Takashi "Shiro" Kogane (takashi) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-04-25 19:44:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, voltron: takashi shirogane, ₴ inactive: keith |
The day had been filled with wonders and interesting conversations already, so now Shiro was laid out in one of the stone walkways of the rooftop garden of Morningside, his hands behind his head and his eyes on the sky.
The stars here were different. It filled him with excitement and a little bit of dread. He only had so much time in this life. What would happen if he was stuck here too long? What if he lost his spot in the Garrison? What if he just got back too far behind to get into the space program before his disease took all his choices away?
Shiro sighed, a little frown between his eyebrows as he memorized the night sky above him. “I will still get up there one day,” he whispered. “Whatever it takes.”
There was stuff you got to know about a person when you'd known them as long as Keith had known Shiro. So even when your best friend was suddenly and bizarrely younger than you, when he'd always been the cool older guy you'd looked up to, you still went looking for them in the same kinds of places. He pretty much always knew how to find Shiro, when he wasn't lost somewhere even Black couldn't get to him.
Shiro liked somewhere quiet with a view of the sky, so he could look at the stars. Even once they'd spent time out among them, he'd never stopped liking that when he needed time to himself. Keith had already found him on the rooftop garden a couple of times, since he got there. He wasn't surprised this Shiro had found the same place.
Keith wanted to check in, look out for Shiro. But it was weird. This Shiro didn't know him, wouldn't have any idea why they were friends, or know about the Lions or the other Paladins ... and this Shiro didn't know about all the crappy stuff he would have to go through. Keith didn't want him to have to. Everyone kept saying that this would go back to normal soon, that things like this happened here. But if it didn't, and if Atreus was right and they could just stay here - then Shiro might never have to know about any of it.
That just kind of left a LOT Keith couldn't say. Which meant he should probably steer clear so he didn't say the wrong thing. But he didn't want to do that either. Shiro needed a friend, and he might not know Keith, but he still had him.
So he made his way up and crossed on quiet feet to stand near Shiro, then sank down to sit near him, making a little more noise so he wasn't startled. "You will. You're great in space," he promised. Since that much was safe to know.
Iverson would’ve been furious at how easily Shiro was snuck up on. You could be dead, staring off into space like an idiot, Shirogane.. Shiro flushed a little red and propped himself up on his elbows.
“Oh, I...that’s good to hear. If a little weird to hear from someone I just met,” he smiled, teasing mixing with nerves. Some day, he’d probably be very good at talking to strangers. But even then, he imagined he’d stumble a little when the strangers had striking features and violet eyes. Curiosity helped balance things out. He lifted his dark eyebrows and sat up further.
“Does that mean you’ve been to space too?” he asked.
Keith smiled at him, a little awkward and strained. But it was still Shiro, so it was difficult to convince himself to not be at ease around him. Shiro had been the first person in Keith's life he ever was comfortable around. "We get to be good friends. But yeah, it's weird now. Sorry. Just, you know. You'll do awesome things."
Keith tucked his hair back behind his ear, folding his legs up to sit cross-legged and nodding. "Yeah. You went first though. You're a little older than me, when things aren't weird. We're part of the same team, with our friends." That was all safe enough, right?
"You're doing okay here? Do you ... I don't know. Need stuff or anything?" Keith asked him.
“It’s okay. It’s weird but it’s not bad weird,” Shiro shrugged. He mirrored Keith’s movement, turning towards him and crossing his legs underneath him. It seemed unfair that he managed to make a close friend, be a part of a team, and he couldn’t remember any of it. He didn’t want to fast forward the next decade, but he did feel like he was missing something, looking at Keith.
“I think I’m doing all right? I don’t…” He didn’t have to keep his disorder a secret, but it still felt unsettling bringing it up. People who knew tended to pity him or assume he was incapable of being a valuable member of the Garrison or worse, they tried to make his choices for him out of concern. He looked at Keith from under his eyelashes and then glanced off over the garden, rubbing at one of his wrists absentmindedly. “If I’m here more than a few days, I’ll need to see a doctor. My medical band didn’t come with me.”
