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[earthshine]

« Shiro »
[ TEXT + AUDIO + VIDEO + ACTION ]

Hi, this is Shiro.
Sorry I'm unavailable at the moment,
but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Comments

audio | un: 45.

[heavenchained]

Are you always that bossy? I kinda like it.

( He sounds amused, volume low. )

audio; un: blackpaladin

[earthshine]

[ so. shiro’s propped up on his shitty bed, in his shitty cube, knees bent and feet flat to the bedding. he’s yet to feel any true arousal in the moment. nerves have him. as well as an agitated feeling in the pit of his stomach. he draws a breath and exhales slow, easing away the perpetual frown that’s been marring his face this whole exchange.

it helps, a little. just enough that when he does switch to audio, no obvious reluctance plagues his voice. ]

Only when necessary. [ a beat and then a low laugh. ] And imagine that, it worked. Now you’re behaving.

[heavenchained]

I wasn't aware I was misbehaving before.

( He's genuinely curious, testing the waters here: )

Do you like them obedient? Or do you like to make them obedient?

[earthshine]

Now look who’s full of questions.

[ diversion tactic? maybe. ]

I’ve yet to get a hand on myself. I thought you were going to change that.

[marmoron]

[ the day was always coming, but even so when the prison sentries finally drag keith out of his cube, it doesn't actually feel real. he delays as long as possible to send shiro a text, but even that had been too much time wasted and keith had only managed to send a hel before the tablet had been snatched out of his hands.

is that enough? keith doesn't know. for someone who's been adamant about not wanting to think about whatever this sexperiment entails, he sure as hell hasn't been all too successful. drug testing had seemed the least horrifying outcome that said, but as he gets shoved into the activity room and spots a robot with seven tentacle like limbs and a mouth hanging grotesquely open, the horrified revulsion that comes over him propels him to try and fight.

however, his suspicions about aphrodisiac testing hadn't been entirely off the mark. tentacles lift up, squirting jets upon jets of lube and aphro from across the room. it's at this point that his memory gets fuzzy. he remembers dodging under desks, using a chair as a shield and then suddenly being soaking wet and ... ah.

next thing keith knows, he's been physically hauled up from where he'd been on all fours, trying to pull himself together he manages a smile seeing his best friend, but the fact that he isn't actually protesting when he gets scooped up in shiro's arms is probably a good indicator that not all is well. frankly, the brisk march back to the cubes is even less memorable as heat rachets inside keith's body, turning his cheeks a dusky pink and his breaths ragged by the time they managed to get inside shiro's unit.

hands shoot down to try and conceal the tenting of his tight yoga pants, but the gesture is at best contrary when keith opens his mouth only to groan by shiro's ear. ]

Fuck, it's hot. And you're hot which isn't helping.

[earthshine]

[ it feels like his heartbeat hasn’t slowed since he first looked to his tablet and saw that hel message lighting up his screen. the surveillance turned rescue devolved into a clusterfuck of yelling and mangled machinery not too terribly far into the punishment and shiro wonders what the pushback will be for that. the probability of either of them walking away unpunished from destroying something of value to the warden and his prison staff is low. shiro only hopes that when someone or someones come looking for them, shiro can take most of the heat. afterall, he’s the one who sliced the tentacle thing into three separate pieces, hand lit up in bright purple.

he only has so much room in his brain to worry though and the majority of that space is focused entirely on keith in his current state. so keith was right afterall: aphrodisiac testing. it’s difficult not to think of his own experience with it when he passes the education wing. it’s partly while his strides are so brisk as he clutches keith in his arms and shoulders his way around anyone to make it outside. the events in the library are as hazy as they are not; some aspects he remembers with too much clarity, while others, such as his concept of how long it took for the aphrodisiac to take hold, are blurrier. either way, he’d like to get keith somewhere safe and somewhere private before the brunt of the effects come to a head.

he manages it, but just barely. and once inside? shiro realizes suddenly that he has no plan beyond that. it was easier to ignore keith before, because he had a set task in front of him – get to his cube – but now, he isn’t distracted with the huff-puff of his own breathing or the sound of his quickened steps. now, he’s standing just inside, door closed behind him, keith’s breath tickling his ear and making it twitch.

