Keith Gen-Uary Day 21- Acxa
“Hey. Acxa?” She looks up at him, her focus drawn from the bedsheets. “Remember after the fight with Ezor and Zethrid? When you said that your path led you to me. What did you mean by that?”
Written for the @keithgenuary event. Read on AO3 here.
“An Altean puppet show? Seriously?”
“I know! How do you think I felt, watching my brother hold up a puppet of me and copying my voice – badly I might add.” Keith and Acxa are sitting in a cozy hospital room in the Garrison’s medical wing, the former laying in a large, fluffy bed and still recovering from his injuries from the Robeast’s attack.
“Was it something like this?” Acxa crosses her arms, an exaggerated scowl on her face. She drops her voice pitch just so. “What a waste of my time. I could have been training instead.”
Keith nearly chokes, upset that she’s teasing him and even more upset that he was thinking those exact thoughts. Although he will never admit that out loud. “I definitely don’t sound like that. Or look that mean.” But she’s already chuckling, a soft sound further muffled by her hand covering her mouth.
It’s contagious and soon Keith is cracking up as well. At least until he laughs too hard and something shifts in his ribcage. He grunts in pain and leans forward, holding his torso. Acxa is up in ticks and grabs him by the shoulders, leaning him back against the propped up pillows on his hospital bed.
“Be careful. You still haven’t fully healed yet.”
“It’s your fault, you made me laugh in the first place.” He wheezes a bit, letting the medicine drip work its magic until the pain dulls to a mild ache. Once she sees the creases in Keith’s brow smooth out and his breathing slow, she sits back in her chair at his bedside.
They sit in complete silence, albeit a comfortable one. Keith’s thoughts begin to wander and it occurs to him how astonishing that exchange was just now. Acxa was teasing him, was worried about him.
The closest he ever saw to that was the small smile she gave him after they had fought Zethrid and Ezor on the pair’s cruise ship. He supposes he could blame it on the sheer ridiculousness of his story – even though the events leading up to the show weren’t so great, he would grudgingly admit that he may have had some fun that day.
A brief memory flashes in his mind’s eye, her words to him echoing. The ones she spoke inside the cave after the Lions crash landed.
“But I knew I had to find my own path, and it led me to you.”
“Hey. Acxa?” She looks up at him, her focus drawn from the bedsheets. “Remember after the fight with Ezor and Zethrid? When you said that your path led you to me. What did you mean by that?”
Acxa is stunned by his question judging by how large her eyes are. Her lips are pressed together and she crosses her arms, lost in thought. Keith simply waits, in no rush for an answer. He knows how difficult it is to share personal things about himself with others, so he’s more than happy to afford her the courtesy of patience for as long as she needs. A few dobashes later and she answers his question.
“It’s hard to explain, to be honest. It was as if I felt…some kind of curiosity about you. When we first met in the Weblum at least.” She stops and rakes a hand through her hair. “I suppose after that, I felt like we were almost kindred spirits, in a sense. I grew to respect you. How you looked out for your team. How you looked out for me. And I knew that I needed to help Voltron. That your mission, and your path, was the right one to follow.”
It’s Keith’s turn to be taken aback now. He figured Acxa was at least fine with him, and that she did want to change for the better. But to think that those feelings go as deep as respect. Her, a former general to Lotor. It’s too much to imagine that he could inspire such feelings in a past enemy of Voltron.
But, if he’s being honest with himself, he does feel a sort of kinship with her as well. Their personalities are surprisingly similar, and compatible to boot. And even though she was a foe before, he understands how she felt even back then. She just wanted a place to belong and she truly believed in Lotor, both in the person and in his mission.
Just like him and Shiro. But unlike the Galran prince, Shiro was and continues to be beyond worthy of Keith’s trust. It seems he’s very lucky in that regard.
“I respect you too Acxa.” The words come out easy and he realizes that’s because they’re true. “And I’m glad that you joined with us, in the end.” She stares a moment then nods stiffly, clearly not used to compliments. The two fall quiet again, simply contemplating what transpired between them.
Her and Keith abruptly glance at the door, picking up on two pairs of footsteps and the faint sounds of conversation growing in volume as they approach the room. “That’s probably Kolivan and Krolia. I’ll be going then.” And she gathers herself, preparing to take her leave.
“Acxa.” Her hand pauses before it touches the doorknob. “If, if you want, you can stop by tomorrow. I can teach you a couple card games Lance showed me.” She’s quiet for a moment, then turns her head back to face him. “Sounds good. I’ll be back tomorrow then.”
Acxa leaves and Keith hears a few muted greetings from outside, most likely between her, Kolivan, and Krolia. Keith can’t help but feel a small swell of anticipation for Acxa’s next visit. Maybe he can even coax another laugh out of her.
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