Hello, back with a new chapter of this AU! This one is mostly pre-Kerberos though there's a bit on the end that's from season season. This one actually got away from me a bit while I was working on the rough draft, so if you check my fic tumblr (over at discordiansamba, same username as this account) you'll be able to find two "deleted scenes" from this chapter!
As always, thanks for reading!
when you meet unexpected people (and make even more unexpected connections)
The first thing he noticed about the Garrison was its size.
The complex was massive- he'd always known that, having grown up not so far from the place, but actually being in the center of it just reinforced that. And that was just what he could see on the surface- there were multiple underground areas spread out throughout the base. He hadn't seen any of those yet- they weren't exactly something that was featured on the tour for prospective cadets, but he knew they were there. Shiro had been pretty descriptive.
The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't the only Shifter here.
It shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. The Galaxy Garrison housed hundreds of people- it was only natural that there might be at least one other Shifter here. For every clan that kept itself distant from humans, there were multiple others that lived alongside them, so the presence of Shifters in and of itself wasn't the surprise.
No, what surprised him was the number.
Because there wasn't just one- no, from what he could sense, there were multiple. He couldn't pick up on exactly how many- there were too many people around for him to get an exact read- and these were just the first year cadets. If there were this many coming into the Garrison, how many Shifters were here already?
Remaining rooted to his spot, he let only his eyes wander, trying to pick out other Shifters. With this many humans around, it was easier said than done, and he didn't want to draw more attention to himself then was necessary. He wasn't sure what he was more afraid of- being noticed by the humans-
-or the Shifters.
(Both, maybe.)
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a dark-skinned girl with glasses and a ponytail who was also looking around, but with far less subtlety. He hastily averted his eyes before she noticed his gaze, but he made a mental note of her, filing her away in his head as a potential Shifter. As for the others...
...well, the others were being a lot more discreet.
Keith exhaled, trying not to worry about it. If they were anything like the other Shifters he'd met in the past, they'd probably just avoid him. Which... probably was for the best. He was already on thin enough ice with them just for existing, so he didn't want anyone to find out that he'd accidentally clued a human into their existence.
"And now I'll pass the microphone over to our own Lieutenant Shirogane, who-"
Speak of the devil.
Head snapping towards the stage, he easily picked out the source of all of his recent troubles. The Lieutenant stood up, smiling broadly as he strode across the stage with the kind of confidence Keith was pretty sure you had to be born with. For a brief moment after he took the mic, he could feel their eyes connect, the Lieutenant picking him out of the crowd.
Lieutenant Shirogane's smile grew. Keith just felt himself get more tense.
Potential, he'd said. That was the only reason why he'd gone through such lengths to get someone like him enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison- or so he claimed. He wasn't stupid- he knew it couldn't have been easy. He was a foster kid with a record, the discipline case that his own people didn't want. He had to have some kind of ulterior motive for it, and given that he knew his secret, he could only think of one.
And yet for some reason, he was still here.
Maybe he really was an idiot, he thought, watching as the Lieutenant introduced himself to a crowd of eager cadets. He should have gotten as far away as possible from here the second the Lieutenant has shown up at his school, but instead he'd just walked right into what was almost definitely some kind of trap.
It was just... some part of him was hopeful he wasn't actually lying.
But if experience had taught him anything, he probably was.
Lieutenant Shirogane hadn't been lying.
Which was weird. He was so used to people who seemed nice turning out otherwise, that the realization that the Lieutenant wasn't faking it was downright bizarre. Based on his past experiences, he should be strapped to a lab table right about now.
But Lieutenant Shirogane- Shiro- hadn't been lying.
(He had potential, he'd said. For once in his life, Keith almost felt like he could believe that.)
"You know, you're a pretty hard guy to track down."
Putting down what had turned out to be an incredibly lackluster sandwich, Keith arched a brow at the girl who sat uninvited across from him. If he hadn't sensed her coming, he probably would have been more surprised, but it was hard to miss the scent of another Shifter drawing near. It was the same girl with the ponytail and glasses that he'd seen during orientation. The one who should have been avoiding him, based on his past experiences.
