Author's Note: Lord help y'all, I'm back on my bullshit.
If you're new here, this is #3 in a series— go read the previous fics, St Erasmus' Fire and Walking the Wire first!
Shiro guided the pod carefully around the dark side of a moon, keeping his touch light on the controls. That was mostly for security; the Castle's transport pods were less powerful than a Lion, but they were jerkier under his hands, harder to control. He'd overshot his mark half a dozen times already, veering entirely too close to the moon's gravity well for comfort a dozen times more. His cheeks and ears were still burning from the last flirtation with a crash.
"Finest pilot in my class, and I'm flying like a trainee in his first simulation," he muttered under his breath.
The pod's comms crackled, and a low voice chuckled on the other end. "Perhaps you're in need of a little more practice , hm?"
Shiro groaned, tilting his head back and staring up at the translucent ceiling overhead in exasperation. That was Sendak— he'd, foolishly, dared the Galra to come join him in the pods, half-expecting to fly rings around him. After all, the pod controls were similar to the ones in the Lions, and Sendak hadn't flown anything , aside from a brief stint in a Galra fighter, since the Paladins had captured him six weeks before.
He'd never been more embarrassingly wrong before in his life .
"Yeah, and perhaps you're in need of a foot up your ass," he huffed.
Sendak cackled, and then a second later the pod's proximity sensors beeped. Shiro spun the pod as best he could—
Not fast enough. The white shape of the pod Sendak had commandeered whisked overhead, fast enough to pitch the sensors into a screaming fit. Shiro yelped, spinning the pod again— then rolled it frantically as Sendak shot past again underneath.
"Dickhead," he said, just loud enough for the comms to pick it up.
"And where did all the bravado of the Head of Voltron vanish off to?" Sendak shot back. "Or do you require a Lion to feel confident enough to fly?"
Shiro growled and swung the pod around again, careening after Sendak. The Galra had stopped his pod a little ways away, but his thrusters flared brilliantly blue as Shiro approached, and the pod shot off towards the light side of the moon. He dipped low, lower than Shiro was willing to, flirting with gravity in a way that made Shiro want to tip his own controls and join in. The pod below him twisted, then shot up towards him. Shiro yelped and barrel-rolled his pod out of the way, then dove himself as Sendak dropped towards him from above.
"Oh, you're in for it when we get back to the Castle," Shiro said, then wrenched up hard at the controls at the first tug of gravity.
Sendak laughed above him, his pod weaving lightly out of Shiro's path. "Only if you intend to follow through on that," he shot back.
The pods whipped out around the curve of the moon, into the light of the nearest star. They'd stopped the Castle in a quiet, uninhabited solar system not far from the spot they'd wormholed to, after escaping Zarkon in the Artos nebula, and they'd stayed parked there, two planets out from a sleepy red dwarf star, tucked between the planet and its sole, lumpy moon. The Castle came into view, white hull gleaming ruddy in the light. Sendak's pod dipped, diving towards it.
"Oh no you don't," Shiro huffed.
"Oh yes, I do," Sendak retorted.
Instead of aiming for the pod bay doors, Sendak's pod whipped towards one of the Castle's spires. Shiro's stomach lurched— he was coming in way too fast— but the pod snapped back up at the last second to spiral around it instead. Sendak laughed over the comms, and Shiro couldn't help but chuckle as well. He dove in himself, not coming nearly so close, but making sure to circle past the bridge in pursuit.
"Y'know, back on Earth I used to race speeders," he said, trying for casual. He was gaining on Sendak, little by little.
"Oh, did you?" Sendak asked dryly.
"Ask Keith," Shiro shot back. "I'm the one who taught him how to fly. We used to go out into the desert on our days off."
"You sound like you miss it," Sendak said. Shiro was creeping up on the tail of his pod, now, and he could tell Sendak knew— the pod ahead of him made little abortive jerks, as if to veer off in another direction.
"I do, yeah," Shiro said, grinning to himself. "A lot of the time, it went kinda like this —"
He wrenched the pod, hard, and whirled in a loop around one of the other spires, leaving Sendak behind. The Galra laughed over the pods, audibly delighted, and the sensors went off as he turned onto Shiro's tail again. Shiro arced back up towards the bridge, sticking closer now, using the Castle's gravity to gain speed. Sendak whooped behind him, and Shiro, grinning, whooped back.
The only thing it was missing, next to the speeders, was the wind in his face.
"Maybe we should steal a couple fighters the next time we tangle with a fleet," Sendak said over the comms, still laughing. "These pods have so much drag by comparison."
"Maybe we should—" Shiro started.
The comms crackled again, cutting him off, and Shiro jumped. "Shiro, Sendak, is that you two out there?" That was Coran's voice, slightly distorted from the relative speeds.
"It's us," Sendak said, abruptly serious. "Is something the matter?"
"Well, no, nothing's the matter, but I need you both to come back to the Castle," Coran said. "We'll be moving it to another location in just a tick, and I think we'd better not leave you behind."
"We'll be right down," Shiro said, already beginning his turn.
The bridge comms crackled again— Allura's voice, this time, a little breathless. "Come past the bridge again this time!"
"How close do you want us?" Sendak asked, and Shiro could hear the grin in his voice.
"Oh god, Sen, don't—" he started.
"As close as you can get," Allura said.
"Allura!" Coran wailed in protest.
Sendak's pod rocketed past Shiro's, and he felt his pulse spike. He twisted the controls and shot after him, closing behind in a tight spiral up the length of the Castle towards the bridge. They shot past at speed, out over the Castle's prow and off into space. Sendak laughed, and his pod abruptly jerked, flipping entirely upside-down and careening back towards the Castle. Shiro yelled in protest and shot after him.
They only slowed when they reached the pod bay doors, coasting lightly inside and settling the pods down gently on the floor of the hangar. The pod's console beeped— the signal that the bay doors had closed and cycled atmosphere back in again— and Shiro popped the roof, slinging himself out over the side. He pulled the smaller, lighter-weight helmet off his head— he hadn't bothered with the full uniform, only the undersuit, and the pods came with helmets in the event of a decompression— and shook his head, knocking sweat-damp bangs back out of his eyes.
There was a faint clunk , and when Shiro glanced up, Sendak was lounging against the front of his pod. Shiro did his level best not to ogle too overtly— Sendak had forgone most of his uniform as well, but he'd kept the tall boots, and those did things to Shiro he didn't want to think too hard about. The Galra had tucked his own helmet under one arm, and he wore an expression of amusement.
"Well?" Sendak asked. "Enough of a challenge for you?"
"You could've warned me that you fly like an asshole first ," Shiro huffed, but couldn't help grinning as Sendak's face lit up.
"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" Sendak retorted, flicking an ear dismissively. "Much more entertaining to rattle you a bit."
"Maybe for you," Shiro said. He ducked past Sendak into the avenue between the rows of pods, slugging him lightly in the arm as he went— Sendak gave an indignant yelp and hurried after him, switching which arm held the helmet to backhand Shiro's shoulder gently. Shiro bobbed out of the way, trying to dodge, and snickered at the Galra's expression. "Since when can you fly like that, anyway?"
"Fighter training," Sendak said, shrugging. "Sometimes you require the precision of a group of fighters with real, thinking pilots, rather than the overwhelming numbers of an AI fleet."
Shiro bit his lip, studying Sendak out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to the pod bay's atrium, where they'd left their off-duty clothing in the storage lockers for the flight. For all that he was missing an eye— Sendak had been putting off Pidge's offers to take a look at it, and Shiro was beginning to suspect he wasn't going to allow it— he didn't seem to have much issue with navigating, even with his depth perception hampered.
"...And how long has it been since you actively flew a fighter, anyway?" Shiro asked, leaning a little on the access panel to feign casualness.
