apocalypsehowcomm | Event

Entry tags:

Event - For Sport

For Sport

➥ Breaking It In

(cw: mentions of apparent mutilation of/violence against animals and animal death)

The conference room on the upper floors of ADI HQ is bright, airy, perhaps unnaturally so for the grim tidings that bring people here today. Those who have recently arrived will be ushered to the meeting by ADI employees or by Bonnie. It's not just the newest arrivals, but some other people who seem to be longer-term employees. The room is rather large and arranged like a lecture hall. Bonnie takes up a seat near the back, looking somewhat uncomfortable, but smiling at anyone who greets her.

At 9 AM sharp, a person steps into the room and heads to the front. They have curly hair and are wearing a gray business suit with a dark blue bow-tie. When they address the group at large, they speak in a calm, measured tone. "Good morning. I appreciate some of you may be here more reluctantly than others, but… there are matters of import to all of us to discuss. Some of you may have seen me already. I am Reyes Amador, assistant to Ms. Lehrer, the head of ADI. Earlier this week I sent out a message regarding some unusual activity at Coffin Beach. Thank you to those who investigated."

Their eyes seem to find the people who did, in fact, go looking, whether they found something or not.

"We have determined the creatures are shape-shifters. Some sort of, em... horse thing. In lieu of a term they might give themselves, we are referring to them as kelpies. Given the locations these were found, as well as other information into disappearances and deaths and mutilations of sea mammals in the area, we believe the kelpies are coming from the Essex Bay area to the north.

"For those willing to assist, we are mounting a reconnaissance mission. This is not intended to engage kelpies, just to find out where they are and how we might best approach an attack. All supplies, transportation, and monetary compensation will be provided. We will meet at ADI HQ in main lobby at 6 PM three days from now. Essex Bay is a remote site and conservation area, accessible only by boat, and not without a scientific permit. As you may guess, we will be traveling under cover of nightfall." Reyes smiles.

"I will be accepting questions about further details. I understand this is the first mission away for many of you, and you may have concerns. I will do my best to allay them. Bonnie also has some experience in these missions, if you would like first-hand accounts. Please also feel free to discuss amongst yourselves if this is a mission you think you are ready for. You will not be required to attend, nor penalized in any way if you do not. There is additional work to be done here, both with continuing examinations of the bodies we have and other efforts unrelated."

➥ Move the Goalposts

(cw: kidnapping, violence, sadism)

It happens away from the safety of ADI HQ one evening or so early in the morning, it's still dark, away from the potential for help, maybe. One moment, you (and possibly someone you're with) are walking, and the next, you will find someone has grabbed you and slammed you into the nearest surface. For those unable to fight back, a cloth will be held to their noses and mouths--chloroform, something to knock them out. For those able to fight or even to escape thanks to not actually being corporeal, they'll find that it is a trio of people who have attacked them. They wear jagged smiles and they're all much too sharp around the edges beneath their clothes. Those who saw the kelpies at Coffin Beach may recognize these people as something like them.

"Run, rabbit, run," one of the group says, voice rolling out like a gurgling tide.

Those who run will be chased and, if caught, chloroformed. Perhaps you're lucky, though. Perhaps you can race them back to safety. Or perhaps you'll find help along the way to protect you. Either way, the kelpies are relentless in their pursuit unless one of their number is injured or their prey can make it to ADI. The kelpies seem reluctant to actually enter ADI HQ or their housing, and will break off pursuit there, slinking back to the shadows.

➥ Curveball

(cw: kidnapping, violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, sadism, body horror, transformation, potential for claustrophobia)

For those unlucky enough to be caught, they'll find themselves waking amongst mud and bodies. Living, breathing bodies, thankfully. You have been tied up, but not gagged, and left with a group of other captives. A nearby fire casts light over everything, showing a large group of naked people with long, scraggly hair hauling a seal up out of the water. The animal fights them with a cunning that might seem odd, but the kelpies just laugh at it. They get it up near the fire, one raises a knife, and stabs into the seal, dragging the blade down its belly.

The seal bellows and then goes limp, seeming to collapse in on itself. It isn't long before a woman is drawn from the skin, shaking, fighting, wild-eyed with terror as her captors shove her around the fire in their own game. A few others turn their attention to the captives who are just beginning to wake and move about. They approach, one grabbing the skin the woman had come out of, others grabbing more skins from a nearby pile.

"Hush, hush... you'll have your freedom soon... while you can swim." The words come just before the kelpie slices your bonds and throws the skin over you.

The skin grapples your body, twisting tight around you, encasing and restraining. Your body is different now, thick and round, ungainly in the mud. Your legs have fused together and your arms have shrunk to thin flippers. This is not your body, you can feel how foreign it is, how you're crammed into the too-small confines of it... but you have instincts to go with it. Water is freedom! Or it's an attempt at freedom. It's either swim for your lives as some mockery of a selkie or stay and see how it feels to be cut open. Luckily for you, you'll find yourself psychically linked to the other selkies around you. Maybe you can do something together? Best think fast because the kelpies are setting their sights on new prey to chase once they've finished with their latest victim.

➥ Below the Belt

(cw: violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, body horror, gore)

The journey to Essex Bay isn't a long one, but it's somewhat treacherous as a small group of powerboats make their way into the refuge. The mission is simple: find where the kelpies are and see if there are any strategic points of-

Was that a seal? There are, in fact, many seals that pop up once boats enter the bay. The animals might seem to have an unusual cunning about them. Will they lead you somewhere useful? Perhaps try to flop themselves into your boats? The point is, there are seals accosting you in the middle of the night, and that's weird. Perhaps they have something they want to communicate.

Or was that a horse? A crocodile? There's something that seems to have noticed you, and it's smart enough that it's going to try to tip you and anyone else in your boat into the water rather than trying to engage otherwise. Sit down, you'll rock the boat.

➥ Sticky Wicket

(cw: potential for severe burns/injury, pain)

ADI is engaged in far more than one mission at a time, and for those not dealing with Essex Bay, or even before that, there are pick-ups to handle. Artifacts, you've been told as you're paired with someone else, whether you like it or not. The mission is simple: go to the Docks, collect a package from a locker there, and return with it to ADI. You've been provided an exact location and a code for the combination lock. The section of the Docks you've entered seems to be one with a lot of empty warehouses covered in graffiti, but the locker is there, something heavily reinforced and designed to be virtually impossible to get into. There's evidence that people have tried to gain entry without success.

Your code works, though, and you have your prize! You've been given strict instructions not to open the box the artifact is in… but there's nothing technically stopping you now, and there is a strange pull toward it.

Those who can't help themselves will find they have just picked up… some piece of sports gear! It looks wholly innocuous. Touch even a finger to it, though, and a horrific, searing pain will consume your entire body as 3rd-degree burns bloom across the skin where you've touched your artifact.

Or maybe you have a will of iron and sense enough not to touch strange, supernatural objects. What should be an easy mission is quickly derailed by some young punk darting out of an alleyway to try to steal your package. Or, at the very least, knock it from your hands. The youth is not alone, either. You've found yourself on someone's 'turf,' and they want what you've got. Are you cruel enough to let them have it?