surprised, he jerks his head for a better angle and looks to keith. definitely harder to ignore keith now. the color in his cheeks is almost complimentary to the shape and complexion of keith’s face, but it’s marred by the distanced, heaviness of his eyes and the shallow panting that keeps his chest laboring. with his soul already weighed down with concern, it shouldn’t make a difference, but somehow, shiro finds even more of that emotion, and in the next beat, he reflexively tightens his hold, clutching keith to his chest tighter. stupid, as if that’s going to make any of this better. in fact, it’ll likely make things worse.

shaking his head to dismiss the thought, he relaxes his fingers and forces his legs to move. ]

You’re gonna be fine, Keith. [ shiro will just be to ignoring that silly comment concerning himself. he forces what he hopes passes as an encouraging smile. ] The effects will wear off soon. Until then, I want you to sit down and try to relax.

[ if possible. fuck, he hopes it’s possible. the cube isn’t all that large to begin with, so a few comments in and he’s halfway into the full length of his living space, which is where he’ll be setting keith down on his feet. ]

[marmoron]

[ keith had said not too long ago that he isn't ready for shiro to see him this way. that much hasn't changed in the time since those words were said. but as with so many other things in prison, often it isn't a matter of choice, but a matter of when. comfort and dignity are afterthoughts to their prison overlords and with the fog clogging up keith's head, those priorities are seemingly melting away. unimportant.

a lot of things stop seeming important, actually. his stupid sense of pride, the bigger picture of voltron and the universe. hard to fathom anything outside of the warmth skittering up and down his nerves and centering around his crotch. shiro's arms tighten around him briefly and keith's next breath is hitched, lips parting to close around shiro's earlobe.

he misses though. his best friend jerks his head out of the way, and keith's lips close around nothing, leaving him disappointed but not discouraged. he shivers as hands shift along his body and his feet make contact with the floor. he should stand then? but hadn't shiro told him to sit?

keith leans heavily against shiro, hands coming away from his clothed erection to lock around the small of shiro's back instead, dick hard and obscene against shiro's hip. this isn't right is a thought that crosses keith's head, but doesn't take. nothing really seems to take. after all, isn't this leagues better than opening his mouth for a random cock in the library? ]

You should relax. I wanna sit on you.

[ the cubes all share an identical layout. shiro's cube is even less personalized than his own, and so keith steps forward, crowding and herding shiro in the direction of his cot. ]

[earthshine]

[ of course it wouldn’t be that easy. shiro knows better than that; should because hell, he’d pulled his pants down and hid his hard dick in a bookshelf due to some aphrodisiac clogging his senses. if he’d been willing to jerk one out in the midst of a library, why wouldn’t keith come onto him in a private, enclosed space? because they’re best friends, is the argument shiro picks; one that he wishes actually meant something here.

keith leans into him and it’s more than the weight of keith’s body that he feels. hands touch his back and something hard digs into his hip. something, right. the dryness of his own thoughts has his mind backtracking and amending the word, so helpfully supplying cock instead and subsequently, making shiro stumble back a step from the shock of it. one step turns into two and it’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of it because part of him is hardwired to put distance between himself and keith.

it improves nothing. keith’s clinging and every heel-toe step jostles keith against him, bumping, brushing, teasing that cock against his hip as he goes. heat climbs up shiro’s neck and his throat feels parched, voice coming out higher and thinner. ]

Keith. [ it lacks the disciplinary edge. it’s more pleading in nature, like he’s bargaining for pity. but then the free space runs out and shiro feels the edge of the cot touch the back of his thighs. that seemingly breaks him of his temporary frailty. abruptly, he takes keith by the shoulders and extends his arms, forcing distance between them. ]

No you don’t. [ hardening his expression, shiro frowns. ] That’s the aphro talking.

library notes & anon second meeting ( for keith )

[earthshine]

[ turns out writing a note for an anonymous hook-up to then leave inside a book on the same shelf turned glory hole from a week ago is tougher than it sounds. it sounds stupid too and that’s right on the money. this is stupid, but the alternative is passing another night staring at his cube’s ceiling, failing at not thinking about keith getting off in that same cot, yet succeeding at his refusal to squeeze one out. consciously, at least. his body betrayed him last night. first by giving into exhaustion. second by still having enough energy to conjure up a nightmare. no, not the usual kind with galra and blood and screaming. this one had featured keith and a distinct lack of platonic friendliness. shiro woke up to drool on his pillow and him grinding a wet spot into the bedding.

