[ The Thursday routine is comforting. From the school, down to the get a loaf of bread because that's the day the bakery also makes the breakfast muffins he and Keith like so much. From there to the store to grab food for the dog along with take out or groceries for dinner that night. Last, was the precinct for either a drive or a walk home depending on whose apartment they were going to. Routine worked, especially for settling him once they had gotten back.
The therapist was right about everything else so far on how to cope, so he wasn't inclined to think it's wrong it's just...a little boring. He knows that unless he goes in for testing, he won't know for sure how long he has until he starts losing function again, but if there is a date...he doesn't want to know it. This, here and now with Keith, is good.
This is better than anything he could have hoped for, weird shit aside. He'd do almost anything for Keith, almost has on occasion, but unfortunately, he can't pretend to not be interested when the radio buzzes to life and says there's a call two blocks away. Life's been good, it's been relaxing, but this is at least something exciting. ]
Maybe we're the only one around to answer?
[ A second later, another call comes through and cancels the one they just heard; someone else is closer. Frowning at the radio, Shiro leans back in his seat, giving Keith an apologetic smile. He's glad that it was a non-emergency call because he doesn't want anyone in actual trouble, but outside of Keith revving the engine and turning the lights on to make traffic move, there aren't too many options for anything exciting happening during his day. ]
[He likes Thursday. He likes the routine of it, alternating whose place they go back to at night. It keeps him calm. Keeps Keith from getting too anxious. It's good for him.
Going back to his place meant they have to drive. It's been a long ass day, and the thought of sitting stuck in traffic isn't what he'd call a romantic night. Not in this weather, anyway. But the sound of the radio fizzling in with a call makes his skin crawl. He looks to Shiro when they cut off, opens his mouth to answer, but then the second call comes in.
Keith stays watching the radio, hands on the wheel.]
...Maybe there'll be another.
[He should want to help people. It's why he joined the force when they got back. But he sort of, selfishly, wants to keep this night with Shiro.]
[ Avoiding traffic will be nice, dragging Keith onto the couch to cuddle and watch a movie will be even nicer. He shouldn't want to delay it, but there's a part of him that likes spending time with Keith no matter what the situation. Sliding a hand across where the groceries are he strokes fingertips over Keith's wrist and then lowers his hand to his thigh, palm up if he wants to hold it.]
I'd rather spend it doing this, trust me.
[ Maybe he needs to take up rock climbing or volunteering somewhere or hell, teaching self-defense classes with Allura like she'd offered. That'd hit the same buttons he needed hit for excitement and feeling like he's exerted himself in some meaningful way rather than just running blocks in the morning. Squeezing Keith's leg, he thumbs back and forth over it, idly affectionate, other hand thumbing through his phone, rereading the recipe to make sure they weren't missing anything. ]
Do you want to go for a ride this weekend assuming the weather isn't this bad? There's a farmer's market about an hour out from here I thought we could go to.
Mm. [One could mistake his hum for the hum of the engine if Shiro didn't know him so well. He lets Shiro touch, lets him rest his hand where he wants. It's comfortable, and he knows it won't go anywhere too serious. Not when they're driving on a public street.
(Empty streets, empty dirt roads, that's a different story and only for them to know it.)
Looking up when the light changes, he gets the car moving again.]
Yeah? Something interesting that'll be there?
[He appreciates farmer's market, but one being an hour out must have something good to make it worth the drive.]
[ Getting out sounds nice. Shiro doesn't particularly relish the idea of traveling, not when all he wanted for the longest time was to just be home with Kieth. Traveling for an hour or two on some windy roads sounds good though. Better still if he can convince Keith to ride with him. ]
Further up the hill is a really good place to eat lunch and watch the sunset.
