A Weak Man
Okay so I got this idea after watching season 3 and I couldn’t help but think about @ackerchou VLD actor!au. I was inspired to write this for the AU that I still love so much after all that angst in season 3, and it might be a bit ooc but I couldn’t stop laughing. I hope you like it and please be sure to check out their actor!AU on their blog! EDIT: I did not see you posted new vld HCs for the actor au until 1 minute ago. I’m crying, thank you but this fic is probs inaccurate then. 😂
x.V.x.
Takashi Shirogane was a man of many things. Extreme talent in acting from a very young age, multiple academy awards won, a legend in the movie industry. Yes, he was a man of many things and admired by many.
However, he was weak.
He was weak when it came to telling people no. Especially artists, costume designers or to people when he’s working on projects that he loves with all of his heart. Such as projects like Voltron Legendary Defender.
His role in this television show was one of his most memorable (and admittedly one of his favorites) in his career. Not only was he a huge fan (nerd) of the 1980s original show, but the people on this show were now some of the closest people to his life. Hunk, Lance, Allura, Coran and Pidge were all people that Shiro were close to and had worked on other projects – small and big – with, along with Pidge’s brother Matt. And Keith, Keith was very special too. Despite this being the first project, anyone had worked on with Keith, this little shy ninja had wormed his way into all of their hearts.
However, Shiro was a weak man when it came to saying no.
Which was why he was stuck in his current predicament, contemplating if he could fall off the face of the earth and go into hiding. The Black Paladin was missing after all, maybe he can stay missing longer? Shiro winced knowing his team, Keith especially, would protest if he didn’t come back at the Black Paladin.
Shiro almost whimpered as he ran his hands through his short, much shorter, hair and dropped his face onto the table in front of him. Behind him, the newest makeup girl was almost in tears as Shiro’s usual makeup person tried to soothe her and Shiro at the same time.
This is why you say no Takashi. It was weird enough growing out your hair, though the fans really seemed to dig it. Shiro thought pitifully and he sighed to himself. He lifted his head up, looking into the mirror once more before catching the eye of the new makeup girl.
“Hey, there’s no need to cry. It’s not all that bad. Don’t worry about it.” He tried to soothe the girl, only for her to nearly burst into tears again. He winced when Lilian, his usual makeup artist, had to hug the girl tightly.
“I’ve made Takashi Shirogane ugly.” The new girl wailed and Shiro winced. Was he really ugly now? “I ruined your beautiful hair and I’m so sorry.”
“Hey now, there’s no need to be sorry. It’s just hair.” Shiro stood up from his chair and leaned over to put his hands on the girl’s shoulders. The girl sniffled pathetically and his lower lip trembled, causing Shiro to pull her into a deep hug. Immediately the girl blushed bright red. “It’ll grow back. You did pretty well. Don’t even worry about it, alright?”
The girl sniffled a few more times before nodded and Shiro finally grinned. “Besides, I’m still handsome right?” He asked, flexing his arms and the poor girl nearly fainted. Lilian rolled her eyes and pulled the girl away.
“Of course, Takashi. You could wear a paper bag over your face and still be the most beautiful man here.” She replied and Shiro grinned again.
“Ah Lilian you’re too kind.”
“Of course, some would argue that now Lance is the most beautiful man thanks to your baby tuff of white hair.”
“Lilian, you wound me!” Shiro gasped, when the two women finally left his trailer. His smile slowly morphed into a worried frown as he ran his hands through the much too short, white bangs on his head, feeling the unevenness of the rest of his hair. It was bad enough he had dyed his bangs for this role. His hair was bound to suffer.
“Shoulda just kept the long locks.” Shiro muttered, exiting the trailer. Sure, he preferred his hair to be shorter, but at least he could have hid the long hair mess into a bun. How on Altea was he going to hide this?
Worst of all, what would his castmates think?
