Chapter Text
Peeking out the door to make sure it was safe, Hunk and Keith had crowded the area before being pushed away gleefully by Pidge and Lance. Both Shiro and Ashira had soft looks on their faces watching the “kids”. They got along like two peas in a pod and Shiro found the Feltran had a more motherly streak than he initially thought. While still younger than the leader of Voltron himself, Ashira was closer in age to him than she was Keith at 23 years old. She had also mentioned some time back about planning for a family with her mate one day, so this also came as no surprise that she was babying the other Paladins a little; Pidge was the one she predominantly kept an eye on.
It had been about a month and a half since they had arrived. Keith and Lance were healed enough to not need slings much anymore, but movement was still monitored and a bit stiff. Mikaniqui was with them that day and had, essentially, given the boys a clean bill of health. Which meant Ashira was more than happy to let them have some fun in her backyard to get all that pent up energy out. For as much as Pidge complained about going outside, Ashira could tell she enjoyed the fresh air.
“Hard to believe all this land is yours!” Hunk gawked. It was quite expansive, but was also hard to tell where it stopped because of how wooded and secluded it was. Ashira tried to wave it off, saying it wasn't anything grand and that she's seen far larger homes with more acreage than herself.
Lance was more impressed that it was all hers at such a young age. From the stories he'd heard from her over the past several weeks, Feltra was nearly a utopia compared to Earth. No one ever had to struggle to afford housing or food, while medical needs were never left untreated. Equal rights for the queer and disabled. It wasn't perfect, as made obvious by the work Ashira's mate did, but it was a far cry from what the group was used to back home. He'd hear Keith sigh wistfully at the mention of a lack of unwanted children, thus little to nothing for adoption agencies or kids left without someone to love them. The half Galran had kept to himself a lot back home, but Lance could only take a wild guess as to why he'd react like that, biting his lip as he thought of the implication.
Shaking her head, Ashira became more aware of her surroundings and walked down the steps, Shiro and Mikaniqui trailing behind her. The medic watched as Keith was making motions with his arms, as if he had a weapon they couldn't see. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at both Ashira and Shiro, the pair having similar looks.
“Hey, what would the rest of you think about working out that energy with a faux battle?” Hunk looked comically terrified; a big man like that Mikaniqui expected to agree. Pidge briefly considered it, then politely declined, stating she was plenty content to just be outside, even if she did nothing. She wasn't the least bit surprised that Keith took up her offer. All three of the full adults, however, were surprised when Lance accepted as well. He stated it was less for the cabin fever and more because he'd been laid up and should probably get back to being the team's sharpshooter.
The two Feltrans looked confused and Shiro spoke up. “A sharpshooter is someone with exceptional aim using long distance weapons. Lance uses a firearm.” A look of glee took over Mikaniqui's face as she held up a finger before running inside to rummage through her belongings.
“HAVE MERCY!” Lance hollered, the beam of light disappearing and Mikaniqui leaping from tree to tree as she chased him. He ran, taking a few stray shots when he deemed himself far enough, but it was a futile game. What they were doing was dangerous, but Mikaniqui scrutinized his work before they started with some targets of varying sizes. She was impressed by what she saw; they could spar like this because she knew Lance wouldn't hurt her, and not because he was a bad shot. Ashira, having known Mikaniqui for as long as she did and had fought beside her on multiple occasions, admitted to herself that Lance was pretty well on equal footing with the medic.
Keith, during the target practice, had summoned his own Bayard and was taking some healthy swings with it, doing one spectacular handstand using his shield, just to see if his arm could handle his weight. He didn't buckle, but it still hurt a bit, so at least he now had an idea where he was sitting at. Looking in the direction of the staircase and watching the adults walk onto the grass, he prepared himself.
When given the option to exercise his arm, Keith knew precisely what he wanted to do, unlike a certain Cuban who was screaming as the laser fired off again. Used to training together, Shiro walked closer to him and got into a defensive position. Pulling up a memory from while he had still been healing and getting used to the layout of the house, Keith's expression turned blank.
“Not you,” he said flatly. Shiro blinked dumbly as he stood back up properly and watched him point at their host. “Her.”
“ME?!” Ashira squeaked. Shiro was also surprised at the request, but a little less so, if his hunch was right as to WHY she was being asked.
“You've known your wife for a long time, right?” Keith inquired as he came to where Ashira was standing.
“Correct.”
“And you've worked with her on some of her missions? I think you mentioned this before.”
“You are right,” she replied, her tail swishing curiously and one ear swiveling around. “Why do you ask?”
“I...uh...” he hesitated as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her blizzard hued eyes, “...may have accidentally walked into your bedroom at some point during our stay. It was a mistake and I didn't mean to, I'm sorry.” His indigo gaze met hers again. “But I couldn't help but notice the blade you had tucked in the corner of the room. There just didn't ever seem to be a good time to ask you about it and I guess I wanted to test myself against someone with a weapon similar to mine.” He peered over his shoulder with a small smile. “No offense, Shiro.” The older man chuckled and waved him off to go sit and watch.
After a good match, the sound of metal clanging together being oddly soothing to both of them, Ashira went into her house for some cold water and to put her weapon back in its usual place. Keith was pretty well on her level as well and might have actually won if he'd been in top form. It had been some time for her as well, but she wasn't the one that was recently injured. The young man seemed to enjoy himself and she figured he wouldn't take the loss too hard, probably willing to use the experience going forward.
She found herself thinking better of it as Keith came into the house, nabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and went back outside with it. Ashira had been in the kitchen with her glass and pitcher, so he hadn't seen her. But his countenance looked a little sullen and she grew worried. Grabbing another glass and filling it, she made her way to the porch.
It didn't take her long to find him. He hadn't left the perimeter and was seemingly moping inside the comfort of the blanket. Watching as the others played around and acted their age (or, in Shiro's case, making up for those younger years), he sighed and buried himself a little more.
“Is this seat taken?” Ashira quipped as she offered him the glass. He took the glass and shook his head, the Feltran sitting next to him on the porch swing. “Are you all right, Keith?”
“Yeah, I'm just...” His face looked briefly pained before he controlled it, but not fast enough that it went unnoticed.
“Are you upset about the match?”
“Oh, no!” He turned quickly as he tried to reassure her. “It wasn't that at all!” Resuming his original position, he wore a small, gentle smile. “That's actually the first time in a while I've had actual fun. Even before Voltron, life has been...” the smile quickly vanished, “...brutal...”
“You need not tell me anything you do not wish to,” Ashira began to reply, “but I have noticed how you react to some topics, so I can only surmise.” Keith nodded. He learned quickly that Feltrans were insanely perceptive. Whether this was because of their thirst for knowledge or because of possible heightened senses due to their feline nature, he wasn't sure.
“I wouldn't be on this team without our lives leading us where they did and I'll always be grateful for Voltron. But...” He looked up, his eyes a little glassy. “I sometimes wish back home had a little of this so that it wasn't so lonely...”
“Lone wolf by circumstance, not necessarily by choice?”
“...yeah...” Keith replied as he leaned over, just enough to be touching Ashira's side as he began to take small sips of his water. She didn't say anything else, making the space for him if he wanted to reach out more. They both watched the rest of the team fool around, even long after Mikaniqui left. Keith would eventually turn his head away from her, his thick bangs hiding his eyes. “...thank you...”