[ It's bougie, as Pidge would put it, but they're owed some for everything. Going on a drive to eat at a restaurant with a nice view is the least they can do for themselves. ]
[Keith's teasing a little, knows what it would mean to Shiro. He knows it because it means the same to him. Watching the sunset together is so common for so many, but it's still a novel experience for him. He can't get enough of it, especially if they're out in the desert.]
tw: gore/guro, give me this au oh my god where he got remade like shep + he can't trust himself because the galra remade him after all those fights + BODY HORRORRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
shiBROgane talking about shit on twitter w shiro but like
shiBROgane between this and watching criminal minds
shiBROgane imagine shiro's first kill vs his last ones in the show
shiBROgane like in CM they talk about how your first few kills there's always hesitation marks etc
shiBROgane and shiro having to kill someone but his heart obvs isn't into it
shiBROgane and he tries but he doesn't do it hard enough and they basically die WAY WORSE tahn if he'd just done it properly
shiBROgane TRAUMATIZED SHIROOO
space mom i'm like. super willing to bet haggar is going to find sendak and get him an awesome new upgrade and shiro's going to have to kill him.
space mom and it's going to be more of that "you and i are one of the same. she made both of us into weapons" mantra throughout the fight shiBROgane YEP
shiBROgane i talked about it a little on twitter but like
shiBROgane what IF the druids basically did something to him mentally or whatever where he literally cannot kill himself
shiBROgane whether it's an impulse or something but
shiBROgane no matter what, he just is not able to put himself in situations where he could die in the ring
shiBROgane & what if that programming never leaves
shiBROgane so at one point say he thinks keith's gonna die or something or take some hit and he knows taking it will likely kill him and he GOES TO DO IT BUT CAN'T
ғᴏᴏᴅ ɢᴏᴏ shiro buys flowers for matt's grave every friday and comes in to keith's shop and they're always cordial because shiro is great at facades but keith /knows/ something is amiss
ғᴏᴏᴅ ɢᴏᴏ SEE I AM ANGST TRASH
S H I R O god give me like cop or ex military/contractor or something similar shiro tbh like [clenches fist] going to get flowers for matt
Most Galra are much taller than him, broader and stronger and think that they're smarter; it's why he's able to get an edge over the and win the battles he's made to fight. The eyes of the Galra princes aren't a shock, but the difference in responses when it's finished, are. Lotor wants to fight him. Wants to prove himself against the gladiator that's caught their attention, whereas the other prince is watching him.
He feels...well, he doesn't know how he feels, really, standing there covered in the blood of the alien he's slain, his own blood congealing with the dirt and dust from the fight. He locks eyes with the prince, though, refusing to look away despite knowing it's probably some sort of faux-pas.
Before he can say anything he's ushered away by Haggar's druids; Shiro goes with a final look over his shoulder to the prince and then he's gone.
It's years before he sees the prince again in person. Keith, he learns. Haggar has no love for him, and Keith is a threat to Zarkon's throne. Shiro doesn't see how until he's in the mess hall and hears some of the other officers talking about the half-Galra with the fighter pilot scores to rival their best. From there he catches bits and pieces of him on news segments but nothing more than whispers or idle chatter.
He fights who he's told, he keeps his head down and kills the people put in front of him. It's no life, but it's the best shot he has at figuring out where Matt and Sam are, which means all he has to do right now is stay alive until he can find a way out of there. His next mission seems the best bet; he's supposed to train someone. Probably a Galra nobleman who thought it would be funny to have the human-pet prisoner teach their child; it wouldn't be the first time, but he doesn't leave the main Galra complex. The difference is he's supposed to get in close and kill this one, but again; it isn't something he's unfamiliar with.
He's cleaned and dressed in arguably nice clothes, hair combed back, arm locked down but functional and not aching for once, and then is left in a too-nice room with instruction to wait. Where he expects a haughty Galra, though, it's just the prince from years ago. He's filled in, shoulders, the line of his jaw. His hair's longer, too; the vids he'd caught earlier must have been older ones. It's undeniably the same person, though. Which means- ]
Anyone else wouldn't have survived the ordeal that is Zarkon and Haggar, with their vicious cruelty and savage machinations -- much less Lotor, who is easily even more cruel than the both of them combined, perhaps. His half-brother just pretends to be better.