Shiro almost turned around and headed home. Almost.
x.V.x
It wasn’t Lance that said something right away. Or Pidge or even Coran. No, that would have been too easy. Much too easy for Shiro. Sure, Shiro would have faced endless teasing and lots of jokes from any of them – maybe become a few memes, but eventually it would have died out. Allura and Keith would have lied and told Shiro it looked fine, helping his poor pride. Shiro would have gone home and by tomorrow this would all blow over.
However, he had been betrayed.
It stung and his heart ached at the betrayal.
He couldn’t believe it. He never saw this one coming.
Why is everyone so mean to me? Aren’t I a good person?
It was Keith who had betrayed Shiro. Much to everyone’s surprise. Shiro had walked onto set at the very last possible minute. Arriving only just before shooting so there would be no time for jokes right away. They would be thrown straight into the shooting and no one could say a word for at least thirty minutes. It had been a perfect plan really. Except that he hadn’t counted on Keith breaking character.
Keith never broke character.
Well, except from puns and cheesy jokes from either Lance or himself but still. So this was really a surprise when it was Keith who broke character to comment on Shiro’s hair.
“What the fuck happened to your hair?” Keith gaped and dead silence followed after. It took Keith only a split second to realize that he had said that out loud and that it wasn’t his line. Instantly, his entire face went redder than a tomato and he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. His hand slammed against his mouth faster than anyone could blink, as if that would make the situation any better.
Shiro’s jaw had dropped and he had completely missed his line. Lance was staring at Keith as if Keith had just committed a scandalous crime. Pidge’s glasses slid down her nose until they had nearly fallen off and Hunk was blinking rapidly. Coran had two fingers pressed against his nose and Allura was fighting back a smile.
Nervously Keith took a step backwards slowly moving his hand away from his mouth to frantically wave at Shiro.
“I – I’m so sorry Shiro. I swear I didn’t mean – oh that came out wrong. I’m so sorry. It lo - ooks great.” Keith stammered quickly, watching as Shiro’s entire body seemed to deflate. Oh my god, I’ve hurt the feelings of the leading star in cinematic history. I’m a horrible, terrible person.
“Is it really that bad?” Shiro bit his lips and Keith almost cried.
“No!” He shouted quickly, startling everyone once more. “No! It looks terrific. It’s great. You totally rock it. Much better than a stupid mullet, right?” Keith was terrified that he had destroyed the Takashi Shirogane’s confidence. This would be the end of his short-lived career. There would be nothing left after this. Who wants to hire the man responsible for sending Takashi Shirogane into a spiraling depression, all because he couldn’t keep his mouth. Shut. About the. Stupid. Fucking. Hair.
It was a few more seconds of tense silence when Shiro suddenly smiled.
“I know it looks awful.” He finally admitted and everyone – everyone but Keith – had breathed a sigh of relief. Shiro tried to run his hands through his short hair, only to fail miserably. “It’s okay Keith, you don’t have to lie. My pride can handle it. It looks awful but it’s just hair.”
Keith was still mortified, but at least he could breathe again.
“I’m surprised though. I can’t believe a haircut would make you break character.” Shiro grinned mischievously. “Maybe we should all get haircuts so you’re not the best at their lines for a while.”
“As if.” Lance finally snorted. “Sorry Shiro babe, but your hair is a disaster. It’ll take more than a haircut to ruin this masterpiece.” He pointed to his own face, earning a snort from Pidge and Allura. Keith continue to attempt to blend into the background, feeling a tickling feeling building up in his throat. He knew exactly what it was and he furiously shoved the feeling back down, because if he laughed at Takashi Shirogane’s haircut he was dead.
“Okay everyone. I’m glad we’ve all realized that the Black Paladin has a new haircut, but we are on a schedule.” The director finally intervened and Keith blushed again. He looked away from Shiro when he felt a laugh bubbling in his throat again and Shiro blinked. However, upon hearing the director speak again, everyone quickly got back into position.
“Great job out there everyone.” Shiro said, entering through the sliding door, easily diving back into character. He smiled with pride at his team, who all looked at to him with grins of their own. “You’ve really turned the tide in this war. I’m glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone.” Everyone smiled at the Black Paladin, all except Keith who was trying to fiddle with imaginary controls.