so. drastic times call for drastic measures.

finding a willing partner wouldn’t be so difficult, but being shiro requires thought and a screening process that’s too exhausting for his frayed patience to follow through with. the man from the library took shiro without shiro even having to breathe a word. that’s what shiro wants; a reprieve. he wants a stolen moment in which he doesn’t have to think about how he will be perceived. just once more, just to get this pent-up, horrifically inappropriate want out of his system, and then he’ll go back to his more measured, yet persistent approach to his sentence sheet.

in the meantime, he’ll stick with the long-shot chance of his anonymous man passing by their shelf and not only seeing the note, but responding to it. it’s been a few hours now and upon his first inconspicuous check, his note had been there, still peeking out of a short, thin book, sandwiched between two tall, hefty novels, all standing at eye level right above where anonymous man made a mess.

Can’t stop thinking about you. Round 2?

he’d had longer notes, some even explaining how he hasn’t gotten off that good in ages, but ultimately, he’d settled for short and to the point. besides, if someone else finds it first, at least there’s nothing incriminating. so, with his first check a bust, shiro will be back in another few hours. hopefully his luck will turn around by then. ]

[marmoron]

[ consciously or not, keith has been avoiding the library ever since that morning he wound up sucking dick while halfway wedged into a bookshelf. it seems rational enough to be weary, considering the asshole librarian armed with aphrodisiac, but the argument doesn't hold water in the broader context of needing information. so far the books keith has found are gibberish, but that doesn't mean all of them necessarily are.

knowledge or death had been the blade of marmora philosophy and keith is doing a rubbish job of living up to that. then again, he couldn't say with any degree of certainty what it is either kolivan or krolia would do in the name of pursuing knowledge here. for the best, really. bad enough that all of the paladins with the exception of allura are here, the last thing they need are more people showing up from home. all the more so when his mother is involved.

so that's one big argument for going back to the library.

the arguments against are harder to untangle in part because he's told himself repeatedly that there is nothing to untangle, leaving keith with nothing but a cloud of unspecified hypothetical anxiety.nobody stopped him that day, and for all he knows nobody saw him either as he furiously jerked himself off while choking. after all, he didn't get any extra credits for checking off voyeurism on other people's sentencing.

what gets keith to just finally barge his way into the library is a hatred of cowardice. it's ridiculous to be ashamed of something he did while under the influence and it's equally as ridiculous to be apprehensive about his own sexuality. he's not into choking, not into being mistreated and despite everything he's said and done while high on aphro, he's not into submitting.

glaring at nothing in particular, keith marches past the shelves and grimaces as he passes by that shelf. halfway expecting to see white sticky stains over the lower shelves, keith is moderately surprised to see that it's been cleaned up. even more surprised when he spots a note sticking out from one of the books.

what keith tells himself is irrational apprehension proves not to be so irrational when he looks at the paper and reads the message. can’t stop thinking about you. round 2? keith practically jerks back, eyes darting left to right to make sure he's actually alone back here.


frankly, it should be insulting. whoever this guy was, he took advantage of keith while he was in a compromised state and far more willing than normal to perform and please. fucking asshole had the nerve to shove his dick down his throat,forced him to swallow a load before splashing more on his face. keith crumples the note in his hands, taking several deep breaths as he rests against the shelf.

yeah. anger. that's all he should be feeling. he could tell this guy to fuck right off.

one minute passes. one minute then becomes fifteen and keith hasn't written anything incendiary. keith closes his eyes, taking several deep breaths, heart beating way too fast for a benign situation. ting is? sex is complicated. it's messed up his friendship with lance, and despite shiro's insistence otherwise, keith suspects it's going to be awkward between them for a long time.

but it's not awkward with this stranger. in fact, this stranger's the only one who's said outright that they want him again. the pathetic misery of that being the case isn't lost on keith, but being in porn prison's at least made him see that neglecting his own need for touch adn sexual affirmation doesn't fucking help anything either. teeth grit and frustrated with the mess of his social life, keith finally, a full half hour later, uncrumples the note and writes back: ]

You plan on reciprocating this time?