Keith survives, with every day he knows danger is drawing closer. With every day he is closer to fighting for the throne, because while Zarkon has lived for thousands of years he is not quite immortal. Keith shares little of the cruel ambitions of his father and brother, even if he's inherited the savagery, the bloodthirsty ferocity of their species. He is his own man, even though he understands that he must read carefully if he wishes to see the next day. Tread carefully he does, until he realises he's inherited his father's gift for flying, transcending even the loftiest expectations.
Keith is the slightly better son over Lotor, although there is still little love lost between father and sons. At least, it's better enough that Zarkon dictates that the Champion trains him (victory, or death). He is to surpass this man or be thrown to the wolves, and Keith, half-wondering what Zarkon could possibly have in store for him, turns up at the appointed, scheduled time, registering the Champion's presence.
Shiro, he is told he's named -- and he still looks as imposing and powerful as he had in the arena. This man is strong, fast, and clever -- it's a pity that he's locked up in here instead of freed, and again he feels a strange twist of restlessness, a reminder that none of this is right. The Galra might be a warlike species, but they are proud warriors, and by their natures they were not cruel.
Now, it seems, Zarkon is corrupting the natures of so very many of them, conquering worlds for no real reason other than greed. He enters now, entirely nondescript in a pair of black pants and a matching top. ]
You're Takashi Shirogane. They call you the Champion.
[ He says in turn, because it must be obvious, isn't it? Keith's the only one here, and no one else is coming in after him. He's soft-spoken, carrying none of the arrogant swagger of Zarkon or Lotor -- if not for the purple-blue eyes and his unmistakably regal gait, he might not even have been related to the Emperor at all. ]
Victory or death. It applies to so much of the Galra and their actions that Shiro understands it, even if he thinks following it as they do is unnecessary at best. How many good commanders died because of such a saying? How many wars were fought unnecessarily? Then again, it wasn't as if Zarkon seemed to care. From Shiro's limited dealings with him, it was perhaps for the best, though this is not much better than the arena.
What Shiro's effectively doing is training someone on how best to kill him. They've tired of using him and now he's to be used one last time before being discarded. It's the way the empire works; it's why the empire is going to fail. Victory or death with the person he's supposed to train. It's a better ending than the one he would get in the arena and it means there's a chance for escape; that has to be worth something.
He's survived everything else. He'll survive this too. ]
They don't normally send the human gladiator in to train princes, is all. [ Shiro's lips twist up into a lopsided smile, shoulders rising and falling. ] Did they tell you that's what this is?
[ In it, a clue: no, they haven't told him what this is. And yes, he knows exactly what this is anyway. It's a test -- if Keith passes, if he kills this man in the course of their training, then that will be that. If this man kills him, then it would be a humiliating end for the prince, denounced, his legacy as weak forever known. It would be a culling, either way you cut it.
It's what he detests about these games -- not what they do to him, he's accepted that long ago, but using other races as fodder and sport. It is unbefitting of a warrior, beneath his dignity, and Keith studies the man before him curiously, his words holding no trace of hostility. ]
It's a culling. [ He explains, matter-of-factly. ] They don't usually send human gladiators to train princes, but you're not just anyone, are you? [ He pauses. ] I've seen you fight.
[ Full of life, full of vigor -- Keith would let him go, if he had a choice. Or perhaps he does, after all. A man like this doesn't deserve to die in the arena, or meet his end in Galra's sporting venues. No one does. Bread and circuses always turn out this way, don't they? He looks to the door, locked, before he offers his next comment simply. ]
[ From what he's gathered, neither prince is the Galran ideal of a leader but it also doesn't seem to matter. They're borderline cultist about their treatment and following of Zarkon and Shiro has a feeling he doesn't intend on passing his throne down to whoever will inherit it easily. The best he can probably hope for outside of escaping is that he trains Keith well enough that he is able to take Zarkon down himself, but even that is unlikely at best.