And yet, here she was.
Which, based of his past experiences wasn't exactly a good thing. The Shifters who didn't avoid him were always worse than the ones who did. It was like they could smell the taboo on him, and wanted to make sure he knew just what they thought of him.
But then... he'd been wrong about Shiro too.
Biting his lip, Keith almost forced himself to smile before thinking better of it. "...thanks?"
"Hm," the girl frowned, "-not very social are you? Must be a cat thing."
Keith narrowed his eyes, quickly scanning the room to make sure no one had heard her. Seeing as he'd somehow managed to avoid blowing things with Shiro, the last thing he wanted to do was to be outed here.
"Oh, relax," the girl rolled her eyes, "-nobody's paying attention to us. I wouldn't have said it otherwise."
Keith frowned, but she seemed to be right. No one was paying attention to them, too engrossed in their own conversations to care about what they were saying.
"You are a cat though, right?" The girl asked, taking a bite out of her own sandwich and quickly coming to the same conclusion he had about its quality. "You smell a little different than Ina does, so I just wanted to make sure."
Keith furrowed his brow. "Ina?"
"You haven't met her yet?" The girl arched a brow in apparent surprise, idly picking the meat out of her sandwich. "She's the other cat Shifter here. You know, blonde hair, freckles, bowl cut? She's a first year cadet like us."
Was there someone like that? He got the feeling there was, but... well, he hadn't exactly been paying that much attention to his fellow cadets. He didn't think she was in any of his classes at least, otherwise he definitely would have sniffed her out by now. Which... probably was for the best. Other cat Shifters didn't exactly take kindly to him. It was like they could sense something abnormal about him- more than other Shifters did anyways.
"I might have seen her around." Keith half-lied. "And you're...?"
A wolf, one part of his brain said at the same time as another said part said coyote.
"Rizavi," she said, "-Nadia Rizavi. Unless you're asking what I am, in which case you're looking at one of the only coywolf Shifters in the world."
"Coywolf...?" Keith asked, arching a brow.
"Coyote and wolf." Nadia said. "It's a long, exhaustingly romantic story. I'll tell you about it some other time."
Keith opened his mouth to say that he hadn't asked, only to snap it shut. He knew hypothetically that other mixed Shifters existed, but he hadn't expected to meet one that was so... open about it, especially not one who was part wolf. He thought back to his dad's clan, briefly wondering if they might be second or third cousins, before shaking the thought off. There were dozens of wolf clans in the Americas. It was way more likely that they were completely unrelated.
At least now he understood a little better why she'd approached him.
"What about you?" Nadia asked, biting into one of her salvaged pieces of meat.
"Like you said," he nodded, "-I'm a cat."
Part-cat, which he didn't say. He'd spent too long keeping silent about being mixed around other Shifters that he wasn't in a hurry to volunteer that part of his identity, even if it was to another mixed Shifter. Besides, there was a pretty big difference between a wolf who was mixed with a coyote and a wolf who was mixed with a cat.
"I meant your name." Nadia said.
"Oh," Keith blinked, "-it's Keith. Keith Kogane."
"Wait," Nadia squinted, "-Keith? As in that Keith? The Keith that's been on the top of the first year cadet rankings since the year began?"
"That's me." Keith said, seeing no reason to hide it.
At least she didn't have him pegged as the kid who punched out James Griffin. Or whatever the deal was with that weird Cuban kid who seemed to hate his guts. What was his name again? Taylor?
"Huh," Nadia frowned, "-guess that means there really is just one human in the top five."
Keith blinked, tilting his head. He knew that Griffin had been right behind him in the rankings seeing as he never shut up about it, but he hadn't really paid much attention to anyone else on the list.
Maybe he should have.
"Wait," Nadia squinted at him, "-don't tell me you haven't met anyone yet."
"I... haven't?" Keith said.
"Ugh," Nadia's nose crinkled, though not in a bad way, "-that really is a cat thing, huh? Ina was exactly the same."
