#didn't realize i have so many asks piled up whoops

[saint-jussy]

Hi! Just realised that I need to properly thank you for uploading the La Révolution française with English subs on YouTube! You did a great job.

(Also, I feel that your comments in the subtitles for the second part is what initially radicalised me, opened my eyes um, inspired me to research more context and try to formulate a more nuanced view of what happened in 1794?)

So again, merci citoyen

Omg I'm so glad to hear this because I get SO MANY ANNOYING COMMENTS about my annotations on Part 2 from people who refuse to think of the movie as anything other than a masterpiece lol

As if I was gonna let normies walk away thinking SJ ever put a hit on Camille!!

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober day 16:

"Would you lie with me, and just forget the world?"

Gurney | flatline | "Don't go where I can't follow."

Fandom: Ducktales

Prompts used: all

So didnt think this was gonna go where it went but uh, it did. Based heavily on a tumblr post/story that did it way better than me, but some angst none the less. However as with most all my stories, the whole… clone thing? Yeah… nah. April May and June are their own birds and typically based off of the Legend of the 3 cabs show versions of them. So 🫶🏻

TW for temporary character death, near death experiences, implied child abuse, and children in dangerous situations.

…

It's dark. 

Quiet, the world was full of noise at all times, but this, this was the absence of everything. 

A glimmer of golden moon light, he looks towards it, a familiar scene plays out before his eyes. 

Donald, maybe 6 years old, is wandering around Grandma Ducks farm, looking for something- no someone. He's still wearing the stiff material his parents like to put him in, which means he'd- no they'd- just been dropped off. He finds Della lying on the roof of the barn, skirt already covered in hay and dirt, hair pulled down from whatever hair do their mother had insisted on. 

"You know Gramma doesn't like us up here." Donald's voice is hoarse from disuse, but his sister has always been able to understand him best. 

"I needed to be somewhere high. Above their reach." Della responds, and older Donald remembers this. Remembers how angry his sister had been that day, how their parents had been insufferable. Tufts of hair and feathers had been pulled as they were made 'presentable'. "Would you lie with me, and just forget the world?" She finally asks, hand reached out to him. 

He doesn't hesitate, taking her hand and laying beside her. They stare at the sky, matching bruised wrists pressed together, and forget. 

Donald thinks about the couple years after that, before they moved in with Uncle Scrooge, and how many times they felt lost until they could look up at the sky together and simply be. 

The golden glow takes on the slightest hue of red, like a sunrise over a pile of treasure, and Donald really has no other options in this black nothingness, than to watch. 

He's older, maybe 12, and they're on an adventure. It's a rare one, Gladstone and Fethry allowed to join, and Donald can see his younger selves anxiety as the threes antics play out. Uncle Scrooge, for his part, is trying to figure out a riddle of some kind to get the entrance open. 

Fethry is the one to actually figure it out, giggling with glee when the rock slides away to reveal the entrance. Scrooge is mildly impressed- though he wouldn't show it of course- and Donald ruffles the boy's hat/head in his place, Della whooping and Gladstone groaning out a 'finally' even as he grins at Fethry. 

They head inside, following the old man's lead as he makes his way carefully, torch held high- because why use a flashlight?- and open book in hand. Some legend or other, some treasure he had to have, on an adventure he had to prove he could do. Donald didn't mind it, really it could be fun and he loved learning new stuff- Fethry and Della are messing around, a foot steps where it shouldn't, Donald is in front of them before he really thinks about it. 

Something always went wrong. 

Seeing it from the outside is strange, watching his younger self get punctured by several arrows. At the time he hadnt been able to take in his families reactions, and the aftermath had been lectures and the likes, but seeing it now… seeing Uncle Scrooges terror as he rushes back, Della and Fethrys screams he hadnt heard over his own falll, Gladstones paralyzed form as terror wide eyes stared at Donalds fallen form. He gets to watch the panic and fear and tears, from the temple all the way to the nearest hospital, how they all try to follow the gurney and are held back. 

Donald hadn't realized they'd cared that much… Was it like that everytime? Or… just in the beginning, when they didnt use these things to their advantage? Donald knows it's gotten better- after so much worse happened first- but he wonders… right now, are they worried like this, or are they there at all? 