➥ Mod Notes

BREAKING IT IN (21 July): Both Reyes and Bonnie will be available to answer questions that characters might have or listen to their complaints. Please put "NPC Requested" somewhere in your top-level response if you would like a mod response. For characters who can access their supernatural abilities and have some measure of supernatural spidey sense, both Bonnie and Reyes will register as off, but in different ways. Characters are welcome to attempt to use whatever powers they believe will work on the NPCs. There are potential IC consequences for this.
MOVE THE GOALPOSTS (23-24 July): Characters are welcome to capture or kill the kelpies. The only information they will be capable of providing to those who capture them and attempt to compel them for information is that they consider the entirety of the Massachusetts coast as their 'hunting grounds.' Whether that's true or not, it's what they believe.
CURVEBALL (23-24 July): Kidnapped characters will become seals! Sort of. Psychic seals who are extremely ill-fitted to the skins they're in. The only way to escape their current state is to be cut open and pulled out. As soon as they start to flee, the kelpies will chase them. Those who are captured will be cut out, toyed with, and shoved back into a skin again and again to continue the chase until they simply can't go on anymore.
BELOW THE BELT (24 July - night): Characters may encounter their selkie-fied comrades! Unfortunately, while the selkies can communicate with each other psychically, they are incapable of human speech. They are also being actively hunted by the kelpies. Characters may kill any kelpies they come across. Capture will not be possible in this case while they're in their horse forms. If PCs do not eradicate the kelpie threat that night, NPCs who have joined the mission will do so. Unfortunately, reconnaissance has become engagement, whether they like it or not.
STICKY WICKET (21 July - 5 August): You may select any piece of sporting gear you'd like for your character to pick up as long as it can fit in a reasonably-sized box. The pain associated with the burning will last only as long as a character is touching the object. Holding onto it for more than a minute will likely result in coming very close to death. Characters with inorganic appendages will find that the artifact will start to melt that appendage, whatever it is made of and it will still, somehow, hurt while it does it.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ he’s not liking the smartassery, keith. shiro doesn’t rise to the -- unintentional -- bait though. reminding himself, instead, that they’re a few yards out from something more than rocks and trees, and exploring that is a better option than breathing further life into these ridiculous coping mechanisms. he makes a brief noise in the back of his throat to the question, mulling it over for a few moments longer -- has he? ]

I’ve driven by some.

[ there’s a number of abandoned towns and lone shacks along the i-40 back home. forget the excursions he took on his own off base; the traveling he did for the garrison alone, when he was poster boy slash recruiter at schools both in arizona and the neighboring states, shiro saw a number of dreary buildings. getting out to explore hadn’t been an option, not with him usually on a time schedule. and honestly, shiro didn’t have much desire to stomp around some relic of a person’s misfortune. shiro’s never really bought into the whole ghost story craz anyway. his brain is -- was? -- too scientific, too evidence-based -- ghosts are just a lot of he said, she said spun into these fantastical retellings that provide no solid proof. growing up, he would have rather spent his time sticking his nose in one of his many astrophysics books than chasing down the paranormal.

… though, to be fair, he did want to head over to the rocket testing facility in hancock county at one point. apparently the surrounding, rural communities had to be abandoned for nasa’s endeavor. seemed cool. he was also seven at the time of this brief, very brief fascination. of course, his parents never took him the couple of states over from florida to mississippi and perhaps that’s for the best. ]

Wasn’t a big believer in all that before. [ but then aliens and space magic and apocalyptic prevention happened. so consider him more open to the unexplainable now. he’s about to say as much but distance is crossed and they come up on the building, the woman catching his eye and derailing his thought process.

… ah, yes. shiro thinks he saw her ass too. unlike keith, he contains his surprise and after giving keith a glance that’s the slightest bit disapproving, he returns his gaze to the woman and starts up the incline of dirt that would’ve acted as a walkway up to the house. ]

Excuse me -- Miss? Is everything alright?

[ her hair is a mess. she’s missing clothes. at first glance, shiro can wager a guess that no, everything is not alright. unneeded as it may be, he’s mostly talking to alert her of their presence, as not to startle her too badly. at first, there’s no reaction on her part and he’s just beginning to wonder if she’s even heard him, when she turns her head, one eye staring at him through a break in that mess of hair.

he presses his hand to his chest. ] My name is Shiro and this is Keith. [ ah, good, she’s starting to stand up -- means she’s not hurt. and now she’s beginning to turn. ] If you need-- oh. Um. [ so she isn’t just missing her pants. ] Your… -- here, take my shirt.

[ he has the hem rucked, halfway up his torso in the next moment, only to stop when there’s a definitive: ]

No. [ she smiles and it’s somehow… awful. shiro drops the hem and pauses in his strides, rocking back on his heels to even take the slightest backward step. ] But you’re welcome to take it off and join me. It's very -- freeing.

[ and now she’s flipping those ratty tangles of hair over her shoulders to put herself on full display. okay, nice? so remember how shiro disapproved of keith making comments about her like she wasn’t within earshot? shiro glances back at keith, clearly looking for some kind of support and pitches his voice lower for all the good that'll do. ]

… Is she coming onto us?

[ the next few seconds seem to happen in slow motion. horribly slow motion as keith watches shiro actually moving closer to the house -- to do what? surely, this can't be about approaching the mystery woman and her bare ass, right? right?! keith stays rooted in place, five yards from the walkway, eyes growing rounder and wider until shiro finally breaks keith's ability to deny what he's watching by fucking calling out to her. keith doesn't actually have any idea what the hell might come out of this, but nothing good comes out of engaging with a pantsless homeless person. ]

Shiro! [ keith hisses, but not loud enough for his voice to carry over the widening berth between then. it takes a beat for keith to start side-eyeing himself. why the hell does he care if the naked lady overhears him? and what's the worst she can do to them exactly? flash more ass?

keith tromps over the rest of the way, all but ready to clap his hand down on shiro's shoulder to drag him off if he has to. god, why is shiro telling her their names ~~has he never had to deal with jehovah's witnesses at his door~~ --

and then keith just comes to an abrupt stop about a foot behind shiro. because great, now there are tits on display and somehow the situation has gotten even more incomprehensible. no really, give keith a second to reboot and process this whole debacle. instinctively, he grabs the back of shiro's shirt and pulls the hem down to make sure there's only one bare chest in this stupid equation, but maybe he needn't have bothered because shiro stops and one look at the woman's weird smile makes keith freeze as well.

is she coming onto us?

keith hears the question alright, but somehow he doesn't care to divine an answer. half hidden behind shiro's shoulder, and face half-way turned so he doesn't have to look at the rack on display, he manages a firm: ]

You stay where you are, lady. Don't come any closer.

[ upon hearing this, the woman's smile merely broadens, blurring the fine line between saccharine and plastic. naturally, she doesn't oblige keith's polite request and takes a deliberate step closer and closer, all the while, unblinking eyes stay raptor focused on the two boys. ]

So uptight. So tense. I can show you how to relax. Would you like that Shiro and Keith? [ her eyes lock with theirs as she says their names. she laughs then, one hand coyly covering her mouth, the other tossing long unkempt hair over one shoulder to put more of her body on display. it is, for what it's worth, what would be described as a perfect ten. ]

The water is wonderful this time of year. You'll let me show you, won't you?