"Yeah. I get it, kind of," Keith said. He watched Shiro move to face him. "You were here before me - in this world or place. It's all still pretty new to me. People say that weird stuff like this just happens. But it seems pretty important to me."
It was so bizarre, Shiro being this young, looking up at him like that. Like he was unsure of himself. Not that Shiro was always sure of himself, Keith knew him well enough to see when he faltered or second guessed, sometimes - even if he was better at hiding it than Keith, who never felt like he fit into his Lion now. But ... it felt like he'd just always looked up to Shiro, looked to him for an example, even when he was being an ass about not listening. Now Keith felt like he should be ... the adult or the responsible one or something. It sat weirdly on him. How did you protect someone suddenly vulnerable when the world around you made zero sense?
"I thought you might," he said. "I'll ask around and see where to go, okay? I'll go with you, if you want, but I don't have to."
“I meant you. That you know me isn’t a bad weird. I just wish I knew you back.” Shiro frowned and rested his hands on his thighs, palms up. He made slow fists of his hands. He didn’t feel weak yet. That would probably take a few days. But he’d never been off his meds, so he could only guess based on the onset of his symptoms a few years previously.
He stubbornly sat up straighter and clenched his jaw. “I’ll figure it out though. The doctor. You don’t need to coddle me, Keith. I’ve got this handled.” For a moment, he sounded more like his twenty-six year old self. Determined, a little bullheaded. But he sagged a little and shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Or at least, I will as soon as I get my bearings.”
"Oh." Keith shifted his weight a little, hands clasping in front of him. He didn't really know how to talk about himself. It felt like there wasn't that much to say, or like what there was to say he didn't know how. "Uh, I was in school when we met. I was an orphan and didn't really have family or friends or anything. But I did pretty well on the aptitude tests and you thought I had potential. So you wanted to help me. And you kept on doing it, even when I screwed up. When we went to space ... a lot happens. But I found out that my mom was alive still, and that I was kind of half alien? So. That took some getting used to. You were always just okay with it though. And uh ... I usually have a wolf that travels around with me. He's great. I'm not good with people or talking when I don't know someone, so you or one of our other friends usually does that first. I don't know ... what else do you wanna know?"
Keith figured the alien thing was probably going to be a lot to a teenager who hadn't been to space before, anyway.
He snorted, eyes rolling a little. "I'm not coddling you. I'm being your friend. I know you can handle it. But you're in a new place with new people. So unless you don't want me around, let me help, all right? It's not a big deal. I just know my way around a little better than you right now. Give it a day and I won't anymore, probably."
Shiro’s eyebrows creeped up slowly in surprise. He hadn’t expected so much information and he certainly hadn’t expected the alien part. It didn’t change anything, except perhaps how it made him just a little more curious about Keith and their experiences together in space.
“I….wow, Keith. I don’t know what to say. I mean, I wondered how you could have such a striking eye color--” He pointed at his own eyes and flashed a small smile before glancing back up at the sky. “I just never imagined I’d meet aliens. But then again, I never really believed they’d let me go deep into space at all.” He really didn’t want to keep talking about his disease. Even if there was a sense of trust here that surprised him.
“That must’ve been a lot for you, learning who you were, finding your mother.” Blowing a breath out, Shiro looked over at Keith out of the side of his eye. “I suppose if you let me stick by you through that, it’s only right that I let you point me towards a doctor without being a hardheaded brat about it.”
Keith blinked and blushed a little, eyes darting away. People had commented on his eyes when he was a kid - mostly to say they were freaky. But striking? People didn't say that, really. And Shiro had definitely never said that. Maybe it was just a thing he thought when he was younger and had seen less ... eyes?
Keith shook it off, smiling back sheepishly. "Uh, you do. Meet aliens, I mean. A lot of them. Some of them are our really good friends." And some of them tried to kill them, or held Shiro captive and tortured him for years. But Keith didn't want him to have to know that.