Della had always assumed their times would come together. Even when she was on the moon, she figured she'd live and miraculously drop dead as Donald did on Earth and they'd reunite in the beyond and yell and hug and-

Or… as a kid, she worried it would end in a hospital before his time. He'd be injured because of her or another family member, and they'd all be gathered- or so many missing, why did they always leave when Donald needed them most?- around a too still form as a heart rate monitor flat lines in a high final tone. 

Her heart has yet to calm, she's staring blankly before her, at a machine meant to destroy all adventure- meant to destroy her family- and yet… the only one missing is her brother, the duck ready to sacrifice himself for his loved ones at any given moment. The one who was dropped into an angry red ball of lightning, even after Scrooge signed that damned contract. 

The machine was shut down moments after, moments too late, and the rage that had overtaken Della in that moment… figures she’d understand Donald after he was…

The ensuing battle was a mess, Della had seen red for most of it, Donalds bandmates had shown up to save Scrooge from a direct blast from the sword of swanstentine, and Louie and Huey had found a hole in the contract, and the family had won- 

"Where's Uncle Donald??" Dewey is the first to ask, his brothers look around,

"He was on the platform with you guys wasnt he mom?" Huey looks imploringly at the adults before him, and Della falls to her knees. 

"Mom!?" 

Scrooge places a heavy hand on her shoulder, eyes teary as he tries to look at the children slowly gathering before them. 

"Yer Uncle… well he-" 

"No. Nonono, don't finish that sentence." Louie cuts him off, eyes wet and lower beak wobbling, "It's Uncle Donald. It's ridiculous how much he can go through and still come back. We need him so he has to be… he's fine!" Huey and Dewey are on either side of him, Webby has his hoodie squeezed in her fist, Violet and Lena are behind her, Gosolyn and Boyd inching closer to Dewey and Huey respectively. 

Everyone else is closing in behind them, those who understand looking lost and shocked, and looking back at the machine like he'd just… waltz out of it. 

Della sobs, something deep and bitter and broken, a wail so loud her ancestors must feel her pain. The clouds had dispersed with their victory, the sun mocks her as tragedy shakes the unshakable family. 

"Della? Whats wrong?" The crackly voice is unmistakable, Della fears she is hearing things, that she'll find his ghost when she lowers her eyes, but Scrooges gasp,

"Donald Duck." 

"Uncle Scrooge. What's everyone doing? Did we lose?" 

Donald is being supported by José and Panchito on either side- Della hadn't seen them leave, just as she hadn't seen them arrive- he looks drained, a gray tinge to his form and darkness beneath his eyes. He'd only been gone a few moments but he looks like he went through hell to get back- and well maybe he did. 

Della stumbles towards him at full speed, sure the others are right behind her, and tackles him to the ground. He wheezes, feeling too thin beneath her arms, but hugs back just as tight,

"I swear Donald, never do that again! Don't go where I can't follow. I… can't do this without you." She whispers it, a moment for them alone, voice trembling as she buries her teary face in his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry. I'm here now." He runs a hand through her hair, one more long moment before she moves and a pile of children replace her. 

"Uncle Donald!" The chorus is music to his ears, he'd thought he'd never hear it again. 

He thought he'd drift in a black void, his thoughts his only company, forever. He felt weakened with every memory, sucked dry and hopeless as he realized his many mistakes and had his trauma bared before him. Seeing José's glowing green eyes had startled him into a squawk he hadn't realized he could release in the silence. His shadow form was practically invisible with no light to define him, but his hand had led Donald home. What had felt like a lifetime, had been mere minutes, but he was glad he didn't miss too much. He wanted to see the- his- kids grow up. 

And give this whole family thing another shot.

[byulsgrease]

for richer ⋆ I promise you

previous || masterlist || next

(~900 words, no cw's)

I'm mildly convinced arcades are a kid's gateway to casinos. Strangely dim lighting, flashing neon lights, the weirdly tacky patterned carpet floors sticky with who knows what. Sensory overload. That's what it is. And the classic token-ticket system. Although I guess nowadays there's just point cards to swipe— which one could argue is a gateway to mindlessly swiping a credit card, unwittingly wracking up all the debt one can for a temporary taste of instant gratification.