"You mean, aside from Central Command?" Sendak said dryly, over the hiss of the door opening. He slipped inside, and Shiro couldn't help his relief— his cheeks and ears had flushed with embarrassment.
"Yeah," he said, ducking in after Sendak. The Galra had settled on one of the benches inside the atrium, setting his helmet aside and fiddling with the clasps on a boot. Shiro dropped his helmet as well, placing it next to Sendak's. "Aside from Central Command. I mean, you were a commander , it's not like you'd have been flying them in the field within the last…"
"Twenty cycles," Sendak said, completing the question. "Thirty-five, if you mean in a combat capacity. Before I was apprenticed to Zarkon." He paused, midway through undoing his boots— Shiro averted his eyes, busying himself with getting his own clothes out of the locker, but couldn't help noting the way Sendak's right hand darted up to his left shoulder, to the place where his prosthetic sat. "...It was a skill he and I both thought beneficial for me to maintain after I assumed command."
There was a note of hurt in his voice, and Shiro glanced up at Sendak again. His heart sank, as if it were trying to retreat deeper into his ribcage for shelter, and he bit his lip. Sendak's ears had lowered, and a significant part of Shiro wanted to reach out and pet them until they lifted again. He refrained, but his fists clenched in the fabric of his vest.
"...You shouldn't let him spoil it for you, Sen," Shiro said carefully.
Sendak glanced up at him, ears flicking in his direction, and he finished removing one boot, then started in on the next one. "Why do you think I accepted your invitation?" he shot back.
Heat began to creep up Shiro's cheeks, and he flushed, turning his back to start stripping out of his suit. "Because you wanted to show off?"
A laugh; Shiro could imagine the flash of teeth. "That too. What, are you embarrassed?"
"Yeah, a little," Shiro admitted. The back of his neck was beginning to feel hot, too, and far too exposed as he peeled the suit down to his waist.
"Not so easy to handle an unfamiliar interface without your Lion guiding your hand, is it?" Sendak asked, his voice falsely light with a note of buried amusement.
Shiro was going to strangle him.
"Shut up ," he muttered.
Sendak snorted, the sound muffled, and Shiro growled with frustration and turned around to glare at him.
He realized his mistake a second later— Sendak's ears and brows shot up in unison, the former twitching in what was obviously a once-over, studying Shiro's bared chest. His face burned, and he turned away, earning another laugh.
"Violating the nudity taboo, are we?" Sendak asked.
"I— it doesn't count if it's from the waist up!" Shiro protested, turning back towards Sendak and crossing his arms defensively.
Sendak grinned up at him, baring fangs again, and finished removing his second boot. Then he stood, rising to his full height— all eight staggering feet of him, looming just enough to make the smile a threat. "Then you won't mind if I do the same, will you?" he asked.
Shiro glared defiantly up at him. "Not at all," he said deliberately. "I mean, I've already seen everything."
Sendak smirked back at him, and reached up to take hold of the handle of the zipper at his throat. Shiro could feel his blush beginning to creep up to his ears again, but he held eye contact determinedly. Sendak hummed quietly and slid it down, thick, pale fur spilling from the opening seam, then paused at his waist and reached back up to shrug the clinging fabric off his shoulders. He didn't break eye contact. Shiro swallowed hard, struggling with the urge to follow the falling top of Sendak's suit down.
He grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut, turning away before Sendak had even finished wrestling his prosthetic free of the suit. "Alright, alright, I'm done," he said.
"I thought you said it didn't count?" Sendak asked. There was a pause, where Shiro tried to figure out to explain that it didn't and he was just being ridiculous, and then Sendak sighed. "...I've made you uncomfortable," he said quietly. "I apologize."
"It's fine," Shiro managed, and yanked his shirt over his head to hide his blush. "I'm just…being dramatic. It's alright."
He popped his head through the collar, turning again, and met Sendak's gaze. Sendak's expression was concerned, brows pinched and ears lowered. Shiro sighed quietly and shrugged the rest of his way into the shirt.
"Really, you're fine," he said, then— to drive home the point— looked Sendak over. Big shoulders, deep chest, shaggy pale fur marred in places with glimpses of deep violet scars; most of Sendak's left side was a whorl of dark skin the fur had yet to grow back over. "...You look, uh. Good."
Sendak snorted, his ears flicking back upright, and his face softened back into one of those closed-mouth smiles. "You don't need to flatter me," he said, then turned back towards his locker to retrieve his shirt.
His crest extended into a darker strip of fur down the length of his spine, all the way to where it disappeared under his suit again. That was going to haunt Shiro later, he was sure of it— did the stripe go all the way down?
Shiro kicked out of the legs of his suit while Sendak's back was turned, shimmying into his pants, then turned as Sendak began to fidget with the zipper again, giving him privacy. Not that it mattered , he told himself. Sendak didn't care . He scrubbed a hand over his face, then raked his fingers through his hair.
The trouble was that he did, he thought. Getting himself too wound up about Sendak was a mistake. They'd ruined his life , battered and threatened him, taken someone Sendak had loved from him— he had absolutely no right to think about Sendak like that, no matter how the Galra treated him. And even if he did have the right, it was definitely too soon to make any sort of move, when barely a week before he'd had to comfort Sendak through his grief in the wake of an hour-long funerary rite.
Nope, he was not going to think about it. Attraction was one thing, acting on it was something else entirely.
"You can turn around now, if you'd like," Sendak said from behind him, and Shiro turned.
"...Raiding the closets again, huh?" he asked, looking Sendak up and down. He'd acquired yet another sleeveless tunic from somewhere, deep blue this time, and a more tightly-cut pair of pants— the better to put those damned boots over, he supposed.
"You can't tell me you aren't sick of only having one thing to wear that isn't a uniform," Sendak retorted, ears twitching, and picked up his helmet again. "Speaking from experience, it gets tedious. Perhaps you should look into raiding a closet."
"White washes me out," Shiro deadpanned.
Sendak chuckled at that, then reached over to press the access panel for the door back into the Castle. He gestured to the door as it slid open, and Shiro nodded to him and walked through it. Sendak fell easily into step beside him, keeping pace as they headed towards the elevator.
There was a faint shift as they got into the elevator, the low-pressure pulse Shiro was beginning to recognize as a wormhole opening, and he looked up as the overhead lights flickered and went dark. The elevator stopped for a moment, just long enough to make Shiro's stomach lurch, then started again. The lights came back up a moment later, and he glanced sidelong at Sendak.
"...Why are we wormholing ?" he asked.
Sendak shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, but I suppose we ought to find out," he said, and reached out to tap at the control panel, changing their destination from the residential floor to the bridge.
The doors opened a minute later, admitting them into the hall to the bridge, and Shiro hurried out, barely pausing to open the bridge doors as he did. The rest of the Paladins were up there already, clustered around Allura's controls. Coran was down at the fore controls, his shock of orange hair the only thing visible with his head bowed over the control panel. Allura herself was there— of course— and she turned as they came in, flashing him a delighted smile.
"That was excellent flying, both of you," she said.
"Thank you," Sendak said, sounding pleased.
"What's going on?" Shiro asked. "I felt us wormhole— is there something we should know about?"
Allura's brows creased slightly, and she held up a hand and opened her mouth as if to say something.
"As a matter of fact, there is!" Coran said brightly, cutting her off, and turned back towards them with a wide grin on his face. "It's good news this time— I think I've figured out where we might be able to get hold of a new set of teludav lenses!"
"...Who's making those anymore?" Keith asked.
"Yeah, is that something we have to mail order?" Hunk chimed in.
"Probably not making ," Allura said, shaking her head. "There weren't many Alteans who could use a teludav even ten thousand years ago."
"Oh, certainly not making them!" Coran said.