He shrugged, not really dismissive, Keith just was never sure how to talk about himself with any ease.
"It was, but it was ... good? And we kind of got stuck in a quantum space for a long time. It wasn't that long to everybody else, but it was a couple of years for us, so I got to know her a little." He laughed. "I was a brat about it sometimes too. But I'd like that, if you let me help. Or at least hang out with you in the waiting room or something. Is there anything else you need? Or questions you have or something?"
Shiro grinned, the space nerd in him getting excited about meeting so many people from different planets. No doubt there was a lot more to it and he doubted every meeting was friendly, but the more aliens he met, the longer he must live and explore space. It was a surprising comfort to find here in this strange place.
“That’s nice to hear. About you getting a chance to know your mother, too, that is.” He couldn’t quite wrap his head around a quantum space where years passed only in that pocket, but it seemed a lot like what they were dealing with here. “I appreciate your help, Keith. Really. But I don’t know if I want to know any more. It feels like...well it might take the fun out of seeing it all for myself, you know?”
He smiled and reached out to squeeze Keith’s shoulder. It was an instinct and probably on anyone else it would’ve felt like he was crossing a line, but it just felt right with Keith. Still, he dropped his hand away fast and stood up. “I wouldn’t mind knowing where my hoverbike is parked though. If you’ve got any idea…”
Keith liked that smile. He always liked making Shiro smile, but right now it meant he wasn't freaking out about everything, that he was kind of happy here. So Keith couldn't be screwing up too badly.
"Okay," Keith agreed. He didn't know if Shiro would even remember if things went back to normal - people seemed to think that they didn't after things like this? But he was happy to avoid talking about it.
He smiled back at Shiro when the boy clapped his shoulder. It still felt like they were friends. Maybe that was weird, but it was comforting too. "Yeah, I know where it is. Come on, I'll show you." Keith slid to his feet and then teased gently. "If you're done daydreaming over the stars.
Two days later, Shiro was still daydreaming, though admittedly now it was daytime and it was about Keith as much as it was about the stars. He got the impression they were just platonic. Maybe Keith even saw him as a brother. But that didn’t seem to be enough to nip this crush in the bud. He hoped he could keep it contained at least. People had started returning to normal, apparently, and if all went well, he’d be home soon, to live his life’s adventure himself. He didn’t want to leave that other him with any strangeness between him and his best friend once that happened.
And that’s what led to him avoiding Keith that morning and just riding his hoverbike around the city. He stopped at the Panorama diner for a lunch break, climbing off the bike and turning it off as he pulled his goggles off his head. Someone had yelled at him about not wearing a helmet earlier, but he’d just smiled and flown away. Now a lady on her way out of the diner tsked at him and he just gave the same charming smile as he swept his windblown bangs up off his forehead.
Keith had sought Shiro out another time or two, but he hadn't hovered too close, not wanting to be pushy. Even when he kept his distance though, he kept an eye out for Shiro as best he could. He didn't ask too many questions or offer too much information. It was too easy to overwhelm his friend, or to give away stuff Shiro might not want to know.
So he let it be. And just hoped Shiro would go back to normal soon, like people thought would happen.
Before that though, Keith ended up waking up and not remembering Shiro at all. Since he woke up sullen, teenaged, and confused out of his mind. Keith's first reaction was that it must be some kind of prank or trick, but as the day wore on, he just seemed to be ... somewhere different. His clothes were all a mile too big and hung on him, and he didn't know anyone. Not having any of the people he knew around wasn't a big loss, but having strangers around wasn't a lot better.
So he just snuck his way through town, taking in the place he didn't understand at all. He needed clothes that didn't want to fall off him, and Keith didn't really want to take them - but what else was he going to do? So he snuck into the first place he saw that didn't seem busy and grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans and then slipped back out. He thought he got away with it until he heard a raised voice behind him.