It was someone's birthday party, some kid in our 4th grade class. What respectable adult ever thought that letting an entire class-worth's of kids run rampant in an arcade was a good idea? Regardless, we were all given some pre-portioned share of tokens inside tacky arcade-branded plastic cups clutched in our grubby hands.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" she asked eagerly, teeth glinting as they bit into her lower lip in eager anticipation. I nodded and let her lead the way, figured there was no point in resisting because she would've just tried to yank my arm off anyway. She started off decidedly on a path she seemed to know well, snaking through a bunch of games that all looked exactly the same to me. She abruptly stopped in front of a coin-pusher machine, the kind that everyone slots a couple tokens into, fruitlessly trying to time the oscillating chute with the deceptively large amount of tokens teetering on the edge.

"This is the cool thing?" Didn't bother to hide my unbelief. No way that she was gonna get more than a couple tickets out of this, if that.

"Yep, try it out," gloating as she fished a token from her own cup, holding it out to me between her fingers.

"You're wasting one not just on this machine, but on me?"

"Just do it!" she half-whined, impatient. I took the token with narrowed eyes, still dubious about what the big deal was.

But I obliged, watching the coin chute swing back and forth a couple times before poorly timing the insertion of the token. It rolled a short distance and fell flat, quickly absorbed by the mound of existing tokens and contributing absolutely nothing. Her laugh rang out over my shoulder. Should've known she was playing me.

"You... really suck at this."

"Speak for yourself, could you have done any better?!"

"Well, not on the actual game, no. But watch this." She reached over to slap her hand over the token return button. Big whoop, trying to get the token back? I didn't even see how that would be possible, seeing that it laid unmoving in the pile just behind the glass. I nearly opened my mouth to protest at how she needed to quit making random stuff up just to show off, until tickets started streaming out of the machine. Tickets that, in theory, were only supposed to come out if coins fell over the edge.

"What the hell?" Okay, obviously that's not what I said. But I’d like to imagine my younger self possessed the ability to be so colorfully terse.

She returned my exclamation with an open-mouthed grin, gesturing to her handiwork folding in on itself in a stack on the nasty carpet.

“Now we can get whatever prize we want.” She spoke proudly, enunciating every word like she'd become queen of the world (arcade?)

“You know you can buy literally all of the stuff they have behind the counter, right?”

“With what money, yours??"

"No, no. But imagine all the money that our classmate's parents spent on the tokens, and think about how many tokens it would take to win the game— like, I dunno, 1000? You could go out and buy anything on those shelves for probably half the price."

"But we didn't buy these tokens," Byul pointed out gloatingly. What a ground-breaking revelation. I'm sure my eyes rolled back as far as they could possibly go at that. How I don't have a detached retina by now is beyond me.

"That's... not the—" I started before I gave up, realizing she'd tuned me out with her eyes trained intensely on the malfunctioning machine, having concluded its ticket-spitting spree. She leaned over and plucked it up off the floor, the stack of tickets tight in her fist. It fed into the ticket counter smoothly, at the very least.

“You gonna get your share? 'Cause if not I'm taking yours and getting one of those huge prizes."

"Won't people ask where all these tickets came from?"

"Not if you play it cool and say we just got lucky," she countered with an upturned corner of her mouth, waving her hand in some kind of smoothing motion that looked decidedly uncool and not at all suspicious.

Next thing I knew she took hold of my wrist unprompted and slapped my palm onto the token return button.

"We can pool our tickets together! We'll be rich!!" exclaiming reassurances while continually pinning my hand to the not-so-shiny silver button, ticket flow resuming from the malfunctioning machine. I don't even remember what we ended up getting at the prize counter now, she's the one who took it home with her after... whatever it was. And how she knew about the hack, I still have no clue. Nothing stopping me from asking, I guess? Seems a little late for it now, though.

Now that I'm really thinking back on it, maybe childhood was more fun than I initially remembered.

