Tattoo in the Sky
Delusional Aspects

The shame he felt…

Keith doubted anyone could ever understand how he felt about himself at that very moment, being an utter failure at anything he did, messing up everything he laid hands on. "It's the stupid Galra in me…"

He stood by the entrance, slipping off his boots as his ears didn't hear Ryo moving. He then stepped back into the main living area, refusing to look the other teen in the eye, but glancing quickly into the hall for a brief few seconds to see if Lance was okay. The blue paladin's chest rose and fell, making it look like he was simply sleeping. Ryo was still in the hall, watching him, so he quickly looked down at the floor.

The red paladin sat down on the couch, slouching over. His fingers twisted together, frustration pouring off him. Accepting the truth about being part Galra – that wasn't an issue, is that he'd always suspected something was different about himself, what with the way the Shirogane family shunned him. The problem lay with accepting the fact the family had a reason to shun him, but that his Galra side likely effected a lot of things in his life growing up, like never being able to make friends.

Ryo let out a sigh, then started to move. The sound of Ryo's movement didn't make Keith look up until he heard the other teen moving towards the door. The red paladin glanced up from where he sat in the middle of the couch, his throat tightening. "Wait. You removed Lance's shoes?"

"He shouldn't have been wearing them in the house in the first place. You know that."

Keith's head hung low. "Sorry. I should have told him."

He expected Ryo to say, "yeah, you should have", but instead the other teen said nothing. Instead, he headed to the kitchen, and a clinking sound could be heard. Keith's eyes narrowed as he continued to look at the ground, confused as to what Ryo could be up to. The muscles between his shoulder blades tensed up, unsure how to react to towards Ryo. Everyone in the Shirogane family were highly trained in martial arts but knew how to kill.

The sound of Shiro's teapot went off, and he heard Ryo pouring something. Keith's mouth frowned, wondering if Ryo was making some sort of tea because they were going to have some kind of conversation. He heard the other teen step over, glancing up to check on Lance again, not wanting to make the wrong move. The cup was set down on the table in front of him. One of Keith's eyebrows shot up. "What is that?"

"Ginger tea."

"Why?"

"You told me you threw up. That should settle your stomach." He felt Ryo sit down, having not bothered to make himself anything. Keith's jaw moved, completely unsure of how to react towards Ryo's highly uncharacteristic behavior. He turned to look at Ryo, confused as to why he was acting so strangely, only to find Ryo reaching out for his face.

Instinct kicked in, and Keith kicked Ryo hard in the gut, backpedaling to the other side of the couch. "What the quiznack!"

Ryo let out a groan, leaning over to clench his stomach. "Seriously?"

"You tried to touch me!"

"You're completely fine with Takashi-nii's touch." Ryo's eyes clamped shut.

"You're not Shiro! You never touch me. Ever."

Something about what Keith said made Ryo's eyes snapped open. The other teen observed the red paladin carefully, become more comfortable on the other side of the couch. Keith didn't like how comfortable Ryo was in the given situation, nor how Ryo had more control over his emotions in the given situation. What he said next though… "You're afraid of me."

"I am not!" Keith snapped, only to realize his entire body was trembling from the mere touch.

"You are. You wouldn't have reacted like you did."

"I'm not afraid of you. I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone in the Shirogane family. They're ninjas and trained assassins."

Ryo visibly bristled, his entire body tensing up. "That may be true, that everyone – including yourself – is trained as a ninja, but that's just cruel Akira." Keith opened his mouth. "And don't you dare correct me on that!" These words didn't get Keith to back down, and Ryo glanced over at the cup of tea. "Do you think I poisoned you? Would me drinking first satiate that worry?"

"Gross! I'm not drinking after you!"

Ryo turned back, his expression darkening. "Gross? You drink and eat after Takashi-nii all the time, or at least did!"

"Again, you're not Shiro! Get that through your thick skull of yours!"

"Stop being so damn impossible!" Ryo's hands flew out in frustration to the sides to emphasize the fact the conversation wasn't going well.

"Stop being impossible?" Keith took a deep breath. One of his hands shot out towards the hallway. "You're the one who KOed my friend over there!"

"Friend!" Ryo's voice strained. "Akira! That guy kidnapped you, did he not?"

The red paladin's eyes blinked. "Lance? Kidnap me?"

He couldn't help but start laughing while he looked on rather unamused at the situation. The laughter ended up causing Keith to roll off the couch and land on the floor hard. Ryo finally spoke, his tone of voice making it very clear he was not amused. "Akira, I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you right now, so the laughing is not appreciated."

"Yeah. But Lance kidnapping me?" Keith gasped out his words. "Lance may be Shiro's biggest fanboy, but he certainly wouldn't kidnap me for a few days just to get into Shiro's place. I mean, until today, he didn't know…" The laughter stopped, and the red paladin sat up. "He didn't know I'd ever been to Shiro's place. So yeah, if he didn't know that, he wouldn't have even thought to kidnap me."

