WHAT: A little chat about their space beasts and their relationship WHERE: The Castle of Lions WHEN: Beginning of February WARNINGS: Not really STATUS: Complete
“If anyone ever accuses you of getting soft with motherhood, I’m going to show them the giant bruise my back is thanks to you,” Keith groaned, as he laid on the ground of the training deck, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating all the decisions that led him to that moment. He would be lying if he said he wouldn’t have given Catra shit about her newfound softness, even knowing this is where it would lead. It was just how they were - a bickering pair of chaos gremlins who loved stirring each other up and then kicking each other’s asses over it.
This time she had come up on top.
“Are you going to let me up to breathe now or are you going to keep tossing me around?” He asked, a whine entering his voice as he shoved at her. It was on the tip of his tongue to keep egging her on, but he really did want a water break now, so he clamped his mouth shut before anything smart came out of his face.
Catra was feeling feisty today.
Staying home with the kid was her choice, one she didn’t regret; she loved tending to Finn, loved taking care of Adora (who had always been shit at taking care of herself, all for selfless reasons), loved the happy and weird bubble of their life they’ve curated after all the violence they’ve lived through. Sometimes, though, she got a little pent up and restless and that was what a good support system was for - to take the baby when she had an itch to scratch.
That itch was, ironically, violence. The friendly sort, though. She kept her training up with Adora, with Teela, with Fight Club, with Keith - she was brought up to fight, and had claws and teeth and tenacity that needed an outlet before she went stir crazy. That outlet right now happened to be Keith, and she was awfully proud of herself for being on her game.
“Breathing is overrated,” she shot back, shoving him back, but then that shoving also dissolved into silly little slaps at his hands because he’d gotten so whiny. “Do you need me to call Shiro and have him kiss your boo boos, hmmm?”
“No, because you’ll cry about how gross that is and then I’ll have to kiss him back to make a point and then we’ll be fighting again. It’ll be a whole cycle and, really, I just want a drink of water.” At no point did he stop slapping her hands away because they really were five when they were together. But eventually, they did get up and he was downing water like it was going out of style. “How much time do you have before you have to get back? I was thinking we can wash up and we can throw something on from the archives to watch. There’s this Altean murder mystery show that I’ve gotten into that I haven’t had time to come here to watch in awhile and I think you’ll like it. We can order pizza.”
He loved his family and he was glad to have the responsibilities that he did, but today was a rare free day and he was looking to take full advantage of it to be a regular 20-something year old.
“I have time,” Catra said after her own gulp of hydration, though she was less sloppy about it than Keith because she had grace. “Finn’s with their grams and I let them have quality time or whatever.” If there was an issue, she trusted Marlena to reach out. Finn could be finicky (was that a pun? fuck) sometimes when they weren’t with their moms.
She’d brought a gym bag with her today. Freshening up and changing into less sweaty clothes was definitely in her future, and she looked into her bag to make sure deodorant was part of that. “So, uh. Have you been around Kosmo a lot lately?”
“Dad’s with Kipp, so I get it. I think part of him is trying to make up for the childhood I didn’t get by doing all the things we didn’t get to do and part of him is trying to give me a headache with all the sugary treats the kid gets,” Keith laughed, as he looked around to find his shoes. God, he needed to clean this place up, it was a mess.
But he lost interest in his missing shoes when Catra brought up Kosmo. Eyebrows raised, he asked, “No, why? I figured he was hanging out with Fen and Melog more, doing whatever teenage spaces wolves do.”
They’ve talked about this before, sort of, on the network. About Melog and Kosmo disappearing with one another for long periods of time. Catra didn’t see them as pets – they were sentient beings capable of having a life outside of them – so she hadn’t drilled Melog with questions. She imagined that if there was anything serious going on there, they’d let her know.
But Catra had been picking up on feelings. Melog was tuned to hers, and by proxy she was attuned to theirs, and she knew what that feeling was.
“I’m pretty sure Melog’s in love with Kosmo,” she said, just putting it out there bluntly because why dance around it? “I–-never told you what happened with them in that fucked up future timeline, didn’t I?”
Keith’s own situation with Kosmo was pretty similar. The wolf had been a puppy when he and his mother had found him on the space whale, but in the two years that passed then, he had grown up with the wolf. He had always insisted on calling Kosmo his companion, with the telepathic and empathic bonds they shared, but he was a little overprotective of him too. Like a father would be with his child. “I’m sure Kosmo’s in love with Melog back and Shiro had to talk me down from that realization pretty quick. I’m still too young to be a grandfather though, so let Melog know that.”
Though whatever teasing tone was in his voice was gone as soon as Catra brought up the fucked up Vallo future from awhile back. “No…what happened to them?” He was already dreading the answer, knowing how bleak that timeline had been.
Catra’s nose twisted up at the grandfather comment. Gods, how would that even – nevermind, she wasn’t about to ask Melog about their reproductive equipment yet or anything pertaining to that. She knew that they had opinions about Cringer and Clawdeen’s affair that resulted in a set of rainbow cubs, but Melog was also really good with all kinds of baby types.
Someday, maybe.
She dropped onto the floor next to her bag, twisting the cap of her water bottle. “Sit with me,” Catra instructed. “Because it kinda sucks to hear?”
