victory_road | it's been so long between the words we spoke {OPEN}

[The ghost tilts its head. Slowly. All the way to one side. Frost starts to accumulate on its fur - eye glazing over into ice. The whole body freezing. As it would have, if it had been ejected into space.]

[Shiro is not moving an inch. Or able to look away. He can't breathe. He can't even think. All he sees is the walking corpse of the prisoner he killed.]

Shiro... Hey. [Okay... time to do something. Trying to ignore the massive figure slowly freezing itself in front of him, his own knowledge of Sendak's true fate kind of helping with that, he moved in closer now and gingerly touched Shiro's shoulder.] Shiro, it's Keith. Can you hear me?

[His Umbreon, who is still yowling, glowing, snapping at the ghost, pauses in her angry tirade to look back at Keith. Good - continue this, human. She's got a fish to hunt. She takes off at a run, to hunt down that Basculegion.]

[Shiro's whole body jerks at the touch to his shoulder - throttling down a yell.]

It - what's going on? [He sounds hoarse. Like he'd been screaming.]

One of those fish... the big striped ones... it hit you. [Keith wasn't sure if Shiro had already run into a Basculegion, but he was kind of hoping he did and that the explanation would help him realize that this wasn't actually Sendak standing in front of them.]

Fish...?

[It feels like there's a cloud around his thoughts. A fog descended down. All he can see is the leering ghost. Mocking him for what he'd done. Its face twisting into a sneer - ice crackling as it does.]

I - No. No I don't... remember.

C-c'mon... it's okay. Trust me.

[Keith gave Shiro a nudge, trying to move him away from the ghost, hoping that would help... hoping it wouldn't follow...]

[It does shift forward, as if to follow. Even as Shiro scrambles backward. The unnerving thing is the lack of sound. It doesn't crunch the ground under its feet. It doesn't say a single word.]

[Shiro yelps, and strikes out with his right hand. Pure instinct. Like it's years ago, and Keith is younger, less experienced and he has to protect him.]

[Honestly, Keith wasn't thrilled about it moving with them, either, and he made an alarmed noise as well. Not quite as visceral as Shiro's yelp, but enough... and then-]

Shiro!

[Keith jumped back just in case, staying out of the way of that swing because, just like when he'd tried to take his dad's hand earlier that day, Shiro's fist went right through Sendak as if he wasn't there...]

[The fact his fist goes through the apparition just... well. Makes it seem like he's hallucinating. Like none of this is really happening. If it's not really there, then is Keith really there? Is he in the middle of a market or is he ... back in their world? He should fight, he should wake up, he should do something - ]

I - it's - not real?

[Say something his brain can't fake, Keith. Although what exactly that would be is anyone's guess.]

Shiro? Look at me. [Keith reached out and put his hands on Shiro's shoulders again, trying to get him to look at him now. He was hoping the difference between being able to touch and not being able to touch would help.] What you're seeing there... with Sendak, that's an illusion... from the Pokémon. Okay? Look. [He released one hand and held it out for Shiro to touch.] You can't touch Sendak. But you can touch me. I'm real. That-... that Sendak... he's not here. He's not real.

[He's silent. His eyes blown wide, breathing rough and unsteady. Like he's run a marathon just by sitting here. At first, he resists, like looking away will make the vision, the hallucination, that much clearer. That much more real.]

[But...]

[He does grasp that offered hand. With his left one.]

[The real one.]

I hear you.

[Keith gripped Shiro's hand tightly, squeezing it to show he was real, to prove the difference between himself and the specter. He had to say something else... something to make this stop.]

You didn't kill him, Shiro.

[No... and Keith knew that... because he himself had killed him later instead...]

[Right - pressure. Contact. It's real. It exists. It's there. Okay. Focus on that. Focus on what you can actually feel and - ]

[What?]

[His eyes immediately focus. His expression snapping back into reality in an instant. It's probably a testament to how much he still trusts Keith that no sooner does he say that, then the ghost flickers out and vanishes. If Keith says so, then it has to be true, right?]

[If Sendak isn't dead...]

What are you talking about?

[That was it. Keith looked up immediately at the now empty space. It had worked. He met Shiro's eyes again.]

