Chapter Text
Shiro almost wanted to take back his celebration that Keith and Matt had figured things out. Almost. Not quite, but damn was it close.
Why? Why would Shiro have a little piece of himself that he didn't want to think about that missed his brother and best friend fighting?
Slav.
He'd been worried when the genius alien turned out to have made temporary living arrangements on the Castle, but Slav had been abnormally reserved.
He should've known it wouldn't last. That morning, the same one where Shiro had found the boys together in the kitchen, Slav had taken one look at him and smiled. It was terrible. Too many teeth for such a small creature.
"Ah," Slav had said, "I see everything is as it should be! Finally, now we can get to work!" If the endless hours spent working on nobody knows what with Pidge and Hunk wasn't considered work, Shiro didn't want to know what Slav meant.
So he didn't. He was very careful to avoid anywhere that Slav might go. In other words: Shiro spent all of his time outside meals and training in his room. Thank Altea for their tablets digitally connected to the library's entire collection. It was like an alien Kindle and it was so much better than Slav's chatter about timelines and safety and so many other little things that he wouldn't. shut. up. about.
-=o0o=-
Pidge couldn't be happier with the way things were going. Matt and Keith weren't fighting anymore. Allura, Lance, and Shiro were turning into a strategic dream team. Pidge had figured out a rhythm to fighting alongside Keith that only Matt could beat. Hunk and Kreth had found their synergy as long-distance support for the ground team. Plus, Vraxa and Coran had a great balance going with Vraxa acting as field medic and Coran only having to abandon his post for the worst injuries.
Overall, things were great! The team had never worked better together and their efficiency when clearing Empire Outposts was unmatched. The mood in the castle was high and everyone was getting along. Not just getting along. They were a family. Pidge could honestly say that their team was a proper family.
This, of course, was only possible because it had been so long. They'd been in space together, building these relationships and developing their teamwork, for deca-pheobs. It had been so long that Pidge didn't even call them 'years' anymore.
It had also been long enough that Pidge was ready for a change. So, she hadn't cut her hair in a while. She'd originally cut it short to disguise herself as a boy at the Garrison. Then, she'd kept it short because it got in her eyes during fights. Now, though, she was confident enough in her skills that a little fringe in the eye didn't get in her way.
She hadn't considered that she would have to find a way to tie it back while it was long enough to be annoying but too short to weigh itself down. It wasn't much of a problem finding a tie. Allura was a princess with hair nearly to her waist. She had plenty of hair ties for Pidge to borrow. The part that did surprise her was Keith eyeing her head throughout training the next quintant.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Huh?" Pidge looked up from dabbing a towel against her neck. "Get what?" Keith was standing before her with furrowed brows.
"A hair tie. I tried to make it work with a small piece of rope, but I couldn't get the tension right."
"You couldn't-" After letting that sink in, Pidge laughed so hard she could hardly breathe. "Keith! You're joking!" She had to stop and wipe away some tears. "Oh, buddy. You didn't think Allura might have some?"
Keith opened his mouth to say something but stopped. His eyes slowly got wide as realization set in. "Holy mother of-," he cut himself off and crouched down, shoving his hands against his face while his ears pulled back against the sides of his head.
After a moment, Pidge leaned over to put a hand on his shoulder, triggering no response except a drawn-out whine. "Keith, come on. It's not that bad." The whine raised in pitch and his ears pushed further back.
"Why is he keening?" Vraxa almost looked wary to approach.
"He's embarrassed." Vraxa suddenly looked much less concerned.
"That's all?" She bumped Keith with her foot just enough to tip him over. "Get up. You're fine."
"No, I'm a dumbass."
"Don't know what that is, but probably."
"Vrax," Keith pulled his hands away just enough to look at her, "I've had trouble holding my hair back and didn't realize I could ask Allura if she had anything I could use." Pidge couldn't help but chuckle as Keith shoved his hands back into his eyes. "I'm so stupid!"
"Aw, come on, Keith!" Pidge sat next to him and gave a patronizing pat on his head. "Everybody gets to be stupid about some things. Shiro's stupid about people's feelings. Matt is stupid about fashion and color theory. You just happen to be stupid about self-care."
