OBSIDIAN LED.

Wʜᴇɴ I ᴡᴀs ᴀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ, I'ᴅ sɪᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴏᴜʀs Sᴛᴀʀɪɴɢ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ꜰʟᴀᴍᴇ Sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪɴ ɪᴛ ʜᴀᴅ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ, Cᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴀʀᴇʟʏ ᴛᴇᴀʀ ᴍʏ ᴇʏᴇs ᴀᴡᴀʏ

          ❝ It’s alright, ❞ he says, undoing the front of his uniform by his own volition,❝ I don’t think it is serious, ❞ but as his chest is revealed, he is clearly proven wrong; the veins in Lotor’s chest are glowing brightly beneath the skin, travelling up towards his neck and down beneath his gut, ❝ Ah… That’s… not good… ❞

Keith doesn’t miss the way Shiro’s eyes dart to check his own clock and then seek the one so carefully hidden on Keith’s own wrist, thinks he might ASK for a moment – and then he doesn’t.  But Keith doesn’t miss or misread the quick pass of fear and disappointment in his eyes.  Oh … Keith’s heart clenches in his chest and the very NOTION that he had thought it might be fair to HIDE it from Shiro when he was clearly so readily waiting for his soulmate causes Keith to roil in guilt.  Ah, but what’s worse?  Missing them, or being DISAPPOINTED with what you get?  

Keith is hardly the sort of person Shiro would be looking for.  He’s hardly a FOREVER kind of person – he isn’t FIT  to be anyone’s soulmate and thus far Shiro is striking him as a man of a far better HEART than Keith’s own.  Absolutely unfair to put him through this … 

Ha!  Yeah there’s absolutely no way he’s letting himself be CARRIED out of here – even if Shiro’s muscles are UNFAIRLY pretty.   “ I … I can walk. “  He insists as he pushes to his feet, swaying for a second as the world spins.  ( Yeah, hospital is a good idea ) He steadies, though, and offers Shiro a hesitant edge of a nervous smile.  

“ Thanks for the offer, Shirogane … we should go, then. “ 

For another split second he nearly does ask. How long will this torment him? Perhaps for the rest of his life. Missing out on the chance to find his soulmate will surely be his greatest regret. Shiro’s stomach feels as if it’s in knots, but he tries his best to ignore it. Maybe it is Keith—hell, maybe Keith doesn’t care for having a soulmate—or maybe Shiro is just an entirely disappointing person.  Those are all possibilities that run through his head on repeat.

After his speech Shirogane Takashi has only one person in mind: Keith Kogane. With his own family messaging him from afar, he’s far less worried about them. They have plans to meet this coming week—an exciting prospect. Keith has yet to meet Takashi’s parents & he knows they’ll treat Keith like one of their own. Keith is all he can think about during the press meetings, but he knows that Keith is no longer alone, and it comforts him. His mother and Kolivan will be by his side. (That still doesn’t mean that Shiro doesn’t feel guilty for not being there too.)

When demand for his attention elsewhere finally calms down Shiro is exhausted. It’s still hard to parse that this body isn’t his own, but he hasn’t shared that with anyone other than the Voltron crew. He doesn’t plan to. His parents don’t need to know, nor does anyone else. No, this is a quiet war that he will wage all on his lonesome. 

        ❝ Thank you, Shiro, ❞ he speaks quietly, moving past the other, ❝ Please, don’t tell Allura that I am here, ❞ he requests, clutching his stomach as he takes a seat, ❝ I’m unsure if I want that confrontation at the moment… ❞  

Keith raises a hand to feel at the tender injury – eyes fluttering with pain when the action presses against a knot and bruise that’s likely to be FRESH for a while.  He groans at the action, scowling the entire time – distantly, he hopes Pidge or Hunk took notes for him from the lecture he missed, and he’s aware that he probably has several messages of concern waiting for him on his phone.  He doesn’t reach to check it immediately.  He barely follows the words as SHIROGANE speaks, but the name is familiar. 

PROFESSOR SHIROGANE.  Keith doesn’t have his class, but PIDGE does.  Ah, great. 

“ I don’t need to go to the hospital, I’ll be fine. “ He retorts, but he’s aware it’s just a stubborn impulse to ARGUE when he knows damn well he should go to the hospital and make sure no permanent damage has been done.  He’d slammed his head pretty hard on the way down, on the mat, thankfully – but that doesn’t free him from the chance of something dangerous. 

“ EITHER WAY, I shouldn’t drive right now.  And I’m sure as hell not calling an ambulance. “  He could call Lance, but he doesn’t feel like having to explain how he got hurt in the FIRST PLACE and listen to the asshole laugh at him.  “ I’ll give it a couple minutes to see if I feel up to driving and go from there … “ He reasons and realizes belated he hasn’t even given his own name yet. 

“ Oh.  It’s Keith.  Keith Kogane – “  Which should be followed by the standard pleasantry, right?  NICE TO MEET YOU, or something, but all in all Keith doesn’t consider it NICE at all – he catches sight of the rose adorned clock on his compatriots wrist and the sick feeling in his stomach ROILS.  ( Wonders if he could LIE.  He keeps his clock covered up, for the most part – with GLOVES.  A quick glance down confirms that he’s still wearing them.  Safe.  …It would be wrong of him, wouldn’t it?  To HIDE it, if he can.  He goes for it anyway. ) 

 He presses the ice to his skull with an appreciative moan. 

“ Okay, yeah — hospital. “ 

“I beg to differ...” Shiro looks at him with the biggest, saddest eyes he can manage. If he can’t convince him, then maybe he can pout until the younger concedes. The Professor certainly can’t force Keith to go, but he sure as hell can make him feel bad for not agreeing to go with him. He clasps his hands together and shakes his head. What can a single man do against the force of will of youth? Funny that, he doubts Keith is much younger than him—

“Actually...I have a car and am perfectly capable of driving. You wouldn’t have to call an ambulance.” Shiro’s eyebrows furrow. “At least you’re considering it.” He’ll give him a few minutes at least, but a part of him wants to throw Kogane over his shoulder kicking and screaming. Head injuries are no joke!

Shiro pauses forces the urge to look at his wrist down. It would be selfish—incredibly selfish to look. “Keith...that’s a nice name.” His smile is soft as he looks over to him, but his heart is still pounding. One quick look at his wrist wouldn’t be too terrible, would it? He finally peels his gaze away from Keith, first looking at the roses on his wrist, almost as if he’s afraid to look at the countdown. 00:00:00.