#ummmmmmmm yeah

a few months after they all return to earth, people stop asking them questions.

they stop asking about the alteans’ pointy ears and their strange, glowing markings. they stop asking where shiro got a mechanical prosthetic. they stop asking why a green, four-armed alien is never far behind the group.

they’ve had enough publicity. people know about the group of space explorers who saved the universe with the help of voltron. they recognize the faces plastered all over the world, humans singing praises for the group of misfit heroes. it helps that more and more aliens have migrated to earth, displaced from the war with nowhere left to go.

the best part about this is that finally, shiro can go to the grocery store without getting weird looks.

so he takes slav out one day because they’re running low on tomatoes and pasta (spaghetti is slav’s favorite human food). they both ignore the awestruck stares that follow them through the aisles, the trip just mundane enough that shiro can zone out while he collects a few extra treats.

that is, until a stranger moves in front of their cart, their eyes narrowed as they stare between shiro and slav. they don’t say anything at first, and he can nearly feel slav’s anxiety radiating off of him under the scrutiny.

“can we help you?” shiro asks, if only to move them along. autographs, pictures, whatever they wanted, shiro would give it to them, if only it meant he and slav would be left alone.

but the stranger doesn’t do any of that. instead they continue staring, dark eyes piercing through them, until finally they speak. "you don't belong here."

shiro feels a possessive, defensive anger bubble up inside him, and he gets the urge to reach out and hold slav closer to him, shield him from the affront. "what is that supposed to mean?" he asks, malice in his throat and rage on his tongue.

"both of you," the stranger clarifies. "you don't belong here."

the rage dies down, but a cautious suspicion keeps tight hold over him. "where would you say we belong then?"

the stranger is quiet for a moment, just staring, glancing between the two until shiro thinks they're just never going to answer. then they point to slav and finally answer. "you, at his side, as if you've always been there and always will be."

shiro can't help it; he chances a look at slav and sees he's gone tense, refusing to look back at him. "and you," the stranger continues, "you belong...in another place. among the stars."

they shrug and sigh, but they don't wait around long enough to hear their reply. without saying another word, they continue along their path, leaving shiro and slav speechless in their wake.

and then the two of them look at each other, silent because they know it's true, that they don't belong here.

they don’t belong in this mundane world of routine and inaction. not when there’s an entire universe waiting for them. but they can’t go back anymore.

so instead, shiro reaches out and pulls slav closer to him.

“what are you--?” he protests as he’s jerked toward the cart.

My brain: words machine broke