[ she stops and extends both hands, one for shiro and one for keith. surely they won't refuse her? ]

Edited 2021-08-03 08:41 (UTC)

[ okay. in hindsight -- he probably shouldn’t have given her their names. stranger danger much?? funnily enough, that’s why shiro tossed out the introductions; so that she would feel safer in some small way. makes sense, doesn’t it? because she wouldn’t be dealing with two nameless men in the middle of an unpopulated nowhere. granted, the two men involved aren’t interested in what she has going on anyway. can she not tell? keith’s horrible fashion sense does go against the stereotype…

so maybe not? to think, if keith wasn’t dressed like a thrift store gremlin, maybe what’s-her-name would catch a hint and quit the come hither look. basically: this is keith’s fault.

her tits are well and truly out now, and shiro ~~is scared~~ doesn’t know what his reaction is meant to be? give him a fleet of galra cruisers or a robeast emerging from hell itself, shiro can dial in the battle plan in the handful of seconds they already can’t afford. a lone, naked woman though? h e l p.

she’s reaching for them now and shiro fights down the urge to take another uneasy, backward step. ]

Uh -- we’ll pass. [ he will, however, knock back his arm, none too subtly elbowing keith hovering there behind him. start walking is the implied message; shiro knows keith’s awareness for cues is a grab-bag of success, but please tell him the message is received. ] We need to get going anyway. We’ll let you get back to… whatever it is you’re doing.

[ still trying to be, somewhat, diplomatic, shiro gives her one last moment of his attention before he turns around with the full intention of nudging keith into a speedwalk out of here. but -- ah, where the fuck did they come from? down the path a ways and advancing quickly, there’s two more. ]

Looks like she has friends. [ and ugly ones at that. the same ratty hair of tangles but the angles of their faces are sharp and the gait of their strides strange. they are, unfortunately, nude as well, albeit with a far less pleasing symmetry to their bodies. ]

If you insist on being difficult, they’ll escort you to the water. [ shiro glances over his shoulder, the homeless broad all at once dropping the sweetness from her smile in favor of curling her lip back for something with far too much teeth. ] It will not be an enjoyable experience.

[ okay fuck it. ]

We’re armed. You’re not. Stand down. We don’t want any problems.

[ three naked ladies versus two paladins of voltron. ready keith?? ]

[ the message has been received long before shiro's elbow comes to nudge him back a step. of course, if keith's being charitable about this whole fiasco they've somehow walked into, he would have to concede that shiro probably had the right idea going -- or at least the right intentions. something something, paladin code means lending assistance to anyone who is in need of it. naked lady out by herself in an abandoned settlement, possibly homeless and probably confused, is a prime candidate for needing help.

but that was before things escalated and there are now two others fast approaching. keith's eyes linger on their oddly distorted figures, the way their unnaturally large and wide set eyes seem to bulge in sockets too small for human skulls. the way they undulate from side to side as if unused to being bipedal. and of course, the way their mouths are filled with rows and rows of jagged teeth.

whatever he's looking at, they're not fucking human and though he doesn't have a word for what the fuck they might be, this isn't the time to get all technical. the most human looking one of the bunch has made a threat, and as far as keith's concerned that's more than enough reason to act.

we don't want any problems?

oh shiro, you sweet summer child. in a flash, keith draws his bayard and grabs the "pretty" one's hand to twist behind her back, bayard raised up to her throat. ]

Tell your nudist friends to back the hell off, right now.

[ to make his point clearer, he jabs the corner of his unactivated bayard into her throat. to the kelpie's credit, she doesn't so much as bat an eye. instead, she coos: ]

That's right, Keith. Hold on tight, just like that.

[ there's no warning to indicate a coming change. it's sudden and jarring as her neck twists and elongates, features rapidly becoming more equine as shoulders broaden and twist. suddenly, it's not keith holding the kelpie's arms, it's her unnaturally powerful limbs hefting keith higher onto her back to fold him over a shoulder. her teeth snap in warning by keith's neck. ]

Come, Shiro. Don't be like your friend.

[ … right now is not the time to be racking his brain for a memory he’s certain won’t be there. the overwhelming feeling of déjà vu gives way soon enough and then shiro is left with the shock of the situation, standing that bit of space away to blink wide at keith. when this hiking excursion was put together this morning over bowls of cereal, shiro did not envision it including an intermission of keith taking a naked woman as a hostage. fuck, he can feel a headache coming on. though, that may have less to do with keith’s battle plan and more to do with the woman morphing right in front of him.

so -- not human. gotcha.

the tables turn quickly from there. keith’s up on a wider, bulkier shoulder and dangling, neck attracting a mouthful of savage-looking teeth. this is shiro’s cue: he’s meant to run his mind on scenario after scenario in the span of two, three seconds, to look for holes and openings, to incapacitate the enemy and save his teammate. perhaps this monster thing thinks he’ll bargain, afterall, she’s gained one from each of them thus far and now, she has the upper-hand. but that’s just it. shiro already tried appeasing to reason and now, everything is deteriorating rapidly, so quickly in fact that shiro isn’t actually thinking about this in any other way than violence.

she clips her teeth together inches from keith’s neck, says his name and all of a sudden, neutralize the threat becomes kill it, kill it. it’s instinctual in a way he wishes it wasn’t: she barely finishes saying friend and shiro’s galra arm lights up. the distance is short and shiro is quick. all it takes is a lurch forward, his left hand grabbling for a fistful of hair to force her still, to keep her away from keith and then he ramps up the heat of his other fist just before he sucker punches her gut. into her gut. his hand can melt metal when he needs it to; the force and the heat sheer through skin and… it’s sickening.

then there’s the sound. it would almost be better if she were shrieking. but what comes out of her is low and gurgling; she flinches back, leaving shiro with a a fistful of loose hair and as she throws herself back, knocking keith off her shoulder in the process, shiro has a split moment to splay his fingers wide and then draw them in tight, entrails ripping out of her as she staggers into a collapsed heap.

five seconds and it’s over, with a body bleeding out on the ground and as shiro watches that life begin to blink out, there’s one distinct moment when he thinks it’s too quiet. where’s the applause? he’s never wanted to go back. the only time he unwillingly revisits those memories is when he’s shaking awake from a nightmare. this feels familiar though. this is the arena and standing here, looming over the corpse of his opponent like some sick trophy, he’s every bit the champion he once was. shiro never pulls punches in battle and he’s efficient in neutralizing enemies, but this was… different. personal. he’d been part savage and blind on brutality with the singular purpose of ensuring she -- whatever the fuck this thing is -- wouldn’t harm either of them. distantly, he thinks he should feel remorse. or at the very least, concern for his inability to feel it. but honestly? all he can think right now?

good riddance.

it’s dark. it’s not him. he tells himself he’s better than cheap shots and sneers over the fallen but it does little to soften his regard. instead, there’s only cold detachment as shakes off the grime coating his galra hand. the effort amounts to little. see, the sizzling heat coagulates the blood caught between the joints of metal and there’s already a layer caked -- that’ll need tending to later and he grimaces as he flexes his fingers. doesn’t matter now. the only thing that matters is getting keith up and ready to deal with the other two.

he throws a glance keith’s way but abruptly turns to get eyes on the other threat. they’ve slowed in their steps, stopping altogether, as though uncertain whether to go for the offense or defense. that’s fine -- shiro will make the decision for everyone here. ]

You good? [ he doesn’t look at keith as he says it. it’s all formality though; he expects keith to be ready to throw down, which is why he just as quickly moves on with a: ] I’ve got left. [ you take right, is the implied order. ]

[ everything happens so quickly and with adrenaline spiking in his veins, keith's thoughts go faster than his ability to process them individually. one tick, he's got the bayard to the woman's throat, then next thing he knows the sound of bone twisting and grinding fills his ears and suddenly his entire view of the world flips -- literally flips -- and his face somehow winds up pressed into something oddly... soft. there's not a whole lot of comfort to be found in that when up close the woman's skin reeks of salt and animal blubber, but again the information gets jammed to the side by the much more pressing chorus of shit fuck shit

the bayard's still in his hand, but before he gets is bearings, the creature lurches, gurgles and thrashes, sending keith flying. the whole thing is deeply undignified, but keith hits the ground with a roll. the sudden stink of fish in the air is as pungent as it is putrid, making keit gag as he gets to his feet. ]

Shiroo!