Keith hummed, secretly relieved that she hadn't taken it badly. "Guess canines are just more social. So who's-?"
"-the third?" Nadia finished, scanning the commissary before frowning, apparently not finding who she was looking for. "I think he's a bird of prey or something. His name's Kinkade, but he doesn't exactly talk much."
Kinkade. Keith mentally committed the name to memory, right alongside Ina. Nadia might be friendly, but he couldn't be so sure about anyone else.
Best not to get his hopes up.
"Hm," he hummed, trying to sound largely disinterested, "-so is it just the cadets?"
"Not sure, actually." Nadia said. "I think I've picked up on traces of other Shifters, but there's only so many places us first years are allowed in, right?"
Keith nodded. "You think there's officers?"
"Probably," Nadia shrugged, "-guess there's a lot of us who are interested in space."
"Is that why you're here?" Keith asked. "Space?"
"Nah, I just like things that go fast." Nadia grinned. "My backup plan was a racecar driver."
In spite of himself, Keith snorted. "Sounds fun."
Not that he could talk. He was pretty fond of things that went fast too. It was part of the reason why he had a record- Shiro's car wasn't the first one he'd stolen to take out on a joyride. There was just something so freeing about putting the pedal to the metal.
If he was able to make it to the fighter pilot class, he'd be flying things that were faster in no time.
"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it." Nadia said. "Not that I have. Driven a racecar, that is. I don't even have my license yet."
"Never stopped me." Keith said.
Arching a brow, Nadia looked bemused. "You've driven a racecar before?"
"Well, not a racecar," Keith said, "-but I've driven a few times before."
"Lucky." Nadia huffed. "My mom's more worried about me behind the wheel of a car than she is about me in a plane."
Something in Keith twinged at her statement, a sudden, jarring reminder of the difference between them. Right. Nadia probably had a family- maybe even a clan behind her.
He was just a stray.
"I'm sure she'll come around." Keith said, swallowing back his uglier feelings even as he put the guard he hadn't even realized he'd lowered back up.
"Hey, she can't exactly stop me from learning here." Nadia grinned. "I'm getting into one of those AW-Cruisers as soon as I can. It just sucks that we can't start taking lessons with them until next semester."
"Why wait?" Keith asked. "They don't exactly keep them locked up well."
Oh, he dimly realized as Nadia grinned, maybe he shouldn't have suggested that.
"You know," Shiro said in that kind of conversational tone that Keith had learned by now was actually a prelude to something else, "-apparently one of the AW-Cruisers was taken out on a joyride last night."
Keith just hummed, not looking up from his homework. "Wasn't me."
Shiro seemed to accept that easily enough, humming in acknowledgment. "Any chance you know who it was?"
Arching a brow, this time Keith did look up. "Do you really think I got through four months in juvenile detention by being a snitch?"
"...good point." Shiro admitted. "But just in case you do know who it was, tell your friend to remember to take the key out of the ignition next time."
Friend. Something stirred in his gut at the word. He wasn't sure if he could call Nadia a friend- they'd only spoken the one time, and it wasn't like they shared any classes together. But it was also true that he'd never spoken to another Shifter for that long before- or really anyone his age, for that matter.
...and that was a depressing thought.
"Sure," he said instead of expressing any of that to Shiro, "-I'll keep that in mind."
He did, in fact, tell Nadia about the keys the next time he saw her. All the mixed feelings in the world wouldn't keep him from ruining someone else's fun.
"Was that why?" Nadia asked. "I'd heard they knew someone had taken one out, but I didn't know how they'd figured it out. Thanks for the heads up."
"No problem." Keith said. "Besides, I was the one who gave you the idea in the first place."
"What, think I'd snitch?" Nadia snorted, waving a dismissive hand. "Please. I'm not that sort of girl."
Keith shrugged. "Never said you were."
While he might not know her that well, it was tough to imagine Nadia as a snitch. She just didn't seem like the type- and he knew the type. The type had stupid floppy bangs and excessively punchable faces.
(The type was James Griffin.)