[capriswritingnartshenanigans]

Good Things Happen Bingo: First Kiss

Finished one of my card slots for @goodthingshappenbingo for Piper Wright/F!Sole Survivor. How better to kick off Pride Month than with my favorite girl? :D

Piper Wright/Nora. SFW. 629 words. Catch it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144342

Summary:

While setting up posters proclaiming the upcoming movie night in Sanctuary, Nora gets interrupted by Piper wanting to show her something she found in the woods.

Nora grumbles under her breath as she rummages through the trash and scrap covering the garage house floor. ‘Garage house’ being the house Vault Tec connected the original community building workbench on before even she moved into Sanctuary Hills, all those years ago. The house itself was now a place for her, and settlers, to work on guns, ammunition, armor… Whatever they needed, plus a place to pile up a lot of the scrap Nora collects during the various trips around the Commonwealth.

Letting out a little whoop of victory as she finds the small hammer she was looking for, she heads back outside to go back to nailing up posters for the upcoming movie night; she still has so many to put up, and her original hammer breaking didn't exactly help. As she sets another poster up against the General Store’s wall, a hand grabs her by her bicep, forcing her to pause. Turning her head to see the hand’s owner, she spies Piper, her slightly sunburnt face grinning cheerfully at Nora. “Say, Blue, you think you, uh, put up enough posters for a small break?” She brings her other hand up and holds her fingers apart just a smidge and raises the pitch of her voice. “Just an itty bitty one?” Nora smiles as she lets out a pretend sigh, then nods her head in agreement.

“Lemme finish this one, and I’ll take a break, okay?”

-----

“Sooo… Piper, where exactly are we going?” Nora asks as Piper leads her into the bush. They're following the creek by Sanctuary towards somewhere a little west of the Vault, because Piper “found something”. Piper just tugs her on along behind her with their intertwined hands.

“You ask again, Blue, and I'll push you in the water. Just c’mon!” She says all of this with a laugh in her voice, and speeds up her pace to a jog, which Nora follows. The two laugh like idiots as they weave through the blooming trees, feeling bursts of warmth over their skin as they either near each other or step into a patch of sunlight not dappled by the leaves.

After a few more minutes, they enter a small clearing, filled with hubflowers, wild carrot blossoms, and some deeply purple looking bell-shaped flowers with a single mushroom circle in the dead center. “See?” Piper says a little breathlessly. Nora is silent as she takes in the beauty of the area, a new kind of beauty the old world would never have been able to imagine. A small smile comes to Nora’s face as she releases Piper’s hand and walks over to a hubflower bush, and carefully cuts a bloomed flower off with her pocket knife. After doing so, she turns back to Piper and gently tucks it behind her ear, causing the black hair there to spill out around it. “Oh, um, thanks, Blue,” Piper says with a blush starting high on her cheeks.

“Mmm, there's only one other thing that could make this absolutely perfect.” Piper looks to her with confusion, but before her opened lips can release her question, Nora gently cups her face in her tanned hands. Piper’s hazel eyes go wide with realization, then soften, and even close as Nora leans in. Nora closes her own as their lips meet, the softness of both pairs causing them to easily mold to one another. Their lips stay in that soft kiss for only a few seconds more, before Nora pulls away. She doesn't drop her hands, however.

“Wow, Blue. You really know how to make a first kiss romantic, huh?” Piper grins as she speaks, her eyes twinkling in the fractured afternoon sun.

“Mmm, I try my best, but maybe the second kiss will be even better than the first…”

[paige-writes]

Must Be Magic (chapter 4)

Time for Keith and Shikuma to make up, and discuss some deep stuff!

'God, I'm stupid', Keith thought as he laid awake in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling of the guest room. He shouldn't have pushed Shikuma. Whatever these Leviathan things were, they were obviously a sensitive topic to him.

"You can't protect everyone just because you're Mr. Hero!"

Those words stuck with Keith the whole way back to Ivy's castle. It was true that not everyone can be protected, but with how serious Shikuma sounded earlier, Leviathans had been a problem before. It was just a hunch, but Keith was worried that Magara will be in danger of the Leviathans, and soon.