When you ejected the pod... someone found it. Sendak didn't die. He was rescued by the Galra, and... [Okay... so the next part was probably going to be heavy, and Keith found that his voice automatically trailed off.] Honerva saved him. [Even though Shiro had said the previous version of himself that had been here had told him 'everything', Keith was quickly finding out that wasn't entirely true. Sure, Shiro wouldn't know that, he was certain of that, but he'd dropped a couple of bombshells now, apparently. But he stopped himself there for now...]

[That's... not good, no. And new information. He's suddenly very glad he's sitting down already. Once again, he's not going to question Keith on this. If Keith says it's true, then - it must be true.]

[But it's hard to wrap his head around that all, when the thing that sticks out the most is...]

I didn't kill him?

[Bro do you know how many times he'd had that nightmare? Purposefully murdering someone who couldn't fight back? Freezing, glowering faces encased in ice?]

[Keith shook his head.]

No. No, you didn't.

[He took a breath, trying to steady himself, the action itself a bit shaky as he did.]

I've seen him.

I... you've seen him.

[Repeating what he's heard so far. To verify it in his mind. Keith has seen the guy. The horrible creature. Keith wouldn't lie to him.]

[... Hilariously, while this bonding moment goes on, Shiro's Umbreon can be seen throwing the offending fish around like a frisbee. He hasn't noticed yet, but Nebula is absolutely showing that fish who's boss. And it's her. She's boss.]

Okay. Okay, you've seen him.

[Keith nodded.]

Yeah. He showed up to make an attempt at taking over the Empire. That was the first time I saw him after what happened with us.

[Keith felt like if he dumped the whole story right now, it would be a lot, so he was just going to follow Shiro's lead on what he asked for-...................

Nebula... Keith spotted the motion out of the corner of his eye and almost panicked again, but that was... okay. She was just tossing the fish around. It wouldn't do anything-...

INCOMING FISH! Keith put his arms up and braced himself for it, getting slapped by the fish in question.]

He was trying to -

[take over the empire?]

[Except he doesn't get that much out. There's a fish incoming. And, stunningly, it's not directed at him. Shiro ducks too, out of pure reflex. Only to witness Keith getting SMACKED in the face with the pokemon.]

[Shiro stares.]

[Nebula stares.]

[The fish flops.]

[... someone starts snorting. Or choking. It's a barely stifled sound, and, the longer it goes on, the clearer it becomes that it's Shiro. And he's... laughing. Or trying desperately not to for Keith's sake.]

A-Are you... okay?

I uh... [Keith groaned a little, pressing his hands against his face for a moment.] Uuugh... yeah... I'll be okay, just...-

Again, huh?

[He froze. He'd heard that voice this morning before he and Allura had gotten on the road for the day. Again, indeed. He sighed, and lowered his hands with a somewhat sheepish smile on his face.]

Yeah... again... [He sighed.] Hey, Dad.

Sorry - Sorry, I -

[He's trying his best to get that laughter under control. Trying so hard. He's almost totally losing it when... well.]

[Oh.]

[That shuts him up. Almost immediately.]

Your father?

[Keith nodded.]

Yeah.

[The man nodded in greeting, with a small casual wave.]

You're Shiro, right?

[See, Shiro? Not all ghosts were bad.]

Yes.

[How does he know Shiro's name, have they met, is this some weird ghost thing - deep breaths. He cannot blow this. It feels so incredibly important to make a good impression here.]

[Even if the man is not actually there. It's important.]

Yes, I am. And it's good to meet you.

[Or what there is of him...]

[Definitely a ghost thing. After all, it was from Keith's own thoughts thanks to the dumb fish.]

It's good to meet you, too. [The man smiled, reflecting Keith's softer side, whereas Krolia was Keith's more intense side.] Thank you. For looking out for him when he needed it. [But then...] I'd shake your hand, but Keith an' I learned this morning that apparently I'm not solid. [He grinned a bit. Wait... was that... dad humor???]

That... seems like the opposite of handy.

[Oh god there's two of them.]

But - no, there's no need to thank me. He's always had a lot of potential. I'm just glad I could help him realize it.

it's been so long between the words we spoke {OPEN}

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