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Who: Shiro and you
Broadcast: Yes
Action: If you want, he's on the Blameless
When: Saturday evening

[Text closed to Keith - Friday night]

We've arrived to the new system. How are you feeling?

[He doesn't know about the planet bringing back the sensations of the dreams yet, but he worries.]

-----

[Video - Saturday evening]

[When the feed starts, an armor wearing Shiro is sitting down and taking off his helmet as the light blue lights of his suit go off.]

This is Shiro, co-captain of S.S. Blameless.

[His face is serious, and his tone of voice means business.]

Last month, certain members of the fleet had visions about the planet we were visiting and the incident that happened after. But there are certain dreams that didn't find their match there, and it seems this new system has brought those sensations back. So early today, I went down with a teammate that had those dreams to investigate. [He frowns a bit, obviously not pleased with the result.] There are some small towns, inhabited by the orange-skinned people we usually encounter. They're heavily armed, too, because of a group called the Vieziri. They're dangerous, deadly hunters that have made the locals live in constant fear.

[His hold on his helmet tightens - it's frustrating, not having his lion, being limited in what he can help with. But he continues, the natural leader in him shining through.]

I know we can't stay in our ships forever. So if you go down there, please, don't do it alone. The bigger the group, the better. Bring a weapon with you, if you aren't the powered or magical kind. The locals are willing to sell theirs, too. Keep your communicators safe and close at all times, check the GPS function that our fellow fleet members were offering some time ago. Captains, it would be wise of you to know where your crew is at all times.

[He pauses. There isn't much more he can say other than be careful. So how to end such a feed?]

If a situation like Lyuku's must happen again, I can only hope we're better prepared this time. [ #famouslastwords ]

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[Keith shrugged a little.]

I don't know. Sometimes I don't feel like I have.

What makes you feel that? We wouldn't be able to form Voltron if we hadn't bonded like a true family.

[If true families fought against robeasts together, sure.]

I guess.

[He sighed.]

I mean, it's not like I'm not close to them, but I just... I'm the loner, you know?

You are. But just because you need more me-time than the others doesn't mean the bonds aren't real. Pidge has her moments too, doesn't she? And you and me, after all this time, even after I was a year away - still going strong.

[Keith nodded.]

Yeah.

[He shrugged a little.]

I mean, it's home now. The Castle. Everyone. And it's better than it was, you know?

[Sigh.

He leaned his head on Shiro's shoulder, closing his eyes.]

I guess... it's just something I still need to figure out.

You're right, it is home. And I'm glad that things got better for you, even in the middle of war. Something good came out of it.

[He smiles softly, and pets Keith's hair.]

Figuring things out can be hard some times. [Oh, he knows.] Take your time, and know I'm here to talk when you need it. Now rest, Keith. We'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

[Keith sighed a little.

Yeah... long day. A long day figuring out what his weird feelings meant, tapping into something he was uncomfortable and unfamiliar with... something that set him apart from the others. Was this 'instinct' something he had because of his mixed heritage? He didn't want to think about it. But, if it meant helping the team and the fleet... well, he would just have to suck it up and deal.

He nodded.]

Yeah.

[He rubbed his face, finally feeling a bit sleepy again anyway. He sat up.]

You wanna lie down?

[Such a simple question, but so difficult to answer. He'd love to nap with Keith, it's be a comforting presence, but he's afraid he'll hurt him when the nightmares come. Not a thought he wants to express though...

Mmmh. Maybe he could lie down and wait for Keith to fall asleep before moving. Simple enough.]

Sure. [He pats Keith's thigh.] Shoes off first, buddy.

[HE KNOWS YOU! Ok, standing up to fix the sheets and pillows.]

Yeah, I know.

[He pushed each one off using his toes on the opposite foot, and then moved so Shiro could do what he needed to do first. Once it was okay, Keith settled in easily enough. But, Shiro wasn't going to get away with moving that easily, either. Keith descended into sleep slowly, not really going into a deep sleep for quite some time, and, by then, he had managed to snuggle in and position himself in a way that was going to make it awfully hard for Shiro to get up without waking him.]

[Once a kitten, forever a kitten, huh? Shiro is a patient man, so he waits and waits... at first. Even he has his limits, and eventually he falls asleep, not matter how hard he tries not to.

It doesn't last long.

Nightmares soon come back, and Shiro starts moving and mumbling - words of fear, suffering, pain. Watch out, Keith, because there's a leg in the process of kicking you right now.]

[The mumbling and restlessness pushed its way into Keith's sleeping brain, setting off enough alarms of concern that it started to wake him a bit... just in time to be quite literally kicked out of bed.

He let out a pained yelp, more startled than anything else, and hit the floor with a loud thud.]

[The thud and yelping just becomes part of the noises in his nightmare, where he's the one causing them too. He's back on the ring, forced to fight, and among the bodies of innocent aliens, there's the occasional familiar face from the castle.

Shiro keeps thrashing about, begging for mercy, asking invisible people not to make him do this.]