No, the best choice here is that he does this as long as humanly possible, and tries to use it as an escape. Maybe he can access the prince's terminals and find out where Sam and Matt are hidden, too. ]
I know. [ Keith's grown into himself since the last time they met and truthfully, Shiro hasn't expected to live or last this long, certainly not long enough to see him now. To train him like this. ]
We were on an expedition collecting samples for scientists on our planet. Just happened to pick a moon the Galra were on.
[ That is tremendously terrible luck. Of all the places to mount an expedition on, it had to be where the Galra are. Keith only nods, unable to help the smallest twinge of sympathy, even if his neutral expression gives nothing away. Compassion is weakness, he has been told; had been punished for it often, but somehow it just refuses to die.
So Keith lets it be what it is, and regards him with renewed purpose. There's no way he'll let Shiro die here -- he'll still have use to the Blade, and perhaps hold the key to taking down the Empire he despises so much. Keith might be prince, but he detests the current state of affairs; not that he'll tell Shiro as much, not when he doesn't know if it'll be used as leverage against him.
He'll continue to observe, to watch. But what he says next makes him tilt his head. ]
[ Not every Galra is bloodthirsty and a tyrant and Shiro knows that, but it doesn't make it any easier to decide what steps to take next, either. He has to do as he's instructed and if he doesn't do it well, then there will be punishment. He's taken punishment before, certainly, but the punishment very likely wouldn't be directed at him but at Keith, too. That he can't allow. It means that for the time being, he plays by the rules, makes sure neither of them die in the process and Sam and Matt aren't collateral damage.
The mention of 'we' instead of 'I' is intentional; Shiro isn't sure yet if it means Keith has no idea about the other people in his group or if he's fishing, but either way Shiro cuts him a long, considering look, arms crossed. ]
The two other humans with me at the time. Scientists, not fighters. They were captured and taken separately from me.
[ Bare bones; he's not sure how much information Keith has access to, but he'll need to figure that out. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i've been watching a lot of criminal minds give me shiro!hotchner t b h
they're dating and live separate but shiro Loves Him and wants him to move in??
The therapist was right about everything else so far on how to cope, so he wasn't inclined to think it's wrong it's just...a little boring. He knows that unless he goes in for testing, he won't know for sure how long he has until he starts losing function again, but if there is a date...he doesn't want to know it. This, here and now with Keith, is good.
This is better than anything he could have hoped for, weird shit aside. He'd do almost anything for Keith, almost has on occasion, but unfortunately, he can't pretend to not be interested when the radio buzzes to life and says there's a call two blocks away. Life's been good, it's been relaxing, but this is at least something exciting. ]
Maybe we're the only one around to answer?
[ A second later, another call comes through and cancels the one they just heard; someone else is closer. Frowning at the radio, Shiro leans back in his seat, giving Keith an apologetic smile. He's glad that it was a non-emergency call because he doesn't want anyone in actual trouble, but outside of Keith revving the engine and turning the lights on to make traffic move, there aren't too many options for anything exciting happening during his day. ]
Or not.
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Going back to his place meant they have to drive. It's been a long ass day, and the thought of sitting stuck in traffic isn't what he'd call a romantic night. Not in this weather, anyway. But the sound of the radio fizzling in with a call makes his skin crawl. He looks to Shiro when they cut off, opens his mouth to answer, but then the second call comes in.
Keith stays watching the radio, hands on the wheel.]
...Maybe there'll be another.
[He should want to help people. It's why he joined the force when they got back. But he sort of, selfishly, wants to keep this night with Shiro.]
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I'd rather spend it doing this, trust me.