[ he shouts, eyes snapping towards his friend and the collapsed kelpie now writhing in agony, hands turning to hooves as she makes a miserable, dying attempt to flee. there's a pool of green fluid saturating the ground, coating shiro's galra arm, and keith's mind shuts down on trying to process any part of that. shiro's safe and for right now, that's all he needs to know.

there are still two more of these monsters though and keith looks up just in time to see shiro go barreling left. heart racing, keith activates his bayard, keeping the blade low as he takes off on a sprint for the one on the right. whatever these things are -- the one keith has in his sight crouches low, changing shape again -- something four legged but still with that hideous facsimile of a human face. ]

You're not getting away!

[ it's yelled right as keith slashes diagonally from the shoulder down until the blade lodges on sternum. as green fluid pumps out of the wound, all keith can think is oh. and then, the thing scream a horrible hybrid scream that's neither horse nor human, but in that one second it manages to stay upright, it locks eyes with keith with an expression that's unmistakable hatred.

keith pulls back his bayard in alarm, but the light is gone from the creature's eyes in the next moment. did he imagine it? a weird trick of the light? a strange, coldness starts to set in as he whips around to see if anyone else is there, but in the periphery there's only shiro and the last of the trio. keith starts to run over, calling out: ]

Shiro, you need back up?

Edited 2021-08-06 03:07 (UTC)

[ despite keith’s misstep a few moments prior, shiro trusts keith to execute in a straight fight. so as soon as shiro starts running, he puts keith and the other monster out of mind. his focus is squarely on his target of choice and as the distance closes, he comes into it far too confident. he crosses the last bit of space with a jump and a yell, elbow cocked back, only to swing loose in what is meant to be another lethal, one-shot punch. but the thing that was lumbering about a moment ago, dodges with the kind of agility shiro didn’t give it credit for. he lands on awkward steps, stumbling a bit on the missed connection and as he pivots around, the creature is suddenly there, reaching for him.

he ducks out of that reach and sidesteps, thinking about jump rolling to get some distance back between them but at the last moment, he abandons that plan and turns in. it’s a mistake. he’s low and the creature is close -- its body jerks suddenly, as though recalibrating to match the change in shiro’s movements and… well, this creature is rather well endowed. unfortunately, shiro’s face is level with that particular set and…

yeah. that is a breast slapping him across the face.

the hell? no time to stop though. setting that aside for some agonizing later, shiro throws himself backward to get that distance afterall. the other monster is screaming now but only one of them makes the mistake of looking that way. keith calls out and it’s entirely unneeded, because shiro cuts right back in with that moment of distraction and slices the purple glow of his hand across the monster’s throat. fuck. green spurts out and despite his reflex to get away, he isn’t quite quick enough to escape the spray.

great. green and smelling of a fish market.

he swallows, watching the body buckle to the ground and he… doesn’t immediately turn to keith's approaching. once again, he glances down at his right hand and -- no, not his. at the galra hand. the light flickers out and there’s a beat of disquiet, where he feels out of sorts and lost on where he’s supposed to look… but then he thinks keith and finally turns to look his way. ]

You okay?

[ he asked before but here, it’s genuine in its care. he sounds concerned, looks concerned as he scans him over, looking for anything obviously out of place. ]

[ that concern is reflected right back at shiro as keith trots over. there's dirt on keith's hair and face from his tumble on the ground, and a vivid green spatter on his clothes, but as uncomfortable as he may feel, it all seems to pale in comparison to shiro's dousing. keith isn't quite able to keep that thought off his face upon hearing the question. ]

You look awful.

[ candid words that are easily turned on him, but for the moment keith's ability to reflect inwardly is entirely offline. there's more than one way not to be okay, and keith's grip on his bayard is whiteknuckled as he quickly spins on his heel to give the area behind him another glance around.

again, there's nothing there that he can see, but it doesn't settle whatever's got his nerves rattling on high alert. he sucks in a deep breath, giving the dead monster on the ground another look. kick it, make sure it's really dead. it knows your name-- all flit through keith's head, brow furrowing as he glares at the gaping wound in its throat. he swallows, tearing his eyes away to look back at shiro. ]

We need to get out of here. [ and then as if finally realizing something's wrong with his priorities here, he blinks and adds: ] Are you okay?

[ he looks awful? no kidding. he just went toe to toe with two abominations and got some very unwanted hosing down for his troubles. or is that not what keith is referring to? is it the asymmetric set of his body and the blood coating his fist? even with all that green, the metal shines through to showcase his unnaturalness and -- yeah, it’s awful, isn’t it? looks awful, feels awful, does awful things like burning through skin and slicing arteries, and…

that’s enough. he’s coming down from adrenaline, that’s what’s driving these spinning thoughts. breathe, calm down, and reassess. they aren’t out of the woods just yet, quite literally. so shiro shakes off the misplaced anxiety and tries not to take keith’s comment as anything mean-spirited. he knows keith better than that. inevitably, the concern is reflected back at him and he almost immediately looks away, staring down at the corpse. ]

I’m fine. [ or will be. as for what they need to do though? he shakes his head. ] We need to call ADI first. Get them out here to… handle this. [ they can’t leave the bodies strewn across the trail for some unfortunate hikers to come across. adi has been very specific: document all supernatural encounters and call headquarters if an encounter unravels beyond the scope of containment. shiro is, of course, still a rookie when it comes to this monster and ghost hunting gig, but he’s fairly certain three dead bodies qualifies for bringing in the big-wigs.

he pulls out his phone with his clean hand, thumbing the screen to life. ]

I’ll do it. [ he doesn’t start the call though. first, he glances back to keith and he stares at him for an extended beat, clearly assessing something. shiro’s been in charge of a small team for months now. keith, hunk, lance, pidge, and by extension, allura and coran too; he’s seen time after time, how each react in stressful, sometimes brutal situations. he’s not quite so perceptive to deduce what is going on with keith, but something feels off about the way he holds himself in the wake of this skirmish.

so shiro turns further and nods to a fallen log a few paces off the main path. ] You go take a break. I’ll be there in a tick. [ sit down, pull yourself together, you’re dismissed soldier -- and then he turns back to his phone, not even waiting for a reply before he connects the call. ]

[ the phrasing is kind, but keith recognizes that he's being dismissed. for whatever reason, it immediately makes him want to argue. he's fine. he's absolutely fucking fine, he handled this whole debacle as well as he possibly could have?