[ and with that slipped back into the book, keith makes his exit. ]

[earthshine]

[ imagine that, he got an answer. he doesn’t quite believe it, even as he’s standing there in the aisle, clutching the note that now has two lines. it’s crumbled in a way that has shiro curious, but not quite so invested to start looting around for probable answers. instead, he focuses on the only thing that matters here: he got an answer. now what the fuck is he meant to do with that? given the amount of time that has passed since his arrival and subsequent meeting at that shelf, shiro started this endeavor eighty-percent convinced he’d missed any chance of making contact. so he’s a little lacking in the planning stage beyond step one.

he’s got a pen though. for all his doubt, he’s harbored enough hope to keep a pen in his jacket pocket. using the designated note holding book as the backing, shiro smoothes the note over it and clicks the pen to have the ballpoint engage. only to then do nothing.

now that round two is a go, shiro hesitates. though, he might be getting ahead of himself. is it a go? you plan on reciprocating this time? shiro rereads that scrawl and frowns. that reads a lot like a a requirement, rather than a hopeful suggestion. shiro tries to picture it: this time, him on his knees, servicing a dick in a small, enclosed space, having no idea who it is he’s got his lips sealed around. without the aphro muddling up his clarity, it should be off putting. disgusting even.

heh. should be.

he taps the end of the pen a few times against the note. does he want to do this? yes. where does he want to do this? not here. how are they going to do this? he doesn’t know. but he supposes he doesn’t have to write out instructions yet. patience. don’t be to presumptuous. he’ll figure out the details while he waits for an answer. until then, he’ll jot down: ]

If you stick around long enough for me to.

[ if the man lasts long enough for shiro to, too. he huffs a brief, amused sound and tucks the note into the book, setting it on the shelf. then he leaves, trying not to draw too much attention to himself as he does so, knowing that he’ll be back in an hour or two to check. ]

june event: lights, camera, action! ( for keith )

[earthshine]

[ there’s never a dull day in porn prison. at least, that’s what one would think. the truth of the matter is that life confined within horny jail is hit or miss in the excitement and/or traumatizing departments. since the job fair of last month, shiro’s been treading water. reporting to maintenance three days out of the week has provided some variety but other than that, his days have remained mostly the same: workout, avoid spiked food, check in on the team and work through his sentence sheet. he hasn’t been doing so well with that last one. his sheet has remained unchanged for weeks now. he’s convinced there’s something wrong with his monitor, because he’s met up with anonymous a number of times now and anal continues to be unchecked. xeno isn’t checked off either for that matter; he may only be observing anonymous through a door, but it’s pretty obvious that the other man isn’t entirely human.

obviously, he needs to issue a formal complaint. it’s the monitor, not him. it can’t be him. except, maybe there is something to the replies he received on that genius idea, network post of his. afterall, he’s kissed keith a grand total of three times now and shiro hasn’t heard the other boy’s tablet chime once. maybe his technique is off? maybe he isn’t – good?

ridiculous.

so back to there never being a dull day in porn prison: the last couple of days have actually held true to that. which has made complaining about his monitor an issue for the backburner. there are more worrisome things going on, such as aphrodisiac laced rain and prosthetic dicks prowling the compound. it’s on one of these days of taking to the safety of indoors that shiro winds up in education, with a director, a script, and an offer to work through his community service in an unconventional way.

at first? the go to response is no. but then the idea perculates and he thinks about how this could settle the matter once and for all. if he has someone associated with the prison in the room, watching, and his monitor still doesn’t go off? then he can nip it in the bud right there by demanding his monitor be switched. it’s not like his efforts will go to waste either; director sheremi can vouch for him and surely the alien overlords would do right by shiro to manually change his sheet. and perhaps the most compelling argument in favor is that shiro’s been eyeing dogging since the beginning, wondering how he’s meant to handle that.

this is a controlled environment. safe, easy – shiro doesn’t have to think about it at all. just show up, perform, and then be done with it. of course, this all derails the moment he steps onto the set and immediately recognizes his co-star. ]

What are you wearing?

