Chapter Text
The night was darker than most with a new moon painting a canvas of shadows and stars. Keith had a front row view, lying next to Shiro on the rooftop of the desert cabin, watching the universe spin above them. The surrounding desert was quiet, save for the occasional sound of wildlife, and so far from civilization, the lack of artificial light allowed for breathtaking views of the Milky Way. A comfortable silence enveloped the two as they simply watched the stars and basked in the alluring vastness of space.
“What do you think is out there?” Shiro asked, soft as if not to break the natural serenity.
“I don’t know…” Keith wondered, equally as low. “…I just hope if you find anyone, they’re friendly.”
Shiro laughed, easy and comforting, and it physically hurt when Keith thought of that inky black sky swallowing the only family he’d ever known. Or what Keith thought family must have felt like. He didn’t really remember his parents, and he wasn’t quite sure how Shiro felt about him, even though it’d been three years since they met in the simulator.
Sighing, Shiro glanced over at him, a sad smile upon his face. “I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks,” Keith said, feeling the weight of Shiro’s stare but not having the strength to meet it.
After a moment, Shiro redirected his gaze to the stars. “Y’know, even when I’m up there, flying to Kerberos, we’ll still be seeing the same stars.”
Keith hummed, though if he only admitted it to himself, that single thought made him feel a whole lot better.
*^*^*
Keith had no idea why he was here. When Commander Iverson, one of the heads of the academy and a well-known officer in the Galaxy Garrison, called him out of the Stabilizers Can Save Your Life seminar, he thought he’d been caught for sneaking off the base two nights ago. He didn’t do anything rebellious; he just headed to the cabin in the middle of the desert. Shiro brought him there every so often, and they’d just look up at the stars and marvel at how vast the universe really was.
He stayed up half the night, just lying under the blanket of stars and wondering how Shiro was doing.
Keith had laughed at the time. Shiro probably wasn’t thinking of him, what with all his priorities and the whole flying-to-the-far-reaches-of-space thing.
But then again, Keith wasn’t quite sure what to make of Commander Iverson shoving him into a room with people he recognized but didn’t know. It was a small chamber with a few desks and monitors, and he noticed the Holts – the mother and daughter – huddled about one screen, smiling and laughing. They were talking to Commander Holt and his son, Matt, who were on Shiro’s mission, Keith remembered. Before he could ask about Shiro, he heard, “Hey, Kiddo. Get over here.”
Keith’s head whipped about, and on a nearby monitor, Shiro’s smiling face greeted him. Keith wished he could have pretended to be cool and just walk over and sit down. Instead, he practically rushed the desk and almost tossed its chair to the side.
“Shiro! Are you all right? What’s going on?”
Shiro pulled his trademarked Keith face – the one where his eyes softened and a fond but sad smile tugged on his lips, like Keith had somehow missed his entire point.
“You might have heard, but I’m on this mission to a moon of Pluto.”
“Really? I thought that was just a rumor.”
Shiro laughed, and the good-natured sound relaxed Keith. The young cadet collapsed into the seat, pulling his right knee to his chest and wrapping his arms about it. “So…everything went well with the lift-off? I watched on the closed-circuit feed, but they don’t give a lot of details.”
“Yep, we’re on course now and should be arriving at Kerberos –” Shiro glanced out of sight for a moment and then once more smiled at Keith. “ – in about three months, two weeks, five days, two hours, and thirty-seven minutes.”
“I’m glad you’re not counting.”
“You holding up all right, kiddo? You’re not spending all your time in the simulator, are you?”
Keith bristled. “Of course not.” He spent most of it on the training deck – or down at Shiro’s cabin. He only spent half of his week in the simulator, maybe even forty-six percent, but definitely not “all his time.”
“Try not to get on the commander’s bad side while I’m up here, okay? I don’t want to spend these calls trying to keep you from getting expelled.”
“I don’t know why that’s your problem,” Keith muttered, resting his chin on his knee. “You’re not my guardian or anything.”
Ugh. Shiro made the Keith face again. “Right. Cuz I just made a collect call from thousands of miles away to some random cadet. You study for that test in thermal dynamics?”
He might have skimmed the notes two nights ago. “It’s not for another three days.”
“But I won’t be there to quiz you, so make sure you keep on top of that.”
Great. Now Shiro was going to nag at him. “I always ace the tests, y’know.”
“If you study and take them seriously. The written tests are just as important as the simulator and physical trials.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Are you sure? Because there’s this study group that can help –”
“Shiro!”
“Keith!”
The clock in the corner wound down to Shiro’s last five minutes, and Keith sighed. He really missed Shiro and wanted to speak with him more, but he wouldn’t be selfish to the only person who was never selfish to him. “You have less than five minutes before…y’know. You want to talk to someone else?”
Shiro blinked. “Keith, I told you I would call you from space.”
“Yeah, but the time’s reserved for the crew’s families.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“So…isn’t there anyone you want to talk to?”
“I already am, kid.”
Keith blinked, replaying Shiro’s words in his head. Sure, Shiro’s parents had died, too, in some way or another – they never really talked about it – but Shiro had friends in the garrison. And there was that girl who flirted with him relentlessly during maneuvers. Didn’t he want to speak to her or anyone else?
“Keith, you’re not this dense,” Shiro spouted with fond exasperation.
Oh. Oh.
Keith felt the heat rise in his cheeks, and he quickly glanced away, unable to meet the warmth he saw reflecting in Shiro’s eyes.
“Don’t die from embarrassment, kid,” Shiro teased. “I need someone to pick me up in Houston nine months from now.”
Keith perked up, eyes sneaking toward the screen again. “You—You want me to meet you in Houston?”
“Yeah. Of course. You’re my family, Keith. I’ll want to see you the moment I get off the ship.”
Keith swallowed, unable to speak, unable to process anything except for the stinging tears that blurred his vision and threatened to fall.
Shiro sighed and made that Keith face one more time. “It’s okay, Keith. Really. I only have a few minutes left, but I’m going to call you again in a couple days. Iverson will come get you, so don’t go sneaking off the base again.”
Of course Shiro knew. “I just went down to the cabin.”
To see the stars.
Now Shiro looked sheepish with his head ducked and eyes glistening. He eventually met Keith’s gaze again with a smile. “They look pretty spectacular up here, too.”
The End