another beat though, and the cramping pain from his grip on the bayard makes him look down. the altean weapon is still activated, and keith doesn't exactly have a good reason as to why when the fight is over. he takes a centering breath, and again almost gags on the pungent odor of putrefying fish. alright. so maybe he's not fine. maybe having a human head on a horse body screaming bloody hell at him, glaring like it was going to find a way to come back for him personally hasn't exactly been great for his mental state.

he bites the inside of his lip, half wanting to say something, but shiro's alreadu on the phone with adi and so.... keith gingerly pinches his nose, finally deactivates the bayard and numbly walks over to the log and takes a seat. the ringing in his ears doesn't fade though, and his heart rate still insists on going a mile a minute.
when something rustles in the trees behind him, keith leaps right back up onto his feet, twisting around to hold the bayard up menacingly. it is, however, just a squirrel. a cute fuzzy thing that blinks and scurries off to the safety of the nearest tree.

keith doesn't sit back down again though. his eyes follow the critter from branch to branch until it disappears higher up in the foliage. is he jittery? sure. but that's normal after a fight where invoolving guts and blood everywhere, right? again, he bites his lip, trying not to fidget as shiro finally ends the call and comes back over.

right. adi. focus on adi and not the squirrel and not whatever else might be lurking around. ]

Did they give you an ETA?

Edited 2021-08-08 04:00 (UTC)

[ shiro doesn’t get a direct line to the warden at adi hq, but getting reyes on the phone is the next best thing. shiro’s thorough with details of their locations -- hiking the babson boulder trail, came off old rockport road, haven’t reached get a job marker yet, been hiking ten, fifteen minutes -- but it’s likely unneeded. reyes never says, but shiro assumes there’s a way for them to track his smartphone. the rest goes quickly, with an overview of what the monsters looked like, how many there were, how they’re dead and their blood is all over keith and him. for all that happened, the phone call is relatively short -- five minutes, tops.

all the while, shiro is watching keith. he turned back to keep him in his periphery as soon as keith gained a yard on him and even as he’s running through details, he logs away the distracted gait of his walk, the trigger happy nervousness that has him jumping at the slightest sound, and how he can’t bring himself to sit back down to relax. granted, they were just attacked, so shiro doesn’t expect keith to let his guard down until they know without a shadow of a doubt that the threat has passed. but this is different. this isn’t keith keeping surveillance; this is keith… scared? no, not that far. nervous? hm.

they’re down quite a few members of their team, but shiro still considers himself leader here and as such, that makes keith his responsibility. hell, keith’s been his responsibility long before voltron was even in their vocabulary. so of course he wants to be mindful of keith. coming down from a fight is… well, not pleasant. keith’s got experience, sure, but sentries don’t bleed and destroying ships from a lion seems to minimize the lives being snuffed out. not everyone is used to bloodbaths like shiro is.

disconnecting the call with he brief we’ll be here, he sighs and pockets his phone. walking over to keith then, he keeps his expression as close to neutral as he can or at the very least, not broadcasting the concern being stoked to life. ]

Ten minutes. [ likely less. he comes to a stop and crosses his arms over his chest, just barely keeping himself from grimacing. right. blood everywhere; way to smear it around more. ] We’ll have to wait here until then. Give them a more thorough rundown of what happened but that should be all we’ll be needed for. They’ll do clean up and we’ll be on our way.

[ sounds easy enough. a beat and then a more encouraging: ] They said they’re bringing us clothes. That should make hiking out of here less -- unpleasant.

[ keith directs his attention to shiro as he speaks. unsurprisingly, shiro's doing a remarkable job of staying calm, tone level and grounding throughout. but something about it makes keith drop eye contact after a beat or two, gaze focusing on a spot slightly to the left of shiro instead. it had all happened so fast that keith hasn't really had time to process any of it. one beat ,he thought he had the situation under control, the next he was being hauled up and there were rows upoon rows of sharp teeth snapping centimeters from his face?

granted proximity to danger doesn't mean much when you're used to enemies being able to blast you out of the sky from miles away, but there's something particularly unsettling about being close enough to feel hot breath on your neck. but if keith's being absolutely honest with himself, the blur of motion afterwards as suddenly wet, burning entrails hit the ground with a horrible squelch had come as just as much of a surprise. swift, decisive and brutal -- it's a side of shiro that keith hasn't seen much. or at least, not with front row seats like this.

frankly, he doesn't know what the hell he's even fixating on this for. if shiro hadn't acted, maybe it'd be him lying there on the ground with his throat torn open. unable to repress a shudder, he looks back at shiro and nods. ]

...Yeah. [ ...is 'yeah' even an appropriate response to what's been said? fuck.
he tries again. ] Guess we'd scare everyone if we tried to ride the bus back.

[ feeble attempt at a joke made, keith attemps a forced half smile. ]

Thanks, by the way.

[ keith’s got that faraway look in his eyes, only made worse by the fact that keith won’t meet his gaze. it’s just another detail to take note of as shiro tries to, subtly, gauge keith’s state of mind. shiro isn’t much of a psychiatrist; half the time he can’t make sense of his own headspace, especially when it flatlines for triggers he didn’t even know he had. so shiro understands the sometimes irrational rise of anxiety or the inability to process horrific sights. shiro’s only adapted due to survival instincts and -- honestly -- a lack of time. even in his cell, in between fights or visits to the druids, there was enough to focus on to keep his mind looking forward, rather than reflecting back. since then, he’s kept up that same momentum and it’s made enduring the past, almost two years easier.

for all keith’s been through and the kind of responsibility he now carries, sometimes shiro forgets that he’s still so young. the abduction lasted a year, not ten, even though sometimes it feels like that. so keith is, what, eighteen now? eighteen and killing naked monsters set on ambushing them; no wonder he’s shaken up.

the attempt at a joke is encouraging though. the thanks more so. momentarily setting his concern aside, or at the very least, easing it from front and center, shiro answers keith’s smile in kind. ]

I’ve always got your back. [ the half-smile doesn’t last however and the following beat hangs heavy with the tell-tale sign of a but coming. perhaps now isn’t the time. keith’s distracted to some degree and they’re not even ten minutes post the fight; shiro can stand to wait on a debrief turned lecture.

but]

That was reckless of you though. [ it comes after a sigh, his voice taking on that vaguely disappointed tone. ] Jumping in like that -- we didn’t know who we were dealing with. She -- it could’ve gone for your throat the first time.

[ shiro doesn’t know what he would’ve done. ripped the beast to shreds, yes, of course, that’s not the part in question. but if that had been keith bleeding out on the ground… -- he swallows thick and tightens the cross of his arms, only to think better of it a moment later and swing them back to his sides. he’s immensely aware of the weight of his right arm then, again caught feeling misaligned in his own body, but he does his best to shake off that disquiet. ]

Patience, remember? [ there’s an embedded sense of kindness to his words, but despite his efforts, a lecture is a lecture, and it’s clear shiro is less than impressed. ] Don’t give into impulse and put yourself in a position like that again.

[ shiro is being fairly gentle about it, but there's really no getting around a lecture being a lecture. a reflexive defensiveness should be kicking in right about now, but in the aftermath of the quick but vicious fight, ambient fog has rolled into keith's head making everything seem.. quieter than it really is. the disappointment comes through loud and clear though, and keith merely looks at the ground by shiro's feet instead. ]

I just thought it would be the quickest way to settle this.