Keith tossed and turned in his bed to attempt to get some sleep, but to no avail. He was kept awake by his thoughts about everything that's happened after the battle with Zarkon. Shiro disappeared, leaving Keith to be the new Black Paladin. And he tried, he really did, but the position felt like an extra weight on his shoulders. He ended up cracking under pressure after a week, to which Allura took over. Watching her, Keith saw how much better of a leader she was than him. After that, Keith wondered if he was going to be seen as useless from now on, someone who gives up instead of taking initiative. And on top of that, everyone keeps looking at him, like they're taking pity on him, and he fucking hates it.

Deciding that sleep wasn't an option, Keith climbed out of bed and went to the room's balcony. There was a nice breeze as he leaned on the ledge and he could see the starry night sky clearly. What was Shikuma doing right now?'

Whoa, where did that thought come from? A thought like that had never once crossed Keith's mind. Keith brushed the thought away. It was probably because of their argument.

Keith sighed. He still couldn't stop thinking about that. He fucked up, and now Shikuma probably hates him.

"Nice night, eh?"

A voice broke Keith out of his thoughts. Instinctively, he turned and knocked down the stranger before they could try anything. His eyes widened when he saw that it was none other than Shikuma, now flat on his back and a red mark growing on his face.

"Man," he said, "I really need to stop sneaking up on you."

Keith, meanwhile, was speechless. Why was Shikuma here? Was he not mad at him anymore? "Why are you here?" he ended up asking as he pulled the taller boy up. "Why do you think?" Shikuma replied. "To see you, of course."

Now Keith was even more confused. "But I thought you were mad at me."

"I was, but I realized that I overreacted a bit." Shikuma paused. "I....shouldn't have snapped at you. I feel like a dick now that I think about it. I'm sorry, Keith." A small smile tugged at the red paladin's lips. Reaching up, he playfully ruffled Shikuma's hair. "Listen," he said, "I shouldn't have pressured you. I'm sorry, too." Shikuma smiled back, a type of cute and giddy smile and oh god Keith swore his stomach did a somersault. That he couldn't hide from himself. What was with him today?

"---e on." Keith blinked back to reality, realizing that he zoned out. "W-What?"

"You spacin' out on me?" Shikuma joked. "I said come on. I want to talk with you at a special place. Just us." Keith hesitated a bit. Last time they talked alone they ended up running from distant Leviathans. As if reading his mind, Shikuma placed a comforting hand on top of the shorter boy's head. "It's okay. There are no Leviathans anywhere near where I'm taking you."

Keith scanned the area where he and Shikuma arrived at. After being embarrassingly carried bridal style through the night air by Shikuma and his flight spell, he was taken to a woodsy area. There were glowing mushroom-looking things scattered around the many bases of trees and what Keith guessed were the Magarian equivalent of fireflies floating about, illuminating the night with spots of pink. There was even a lake a little ways ahead.

"This is....nice," was what Keith said with a small smile. "It's quiet."

"But this has only scratched the surface of what I actually want to show you," Shikuma told him. Kneeling down on the ground, Keith saw Shikuma place his hands on the grass. There was a soft rumbling before a white glowing swirl cut through a large space in the ground and disappeared into thin air, revealing a short flight of stone steps going downward. Once the boys reached the bottom, Keith was met with a small bunker. The walls were made of cobblestone and had papers with writing pinned in different spots. In the far right corner there was a pile of blankets and pillows that formed a makeshift bed. The ceiling, however, wasn't cobblestone at all; instead it showed the bottom of the lake, providing light in the room. The bunker was nothing fancy, in fact it looked very cozy.

"So is this your secret hideout or something?" Keith asked. "I guess you could call it that," Shikuma replied. "I like to think of it as my home away from home. It's not much, but...it helps me think."

"About what?"

"Stuff. Things from my past and what's happening now with the Galra and all that. You know, the kind of stuff you can't talk about with friends or family."

"Heh, I know how that feels."

