I've always loved fairy-tale elements/ motifs in stories, so I wanted to try to explore the concept myself! This is a "modern AU".
By the time Shiro graduated from college, he was already ready to relax for the rest of his life. The day of his graduation ceremony was a blur, but he remembers being incredibly hungover on a stranger's couch the next morning. The next few months consisted of getting settled into a job offer at his local news station as the new Chief Photographer. In all honesty, he never thought that this is where his degree in filmmaking would lead him, but he's not complaining. It pays very well. So well in fact that within the first year he moved into a nice apartment complex within walking distance of his job.
Shiro's now two years into shooting interviews, chasing storms, traveling across the country to make press events for Galaxy News 11. Monotony has become the norm. The stories may change, but the procedures to get them on the air doesn't. Although he's still considered a rookie himself, there's been a steady stream of younger interns who are more than a little incompetent. But what they lack in skill they make up for in enthusiasm. Luckily, Allura and Hunk (his best friends since college and middle school, respectively) keep him relatively sane. Despite his busy schedule, they force him to drink the night away on Saturday and sleep it off on Sunday.
Only two days until Saturday...
"Shirogane!"
Shiro blinked back into reality and peered over his desktop screen at the angry voice in his office. His eyes flickered to the clock on his screen, only 11:15am. Before he could respond, Iverson shoves a flash drive in his face.
"Shirogane, what is this?"
Iverson is older than him. Much older than him. By at least twenty years, if Shiro's not mistaken. He's been working here for about as long as some of the younger interns have been alive. Shouldn't that mean that he should be able to recognize a flash drive?
"That's a flash drive, sir." Shiro answered puzzled.
Shiro could practically see Iverson's blood pressure rising, "Shirogane, I know what this is. I'm asking if you know...WHAT. IS. ON. IT."
"Oh. I don't, sir."
"It's the raw footage of the city council story that should have been edited yesterday. It's supposed to air-"
Don't say at noon, Shiro pleaded inwardly.
"-at 12:30 and it hasn't been so much as looked at! We've already run the previews for the segment yesterday evening and it's supposed to be the first of three installments. I don't know how this ended up in the hallway, but I don't care. I want it uploaded to our servers by 12:15 so I can review it!" Iverson dropped the flash drive on the desk and headed for the door.
"Wait, sir! Wouldn't it be better to postpone-"
Iverson paused, but didn't look back as he walked away, "This isn't Hollywood, I'm not asking for a goddamn cinematic masterpiece. Get your head outta the clouds and handle it. You're Chief Photographer for a reason."
Shiro fished the flashdrive out of the pile of cords and crumpled paper. His desk usually isn't this messy, but with the increase in work lately, it's becoming more difficult to find anything smaller than a stapler. He plugged it into the hard drive under his desk and waited for it to be recognized. After clicking on the video file, Shiro knows that he won't be able to finish it in time. The entire video is about an hour long, but he's supposed to condense it to about 10 minutes. He sits back in his chair for a few minutes and runs a hand through his hair.
Come to think of it, Shiro's pretty sure that he assigned this project to an intern. Though they're lucky that he can't remember which one he gave it to.
God, he needs a miracle.
Miracle…
Shiro locates his phone, quickly dials a lifeline and hopes that he picks up on time.
"Shiro, hey! Aren't you working right now?"
"Hunk! Buddy, I need a huge favor. Where are you right now?" Shiro opens a video editor and starts importing the massive file.
"I'm near the main studio setting up for this afternoon. Apparently we got some new teleprompters for our meteorologists and I'm running test texts. Haha! Text tests...try saying that five times fast!" Hunk tries it himself, successfully. "But what's wrong?"
"Iverson gave me an impossible task to finish by the noon block. I need your career-saving editing skills if you can offer them."
Hunk grinned on the other end, "I'll leave it in the hands of an intern. Give me a few minutes and I'll be there."
Shiro sighs the biggest breath of relief and Hunk laughs, "Thank you, Hunk. Really."
"Don't thank me yet, I don't know what's waiting for me."
.
The end result can only be described as 'decent'. Neither of them are one hundred percent about it, but it's good enough to be aired. Hunk is facedown on the floor of Shiro's office, head swimming with hours worth of work being crammed into a single half an hour. Shiro's barely holding on as well, but he doesn't relax until he shares it with Iverson.
"Done." Shiro mutters and slams his head onto the keyboard. He perks up at the sound of a notification from his email. It's from Iverson.
Re: City Council Seg pt. 1 of 3
Shirogane,
Thank you for sending this in a timely matter. However, because of breaking news that we've just received, we won't run it until next week. Be grateful. And don't let it happen again.
-Iverson
Shiro stares passively at the email, silently grabs his phone and his wallet, and turns off his computer. He checks his to-do-list, which is empty until the evening news block. Hunk grunts and flips himself over, choosing to stare quietly at the ceiling. Shiro joins him.
Hunk doesn't move, but his eyes look over in Shiro's direction, "Did you get a reply from Iverson already?"