Keith took off running, hampered by the pants he kept tripping over. He wasn't sure if he was being followed but he kept going. WHen he finally slowed, he spotted a bike across the street. He blinked. If he had that, no one could catch him. And the keys were right there. Keith hesitated, and then just charged across the street, flinging himself onto the sleek bike and starting it. He looked up in time to meet the eyes of the bike's apparent owner, who'd been headed this way, and revved the bike to take off - stifling a yelp when it gunned way faster than he expected, nearly swinging it into a nearby car but managing to steady it and then grinning as it lifted into the air.
Shiro wasn’t that far away when Keith ran by him in a blur. He was distracted though, and the key on the bike was biometric, so he didn’t even glance back at it until he heard it gun to life. Shocked, he spun back around and watched a very young looking Keith lift up off the ground.
If he’d doubted they knew each other in his future, he’d have been convinced by the fact that Keith was logged in as an authorized user on his bike. He didn’t even have Matt logged into his bike.
“Keith! Wait!” he shouted, jogging in the direction of the bike. It was a fruitless effort of course. He was on foot and had no idea how to catch up.
Someone shouting his name startled Keith, since he hadn't seen anyone he knew, so no one should know him. When he glanced back to see who it was, he saw the guy he'd stolen the bike from. Figures, he'd somehow know him.
Keith was good with bikes and driving and piloting in general. But he was only thirteen and not used to the kind of power the bike he drove had. Looking back threw him off and he jerked the bike off course, almost losing control. To keep himself from it, he had to hurriedly course correct and slam the brakes, bringing the bike back to the ground.
Keith grimaced, since he wasn't going to be able to get it going and out again before the guy caught up to him again. He'd have to run for it.
He really liked the bike though. And he was still in too-long pants. So he was slow to get going and Shiro caught up to him. He backed off warily, plainly looking for a chance to run.
Shiro was both relieved Keith ran into trouble and instantly worried. His bike was certainly not worth Keith’s safety. He rushed forward. He felt the days with no medicine for his condition start to make themselves known a little in the weakness of his stride, but he stubbornly ignored that. When he reached the bike, he held up his hands, palms out.
“Wow, hey, are you okay? You--” He’d noticed Keith looked younger, but he’d thought it was a trick of the light, a shadow distorting his view. This close, there was no question this Keith was years younger and looking tense. “Oh. Do you remember me? I’m Shiro?”
Shiro was tall and good looking, fit and he looked like the rich kids who had either made fun of Keith or just ignored him. And he'd just stolen his bike, so Keith didn't think he was going to get much of a break from him. He shifted his weight, pulling up his pants again to try not to trip on the hem. "No," he said, chin ducked and hair falling in his eyes - still long, but shaggier and less kept than it had been when he was his own age. It looked like he'd probably cut it himself and not been great at it, at some point.
He crossed his arms over his chest, nearly dropping the stolen clothes still tucked under his arm in the process. He tossed the keys sullenly toward Shiro. "How do you know who I am?"
Shiro considered himself great at adapting, but this place was impossible to wrap his mind around. Just starting at Keith and recognizing that it was the same boy, the same violet eyes, only looking at him like a stranger - it was staggering. He stepped a little closer to Keith but then stepped back again. It felt like he might easily spook this skinny suspicious-eyed boy.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “this is going to sound so crazy. I know because just two days ago, I woke up here and you were older, and you knew me when I didn’t know you, and that seemed certifiably insane.” He smiled, apologetic and gentle. But then his mouth twisted a bit into a teasing smirk. “Of course, I had no idea you were a thief. That really adds something to this whole thing.”
Those violet eyes were familiar in color and shape - but the look in them was utterly different. Where Keith when Shiro had known him before had been nervous but warm with an obvious fondness in his eyes, there wasn't anything but wariness there now. Keith didn't seem afraid so much as just skittish and cynical.
He frowned. "I'm not a thief!" he blurted. And then went a little red because ... technically he was. He'd taken the clothes, and then he'd swiped the bike. But it wasn't his fault that someone had taken him here without any of HIS clothes. And he hadn't been planning to KEEP the bike ... no matter how great it was. "None of that makes any sense anyway," he added, reaching up to impatiently shove shaggy hair back out of his eyes again.
