Chapter One
The relationship that he had with music was a bit difficult to explain. He, being his own artist, adored it and found shelter in the beat and such. He wasn't skilled in the entirety of it, he had personal favorites that he would play when given the chance. He usually stuck to the guitar, and though the one that he owned wasn't too fancy, he having won it years ago in a neighborhood contest, he adored it. It was familiar to him. As was the deep and slightly raspy tone to his voice when he chose to join the acoustics with vocals.
He didn't play for many people, it made him feel self conscious and odd. They would stare at him, making it difficult for him to find his peace in the music and completely become one with the song, if that makes any sense. His family members, the many of them, would sometimes gain the rare chance of listening to him play, be it whether it was late at night and he was up on the roof of the house, strumming softly, or in his bedroom, humming under his breath as he skillfully plucked at the strings.
Those late nights were a good example of what was occuring now. He was perched on the roof of his house, leaning against their solid brick chimney. He hunched over the instrument, eyes shut as he tested each string, making sure that they were tuned. Once that had been confirmed, he leaned back, allowing his fingers to do the automatic art and the notes to fill the air around him.
The world around him was silent, as if it had been waiting to be filled with sound - his own sound. He shifted the instrument on his lap, the music pausing. Slowly, the tanned male pried open his eyes, tilting his head up and facing the stars.
The guitar sat loosely in his lap, pressing against his stomach, but not to the point that it would hurt him. He set the guitar at his side and pulled his knees up to his chest, sighing quietly to himself. His curly locks of hair fell over his eyes as he shut them once again.
Dancing was his only escape. Not only did it allow him to feel secure, but he had found that it was a great way to stay agile, not that he needed to anymore because of past reasons, but it was still a nice thing for him to be able to do. He danced a good amount of the time, slowly, quickly, but always when he was on his own, he couldn't risk anyone watching him. It was decently easy for him to find secluded areas, because he had his own, and his brother was always at work.
A soft thrum filled his ears as he adjusted the speakers that he had set on the ground. The tempo of the song was mildly fast paced, which he was abe to match easily. He allowed the sound to completely fill his mind instead of leaving it in the background of the world. He immediately began his movements, eyes shut with focus as he allowed himself to prance across the floor, well balanced and completely trusting his feet to do what they needed to do.
He was, however, thrown off when the door opened, and he jolted, eyes flying open, whirling around to glare at the newcomer. In the doorway stood his elder brother, looking a bit tired, linked with arm of half of his polyamorous relationship, his girlfriend Allura. She smiled kindly at him- him meaning Keith- but it nothing to ease his glare, so he instead crossed his arms over his chest, mildly embarrassed.
"What are you guys doing down here? You never come down here." Keith asked, running a hand through his bangs, which was the only portion of his hair that was out of his ponytail, for it was too short to be held back with the rest of his dark locks. "And it's late, why are you guys even still awake?"
Shiro raised an eyebrow, "I could ask you the same question."
Keith waved him off absentmindedly, raising a hand to free his hair and striding over to his music, shutting the small machine off. "I'm always dancing at this hour. You're usually asleep though, because it's what," he paused and glanced around the room, "three?"
"Four actually." Allura corrected, sending him a fixed gaze. "You should be in bed."
"You guys aren't my parents, calm down." Keith grabbed his bag from off of the ground and slipped his speaker inside, slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll be heading out for a bit, I hardly got to dance so I'm not tired. I'm going to walk around for a while until I feel tired."
Shiro rolled his eyes and stepped away from the doorway, pulling Allura back with him as well. Keith flashed them a grin as he passed them, running a hand through his hair and guiding hi sbangs to shield his eyes.
"Say hey to Matt for me when he comes. Don't do anything gross when I'm gone, especially not down here." His comment earned a bark of a laugh from Shiro, and a quiet giggle from Allura.