[ best defense is a strong offense? or something to that effect. his tone is pensive though, not really meant as a nidus for argument. he still thinks he could've handled it -- not like the monster knew what his bayard can do, after all.

still. it's not really the thrust of the point shiro is making. he's being told to be patient and less impulsive. on some level though, keith has to wonder if he'd even be a paladin if he wasn't the way he is. the red lion is temperamental. fast and agile, but more unstable. its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instinct than skill alone. isn't that more or less what the princess had said?

maybe it doesn't matter right now. red isn't here to come blast whatever's causing trouble for keith out of the way and certainly isn't here to have a weakened bond with. at present, there's just shiro and the need for the both of them to stay alive. keith swallows, forcing eye contact. ]

Sorry. I'll be more careful going forward. [ but with that said, keith sighs. ] Didn't mean to force your hand like that.

[ … that’s almost funny. forcing his hand -- get it? forget the idiom, there’s a literal interpretation of this that shiro’s pun-friendly brain appreciates. or would rather, if the play on words wasn’t directed solely on a piece of shiro that he doesn’t particularly like drawing attention to. can he even call it a piece of himself? consent never given, shiro woke up to find this thing attached to him and despite the usefulness it’s served in daily tasks, in voltron, here, it doesn’t quite feel like his own. two separate entities: shiro and the arm, that’s what it’s felt like since the beginning.

he’s rambling. he thought he was past these moments of loathing; now isn’t the time to get caught up on his jigsaw puzzle of a body. and frankly, he doesn’t much want to hear keith's thoughts on seeing him punch through some monster’s abdomen. knowing himself to be ex-champion is daunting enough. having keith privy to how much shiro’s changed from the garrison’s golden boy is… not something he wants to face right now. ever, if he’s honest.

so breezing over this? yes. that seems like a solid plan. ]

I have a feeling it would have come to that either way. [ briefly, his gaze skirts up toward the building remnants, eyeing that heap on the ground. ] They didn’t seem like the type to take no for an answer.

[ us or them. we did what we had to in order to survive. we did nothing wrong. even as he thinks all this, the justifications of going absolutely brutal hold some hollowness to them. he doesn’t regret killing these things, but he doesn’t necessarily enjoy it either. sighing now, he returns his gaze to keith and again, finds himself wondering where keith’s head is in all of this. might as well nip that in the bud, huh? ]

You did well in taking down the other one. [ in the following beat, he sets his expression into something closer to sympathetic and steps closer, setting his left hand on keith’s shoulder. ] It’s different though, from what we're usually fighting… -- it can be a lot to stomach.

[ another beat and a more careful: ] Are you holding up okay?

[ .... great. so keith is doing such a piss poor job of looking "normal" that shiro's had to ask him twice if he's okay? if nothing else, that's the last bit of motivation keith needed to really try and pull himself together. so he does -- a little literally at first, by standing up straighter and finally tucking his bayard away. ]

Yeah, I'm fine. Just some guts and blood. No worse than that time I had to kill a mountain lion.

[ if mountain lions could talk and scream and glare angrily until their eyes go blank. keith is going to gloss right over this and continue: ]

But you're... [ a beat. ] You're pretty calm about it.

[ it's not an accusation -- far from, actually. just the tiniest of prods to see if shiro wants to talk about this iron stomach he's apparently developed for gore. if their fight with myzax -- or what used to be myzax -- had been any clue, it had to be fairly brutal. shiro hasn't said anytiing about it though, and keith suspects that it'll be much the same now. all the same, he tries for a bit of levity. ]

So... I guess it's just a matter of time?

[ … that time he killed a mountain lion. shiro mentally repeats the statement to himself, slow and disbelieving. huh. they haven’t talked much at all about what keith got up to during that year and a half that shiro was up in space. only a glossing over of the big events: booted from the garrison, living in the cabin, building a conspiracy map to the blue lion. shiro’s been meaning to get keith alone from the other paladins and ask him how he’s doing now, after surviving on his own for so long. but… shiro’s a bit of a coward. he can say he’s been busy leading voltron all he likes: there are moments of downtime, ones he could be putting toward checking up on his, supposed, best friend. that’s the thing though, shiro doesn’t feel all that deserving of the title, not when he’s chickening out due to a fear of turnabout. see, if he asks keith about the past year or so, doesn’t that give keith license to turn the question back on him?

and shiro doesn’t want to talk about it.

first off, he doesn’t have a clear recollection of everything anyway. second, the things he does remember are, unfortunately, clear and intense and worse of all, monstrous. the less keith knows of the details, the better. so that comment about him being pretty calm about it almost has him reflexively smiling on an upwelling of dark humor. killing aliens, some even so horrid that shiro can only call them monsters, to the heckling of hundreds, thousands…? yeah. shiro learned to muzzle his panic early on.

he can’t say he wants keith to ever reach that same kind of detachment though. ]

Time’s part of it. [ mostly just repetition and a fostered need to appear strong. he gives keith’s shoulder a squeeze and then returns his hand to his side. ] We’ll likely find ourselves in similar situations moving forward, now that we’re working with ADI. [ he can only assume supernatural threats and a possible apocalypse will lead to some stressful situations, to put it mildly.

there’s a beat, in which shiro is seemingly assessing again, but then he twists his lips on a frown and shifts his gaze to look beyond keith’s shoulder. ]

I’m not anything to strive for. You don’t have to be like me. [ what he means is: ] It’s okay not to be calm. [ likely more normal too. here, he sighs and returns his gaze to keith’s. ] I need you focused… so if you aren’t okay -- now or later, you can always talk to me about it.

[ not anything to strive for, huh? keith's gaze shifts from the hand on his shoulder up to shiro's face. not that shiro's looking at him at this point, but keith holds his gaze where it is. it's strange hearing that after all those years of shiro's garrison poster boys days, but then again even that had changed in the last year, hadn't it? suddenly everyone was doing drills not to be like shiro. no more "pilot error." no more costly failed space missions. keith lets out a deep breath, then after a beat grips shiro's shoulder tightly in turn. ]

Hey, listen. Regardless of what you think of other people following in your footsteps, even the Black Lion knew you were the only one everyone can follow.

[ keith gives shiro's shoulder a squeeze and then releases, taking a half step back. ]

Besides, I don't think I could be as patient as you, even if I tried. [ this time, he smiles a little broader as he sets his hands on his hips and turns away from all three corpses on the ground. ]

So I guess. Yeah, I know. I know I can talk to you. But... later. You know. When we're clean and it doesn't reek.

[ it takes everything in shiro not to make a face at the mention of the black lion’s favor. cynical in nature when it comes to himself, shiro can only think about how black ejected him into space, seemingly done with his temporary paladin once zarkon came back into the picture. right, keith doesn’t know about that. the ejection? yes. zarkon as the previous black paladin? no. allura only just recently admitted to that gem. unsurprisingly, shiro does not want to talk about his rocky standing in team voltron and instead, clams up any rebuttal, letting keith believe what he’s intent on believing.

the joking quip about patience and the accompanying smile do drag an answering smile out of shiro, albeit a small one. but then it’s all about later and with keith turned away, shiro’s smile slips in favor of a frown. ]

Right. The decaying fish smell kind of ruins the mood for a heart to heart. [ it’s not as though shiro hasn’t been noticing it this whole time, but his tolerance for the gruesome and the unpleasant seems to be higher than keith’s. wonder why, he thinks with that dark, self-deprecating humor of his. he shakes his head then, as though to dislodge that line of thinking and then tips his chin, taking stock of the mess seeped his clothes. ]

I wonder if any of this is salvageable. [ he thumbs at a thick line of green at the edge of his vest and sighs. ] I have a feeling green blood is just as difficult to wash out as regular blood.