"So... how was it?" He asked.
"I wouldn't say they're fast, but they are fun." Nadia said. "There's just something about driving around in something that big that makes you feel extra powerful."
Keith hummed in agreement. He'd more or less gotten the same feeling when he'd stolen Shiro's, but he'd been both too angry and too anxious back then to actually enjoy the experience. Maybe he should consider taking one out for another spin himself.
...except he'd promised Shiro he'd behave, and going on a joyride wasn't exactly behaving.
"Well, I'm glad you had fun." Keith said, slightly surprised to find that he actually kind of meant it. As worried as he had been about there being other Shifters at the Garrison, Nadia wasn't what he had been expecting.
Maybe it was just because they had something in common.
"Boy, did I!" Nadia grinned. "I was thinking about taking one of the hoverbikes out next. It doesn't seem like they keep them all locked up that well either."
"Wait," Keith blinked, "-the Garrison has hoverbikes?"
"Yeah," Nadia cocked her head, "-didn't you know?"
No, he hadn't. But now that he did...
...well, maybe one joyride wouldn't hurt.
Shiro beat him to the punch, inviting him to go hoverbike racing with him the next day.
Well, this was fine too.
"I'd, uh, like to check this out, please?"
He didn't need Nadia's spot on description to realize that the cadet sitting behind the library desk was the cat Shifter she'd mentioned before- he'd picked up on her scent the second he'd entered the library. It had almost been enough to cause him to turn around and leave, but he hadn't gotten this far by being a coward.
(That, and he also he really needed this book.)
Now he couldn't help but think he'd made a mistake.
The cat Shifter- Ina- stared at him for a few long moments, before dropping her gaze to the book he'd set on the counter. "Just this?"
"I- yeah," Keith said, surprised at the indifference in her tone, "-just this."
Ina simply hummed, picking the book up off the counter without another word. She didn't say anything as she scanned it, causing him to briefly wonder if he'd made a mistake before quickly dismissing it as a possibility. His nose had always been sharp, even in human form- plus, she was the only other person here. The feline scent had to be coming from her.
...maybe she couldn't smell him?
"You're the other cat."
Or maybe she could.
Keith stiffened, already calculating the ways this could go badly. "What about it?"
"I heard about you from Nadia." Ina said. "I didn't expect there to be another cat at the Garrison."
That... wasn't quite what he'd expected her to say. Based on his past experiences with cats, he'd expected something more... aggressive, he guessed. Her voice hadn't even switched over to something less monotone. But even though he waited a few seconds to see if she'd say anything else, all she did was silently finish her work.
Huh. Weird.
Realizing he should probably say something, Keith slowly nodded. "Yeah. Same here."
Ina hummed, handing him his book. "You're checked out. Its due back in two weeks."
"...thanks?" Keith said, almost feeling kind of stupid as he took the book from her.
He knew he shouldn't, but part of him almost felt let down by her indifference. He'd come prepared for a fight, not for a bland conversation. He should probably be grateful, but...
...maybe some part of him had wanted more.
Ina simply arched a brow. "Is there something else?"
"No." Keith said, almost too quickly. "Two weeks. I'll remember that."
"You should," Ina said, "-otherwise there will be late fees, which aren't covered by your scholarship."
"Wait," Keith narrowed his eyes, "-how do you know I'm on a scholarship?"
"It would be difficult not to." Ina said, neither her tone nor expression shifting in any noticeable way. "It comes up quite often among the other cadets."
Oh. Right. Yeah, that made sense. He'd mostly been tuning it out, but it wasn't like he'd never noticed that he was a source of annoyance for a lot of the other first year cadets- especially ones in the pilot track. They seemed to think he'd somehow used Shiro to get his scholarship, or any number of other equally ridiculous theories. But they'd already made up their minds about him, so he didn't see the point in trying to convince them otherwise.
He knew Shiro wanted him to make friends, but...
"Thanks," he said, "-I'll keep that in mind."