He tapped at something on the controls, and an unfamiliar logo popped up on the viewscreens— no, not entirely unfamiliar. Something about it nagged at the back of Shiro's mind. A few other panels followed it; a few depicting slight, four-armed, grey-skinned aliens, another on the other side of the screen clearly a selfie taken by a younger Coran, showing off a sprawling, crowded marketplace. Alfor was vaguely visible in the background of the shot, and Shiro glanced at Allura in concern.
Her expression was indignant . "Coran!" she protested. "You can't seriously suggest going to one of those swap-moons , especially not for teludav lenses. The last time you went, those pirates took you for everything you had!"
"Ah," Sendak said, sounding uncomfortable.
"Pirates?" Lance asked, talking over him.
Coran nodded, gesturing up to the screens. "The Unilu have been traders and pirates as long as there's been space travel, roaming the galaxies and dealing in black market goods," he said. "Umvy spice, by-tor water, infinity vapor— though, of course, you had to bargain, nobody barters like the Unilu. Last time, I ended up trading three quarters of a shipment of lango for a used pogo oscillator ."
Allura snorted. "Father was not pleased when he found out."
"And you think they'll have the lenses?" Pidge asked.
"If anyone will, after all these years, it'll be the Unilu," Coran said. "I've never known them to discard something they might be able to sell later on."
"Maybe while Coran's picking up the lenses, I can take you shopping for something sparkly," Lance said, hopping up onto the podium next to Allura. Her shoulders stiffened slightly, and Shiro shot a sideways look at Sendak— whose ears had gone flat.
Coran intervened before either of them could, bounding his way up to put himself bodily between Lance and Allura. "This isn't shopping !" he exclaimed, gesturing emphatically. "You're not just wandering around saying, 'ooh, what a lovely hat, this is so becoming '— no! I won't allow Allura anywhere near those filthy, lowballing Unilu hoodlums!"
"Maybe I'd like something sparkly," Allura said, clasping her hands together pleadingly and leaning forward.
"Your information is outdated anyway, Coran," Sendak chimed in. "Unilu swap-moons haven't been hives of piracy in over nine millennia— the Empire does not tolerate such behavior in our— their territory."
"Out of the question," Coran said huffily, crossing his arms over his chest. "I— Allura, you should still be resting , I'm sure that wormhole jump just now took a lot out of you. It's not safe for you to wander around, even if Sendak's correct."
Sendak made an indignant sound in the back of his throat— Allura's expression mirrored the sentiment.
"Coran," Shiro started.
The Altean held up a hand, cutting him off. "Nope, just for that, you can stay home with Allura and Sendak too. If you're going to argue, I can't trust you to keep your head in a place like that. The rest of you—" he turned back towards the other Paladins, meeting their eyes, then turned again and strode for the back of the bridge, brushing past Shiro on the way. "Let's ready a pod for our mission. We need to get in, find the scaultrite lenses, and get out as quickly as possible."
Shiro shot him a dirty look, all too aware that he brought the total of put-out expressions up to three.
"I call shotgun!" Lance yelled, breaking the pause, and bolted for the door of the bridge.
Hunk yelped, scrambling after him with Pidge in hot pursuit. "Hey! You have to be in the pod bay to call shotgun!"
"Says who ?" Lance yelled back over his shoulder.
Keith lingered a moment, shooting them all a sympathetic look, then hurried after the others. The door to the bridge hissed shut behind them.
Allura groaned in frustration, sitting down heavily on the dais. "...He's been treating me like a child ever since Olkarion," she muttered. "It's like he thinks I can't handle myself."
"...It's just a market," Sendak said, and sat himself down next to her. "They really aren't that dangerous anymore." Allura groaned and leaned against his side, pressing her face into his shoulder— despite the indubitable discomfort of the prosthetic.
Shiro settled down carefully at her other side. "...Y'know, if the three of us go together , it's not like Coran can say we're putting you in unnecessary danger," he said. Allura glanced up at him, eyes widening, and Shiro plunged on. "I mean, you're pretty capable yourself, and I'd like to think Sen and I are strong enough to help."
"All in favor of ignoring Coran, then?" Sendak asked.
"Aye," Shiro said.
"Aye," Allura agreed. Her whole face had lit up— she grabbed Shiro's hand, and Sendak's on the other side, squeezing. "Thank you, both of you."
"It's no trouble, really," Shiro said.
Sendak grinned, showing off the faintest hint of fang, and rose, pulling Allura gently to her feet along with him. "Well, then," he said. "Seems like the three of us have a little preparation to do, before we get this trip underway."
Allura tugged lightly at Shiro's arm, and he let her pull him to his feet.
"What does that mean?" he asked, eyeing Sendak.
"What I mean is this," Sendak said. He flicked Allura lightly on the brow, claws ringing off her circlet. "It might not be a haven for pirates , but there will be pickpockets, so the best move will be to lose the jewelry and pick something less…formal."
Allura huffed, crossing her arms. "And what about you ?" she asked. "You're a high-ranking Galra commander, someone there will know your face."
"Not just mine," Sendak said with a smirk. "Shiro's too."
"...Why me ?" Shiro asked.
"I wonder why someone might recognize a former champion in the arena," Sendak deadpanned.
Shiro winced. "...Right, I get the point," he said carefully. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"The change in context will give us some deniability," Sendak said, turning towards the door to the bridge. Shiro scrambled to keep up with him, with Allura falling in on his other side. "Bear in mind, I didn't pay attention to the gladiator matches—"
"Why not? Don't Galra enjoy that sort of thing?" Allura cut in.
Sendak pulled a face, ears twitching irritably. "It's a waste of lives and a senseless destruction of skilled fighters," he said. " Anyway , I'm fairly certain that most of Shiro's fans would never have seen him as… cleaned up , as it were, as he is now, the white hair is definitely new, and the change of clothing will help. As for me, most of the Empire will have only seen me at Zarkon's side, in uniform or dressed for formal events— you know how big he is. I look half my size next to him, and twice it next to the pair of you."
They paused in front of the elevator just long enough for Shiro to tap at the control panel and bring it back up, then slipped inside. Sendak lounged against the back wall, and Shiro settled himself in next to him. Allura stopped with her back to the door, arms folded.
"So what are you two doing, then?" she asked.
"...Hoping for the best?" Shiro said, glancing sideways at Sendak.
"Not hoping," Sendak said, shaking his head. "The odds are low enough that I'm willing to risk it, and if we get caught we can always make a strategic retreat. The malls have civilian law enforcement, not Imperial military.
"...Remind me to ask you what you mean by that later," Allura said, narrowing her eyes at him. The elevator hissed to a stop— one floor above the residential floor— and the doors slid open. Allura stepped out through them, putting her hand just inside to keep them from closing. "I'll meet you in the pod bay in ten doboshes."
"See you there," Sendak said, holding up a hand.
Allura nodded and stepped back, letting the door hiss shut behind her. The elevator lurched slightly, then began moving again, coming to a stop a minute or two later at the atrium to the pod bay. Sendak slipped out through the open doors, and Shiro followed hot on his heels. He paused a moment as they passed the bench on the way in, eyeing his discarded helmet, then brushed past it into the hangar.
One of the berths was empty— of course, Coran and the other Paladins would have taken one— and Sendak made a beeline for the next pod in the row, lounging up against the nose of the ship. Shiro settled in next to him, quietly relishing the warmth of his body.
They didn't have long to wait. The bay doors hissed open again a few minutes later, and Allura strode through them white hair bouncing loose about her shoulders. Even at a distance he could see the way her face lit up, and she raised her hand to wave to them.