Shikuma went over to the corner with the blanket pile and sat on top of it, patting the space next to him for Keith. Keith hesitated, but complied anyway. The various blanket were soft and comfortable as he sat down. "So....what are all these papers for?" he asked, trying to initiate conversation. Keith saw the corners of Shikuma's mouth curl into a small smile. With a wave of the Magarian boy's hand and the glow of his crystal, a few of the papers floated off the wall and made themselves into a stack on Keith's lap. "They're my thoughts," Shikuma explained. "Whenever I come here, it's always to think. I never liked keeping my thoughts buried inside my head, so when I couldn't talk about them, I wrote them."

"So like a diary."

"A what?"

"A diary. It's like a private journal. On Earth we use them to write what we're thinking, and only the writer can see it."

"How convenient! That sounds a lot easier than using an underground room for writing!" Keith had to suppress a laugh there. Shikuma's sense of curiosity was kind of cute. "Are you okay with me reading these?"

"Of course. I trust you." Keith smiled at that then focused on the papers before him. As he suspected, they were all like diary entries. Some were no more than a few sentences while others took up a whole page. There was one that read, "A castle-like ship landed on Magara today. I hope it isn't more Galra." This was from the other day. Another read, "I've learned that that was Princess Allura's ship, which means Voltron is back! But then so is Zarkon...." Each passage was pretty recent.

"There are new Voltron Paladins. They're from a planet called Earth. I thought there were five, but there are only four. Weird. The red one is kinda cute, I think his name is Keith. He's also pretty short. I call him 'Little Red' now, but I don't think he likes it very much, hehe."

"I had a fight with Keith after the festival. I wanted to protect him from the Leviathans, and I ended up lashing out at him after we escaped. I don't want him to hate me for it. Because I like him too much."

Keith blinked a few times at that last part of the passage. Was he reading that correctly? "You like me?" he blurted out. Fuck, he didn't want to say that out loud. And he guessed that Shikuma didn't mean for him to see that paper, judging from his red face and ears. "You....weren't supposed to read that one...."

"Sorry."

"I-It's fine. Here, read this one instead." Shikuma handed Keith another sheet of paper. A few times Keith's eyes scanned the words that read, "I miss my mom. I think about her every day. I wonder what she looked like. Most likely beautiful."

"You've never met your mom before?" Keith asked, to which Shikuma shook his head. "Not once. She died after Suvi and I were born." Keith watched him idly fiddle with the hem of his Magarian robes, the ones he wore at the festival. He's never met his mother, just like Keith never met his, or at least couldn't remember her. They were alike.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've never met my mom either."

"Heh, glad to know we're in the same boat."

It was silent for a moment before Shikuma stood up, pulling Keith with him up the stairs and out of the bunker. They stood at the edge of the lake on a rocky ledge, staring at the glowing water in silence. Keith was about to ask what they were doing here, then he saw Shikuma shedding his robes and shirt. "W-What are you doing!?" he exclaimed, face probably bright red. Shikuma only looked at him and laughed. "We're going for a swim. You know how to swim, right?"

"Well, y-yeah. I just wasn't expecting you to do that." Shikuma laughed again at the red paladin's embarrassment. After taking off everything else but his boxers, Shikuma let out a happy whoop as he jumped into the water, barely missing Keith's feet with the splash. Once he came up to the surface, he smiled at the shorter boy, and Keith couldn't help but stare a few seconds longer than he wanted to when Shikuma pushed his wet hair out of his face. "You coming in?" he asked. Keith answered with a shrug. "Don't think I won't drag you in here myself, fully clothed or not," Shikuma warned, and that was enough for Keith to give in and also strip down to his boxers.

"Wow," Shikuma said, "you're really scrawny."

"Don't make me change my mind about this," Keith shot back. He took a deep breath, then jumped into the lake. He expected the water to be cold, but surprisingly it was pretty warm. His bangs were stuck to his face when he came up, however his vision became clear once Shikuma brushed them away from his eyes. The bandage wrap on Shikuma's left forearm was definitely sticking out like a sore thumb, though.

"What happened to your arm?" Keith questioned, instantly taking a hold of the Magarian boy's wrist. Shikuma instinctively tensed up, which immediately concerned Keith. "What happened?" Keith asked again, this time serious. "Did someone hurt you?"

