people mocking him for Atlas he managed to only roll his eyes in annoyance.
So, Sam was separated from them to be destined in some prisoner labor, while Matt and Shiro were dragged to the gladiator pit alongside other “Omega” aliens, clearly with the idea of them being massacred by the champion gladiator for the entertainment of the higher-ups Galra. They didn’t even worry about Atlas when they pushed Shiro in the arena. He wasn’t considered a threat for the champion, as much as Shiro.
Yet, Shiro won.
He defeated the champion of the Galra – a clearly Alpha – with his small, fluffy creature at his side.
And that was what sparkled the interest of the witch in them.
An interest that became a fully obsession in Shiro and is supposed “secret”, the way he can possessed the ability and the strength of and Alpha (and the body too, considering Shiro is taller than mostly Terrans) yet having such a small a cute creature as symbol of his own soul.
“When you found out, please tell me,” Shiro says once, tired after a battle and tired of being dragged into the witch’s laboratory once again.
He got enough shit in his early years at the Garrison, a space witch with yellow, scary eyes to annoy him about his daemon.
“You said these creatures are like physical manifestation on one’s soul… I guess we can consider them a physical manifestation of one’s natural inclination. For fight, for being eaten.”
“There aren’t daemon experts, not even on my planet. They’re mystical, you see.”
“But you can see some features of the daemon into his owner.”
“I guess so.”
“So how do you explain yourself?”
“I don’t. Nobody does. Maybe I’m just that special.”
Shiro coughs a little in his own black humor. But the witch is looking at him with a predatory smirk and a spark in her yellow eyes.
“Yes, you are, Champion.”
There are moments Shiro appreciates being in the arena more than anything.
He still hates the killing and the Galra enjoyment, but at least the fights distracted him by the horror that are the witch’s experiment on him.
At that point, Shiro can’t ever close his eyes without the memory of her yellow eyes comes towards him. He tries to collect back some of his memories of the past to relax himself, but his time on Earth is so stranger than is situation it looks like a distant legend, something Shiro doesn’t feel he lived for real.
All his reality is the witch right now. She’s so obsesses with him the only days she doesn’t summon in her laboratory are the days he fight, so he becomes a little eager for them.
Not even once he regrets his decision to remain alive, to fight for surviving another day. He doesn’t want to die.
It’s just so damn hard sometimes.
At least Atlas is with him, his little body curled in Shiro’s lap.
He makes him believing he didn’t lose his soul.
“I think I’ve come to a conclusion, Champion. You are an Alpha, that much is clear. But you don’t want to. That’s why your subconscious created such a despicable creature to represent you.”
A shiver crosses Shiro’s body, as he looks at Atlas’ cage.
“If I find a way to remove the obstacle from you, I’ll turn you into a fully Alpha. I can find a way for every Galra to be Alphas.”
They took his arm, and substituted it with a metal one with some upgrading.
Fighting with that is easier, Shiro doesn’t even need a sword anymore. Fighting has become easier and easier, with him being able to shut down himself in order to survive. If he remembered what he is during a fight, he would probably lose it.
He’s just grateful he’s still himself.
At that point he got used of the witch’s presence in his life. It doesn’t stop to be annoyed, he still wants to fight it, but he’s not scared anymore of closing his eyes and sees the yellow pupil again. He needs to surpass them to access at his memories.
He’s scared of losing them, of losing memory of what he used to be. He can see some memory fading away, like the taste of mac and cheese from the Garrison canteen or the warm of the sun in the desert, or the touch of the wind as he drives a hoverbike.
Deep inside, he knows he already lost something precious. It’s a lingering feeling, but no matter how much he closes his eyes and goes back to his life, he can’t remember anymore. He guesses that’s the reason he lost it, whatever it was.
He guess his brain is trying to protect it from whatever memories he has forgotten. Funny, because what he wants to forget for real was the witch and everything related to her. But maybe what he lost was worse.
He places his back on the cell he occupies alone and sighs.
They come for him.
Again.
A few days of freedom and quiet shouldn’t have let him down his guard so much.
“You took my hand. What do you want?”
Tied up on the cold surface, screaming is the only (useless) thing he can do.
The witch’s obsession with him isn’t going to stop so soon, and for just a few screams.
Even this time she isn’t there; only the Beta doctor and his minions are there. Even if the Beta doctor isn’t as scary as the witch, he’s been very present during Shiro’s day of prisony.
But his obsession with Shiro is pretty different from the witch, Shiro realizes, in the moment the Beta Doctor knocks the guard off and frees Shiro.
“Listen to me. We don’t have much time,” he says, and Shiro tries, very hard, to remain awake and listen to him. “Zarkon has located the Blue Lion of Voltron on your planet Earth. You must take it before he does.”
“What are you doing?” Shiro mutters, too shocked for the first light of hope he has in so many days of darkness to think something more articulate.
The Beta Doctor doesn’t answer: after freeing him from his restrain, he takes off from a closet a cage, opens it and then shoves on Shiro’s lap a small, fat squirrel.
“Get to a pod, now!”
“Who are you? And what is it?” Shiro asks, looking at the small squirrels that claws at his prisoner clothes and trembles agains his chest.
“I am Ulaz. Now, come on.”
He hasn’t answer about the squirrel, but Shiro trusts in some way it must be important, otherwise Ulaz wouldn’t have given it to him. He follows Ulaz outside the laboratory, hearing his explanation about the Blade of Marmora and the fact Ulaz has let Shiro a way to find him again in the future.
And Ulaz gives him a purpose, a reason to go on. A reason to understand that all he endured and did in the past may have a greater meaning.
“As a fighter, and a leader, you give hope. Earth needs you. We all do.”
So Shiro runs, the squirrel still in his arms, as hard as it is with his weak and tired body, and gets on the pod Ulaz prepared for him, and escapes, leaving the Galra prison and the witch’s obsession behind him.
Once he’s far enough, he releases the breath he didn’t notice he was holding up, and laying down on the cold ground of the pod.