[ only bright side in all of this? he raises his gaze and looks to keith, or more specifically, that obnoxiously red and ridiculously short jacket he’s wearing. ]

… Guess you’ll be looking for a new jacket, huh?

[ keith wrinkles his nose as he gives his wonderful and possibly permanently ruined jacket a proper appraisal. the blood spatter is not as awful as it is on shiro's clothes, but it's there on his sleeves and down the front portion. he really shouldn't feel exhausted by this, but it really had been his favorite of the lot available at marshals. it is also quite possible that its status as "favorite" had only been cemented by how much scorn people seemed to have for it, but that is a secondary point in its favor. it's red, it doesn't get in the way of keith grabbing his knife -- it's perfect.

and now the monsters may have taken it away from him forever. expression souring, keith sighs and takes the jacket off. ]

This stuff better come out. [ at least when he's grumping, he almost sounds back to his usual self. ] I don't want to go shopping again. [ scowl: ] At least not when Aelwyn's around. I don't know what it is about people here and their inability to mind their own business. At least back around the desert, people seemed to just stay clear.

[ ...possibly because there was a) a lesser density of people and b) keith's resting bitchface is usually a good deterrent to casual interaction, but details schmetails. he sighs exaggeratedly, peering this way and that for any sign of adi. yes, that's impatient of him, but shh. ]

Next time ADI says anything about a mission, I'm gonna demand they provide Hazmat suits.

Edited (you don't need me to explain) 2021-08-16 05:43 (UTC)

[ shiro never thought he’d be relieved to see keith’s grump but here he is anyway, finding some shred of comfort in the familiarity of keith airing out his frustration. it’s so much better than those restless glances around or the faraway look in keith’s eyes. too nervous, too agitated, it wasn’t the keith he was used to at the end of a fight and so, shiro is all too willing to let keith grumble along without interruption, even though aelwyn has him wanting to ask after. shiro hasn’t interacted with her in any significant capacity. however, he has seen her around adi, more specifically at the occasional meeting. he can’t say it’s unusual for keith to find friction with other people and of course, he wants to know the details on it. is it a simple clash of personalities? or did something of more substance happen? no one needs to be friends here, but if they’re all meant to work with adi and each other, whatever issue those two have might need to be addressed.

later though, because now keith’s talking about hazmat suits and once more looking around, albeit more impatiently than nervously. good. he quirks a smile. ]

I’ll back you up on that. [ give shiro a few more weeks. he charmed almost the entirety of the garrison staff and became their do-no-wrong, golden boy for years -- just going to gloss over how that all ended with him being thrown under the bus. politics, funding, saving face with the public -- shiro gets it. blaming pilot error was the easier out to preserve the status quo. tangent aside, the point of the matter is this: shiro knows how to charm his way into people’s good graces. he’s fairly certain he can do the same with this adi crew. ]

We should get them to do our dry cleaning too. They owe us that much.

[ sure, adi has to trek it out here to do damage control, but he and keith neutralized three monsters for them. cleaning up three bodies is better than investigating missing hiker cases, right? shiro thinks so but -- ]

Guess we’ll see. [ and soon, because adi hits their eta to the minute and there they are, coming up the trailhead in a group of eight, no nine. the first six breeze by them and around, seemingly having their orders, which neither keith nor shiro seem to be a part of. they descend on the scene with bags and cameras, the click of photos filling the immediate area. shiro tosses keith a quizzical look but then the three bringing up the rear close in on them, two of which are holding duffels that they soon hand off the keith and shiro, before joining the other six in documenting the scene.

the remaining adi staffer seems to be the one in charge and so the next couple of minutes are spent relaying what happened. most of it is the same as what he said on the phone, only in greater detail and on tape. by the end of it, the staffer clicks off the voice recorder and tells them they’re free to head back to adi, but to change first so as not to draw unnecessary attention. funny, if they wanted to keep a low profile, they’d offer them a chauffeur to take them straight to headquarters. but the staffer is already off to oversee the others and shiro isn’t in the mood to wait longer for a ride.

so together with keith, they backtrack further up the trail to avoid those camera clicks and there, off the path and behind a clustering of trees, they dig into their duffels. plain black tees, charcoal grey basketball shorts, and baby wipes -- nice. seems the two of them are going to be twins, even in standard sizing. though, whereas the x-larges fit snug on shiro, on keith they… don’t. shiro’s teasing on the matter only lasts as long as it takes to consolidate their clothing into one duffel and then he jogs back up the path to drop off both to that head staffer who promises that they will, in fact, get the clothing back to them cleaned after some looking over.

a jog back to keith and they’re off. thirty or so yards down the path has them ducking under caution tape, but beyond that, it’s an easy, uneventful walk. one that should take them back to headquarters where they can shower for a proper cleaning but…

they find themselves at a mcdonalds. it’s a combination of wanting to avoid adi anything at present and to indulge in nostalgia; when was the last time either of them were in a fast food joint? he isn’t all that hungry though and him ordering a happy meal is more so just to have something in front of him, rather than to sate any appetite. so sitting there on a fucking cheeseburger in the back corner of the mcdonalds, with his kangaroo toy, shiro numbly pokes his french fry at his glob of ketchup.

it’s been quiet between them for a few minutes now, both of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts but inevitably, shiro stops his poking and looks up, sending a frown around the mostly empty seating area. ]

I don’t know what it says about me, but… this feels stranger than the hike.

[ it’s so normal that it’s weird? that could make sense. ]

[ okay. so whatever doubts keith may have about adi, he'll at least credit them for their punctuality. of course, the speediness of dispatch really makes him wonder how often they need to do clean up and what else they've had to clean up and lie about to the public, but staring at them isn't helping divine an answer, and any thought of sticking around to loom over the proceedings fades fast once it's made abundantly clear that the adi folks are just as keen on making keith provide statements. tedious statements. shiro's account had already been thorough enough, hadn't it?

but fine. he's not here to throw a stink about bureaucracy. ....except maybe he should be complaining anyway, considering the change of clothes they've brought just don't even fit him correctly. practically drowning in his t-shirt and shorts, keith gives up on pulling his sleeve to properly cover his shoulder after the third time the fabric slips off. what matters is that they're both clean and walking far, far away from the mess on the trail.

arguably, they walk right into a very different kind of mess when they turn into mcdonalds. though the canteen serves typical americana like fries and burgers, there's something definitely distinct about the way a fast food restaurant smells. good or bad, keith couldn't put a finger on it, but it's kind of nostalgic. admittedly, it does kind of cheer keith up a little bit to watch shiro try to fit himself on a tiny hamburger chair, which probably means keith himself looks equally ridiculous here.

he opens up his happy meal box, pulling out his toy. the seal barely gets a glance as keith sets it off to the side and nibbles on a fry. hard to be hungry after that bloody mess, but there's still something to be said about keeping up your energy levels. just in case. seems like shiro's feeling about the same if the enthusiastic way he's going about his meal says anything. keith breathes out, glancing around the interior of the mcdonalds. ]

That it's been a while since you've eaten fast food?