Shiro gave her a once-over, his mouth falling open a little. She looked… younger , almost, without the circlet pressing against her brow, her eyes brighter. She'd left both dress and flight-suit in exchange for a cropped pink and gold blouse over what looked like a pale blue jumpsuit, paired with knee-high white boots. If not for the marks on her cheeks, for the pink centers of her pupils, he could nearly have mistaken her for an ordinary human. As it was…
"Took you long enough," Sendak called as she approached.
"A princess is never late," Allura called back, lifting her chin, but her eyes were still alight.
"So who's flying?" Shiro asked, as she came to a stop beside the pod.
Allura glanced up at it, then back at the two of them, clasping her hands together. "...Would you mind if I did?" she asked. "It's been so long since I've flown a pod for leisure."
"Then the pilot's seat is yours," Sendak said, inclining his head.
"Do you want us to go sit in the back?" Shiro asked.
"No," Allura said, shaking her head quickly. "I think we can all three fit in the front."
The front seat of the pod was very much not built for three, but they managed it. Allura fit neatly in the pilot's side, sliding the controls closer to her with a gesture. Sendak settled on the other side, shoulder pressed against the frame, and Shiro could just squeeze between them. The full length of his thighs pressed directly against theirs, and there was no room to shift without one of his shoulders butting up against Allura or Sendak. He folded his hands in his lap and did his best not to think too hard on it, as Allura tugged at the controls, lifting the pod lightly from the floor and guiding it out the bay doors into space. Her touch was much more delicate than Shiro's had been, hands fairly dancing across the controls and screens.
And then they were out into the void again, rounding the side of the Castle, and Shiro's jaw dropped as the swap-moon came into view.
Well, moon was putting it charitably. There might have been a moon under there at some point, or a large asteroid caught in orbit around the pink-banded gas giant looming behind it, but whatever the foundation of the swap moon was, it was long since buried under the infrastructure of the market itself. Irregular buildings— Galra grey-and-magenta on steel-and-blue on white on beige, all in various states of repair and disrepair— stacked one on top of another on top of another, all gleaming with varicolored lighted windows. Long spars stuck out from the structure itself; ports for incoming ships, judging by the swarm of moving bodies around them. For a moment, Shiro contemplated trying to tally the various styles and sizes of them— and then gave up, overwhelmed by the scale .
"...This place is huge ," he breathed.
"Ah," Sendak said, settling a little in the seat— his thigh pressed more firmly against Shiro's. "I know where we are now."
"Oh?" Allura asked, glancing sidelong at him. Shiro leaned back so she could get a better look.
"The Lyncis system," Sendak said. "We're in the third quadrant, and I know the commander who oversees the sector we're in." He paused, ears twitching. "...Obsequious little bootlicker. What I wouldn't give to make an example of him."
"Maybe you'll get that opportunity if we find the teludav lenses," Allura said, grinning.
" Allura ," Shiro protested.
Allura shot him a look this time. "What?"
"So we're just going after commanders because Sen doesn't like them now?" he shot back.
"...In my defense," Sendak said, clearing his throat lightly, "he's, frankly, a horrible administrator, and perfectly eager to ravage his client states and colonies for whatever he can strip them of. He would deserve whatever lesson we saw fit to teach him."
"You two are horrible," Shiro said, shooting Sendak a look— and chuckled at the petulant look on the Galra's face.
Allura snorted at his other side. "...Alright. So what's our approach?"
"The spars on the sun-side are public civilian docks," Sendak said, pointing to a set of admittedly better-maintained docks. "We'll land the pod there and head inside. After that…" He trailed off a moment, then shrugged. "I have no idea where we would even begin looking for teludav lenses."
Shiro bit his lip thoughtfully. "...What if…we skip the lenses?"
"Shiro!" Allura yelped— but she didn't sound scandalized. She sounded excited .
"I mean, think about it," Shiro said, leaning forward a little and catching first Allura's gaze, then Sendak's. "Coran told us to stay behind, so clearly he doesn't need us to help. That means we're free to do whatever we want."
"You make an excellent point," Sendak said.
They were drawing in close to the docks at that point, the pod weaving in amongst the other small ships. Allura opened the radar, tapping lightly at it— scanning for an open berth, Shiro guessed. Her brows furrowed, and she leaned forward a little more, her shoulder bumping against his.
And then, abruptly, the comms beeped. Shiro jumped— Sendak and Allura twitched on either side of him, both of them obviously startled. Allura glanced at Sendak, her eyes wide.
"It's fine," Sendak said. "Just open the comms, I'll handle the talking."
Allura nodded, then tapped at the comms to open the frequency.
Static crackled faintly, and then a tinny voice said brightly, "Hi, welcome to the Lyncis swap-moon public docks! Can I help you folks find a berth with us today?"
"It would be appreciated," Sendak said.
"Cool, cool, gimme just a tick," the voice said. They trailed off a moment, humming a little over the comms, then said, "Alright, I'm gonna need your ship class and a name to put it under, and then I can guide you right in."
Shiro's stomach lurched, and he shot a sideways glance at Allura— who had paled dramatically— and then back at Sendak. The Galra looked completely unruffled, leaning in slightly towards the comms.
"Civilian transit class, small ship-to-dock pod," he said coolly. "Put it under Ladak Kaltor, if you wouldn't mind."
Allura made a stifled squeaking noise, and Shiro looked back at her again— she'd taken a hand off the controls to cover her mouth.
The voice over the comms laughed. "Always a pleasure to have a Ladak in," they said. "You tell those cousins of yours to keep the ships out of the Yglias system next time they run a shipment out this way, alright? I hear they're having some serious rebel trouble out that way."
"Will do," Sendak said, lounging back in the seat again. "Much appreciated, thank you."
"Hey, no problem! I'm sending the berth info to your ship now," the voice said. "Thanks for stopping in! We hope you find what you're looking for!"
The comms shut off again with a click, and Shiro slumped back in the seat, releasing a sharp breath. His pulse pounded double-time in his ears. He gripped his knees lightly to try and stop his hands from shaking, not that it did him much good.
Beside him, Allura took her hand off her mouth and tapped at a pop-up on the screen— a map of the docks, with a berth a bit ahead of their position marked in pale purple. Then she glanced sideways at Sendak—
And burst out laughing. "Ladak Kaltor ?" she gasped out between giggles. "Tell me you're joking ."
Sendak huffed. "No one is going to look twice at a Ladak when they're the biggest clan alliance out there, and Kaltor is a perfectly acceptable name, thank you," he said haughtily. "And I cannot express to you the sheer level of stupidity it would be to announce our arrival under Kalahar Sendak instead."
"What's wrong with the name?" Shiro asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them.
"So you are one," Allura shot back. "I had my suspicions."
Sendak's ears flicked in the way Shiro knew meant he'd rolled his eye. "Not by blood, Zarkon's just a territorial old clan head," he said. "And the name is fine , because if someone actually took issue with religious names she'd give me just as much shit for Sendak ."
Shiro looked back at Allura, who rolled her eyes and flicked a lock of hair out of her face, then turned back to Sendak. "...What did I miss ?"
"Only the fakest name he could possibly have invented," Allura said.
"I personally know half a dozen Kaltors," Sendak retorted. "It's common. It's an honorable name."
"Who's Kaltor?" Shiro asked.
"A semi-historical ancient Emperor from before we achieved space flight," Sendak said, gesturing dismissively. "The legends say he was the first great uniter of the warring clans, and while there's historical evidence for a series of ceasefires around the time he supposedly ruled, it's much more likely he was invented as a propaganda piece by Emperor Brodar to lend her legitimacy as the First Emperor—"
"You're rambling," Allura said.
Sendak blew a raspberry at her. "You're the one who only knows the name of one Galra folk hero. Aren't princesses supposed to be educated?"