His brain is shutting down because of the drain adrenaline of the run and Shiro shuts his eyes, hoping he won’t forget again the important things. He can forget about the prison, he can forget about the witch, he can even forget about Ulaz, but he has now a mission to do.
Returning to Earth and finding the Blue Lion. Brain, please, do not shut down this. Every other things, fine, but not this. I can’t afford losing anymore.
The squirrel has stopped trembling, and it curls now around Shiro’s neck, his little heart beating against Shiro’s skin.
It’s relaxing, and feels familiar, even if Shiro can’t remember why, not even if he tries. He lifts a hand to rubs the squirrel’s back as he finally lets his body falling into a sleep.
It’s like he can rest now that he gets his soul back. -
.
Gli Alpha erano schiavi del sesso, ossessionati dall’odore degli Omega.
I Burnish erano schiavi dei Promare, ossessionati dall’idea di bruciare.
Kray faceva parte di entrambe le categorie, ma non era ossessionato da nulla. Era parte di una razza superiore, evidentemente, che prendeva il meglio di entrambe le categorie lasciando agli altri l’onere di essere schiavi di qualcosa.
Personalmente, Kray non considerava il progetto Parnassus e il suo desiderio di diventare il salvatore dell’umanità un’ossessione. Certo non avrebbe permesso a nessuno di impedirglielo, a costo di diventare un assassino, ed era qualcosa a cui aveva dedicato la sua intera vita, ma a parte questo, non era un’ossessione. Era una cosa necessaria per la salvezza dell’umanità, qualcosa di cui lui si era fatti carico.
L’unico che potesse farsene carico.
E parlando di questo… non aveva ancora deciso cosa farne di Galo.
Quell’Omega era stato l’inizio del suo successo, ma anche il suo più grande tormento. Un altro preda delle proprie ossessioni, lui e la sua fissa con lo spegnere incendi.
Ogni singola volta che l’aveva visto tornare sano e salvo da qualche missione complicata, aveva avuto il desiderio di prendere e ucciderlo con le sue mani. Ma, di nuovo, Kray non si lasciava prendere dall’ossessione, e per quanto ci avesse provato in diverse occasioni a far in modo che Galo morisse, non sarebbe arrivato a farlo da solo.
La fine sarebbe arrivata per lui, prima o poi, assieme a quella della Terra stessa.
Non aveva preventivato di dovergli rivelare il Progetto Parnassus, anche perché si aspettava la reazione di Galo. Un sempliciotto come lui non avrebbe mai capito l’importanza di prendere decisioni difficili, la comprensione che a volte salvare tutti era impossibile e che era meglio concentrare gli sforzi su salvare quello che era possibile.
Col senno di poi, Kray ammetteva di aver commesso un errore.
Avrebbe dovuto semplicemente mentirgli, dirgli che non era vero. A chi avrebbe creduto Galo? A lui, il governatore, l’uomo che l’aveva salvato, o a quel terrorista, quel Burnish, che andava in giro a incendiare tutto quello che gli capitava sottomano?
Con grande disgusto, Kray doveva ammettere anche che era stata la sua natura di Alpha a tradirlo, in quell’occasione.
Non aveva mai preso Galo con sé. Non era interessato – a differenza degli altri Alpha, interessati a trovare al più presto un compagno – e anche se lo fosse stato non avrebbe mai scelto Galo, la persona che più di tutti voleva vedere morta.
Eppure, era indubbio che Galo fosse suo.
Agli occhi del mondo, che conoscevano ampiamente la loro storia e vedevano in continuazione come Galo gli girasse intorno come la Terra al Sole, esattamente come si sarebbero aspettati da un Omega che fosse legato definitivamente a un Alpha.
E, in un certo senso, era suo anche agli occhi dello stesso Kray. Odiava il modo in cui Galo lo guardava, ma a conti fatto era uno sguardo che Kray voleva, l’ammirazione suprema. Kray pensava che gli uomini della futura terra lo avrebbero guardato così, come l’uomo che li aveva salvati tutti dalla distruzione. Guardava agli occhi di Galo come a una anticipazione della sua vita futura.
Per questo, forse, non perché fosse ossessionato dalla situazione, gli aveva lasciato addosso il suo odore. Non abbastanza perché Galo lo desiderasse durante il suo calore (anzi, Kray era stato ben attento a stare il più lontano possibile da Galo durante quei momenti, proprio per evitare situazioni spiacevoli), ma abbastanza perché gli altri Alpha stessero alla larga.
Tutti tranne quel Burnish, evidentemente.
D’altronde, peggio di un Burnish c’era solo un Alpha Burnish.
Kray se n’era accorto subito, era un odore penetrante, pungente alle sue narici. Troppo lieve da fargli pensare che Galo fosse stato preso, tant’è che dubitava Galo stesso se ne fosse accorto, ma abbastanza forze perché gli altri Alpha, incluso Kray, lo notassero.
Se era una sfida, forse avevano preso la persona sbagliata per provare a ingelosire Kray. Non di meno, aveva odiato sentire quell’odore, aveva odiato il fatto che a Galo sembrasse non importare, e aveva odiato che Galo fosse venuto a chiedergli spiegazioni su qualcosa che un Burnish qualsiasi gli aveva detto.
Apparentemente che Kray fosse il suo Alpha e l’uomo che l’aveva salvato non bastava a Galo per fidarsi di lui.
Così aveva raccolto la sfida, una che non poteva vincere, conoscendo Galo.
Una bella giocata da parte del Burnish, glielo doveva riconoscere.
Così adesso si ritrovava Galo chiuso in una cella senza sapere cosa farci. Chiaro che non l’avrebbe portato con sé, però finché rimaneva lì dentro era nel range della nave Parnassus. Ma non poteva nemmeno lasciarlo libero, perché avrebbe parlato o comunque agito, e non aveva intenzione di ucciderlo con le sue mani.
Era un bel problema.
“Governatore, come da sua richiesta,” la sua segretaria annunciò, aprendo la porta del suo ufficio all’ultimo piano.
Due guardie spinsero con poca delicatezza Galo all’interno dell’ufficio.
Aveva ancora le manette ai polsi, le mani tenute di fronte a lui. E per una volta, aveva persino una maglietta addosso.