"No, Keith, no one hurt me." Shikuma removed Keith's hand from his wrist and held it in his own. His bright green eyes seemed to dull a little bit. "When you guys landed on Magara and met Ivy, did you see a mark on the spot between her neck and shoulder?"

Keith thought for a moment. "I think so. A light purple swirl?"

"Yes, that one. When Magarians are born, they get a birthmark somewhere on their body. It symbolizes your family's place on this planet." Shikuma unwrapped and removed the bandages, revealing to Keith the green silhouette of a dagger on the underside of his arm, its long, thin blade pointing towards his wrist. "My father was a soldier to the royal family. I have some idea of what happened for him to be like he was, but eight years after my mom died, he became cruel with me and Suvi. He blamed us for her death, telling us that we were a curse. Bad omens to the family." Shikuma stopped talking for a moment. Keith was worried he might cry.

Shikuma managed to keep his composure. "It hurt so much," he continued. "Not only would he use his words, but his hands too. Nine years...nine fucking years he did this to us. This mark on my arm no longer makes me think of loyalty. Only violence and hatred...that's why I keep it hidden."

Keith didn't know what to say. Had it not been for Shikuma opening up like this, this would have gone way over his head. As if having a mind of its own, Keith's hand raised to gently hold Shikuma's marked forearm. "I'm sorry," was all that came out of his mouth. What else could he say? Sorry that you've been abused for half of your life?

"If you don't mind me asking, where's your dad now?"

"Dead. The Galra got him four years ago. And it's weird....I'm still not sure if I should be sad or overjoyed that they killed him. Now, Suvi's the only blood relative I have left."

"What about your other sisters?"

"They're not related to me and Suvi, but they were close with our family. They took us in after our dad was killed, and we've been happy ever since then."

"That's good at least. You didn't deserve to live with a parent like that...You look better when you're happy." Oh shit, that part wasn't supposed to be said out loud, but it was too late now. Keith saw Shikuma's face, which had a surprised expression for a good three seconds before turning into a grin. "Keith, are you....flirting with me?"

"What!? N-No, I just---I---!" God this was embarrassing!

"Wow, for a Galra you sure get flustered easily." Keith froze. Hold on, what? How did he know? Did one of the other paladins say anything? Oh this was bad. Really bad.

Shikuma slightly grimaced when he felt Keith's hand tighten around his forearm. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy, Little Red! I'm not mad at you!" He felt Keith's grip loosen after that. "You're not?" he asked. "Wait, but how did you find out?"

"I knew all along," Shikuma said. "Magarians can sense and see auras, and every alien species has one. When I first saw you, you had a strange aura. I knew you weren't fully human. You had Galra aura mixed with your human one." Shikuma saw Keith look down at the water in silence. He tried to playfully splash him, but Keith pushed him away. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, although this time his voice sounded angry. "Why didn't you tell me that you knew!?"

"Because I didn't feel like it was important at the time! There was no other time to bring it up! I was afraid that---"

"Afraid of what? That I would kill you because I found out that you knew I was a part of a race that's out for universal domination?"

"I was afraid that you would react like you are now! Why are you being like this!?"

"Because I just found out, too!" Shikuma's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you saying, Keith?" Keith clenched his fists.

"Before our leader Shiro went missing, we went into this secret rebel Galra base called the Blade of Marmora. I had a knife with the same symbol as one of their member's weapons, and I really wanted to see what it meant to me. After I went through some trials, I somehow 'unlocked' the blade, but that only happened if you had Galra blood in you, which apparently I did....I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd hate me...." There was a dead silence, and Keith looked down, ashamed. This was bound to be the end for him and Shikuma.

Keith was about to get out of the water when he felt strong arms pulling him against Shikuma's chest. "I don't hate you," Shikuma said. "I would never hate you, even if you're Galra. You saw that entry, right? I like you too much to hate you." A strange warmth filled Keith's chest as he returned the hug. Damn, this guy was growing on him, but in the best way. "I'm sorry," Keith mumbled into Shikuma's shoulder.

"For what?"