Ina merely inclined her head in response, a clear signal that as far as she was concerned, the conversation was finished. He still hung around for a few seconds after, to see if she would say anything else, but when it became clear she wouldn't, he took his book and left.
She didn't so much as glance up.
Putting some distance between himself and the library, he slowly exhaled. That... hadn't gone as badly as he'd expected, but he couldn't exactly say it had gone well either.
At least he'd gotten his book.
"You okay? You seem a little... out of it."
"I'm fine." Keith only half-lied. "Just trying to focus."
Shiro gave him that frown he got whenever he wasn't entirely convinced he was telling the truth but had decided not to push. He was grateful for it, frankly. His encounter with Ina was still fresh on his mind, as much of a nothing it had been. It... wasn't exactly the kind of thing he could explain without revealing that there were other Shifters at the Garrison, and while he'd trusted Shiro with the truth of what he was, he wasn't about to go blabbing everything he knew to him.
It wasn't that he didn't trust him- he kind of did, actually, as weird as that was. After his father died, he hadn't expected to trust anyone the same again- and he certainly hadn't expected to trust a human. It was just...
He didn't want anything to happen to him. The less he knew, the better.
He wasn't stupid. He knew something had to happen to the humans that learned about Shifters- he just didn't know what. He'd still been pretty young when his dad died, and after that, nobody had bothered teaching him the rules.
And it wasn't like he could just ask. That would just be a big red flag that he was a stray. If there was one thing Shifters hated, it was the clanless.
"If you're sure," Shiro said, "-but remember, you can talk to me about anything."
"I know," Keith smiled, "-and thanks."
"Okay, just so long as you know." Shiro said, ruffling his hair. "Now, what awful book does Professor Montgomery have you reading this time?"
When he went back to return the book a week later, Ina was at the checkout desk again. Just like last time, she barely paid him any attention as she processed the returned book, only briefly asking him if that was all.
Biting his lip, he shifted on his feet. Indifference was an improvement, but...
"So do you work here or something?" He asked.
That sounded neutral enough as a conversation starter. She'd probably just give him a one word answer and move on with her day, which would be fine. But if there was even the slightest chance that maybe he could actually start a real conversation with another cat for once, then he... he wanted to take it.
He didn't think it would actually happen, but-
"No," Ina's tone was as bland as ever, "-I simply enjoy sitting here."
Keith blinked, then blinked again. He wasn't sure if it was the straight face or his history with other cat Shifters, but he hadn't expected her to crack a joke.
Maybe she wasn't as indifferent as he'd thought.
"I didn't know they even let first year cadets work." Keith remarked, feeling something akin to a tentative hope forming in his stomach.
Maybe this would actually work.
"They will," Ina replied, "-if they're on a scholarship."
He blinked, surprised by that information- not that scholarship students could work at the Garrison, but that Ina was one. Typically Garrison scholarships were only given out to those who really needed one- people like him, for example.
"You're a scholarship student too?" Keith asked.
"My parents did not approve of my decision to become a pilot." Ina said. "They only agreed to let me if I could get a scholarship. I doubt they expected me to succeed."
"Huh," Keith said, "-and you weren't worried about them exiling you? Cat clans can be-"
"-just as traditional as they are insular?" Ina finished. "I'll admit, it was a concern."
"And you still went for it?" Keith asked.
Wasn't being exiled from your clan the worst thing that could happen to a Shifter? His dad had always acted pretty indifferent to it, but he'd always thought that was for his sake. He didn't think he was wrong, but...
"I calculated the risk as being worth it." Ina said simply, before glancing up at him. "That was why I was so surprised to find another cat here. How did you convince your parents?"
Keith swallowed, suddenly wishing he hadn't decided to take that chance. "I didn't."
Surprise briefly flickered across Ina's features, the first hint of emotion that she'd shown on her face. "They simply let you?"
"No, they-" Keith looked away, clenching his fists, "-they're, uh, not around anymore."
For a few long moments, the faint ticking of a clock was the only noise he could hear. Then Ina finally broke the silence, letting out a soft exhale of breath.
"Oh," she said, her voice taking on a much softer tone, "-I apologize."