"Matt's stupid about colors?"
"Partially red-green colorblind. He got it from mom." Keith dropped his hands to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling. "It's kind of ironic since his sister is the Green Paladin and his boyfriend used to be the Red Paladin."
"What is colorblindness? Matt is blind to colors?"
"Galra don't have that?" Vraxa shook her head, prompting Keith to continue. "Yeah, it's an issue where some humans' eyes don't register all the colors right. There are a few different kinds. I think red-green means those are the colors he can't see, right?" He looked to Pidge for confirmation.
"Well, he can see them. Reds and Greens are just less vibrant. I think depending on how bright they are, reds fade into either brown or a kind of pinky color and greens fade into either brown or yellow? It's been a long time, though, so I might be wrong."
"Why would humans have this trait? Wouldn't that pose an issue?"
"Probably. I think it's just a condition left over from before we developed full-spectrum color vision." Pidge shrugged. "So hey, Keith, if Matt can be stupid about colors, you can be stupid about your hair. Seriously, though. It's starting to be a bit of a mess. Borrow a brush and some ties from Allura, dude."
"It's not that bad!" Keith yelled at her retreating back.
"It is!" Pidge ran out the door and heard some thumps behind her. A game of castle-wide cat and mouse could be fun.
-=o0o=-
Matt liked Slav. He was a chatterbox, but he was fun. Not to mention, the little guy was so smart! With his help, they'd finally finished not only the base mechanism for his new prosthetic but also their first few attempts at the cloaking cover to give it different designs.
So, now that Matt's leg was essentially done, it was time to take what they'd learned making it and apply it to the other project: Shiro's arm. This meant they would finally have the chance to force Shiro to be around Slav for an extended time. Matt couldn't wait.
So he didn't.
"Hey, Shiro! Check it out!" Matt tapped a small button on the side of his leg, switching the holo-cover to look like skin. "We figured out the cover for the prosthetic! What do you think?" He threw himself onto the foot of Shiro's bed to lift his leg on display.
"Wait- that's your prosthetic? That's not-?" Shiro pulled back Matt's other pant leg to check. "How did you-? Matt? What?"
"It's a miniaturized version of the cloaking tech that Pidge put on Green, but with holographic imaging, so we can put any design we want. Plus, with Slav's help, we were able to make it do this!" Matt kicked off his shoe and shoved his prosthetic toward Shiro, wiggling the toes and twisting the ankle this way and that. "Full articulation, man!"
"That's incredible!"
"Want one?" Shiro paused from where he'd been studying Matt's foot to furrow his brows. "While we have Slav, we can make you a new prosthetic, too. If you want."
Shiro turned his stare down at his hand. Matt had to admit, he'd seen how Shiro grimaced at the limb. He had to imagine Shiro hated it, especially considering it was a supposed 'gift' from the Galra Witch.
Finally, Shiro nodded. "I'm not gonna turn down the chance to replace this thing. Especially not if it's an upgrade. What do I have to do?"
-=o0o=-
Keith had to admit it, Lance was making progress with his broadsword. Not only that, he was almost good. Not good enough to hold his own against a Blade, but good enough to handle himself with Empire-trained soldiers.
It was at the end of another training session, though, that Lance managed to surprise Keith in another way.
"Hey, Keith?"
"Hm?" Keith focused on hunting down a water pouch for each of them.
"Is there a thing about Galra and necks? Or like, shoulders?" Keith took a moment to turn the question in his head, before looking over his shoulder to see Lance looking equally as confused as Keith felt.
"I think you'll have to give me some context on that one. Do you mean, like- Is Kreth extra careful about grooming there? Does he touch your shoulder a lot when he walks by? Is it not related to him and I'm jumping to conclusions? What- What's the reason for asking?"
"Um, well..." Lance held his mouth open for a moment, seemingly considering something before groaning and putting his hands over his face. "It's kind of awkward."
"Dude, just ask. We've changed each other into pod suits and been fighting together in a war for deca-pheobs. I think we're past awkward."