Allura, in response, took a hand off the controls and raised her middle finger in Sendak's direction. Shiro's jaw dropped, and he gave a muffled, indignant squeak as she dropped her hand back to guide them into the berth.
"Who taught you that?" he demanded.
"Lance," Allura said, shrugging.
Shiro groaned, and dropped himself back against the seat with a thump. "...He and I are going to have a talk later."
The seat shifted— Sendak, leaning forward. When Shiro glanced sidelong at him, his ears had tipped to a quizzical angle. "...What does that mean?" he asked, and raised his own middle finger to demonstrate the point.
"Sen, don't—" Shiro started.
"You mean they didn't tell you?" Allura asked delightedly. The pod settled on the floor, and the top opened with a hiss— Allura slung herself up onto the side, grinning widely.
Sendak's eye narrowed. "...No," he said carefully. "Tell me."
"Not a chance ," Allura retorted, and launched herself over the side of the pod. There was a thump as her boots hit the ground outside, and then footsteps.
Sendak growled in frustration— actually growled, a deep bassy thing that rumbled Shiro's ribcage— and hurled himself over the other side after her. Shiro scrambled out as fast as he could, sprinting after them down the hall towards the swap-moon proper. A few aliens— unfamiliar to him— ducked out of the way as they raced past, their faces a startled blur. Shiro hissed and tried to up his pace as their backs receded in front of him, to little avail.
Not that it mattered. As they got closer to the market itself, the crowd thickened. First handfuls, then dozens, then actual clusters of people as they drew closer to the door. Allura slowed, and Shiro caught up just as Sendak got her in a headlock, ruffling her hair as she tried to push him off. Both of them were laughing, to Shiro's relief.
"Alright, guys, break it up," he said, unable to help chuckling a little himself.
Sendak let go, letting Allura bounce a couple of paces away from him— Shiro reached out to steady her. "Count yourself fortunate," he said. A glint of fangs showed at the corner of his smirk.
"As if you would have actually done anything," Allura retorted, and shoved her hair back out of her face.
Shiro sighed at both of them, rolling his eyes a little— fondly, he thought. He put a hand between Allura's shoulderblades to nudge her forward, then grabbed for Sendak. The Galra caught his hand as he did, his grin widening, and Shiro covered his sudden flush with a duck of his head and a sharp stride forward. He pushed through the loose crowd, up to the open double-doors into the wide, bright-lit space ahead—
And stopped cold. His jaw dropped again, and he couldn't help but stare. The market was vast, cream-tiled with pale metal on the walls, a thousand colored lights spilling from shop-fronts and windows into the winding concourses, nearly blotting out the view of the starscape through the vast windows overhead. Countless figures milled about at every level, groups of aliens of every shape and size imaginable leaning over railings or trailing along moving walkways, gesturing and weaving about; the chatter of thousands of voices filled the air, backgrounded by some sort of faint synth music played over hidden speakers. Deja vu hit Shiro like a battle cruiser to the face— deja vu, and nostalgia that raised a lump in his throat he nearly couldn't swallow around.
"...This is…a mall ," he managed.
Allura stepped forward, eyeing the concourses with a critical stare. "...It's certainly cleaner than I remember them being," she said begrudgingly.
"I told you, things have changed since you last went to a swap-moon," Sendak said, striding past them.
Shiro scrambled to catch up, falling into step easily at his side. Allura hurried up to the other, shooting him a suspicious look.
"You still haven't explained what you meant about the supposed civilian law enforcement stationed here," she said flatly.
"Right, the treaty," Sendak said. He wasn't looking at them— when Shiro glanced up at him, his head was high, scanning their surroundings. He nodded, then changed their trajectory, making for a kiosk Shiro got a glimpse of over the heads of a small cluster of pink, soft-featured aliens. "Now, bear in mind, the events I refer to here all occurred over nine millennia ago; this isn't exactly recent news ."
"What treaty ?" Allura asked. "As I recall, the Unilu didn't hold formalized treaties with anyone ."
"That was before the Empire, when they traded in Alliance space rather than Imperial territory," Sendak said. He brushed past another group of aliens, then paused in front of the kiosk and rested his prosthetic hand against the glass— which lit up, lines of light tracing towards his palm. "They could afford not to bother, without fear of retribution for harboring pirates. However, after the old alliance dissolved, their pirates grew bolder, assaulting Imperial ships and civilian settlements and habs alike, dealing death and devastation— something we couldn't afford, after… well ."
Allura lowered her head, looking away, and Shiro shot her a quizzical glance. She looked almost ashamed , he thought. "...I understand," she said softly.
Sendak nodded. The kiosk flashed, and he took his hand off the glass, then flicked his wrist. A hologram flickered in over his palm— a blueprint of the mall, accompanied by a menu, which he scrolled through briefly before shutting it down and setting off again.
"I should hope so," he said dryly. "At any rate— the High Commanders and Emperor Zarkon came to an agreement that something had to be done, so we approached the Unilu with an offer. In short: join the Empire as a client state and cease all pirate activity in our territory, and their swap-moons would be under the protection of the Empire." He tilted his head, glancing down at them, and a wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "The full agreement is significantly more complicated, and would take me several hours to convey, but as it relates to us— as long as the Unilu keep their…ah, more illicit merchants from interfering with sanctioned Imperial trade, they retain some control over civilian governance related to their territories, and civilian law enforcement oversees their merchant ports."
"That sounds like it benefits them quite thoroughly," Allura said. "Who wrote this agreement? Certainly not Zarkon."
"As I recall— and, bear in mind, I read the relevant treaty some thirty cycles ago— it was one Commander Xirav of Clan Bertilak," Sendak said. "They were rather infamous for comparatively lenient treaties with client states they brought into the fold, but most of their rivals had to admit that military expenditures in sectors under their command were significantly lower than in more aggressive neighbors—"
"So why wasn't that Imperial policy instead of violent conquest?" Allura shot back.
Sendak's ears flicked— a roll of his eyes— and trotted a few steps ahead, pausing on an escalator to the upper levels and nearly leaving them behind. "In some sectors, it is," he said. "Unfortunately, with the warlords running the expansion edge, it's incredibly difficult to even attempt to encourage less hostile dealings, with them fighting each other and everyone else, ingraining a culture of competition and mutual aggression even between neighboring commanders."
"That…sounds like it sucks," Shiro said hesitantly.
"It does," Sendak said, glancing down at them again. "Warlords are the worst elements of the Imperial military. Spiteful, cruel, vindictive, utterly uncaring as to the fates of their subordinates. Most of them would sacrifice a thousand of our own people for mere scraps of power."
"And Zarkon just tolerates this?" Allura asked. Her eyes had gone wide with horror.
Sendak gave a little jerk of his chin, a nod. "He encourages it, at times. They've been worse about it for the last…fifty cycles, at least." They'd reached the top of the escalator by then, and Sendak stepped off onto the second floor. The bulk of his body nearly hid his fleeting touch to his left elbow from Shiro's view.
"Lemme guess, you have first-hand experience," Shiro said.
"Quite literally," Sendak replied. He paused a few paces off the escalator, glancing around, then set off to the right.
"Where are we going , anyway?" Allura asked, catching up to Shiro's side.
"According to the directory, there's a shop on this level that carries supplies for refurbishing armor," Sendak said. "I'd like to stop in there, and at a handful of shops a couple floors up that should carry civilian clothing in my size. I've had enough of dressing like I've gone through a museum's archive."
"Is it really that old-fashioned?" Allura asked.
"It's ten millennia out of date," Sendak deadpanned. "Even Lord Zarkon has modernized his wardrobe."
"I think they look dashing on you," she shot back.
"I have a classical figure," Sendak retorted. " Everything looks good on me."
Shiro couldn't help the laugh that burst out of him, and he covered his mouth to stifle it.
