Right to the good parts 6 with Matt and Ryou? Ignore this if it doesn't strike your fancy, it's just a pair i came to like through reading DLS. Love you Boss!
Congratulations! One of your dreams has finally come true. Let me give you a big hug and wow, you’re warm…
Ryou held his breath, his hand hovering over the control panel.
Next to him, their shoulders mashed together, Matt squirms with excitement. His gaze darts from Ryou’s stalled hand to his face. “This for dramatic effect or something? Come on, man, turn it on. You’re killing me, here.”
Right. Turn it on. Simple as that.
Ryou screws his eyes closed and forces his finger to touch down on the screen.
There’s a pause, then the series of repulsors on the training room floor begin to hum in unison. The noise is still loud, but it totally fills Ryou’s ears.
Finally, he cracks open his eyes and looks down on the screen.
A digital map of his repulsor grid shows the status of each individual machine. And all are working in perfect unity.
Stepping back from Matt, Ryou takes hold of the pre-programmed training droid. He activates the programming, then gives it a firm shove into the field.
Immediately, the droid lifts as thought weightless. It swims in place, then kicks, testing the environment. Then the jetpack activates, and it zig-zags across the room, giving each section a test.
There are no holes. That entire section of the training room seems to have no gravity, though it’s still working perfectly where Matt and Ryou stand.
Matt bounces on his toes, eyes bright. “Looks good. Want to flip it?”
Ryou watches the droid carefully as it sits on the open air. Then he nods. “Yeah.” He touches the grid again.This time, the grid on the floor stops humming. Instead, the grid on the ceiling starts.
The droid lands heavily on one knee, and struggles to stand. It’s able to, but only barely. Then it begins its’ path, staggering back the way it came before.
It works.
Zero gravity and enhanced gravity. A perfect grid that can be altered to any need without ruining everything else in the room. They’ll be able to practice maneuvering in a vast array of different gravitational forces.
More importantly, Ryou did it. Himself. Alone. From conception to planning to building, Ryou had made this.
“I did it.”
Matt lets out a loud whoop and spins. He grabs Ryou in a fierce hug, even lifting him off his feet to twirl him in a short circle. “You did it!” He agrees, absolutely beaming. He lets Ryou down, but doesn’t let him go. Instead, his arms stay around Ryou’s waist, comfortable and warm.Ryou beams back, nearly giddy with it all. The casual touch is just one more amazing thing zipping through his head in a spiral. All that work, all that learning, all that stubborn determination had resulted in something so damn cool.
More than once, Ryou had doubted he had the mind for this. Shiro wasn’t a slouch, but he didn’t have nearly the technological genius of the Holts or Hunk. He was a pilot, and he’d learned enough to get him on the good missions. Nothing more.
Ryou wasn’t naturally gifted at this. He was smart, sure, but this wasn’t what came easily to him.
But he’d dug in his heels and learned to be good at it. That wasn’t something Shiro did often. Like with singing, if he wasn’t gifted, he was bad at it and it fell to the wayside. Shiro didn’t have the time, energy, or inclination to build up skills that weren’t necessary or naturally engaging.
But Ryou did.
Laughing, Ryou wrapped his arms around Matt’s shoulders and squeezed him tight in return. “I did,” he breathed, letting his awe sneak out. “Thank you for testing this with me.”
“You kidding?” Matt rocked Ryou from side to side. By now they were chest to chest, but he didn’t have to look up nearly as much as he used to. Matt came up to Ryou’s brows now, a far cry from when he used to settle around his shoulders. “After all that secrecy? Of course I was going to help! And it’s so cool. You want to try it?”
Damn, that was temping. But building this also meant that Ryou knew all the ways it could go wrong, and therefore all the ways he could get himself killed. “A couple more droid trials,” he replied. “But soon. You should come with.” Ryou hesitated, then ducked his head down so their foreheads brushed. “I want you there.”
Matt’s expression melted. His fingers clutched at the back of Ryou’s shirt as his eyes dropped to Ryou’s lips. “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
That-
Meant something. Or maybe not.
