look, i know i talk a lot about how i’m like shiro because i too am a goddamn mess in my 20s with more responsibility than i know what to do with
BUT i am medicated and in therapy and that is more than shiro is going to have for the next decade so i’d like to thank the universe for cutting me a damn break
also dreamworks could you maybe do the same for shiro?
Lance thanked everything holy that Hunk had saved some of that weird space meat that tasted like turkey bacon. He crunched down on the strange yellow and brown meat, absolutely starving. He heard Blue rumble in amusement in the back of his mind, and flicked an ear at her in dismissal. What?!? He was hungry! She had no right to judge his new eating habits. So there. He mentally stuck his tongue out at her. She chuffed with laughter at him. Hmph.
Pidge and Hunk were currently chatting quietly. “Azul, slow down there kitty! You'll choke!” Pidge called, and he swished his tail to let her know that he'd heard, and slowed a little. Right, Pidge was calling him Azul now. He was a little startled when she'd called him that, but shrugged and accepted it. Better than Cocoa. He really didn't want to be named after a food.
“I'm going to go back to bed. It's almost ten at night, and I really want to be able to wake up early to go look for Lance.” Pidge said, hopping off of the counter where she'd been perched while Hunk made space cookies. “I'll keep an eye on Azul. Cats are nocturnal, so I think he'll be up for a while. I might let him explore when I go to bed in a bit. He's too small to get into anything anyways.” Hunk acknowledged the Green Paladin, spreading cookie dough in little circles on a pan. Pidge nodded and left, giving Lance one last head pat. “Night Azul. See you in the morning, kitty.” She murmured, then exited the kitchen, dragging her feet a little tiredly.
Lance mewed a reply before finishing off his food. He licked his lips, err, muzzle, and had a sudden urge to ball up a paw and scrub his face. Never one for skipping out on hygiene, he shrugged and did so, licking his paw and scrubbing his face and ears to get the food grease off. It was admittedly adorable to watch, and he heard Hunk coo from where he was leaning against the counter waiting for his cookies to bake.
He huffed, and padded over to his friend, jumping up on the counter as the cookies were pulled from the now beeping oven. “Careful, Azul. These are really hot, so no touching.” Hunk warned, and Lance made a half mew half purring noise in reply. 'I'm not stupid, Buddy.' He thought, twitching his tail tip as Hunk put the cookies in the cooler for tomorrow. “Goodnight, Azul! Don't get into anything while we're asleep, okay?” Hunk chirped as he ruffled Lance's neck fur, moving away to leave the kitchen. Lance meowed in response before looking around, amazed at how big everything was. He could hear more, smell more, and as the lights dimmed, see more than he could as a human, even though he'd already had impressive eyesight as a teenage boy.
With a soft chuffing noise, he hopped off the counter and stumbled, attempting to figure out how cats normally landed on their feet all the time. He tested jumping a few times, trying to get used to the feel of using his new tail and body for balance, before he deemed himself good enough to check the rest of the Castle in his new form. Nodding in satisfaction, he left the kitchen to explore.
Darkness stretched out everywhere he looked. He didn't know why, but he was afraid. “Shiro.” He whirled around at that familiar voice, and gasped. Lance was standing behind him, those pretty blue eyes that were normally bright with laughter dull and blank. “Shiro, why?” Lance asked, the betrayal on his face tearing Shiro's heart in two. “Lance, I-” Shiro tried to say, but was cut off by Lance's shout. “Why did you let me go, Shiro?!?” Tears streamed down the Blue Paladin's face and suddenly he was running away again, into the darkness.
Something told Shiro that he shouldn't go that way, that something bad would happen if he did, so he ran after Lance, reaching out and frantically calling his name as the darkness swallowed him up.
A path of red droplets began on the path as he kept running, bright scarlet and causing dread to well up in his chest. The drops turned into a trickle, then into a stream, and suddenly he was wading through a river of blood. He saw Lance up ahead on the ground, unmoving and covered in crimson, the river pouring from his body. Shiro screamed as a wave of red engulfed him and swept him back into the darkness.
Shiro woke up with a cry of anguish, throwing his arm out and sitting up suddenly, shaking. Gasping for air and trembling, he covered his face with his hands and let the tears fall. 'His fault. All his fault. Lance was missing because of Shiro's stupidity, not realizing that Lance was hurting and thought he was only seen as the team joke. All his fault that Lance was gone.' Something soft brushed against his human arm, and he flinched. A mewing noise had him looking over to see Azul, the kitten they'd found under Blue's dashboard, staring at him worriedly. A louder meow, and a headbutt to the wrist. Shiro reached over with his robot prosthetic and gently rubbed the kitten's forehead, smiling through his tears at the happy purr he got in response. Black was purring too, and sent him comforting vibes through their bond.
He pulled Azul onto his lap and used both hands to run over the fluffy spine, grounding himself in the here and now with the soft brown fur under his palms. He couldn't feel the hairs with his Galran arm, but he could feel the warmth emanating from the little body currently butting his head into Shiro's stomach and purring up a storm. He chuckled and wiped away the tear tracks staining his face, and scratched under the kitten's chin with one human finger, exhaling shakily.
“Sorry kitten. Did I make you worry? It was just a bad dream, nothing you need to be concerned about.” He murmured to the little fluffball, who, he could've sworn he saw him do this, rolled his eyes and reared up to put his paws on Shiro's broad chest and boop his nose against the elder human's with a gentle huff. Shiro blinked, startled, then started laughing quietly. “You are quite a strange kitty, you know?” He chuckled, ruffling Azul's ears playfully. The kitten sneezed and shook his head cutely, before settling down and resting his head on his paws. Shiro sighed and lay back down, mouth twitching upwards as Azul wriggled forward to curl up on Shiro's chest, a purr vibrating in his throat and vibrating through Shiro's ribcage. Shiro fell asleep, this time with no nightmares to bother him, soothed by the gentle rumbles from both Black and Azul.
// Me: LetShiroRest2k17
Me to Me: yeah okay but make him suffer
Me: dammit
Shiro has a bad dream, poor baby ;^; lucky him, it's kitty Lance to the rescue! I had fun with this, oddly enough. Maybe i'm secretly a sadist? *shrugs * possibly. Oh well, next up is the team searching for Lance and Lance getting into trouble feat Allura's long, fluffy hair! :D Sorry this one seems shorter than the others....
Look, this may have been said before, but I'm calling it now. Who bets Keith's "disciplinary issue" was Gunderson or someone saying crap about it being Shiro's fault that the Kerberos mission failed/got killed, or just backtalking him in general, and Keith blew up and punched them square in the jaw whilst hurling insults and stuff about how amazing Shiro is.
Inktober Day 21 Let’s have a space dad that we all love and drool over! #inktober2017 #inktobersingapore #inktober #takashishirogane #shirovoltron #voltronlegendarydefender #letshirorest2k17