“Laciateci,” Kray ordinò ai suoi. “Non c’è nessun pericolo. Non è necessario che rimaniate di guardia, vi chiamerò io quando avrò finito.”
Galo attese solo che la porta fosse chiusa dietro di lui prima di parlare. “Kray, siamo ancora in tempo. Possiamo fermare tutto questo, assieme.”
“Ti ho già detto che non c’è più tempo,” ribatté Kray alzandosi dalla sua poltrona. “Se ci fosse stata un’altra soluzione, l’avrei intrapresa. Spero che un giorno lo capirai.”
“Non potrò mai capire come sia possibile accettare di sacrificare delle persone innocenti.”
“Quelli non sono persone, sono Burnish.” Kray camminò nella sua direzione: i giorni di prigione non erano bastati a cancellare l’odore dell’altro Alpha. Era disgustoso.
“Persone. Che hanno bisogno del nostro aiuto.”
“La Terra ha bisogno del nostro aiuto.”
“E allora permettimi di aiutarla. Io non penso che Lio voglia la distruzione del mondo, forse c’è un altro modo… se i Burnish collaborassero con noi…”
Ora Galo era di fronte a lui, e l’odore dell’altro Alpha, da così vicino, era così forte da fargli venire voglia di vomitare. Quello che Galo stava dicendo non aiutava.
“Non collaboreranno mai. Sono mostri e come tali vanno trattati. Non ti ricordi che è stato un Burnish a uccidere i tuoi genitori? Saresti morto se non fosse stato per me. E sempre un Burnish ti ha fatto questo.” Accarezzò con la punta delle dita il braccio sinistro di Galo, e lo sentì rabbrividire sotto il suo tocco.
“Lo so che sei stato tu a salvarmi,” Galo mormorò. “Ma proprio per questo devo fermarti. Non ti riconosco più nell’uomo che conoscevo. Il Kray che conosco non avrebbe mai fatto una cosa del genere.”
Kray gli prese la faccia fra la mano. “O forse sono sempre stato io, e tu ti sei illuso che fossi la persona che volevi. Forse hai dimenticato quello che sono veramente perché per te era troppo doloroso.”
“Questo non è possibile.”
“Guardati. È bastato un Alpha qualsiasi a toglierti tutta la fiducia in me.”
Gli afferrò la maglietta nera e la strappò via con un colpo solo. Galo rimase senza fiato, e poi i suoi occhi si aprirono, capendo. Non era la sua ossessione da Alpha che spingeva Kray a fare ciò, era solo una semplice forma di ricompensa. Aveva sopportato Galo troppo a lungo.
“Non hai mai voluto…” Galo sospirò. “Adesso non voglio io.”
Le mani di Kray erano già sulla cintura dei suoi pantaloni quando Galo gli tirò un calcio e si divincolò dalla sua presa. Pur con le mani legate, provò a colpirlo con un pugno, ma si bloccò a metà, il calore indotto dalla vicinanza con un Alpha intenzionato a prenderlo che lo costringeva a cedere al più basso dei suoi istinti.
“Voi Omega,” Kray sbottò.
Nonostante anche gli Alpha avessero i loro problemi, era decisamente una posizione migliore.
Con una mano afferrò i capelli di Galo e lo spinse a terra, trattenendolo a terra con il ginocchio sulla sua schiena. Gli sfilò i pantaloni quanto bastava, precependo un odore fortissimo che lo chiamava. Kray sapeva che avrebbe potuto diventare un’ossessione, ma proseguì ugualmente, certo di essere meglio di qualsiasi Alpha.
“Non farlo, Kray,” Galo ringhiò da sotto di lui.
“E perché non dovrei?” Kray disse, e non attese risposta prima di penetrarlo. “L’abbiamo già fatto. Molte volte.”
“Non è vero.”
“Mi rammarica che tu te lo sia dimenticato, ma in un certo senso lo capisco. Hai sempre voluto nascondere a te stesso la verità.”
“Di che cosa stai parlando?”
Galo si stava trattenendo a fatica dal mugolare, i denti stretti nel labbro inferiore, ma a Kray non importava, gli bastava sentire quant’era umida la sua entrata per capire che era nelle sue mani, e che avrebbe cancellato l’odore dell’altro Alpha interamente.
“Sono stato io a distruggere la tua casa,” Kray disse. “Il tuo salvataggio è stato solo un caso fortuito, vantaggioso per la mia carriera, ma nient’altro. E francamente non pensavo ti avrei più rivisto dopo che ti avevo preso quella stessa notte.”
Parte di quello era una bugia, ovviamente. Ma Galo doveva capire che era sempre stato il suo Omega, anche quando non pensava di esserlo.
“Non è vero!”
“Te l’ho detto molte volte nel corso di tutti questi anni,” Kray continuò. “Di tutte le volte che ho sperato che fossi morto, quando invece tornavi sempre da me e io non avevo altra scelta che prenderti.”
“Stai mentendo…” Ma questa volta il tono era meno convinto, più un gemito.
“Te lo sei scordato ogni volta, per proteggerti da te stesso e da me. Ma stavolta farò in modo che tu non te lo possa scordare mai più.”
“No!”
In realtà, non è che Kray lo volesse davvero. Il nodo avrebbe rischiato di legarlo davvero a lui, più di quanto avesse voluto. Ma in fondo Galo sarebbe morto con l’umanità, quindi che cosa importava?
Per una volta, poteva anche lasciarsi andare.
Quand’ebbe finito, si risistemò la patta dei pantaloni con tutta calma, tornando ordinato nella sua divisa bianca. Galo era ai suoi piedi, lo sperma che colava giù dalle natiche e il corpo che tremava, ma il viso completamente voltato verso il pavimento, per non rischiare di guardare Kray nemmeno per sbaglio.
“Non dimenticherai questa volta,” Kray ripeté.
Tornò alla scrivania. Lentamente, Galo si alzò e con la schiena voltata verso di lui si tirò su i pantaloni. Non c’era più molto che potesse fare, a questo punto. Eppure Kray poteva immaginare che il suo volto non si fosse arreso.
