whatsacactus | (no subject)

[That has Keith's attention immediately. He watches Shiro carefully before getting up to lean against the doorframe. There's the tiniest bit of confusion, a breath of hope in his voice.]

..."We"?

You don't think I'd make that sort of decision without you, do you?

[He gives Keith a sideways glance. He can't-- give him what he wants, but Shiro will always love him. He wants to make that clear, but he can't promise more than just-- being there for him.]

Wherever I end up, there'll be a place for you. You're eighteen. I don't want you to have to think about doing this until you die. I've done that. I gotta say, I really don't recommend it.

Wouldn't dream of it, but--

[His expression flattens a little.]

Shiro, I'm twenty-one.

[okay he actually looks slightly taken aback at that. Actually, to put it bluntly, he looks like Keith just smacked him on the nose with a newspaper like a rather unruly dog.]

Right.

[It doesn't even seem real. He still looks at Keith sometimes and sees that kid that just needed a friend, not the man he's turned into. Keith's older now than Shiro was when they first met.]

Right-- sorry. I forgot about the rift. I guess I'm behind on our birthday dinners, huh?

[It used to be something of a ritual, back during his time at the Garrison.]

[The sigh Keith exhales is all fondness. It's hard to be mad at Shiro, really.]

Then this counts as one. Only missing another.

[He comes over to grab a towel and dry what dishes Shiro cleans.]

This absolutely does not count as one. They have to be at the diner or it's a no-go. Jeeze, Keith.

[JEEZE.

He cleans the bowl as best he can, trapping it against the edge of the sink so that he can wipe it out and rinse it, and then he hands it to Keith.]

It's all about the apple pie with the birthday candles, you know that.

[He smirks a little more at that.]

If you wait until we get to the diner, you'll build up a couple more birthdays you owe me.

I think I can live with that.

[In fact, it sounds nice. That's been the one difficult thing with Voltron-- not having time for each other one-on-one like they used to.]

If Auntie's still there, she's going to make all kinds of comments on how much you've grown. You're almost as tall as I am, now.

[He'll just turn to put that dish on another counter so Shiro doesn't see his face turn some kind of color. Almost as tall as him... Keith hadn't had the chance to notice or recognize it.]

Y-yeah, I guess so. Auntie'll lose her mind seeing us after we disappeared.

We'll bring her flowers. She always did love carnations.

[Shiro finishes up the washing slowly, and then... gives Keith a sideways look.]

I'm sorry for what happened. I know it-- goes without saying, but if I'd had any way to send word to you after Kerberos... I would have.

[They've never really talked about what Keith did in that time, but Shiro knew he would have done everything possible to try and uncover the truth. He was smart, driven. He's just-- he hurts, that Keith would have been doing it all alone, missing the one person who swore he'd always be there.]

[He's quiet for a long moment. Those first few months were the hardest, and the year after was trying to ignore that pain left behind in Shiro's absence. That was when he'd started realizing he felt more than just admiration for Shiro.

He lowers his head level with his shoulders, letting his hair hide his expression.]

I know. I knew you were alive, and you must've been caught up in something.

And I knew you'd never give up on me.

[That much had persisted. It helped, even in the worst of times aboard the Galra ship, knowing that. Winning in the arena became a matter of-- just. Not letting Keith down. And if he died, he wanted to at least leave a legacy that he could be proud of.]

Didn't even consider it.

[Though he'd let himself be lost for a while. He let the anger roll through him at first, then let it out in the desert. He'd lost everything. Father, childhood home, Shiro, all his prospects he'd worked hard for... He huffs out a breath and stretches his neck.]

For what it's worth... I'm glad you made it.

I know.

[He rests his hand briefly against Keith's shoulder.]

Knowing you were out there was one of the things that kept me going. I couldn't let you down.

[Just have to hope I'm worth it. He knows Shiro believes in him something fierce, even when he doesn't really deserve it. If Shiro knew how he was after he left for Kerberos, he may not be so proud.]

Thanks, Shiro. I'm-- [Conflicted.] Glad I was there when you landed.

[He clears his throat, looking around and finally seeing Shadow waiting for him.]

You probably wanna be let out a while, huh. Shiro, did you wanna go back out with me?

[If you think Shiro doesn't know exactly how Keith would act when he was angry and grieving, I don't know what to tell you tbh. But he nods.]

Yeah. Light-show hasn't let up yet, we may as well enjoy it. C'mon-- last one out's a rotten egg.

[right. that'll be him. and his shitty leg. but, you know, shh.]

[He smirks a little, trying to wrangle Shadow to follow him. She's already half hopping-half teleporting to and out the door before them.]

Think she's excited about it. She wasn't outside earlier with us.

[Keith stops on the way out to check on the smaller griffon creature, still there and leans its head up to chirp and trill at him until he picks it up.] Didn't think you'd stay here.

What did I say? Disney princess.

['Now you just need a prince' wow no, thank you, he is not going to be saying that given the overall tone of their conversations these past few days. Nope. Shiro has restraint, thank you very much.

The storm hasn't let up at all, though. If anything, it's more intense. There are parts where the dome is just permanently lit up from the brunt of the electrical impacts it's taking, and even though the suns are completely hidden it's as bright as - maybe even brighter than daylight.]

I guess so.

[He handles the little thing with care, holding it against his chest while he walks out with Shadow. She's running around sniffing at everything, poking her nose at the other creatures to get a smell of them.]

I thought maybe it'd let up but... This is unreal. [And showing no signs of stopping any time soon.]

[Unselfconsciously, Shiro leans over to pet the little griffon as well, scratching it under its chin.]

We could be here longer than expected. You think Black knew about the storm?

I'm starting to think she did. She could've brought us closer to the house if it was just a short stop, but...

The canyon may have some protection she needed.

[It's sounding more and more like this was premeditated. He just doesn't know why.]

[He is going to have Words for the lion later. In the meantime--]

With this much water, I'm more worried about that canyon turning into a river if it keeps up like this. I'm sure she'll be okay, but--

[He can still worry.]

I'm sure she knew what she was doing.

[She had to have. If this place was really Zarkon's there may be a place specifically for Black built somewhere close by...]

At least these guys are all safe.

I guess they've been coming here for thousands of years.

[He can't really picture Zarkon doing that on purpose, which means it's a habit that the creatures picked up after he left, one that was carried down throughout the generations.]

It's strange-- I didn't think so many species could co-exist peacefully in an area of effect that's this small, relatively speaking, to the rest of the planet.

Maybe they realized it was best in the end.

[Predators after long enough had to realize they'd destroy their own food supply if they ate everything in here.

Not unlike himself in some ways.]

The harvester bots probably kept bringing it all in since a lot of these animals will eat it.