Ryou licked over his lips, just to see if Matt’s eyes would follow them. They did. “You always did say Shiro was wasted on his jock job.”
“Yeah, I did. But you know what? He’s good where he is. And you’re exactly where you belong.”
Ryou’s chest filled with giddy warmth. Even in the midst of his current success, it was so damn nice to be validated. As someone different. As someone with his own skills and abilities.
It was especially nice when it was Matt.
Flying high on all his successes, Ryou looked down at Matt.
“Fuck it.”
Then he kissed him.
Matt’s hands snapped up to either side of Ryou’s jaw. When they pulled apart, his eyes were wide and gleeful. “Yeah. Exactly where you belong.”
Snickering, Ryou pressed their noses together. “Kissing, you mean?”
“Nah. Here.” Matt rubbed his thumbs along Ryou’s cheekbones. “In front of me. Making kickass experiments and being stupid hot while you do it.”
“I think I can do that.”
“I’m a scientist. You’re going to have to prove it.”
i've been thinking about kuron/matt a lot recently and,,,
after kuron is revealed and he redeems himself by going directly against his commands/programming, the paladins accept him into the fold (with varying degrees of unease). matt is one of the least accepting. not because matt doesn't believe in redemption, but because he's been in space long enough—fought in this war long enough—to understand duplicity and how far someone is willing to go to do something they believe in.
it also is matt's luck that he and kuron have adjacent quarters
kuron comes and goes as he pleases. most of the time he's in his room or on the training deck. he eats his meals with the others, but he's very quiet and removed. overtures of friendship from the paladins come in shades. hunk is the first to warm up to him, offering kuron some cupcakes he made; then lance, who recently discovered an altean racquetball equivalent and needs a partner; then shiro, pidge, keith, coran and allura. matt is the only one who finds himself distanced from kuron
then, on a mission, kuron and matt find themselves removed from the paladins. they're waiting quietly at a rendezvous point when kuron sighs gently and says, "i know you don't trust me, but for the sake of this mission, and for the sake of what we're trying to accomplish, i need you to pretend."
so matt pretends.
he also feels guilty. it is his main motivator to be nicer, to try.
he starts saying hello and goodbye. he allows small quips, and teases, and jokes. he pauses before he sits down at the table, slipping into the chair beside kuron rather than the one out of arm's reach. he puts boxes of mismatched machinery parts into kuron's hands and has him carry the heavy stuff to the room he, pidge, and hunk have taken over. he pairs with kuron on team game nights, forces kuron to watch his favorite space soap opera, and doesn't think when shoves kuron to the side and takes a plasma blast meant for the other man.
let it be known that plasma blasts sting.
after a brief stint in a healing pod—and a hug-punch combo from pidge—kuron quietly follows matt back to his quarters. when they reach the door, matt turns to kuron to say good night. instead, kuron grabs his bicep, almost too hard, and chokes,
“please never do that again.”
matt wants to be mad. he feels a shade of anger well in his chest, but it is instantly displaced by the wild, lost look in kuron’s eyes. he is filled with surprise—realization—tenderness. he reaches up and curls a hand around kuron’s sharp jaw. he cannot promise kuron that he won’t do it again, so he whispers instead, “i love you.”
I Don’t Have a Creative Title - A Shatt Whump fic by Melody
Pt. 1
Next Part
The room was dark and cool with a slight breeze flowing overhead from the vent in the ceiling. Matt laid up against Shiro’s stomach with as smile on his face as the two of them spooned in Shiro’s bed. Matt could hear his boyfriend’s soft breathing against his ear as he slept. It was a relaxing moment in the midst of a stressful war.