Over his hands, he caught Sendak and Allura grinning at each other, and laughed harder. Sendak reached out and took hold of his forearm, looping his own through— Shiro could feel the warmth of his arm even through the fabric of his shirt. Allura caught his other arm, mirroring Sendak, and they set off, nearly in sync even with Sendak's much longer stride. Shiro stumbled against him, then into Allura, still chuckling. He felt— almost light . Buoyed.
They stopped again before long, outside a shop with a magenta window and writing in Galra on the front door. Some of the characters looked almost familiar to Shiro, though he couldn't quite place them. Sendak unlinked their arms, squeezing Shiro's hand so briefly he thought he might have imagined it. His palm-pad was rough over his knuckles.
"I'll be a tick," he said, and stepped away. "Don't get into trouble."
"We won't," Shiro said, as Allura scoffed behind his shoulder.
Sendak rolled his eye at them, ears flicking, and waved a dismissive hand as he turned and ducked through the door in the shop. Through the colored glass, Shiro could see the shape of him— a similarly-sized employee had moved forward to greet him, and hands gestured animatedly before they set off deeper into the shop. Shiro turned, then, and let Allura lead him back to the rail at the edge of the concourse. He looked down, watching the flow of the crowd below for a moment before returning his gaze to Allura. She stared down persistently, releasing his hand to clasp hers together; one of the thumbs worried the top of the other.
"...So what do you think?" he asked.
"...I've only been to one of these before, when I was younger," she said quietly. "Father took me once, to one of the smaller, more secure ones near our home." She paused, then sighed, shoulders slumping. "...It's strange, being in such a busy place and yet…I've never felt so alone in the universe."
She glanced up at him, then, crystal eyes clouded with unshed tears, then turned away to wipe at them discreetly.
"You miss your people," Shiro said softly.
Allura nodded hesitantly, and her lower lip trembled. "...I do," she managed. "I…I know I've spoken before on my travels, but many of the places I've been were full of my people— mine, or the Nalquodi, or Dalterions, or Rygneri— there aren't even many Galra here. It's unsettling."
Unfamiliar names. Shiro made a note to file them away for later.
"...If it makes you feel any better, I've never been to a market this big before," he said, and cracked a wry smile. "Or one that was full of aliens."
Allura sighed. "You at least know the other four are out there somewhere."
Shiro hesitated, then reached out, putting his hand over hers. "Coran is too," he said gently.
"He's probably gotten himself into trouble," Allura said, then managed a chuckle. "I wonder if he made the others dress as pirates for this. They'll look so out of place."
"They'll get the attention of security, is what they'll do," Sendak said behind them, making them both jump. Shiro spun back towards him— the Galra stood there, one hand on his hip, the other holding a small bag— an image so incongruously mundane Shiro almost laughed.
"Oh dear," Allura said.
"Let me guess, we don't want that," Shiro said.
Sendak shrugged, taking his hand off his hip to offer his forearm again to Shiro; Shiro accepted it. "As long as they don't cause a ruckus, the worst that will happen is that whoever's on shift will keep a slightly closer eye on them through the security cameras," he said. "They're only in danger if they cause enough trouble to get arrested, but they can't be held for more than three vargas on a first offense unless they match a profile in the database."
"And will they?" Shiro asked.
"Have any of the commanders you've crossed face-to-face lived to tell the tale?" Sendak replied.
"Not ones that have seen the others," Allura said. "We did…very few missions before you were released."
Sendak grinned briefly, a fanged thing, then closed his lips to a more satisfied smile. "Then they have some deniability, unless they begin boasting to threaten the cop."
"Well, I hope they're all smart enough not to threaten a cop," Shiro deadpanned. Sendak snorted.
"Where to next?" Allura asked, grabbing Shiro's other arm again as they set off.
"The directory says the clothing department is a few floors up," Sendak said, gesturing towards another set of escalators. "I can be quick about that, though— unless you'd like something, Shiro?"
"I—" Shiro started, then cut himself off before he could say yes . "...I don't…actually have any money."
Sendak shifted his bag into the crook of his elbow to wave his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Anything the two of you would like, I will pay for."
" Anything ?" Allura asked, eyeing him.
"You don't have to," Shiro said hastily. "I don't really need—"
"Commander's salary," Sendak said, lowering his voice a little. "I can certainly afford it. And you could use a wardrobe of your own…"
He trailed off, but his ears flicked in the way Shiro knew meant he'd been given a once-over. His cheeks went hot again.
"Alright, alright," Shiro said, and managed to elbow him in the side. "But only as long as you don't want to pick out what I'm wearing."
"I did say whatever you wanted," Sendak deadpanned.
"What if I want to pick out something for you?" Allura asked, nearly laughing. The blush crept up towards Shiro's ears.
"You're both awful," he mumbled, earning a peal of laughter from either side as they stepped onto the next escalator.
They found the shops quickly enough— some marked in unfamiliar alien languages, all with Galra text somewhere on the doors— some over the other letters, some under, framed like a translation. Shiro squinted desperately at them as Sendak disappeared into first one shop and then another, straining for understanding he was certain was just out of his reach and coming up empty-handed. Had he learned to read their writing while he'd been their prisoner?
He couldn't remember.
Sendak's return pulled him out of contemplation, and the three of them continued on down the level— this time ducking into shops together, whatever looked interesting. There was too much to actually focus on: alien clerks chattering away in a language even the Altean translator struggled with and switching to accented Galra at the sight of Sendak, a blur of wild alien fashions, some of which Shiro couldn't help but try on— sleek dark jumpsuits, loose draping tunic-shirts, one loose high-necked thing Sendak offered him that Shiro couldn't resist, black fabric with a back-woven feathery pattern in violet and gold— unfamiliar soaps and perfumes and gadgetry as far as he could see. A tube of shockingly familiar eyeliner pressed into his palm as Allura laughed, nearly knocking the hot-pink, cartoonishly heart-shaped classes off of her head. Sendak lounged against the counter as they browsed, gossiping with the cashier.
At last, several minutes and dozens of shops later, they spilled back onto the concourse, practically stumbling over each other and laughing. One of Sendak's arms had wrapped around Shiro's waist to support him, guiding them— Allura leaned on his other side— towards yet another set of escalators to a higher floor. Shiro sobered halfway up, peering down over the side towards the floor. A set of glittering fountains sprawled out beneath them, bright clear water dotted in places with gleaming coins.
A pair of figures moved through the fountains, and Shiro squinted. Even with the height, with the odd angle, they looked almost familiar — one darker head, one auburn one. He reached up to tug at Sendak's shoulder, getting his and Allura's attention.
"...Does that look like Lance and Pidge down there to you?" he asked, pointing down at the fountain.
Allura leaned over, peering down. "...That does look like them," she said carefully.
"Nope," Sendak said, and a moment later a hand dropped in front of Shiro's face, blocking his view. "Even if it is them, which it may not be, they're not currently our responsibility."
"But—" Shiro started, and reached up to grab Sendak's wrist. His stomach turned uncertainly.
Sendak shook his head. "Coran brought them along. At this point, they're his obligation, not ours. We can worry about them more if they get in trouble, but not now."
"...I don't like it," Shiro said.
"I'm not sure I do either," Allura said, and when Shiro looked up her brows had furrowed worriedly. "If something happens to them—"
"Then we'll go and get them," Sendak said. "Come on. There's something I wanted to take the two of you to see."
"Yeah?" Shiro asked, glancing up at him again. Sendak's hand lowered, no longer blocking Shiro's view to the side, and he offered Shiro his forearm again.
"What is it?" Allura asked.
Sendak's mouth quirked up at the corner in a pleased half-smile. "The oxygen gardens."
