whatsacactus | (no subject)

[You know, he's not sure he's ever heard Keith get southron. It's actually kind of-- well, adorable. Not that he's going to call it that.

Also: he can't even help steady him unless he wants to drop the damn cup. Instead, Shiro just shifts so Keith can lean against him once he's gotten up, murmuring easy at him like one would with a startled horse.]

It's something Allura mentioned to me once, some kind of Altean tea. It doesn't taste half bad and it hasn't killed me yet.

If it hasn't killed you then...

[He leans easily enough against him, not thinking anything of it. He's still hot, and Shiro's almost like a furnace himself. But cup. It's taking intense focus to get his hand around the cup, and the other underneath to steady it so he can sip it.]

...Not horrible.

[He doesn't quite let go of it. If Keith drops it, the last thing either of them need to deal with are scalding burns.]

I'll take lessons from Hunk when we're back with the others.

He'd probably like that.

[He takes another sip, leaning heavier on Shiro. That was a friendship that had surprised him when they got to the Castle. Hunk hadn't been what he expected, but he found he could have fun around him. And Hunk actually laughed at his attempts of jokes.

He's still warm, and Shiro is almost a furnace in his own right. He manages another sip before his hands feel heavy holding the mug.]

Should learn more from him...

[Shiro just murmurs encouragement and brushes Keith's hair back from his forehead gently.]

We should hold a workshop. Everybody teaches a skill. Nothing about fighting or-- being Paladins.

[He doesn't mean to, but Keith leans into the motion, touch-starved and tired.]

've got nothing from me then.

[Gently,]

That's not true.

'm only good at fighting and flying and paladin stuff.

[It's why he pushes as much as he can when he can.]

Remember all those pictures you used to take out in the desert?

[Keith had a real eye for composition. It almost-- made him sad, in a way. That someone with an artistic soul could see nothing for themselves but soldiering.]

You could teach that, easy. Hell, you taught me how to fix a hoverbike. I bet you know plenty of things Hunk and Pidge don't. And we could all learn how to darn socks.

[Keith, coming from as little as he did, developed the skill to make things last a lot longer than they might have otherwise.]

Maybe...

[He's distant at that. Both feeling like it's distant and like he doesn't have much confidence in that. The warmth both around and in him is weighing him now.]

Y'could teach study habits... Somethin' with music...

[He laughs a little, a quiet rasp of noise, and scoots over on the bed until they're both side by each and Keith can still lean comfortably against him.]

It's been so long I'm not even sure I remember what an f-sharp is.

More than I know.

[He'd watched Shiro sometimes. It helped bring him down on his worse days. It was relaxing, and something Shiro enjoyed. He never forgot how calm Shiro looked....]

Could never figure any of it out.

Well, I started young. It's easier that way, like-- [he may never play again.] -- Learning a language.

Tell you what. When we get back to Earth, I'll teach you. I bet you'd make a great violin player.

Sure.

[At this point, it's all blurring to him, he isn't sure what he's agreeing to. He lowers the mug to rest on his legs. He's half-asleep again as his breath evens slowly.]

Hold you to it.

[Shiro takes the cup away from him, and sets it down on the nightstand. It's funny to think that as different as their cultures are, some things are always the same: everyone likes having a table beside where they sleep. Then he just pulls the blanket up a little higher around Keith's shoulders and leans back against the headboard.

Soft,]

It's a promise.

Good.

[He won't remember this not really. He's too tired and feverish to maintain any real concentration to remember anything from the last hour or so. He leans his head against Shiro, his current pillow while he's still there in range.]

Y'need sleep.

I know. I will.

[When he gives himself the time to stop being frantic with worry, he's going to regret the speed at which he climbed up and down those stairs with this bad leg.]

You first.

[He gives the weakest nod, already well on his way. Shiro doesn't have to do much to get Keith horizontal again. The dreams aren't as bad as they were earlier - still rough, but nowhere as frantic.

