spaceforged | IC Contact (Mask or Menace)

I need a drink. And to decompress. You free? First round's on me.

I take it you met our new roommate. I’m free. I have the day off tomorrow so we can stay out late.

Yeah. It's been that kind of day.

But perfect. Me too. There's a bar a few blocks away.

Yeah. See you in a few minutes.

[Shiro finishes swapping out of his work clothes and back into a plain shirt, a simple tan coat, and dark pants. He gives the living room a wide berth and raps on Keith’s bedroom door.]

Ready to go?

[Keith has traded his work clothes -- which will forever smell like coffee, but there are worse things than that -- for jeans and a t-shirt.]

Just a sec.

[Keith answers, opening the door so that they're not speaking through the barrier for that sec. He's currently trying to wrangle his hair back. It's gotten longer than he's used to between space whale travel and being in this place, so he's wrestling it back into a ponytail. He probably ought to cut it at some point. But. That done, he grabs up his jacket.]

Okay. I'm good. Let's go.

[Shiro leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms. He takes the moment to study Keith again. He keeps doing it and he knows he is doing it. But there’s something magnetic about him that keeps pulling him in.

He has always known when Keith found his balance he would become an incredible individual. Seeing it has been like brushing his fingers across the stars. He had had no idea how strong he would become. In all of his time alive he has never had an equal. It’s a new experience especially when it’s someone he knows very well. He is torn from his thoughts as Keith picks up his jacket. He nods and walks out, opening the door and locking it behind them.]

Of all the things to happen...a god. [He shakes his head and Black on top of the roof settles into guard mode. He nods to the beast and looks back at Keith.]

Remember when all we had to worry about was getting the lions to listen to us?

[It isn't entirely lost on Keith that sometimes Shiro seems to look at him. He wonders about it, really. A lot.

But he imagines it has to be strange for the other man, finding an older version of him and not really knowing that time between them. But that doesn't seem to have hurt their relationship. If anything, somehow, Keith feels like they're as close as ever. Closer maybe, given how long he'd been gone -- how long they'd both been gone really -- in the time he was taken from.

So he falls into step with Shiro and heads outside, shaking his head in agreeing bewilderment.] It makes Dick's occasional unexpected circus guests seem pretty tame by comparison too.

[He cracks a smile though.] Yeah the good old days when the greatest danger to our lives was Allura. And Coran's cooking.

[He laughs and leads the way onto the street. Street lights cast a soothing glow onto the sidewalk further easing him back from the low level of stress he'd been enduring since he got to this world.] Dick's guests aren't so bad. They just really want to be his friend.

[Traffic rumbles by as he finally stuffs his hands into his pockets. He looks as young as he is again, the smile on his face broadening as he looks at Keith.] They're great times to take pictures too. You know this will be our first time drinking together.

Legally drinking. [He'd let Keith drink once before Kerberos and it as only one beer.]

They really do. It's actually cute.

[And he has zero ground to talk when it comes to large animals following him home, given that Kosmo follows him around like a puppy at the best of times.]

Heh. [He breathes out the short laugh, nodding.] Legally, yeah. Guess it is.

[Actually, it has been a while since Keith's been drinking at all. There wasn't exactly a bar on the space whale with his mother, after all. Oh well, it'll be good to unwind.

Then he laughs.] Do you remember that though? That beer was the grossest thing I'd ever tasted, but I finished the whole thing because I wanted you to think I was tough.

[Because he's totally tough, Shiro, in case you weren't aware.]

You've always been a fighter, Keith. I didn't need to see you finish a cheap beer to prove that to me.

[He shakes his head slowly. The fight in Keith is why he chose him. Pilots have an element of recklessness and courage to them. Keith had been that. He hadn't used it well but he could see the calculation in it. James didn't have that. He didn't have what turned a good pilot into the king of the mountain.

Keith didn't just breath flying he needed it. How could he ignore that.] I know the other reason you did it.

[He'd seen him finish that beer and felt a little bit exasperated. It had eased the darkness growing in his heart where being with Adam had been.] Thank you. I never got to say that before I left. You made it easier to deal with everything. I've been honored and proud to have you as my second of command.

Now look at you, [His eyes are touched with awe as he nudges him with his elbow.] I'll keep saying it but I'm really glad I get to see how you ended up. No matter what happens in my future, your past. I know from looking at you it will be okay.

[Keith just smiles at that. Yeah, okay. Shiro knows him entirely too well, and the thought alone is a warm and welcome one. He knows that things weren't ideal for Shiro before the Kerberos mission, and after everything Shiro had been there for him through, he wanted to be there for him in turn. He always would.

He shakes his head at the thanks.]

You got me through... a lot of things. If I could return the favor even a little, then I'm glad.

[He nudges back.] You're getting sappy and we haven't even started drinking yet.

[Keith teases, but mostly it's trying to distract from the heat he can feel rising in his cheeks. But he also adds,] You never gave up on me, Shiro. I won't ever give up on you either.

[He catches snatches of music from the bar ahead of them but he isn’t paying attention to it. His eyes are wide with shock for a fraction of a moment. Then he smiles warmly, his eyes bright. He hasn’t expected to hear Keith repeat those words he said to him.

But it’s so very Keith.] I know and you don’t know how much that means to me.

[His chest feels warm to match the heat in his cheeks. Shiro claps Keith on the shoulder and grins at him.] I’m always like this. I can’t remember what I’m like when I drink a bit but probably more of this.