"I didn't realize swap-moons had oxygen gardens," Allura said excitedly, leaning forward and looking up the escalator. "Is that a new development, or—"
"They're a safety measure in most stations of this size," Sendak said, shrugging. "Slightly less efficient than oxygen scrubbers, but less inclined to mechanical breakdown and easier to maintain. As I recall, the directory said this swap-moon has three, all on the upper levels."
Shiro whistled low under his breath. Oxygen gardens. Every time he thought he'd gotten used to space, to the universe's far-flung civilizations, he stumbled across something else straight out of the sci-fi novels he'd devoured as a kid. The escalator shuddered a little underfoot, then began to level out as they approached the top— and greenery came into view. Shiro's jaw dropped.
The whole floor was engulfed by a jungle. A few paces of cream-colored tile, and then the floor recessed a little, sinking into rich brown earth and a tangle of unnaturally vibrant grasses, green at the roots and brilliantly red at the tips, which Shiro realized reached his hips as they came level and stepped off of the escalator. Shrubs rose behind them, spiky branches with dark, shiny leaves, and behind them — trees. Inside the mall . They were small, especially in comparison to the behemoths Shiro recalled from Olkarion, but still reached for the distant starry ceiling overhead. The air smelled of damp earth and growing things, a shocking difference from the rest of the mall's muddle of scents.
"...Holy shit," Shiro whispered. "It's beautiful."
Allura nodded. "Very nice," she said, then paused and glanced at Sendak— the Galra seemed to ignore her, striding for a path into the vegetation. "Is this common in Galra stations too?"
"Depends on the station," Sendak said, glancing back at her. Shiro hurried to catch up, leaning against Sendak's side as the canopy closed over them. Furred fingers brushed the backs of his— Sendak lacing their hands together. "Small ones may or may not. Large ones always do. Even Central Command has them, full of plants from Daibazaal."
Allura sighed quietly, moving up to Shiro's other side. Her eyes were downcast, and Shiro felt a pang of guilt. He reached for her, and she glanced up at him and offered him a sad smile as she caught his hand. "...It makes me wish the Castle had cultivars from Altea," she said softly. "Father and I talked about it on and off for years , but even though we had plans underway to retrofit an unused floor as a greenhouse, we never…"
She trailed off, and Shiro squeezed her hand gently.
"...Maybe we can go looking," he said, before he can stop himself. "There might be something out there that we can bring back to the Castle."
"That would be wonderful," Allura said softly. She lifted her head again, tilting her head back to look up into the canopy. "...It's probably too much to hope for, but…I would be overjoyed if, somewhere out there, the juniberry flower still bloomed."
"Maybe you'll be in luck, if we have a chance to look," Sendak said.
"Right," Allura said, lowering her gaze back to the two of them. "We have other things to worry about first. I wonder if Coran and the Paladins have had any success with the teludav lenses."
"Only way to find out would be to head back to the Castle," Shiro said. The only communications equipment he— or the other Paladins, for that matter— had was in their uniforms, which they'd left behind on the ship. Allura had left her earrings behind too, he noted, and part of him doubted Coran had brought anything anyway.
"So soon?" Allura asked, her head tilting, and unless Shiro's eyes betrayed him that was nearly a pout.
"We can take the long way back to the docks," Sendak said. "This trail here should lead us through to the other side of the floor, and we could stop by the food court on the way out, if you'd like." He paused, bringing up the hologram again, then scowled. "...Or perhaps not. Seems there's a bit of a pile-up on the first floor's court, but there's a kivahan two floors down from us…"
The translator seemed to struggle with the word for a moment, and then the meaning hit him all at once— coffeehouse . Shiro almost laughed. A mall, a coffee shop, a date — he'd been here a dozen times before, back on Earth, hand-in-hand with a boy…
He glanced up at Sendak, who had dismissed the hologram again and glanced away, studying the foliage around them. There was a light at the far end, and an open space visible through the trees, but he returned his gaze to Sendak again, studying his face.
Familiar, but the good kind. Something warm settled into his chest.
"...Yeah, let's hit the kivahan," he said. "We have something like that back on Earth, I wanna see how this one compares."
"A— oh !" Allura said, her voice brightening. "We call them cayhane on Altea! A shop that sells hot drinks?"
Sendak nodded, and his ears had flicked up again, amused. "So we all have one, then," he said. "Finally, something in common."
Allura burst out laughing, leaning against Shiro's side and squeezing his hand. He squeezed back, chuckling a little himself, and let Sendak lead them back out into the light. There was another escalator a little further down, and the three of them piled onto it, bundling onto a single step. The escalator protested a little under their weight, but descended anyway, sinking back into the chaos of the lower levels.
They took the long way to the coffeeshop, weaving through the crowds— somehow things seemed busier than they had on the way up, or perhaps Shiro was just less distracted and could notice it now. He kept close to Sendak and caught an arm around Allura to keep her from getting pulled away in the crush, until at last things opened up a little and they could catch their breath. Sendak flipped his wrist again, calling the hologram.
"...It says the kivahan should be right up ahead," he said. "Four shops down."
Shiro squinted down the hall, eyeing the fourth shop— which, as they approached, seemed more and more dubious, with a wide, frosted yellow window. Letters as long as his torso scrawled across it, the unfamiliar script he had begun to suspect was Unilu, with much smaller lettering underneath it in Galra. A warm red sign, which Shiro thought might read open if it were written in English, sat over the door, but aside from that the place seemed deserted.
"...Are you sure this is the place?" Shiro asked.
"That's what it says," Sendak said.
Allura wrinkled her nose. "...Looks like a bit of a dive," she said.
Sendak huffed. "Well, the two of you can stay outside if you'd like, but I am going in. I'm not afraid of a little shop in a swap-moon."
"Are you suggesting we are?" Allura yelped, indignant, and Shiro snorted— then squeaked as Allura's grip tightened on his arm, towing him up to and through the door, to the sound of Sendak's laughter behind them.
The inside of the shop reminded Shiro more of an old-fashioned diner more than a coffeeshop— bright tiles on the floor, cracked leather booths along one chrome-sheathed wall, a bar with a speckled, plasticky counter and a gleaming chrome rim, well-worn stools spaced along the length of it dominating the left-hand side of the space. The air smelled strongly of something like coffee, but not quite— somewhat less astringent, more sweet and almost nutty by comparison. The kivahan was largely empty, save for a small group in a booth on the far end and the four-armed barista drying a mug behind the counter.
The barista brightened at the sight of them, setting the mug down and making a beeline for their end of the counter as Sendak ducked through the door behind them. "Hi, folks! Welcome to Kiva Holifa! Anything I can get you to start with?"
"A tick to look at the menu," Sendak deadpanned, a hand landing on Shiro's shoulder. "We're first-time customers here."
"Right, of course," the Unilu said, clasping their lower set of hands together. The upper set pointed upwards, to the boards overhead— not blackboard or letterboards like a diner on Earth, but scrawled with luminous, neon writing in Unilu and Galra. "Our full menu is on the boards, both drinks and meals if you're looking to sit down and stay with us for a while this afternoon. Our drink of the month is the iced anix latte, if you're in the mood for something sweet and floral. Otherwise, take your time and ask me any questions you have."
More deja vu. Shiro tipped his head back to study the glowing menu boards.
Then he bumped Sendak in the ribs with his elbow. "...I can't read this," he whispered.
"What do you usually get on Earth?" Sendak whispered back.
Shiro couldn't help a grimace. Coffee on Earth had, often, been more necessity than pleasure— something bitter and oversteeped, drunk hot enough to scorch the tongue, until his hands trembled when he stopped paying attention and late enough to ruin his sleep schedule. And his last partner— well. Adam's idea of a romantic afternoon was planning hypothetical flights to the edges of the solar system instead of a coffee date. It had been fun at the time, but now the thought of it made his stomach sour.