"It's fine," Keith said curtly, "-it's just not exactly something I like to talk about."
Somehow the second silence felt heavier than the first. Keith swallowed, keeping his gaze rooted firmly to the ground, wishing he hadn't decided to try and make conversation in the first place. Why had he even tried? It wasn't even like him. It wasn't like he even needed friends. Cats were solitary by nature, so it wasn't like he was lonely.
(But he was part wolf too.)
"It's peaceful."
Keith blinked, actually looking at Ina again. "What?"
"The library," she said, "-it's peaceful. Few people come here, so it is an ideal place to rest while shifted, especially when the sunlight is positioned so it is just over the seating area."
"Are you," Keith frowned, trying to make sense of what she was saying, "-are you inviting me to come back?"
"Technically I do not control that." Ina said. "But yes."
Keith frowned, more than a little surprised. It wasn't that hard to connect the dots between his parents being gone and him being on a scholarship- either Ina just hadn't leapt to the obvious conclusion that he was a foster kid and therefore a stray, or she just didn't care.
Then again, she was willing to risk becoming clanless herself. So maybe... maybe it didn't matter as much to her if he was.
"I'll... keep that in mind." Keith said. "Uh, thanks."
Ina said nothing, merely nodding her head. He took that as his cue to leave, taking feelings with him that were even more mixed than his previous visit to the library. It should have been enough to discourage him from ever going again, but...
...well, third time's the charm.
Ina was right, incidentally. The library was peaceful.
There was an eagle on the roof.
Keith froze in his tracks, his fur raised at the unexpected sight. What was an eagle doing out here? As far as he knew, this type wasn't indigenous to the desert the Garrison was located in. He should know- he and his dad had spent countless days out in the desert, chronicling the wildlife around their home. Golden eagles almost never came this far out in the desert.
Then he smelled it.
Just a whiff, a hint of something that didn't belong to an eagle's scent. Lowering his fur, Keith sat, staring at the large bird with a newfound curiosity. This was no mere eagle.
This was a Shifter.
Given his experiences with Nadia and Ina, he expected it would only be a matter of time before he met one of the Garrison's other Shifters. He just... hadn't expected it to happen while shifted.
He didn't have much experience with bird Shifters, but something told him he'd picked up on the same thing he had. There was a human intelligence behind those eyes that doubtlessly saw right through him. For a long moment, they simply stared at one another, unable to actually communicate-
-then the door to the roof opened, and a pair of cadets came out onto the roof.
The moment broken, the eagle spread its wings, startling the cadets as it abruptly flew away. Keith ignored their reactions, racing towards the edge of the roof, tracking the eagle's movements as it briefly circled the Garrison, before disappearing behind the cadet dorms. When they didn't reemerge, he assumed they must have flown in an open window.
After all, that was how he got in and out of his room.
Huh, he thought, ignoring the two cadets again as he darted back towards the door, guess he'd just met the fourth first year Shifter.
"So that was an eagle, right?" Lance asked, once both bird and cat had fled the roof. "That wasn't just me?"
"Nope," Hunk shook his head, "-definitely not just you. That was unmistakably an eagle."
"Okay," Lance said, grateful that he apparently hadn't just hallucinated the whole thing, "-glad we're both on the same page."
"I'm just glad we got up here when we did!" Hunk said. "Blackie could have gotten hurt!"
"Oh no," Lance rolled his eyes, not even trying to mask the sarcasm in his voice, "-that would be terrible."
Honestly, that cat was a damn menace. And while he wasn't like, wishing death on it or anything, it kind of served it right- it was about time it got spooked for a change.
Hunk gasped, visibly aghast. "Lance!"
"What?" Lance shrugged. "I mean, that cat's kind of a jerk, right?"
"You take that back right now." Hunk said, narrowing his eyes. "Blackie is a sweet kitty who wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Hunk, I'm pretty sure he eats flies." Lance said. Honestly, he had no idea how they'd managed to develop such different impressions of the Garrison's resident stray. It was almost like Hunk was talking about a completely different cat sometimes. "But alright, fine. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. But seriously- how cool was the eagle?"