[ hi, keith. hi, best friend who has very long legs clad in thigh high boots while the rest of him is barely covered in the mockery of a lab coat. shiro isn’t much better. he’s got tiny cargo shorts, heavy duty boots, and a top that’s too tight and too small, with an open chest that ties a few inches above his belly button. in his right hand, he’s got the script for jurassic dong, the booklet crinkling slightly with the tightening of his fingers. feeling exposed, shiro fights the urge to fidget, expression vaguely distressed. ]

How did you get talked into this?

[marmoron]

[ everything about porn prison is an enormous mistake. keith does't need to have been here for a few months to have cracked that mystery, but even in knowing that? keith is still a young man with a head full of too many questions not to laugh and walk away from the offer to shoot a porno called jurassic dong.

in keith's defense, he has zero intention of actually going through with getting his dick filmed or whatever. all he figures is that he'll play along long enough to be handed a script, check to see how the fuck this porno set is meant to accomodate anything dinosaur re;ated and then get the hell out of activities. of course, his misgivings started multiplying when he was given his costume and told to put it on, but really is it that much less dignified than the orange booty shorts and tank top?

which is to say, he puts the damn costume on. strolls onto the laboratory set and finally gets a copy of the svript slapped into his hands. he gets no fruther than the first page where he learns his character's name is apparently dr hugh jass, forensic paleobotanist when he hears a familiar voice call to him from across the set. keith looks up instinctively. given half a beat, he would have realized the correct response would have been to hide his face behind the script, but it's too late for that now. ]

Sh- holy shit?!

[ part cough, part sputter keith couldn't even say what's going through his head when he sees shiro with his ridiculous short shorts and too-tight crop shirt. ]

What are you wearing? [ and perhaps more importantly" ] What are you doing here? You're not -- no! We're not... how??

3 fodder to every 1 pc, right? think i did the math correctly.

[earthshine]

[ … nevermind what he’s wearing. silly shiro, assuming that he wouldn’t be wearing this get-up long enough to be embarrassed by it. looks like he’ll be incapable of forgetting this particular brand of shame until his dying day. lovely. self-conscious, he loses the fight against fidgeting and does just that by bringing the script up to hold between both hands, the standard cut of bound paper doing a decent job in blocking his bare abs.

what are the statistical odds of keith being his porno costar? lets see, the event being one and there are roughly one-thirty inmates makes the probability… a decimal with a lot of zeros. so then if he plugs that into the odds equation, he’d get –

he abruptly gives up on it, heaving a mental sigh. very small odds, that’s the takeaway. he supposes that if it had to be someone from the team, he’s glad it’s keith. keith is the most preferable one, simply because he’s the one shiro feels the most comfortable around. though, shiro thinks he’d be cringing at pidge, snickering at lance, and smiling sympathetically at hunk if he saw either of them dressed this way, instead of feeling weirdly warm, despite barely wearing anything.

don’t think about it. don’t focus on it. difficult, when he's struggling to coax himself into looking away from keith. he swallows – gulps – and forces his gaze down, shaking his head. it’s almost funny. he needs it to be funny, actually. so rather than agonizing over the whys and hows, he tries for embracing the utter stupidity of being tangled up in a dino porno with his best friend. it’s strained on the first breath, but he does end up laughing. ]

Looks like we are… [ he flips open the script packet, finding the name quickly. ] Dr. Hugh Jass.

MISCONDUCT

[reparacijamods]

[[ In addition, a package will arrive at his door containing his approved uniform. ]]

Text | UN: Anubis | Sometime during the clinical trials

[tobesomeone]

[Sooooo... about letting Shiro know if he was right.]

You were right.

text; un: blam. 1/2 tsk should've listened

[earthshine]

[





he fucking knew it. ]

2/2

[earthshine]

Of course I wa

[ baaaaaaackspace.
now isn’t the time to gloat. ]

How bad is it?
Did you get a tail?

[ he knows a guy who got one.
fuzzy ears too. ]

please judge him now, so much judging

[tobesomeone]

[He would deserve it okay.]

Wings actually.
Hurt like a sonuvabitch coming out.

audio; sharpsh00ter

[lanceylance]

Hey, um, Shiro? I got a question for you that's, well, it's kind of a weird one and maybe kinda personal so you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but-- wait. I should probably ask if it's okay to ask in the first place, so uh... can I ask you a question that might be a little personal? You're allowed to say no if you want, I promise I won't be like, upset or anything!