Forse non avrebbe lasciato Galo sulla Terra a morire. Forse l’avrebbe portato con sé per ricordarsi di com’era stato essere adorati la prima volta, e per ricordare agli altri – tutti gli altri Omega che avrebbe portato con sé – che cosa significava.
Avrebbe potuto sbarazzarsene con calma in futuro. D’altronde, non era come gli altri Alpha, ossessionati dai loro Omega, e non lo sarebbe mai stato. -
.
People may consider him a noisy little brat.
Matt prefers consider himself a life saver. He doesn’t want to annoy Shiro, he’s just worried about his well-being.
Matt has been there at the time of Shiro’s accident – damn, Shiro saved his life at the cost of his own right arm – so he knows how hard was for Shiro to collect back his life.
And he has been there at the time of Shiro’s break up with Adam, almost a year ago. Not harsh as the accident, but still something that left Shiro a little bit shaken. Without a person to share his life with, all Shiro has left is the work, which isn’t as much as exciting as before now that Shiro has been benched after the accident.
It doesn’t prevent Shiro to stay late at work every day, at the point Boss Iverson has to put a limit at the overtime hours.
So, Matt has a conviction: the man really, really needs to get laid.
It shouldn’t have been hard for someone like Shiro. The man is a Greek god sculpted directly from Michelangelo’s own hands. Tall, broad, grey eyes and perfect jaws, the scar on his nose that gives him some bad boys vibes without erasing the angelic aura Shiro has when he smiled. It’s impossible at first noticed the prosthetic arm when Shiro’s tits are so big that not even the old suit he wears can hide them.
Yet, Shiro is still, painful single.
Matt decides he has to intervene before it’s too late. His plan involves Curtis, their new addiction to Shiro’s team. Veronica is sure Curtis isn’t indifferent to Shiro’s charm, but after his employment they got swept away by a very important project so he hasn’t had a chance yet to ask Shiro out.
Matt is about to give him one.
Curtis is at Shiro’s desk, checking the last corrections of the presentation they have at the end of the week. The project is almost done, Matt knows that much, and the other colleagues already left the office. So he enters in the office without knocking, places a hand on Shiro’s desk and leans in his personal space.
“How’s doing, boys?”
Shiro doesn’t look at him. “We’re done. It’s the last power point slide, then we can dedicate the rest of the time before the presentation to calm ourselves and do the last check just to be sure.”
“Great!” Matt exclaims, a little too enthusiastic. “What about a drink to celebrate the ending of this hell of a project? I have a date with N-7 at the new pub, you know, the jazz one at the end of the street? You should join us.”
“Oh, that would be nice,” Curtis says with a small smile, his eyes shift on Shiro.
“I can’t.” Shiro doesn’t move his gaze from the screen.
“Why not? You just said the project is done!” Matt protests.
“Because…” Shiro takes a long breath. “I have to return home.” He turns to Matt. “I adopted a cat and I can’t let him alone.”
Matt blinks. “You adopted a cat,” he repeats, his brain shutting down.
“Oh, that’s cute,” Curtis comments. “I’m more a dog lover, but cats are nice too.” It’s clear the poor guy is trying his best to remain in Shiro’s attention.
“When did you adopted it?” Matt inquires. “You never talked about it.”
“It happened by mistake, I didn’t foresee it,” Shiro explains. “A week ago, the day it was heavy raining, do you remember? Well, I was returning home and I took the shortcut, the one in the small path with the trash cans…”
“I know that street,” Matt deadpans. “You always take that shortcut because at the end of it there’s your favorite fast food. How you can eat that every night and be… like this.”
“I do a lot of gym,” Shiro replies, with a small smile that remember Matt he forgot to pay for his monthly subscription.
He ignores it. “You were talking about a cat.”
“Kitten,” Shiro corrects him gently. “Well, I was walking, with my umbrella, when I heard a small sound, like a whine of a child. It was a meows, of course, but I didn’t know yet. Well, short story, I found this cute kitten behind some cardboard next to the trashcan.” His smile softens and he his eyes focus on his memory. “He was wet, and scared, and cute, and so little… I had no choice but to bring him home with me.”
“That was very nice of you, Shiro,” Curtis says.
“I really can’t resist him, you know?” Shiro adds. “It’s still so little, he needs me to feed him. So, sorry guys, next time.” Shiro hasn’t have that happy expression in a long time.
Matt’s brain is still shut down. “You had a cat.”
It’s already too late.
The news about Shiro’s cat spreads around the office, as Shiro should have suspected. He’s a rather harmless rumor, better than reality, but it’s still a little be unnerving hearing people bringing it up as an argument of conversation even when he isn’t present.
Like when he passes on the hallway and eardrops the MFE team talking about it.
“Shirogane is handsome, a good man, and he also like cat,” Nadia says. “The ideal man.”
“It’s gay, Nadia,” James remembers her.
“I knooow.”
“It’s not so surprising Shirogane likes cats,” Ina comments. “Cats are known for being independent and strong willed, two qualities Shirogane has.”
“Agree,” Ryan adds. “It’s more surprising Shirogane isn’t around showing his new kitten to everyone. At least, that’s what I would do if I have one.”
“Oh, yes!” Nadia exclaims. “We should ask him to show us some pictures of the kitten!”
Shiro swears inside and hurries to reach his cellphone.
Google search: black kitten.
And then he opens Photoshop.
That master in Design really comes at handy.
To be fair, Curtis realizes his behavior isn’t entirely regular. For someone, it could be considered straightforward stalking. But he really likes Shiro, his gentleness, his funny humor, his strength. And Veronica told him Shiro is a disaster at relationship and he doesn’t realize people are pursuing him until people tell him in his face.
So, Curtis rings at the door of his apartment.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Curtis. Sorry for the late hours, but I just realize you forgot your laptop in the conference room and I thought you may need it this weekend…”
“A second.”
From outside, Curtis hears some clattering around and guesses Shiro is fixing his apartment before letting him in. He hears also some soft murmurs, as Shiro is talking to himself. Curtis feels a little guilty of his trick, but he’s rewarded by Shiro’s smile when he opens the door.
