(You mentioned galra s o o o........) CHALLENGE MODE: shendak, but soft
ayyyy Challenge Accepted!!
[Preface: Sendak is the one who helps Shiro escape the first time around. Sendak and Shiro had ended up growing close while Shiro was imprisoned and he ends up deciding to betray the Empire to help Shiro escape. They’re able to get on a pod together, but Sendak is hit and knocked unconscious. (And is unconscious when they get to Earth, lucky for the Garrison folks, cause he probably would have killed them…)
The reason Sendak is different is because he met Kolivan (who was undercover) when he was younger, before Haggar started experimenting on him. Haggar had already started showing special interest in Sendak by then, though, so Kolivan never told Sendak about the Blade, not wanting to raise suspicion. He did try to mentor him best he could, though. Eventually, however, he had to leave Sendak to his fate.
Sendak is a traitor to the Empire and joins Team Voltron from the beginning. When they find out about the Blade, Sendak is shocked but also pleased that there are others. Sendak stays in the ship during Keith’s trials. When Kolivan comes to the Castleship and Sendak recognizes him and they have a Moment. Sendak doesn’t want to join the Blade at first, feeling betrayed and abandoned by Kolivan, but they eventually mend their relationship and Sendak eventually undergoes the trials and joins the Blade.
This is taking place after Sendak’s official joining of the Blade. He is about to leave to do more training and run missions with them, and this will be the first time he and Shiro are separated long-term since their escape from the Empire.]
When Shiro finally reached the hangar, he found Kolivan and Sendak speaking, heads bent close together. He stopped just inside the doorway and leaned against the wall, not wanting to interrupt their clearly private conversation.
A few ticks passed before Kolivan gently bumped his forehead against Sendak’s and walked off towards the Blade’s ship, docked to the left of the Red Lion. While Sendak watched Kolivan walk away, Shiro took a moment to take in Sendak’s new suit.
It looked a great deal like Antok’s, though Sendak wasn’t currently wearing his mask and had his hood pushed back. With his new arm and eye, courtesy of Ulaz, and the sword strapped to his back, Sendak almost looked like a completely different Galra.
Shiro’s heart ached at the thought, wondering at how far both he and Sendak had come since their first meeting. Everything had changed, but Shiro had come to learn that change was not always a bad thing.
When Sendak finally turned around, he didn’t look surprised to find Shiro there, though his shoulders seemed to relax somewhat at the sight of him. They approached each other slowly, meeting in the middle distance.
Sendak’s gaze was searching, but Shiro wasn’t sure what he was looking for. If it was a reason to stay that he sought in Shiro’s face, Shiro refused to give it to him. The Blade needed Sendak–but more than that, Shiro knew that Sendak needed the Blade.
Shiro had the other paladins, had Keith, but Sendak had only had Shiro for so long… He needed the other Galra–Kolivan and Antok and Ulaz–to lean on, too. It wasn’t just them against the universe anymore, after all.
Sendak huffed at the stubborn set of Shiro’s jaw and the steadfast look in his eyes. He knew where Shiro stood on all of this, so he knew it would be pointless to say anything regarding the decisions that had already been made. Instead, he reached out and pulled Shiro to him.
Shiro went willingly, placing his arms around Sendak’s waist, while Sendak wrapped his own arms around Shiro’s shoulders and nuzzled just a bit into Shiro’s hair.
Shiro sighed at the contact, closing his eyes and resting his head against Sendak’s chest, enjoying the all-enclosing warmth of him. They stayed like that for a long moment, just holding each other, like they were trying to memorize the feeling of having the other in their arms.
After a while, though, Shiro decided to break the silence. He leaned back, not far enough to break their embrace, but far enough that he could look Sendak in the face
“I like the suit,” he said, a playful smile at the edge of his lips.
Sendak made a deep, rumbling sound that Shiro felt more than he heard. It had always reminded him of a strange mix between a chuckle and a cat’s purr–something so obviously alien, yet warm and familiar.
“I’ll be sure to wear it the next night we are able to spend together,” Sendak said with a wide smirk.
Shiro barked a laugh, but he could still feel something warm spreading through his stomach and chest at the thought, mixing strangely with his melancholy mood.
When Shiro looked back up at Sendak, there was understanding in his eyes, a matching warmth and sadness.
“It won’t be forever,” Shiro said. Whether he was saying that for Sendak’s sake or his own, he wasn’t sure.
“Always with the promises,” Sendak said, though his voice was fond. “You shouldn’t make those unless you know you can go through with them.”
Shiro looked at Sendak for a long moment before reaching up and bringing Sendak’s face down to his. Being this close to someone as huge as Sendak always made Shiro feel small, but the look the spread across Sendak’s face whenever Shiro was so near made Shiro feel powerful in a way he had never experienced.
He held Sendak’s heart in the palms of his hands–an honor that both empowered and humbled him. For someone like Sendak to look at Shiro that way… the feeling was nearly indescribable.
“It won’t be forever,” Shiro whispered.
And just for a moment, right before their lips met, Sendak looked like he actually believed him.