"A few days?" Ryo took a deep breath. "It's been three whole months you, idiot! And I come to find out you weren't taken hostage by some rebel forces, but by some punk fanboy of Takashi-nii's that..." He looked away. "I wish you would take this more seriously."

Keith pulled himself up onto the couch, worrying his lip at Ryo's actions. "First, stop acting like you care about me beyond how I'm a major risk to your personal reputation."

"That isn't…"

"It is true, and you know it." Keith found himself looking at the tea. "Second, I wasn't kidnapped, nor do I have any idea how you got that strange idea."

"Oh. Let me guess. You were abducted by aliens – which is so not kidnapping in your mind, but the coolest thing ever, when it really is kidnapping."

The red paladin remained his usual truthful self. "Yes, and no, it wasn't kidnapping."

"I'm not amused." Ryo's facial features seemed to agree with the fact he wasn't amused, but Keith continued to be truthful.

"Specifically, we discovered an alien ship which took us out to Kerberos before jumping through a worm hole…" Keith watched his eyes widen. "… where we came across a castle and a princess in cryostasis…"

"Akira…"

"… and we were asked to pilot these lions which form a giant robot…"

"This isn't funny." Ryo was getting pissed, but for some reason Keith found himself enjoying the reaction.

"…to defend the universe from evil aliens called the Galra."

"Let me guess. They're purple and furry."

Keith's eyes blinked, thinking that Ryo and he had finally come to some kind of understanding. "How'd you know?"

"Akira, I had to suffer through days of you watching over and over again that stupid movie Purple People Eater, which Takashi-nii somehow managed to find for you. You've always loved Gundam, you're nuts for anything cat related, and the first video game you ever played was Mario."

"My mom's Galra!" The reaction Keith expected was absolute anger, but instead, Ryo looked at him in utter horror.

"Akira..." The color kept slowly draining from Ryo's face.

"Go ahead and say what you always say! That if I really believe mother is an alien, that I'm no brother of yours! In case you've not figured out, I'm already resigned to the fact I'm not a Shirogane and have no family ties to you."

"Of all the…" Ryo took a deep breath, his eyes closing as he pinched his nose.

"I get the fact you don't believe me, but Shiro does. He's accepted it, and he's accepted me."

"Oh, I'm fully aware of the fact Takashi-nii's bought into your alien delusion, hook, line, and sinker." He took a deep breath. "I'm honestly not sure what's worse, that this time this delusion of yours is finally going to get you places in the loony bin, or that our older brother actually believes that aliens were involved in sabotaging the Kerberos mission rather than one of the rebel factions aiming to set back the peaceful relations here on Earth."

"What?" Keith felt the corner of his mouth twitch up. "You actually think…"

Ryo glared at him, sending a cold shudder running down his spine. "You heard me. Rebel factions, not alien forces."

Something else clicked, and Keith found himself growing excited, his mind distracted by a very important detail. "Wait. You just said you know that Shiro believes everything I told you. That means you know where he is? Where's Shiro?"

"Scratch that. We can chalk up Takashi-nii's mind set to PTSD due to what the rebel forces did to him, what with him missing an arm."

"Then you do know where he is!" Keith's entire posture changed, his entire body relaxing. Shiro had a way of making things okay.

"Akira! Are you even listening to me? I'm trying to tell you I'm far more worried about you getting stuck in…" Ryo paused, his hands clenching his knees tightly. "Wait. Is the reason why you came back here because you're looking for our older brother?"

"Yeah. We need him to form Voltron. You know, the giant robot formed from the lions I told you about."

To Keith's amusement, Ryo face palmed, letting out a groan. He couldn't help but smirk, remembering that – despite Ryo being a jerk – there was always an amusement to getting this particular reaction from him. "God, they really are going to stick you in the loony bin this time."

The smile on Keith's face fell. "I'm not crazy. I've got proof."

He began to turn, his hand reaching for his blade to show Ryo the proof he'd gotten while away. Ryo's voice drew him away. "Stop. I honestly don't care if you have proof or not." Keith froze, remembering how often Ryo shot him down about his mother being an alien. "You can't go around telling everyone what you just told me."

"Why not?"

"The fact you don't understand that is baffling."

"I'm just telling everyone the truth."

"I believe you do honestly believe that." Ryo took a deep breath. Keith watched his hand reach up absentmindedly to tug at his clothing at his shoulder area. "Look. If I promise to take you to Shiro…"

"Why would you do that? You think I'm delusional, and you don't trust Lance."

"Would you stop talking and just listen!" Ryo snapped, making Keith's mouth clamp shut. "I said you, not both of you for starters. And there is something I want from you before I take you to Shiro."

"I can't go without Lance."

"You have to."

"And what are you going to do if I continue to refuse to go without him."

"I'll have him arrested on kidnapping charges, and which of the two of us do you think the police are going to believe?"

Keith took a deep breath. "You. They'll believe you."

"Good. Then you're going to come with me, no questions, and do what I want?"

"Yes. I will."