“Hey, sorry,” he says. “Thank you for the laptop.” And he leans his hand to grab it.
“Oh, it’s not big deal I was around.” He gives Shiro the laptop, then hesitates. “Everything good? Did you have dinner already?”
“Yes, I had,” Shiro answers, a little bit too fast. Then he smiles apologetic. “But can I offer you something, since you come all this way? Coffee, a bear?”
“Coffee would be nice,” Curtis says. “I did eat a sandwich back here and I need to calm down my stomach.”
It’s a blatant lie, but he gives him access to Shiro’s apartment. He follows Shiro in the kitchen and sits down on one of the chair while Shiro takes his boiler to make coffee. Curtis notices the pile of dishes on the sink, too many for only one dinner. Apparently even Takashi Shirogane has flaws.
“How much sugar?” Shiro asks.
“Oh, no sugar,” Curtis answers.
Shiro places the small cup in front of him and then, with a smart smile, he put three spoons on his own coffee.
“It can still be considered coffee after that?” Curtis laughs.
“I don’t know, but I don’t really care.” He drinks it in only one sip. “Even my ex always complains about my sugar tooth.”
Curtis coughs in his coffee and changes argument. “So, it’s the kitten around?”
“He’s in his dog’s basket, in my room,” Shiro says immediately. “It’s very little, and scared, I don’t really know how he may react to strangers, so I prefer to avoid contact for now,” he explains. “It was hard for me to grab him from that street, you know.”
“I’m surprised you managed in the first place,” Curtis says. “Usually cats run away when they are approached by strangers.”
“Yeah, well, he’s really fierce, a little spitfire.” Shiro smiles soft. “But he’s small, the vest says he’s maximums two weeks hold, so he couldn’t really run…”
“Oh, poor thing. Do you think something happen to his mother?”
“Yeah, probably. Or maybe he was abandoned by the owner, I’ve heard it happened a lot… Some people are bad like that.”
“He was lucky he met you.”
Shiro’s expression is sweet. “I hope so.”
“Well, I’m lucky at having you as team leader…” Curtis’ about to put his hand on Shiro’s, when a sudden yelps startle both of them. Curtis realizes it’s a meows, high-pitcher and very similar to a baby’s weep, but still a meow. It’s insistent, continued, like a cry.
Shiro moves a little uncomfortable in his chair. “I think he’s hungry. I should…”
“Of course.” Curtis has no intention to push more. He stands up. “You’re a dad now.”
Shiro’s eyes widen. “A daddy?”
“For the kitten. Aren’t you feeding him instead of his mother?”
“Oh, sure. Of course.” Still, his ears are a little red. Shiro’s really cute, taking care of a kitten like that. “Thank you again for the laptop.”
“No problem. Thanks for the coffee. I hope to get the chance to offer you something in a quieter time.”
“Uh, sure.”
Yet, when Curtis leaves the apartment, he feels Shiro was only being kind.
Shiro closes the door of his house with a long, relieved sigh. That was close.
Keith emerges from the guest room, a frown on his face. “Was what that?”
“Just a colleague: I forgot my laptop today.”
“I heard that,” Keith replies. “I was talking about the kitten things.”
“Oh. That. How did you manage to replicate a kitten’s meow so good?”
“I searched on YouTube videos about kittens,” Keith confesses. “You will be surprised to know how many videos named ‘small cats crying’ are there.”
“No, I’m really not.” Shiro laughs. “I’ve seen a large amount of them in the past.”
Instead of mocking him, Keith smiles. “It sounds like you.” Then, he returns serious, “did you tell your colleagues you adopt a cat?”
“Yes,” Shiro nods. “Matt wanted to trick me into one of his drunk night and I really didn’t want that. And we’re supposed to have dinner together so I… kinda panicked? Sorry about it.”
“It’s okay,” Keith shrugs. “I understand.”
“You do?”
“Shiro,” Keith says, with a half amused half annoyed tone. “I understand I’m not easy to explain to your colleagues. How do you tell around you find a person sleeping inside card box in the middle of a dirty street with only a bag of his possession, and you just decided to… adopt him?”
“God, Matt wouldn’t have ever let me live with it.”
“I don’t know Matt, but it’s probable. My friend is giving me grief enough about you being my sugar daddy.”
Shiro emits a strangled sound from his throat. It’s true he loves sugar, it’s true he has enough money to take care of all Keith’s needs, and he’s true he can image… no he doesn’t want to imagine it.
“Relax, Shiro, I know you don’t want sex from me,” Keith smiles, patting his arm. “Sure, I didn’t believe you at first, but you’re just this nice.”
“I just wanted to help you,” Shiro agrees, breathing again. “And you’re not taking advantages from me. On the contrary, I should be the one thanking you since my diet improved since you start cooking for me.” He laughs. “But I don’t want the others judging my decision.
“I will manage to pay you the rent once they paid me,” Keith still affirms, even if Shiro assured him on different occasion that it’s fine, he doesn’t mind sharing his too-big-for-only-one-person apartment and that he enjoys Keith’s company for real.
“So it’s okay for me to be your kitten for a while,” he finishes.
Shiro’s brain forms an image of Keith with cat ears that definitely is VM18 and coughs again.
In his life, there are few people Keith can call friend, and Lotor is one of them. That’s the reason why he revealed him the fact he now lives for free at Shiro’s apartment, after Shiro bought him a hamburger after he’d discovered Keith sleeping on the street.
A decision Keith now regrets greatly, because Lotor doesn’t lose an occasion to playfully mock him for it.
“So, how are things with your sugar daddy?” Lotor sits down next to him in the conference room and smirks.
In his defense, Lotor is happy Keith isn’t living anymore on the street, and offers to meet Shiro to assure him Keith is actually a good person. And to assure himself Shiro isn’t actually pursuing Keith’s virginity.
Which is Keith’s suspicious at first, because no one is kind enough to take a clochard from the street and give him a room and free food for nothing. And Shiro is single and rich enough to pay for having sex, so yeah, he’s the living definition of a possible sugar daddy.