[ Maybe he needs to take up rock climbing or volunteering somewhere or hell, teaching self-defense classes with Allura like she'd offered. That'd hit the same buttons he needed hit for excitement and feeling like he's exerted himself in some meaningful way rather than just running blocks in the morning. Squeezing Keith's leg, he thumbs back and forth over it, idly affectionate, other hand thumbing through his phone, rereading the recipe to make sure they weren't missing anything. ]
Do you want to go for a ride this weekend assuming the weather isn't this bad? There's a farmer's market about an hour out from here I thought we could go to.
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(Empty streets, empty dirt roads, that's a different story and only for them to know it.)
Looking up when the light changes, he gets the car moving again.]
Yeah? Something interesting that'll be there?
[He appreciates farmer's market, but one being an hour out must have something good to make it worth the drive.]
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[ Getting out sounds nice. Shiro doesn't particularly relish the idea of traveling, not when all he wanted for the longest time was to just be home with Kieth. Traveling for an hour or two on some windy roads sounds good though. Better still if he can convince Keith to ride with him. ]
Further up the hill is a really good place to eat lunch and watch the sunset.
[ It's bougie, as Pidge would put it, but they're owed some for everything. Going on a drive to eat at a restaurant with a nice view is the least they can do for themselves. ]
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[Keith's teasing a little, knows what it would mean to Shiro. He knows it because it means the same to him. Watching the sunset together is so common for so many, but it's still a novel experience for him. He can't get enough of it, especially if they're out in the desert.]
Yeah, I'm down for that.
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+ he can't trust himself because the galra remade him after all those fights
+ BODY HORRORRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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DON'T FUCKING JUDG EME
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HAHAHAHA kill me
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nightwing.
writes you a starter about keith visiting his grave
Lance no
s h a r i
nightwing.
talks to it
Lance no
shari no
nightwing.
distances himself from the rest of the crew
nightwing.
literally only ever talks to a rock slab
Lance no
shari
shiBROgane
ok but
shiBROgane
him doing that and shiro showing up
shiBROgane
just so quiet like 'lance said you might be here'
shiBROgane
SURPRISE I HAVEN'T REALLY BEEN DEAD THE LAST 10 YEARS
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shiBROgane
shiro'd be big into topping keith and like, making him waiiiiit for orgasms too
shiBROgane
PATIENCE YIELDS FOCUS
nightwing.
slaps him
nightwing.
no patience only orgasms
Paladominatrix
like shiro's galra hand cupped around a throat when someone's on his lap so they can lean into it as hard as they want
no subject
shiBROgane
i'm so like sklfjsf
shiBROgane
talking about shit on twitter w shiro but like
shiBROgane
between this and watching criminal minds
shiBROgane
imagine shiro's first kill vs his last ones in the show
shiBROgane
like in CM they talk about how your first few kills there's always hesitation marks etc
shiBROgane
and shiro having to kill someone but his heart obvs isn't into it
shiBROgane
and he tries but he doesn't do it hard enough and they basically die WAY WORSE tahn if he'd just done it properly
shiBROgane
TRAUMATIZED SHIROOO
space mom
i'm like. super willing to bet haggar is going to find sendak and get him an awesome new upgrade and shiro's going to have to kill him.