A warning might help brace Keith for it. She didn’t want to drop it on him immediately like a bomb, and it was probably why she’d waited this long to even bring it up.
Oh this was going to be bad, if Catra was having him sit. The pit in his stomach grew, as he joined her on the ground. “Spit it out, will you? If this is bad, I rather you just rip the bandaid off than draw it out.” He at least had the knowledge that in this timeline, Kosmo and Melog were fine and he steeled himself against whatever was coming with that thought in his head.
They’re fine. They’re both fine.
And that future had been prevented, thanks to another version of him and the teamwork of past and alternate future Vallo. So why did he feel like he was going to throw up anyway?
Catra flashed Keith a glare, though it was brief. It melted into something softer, like resignation. “Melog was an Interitus thrall,” she stated. “And they did–a lot of damage, from what I eventually found out. That included mauling you and killing Kosmo.”
It painted a rough imagery, and she tried not to visualize it. It wasn’t a what if scenario. It happened in some different timeline, one they (hopefully) weren’t on track to fulfill. She didn’t think they were. Timelines were fickle things and plenty had already changed.
“When I found out about it, I was upset and–” There was a handwave. “There’s not much I can hide from them. So I was honest and told them. I told them everything I knew. They didn’t take it well either. I think it was a wakeup call for them, you know? About Kosmo.”
“Oh.” And for a while, that was all that Keith said. He knew with the way Interitus had taken over, that there was a good chance some people he knew and loved were dead in that world. Knew that not everyone made it out alive when there was a war going on or if the end of the world was a very real thing. Given everything that he had heard about what happened in that future, he was surprised more people that he loved weren’t dead.
But goddamn if this one didn’t hurt.
Kosmo was his. Not in the way someone owns a pet, but in that they had grown up together, in a sense. They had been critical years spent together, learning who they were, and they had done that together. And ever since that moment he had brought Kosmo back with him to his other family, their bond had continued to just grow stronger. The idea of losing that part of his heart hurt, much in the same way that losing his dad had when he had been a kid.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he wiped at his watery eyes. “It makes sense that learning something like that would push someone to do something about someone they cared about. I know when I thought I was losing Shiro to someone else, I finally figured out my own feelings.” He swallowed again, to keep from tearing up some more, and finally looked at Catra. “How’s Melog?”
“They’re okay,” Catra promised, pushing her weight against Keith to drop her head onto his shoulder. “It’s been–fuck, a while since all that happened, you know? There’s some parts that just stick though,” she added, and that was one of them. “Melog’s still around often, especially at night with Finn being in the picture now, but I’ve been making sure they’ve got time to figure out their own life here. Whatever that’s going to mean for them outside of being my Big Scary Bodyguard.”
They hadn’t grown up together. But she had stumbled across Melog during one of her lowest points (freshly rescued from the Velvet Glove after a lovely ritualistic brainwash), and they provided comfort to her in a way no one else could have had at that time. They didn’t judge her. They felt all her feelings - the good, the bad, the ugly - kept themselves tethered to her.
“Melog’s the last of their kind. Their planet’s got magic, but it’s empty,” she sighed. “I don’t think they thought they could ever find some kind of companionship outside of what they have with us. And Kosmo’s been keeping them happy. I can feel it.”
“That other world…I hope they know that it wasn't them. Even if they remember it all and feel it all, they weren't in their right mind and those actions weren't theirs,” Keith said, mumbling all of this into Catra's hair. “Kosmo keeps his feelings close to his chest, but I know he's happy. He's running off whenever there's no danger and I know now where he's going. He wouldn't be if he thought any differently than what I do about Melog.”
It was such a weird situation to be in, to reconcile a world that they hadn't technically lived out, but had very real lasting feelings from. He hadn't remembered much of that world himself, but he had flashes of feelings and vibes he had felt afterwards. Some of those feelings made sense now, with this context he was getting.
Catra had to smile. The whole thing was—fine, it was cute. Melog and Kosmo were a cute pair, and part of her was now really tempted to imagine if they were compatible for offspring but she was probably getting ahead of herself.
Little space beasties, though.
“We’re in-laws through them,” she snickered after a moment, hoping to bring some levity to the situation. They couldn’t change anything about the other timeline (even if she hoped that Adora wouldn’t get her magic back, and maybe she could bring those who’d been lost back) but to know Kosmo and Melog had a shot here was a nice balm.
“Gross, can’t believe we’re actually related now,” Keith snorted, as if they didn’t already refer to each other as their twin. But it was nice, the idea of their family growing even closer with one more connection. “You’re paying for the wedding if it happens, that’s not in my budget spreadsheet right now.”
It was nice to focus on the good that came out of that horrible world, where they had all lost so much, especially knowing that they couldn’t go back and check up on it. One day, he hoped they would find a way to do it.
“I pay for the wedding, you pay for any pizza I consume for the rest of our lives here – including the one for today,” Catra countered, shoving her hand into his face and pushing him. “I’m going to go freshen up and make myself smell like fucking roses so we can watch your Altean murder porn.”
“No deal, you eat like a blackhole,” Keith said, falling back onto the palms of his hands when she squished his face while pushing him. “And it's a murder MYSTERY,” he shouted after her retreating back. “Can't believe I'm going to be related to her,” he muttered under his breath, a small smile stealing its way across his face. After losing so much family recently, it was good to solidify more of his friendships.