But apparently Shiro is so kind, and to be fair Keith wouldn’t have no problem in having sex with him, but of course he can’t tell Shiro that.
“Fine,” Keith answers to Lotor, trying to not paying too much attention to Lotor in order to calm down his interest. “Apparently he told his colleagues I’m his kitty.”
Lotor doesn’t expect that and coughs in the water-bottle he’s drinking for. “What?”
“Well, it isn’t so far-fetched, right?” Keith continues. “I live in his room, eat his food, sleep in his bed…”
“You what?” Lotor repeats.
“His bed in his guest room,” Keith clarifies, with a hint in his eyes that show he was going for that misunderstanding.
“Aha ah funny,” Lotor comments, with a little wiggle of his eyebrows. “But something tells me you won’t mind to sleep in the man’s back. Or maybe not sleeping in the man’s back.”
“No comment,” Keith answers.
“I didn’t place you as a kinky one,” Lotor continues. “But you kinda looks like a kitten.”
“Please kill me,” Keith exhaled.
He’s saved by Kolivan’s arrival, and the all room fells into silence as they wait for his announcement.
“The company has decided which musical will be stage this autumn,” Kolivan says. “I’ve prepared papers with the roles of everyone, and the scripts for the ones of you that has a speaking or a singer role. I’ve also already schedule the training time for each one of you.”
People pile around Kolivan to take their copy of the papers. Lotor manages to grab his own before Keith and then he looks at him with a smirk.
Worried, Keith takes his script and read the title of the musical.
“Oh, fuck my life.”
In the course of the years, Shiro has regretted many times having given his address to Matt and Pidge. Even worse, he regrets to have given them a reserve key to give water to his plant in the rarely occasion he’s out of time.
But now, now it’s a disaster.
His only saving grace is that Keith wasn’t at home when the evil siblings decided to make a surprise and got in Shiro’s apartment without his knowledge. And Shiro finds them there, sitting down on his sofa, playing at his videogames.
“To my defense,” Matt comments, “we weren’t there for our own amusement.”
“Sure,” Shiro says sarcastic. He ignores them and reaches the kitchen. With his back at them, he takes off his phone: Shiro warned Keith about not returning home until he said him so because his colleagues are assholes and, funny enough, Keith answered with a thumbs up. Shiro guesses he means to approve both of his statement, especially the one about his colleagues being jerks.
“For real, man. The idea was to organize you a surprise party, you know, to celebrate the incredible success of your last project.”
“You could have organized it at work.”
“And when? You’re always there! It’s Saturday, and you were at work, that’s why we were able to enter here by ourselves,” Matt complains. “Can you honestly affirm you wouldn’t be still there if we haven’t called you informing you we’re here? Come on, I dare you.”
Shiro ignores him. To be honest, he did plan to stay in the office until late today, but only because Keith wasn’t supposed to be at home that day because busy with something with a friend of his. And Shiro realized he doesn’t want to stay home alone.
This isn’t something he can tell Matt, though.
“Guys, you’re missing the point,” Pidge intervenes. “We can apologize about our violation of privacy later. But we have a more important thing to discuss first.”
“Right!” Matt explains, pointing an accusatory finger at Shiro. “You lied to us. Or you are having hallucinations, and I’m not sure which one is better.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The kittens, Shiro. Where he is?”
Oh. The kitten. Shiro was so worried at the possibility of them finding about Keith that he almost forgot about the all tale about his adopted cat.
Shiro wonders if telling them that his kitten is around with some friends is a valid answer.
“Where is your kitten, Shiro?” Matt inquires.
“It’s at the vets for a check ups,” Shiro answers. “That’s why I was at work, he doesn’t need me at home for once.”
“Shiro, we’ve checked. There is no trace of a kitten inside your apartment.”
“The cleaner day was this morning, so of course there’s fur around.”
“And the cat’s food? The litter?”
“He’s a kitten, he still can’t use a litter. And he drinks only milk for now.”
Matt seems a little dumbstruck by Shiro’s witty answers. He looks at his sister for assistance.
“There isn’t any milk in your fridge,” she says.
“Then I finished it, probably. Thank you for remembering me.”
But there just as much coincidences possible for them to believe, Shiro knows and he’s ready to accept defeated.
“I can’t believe you lied about having a kitten just to avoid going out with us.”
“Not cool, Shiro,” Pidge adds, with a judgmental look. “I can understand avoiding Matt, but me? Lance? Hunk? We missed you.”
Her tone is sincere, and Shiro feels a little bad for them. Does he turn in that kind of bad person that stop hanging out with friends once he found a boyfriend? Minus the boyfriend things because he and Keith aren’t together. Yet. Not yet, maybe never.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t realize I ignored you so much. I didn’t intend to.”
“Shiro.” Pidge smiles. “We’re your friend, you know this? We’re here for you.”
“I’m relieved honestly.” Matt puts his arm around his shoulder. “I fear it was too late and you’re turning into a crazy cat lady, well, lord.”
“About this…”
Shiro doesn’t get to finish his sentence because the bell rings. He frowns, looking at the others. “You called for the others?”
They shake their head. “We haven’t called anyone yet.”
“Who is it?” Shiro asks.
“It’s Keith,” and Shiro has a small heart attack. “I have your cat.”
Now Shiro has a big heart attack. He pushes back the scream in his throat and unwilling he opens the door, because any other course of action would have been suspicious, fearing Keith will be there on the door wearing nothing but a pair of cat ears.
Keith is actually there, but of course he isn’t naked. And he doesn’t have cat ears. But in his face there is a small, soft smile, and in his hand a small ball of black fur.
It was a kitten, Shiro realizes after recovering from his shock. It’s all black, small as Keith’s palm, with his eyes still half closed. Everything in that kitten is small.
“Easy, buddy, you’re home.” Keith brushes a little the kitten’s head, then moves him on Shiro’s chest. “Here, go to your dad.”
“Oh…” The kitten hangs up with his little paws at Shiro’s shirt and immediately Shiro puts both hands around that little body, scared it could fall on the ground. It’s so little, so cute. It purrs and meows and Shiro’s heart melts.