“You’re looking better.” Lance, the Blue Paladin, replied. There was a small sound that followed, one that no one could identify and ignored. “How are you feeling?”
The sound happened again.
“Good.” Shiro grinned. “Just trying to get rid of this headache.”
The sound happened yet again and this time it was much louder and much more distinguishable. It was a snort. And it came directly from Keith. Shiro looked over at Keith who had turned away with a hand over his mouth when Shiro looked his way. Unfortunately, this meant that everyone had heard Keith’s snort and the take was ruined.
Again.
“Alright, alright. Let’s take this again. Lance, we’re starting on you.” The director said as Keith’s attempted to calm his laughter. It took a few seconds before everyone was in position again and then Lance spoke.
“You’re looking better,” Lance said just as Keith snorted again and this time a teeny giggle slipped through. Since the camera was directly on Lance, he couldn’t even grin at Keith. His laughter was getting contagious. “How are you feeling?”
“Good.” Shiro said easily, and Keith snorted yet again. “Just trying to get rid of this headache.” Upon hearing another snort, Shiro felt his own lips twitching upwards into a laughable grin and everyone groaned.
“Cut!” The director called. Even he had an amused grin on his face, because it wasn’t every day that Keith ruined continuous takes. “Okay, get those giggles out. Are we good? Okay, we’re starting from Lance again.”
Keith kept quiet. “You’re looking better,” Lance paused and when he didn’t hear Keith laugh he continued. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” Shiro said with a small smile. Lance couldn’t see, but Shiro could clearly see Keith’s shoulders shaking and his body was slightly hunched over to hide his laughter. He figured that Keith was just out of focus that his laughter wasn’t caught on camera. “Just trying to get rid of this headache.”
“I think I’ve got something!” Pidge yelled as the Green Paladin from her spot. Shiro could still see Keith’s shoulders shaking and he snuck in a grin when the camera was off him. Thankfully, Keith had no lines as the group made their way over to Pidge. However, while surrounded, Shiro and Keith were meant to share a look together, as leaders, but once Keith made eye contact with Shiro, he couldn’t help himself. He snorted, which turned into giggles and eventually developed into bubbling laughter until he was doubled over. Keith’s face was bright red, from laughter and exhaustion.
This of course was a sign for Lance to start laughing, happy that the take was ruined enough for him to laugh. The others followed in suit and soon enough, even Coran and Shiro were laughing at the whole predicament.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Shiro.” Keith wheezed, leaning against Lance for support. “I swear I’m not laughing at you.” He giggled again and Shiro rolled his eyes playfully.
“Stop, you are!” Lance wiped a fake tear from his eyes as he continued to laugh. “It looks ridiculous, doesn’t it? Like did you cut it yourself? Shoulda kept the mob of hair.”
“Ha. Ha.” Shiro said with an amused smirk. To be honest, he was fine with all the laughter. It was what they all needed after continuous filming of their most emotional season yet. After so much hurt it felt good to laugh.
“I think it looks lovely.” Allura commented but she was grinning none-the-less.
“Yes, it certainly doesn’t make you look old.” Coran agreed, which sent Pidge over the edge of her chair with laughter while Shiro pouted. Lance and Keith were almost on the ground now, holding onto each other as they laughed.
“It’s not the worst haircut. I do like it better than the long-ish hair you were styling.” Hunk shrugged.
“How dare you?! That was beautiful!” Lance cried out and jumped up, while Keith fell over still giggling. “Do you understand how much the fans are going to cry when they see long-haired Shiro.”
“Just wait until they see this Shiro.” Keith said between giggles. “They’ll certainly be crying.”
Shiro folded his arms over his chest but the grin remained and his entire body felt warm as he looked at the people he considered a second family, full of love and laughter. Yeah Shiro was a weak man sometimes, and he didn’t know how to say no.
But damn, he was still a gorgeous man.