"Yep."
"What'd he say?"
Shiro sighs, "You won't believe it."
"He hates it?"
"Nope."
"He wants you to do it over again?"
"Worse."
"Worse than that?" Hunk hums in thought, "They're not gonna air it today, are they?"
"Bullseye."
"Huh. That sucks. But hey! At least it's done."
"No thanks to whoever I originally assigned it to." Shiro frowns, "I'm gonna have to schedule more training sessions with them."
"They're a very intelligent bunch. It takes time."
"I know, I know. But when they mess up, which is often, I have to take the heat. Iverson barely acknowledges that they're even here most of the time, it's just me." Shiro sits up and peers down at Hunk, "You should have this job."
Hunks launches into such an intense laughing fit, it starts to annoy Shiro. Not that he'd be able to do anything to physically stop it. In situations like these, it's best to wait it out. He checks the time on his phone while he's waiting for Hunk to come back to his senses. It's about time for the "breaking news" segment to air, so he checks the livestream on his phone.
The ticker tape reads: AFTER A DECADE OF DORMANCY, 'FABLES' SPOTED ONCE AGAIN
This is the story they decided to air instead of an update on their municipal government?
Shiro frown at the blatant misspelling of 'spotted'. As innocuous as the mistake is, it still looks unprofessional. He ignores the instinct to correct the problem in favor of watching the story instead. Two of the four veteran news anchors are present. Their clothes are pressed to perfection, smiles dazzling, but Shiro notices that they look a tad bewildered. He missed the introduction, though someone will probably fill him in later if he asks. It didn't last very long, mostly because it's a developing story. The takeaway that Shiro got from it, is that the streets were about to get more dangerous at night. At the moment, there's only one confirmed member of the Fables and he goes by 'Robin Hood'.
"Fables, huh? Are they superheroes or something?" Hunk asked, squinting at the grainy video film of the person in question. "That's a really bad security camera."
"They called them vigilantes...but that's not always a good thing." Shiro stands and helps Hunk to his feet. "Ready for lunch? My treat."
"Definitely. There's a new bakery, if you don't mind. I heard that they have very good cake."
"Can my wallet survive your sweet tooth?"
Hunk grinned, "Speak for yourself, your sweet tooth is worse than mine."
"Fair enough." As they head closer to the door, Hunk and Shiro can hear Iverson's voice booming down the hallway. "We should probably hurry before Iverson finds something else for us to do."
.
The rest of the day is pretty slow, but the story on everyone's lips are the reappearance of the famous (or infamous, according to Iverson) Fables. The nightly news provides more background on them, but to Shiro, it seems like they're not telling the whole story. Which is nothing new. He's edited numerous videos to the liking of his superiors that didn't quite sit well with him.
"Camera B, can we make the picture less saturated?" Shiro says into a headset. He stands resolute in a room with television screens lined up along a wall. The screens are the only source of light, except for the massive red sign in the back the reads 'ON AIR'. With his arms folded across his chest, coupled with his height, he looks like the embodiment of a commander. "Screen 3, standby for commercial. Make sure the TriCaster isn't overheating, we have a lot of video clips to queue before we're back in the main room. "
The station manager sidles up beside Shiro and hands him a letter, "Mr. Shirogane, we've received word of a live feed from one of our correspondents. It's another update on the vigilantes. Our producer wants to go ahead and run it after the commercial break ends."
"Another one? The next block is reserved for entertainment, we won't have time to run all of our stories for tonight." Shiro scans the letter. "Unless we're putting criminals in the entertainment section now?"
"This isn't a suggestion, sir. I'm telling you."
"Of course."
"And people have been calling in asking for more information about these people. It's the first time in a while since our viewers are actively engaging with the content we provide. Our job is to satisfy their hunger with the truth." The station manager clutched her clipboard to her chest and gave him a pointed look, "Movies aren't the only way to provide people with a sense of excitement, sir."
"...I see," Shiro didn't know if that was a dig at his degree or genuine observation, but given Iverson's comment earlier, it was probably the former.
The station manager smirked, "Things are about to get very interesting around here."
"What do you mean by-"
"WE ARE BACK ON THE AIR IN 30 SECONDS!" An intern cries across from the back of the room.
"Shit." Shiro readjusts his headset, looks at his new shortlist, and switches audio channels to alert their main broadcast technician about the change, "This is gonna be a long night."
.
Even though it's the middle of summer, Shiro welcomes the nightly humidity. It's much cooler than a room full of machines running for hours on end. Even with the sidewalk flooded with people enjoying the Friday nightlife, it's less suffocating. Unfortunately, this also means it'll take him longer than his usual 20 minutes to get home. He politely declines the tipsy invitations from strangers sitting outside bars. Though one person offered to buy him a meal instead of a drink and Shiro was very tempted, but ultimately declined with a laugh.