“I didn’t know you have guests,” Keith comments, turning his head at Pidge and Matt and making a waving gesture with his hand. “I take my leave now. See you.”
“Oh. Sure. Thank you for… Black.”
“No problem. See you, little guy.” With a last brush with the point of his finger on the kitten’s head, Keith leaves.
“What was that?” Matt explodes immediately after Keith’s departure, in the same moment the Pidge exclaims, “it is so cute!”
Shiro sits down on the sofa and places the kitten on his lap. The kitten moves around carefully, meowing and sniffing. Pidge sits down next to him and brushes the kitten back, giggling.
“Who was that guy?” Matt asks.
“Oh, it’s… my new neighbors. I asked him to pick up Red for me, since he was supposed to bring his dog to the vets too.”
“You have a hot neighbors and didn’t tell me?” Matt whines.
Shiro frowns. “You have a girlfriend.”
“I’m talking about you. If I would have known, I would try to set up with him.”
“Please don’t,” Shiro deadpans.
“It’s incredible,” Pidge murmurs: the kitten places a pawn on her hand and she giggles. “Cuuute.”
“Guys,” Shiro says. “Thank you for the thought about the surprise party, but with Red inside… Can we organize it to a pub? I’m coming.”
“For real?” Pidge says.
“I promise,” Shiro assures her.
He doesn’t want to lose his friend over a kitten. Not even over a kitten as hot as Keith.
Keith waits for Shiro to confirm he can return home safe. He didn’t ask Shiro permission before bringing the kitten home so he hoped Shiro was okay with it. He has his answer when he enters in the room and finds Shiro on the floor, brushing the kitten’s back with a soft gaze and a sweet smile.
“That was a nice saving,” Shiro says, lifting his head when he hears Keith arriving.
“Just got lucky,” Keith answers, swelling up in Shiro’s sweetness and envying the kitten as he gets all Shiro’s caresses. “I was with my friend and her cat just had babies so she lent one to me. By the way, we need to bring him back as soon as possible. He still needs his mom.”
“Oh. Sure.” There is disappointment in Shiro’s voice, and Keith wonders if he regretted not having adopt a real cat instead of hosting a freeload like Keith. Shiro sweeps the kitten in his big hand and passes it to Keith.
“So... here he is.”
“Do you want to come with me?” Keith proposes.
“Can I?”
“We’ll be faster if we go with your car, and you can see the other kittens. I’m pretty sure Allura won’t mind. Just let me text her so she’ll know we’re going.”
“Oh, well. That would be nice.” Then he turns his head a little. “Does she know why you need the kitten?”
“Yes. But don’t worry, she doesn’t judge.”
“Reassuring.”
But apparently the idea of meeting more kittens is stronger than Shiro’s second hand embarrassment, because he takes the key of his car.
As he drives, Shiro keeps throwing looks to the kitten, who’s in Keith’s lap, and blushes a little. His attention switches focus once they reach
“That’s your friend’s house?” he asks, nodding at the big mansion at the end of hills.
“She’s more the girlfriend of a friend, and the lender of my boss, but yes,” Keith answers. “Have you ever heard of Altea?”
“The clothes designers?”
“Yep. She’s the daughter. She works mostly in scene customs though.”
“I see,” Shiro coughs a little.
Allura is waiting for them at the entrance of the parking, and, Keith notices, she wears one of his casual clothes. She doesn’t do it with strangers, and that means she isn’t going to let Shiro go. Not a good sign.
“A pleasure to finally meet you,” she says, introducing herself to Shiro.
“Likewise,” Shiro replies, with his usual charm. “Thank you for your kitten, he was a lifesaver.”
“You’re welcome.” She chuckles. “And to be fair, I’m the one that should thank you. If it weren’t for you, I suppose Keith would still be sleeping on the street.”
“It’s nothing,” Shiro says. “There is a reason why you didn’t host him?”
“Yes.” Allura throws Keith a look. “His stubbornness. He didn’t accept the help of any of us because, and I quote, I don’t want to take advantage of my friend.” Her attention turns on Shiro. “I guess you have great persuasion methods.”
There is a smart smirk on Allura’s face, and the implication of her sentence are clear. Shiro’s ears turn red and he unbuttons the first bottom of his shirt.
“Allura, please,” Keith admonishes her.
“You have to admit, Keith, none of us has ever be able to convince you like Shiro.”
“Because, unlike you all, he’s not an ass,” Keith snaps. “Now, would you like take your kitten back.”
She scoffs. “You’re not fun.” She grabs the kitten in her arms and nods at them to follow her.
The mom is a white cat with long fur, and she has five baby in total, all white except for the one that has been lent to Shiro. As soon as Allura put the kitten back, the cat mom starts licking him while the kitten submerges his little head in her fur and sucks milk. The others already eat so they’re not hanging around and meowing softly.
“You can rub them if you’d like,” Allura says at Shiro’s melted expression, and he lets the cat mom sniffing him before rubbing the black kitten’s back.
“Do you want to adopt one, Shiro?” she asks, with a little smile. “They’re too little to be adopted now, so I haven’t searched a family for them yet, but if you want him, he’s all yours.”
“I thought you sell them, since they have a pedigree, or so Keith said to me,” Shiro murmurs, and he almost bites his tongue because he wanted to answer yes immediately.
“That’s true, but I can afford gifted my friend.” She looks behind them, to Keith who sits next to the window, pretending to not paying attention to them. “Jokes aside, I was telling the truth. We all were worried about Keith. We understand his desire to be independent, but he shouldn’t pretend so much from himself.”
“I haven’t done nothing but offer him a place to stay,” Shiro responds. “And Keith’s presence is helping me as well. I just don’t understand why he accepted my help but not yours.”
“Keith is scared of abandonment,” Allura whispers. “Probably he thought that we should start to consider him a burden if we gave him help.”
“But I’m not his friend,” Shiro concludes.
“You weren’t,” she clarifies. “But you are now. I think you are one of the main reason Keith is working so hard recently. So he can have enough money to pay a rent to you. Our next show will start next month, so....”