[Keith eased himself up, almost cautiously, as he attempted to figure out what to do next. He moved next to the bed, and then called to Shiro, hoping to get through to him.]

Shiro! Hey, wake up! You're on the Blameless. It's me, Keith. You're having a nightmare!

[There's movement next to him, taunting him - no, he can't allow them to take him from a blind spot. One mistake and is over, over, over... His metal arm reaches for the attacker's neck, and he's torn between squeezing or turning his hand on so he looks at the alien more closely to decide according to their kind of alien anatomy and--

Eyes finally open and they widen. Regret, shame, fear: all of it quickly appears all over Shiro's face.]

...Keith.

[He pulls his hand back, hiding it behind him as he moves back too, pressing hist body against the wall as far away from Keith as possible. He's breathing heavily and his eyes are still a bit unfocused, his mind needing a moment to return to reality but... he knows enough to be able to tell what happened.]

I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...

[Keith's words got cut off by the sudden lack of air, and he grabbed Shiro's arm at the wrist in reflex. He grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as the realization hit him.

A robot arm didn't have a pressure point.

He had nothing to push on to get Shiro to pull back.

He was stuck like this until Shiro came to his senses.

Granted, he would have been either way, but, at least, if he'd been able to press on that tender spot in the wrist enough to wake him up, he could have freed himself. But this... There was no chance. Keith started to panic, but, oddly enough, it was more for Shiro than himself. He didn't want Shiro to feel bad about this, because he knew what was going on. He was stuck in the throes of a flashback, a nightmare, and wasn't consciously attacking Keith. To him, Keith was likely a faceless enemy. He just needed to find a way to get through to him while still-...

He opened his eyes a little just in time to see the realization kick in. Shiro had woken up. And those were not the emotions Keith had wanted to see on that face.

he involuntarily dropped backwards to the floor as Shiro let go, coughing and gasping for air and fighting off the black spots around his vision. Rolling to his side, Keith pushed himself up on all fours for a moment, catching his breath before finally settling into a seated position on the floor. When he could speak again, his voice was raspy.]

Shiro?

[Ugh... it hurt to talk.]

Are- are you okay?

[Watching Keith makes him feel worse and worse about what happened. The coughing, the gasping, the catching his breath, the raspy voice... he did that. Are there going to be bruises in the morning? Oh quiznak, he'll wake up to a purple neck, won't he...

Shiro's eyes are finally focused again, but he's still panting, his face pale as it can be. And his expression... shame and guilt, couldn't be anything less.]

You're asking me? Are you okay? I-- I hurt you.

[Yeah... there'd be bruises, and probably for a while, but Keith could handle bruises. He was a tough kid.]

Shiro...

[He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of how scratchy he sounded.]

You didn't know it was me. I could tell. You thought I was someone else. You didn't hurt me.

[He looks away, not being able to look at Keith in the eye.]

No. Just because I didn't know it doesn't make it not-you. Are you in pain? Do you need a doctor?

[Don't... don't do that. Don't look away.

Keith moved closer, putting himself right in front of Shiro.]

I'll be okay.

[He frowned a bit.]

Who did you see? Before you saw it was me, who were you attacking?

[Getting in front of him only makes him more stubborn in looking at the mattress. Look! Sheets! How amazing are they?]

I-I'm not sure. My nightmares are never clear. It's a mess of memories and dreams, they can get blurry and- [His shame gets worse.] I think-- you moved and I thought I was being attacked so I had to defend myself.

You were already in a nightmare. I was trying to wake you up.

[Keith frowned that Shiro wouldn't look at him. He looked down for a moment, and then reached out slowly, gently taking Shiro's hand in his own... the metal one.]

[Shiro has a vague sense of touch on that hand, so he immediately tenses when Keith grabs it, his eyes widening but still not looking up. In fact, he closes them, hunching over as metal fingers gently squeeze Keith's.]

And I thought... no, I wasn't really thinking, only reacting... I'm sorry, I'm really are...

[He takes a deep breath.]

Maybe you should go back to your own bedroom... for your sake.

[Keith frowned. He didn't want to just grab Shiro right now with the state he was in because it might set him off again, but...]

I'm going to give you a hug.

[That was the only warning, and Keith's tone said he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

He shifted to get close enough, and then pulled Shiro towards him, wrapping both arms around Shiro's shoulders.]

[Those aren't words he expects to hear from Keith, and before he knows it he's being hugged. He returns the gesture of course, but it's different from usual - more clinging from Shiro's part, sinking in this comfort. He's still shaking a little.]

...I was supposed to be comforting you tonight.

[Expected or not, Keith knew Shiro well enough that he knew that this was needed. His feelings about it were confirmed with Shiro's return hug felt almost desperate, the older pilot trembling against him. Keith closed his eyes, resting his head against Shiro's.]

Things don't always work out the way we expect them to. [Or want them to... but he kept that to himself. It was better not to think about it. Instead, he'd just hold Shiro as long as he needed it.]

It's okay. You've comforted me a lot already. Now you need it from me.

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