[ he's been wanting to ask this for a while and never managed to find a good time or remember to ask it when he had the chance before. ]

audio; un: blackpaladin

[earthshine]

[ when a conversation opens with a warning, there is little to prevent the initial tense up and subsequent uptick in heartbeat. lance is – lance; shiro’s familiar with his habit of tying himself into knots over things that are never quite as serious as he makes them out to be. there’s no reason to be anxious, he tells himself. nonetheless, there’s a tightness to his voice that he he falls short of hiding. ]

Go ahead, Lance. What’s on your mind?

[lanceylance]

[ oh man, how does he say this without sounding crazy? is there any way to not sound crazy asking? probably not. ]

Just remember, you did say I could ask, okay? No take-backs.

[ well, here goes nothing. there's a 'dramatic pause' as he takes a slow, deep breath, grateful he hadn't opted for video so shiro can't see how he's fidgeting. ]

So... um... what I wanted to ask is, uh... well... how did you know that you-- um... were, well, you know... into guys?

[ because he's having a not-so-crisis and shiro's the only one he trusts enough to ask ]

kam evemt

[marmoron]

[ blood curdling screams coming from the vents followed by a hasty lockdown procedure does little to convince keith that he ought to be staying put in his cube. call it paladin tendencies or low self preservation instincts, but either way after relaying his intention to investigate to shiro, his best friend quickly agrees to join in. they can back each other up this way and keith had seen little benefit to arguing.

sure, theres a valid point to be made that shiro shouldn't be wandering into a dangerous situation when he doesn't have armor to protect him, but keith knows his best friend can dig trenches with his heels and the closest thing to a satisfying resolution keith will get here is an unspoken promise to himself that no matter what they find down in the underground tunnels that he will make sure shiro is safe.

so with a whole debate skipped over, the two proceed down into the tunnel beneath commissary and start to walk. no matter how quiet they try to be, the metal beneath their feet rings with each step, making a stealthy approach all but impossible. perhaps reassuringly, there's no sign of a bloodbath within the tunnels themselves, but all the same that distinctive ferrous stench of spilt blood stinks up the air. keith stays tense throughout, taking the lead (and in theory, the brunt of the danger should something try to ambush), with his bayard drawn and activated.

stay sharp.

about a wuarter of the way into the tunnels, keitch catches a glimpse of the tunnel wall to his left rippling like an thin veil of water distorting the concrete. keith turns on his heel, blade and pointed directly at the distortion as it moves around until it takes a distinct shape and form behind shiro.

there, a cloaked figure wearing a mask simply appears. how and why are two questions that fire off immediately, but are just as quickly sidelined because another distortion creeps up along the walls and shimmers into view in front of keith. keith whirils around =, teeth grit to glare down what he assumes at first is going to be another fucking one of the druids, but no.

this one is withered and sickly. a bloated corpse partly eaten up by tendrils of quintessence with long flowing white hair, and glowing yellow slits for eyes. guts twisting with the sudden recognition, keith blurtsL {

Lotor?

[ no. no. sure, these porn aliens have demonstrated an uncanny ability to get into seemingly every reality, which might imply they'd be just as capable of getting into the sapce between them too, but why the fuck would they bring lotor back??

the creature, if it can be said to be alive, chuckles humorlessly, laughing with one with the masked druid. repressing a sudden sick brought on by a rush of adrenaline, keith briefly glances over his shoulder to look at shirp: ]

Shiro, we got this. Okay?

i love this

[earthshine]

[ there’s an argument to be made that none of this is their concern. in fact, there’s an even stronger incentive to stay out of it, because turmoil for the prison staff is ultimately beneficial for the inmates. the last time porn prison had a crisis of security, they, the prisoners, gained access to previously inaccessible areas. of course, this was the same breach in security that had a ghoul hunting keith. shiro won’t say that is the reason he wants to get ahead of this thing, but it certainly adds to the haste of his footsteps as he follows after keith.