A year and a half was too long to still be sulking over a failed relationship.
"...Something hot and sweet," he murmured, leaning up on tiptoe towards Sendak so he didn't have to stoop so far. Sendak's hand came to rest on his hip to steady him, letting him lean in further. The Galra's ears twitched, and Shiro felt the weight of his gaze like a physical thing. "I trust your judgement."
"If you two are done making eyes at each other," Allura said dryly, and Shiro jumped.
Sendak's hand tightened a little on Shiro's hip, but he chuckled, straightening and letting Shiro pull away. "Envious, Princess?" he teased. "I think we're ready, if you know what you want."
"Small kiva berbera, black," Allura said, shot Sendak an arch look, and flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder.
The barista tapped at the register with one set of hands, the other pair grabbing for a cup and a marker. "Alright, we'll have that right out," they said. "What else can I do for the two of you?"
"Small special with whip," Sendak said. "And…a hot kivacaye, with honey?"
Shiro's translator struggled with the term for a moment, then settled on yuenyuang , and he almost laughed. The coffee-and-tea fusion had been popular when he'd been in high school, just starting at the Garrison— one of the few dates he'd had time for had involved people-watching and sharing an iced version of the drink with a girl he barely knew outside of flight class. It had been too sweet for him back then.
"Alright, that'll be 600 GAC," the barista said. Sendak let go of Shiro and slipped past, up to the counter. There was an exchange of something— a card or a chip, Shiro thought— and a beep, and then, Sendak stepped back away as the barista grabbed for another set of cups. "We'll have those out for you in a couple doboshes, so just hang tight."
Sendak inclined his head, murmuring a thank-you as the barista turned back to the workspace behind the counter, and retreated to join Shiro and Allura near the door. A cloud of steam went up, accompanied by a sharp hiss that made Shiro jump reflexively. His heart raced, thundering in his ears, and he forced himself to take a deep breath, and then another. It was just a steamer of some kind, and not— not—
A warm, broad palm landed gently on his upper back.
"Shiro," Sendak said quietly. "Do you need to step out for a tick?"
Shiro caught another breath and made himself look up— and winced at the concern on Sendak and Allura's faces. "...I'm fine, really," he managed. "Just startled me a little."
Allura glanced sideways up at Sendak, whose ears twitched, signalling he'd returned her look. Shiro tried for a scowl, but then the steamer hissed again, more violently, and he couldn't help but twitch.
"I'll get the drinks when they're ready," Allura said. "You two wait for me outside."
"Allura—" Shiro started.
"We'll see you in a tick," Sendak said, a little louder, and he caught Shiro gently by the upper arms, spun him around, and maneuvered them gently out of the door.
The mall outside was louder than the shop, but just the hubbub of people passing— no sharp hisses or squeal of compressed steam, no mechanical clattering. Shiro caught his breath at last and let himself lean against Sendak, who settled an arm around him in turn. The prosthetic , Shiro noted, and was surprised to find himself comforted by it. Solid weight, the relief of knowing Sendak had put his greatest weapon between Shiro and the world around him…
He sighed, and turned his head so his brow rested against Sendak's ribs.
"...You two don't have to keep babying me like this," he said.
"You froze when the steamer started," Sendak replied. His hand slid up Shiro's arm, squeezing his shoulder gently. "Not wanting to subject you to things that frighten you like that isn't babying . It's watching out for you." Shiro tilted his face up, then ducked his head again at the gentle look on Sendak's face. "...Besides, this was supposed to be a fun excursion. If you're freezing up, you're not enjoying yourself."
Shiro managed a chuckle. "...I guess you're right," he said quietly, then sighed quietly. "...I don't even know why it bothered me, but all of a sudden my heart was just… pounding ."
"Startled?" Sendak asked.
"The hiss," Shiro said, shaking his head. "I wish I could remember, though it's…probably for the best if I don't."
"If it comes back, it comes back," Sendak said, and squeezed Shiro's shoulder again. "And if you need to talk about it, come find me."
The door slid open, a soft hiss that failed to make Shiro jump— so it was something about the steamer— and Allura emerged, holding something that looked shockingly similar to a paperboard cup carrier from Earth, with three drinks balanced on it. She glanced to the left, then to the right of the door and caught sight of them.
"There you are," she said, and flashed Shiro a soft smile. "Are you feeling any better?"
"I'm alright," Shiro replied. "But…thanks."
"It's no trouble," Allura said. She shifted her grip on the cup carrier, then handed a drink— a smooth-sided cup with a domed lid and a straw— to Sendak. "That's yours, and I believe —" she lifted one of the other two, a flat-topped cup, and peered under the lid before grabbing up the other one— "that this is yours, Shiro."
"Thank you," Shiro said again, cradling the cup between his palms. It was almost too hot for his left hand, but the prosthetic's artificial nerves perceived heat without pain. He closed his eyes, inhaling the fragrant steam that curled up from the hole in the lid. Sweet, almost floral, with notes like a good oolong tea.
Behind him, Sendak hummed appreciatively. His hand squeezed Shiro's shoulder again, then dropped down to his waist. "Come on. We're about ten doboshes out from the docks now."
"Right," Allura said, and took a sip of her drink as they started off. Her eyes fell closed— Shiro caught her free hand to keep her from walking into a passerby. "...I will say, the Unilu are good at this."
"So you admit I made the right pick?" Sendak shot back, and Shiro covered his snort of laughter with a sip of his drink.
Hot and sweet , just like he'd asked.
"You shut up," Allura said, reaching over Shiro's head to shove at Sendak's shoulder.
They started off down the concourse again at a clip, Shiro wedged firmly between Sendak and Allura— who only jostled him intermittently, bickering back and forth over his head. The crowds started to thicken again as they drew closer to the escalators; they were overlooking the main lobby again, Shiro realized as he looked down and recognized the large, circular clock in the middle of the plaza. And yet…
Something felt off , he thought, fidgeting with the lid of his drink. Something about the atmosphere, or—
Sendak's ears twitched, and he put a hand out to stop them and peered down over the railing. "...Do you two hear that?" he asked.
Allura cocked her head to one side, listening, and moved to look over the railing as well. "...Sounds like a siren."
"I don't—" Shiro started.
He was interrupted by a wailing from below, distant but growing rapidly closer, and hurried to the rail himself to look. The crowd below scrambled, struggling to clear a path, as two large shapes hurtled towards the escalators on the level beneath them—
"Is that a cow ?!" he asked, incredulous.
It looked like a cow, an ordinary milk cow— on some kind of hoverboard ?— flying down the concourse at top speed, with two unfortunately familiar figures clinging to its back. Shiro recognized Lance's lanky form, bowed over the neck, with Pidge clutching at his back, both of them completely sopping wet. An overburdened scooter of some kind, blasting the ear-splitting siren, labored to keep up, and Shiro groaned at the sight of Keith and Hunk struggling to keep control of it. Behind them at a distance, a Galra— overweight, out of breath, and wearing an unfamiliar uniform— struggled to catch up, waving a fist overhead and shouting invectives.
As he watched, Lance directed the hovercow directly over the edge of the concourse, skipping the escalator entirely. The scooter followed hot on their tail, Keith whooping ecstatically and Hunk screaming in terror. He glimpsed Coran at the bottom just as the mall cop reached the escalator and began yelling for shoppers to get out of the way, then seemed to get fed up and go sliding down— and off— the banister.
There was a thump , loud enough to be heard two and a half floors up. Shiro winced.
"Was that—?" Allura started.
"...Yeah," Shiro said, grimacing. "Yeah, it was."
Sendak sighed, then squared his shoulders and pulled away from the rail. "...All in favor of pretending we've never met those people before in our lives?"