#shiy

Model: 373_Cos

my style changed alot :/

So, uh, this turned into monster of a fic at nearly 15k.

Instead of posting all of that to Tumblr, it’s on AO3.  The first part is below and you can read all of it right here.

Since leaving Earth for Kerberos, Shiro had woken up in a variety of places, many of them uncomfortable.  For six months on the Daedalus, he'd either fallen asleep on the padded, upright slab that he clipped into, or drifted off in the pilot's seat.  For a year after - well, Shiro didn't remember many, or even most of the places he'd slept.  But every one he knew of had been hard and smooth, featureless and cold.  At the castle, Shiro had first tried to sleep on a mountain of pillows, and when that had proven uncomfortable, had been pleased with their simple cots.

This time was the first time in recent memory that he'd woken up with a rock digging into his spine.

Groaning, Shiro shifted, trying to raise a shoulder so he could knock the stone away.  His body protested immediately.  Each movement felt exhausting, like his armor was much heavier than he remembered.

Wait.

Armor.

Fight.

Zarkon.

Shiro jolted up, then groaned as his shoulders and back screamed at him.  

After a few moments, the worst of the ache finally subsided.  Shiro opened his eyes and looked around.

He was in a room made of rock, on a table made of rock, with a doorway made of rock.

Shiro sensed a theme.  

Reaching behind him, Shiro finally batted at what had been bothering him so much.  It felt like a boulder under him, but turned out to be little more than a pebble.  It clattered to the floor, making a mockingly tiny sound as it landed.  Shiro made a face at it.

"Hello?" Shiro called, looking around again.  There was no immediate answer. He turned in place, letting his legs hang over the side of the table as he debated getting up.  

On one hand, sitting here did him no good.

On the other, moving also sounded like a lot of pain.

Well, Shiro had never let pain stop him before.  He pushed off the table and onto his feet.  

Pain shot through him again, tingling painfully through him. This time Shiro recognized the sensation.  It was like when he would sit on his feet too long, or what he would wake up to after Haggar's sessions.  The ones he remembered, at least.

It was like his whole body had been asleep for a very long time.

Goody.

Shiro braced his hand on the table, and then on the wall as he moved through the door.  "Hello?" He called again, straightening up as best he could.  "Is anyone here?"

No one answered, but this time Shiro heard something other than his own voice echoed in the small space.

It sounded like...

Machinery?

Each step was a little easier than the last, as if Shiro's body was remembering how to move again.  Slowly, laboriously, he made his way down the hall, following the echoing clangs.

Until he came to the end, with another huge hole that served as a door.  Stepping to it, Shiro peered out.

Then down.

A walkway curved around a huge hole that dropped hundreds of feet, and then up nearly the same distance.  In both directions, stocky figures worked on huge slabs of steel, utterly foreign looking in the otherwise natural rock.  Bright green crystals bloomed from the walls, providing light where the natural sunshine above couldn't manage.

It was also familiar.

This was-

"Shiro!"

Looking down again, Shiro saw one of the figures wave their huge, blunt hand.  Green light from the crystal glinted off her earrings and showed the shape of her friendly smile.

"Shay!"  Shiro waved back, then started down the ramp toward her platform.  But he forgot himself for a moment, taking his hand off the wall. His foot didn't lift all the way, and he nearly tripped onto his face, only barely catching himself on the rocky wall.

There was a commotion below, and Shiro heard Shay's brother - Rax, he thought? - speak.  His tone was not complimentary.  But Shay didn't respond, at least that Shiro could hear.

Jogging up the ramp, Shay put her huge hands on Shiro's shoulders and helped to heft him upright again.  "Are you well, Shiro?  You should not be up.  You have been sleeping for many vargas.  I do not know how long your species sleeps for, but I was worried."

"Can't say I know very well either, these days," Shiro muttered, more to himself.  "I'm alright, don't worry.  Just getting my footing."  He looked up at her and offered a smile.

Shay looked relieved.  More so than Shiro could have expected.

How long was 'many vargas?'

"I-"  Shiro looked around.  "Where's everyone else?"  Last he remembered, they'd just fought Zarkon.  The teleduv jump had taken them clear to the other side of the known universe from Shay's Balmera.

So how the hell had he ended up here?

"I do not know," Shay replied.  "I had hoped you would have more answers.  It is clear you have been through much since the last time we spoke."

Since the last time-

Well, they hadn't really spoken one-on-one ever, but last time Shay had spoken to him had been barely a day ago, by Shiro's estimation.

Then again, 'much' was a pretty good way of putting what they'd just done.

Shiro looked around again, then back at Shay.  "How did I get here?"

"I do not know that either, I am afraid," Shay replied.  "Perhaps we should talk elsewhere?  You do not seem stable."

Shiro didn't feel very stable.  He was so far away from where he was supposed to be and he didn't know how or why.

Again.

Finally, Shiro gave a bob of a nod.  "I'd appreciate a place to sit down," he replied.  "Maybe where we can talk?"

Shay's grip tightened, then shifted so he was pressed against her side.  Like this, Shiro was reminded that Shay was actually a little taller than him, and certainly broader.  "Yes.  Let us find a quiet place.  Hopefully we will both learn what we need."

"Sounds good to me," Shiro replied.  "It doesn't usually work out that way, but we'll try."

As they walked back into the hallway Shiro had just trudged through, Shiro cast one last look back at the busily working figures in the cavern.

Shiro had so many questions, but what else was new?

this is why i dont play mobile games anymore,

why am i even posting this, its 2 days before my birthday, but uh, happy birthday to me i guess, i have no one to invite but i got my family to celebrate with me,