"...okay, yeah. It was pretty cool."
The eagle Shifter was in his class.
It wasn't like he'd somehow missed him before or anything- this was a new development. Starting their second semester, the pilot track had split up into two different classes- fighter pilot and cargo pilot, as decided by the results of an exam.
He, naturally, had made into the fighter pilot track.
So, incidentally, had Nadia and Ina- and apparently, so had the eagle Shifter. Given that they were all in the top five among the first year cadets, it didn't come as that much of a surprise.
(Griffin, unfortunately, had also made it in.)
Today was supposed to be their first class in the new fighter pilot track- emphasis on supposed. Apparently their teacher was running a bit behind, leaving them to mingle with one another until they showed up. He'd briefly greeted Nadia and Ina, but had otherwise made himself scarce, leaning against the wall at the back of the room as he waited for class to actually begin. Too many people he didn't know were looking at him, and at least this way he could stare at them right back.
One of them was the eagle Shifter.
He knew their name, and not just because Nadia had mentioned it. He'd looked up the rankings after that chat with Nadia, curious. Said rankings didn't come with any photographs, so although he knew the cadet's name was Ryan Kinkade, he had no idea what he looked like.
Then again, it actually didn't matter. All he needed was his scent.
It was easy enough to pick up on- easier still now that they'd actually met once, albeit in their animal forms. The subtle thread that had informed him that the strange, out of place eagle was actually a Shifter was far more prominent now- while the eagle thread was much more subtle. Still, he probably would have been able to pick up on it even if they hadn't crossed paths- he did have a good nose, after all, even in human form.
Also, there was the fact that he was coming his way. That too.
"It's Kogane, right?" He began without any preamble.
Keith nodded, keeping his guard up. He'd somehow managed to hold onto something resembling a relationship with Nadia and Ina, but he wasn't sure what to expect from Kinkade. He'd never really dealt with any bird Shifters before.
"Great," Kinkade said, "-wanted to make sure I had the right person. We don't exactly have the same sense of smell cats do."
Keith blinked, mildly surprised by that piece of information. "Then the roof...?"
"I'd actually just heard about you from Ina." Kinkade said. "But I probably would have figured it out even without that. There's not many cats who get calmer around me."
"Sound logic." Keith agreed. "It's Kinkade, right?"
"Last I checked." Kinkade said. "Glad to finally meet you."
"Oh, yeah," Keith quickly said, "-likewise."
This... actually wasn't going badly? That almost didn't make sense. Even meeting one Shifter willing to put up with him felt like a lot, but three? He was half tempted to pinch himself, just to check if this was real.
(He felt like that a lot, lately.)
"I saw your simulator scores, you know." Kinkade remarked. "Pretty impressive stuff."
"Oh," Keith blinked, having not prepared himself for a compliment, "-uh, thanks. You came in fourth, right?"
"This time around." Kinkade said. "I was hoping to edge out Rizavi and make it to third this time, but she beat me by a couple of points. But hey, there's always next time."
Keith frowned, tilting his head. "I would have thought a bird would be more upset about losing to land animals."
Not to mention a human. But as much as Griffin was a pain in the ass, he was forced to admit that he actually had some skill as a pilot. Besides, just because they were Shifters, it didn't mean that they were necessarily better than humans. They just had better reaction times- and even that wasn't a guarantee.
He still hadn't beaten Shiro. At this point he couldn't even chalk it up to experience anymore- if it was just that, he would have beaten him by now.
"I'll admit, losing to a human took me by surprise," Kinkade shrugged, "-but piloting a spaceship and actually flying are actually pretty different."
"Huh," Keith said, "-I thought they would have been similar."
Well that solved that mystery, at least. He'd been wondering how it was that a bird Shifter wasn't at the top of the rankings.
"Yeah, Nadia said the same thing." Kinkade remarked. "Being a fighter pilot was kind of my backup plan anyways, so it's not something I can make myself get worked up about."