"For everything. For keeping this Galra thing a secret, for yelling at you, just everything. It's been really difficult since Shiro disappeared. He's like a brother to me, and a great leader. He wanted me to lead Voltron if something happened to him, but it became too much for me after a while, and so Allura's taking over now. I failed everyone. I failed Shiro." An idea popped into Shikuma's head right after Keith said that. He stepped away from the shorter boy, and by the power of his crystal, Shikuma created a mirror-like screen with his hands. Keith was now looking at himself.

"Keith," Shikuma said, "look at yourself. Does this look like a failure to you?" The red paladin didn't answer, just shrugged, making Shikuma sigh. "No, it doesn't. You wanna know what I see here? I see a hero. A paladin of Voltron. A fighter who never gives up. A selfless guy who puts others before himself, which you need to be careful of, if I may add!" Shikuma made the screen disappear with a snap and smiled at Keith. "What I'm trying to say is that you're not failing anyone. You save people! And so what if you're half Galra? That doesn't change anything!"

Shikuma stepped closer to Keith and took his hands in his, making Keith's cheeks flush pink. "You're not a failure, Keith. You never were. Now, show me a smile." Keith looked away, half out of embarrassment, half out of the fact that he was still upset. "Keeeeeith, come on. Please?" Shikuma batted his eyelashes for effect, but Keith ignored him, and continued to do so until he'd thought the Magarian boy had given up. Keyword, thought. The water from the lake rose and splashed Keith from behind, startling him. With wide eyes, Keith faced Shikuma, only to see him with his hands raised to his chest, his crystal glowing, and a wicked smirk adorning his features. "Woops," he said. "Gee, you look like a wet dog."

Oh it was so on. With all of his strength, Keith fired back with every splash and wave he could think of. And all the while he was laughing. He was having fun, and this whole intergalactic war was all but a mere thought. He didn't feel under pressure at the moment. And Shikuma? He made Keith feel like a regular person. There was the same strange warmth that blossomed in Keith's chest when he was with him, and he liked it.

Throughout all of the splashing, Keith hadn't realized that Shikuma disappeared until he didn't hear him laughing. He stopped and looked around. The lake wasn't that big, so how hard could it be to spot a 5'9 boy? Unless...

Keith couldn't finish that thought, because the next thing he knew his feet were swept out from under him, then water surrounded his body. Keith rose for air, and when he did he saw Shikuma staring down at him with the same smirk on his face. "I win!" he declared, extending a hand out to Keith. Bad idea. Keith took this chance to grab Shikuma's hand and pull him down into the water. When Shikuma came up with a pout, Keith was mirroring his smirk. "Woops, my bad. Heh, you look like a wet dog."

"You fight dirty. I like that." There was a brief moment where Keith lost himself in Shikuma's eyes, as cheesy as it sounds. Were they always this bright green? Were they always this soft?

And it wasn't just his eyes. Shikuma's face held a sort of softness. No scars or blemishes. Just softness. Maybe Keith wasn't thinking at the time, but he found himself leaning over and pressing his lips to Shikuma's, and felt the Magarian boy kiss back. The kiss was short, but sent sparks through Keith's body even after he pulled away. On Shikuma's side, he was overjoyed. He'd been waiting for this. He felt heat spread from his ears to his cheeks, and he didn't want that feeling to go away. He stared at Keith with half-lidded eyes and parted lips, which turned into a smile. "Well," he said, "that was unexpected and bold."

"I can be bold sometimes."

"Bullshit! You blushed every time I called you cute!"

"Okay, so it was a spur of the moment kind of thing! But...it was nice...I don't know, I have all of these feelings and thoughts running through me, and I'm not sure how to handle them. I...I need time to sort things out, I think."

"That's okay. Just one thing...can I kiss you again?" Keith hesitated a bit, then nodded. Just as Shikuma leaned in, there was a rustling from the front of them. The both of them looked and saw an out of breath Rubi coming from the woods, and the look on her face was far from calm.

"Listen, as much as I hate to break up your little moment, we have a major problem!" Keith and Shikuma stood immediately. "Rubi, what's wrong?" Shikuma asked.

"The Leviathans. They're here."

This took WAY too long to finish holy fuck. Anyways, chapter 5 is on its way!