The smirk wasn't really angry though, which Keith didn't expect, and didn't know what to do with. He'd just taken the buys bike - he should be pissed. "What do you want?" he asked. There still weren't any cops around, or anyone who looked likely to be a social worker. If he thought Keith was gonna go WITH him to a cop, he was wrong.
Biting back another smirk, Shiro dropped his chin and cleared his throat. “Ideally? I’d like my bike back. Since you’re…obviously…not a thief.”
Now that the shock of Keith’s age was wearing off, Shiro got a better look at the rest of him. His clothes were clearly too big and Shiro had to wonder if Keith at this age was used to just getting by with less than he deserved. Shiro frowned and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
“I could help you find clothes that actually fit. You helped me really so it’s only fair…I know, I know, that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure how to prove it though."
Keith found himself blushing a little, for no good reason, and stepped back from the bike. "Yeah. I was just ... taking it for a ride. I'd have given it back." Or left it somewhere for the guy to find. Same thing.
"I found some," Keith said slowly, watching Shiro. He'd taken them but ... no one was coming running so, they were his now. He hadn't gotten shoes, but those were only a little too big at least. "What is this place?" he asked. "Do you know how I got here?" He didn't know why Shiro would tell him the truth ... but he might as well ask.
“Oh.” Shiro squinted one eye at Keith, but resisted the urge to question him about where he found clothes that fit. It was better to focus on the important things. “This place is called Vallo. And I was told we were pulled here via magic crystals.”
That explanation still felt like some kind of joke, but Keith and Atreus and the other people he’d spoken to all felt like they had no reason to lie. He took a step closer and rested his hand on his bike. “I was hoping to dig for more information later today.” That was at least partially true. He also needed to see about a doctor now that Keith wouldn’t be able to help point him in the right direction. He pushed that part to the back of his mind though and offered an apologetic smile. “I know you don’t know me, but two can do the job better than one. If you want to dig for information with me?”
Keith stared back at him, just as baffled as Shiro. "Magic crystals," he repeated flatly. That sounded like a lot of crap. But so did everything else here. He'd seen some pretty strange things while he snuck around.
"I st - took your bike," Keith said, catching himself just in time to not say he stole it. "And you want me to just ... come with you and HELP you? Are you nuts?" People didn't just ask Keith to tag along after he'd done something like that. They didn't usually ask him even if he didn't.
Still ... He shifted his weight from foot to foot before asking. "Are you taking the bike?" Riding it wasn't as good as driving. But riding along was still better than anything else Keith was going to get to do, even if it was with a crazy guy.
Shiro laughed and rubbed a hand at the back of his neck. He supposed it could be weird now. The blooming crush he’d felt for Keith yesterday had swiftly been shelved with such a young face staring back at him, but he still cared that Keith was all right. Whether that was because Keith had cared enough to worry about him or because of some latent instinct built on his own emotions from a future he didn’t remember...well that was anyone’s guess. Shiro shrugged.
“I did warn you all of this would sound crazy. I’m just as stuck here as you are, so I figure why not work together. Assuming you don’t decide to hop on the bike and take off again.” Shiro gave him a crooked smirk and climbed onto the bike, patiently waiting to see if Keith would climb on or go his own way. “At least give me a chance to teach you how not to crash it first.”
It DID sound crazy. All of it was nuts. But what else did Keith have going on? And Shiro was at least willing to talk to him.
And the bike.
He hesitated and then gave in, climbing on behind him, holding on loosely and blushing a little at having to do it at all. "I didn't CRASH it," he argued. He hadn't. It just had a lot more engine than anything he'd managed to ride before was all.
Shiro smirked and handed an extra pair of goggles back over his shoulder. He didn’t have any helmets but he could at least protect the kid’s eyes. “Of course not. You bumped it,” he teased. Leaning forward, he powered the bike back on and revved the engine, grinning beneath his own goggles. “Hold on, Keith. I wouldn’t want you to miss this.”