space mom
and it's going to be more of that "you and i are one of the same. she made both of us into weapons" mantra throughout the fight
shiBROgane
YEP
no subject
shiBROgane
i talked about it a little on twitter but like
shiBROgane
what IF the druids basically did something to him mentally or whatever where he literally cannot kill himself
shiBROgane
whether it's an impulse or something but
shiBROgane
no matter what, he just is not able to put himself in situations where he could die in the ring
shiBROgane
& what if that programming never leaves
shiBROgane
so at one point say he thinks keith's gonna die or something or take some hit and he knows taking it will likely kill him and he GOES TO DO IT BUT CAN'T
Lance no
Oh my god what if
Lance no
That's how they made kuro, as a failsafe
shiBROgane
yEEEEEEEEEE
shiBROgane
kuro ends up surfacing for a few hours
shiBROgane
l m f a o
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++ insecurity issues on lance's part bc shiro's Big Successful Business person or something/shiro's ex military and just
IDK MAN Everything in this plurk: https://www.plurk.com/p/lx6xg1
for dps
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CANT EVEN LOG IN WITH THE RIGHT ACCOUNT WTF
shiro buys flowers for matt's grave every friday and comes in to keith's shop and they're always cordial because shiro is great at facades but keith /knows/ something is amiss
ғᴏᴏᴅ ɢᴏᴏ
SEE I AM ANGST TRASH
S H I R O
god give me like cop or ex military/contractor or something similar shiro tbh like [clenches fist] going to get flowers for matt
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oops
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Galra Prince AU
Most Galra are much taller than him, broader and stronger and think that they're smarter; it's why he's able to get an edge over the and win the battles he's made to fight. The eyes of the Galra princes aren't a shock, but the difference in responses when it's finished, are. Lotor wants to fight him. Wants to prove himself against the gladiator that's caught their attention, whereas the other prince is watching him.
He feels...well, he doesn't know how he feels, really, standing there covered in the blood of the alien he's slain, his own blood congealing with the dirt and dust from the fight. He locks eyes with the prince, though, refusing to look away despite knowing it's probably some sort of faux-pas.
Before he can say anything he's ushered away by Haggar's druids; Shiro goes with a final look over his shoulder to the prince and then he's gone.
It's years before he sees the prince again in person. Keith, he learns. Haggar has no love for him, and Keith is a threat to Zarkon's throne. Shiro doesn't see how until he's in the mess hall and hears some of the other officers talking about the half-Galra with the fighter pilot scores to rival their best. From there he catches bits and pieces of him on news segments but nothing more than whispers or idle chatter.
He fights who he's told, he keeps his head down and kills the people put in front of him. It's no life, but it's the best shot he has at figuring out where Matt and Sam are, which means all he has to do right now is stay alive until he can find a way out of there. His next mission seems the best bet; he's supposed to train someone. Probably a Galra nobleman who thought it would be funny to have the human-pet prisoner teach their child; it wouldn't be the first time, but he doesn't leave the main Galra complex. The difference is he's supposed to get in close and kill this one, but again; it isn't something he's unfamiliar with.
He's cleaned and dressed in arguably nice clothes, hair combed back, arm locked down but functional and not aching for once, and then is left in a too-nice room with instruction to wait. Where he expects a haughty Galra, though, it's just the prince from years ago. He's filled in, shoulders, the line of his jaw. His hair's longer, too; the vids he'd caught earlier must have been older ones. It's undeniably the same person, though. Which means- ]
I'm supposed to instruct you?
no subject
Anyone else wouldn't have survived the ordeal that is Zarkon and Haggar, with their vicious cruelty and savage machinations -- much less Lotor, who is easily even more cruel than the both of them combined, perhaps. His half-brother just pretends to be better.
Keith survives, with every day he knows danger is drawing closer. With every day he is closer to fighting for the throne, because while Zarkon has lived for thousands of years he is not quite immortal. Keith shares little of the cruel ambitions of his father and brother, even if he's inherited the savagery, the bloodthirsty ferocity of their species. He is his own man, even though he understands that he must read carefully if he wishes to see the next day. Tread carefully he does, until he realises he's inherited his father's gift for flying, transcending even the loftiest expectations.
Keith is the slightly better son over Lotor, although there is still little love lost between father and sons. At least, it's better enough that Zarkon dictates that the Champion trains him (victory, or death). He is to surpass this man or be thrown to the wolves, and Keith, half-wondering what Zarkon could possibly have in store for him, turns up at the appointed, scheduled time, registering the Champion's presence.
Shiro, he is told he's named -- and he still looks as imposing and powerful as he had in the arena. This man is strong, fast, and clever -- it's a pity that he's locked up in here instead of freed, and again he feels a strange twist of restlessness, a reminder that none of this is right. The Galra might be a warlike species, but they are proud warriors, and by their natures they were not cruel.