As tired as Shiro was, it would benefit him to eat before he turned in for the night. A quick bite if not a meal. He checks the time on his phone. It's a little past eleven, so he makes a complete 180 toward a crepe restaurant he regularly frequents. It's located in the lower half of a two-story building, the upper part being an old record store. Next to it is a club that the local college students go to throughout the week. On the inside, there's barely any standing room.
Not because of the overwhelming amount of people, but the place is so tiny. Most of the space belonged to the register and the "kitchen", which consisted of two large hotplates and various ingredients around it. Luckily there are only two other people in line. Any more than five people (not counting the two employees behind the counter) and Shiro would have to wait outside the door until someone left.
The terrifying large menu would make any first-timer panic, but Shiro was a veteran. Him and Hunk each had their own top ten favorite crepes, categorized by sweet or savory ingredients. The person in front of him however was a different story. His brows furrowed in frustration and there was a clear frown, but he said nothing. Shiro has a few inches on him, but the guy's height and build makes him look like a college student. But you can never be sure in this day and age. Shiro finds it odd that he's wearing black zip up hoodie, even though it's definitely the middle of June.
"First time here?" Shiro asks good-naturedly.
The boy inclines his head toward Shiro and then back at the menu, "Is it that obvious?"
"Most people don't look at the menu if they've been here before."
"Huh. It's for my little sister though, not me." He pales, "And she has weird taste in food."
"Weird? How so?"
"She'll get these weird cravings where she wants impossible combinations. She sent me down here to find a crepe that's 'sweet but disgustingly greasy'. Which I don't think exists." He squints at the menu once more, "According to this I can only choose between sweet or savory. Not both."
Shiro stayed silent as the guy continued muttering to himself. It was a very amusing dilemma, one that he couldn't help but smile at. Shiro didn't have siblings himself, but he's heard horror stories over the years. This sounded like the opposite of a horror story, and Shiro was happy to offer a solution.
"What's so funny?"
Shiro didn't realize he'd zoned out, "Ah. Nothing. Just...you're a good big brother."
The stranger turned fully to Shiro and he was taken aback by his deep blue (maybe violet?) eyes. His black hair peeked out from under the hood. He smiled a little, "Thanks. She does a lot for me, so…" his face fell, "I'm trying to do the same."
His words sank into Shiro's heart deeper than intended, but Shiro tried to lighten the mood, "I have an idea! For the crepe, I mean. It's a limited menu item so not a lot of people know about it. But it's pretty good."
"What is it?"
"A bacon Nutella crepe." Shiro offers resolutely, "Trust me when I say that it'll take the place of an entire meal."
"That sounds disgusting." His words contradict his intrigued expression, "But she'd definitely like it."
"I like it." Shiro shrugged, "But I recommend adding strawberries to it so you can counter-"
"Next in line please." The tired employee calls from behind the register, interrupting their conversation. Neither of them had realized how empty the room was, and how close they'd gravitated to each other. The stranger gave one more look at Shiro then ordered the monstrosity. Shiro on the other hand, ordered something lighter, but with more ingredients. It would take a while to make, but he's off the clock for the entire weekend and could wait as long as he needed.
The boy immediately took a picture of the crepe when it was done. Probably for his sister, Shiro guessed. He shows Shiro the text.
UR A GENIUS THAT LOOKS SO. GOOD! HURRY B4 IT GETS COLD! :(
"She says you're a genius. That's new, she usually doesn't use that word as compliment. Consider yourself special." The stranger smiles and pockets his phone.
"Shiro. I go by Shiro."
"You go by? That sounds mysterious."
Shiro laughs a little, "Takashi Shirogane. But most people call me 'Shiro'. And you are?"
"Keith."
"Keith." Shiro repeats, a habit from working at the station. "It was nice to meet you."
He extends his hand and Keith meets it in the middle. Shiro thinks about how perfectly Keith's hand feels in his, how warm it is, how he'd like to lace his fingers with his. Keith's fingers hover for a little while when Shiro retracts his hand.
Oh.
Shiro probably imagined the blush on Keith's cheeks.
"Likewise," Keith ducks his head and turns away.
Or not.
Keith leaves before Shiro does, and Shiro waits ten minutes before he gets his food. He uses both the waiting time and the time it takes to get home to replay the short exchange over in his mind. Is it normal for a person to feel so attracted to stranger in a crepe shop? If he'd been bolder, he would have asked for his number. But it didn't seem like the right time to do it. His crepe doesn't make it to his apartment, and he throws the wrapper away in the trash can outside the elevator. Shiro fishes his keys out of his satchel and unlocks the door. He trudges into his bedroom and pulls out his phone to text Hunk and Allura.
S: Guys, I have a problem. We're discussing over drinks tomorrow.
He places his phone on the nightstand and rolls off the bed toward his bathroom. He hears a flurry of notification vibrations, but he ignores it in favor of taking a long shower. He'll answer them in the morning. Tonight, Shiro wants nothing more than to shower and go straight to bed.
The rating will change as the story progresses.