The rest of the team was out on a diplomatic mission, but because Voltron was not needed at the time, Matt had insisted on a “self care day”. Shiro had assumed that was the brunet's way of getting Shiro to himself for the day, but when he finally gave in and relaxed in his room he realized just how exhausted he was. He admitted that maybe Matt was right, he needed to take care of himself too sometimes. Now the Black paladin was fast asleep and Matt could almost feel the stress and tension disappearing from the man’s shoulders. It was a good day. Coran had promised to alert them if there was any trouble, so the rebel officer was not the least worried about the world outside of the bed he currently laid. He shifted his position carefully as to not wake his resting boyfriend and closed his eyes once more.
Shiro was dreaming. He was aware of that, but it was pleasant and he knew that in reality he was safely within the castle with his boyfriend at his side, so he let the dream flow on. He was somewhere on Earth, standing on a stage with Commander Holt on his right and Matt smiling sheepishly on his left. They were both in their garrison uniforms and with further inspection Shiro could see that he was as well. His right arm was back too. He raised it up to wave to the crowd and saw no metal, only natural skin. He almost cried at the sight. A flash of light in front of him drew his eyes away however. There were cameras fashing ahead of him and multiple people holding microphones. Shiro realized they were standing right in front of the press. This meant... Yes. the Kerberos mission must have been a success in this dream.
They were home...
He let his gaze wander through the crowd behind the reporters. He spotted Keith, sitting with the other Garrison students, smiling up at the Shiro. Looking closer he even saw Lance and Hunk in with the students, both looking so much more youthful without the weight of the universe on their shoulders. He Noticed Mrs. Holt sitting with Pidge on the other side of the room. The small girl still bearing her long brunet hair, though it was pulled back into a bun. They both looked so overjoyed to have their family home safe and sound. This was a happy moment and Shiro let himself bask in the peacefulness of the dream. One day we’ll really go home, he thought to himself.
He brought his eyes back to the front of the stage with a smile, to where Commander Iverson had just finished speaking. He stepped away for Shiro to come forward for questions. The look Iverson gave him was... odd. It sent a small shiver down Shiro’s spine, but he brushed it off. He shifted to the front of the podium where immediately there was a rush of overlapping questions from the reporters below. He glanced once more at Iverson over on the far left of the stage where he had settled . The man looked up at him expectantly. His face clearly said, What are you doing? The press is waiting. But Shiro... he couldn’t turn away. Iverson he...
A young lady reporter raised her hand and Shiro vaguely registered that she was asking him something about their findings on Kerberos but he couldn't bring himself to answer. He was too concerned by his current staring contest with Iverson. His eyes... instead of their usual onyx color, they were pupil-less. And they shone an all too familiar yellow. Shiro’s blood ran cold.
Suddenly the dream’s setting whirled around him and the black paladin found himself tied down to a table. People in hazmat suits were shifting all around him, scanning him and pricking him with needles. His robotic arm was back, and his uniform was once again replaced by Galran prisoner clothes. There was an terrible feeling deep in the pit of Shiro’s stomach. He tried desperately to swallow his panic. Wait, we’ve been through this already.... He told himself. It already happened and I escaped. This is just a dream. However, his mind was not so easily convinced. The scene continued and Shiro struggled against his bindings despite himself, his fear beginning to take hold. Yellow-eyes Iverson suddenly appeared in Shiro’s vision. The commander opened his mouth to speak and what he said caused the trapped man to freeze in terror.
“Begin operation Kuron stage 5″.
The scene flashed and changed once again. Iverson’s head twisted around with a sickening crack and suddenly Haggar was staring down at him, an evil grin on her face. The white of the infirmary shifted to the dreadful violet Shiro was all too familiar with. He fought against his bonds once again - eyes blown wide in panic - but his limbs would not budge. He tried again to remind himself that this isn’t real. this IS NOT real, wake up!!! But consciousness would not come. Haggar leaned down close to his face until the only thing he could see were her monstrous glowing eyes. She whispered to him menacingly “You are finally ours, champion.” At that moment the dream decided to end Shiro’s torment. Blackness creeped at the edges of his vision, blocking out Haggar’s menacing stare. Shiro was not comforted, however. Something was wrong. He could feel it as the world faded around him. He shouldn’t wake up yet. Something was very very wrong.
