whatsacactus | (no subject)

[All Shiro has to do is say his name with that tone. For a moment, his expression flashes - messed up, I shouldn't have said anything at all - but then Shiro leans in to kiss his forehead.

It's such a soft thing to do. Keith feels something tug at his chest that it comes after they'd been having a completely different kind of conversation. It's his own fault, really, not knowing the right things to say. His response is quiet, more withdrawn.]

And... Now we're out here. In the universe, saving it.

Well.

[He looks at their surroundings pointedly, laughs a little. He wants - needs - to lighten the mood. Get that awful look off Keith's face, because at the end of the day none of this is his fault at all.]

Not saving it so much right now.

Maybe not right now but... We were. And we'll keep doing it.

[Despite Zarkon being dead and Lotor being stranded in the quintessence field, he doesn't think they'll be able to just send Voltron away. There are still Galra who hold those principles, who still want to dominate and continue that line. And he wants to be there to help stop more planets from suffering that.]

Mm.

[Having been given the choice, he knows he can't do anything else, now. As much as he might like the idea of retiring, of settling down somewhere--

Doing this has already killed him once. And being brought back the way he was... it feels like he owes the universe whatever's left of this life, too.]

Long as it takes.

...Together.

[And he means that, all traces of that lost kid gone. Giving him a determined look of strength is the Red Paladin, who pilots the Black Lion literally to hell and back for the man he loves.]

We do it together.

I know.

[He shakes his head, trying to dispel those earlier thoughts. Maybe it's selfish, but he was enjoying himself earlier. He wants a little of that peace back.]

Come on, let's see if we can't find anything else outside.

[He'd wanted to wait for the leg to be better, but he thinks maybe the distraction will do them both some good.]

[Keith starts to reach for his hand and hesitates, instead raising it to scratch his own head and start for the door.]

Might be a while. Garden is pretty big if the size of the barrier is any sign.

[He sees that abortive gesture, but isn't about to dwell on it. Instead, he nods.]

We can split up. You go north, I'll go south. We can meet back here in an hour?

[He's watching Shiro's expression, trying to gauge the reaction.]

Sure. [It comes out measured as he steps outside, Shadow poofing next to him already nosing his hand.] In an hour.

[It's just to get him out of the house. Out of his head. The air smells electric, and the ozone from the barrier being bombarded with constant electricity is so strong he can taste it.

The animals are restless, but most still seem unharmed. There's evidence of a few scuffles in the dirt, some crops are flattened down, but the rest is... nothing's changed.

He gravitates towards one of the distant out-buildings, and his leg is throbbing painfully by the time he's there. One wall of the structure has crumbled, but inside underneath a small particle barrier of its own is what looks like a speeder.

It's old-- ancient in fact, but it looks to be more or less in serviceable shape. He tries a few times unsuccessfully to start it, and when it doesn't fire he mutters to himself and slings himself down onto the ground. Looks like some creature had gotten into the engine probably more than a few centuries ago and chewed a bunch of wires.

He stands, briefly flummoxed, dusting his hands off against his thighs when it occurs to him that Keith would probably be able to fix this. Maybe the project would help, too. It's too big and too heavy to push, but--

Aha.

In one corner of the shed, there's an old hover hand-tractor, something that was obviously used by Altean (or Galra) hands to move heavy loads of crops. He wrestles the bike up onto its levitation pad and from then on, it's easy to shift. It takes him a bit longer than the scope of time he'd set up, so by the time he's nearly back to the house he sees Keith coming towards him. Shiro waves to get his attention, and once he's close enough--]

Hey, look what I found. It needs some repairs, but I think we can get it up and running again.

[Keith walked with Shadow around into the garden on the side of the house, around from the kitchen. They hadn't really explored too much, needing to rest and heal up first.

The waves of the electricity hitting the barrier are almost deafening. He tries to focus on finding anything interesting, anything useful. He does find what looks like doors to a basement. Locked and sealed; he could probably open it. He doesn't yet. There are still a lot of things that get his guard up, and a sealed basement door on an otherwise open house is one of them.