He wakes a few times in what could be considered "night" in this place; clouds starting to roll in slowly over the hours darkening the sky outside. At some point after the first time he wakes up, Shadow climbs onto the bed with them, staying at Keith's feet.

It's several hours later when he wakes again. The heat isn't as bad, but the aches and sores are more pronounced from not moving for so long. Shadow lifts her head to watch him sit up, groaning.]

What truck hit me...

[Shiro, meanwhile, is more-or-less where he started the night: beside Keith, only about half laying down. One leg is drawn up, and his arm is loosely across his torso, fingers brushed up against Keith's shoulder so he can monitor his fever even in a light doze.

The words startle him out of his reverie, and he blinks himself owlishly awake.]

No clue. Didn't grab the licence plate.

Should've.

[He rubs at his eyes with the palm of one hand trying to wake up. He's still a little shaky, but not so out of it. He looks at the oversized floor-to-ceiling windows across from them, the weather.]

...Getting dark. That... Took a while.

[Shiro's mouth tastes like cotton. He reaches for that cup he'd left on the nightstand and takes a swig of it. It's gone faintly bitter.]

How are you feeling?

[The more important topic than the weather, far as he's concerned.]

[A beat, then:] Like crap.

[It's the most honest he's been about how he's feeling in a long while. He'll get nothing out of lying or pretending to be fine here, just Shiro's continued disappointment. He's not in the market for that.

He's still tired, so he leans back against the massive pile of pillows he didn't register before. Beings with the means to be lavishly comfortable are.... strange. Who needs this many overly soft pillows?

Him right now, probably.]

What do we need to do?

[He's itching to move, to be useful, no matter his condition. Surely if he's up and moving and doing, he'll feel better, right?]

Recuperate.

[He says it as an order, having closed his eyes again himself. Now that Keith's out of immediate danger, he's free to let himself feel tired. Exhausted, really. And all those little aches and pains that got pushed aside in the face of adrenaline crawl back to their duty stations and blare their klaxons loud.

(He and Keith are sort of still curled together, he hasn't moved his hand away from where it had fallen against Keith's shoulder. Probably hasn't even noticed it's there.)]

We'll worry about a game plan once the sun's up. Though... if you need something to do, you could always take a shower.

[He cracks an eye open and gives Keith a bit of a teasing little grin, wrinkling his nose up as if in protest of his smell.]

[He only has to see the nose scrunching to get the hint. Fine, he smells. It's not like he went straight from a mission to two years camping to two large battles with no time to shower!!

Oh wait.

This is... too comfortable though. Shiro's too closed in with him, and if he stays, he'll risk overstepping his bounds again. It takes some doing to get himself upright, legs swung fast and heavy to the floor. Keith is still sluggish as he moves to look out the window on his way up.

He sees movement outside; those creatures from the canyon starting to come into the gardens. They're moving like their familiar with the area, not a new exploration. They're used to being in here. Had they come the previous day and they just missed seeing it? Or was it to do with the clouds overtaking the entire sky now?

He'll figure it out later. For now he looks around, sees his flight suit cleaned and folded on a side table and grabs it on his way to the bathroom.

Shiro was right, the water just stays hot. It's almost too much for him trying to scrub himself clean - dirt, oil, grime, all of it. He stays for a while, much longer than he really needs to. Time alone. Time to put himself back together without feeling Shiro hovering or rushed.

He's fine. He has to be.

It's almost a half hour later when Keith comes back to the room, toweling out his longer hair and ignoring the aches under his suit. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed and sighs.]

Gotta find something Shadow can eat. Don't think she'll like most of the plant stuff we found.

[He is absolutely 100 percent, just-short-of-snoring asleep when Keith comes back, though he startles back to wakefulness at the words. Shadow-- right. He didn't actually know if the creature ate anything at all. Cosmic wolves are a new territory for him, but he supposes it makes sense.]

Okay.

[Let him reboot, Keith. He sits up fully as well, rubbing his hand across his eyes.]

We should be able to hunt with the bayard. If I've learned anything, it's that where there's a garden there's usually small animals that feed off it.