"Ugh, okay, well-" Lance turned and started pacing a bit as he asked. "In Galra relationships, is there something special about the neck and shoulders? Especially in the back. Like, is there any reason that a Galra would pay special attention to that area?" Lance was still pacing, but Keith was frozen.
"Are you... asking me for relationship advice... for a human and galra? So, this is about Khreth?" Lance nodded his head, which was once again hidden behind his hands. "Okay, he's been paying extra attention to the back of your neck and shoulders? Like- I can't believe I'm asking this, but what kind of attention? Is he, like, extra touchy there, or-"
"No, no, it's..." Keith could understand Lance hesitating. He'd never imagine the two of them being the ones to talk about relationships. "It's more like... nuzzling. Like, when we hug or cuddle or... you know, more. He just spends so much time sort of rubbing his face into that area and I don't know if it means something or not because, like, we're different species! Maybe to me it doesn't mean anything but to him it's some big thing that I'm totally missing! I don't want to-"
"It's a thing." Lance's head whipped around, finally looking directly at Keith's back. "It's a thing. Less neck and shoulders, more just anything close to the spine. The spine has a lot of meaning to Galra, so that's probably what he's focusing on."
"Really?" Keith turned his head to find Lance already filling most of his view, nearly bouncing with excitement from barely a foot away from Keith. "So, what does it mean? Is it a good thing? It seems like a good thing. Is there some specific meaning to him nuzzling that area or is it more of a general display of affection? Do you think he would like it if I tried doing it back? I've-"
"Dude, one thing at a time. I- Let me take a moment and figure out what you just asked, hold on." Keith sorted through what he'd heard and how he wanted to respond, taking the chance to also sip some water. "It's affectionate, a specific thing, and he'd probably be wrapped around your finger if you actually did it back. You don't have scent glands like he does to have the same effect, but all you have to do is just pay attention to his spine line and he'll catch on."
"That's all? So, like, if I was sitting next to him, I could just scratch his back along the spine, and he'd know it meant something?"
"Eh, maybe? Scratching might not be as clear. If you do anything around his spine with your face or mouth, though..." Keith trailed off with a shrug. "You should talk to him about this, too. I'm a hybrid who was raised with humans, so I don't know much of this stuff. What I can tell you is that the Galra have a cultural importance on the spine line, what you described Khreth doing is good, and he'd probably be putty in your hands if you did it back."
"Okay, cool. Good to know. Thanks, Keith!" Lance started running toward the door, only stopping when Keith called out.
"Lance! You should know, in a relationship, doing that... It's a really, really big thing he's doing. It's so big that I don't think it would be right for me to tell you what it means because it should come from him. You should talk to Khreth about this. Don't dive in head first without knowing what it is, okay?"
"Aw, come on, Mullet! You know I'm not the impulsive one here!" With that, Lance dashed out of the training room, leaving Keith to remember impulsivity being a key trait in Red Paladins. If only Lance bothered to remember that he was one of those.
-=o0o=-
"Alright, Shiro. Time for the final test. If the arm can keep up with you, it's officially a finished product. How does that feel?"
"It feels like you're stalling." Pidge just laughed and started up the training simulator. Shiro could usually last about 10 doboshes against a level 25 training bot, so they'd been redesigning the arm until he could still meet that goal.
Not long after the fight began, Shiro was knocked down and the simulator ended. "Alright, Pidge, how long was that time?" The arm hadn't malfunctioned or stuck at any point, so it was already better than half the other attempts.
Honestly, Shiro thought this prosthetic felt more like having his arm back than any other they'd tried. "Pidge?" He turned toward the viewing deck. "Hunk? Matt? What's going on guys?"
"How did you feel about that one, Shiro?" Aw, come on. Slav was the only one Shiro didn't address! "Anything that stood out to you for the next design? Specific sticking points that need improvement?" That was... weirdly reserved. Shit, did they break Slav again?
"No. I felt pretty good. Honestly, it almost felt like I didn't even have a prosthetic."
"Really?" Oh, shit, hi there, Pidge, when did you get to the training deck?