Shiro snaps out his dark thought about Keith living with him only because he doesn’t care about him. “Show?”
“Our ballet company will stage Cats, I’ll make the costumes.”
“Keith dances?” The question comes out high-pitched from Shiro’s throat.
Allura blinks. “Yes. Well, dance and sing, since it’s a musical for this time…”
“Keith sings?” Shiro shouts again.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him,” Allura scoffs in Keith’s direction, who has gotten near, worried about Shiro’s inhuman reactions.
“It doesn’t seem so important,” Keith shrugs. “And I don’t even know if I would have been chosen for the musical…”
“Sorry, I was just surprised… Positive surprised,” Shiro clarify, with a soft smile. “Please sing something for me.”
Keith reddens “No.”
“Come on, Keith, be gentle to your host,” Allura pushes him, with a saccharine tone. “You owe him.”
“Fine,” Keith accepts with roll of his eyes. He takes a deep breath and then starts singing “The Rum Tum Tugger”. His voice is low but steady, and it fills the room and Shiro’s ears.
He doesn’t even notice Allura leaves the room, too focus on Keith’s figure, the way his mouth moves when he sings.
Then, he comments, “so… you’re going to be a cat.”
Keith shakes his head. “Please, not you too.”
Shiro chuckles. “You’re wonderful,” he adds, with a soft smile.
“It’s nothing.” Keith shrugs. He doesn’t look at him. “Do you want me to leave?”
“No. Why?”
“Well, you’re probably thinking I’m taking advantages of you since I have friends like Allura-”
“I don’t,” Shiro interrupts him. “But I’m afraid you don’t consider me your friend.”
Keith looks at him with wide eyes. “Shiro. No! You… my life would have been entirely different without you.”
It’s maybe an exaggerate statement, but he makes Shiro smiles. “I’m relieved.”
“You’re my friend, Shiro. I’ll do everything for you.”
“Like bringing a kitten that’s not me to cover me with my friends?”
Keith tries to hide a laugh, and fails. “Even being your kitten,” he answers, and the realizes the implication of it.
They both reddens. Then, Shiro takes a deep breath and gains all his courage. “I’d like to… but then you’ll have to cover me even more with my colleagues about my strange kinks I don’t even know I have.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Keith answers, voice a little broken, as he places his hand on Shiro’s arm, and they look at each other with soft gaze.
“Damn, I promise Pidge I’ll go celebrate with them tonight,” Shiro curses. “I can’t disappoint them again.”
Keith laughs. He places his head on Shiro’s forearm. “It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Not even when you can pay a rent?”
“Not even then.”
“I was fooled,” Pidge comments in front of the coffee machine of their office.
“What do you mean?” Hunk asks at her sudden outburst.
“Shiro. And his cat.”
“Don’t you say his neighbors bring it home so it exists?”
“Yes.” Pidge sighs. “But then I realize something… I was so focused on looking at some traces of the kitten that I didn’t think about it… There are two toothbrushes, as well as two towels, in the bathroom. And two cups on the sink, and the bed of the guest room is ready. Shiro is guesting someone at his house and didn’t tell us. That’s is secret, not the kitten.”
“Maybe Shiro just keep those things for emergency guest,” Hunk guesses. “Shiro is gentle enough to do so.”
“He may be, but… there’s the problem with the kitten too,” Pidge says. “There is a kitten, true, and it arrives in a very convenient way… and it’s too young. I checked: considering how much time passed since Shiro adopted him, its eyes should be already open entirely.”
“Okay.” Lance takes a breath. “Are you telling me that Shiro is living together with a probably mysterious man and pretends to have a cat so we don’t ask about it. Then he has someone bring him a kitten taking somewhere to fool you.” He hums. “Complicated, but possible.”
“Maybe the mysterious man is the neighbors. After all, he’s the one that brought the kitten,” Pidge adds.
“That’s straight a conspiracy theory,” Hunk comments.
“Do you think it’s be exaggerating if I hack the system to search for Shiro’s neighbors?”
“Yes. And illegal,” Hunk says.
“let’s do it anyway,” Lance says.
“I need a second opinion,” Pidge decides, and goes to his brother to explain her hypothesis.
“So Shiro’s fucking with his hot neighbors?” Matt comments. “Good for him.”
“Weren’t you try to set Shiro up with Curtis?” she frowns.
“I just want him to get laid. If he did by himself with Keith-ty, good for him.”
“You’re not angry about the all kitten lies?”
“If it’s for hiding a man, no. And to be honest, it’s better in this way. Can you imagine how horrible it’ll be if Shiro turns into a fully cat’s lady?”
Pidge doesn’t want to imagine it.
She doesn’t have to, since it become a reality.
After two months and a new cellphone and Shiro won’t shut up about his kitten. He has an endless collection of photos and every day he goes around showing around the new addiction to it, despite being usually the same three moment of Black’s life: him eating, him sleeping, him playing.
He also opens an Instagram page about him.
They reach at the point that they start to wish they were right into their conspiracy theory and Shiro has a secret story with his hot neighbors and the all kitten thing was just a cover.
They reach the point they’re so feed up they’re almost scared every time Shiro approach them, and they can’t escape because he’s their boss.
“Hey, guys!”
“Oh, no,” Hunk whispers. “What else does he want? He already pestered me about Black sleeping on the top of the fridge today.”
“Quick, someone fake a sudden heart attack!” Lance proposes, but no one has the courage when Shiro wears that sweet smile.
“Are you free this Saturday?”
“Why?” Pidge answers, suspicious.
“I have free ticket from my boyfriend’s musical, so if you’d like to come…”
They all looks at him with wide eyes. Weeks of bear his cat dad attitude and how the hell the most important information about Shiro’s private life hasn’t come out? Lance opens and closes his mouth, trying to process all the question he has in his mind.
“That’s nice,” Hunk says instead, trying to not being too curious. “Which musical is it.”
And Shiro smirks. “Cats. My boyfriend is one of the kittens.”
Posts written by Akemichan |