Now, it seems, Zarkon is corrupting the natures of so very many of them, conquering worlds for no real reason other than greed. He enters now, entirely nondescript in a pair of black pants and a matching top. ]
You're Takashi Shirogane. They call you the Champion.
[ He says in turn, because it must be obvious, isn't it? Keith's the only one here, and no one else is coming in after him. He's soft-spoken, carrying none of the arrogant swagger of Zarkon or Lotor -- if not for the purple-blue eyes and his unmistakably regal gait, he might not even have been related to the Emperor at all. ]
Is there a problem?
no subject
Victory or death. It applies to so much of the Galra and their actions that Shiro understands it, even if he thinks following it as they do is unnecessary at best. How many good commanders died because of such a saying? How many wars were fought unnecessarily? Then again, it wasn't as if Zarkon seemed to care. From Shiro's limited dealings with him, it was perhaps for the best, though this is not much better than the arena.
What Shiro's effectively doing is training someone on how best to kill him. They've tired of using him and now he's to be used one last time before being discarded. It's the way the empire works; it's why the empire is going to fail. Victory or death with the person he's supposed to train. It's a better ending than the one he would get in the arena and it means there's a chance for escape; that has to be worth something.
He's survived everything else. He'll survive this too. ]
They don't normally send the human gladiator in to train princes, is all. [ Shiro's lips twist up into a lopsided smile, shoulders rising and falling. ] Did they tell you that's what this is?
no subject
[ In it, a clue: no, they haven't told him what this is. And yes, he knows exactly what this is anyway. It's a test -- if Keith passes, if he kills this man in the course of their training, then that will be that. If this man kills him, then it would be a humiliating end for the prince, denounced, his legacy as weak forever known. It would be a culling, either way you cut it.
It's what he detests about these games -- not what they do to him, he's accepted that long ago, but using other races as fodder and sport. It is unbefitting of a warrior, beneath his dignity, and Keith studies the man before him curiously, his words holding no trace of hostility. ]
It's a culling. [ He explains, matter-of-factly. ] They don't usually send human gladiators to train princes, but you're not just anyone, are you? [ He pauses. ] I've seen you fight.
[ Full of life, full of vigor -- Keith would let him go, if he had a choice. Or perhaps he does, after all. A man like this doesn't deserve to die in the arena, or meet his end in Galra's sporting venues. No one does. Bread and circuses always turn out this way, don't they? He looks to the door, locked, before he offers his next comment simply. ]
You're very good. How did they capture you?
no subject
No, the best choice here is that he does this as long as humanly possible, and tries to use it as an escape. Maybe he can access the prince's terminals and find out where Sam and Matt are hidden, too. ]
I know. [ Keith's grown into himself since the last time they met and truthfully, Shiro hasn't expected to live or last this long, certainly not long enough to see him now. To train him like this. ]
We were on an expedition collecting samples for scientists on our planet. Just happened to pick a moon the Galra were on.
[ His luck isn't the best. ]
no subject
So Keith lets it be what it is, and regards him with renewed purpose. There's no way he'll let Shiro die here -- he'll still have use to the Blade, and perhaps hold the key to taking down the Empire he despises so much. Keith might be prince, but he detests the current state of affairs; not that he'll tell Shiro as much, not when he doesn't know if it'll be used as leverage against him.
He'll continue to observe, to watch. But what he says next makes him tilt his head. ]
'We'?
no subject
The mention of 'we' instead of 'I' is intentional; Shiro isn't sure yet if it means Keith has no idea about the other people in his group or if he's fishing, but either way Shiro cuts him a long, considering look, arms crossed. ]
The two other humans with me at the time. Scientists, not fighters. They were captured and taken separately from me.
[ Bare bones; he's not sure how much information Keith has access to, but he'll need to figure that out. ]