"I mean, yeah. It felt really good." Pidge stared for a second, then started bouncing on the balls of her feet for a second before shouting out and running toward Shiro. She jumped up to reach around Shiro's shoulders, still shouting at almost the top of her lungs.
"Shiro, you lasted 17 minutes! Almost twice as long as usual! It works, it works, it works!"
Oh... Shiro had a new arm.
Yeah. Pidge's shoulder was definitely not wet after that hug. Not at all.
-=o0o=-
Keith's ears were itchy.
Why? He had no clue. He'd been doing the fur care routine that Khreth and Lance had helped him figure out. It had been going well. But now, his fur just felt wrong. So wrong. His ears were almost itchy but not quite. They kept twitching and it was so annoying. He couldn't focus. He couldn't get them to stop twitching.
Keith knew he should be listening to Allura's debrief on news from throughout the coalition. Maybe there was something important in there. Maybe some of it would be relevant during a mission. Keith didn't know. He couldn't know. All he could do was twitch. his. ears!
Tapping on his thigh, almost unnoticed because of how distracting the quiznacking itching was, but barely enough for him to glance to his left. Matt was looking at him with worried eyes and a lifted brow. "You okay?" was whispered into the air between them as a hand slipped under his own, pulling it up from where he'd been digging his claws into his knee.
Keith could only grimace and shake his head, ears twitching even more with the movement of his hair against them. "My ears," he managed to sneak through his teeth.
Without another word, Matt, the godsend that he was, moved a hand up to start scratching at the base of Keith's ears and, oh- oh wow. Okay, yeah, Keith understood dogs. And cats. And every animal that likes being pet. This was awesome.
Keith could feel his whole body relax so quickly that he slumped over into Matt's shoulder. Matt's fingers tucked just under Keith's ear in just the right way and felt so good he could fall asleep.
Well, Allura seemed done with her debrief anyway, if the way the discussion had turned into a more casual conversation was any indication. Maybe a short nap wouldn't hurt.
-=o0o=-
Being a part of Voltron, it could be easy to forget what they were. Soldiers. Warriors. Fighters.
At the end of the day, the entire Voltron crew, not just the five paladins, were regularly risking their lives to fight against the Galra Empire's tyranny. They ran missions to retrieve information, destroy ships and weapons, and rescue prisoners. They worked with allies to track the Empire's movements, to hunt their next possible step, and to strategize how they could best outmaneuver the enemy.
Being a part of Voltron wasn't just training. It was flying. It was fighting. It was a constant battle for the freedom of the Universe.
So, nobody expected anything new or particularly interesting when they were contacted by N-7 of the Rebel Alliance. Matt had befriended her when he first was found by the rebels, so she'd become one of the main points of contact between them and Voltron.
"N-7! It's good to hear from you!" Matt had been called to take the message, as Voltron's only member who also counted as a member of the Rebel Alliance. So, here he stood, with Coran, Shiro, and Vraxa listening in. "I hear you've got news for me."
"I do. As you know, the Alliance focuses on retrieving enslaved peoples from Empire prisons and workshops." Matt nodded along. He knew that better than most. "One of the ships that's been recently scouted to check for prisoners came up positive. However, due to additional details in the uncovered footage from the ship, we'd like to hand this mission off to Voltron."
Woah.
"Is there any reason," Shiro asked, "that the Alliance wouldn't be able to accomplish the rescue mission themselves? Or with assistance from the Blade or even Voltron? Why completely hand it over to us?"
"Yeah. Is there something on that ship that's so dangerous it wouldn't be safe for rebel fighters to go in?" Matt watched N-7's head tilt.
"No. If it were too dangerous for our fighters, we would not pass it on to yours. We believe this mission may have personal significance to the Voltron Team."
"The Voltron Team themselves have almost no personal connection to this war past what's on this ship." Vraxa leaned over to put herself in the frame of the video call. "What significance could you have possibly found?"
N-7 said the next words like they were nothing. So casually spoken, that Matt almost didn't believe he heard them. After all, why would N-7 have said that? She wouldn't have.
Unless... she'd meant it when she responded "A Human."