[ it's stated as mildly as possible, though keith suspects he knows what shiro's getting at. being surrounded by normalcy is jarring at times when your own life isn't so normal anymore. brow furrowing, he has a sip of coke. instantly, he glares at the cup. was this stuff always so sweet? ]

Don't think there's anything wrong with that. [ or at least, there wouldn't be if there'd been an actual choice involved. ] ....But I guess that's not what you're getting at, huh.

[ nice effort to put a lighter spin on a conversation that promises to be dreary, not that shiro shows much appreciation for it. it’s true though, of course. more than just fast food honestly. before finding himself whisked away to be employed by adi, it’d been a while since he’s eaten what he would call regular food. hunk tries, coran -- unfortunately -- tries, to work with the limited food options available on the castleship, but while sometimes the taste is fine, the consistency, especially of the food goo, is less desirable. so the last couple of days haven’t only been about rediscovering different flavor profiles, it’s been about experiencing food texture again. too bad his appetite has been minimal.

he forces it here though and finally takes a bite of that thoroughly ketchup’d fry. sweet, salty, crunchy -- he remembers a time when he used to down fries one after the other, but here, it’s looking like it’ll be five minutes before he finishes the one. he frowns and goes back to dunking. ]

I always thought it was only a matter of getting back to Earth. Then life would pick up right where we left it.

[ after the war and after voltron, they could simply slip right back into their old lives, or the parts of them unrelated to the garrison, which doesn’t leave much of anything for shiro. garrison aside, they could pursue new goals and develop a new routine of normalcy, where the biggest stress in their lives would be making school or work deadlines. he’s beginning to wonder though; if a fast food restaurant has him side-eyeing the simplicity of it, then how is he ever going to feel right slowing down for regularity? ]

Maybe it’ll be different when we’re in our own time, back in Arizona, racing around in our old stomping grounds.

[ now he’s the one trying to put a nicer spin on it. he offers up a half-smile, briefly looking up, but then he looks right back down to his ketchup. but maybe not is the tail-end he wants to say but doesn’t. doesn’t matter, he supposes, whether or not he’s too wired for violence and the fast pace of war, he probably won’t make it back to their earth when everything is said an’ done anyway. not when haggar seems intent to finish things with him and the black lion is unpredictable in his favor; both together seem to point toward disaster. ]

Oh.

[ not exactly the most inspired thing keith could have said in response to all of that, but it's what shiro gets. next beat, keith puts the coke down, and makes no pretense of politely unwrapping his cheeseburger to give shiro some cover of privacy.

it's the following beat after that when keith realizes he still hasn't figured out what he ought to say that he turns his gaze to the hamburgler drawn on his happy meal box. they'd agreed to talk "later" so maybe he ought to have seen some kind of talk coming. even if, in his mind, "later" would involve not being in a space with little kids and their dead eyed parents milling around the front of the store. keith swallows, pushing all the irrelevant noise aside and sneaks a side long glance at his friend. his expression gives away the concern right away, but he doesn't know what other face he ought to be pulling. ]

Listen. Some things just take time. Being caught up in a crazy space war with aliens and witches and being held prisoner.... it's a lot to have to live through. You can't just be expected to walk away from that and be excited about a beanie baby with your hamburger, y'know?

[ keith fidgets a moment, fingers snagging up his cheeseburger to dispel some kernel of anxiety. as much as he wants to go back to their real home and make sure his dad's cabin is still okay, somehow returning with shiro just seems like a goddamn mess. shiro can return to the garrison, sure. but keith lost his standing there after his fight with adam and....well, fuck. what's even waiting for him when the war is over? everyone else has family, friends ... a place where they know they belong. keith had this ... admittedly kind of crazy idea in his head that something was out there in the desert, calling to him.

the blue lion's been found. in a lot of ways, his time with voltron's been difficult but it had also been validating. he didn't need the garrison to go to space, after all. hell, he never had to bother cleaning up his act in order to be considered worth something by one of the most powerful entities in the known universe.

what is keith without any of that? shiro's being kind about it, but is there even going to be an our racing ground once they go back and shiro clears his name and goes back to being the garrison golden boy?

realizing a beat late that he's practically squeezing his burger, keith sets it down on his tray and forces a smile. ]

I think maybe you're overthinking it.

[ maybe i'm overthinking it. ]

Edited 2021-08-19 04:33 (UTC)

[ shiro already considers this lunch trip to mcdonalds an oddity. add to that how keith is now the one giving pep talks to shiro, rather than the more commonly experienced reverse, and yeah, things are definitely weird. keith’s a bit blunt about it, isn’t he? there’s a no nonsense, straightforwardness about his words that is only charming because it’s keith and shiro can tell he’s really trying, despite being out of his element, in all manners of the word. it’s obvious too -- his point. it shouldn't need saying, because obviously, trauma lingers and isn’t so easily overcome, especially when it’s revisited not even an hour ago, but shiro has a particularly large blindspot when it comes to applying care for himself and often, it manifests into a bad habit of producing critique for all his self-labeled faults.

so keith saying he needs time? it helps. not enough for the matter to reach any sort of satisfactory resolution but it does have shiro looking to keith once more. and by the time he tells him he’s overthinking it? shiro has a weak smile to offer in return. ]

Maybe.

[ a beat passes and shiro thinks maybe he should apologize. sorry didn’t mean to get heavy there. sorry for ruining lunch. apologizing would likely make the stifled awkwardness engulfing their little table all that more potent though, huh? look, he’s overthinking again. he sighs, smile slipping and gaze dropping to keith’s unwrapped burger. looks pretty pathetic; the imprints of his fingers are still there in the bun. something about that smooshed burger with not a single bite taken out of it makes all of this that much more uneasy and shiro, who is desperate to shift the mood that he’s unintentionally tromped all over, looks to that plastic wrapped toy as the diversion.

he sits up straighter in the next moment and abruptly reaches across to snag it. ] What’d you get anyway? [ held closer to himself now, he flips it around. ] A seal, huh. [ almost looks like a ball, it’s so round. he huffs a laugh and then goes about ripping the plastic open, scooping out the seal to then plop it down to his unwrapped kangaroo. ]

Kind of disappointed neither of us got a lion.

Event - For Sport

.......... keith. that's not a hiking outfit.

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one day i will remember to reply to subject lines every time.

shhh you're fine. also this is kinda dark. cw: bodily harm, gore ???

know that i very much wanted to use a certain icon. you know the one

yes. yes i do know the one. and now i'm just imagining keith making that face now.

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ba da ba ba ba i'm lovin' it.

shrio on that burger chair....

perhaps that is why he feels so odd.

shush shiro that hamburger chair was made for you.

ig it is easier for him to sit on than it is for keith. keith w his dta.

the hmaburger chair should be HONORED.

yes it has been blessed by the roundest, biggest dta in the universe.

precisely c:

no other ass will now satisfy that cheeseburger chair.

Re: no other ass will now satisfy that cheeseburger chair.