dadofmarmora | Empatheias Inbox

[ Shiro doesn't make it all the way up to the bonfire on the top of the mountain tonight. He doesn't even make it close. He makes it as far as having the crystal mirror rooms explained to him before he abandons the idea entirely. He relives his memories often enough unwillingly; he's not about to do it on purpose.

But at least he doesn't have to make it to the bonfire to get a lantern to send up--two lanterns, actually. He takes them a little ways off the path, close enough that he can see and be seen from the path, but far enough that it's clear this is as far as he's going to go. He settles down, dark shawl around his shoulders and torch propped up nearby, and he gets to work.

The first lantern is easy enough for him to put together, essentially a repeat of the one he sent up last year. A simply stated apology to those he killed in the gladiator arena, followed by an oath that he won't give up until the universe is free of the Galra Empire. He's probably already done with this one by the time Kolivan comes across him.

The second lantern seems simpler on the surface, and yet it takes Shiro a lot more time. Ulaz's name is first and immediate; that was a loss he experienced only a couple of weeks after the last Selenium, the first tangible casualty of the war for Team Voltron, and a death that's weighed particularly heavily on him ever since. Thace's name comes soon thereafter; Shiro will never have the opportunity to meet the man back home, and in the end, he wasn't in Verens very long, but his patience and understanding with the Paladins' initial hostility was much appreciated, and learning of his ultimate fate had stung especially hard coming so close on the heels of Ulaz's sacrifice.

There's a much longer pause before he adds Keith's name. Possibly it's in bad taste to write down the name of someone who's still actively here on his lantern, but... Shiro needs to do this. He needs to accept that it happened and it's out of his hands before he can move on. ]

[Kolivan is intending to go up the mountain and reach the bonfire. However, he also has no intention of setting foot in the mirror rooms, and for his own reasons, he crafts his lantern before he starts off on the path. He doesn't make it far before the light from Shiro's torch catches his attention, however, and the Galra pauses to consider him.

Shiro has been distinctly frosty since Kolivan arrived. It isn't something he's worrying about, per se. Allura was warm and welcoming, it turns out Keith is strangely perky outside of war, and Matt Holt made a very good first impression; only Hunk has been openly hostile. To that end, since Kolivan clearly hasn't offended the entire team somehow, he's judged Hunk's issues at least to be personal problems that aren't truly his concern.

However, he isn't certain about Shiro. Kolivan watched Keith's trial. He knows how important Shiro is to the boy, and there is no reason to assume that Shiro's affections don't run just as deep, despite the bickering he's witnessed on some of his more recent calls. It's only respectful to give him space to grieve, under the circumstances, but -- well. Kolivan is aware that Keith had felt split between the Blades and Voltron for quite some time, and that it was a relief when Shiro resumed his former position. Chances are high that things are far deeper on Shiro's end than Keith ever understood, and so, Kolivan isn't sure how to proceed at all if Shiro isn't going to loosen up on his own.

After some moments of contemplation, Kolivan moves toward him, stopping halfway between Shiro's chosen outpost and the path up the mountain.]

Shiro. Good evening.

Oh. Kolivan. Hi.

[ Shiro still hasn't really decided how he feels about the leader of the Blades or his presence here. His only encounter with him back home so far left a sour taste in his mouth, to say the least, but.... He knows that's not the end of the story. The Blades are going to continue to be their allies in their war. He's going to be working with Kolivan a lot. He's going to entrust Keith to him. He's going to... get over it, basically. He's going to have to, he guesses.

But he doesn't have to here, and some petty part of him doesn't really want to. (Kevin's influence on him, maybe?) But that's not fair of him and he knows it. Maybe Kolivan is a perfectly tolerable person when he's not dealing with unwanted visitors. He doesn't know. At the very least, it's probably a good sign that Kolivan is making the effort to approach him here? It's a show of good faith, at least, and the least Shiro can do is return the gesture. ]

Are you headed up the mountain?

I am.

[Kolivan's the sort of person who can be difficult to get a read on, even with his mask down. The frown has several different flavors to it, yes, but the frown itself is pretty eternal, and as with all military, Kolivan almost never relaxes so much as he stands at rest rather than at attention sometimes. His voice, however, is much more expressive than his face, and the sarcastic, irritated edge it carried when they first met is absent tonight.]

I imagine that those I would honor tonight would appreciate being carried the entire way up.

[He's referring to the names on the lantern he holds gently in his claws. Although they're permitted to take two this year, he only has one, and he's filled it up entirely with neatly written Galra script.]

[ Shiro's eyes narrow, because even if Kolivan's tone isn't malicious, that sure feels like a dig at him for settling down here. ]

Well, good luck with that. Did you need something?

[Hmmmmm, this is going poorly already. Hm.]

No. Given what I have seen of Voltron, I simply find it prudent to investigate upon seeing a Paladin all alone, on a night when many would prefer to have support.

[ Shiro stares silently at Kolivan for another moment or two, and then finally he lets out a frustrated huff. ]

You know you don't have to pretend to care here, right?

[Kolivan seems taken aback by this. Enough so that he stares right back for a time before responding.]

...do you truly believe that I don't?

[ Shiro isn't taken aback, but the extent to which Kolivan was is surprising. What kind of impression did he think Shiro had? ]

You didn't exactly welcome us with open arms when we met.

Of course not. For Ulaz to reveal the location of our base without authorization was a dire breach of protocol. As his feelings were obviously...very strong, we consented to a meeting all the same, only for Keith to fail the very first test of trust we gave by disobeying orders to come unarmed.

[Blunt and to the point, Kolivan says all this as though it is the most reasonable thing in the world. Secrecy and trust, Shiro.]

You can't blame Keith when you clearly never wanted us there in the first place. Don't act like you didn't call Ulaz an idiot for telling us where to find your base.

He was an idiot for telling you where to find our base. That he was right does not make him less of a fool.

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