paladins; they’re paladins. right. there’s also that. dressed in civilian clothes without a weapon in hand except the weapon that is his hand, shiro doesn’t feel as though he fits the title. he should, he supposes, only in that this is exactly as he was, sitting in the pilot seat, finally accepted as black’s paladin of choice. shaking himself from distraction, shiro breaks the stare down he’s currently doing with the back of keith’s helmet and glances around, trying to see, trying to anticipate, trying not to be the sitting ducks that he fears they might actually become –

it all happens quickly. a distortion that bends the light and blurs the wall behind it, moves and shiro tracks it with his eyes and with his body, turning around to keep the connection. but it’s gone, replaced instead by a tall figure, cloaked and shrouded in a darkness that strikes a nerve in the recesses of shiro’s mind. this is familiar. it is familiar.

they do love to experiment.

distantly, shiro hears keith behind him, gasping lotor and – hm, it doesn’t take like it ought to. shiro should be far more engaged with the fact that he can finally put a face to lotor, the genocidal son of zarkon, that he’s only heard horror stories about thus far. the druids stands some yards away and shiro can’t look away, utterly transfixed to the point that that dulled sting sets in the widened spread of his eyes, both unblinking. ice spreads behind his sternum and frosts out to have his veins running cold. perhaps that’s the reason as to why he stands rooted to the spot, frozen in his tracks.

his bicep aches, right at the seam of flesh to metal. the sensors that run from metal to nerves to brain allow him an imagined sense of touch, but it never feels like flesh and bone. it never feels genuine. there is always a disconnect that keeps him perpetually aware that this is not his arm. all at once, he feels it though; his right arm. like it’s there. superimposed onto the dead, metal weight that hangs off of him, he decides that it hurts. the figures are laughing now. combined, the sound drowns out the whimper that reverberates behind the clench of shiro’s teeth and still, he does nothing as keith’s voice interrupts the noise.

shiro.

the druid tilts his head, the long point of his mask exaggerating the movement and making it look far more unnatural. ]

That’s not your name.

[ prisoner a 117-9875. champion. ]

Say it.

[ shiro can’t. shiro can’t do anything, even as the druid starts advancing on him, both hands still hidden in the long drapes of his robe. if keith is hoping to intervene, he may want to reconsider. the sickly rendition of the once formidable warrior has been shuffling forward as well, the laughter gone now as the mandible seemingly rots in accelerated time, flesh eating away to pull back his lips. the jawbone resorbs and dissipates, leaving the bottom half of lotor’s face gone. the creature holds an arm forward, playing up the sickness of this broken down body through one more step and then, all at once, drops the pretense to lung toward keith with swift, deadly agility. ]

kam....

[marmoron]

[ keith freezes, eyes darting towards the cloaked figure. after everything the druids had done to wipe out the blade of marmora, keith's patience for them had already been at an all-time low. but there's something spine-chilling about this one's voice that raises the fine hairs on the back of keiths neck. familiar. but why would it be when the singular druid he'd ever spoken to is rotting and well accounted for?

as soon as keith's thought it, the illogical nature of the reasoning only makes itself even plainer by  the corpse figure ahead of him.  there's movement in the corner of his eyes, and instinct makes keith fucking look. it's a mistake because protecting shiro is the priority here, but even as he starts to call out: ]

Shiro, don't listen to that piece of garbage. You're - the fuck?!

[ lotor's once handsome face, now horribly disfigured and deformed rots before his eyes. flesh recedes, bone protrudes and with little warning at all, the floor of lotor's jaw simply drops, leaving a decaying, slimy tongue to hang grotesquely from the opening of lotor's throat. all the while, lotor'yellow, glassy eyes are fixed on keith, narrowed with unmistakable fury as the former emperor lunges with surprising speed.

the gurgling noise he makes while attempting to talk is truly hideous, like something wet and choking out an unintelligible scream. unsure of what exactly he's dealing with, but somehow reluctant to simply stab through their former enemy, keith initially tries to kick the body back.

again, why? what's there to fucking reason with at this point? shouldn't he know by now that there isn't any reasoning with some genocidal maniac, even if the guy probably didn't deserve to die from quintessence poisoning? lotor stumbles, falling back with another terrible gurgling scream. breathing hard, keith takes his eyes off of the thing to look over his shoulder. ]

Shiro!

[ the druid merely laughs, low and cruel in its pleasure. ]

You're only confusing him, Keith. The prisoner knows. He knows there's no escaping the Empire. It's right there, sewn onto his body. It'll be a part of him forever.