He wanders further around the house perimeter. The flowers are still beautiful in this dim, almost unnatural blue-hued light. He may want to take more than just juniberry seeds back with him. That might be nice, if they get another ship, or another home altogether. Starting a garden. Just for him.

Shiro had asked what things he likes. What he likes would possibly be seen as very boring. He actually liked that messed up shack in the desert; it was the best he could do to rebuild what he'd lost. The only thing that could make his simple tastes better is to share them with Shiro. Although after only a couple of days, they were off to a shaky start. Keith leans in to look at a couple flower buds more closely. Maybe what he should do is ask for a set of rules to go by. He does better with guidelines instead of having to assume someone's thoughts.

He makes his way back to the kitchen door at the allotted time. Five minutes go by and he sees another animal scuffle but no clear winner. Another ten minutes and Shadow is sitting patiently at his side waiting with him. At the twenty-minute mark, Keith is worried, wondering if there had been something dangerous inside this barrier. He steps forward to go looking but sees something coming--

Something bigger than just Shiro.]

That-- [He squints at the whole contraption, seeing what it is now.] That looks like a speeder.

[Shiro grins a bit.]

It does, doesn't it?

[What a weird coincidence!!]

Are you trying to say it is a speeder. That - [He looks closer at it now that Shiro's there.] - is in definite need of repairs?

Mmhmm. Think you could give it a look?

[He sounds. Pretty fucking smug, actually. It'll be nice to have something else to work on.]

Yeah, I think I could find the time to give it a once over.

[He's already circling it and taking stock.]

Bet it could do really well in the canyon when the weather lets up.

[He just rolls his eyes.]

Always thinking about how to go faster, huh?

Can you blame me?

[He finally stops when he's standing next to Shiro, patting a hand to his shoulder.]

This is really awesome. And not what I'd expect to find here.

Well, Black can teleport. Maybe Zarkon liked to go fast too.

[Not as fast as Red unless she's got her wings, but he's... not entirely sure Keith's ever used them.]

[If Red had wings, that's news to him. He gives the shoulder a little squeeze before stepping away, back toward the house.]

I found a basement, I think? Didn't go inside though. Not sure what's on the other side of the door.

[Something about the way Keith says it piques his interest. The bike's not going anywhere, and it's not like they can't leave it out in the storm, so he follows after him.]

Sure. Let's have a look. Maybe we can find a communications center, some way to reach the others.

[Oh he hadn't expected that to happen now. But he nods, changing his direction to lead the way.

It's eerily similar to human earth basements, the doors set into the ground with a sturdy frame. The difference is the lock on it - a customary hand scanner. Keith kneels down and places his hand to it, watching it scan then blink and hears the tell-tale clunk of a lock opening.

The doors slide open sideways, folding into themselves. Lights blink on, lighting the way down a set of steps.]

Here goes. [And he leads the way down.]

[The first step he takes down into the basement he already knows something is wrong. It's the smell. Ten thousand years old, one would expect it to have dissipated, but maybe the door was hermetically sealed. Maybe what's down here was preserved. Maybe dark, dimly lit places just reach into some primal part of his brain and set off every alarm bell he has, but there is a part of him that vehemently does not want to continue on down.

Shiro reaches out and grabs Keith by the back of his shirt, dangerously close to just scruffing him like a cat.]

Wait. Keith.

[Shiro gets close to scruffing him by the neck but he stops, looking back at him. Something about the look on his face is uneasy for Keith, his brows knotting together. He steps back up to be level with him.]

What's up?

[Shiro exhales. His pulse is quickened, and there are pinpricks of sweat at his temples. He stands his ground, but it's an obvious effort and he shifts his jaw to grit his teeth before he answers,]

If we're going down there, I think we should be armed. Do you have the bayard?

It's with my armor upstairs. Come on.

[That's all he needs to know they aren't coming down here. He carefully reaches for Shiro's elbow to turn him back around, get him going back up to the surface. Keith isn't about to stand there and let Shiro have a bad time here.]

I can lock it back when we get out.