"Backup plan?" Keith asked.
Kinkade hummed. "I actually wanted to make movies, but apparently tuition for film school costs way more than tuition for the Garrison. Didn't make the cut for a scholarship."
"Oh," Keith frowned, "-uh, sorry about that."
"It's okay." Kinkade shrugged. "I can still make films on my own time."
Keith frowned. He said it so easily, but it had to suck to lose out on something like that- or at least, he felt like it should. He couldn't exactly relate to having a plan for the future, or even something as vague as a dream- up until recently, something like that hadn't even been a possibility for him.
He really owed Shiro a lot, didn't he?
"So do you-"
Kinkade didn't get a chance to finish, cut off by the instructor finally joining them. Peering over Kinkade's shoulder to get a peep at them, Keith's mouth fell open in surprise.
Wait, was that-?
"Alright class, sorry I'm late, I-"
"Adam?"
He'd only met Shiro's fiance about three times, but he wasn't hard to recognize. He seemed nice enough, and he knew he was a teacher at the Garrison, but he definitely hadn't mentioned that he was going to be his teacher.
Adam met his eyes from across the room, and only then did he realize that he'd said that out loud. He flushed, feeling everyone's attention turn towards him. Even worse, he could swear that he saw something almost impish flashing through Adam's gaze before he pushed up his glasses and smiled.
"Please refrain from interruptions, cadet." He said smoothly. "Now, as I was saying-"
Keith inwardly groaned. Not only had he drawn unnecessary attention to himself, he just knew that Shiro would be hearing about this later. He would very much like to bury himself in a hole now, thanks.
"I take it you two know each other." Kinkade observed, reminding him with a jolt that he was still here. He didn't dare look up at him, especially not when he could practically hear a note of amusement on his voice.
"Yeah," Keith said, "-you could say that."
"He's not a Shifter, is he?" Kinkade asked quietly. "I know Nadia said there were some others, but I can't always tell like she and Ina can."
"Who, Adam?" Keith shook his head, sucking it up and looking up. At least no one else was looking at him anymore, their attention turned back towards their teacher. "No, he's human."
And as far as Adam knew, he was human too. Shiro had left the part where he could turn into a cat out of his introduction. He intended to keep it that way.
He did not, in fact, keep it that way.
Stupid catnip.
Earth was nothing like they'd left it, and not in a good way.
It had been ravaged by Sendak's forces, scarred by a lengthy occupation. Even the Galaxy Garrison, which had been protected by a particle barrier wasn't the same as they'd left it. For starters, there was the fact that it was bigger now- they must have expanded a lot since Sam Holt had returned to Earth.
There were also way more Shifters than he remembered.
Of course there were Nadia, Ina, and Kinkade, who made up three fourths of the team that had come out to receive him. The last fourth was Griffin, but after fighting in an intergalactic war and spending two years on the back of a space whale, somehow he didn't seem all that irritating anymore. He eyed him strangely, and he briefly wonder if Sam's debriefing had included talking about his Galra heritage.
Arriving at the Garrison made him think twice about that.
He picked up on their scents as soon as he stepped out of the cruiser. There were dozens of them lingering in the air, enough that picking up on simply one scent was next to impossible, even for him. For a moment he simply stood there, frozen, before turning to look for explanation.
Kinkade caught his gaze, his expression almost bemused. "There's been a few changes since you left."
"Surprise!" Nadia said, spreading out her hands. "Turns out working together is way better than staying in hiding."
"So they know?" Keith asked, furrowing his brow. "But the taboo-"
"-was old fashioned." Ina finished. "Sendak threatens us all, not just the humans."
"Besides, we all know you told Lieutenant Shirogane." Nadia said.
"It's true," Shiro, the traitor, said, "-he did."
Shutting his mouth, Keith turned back towards the Garrison. He didn't know what he'd been expecting- just not this. Part of him bristled at it, angry that something that caused so many problems for him could be broken so simply.
The rest of him knew Ina was right.
"So," Shiro began, "-I guess you could say the cat's out of the bag."
Keith groaned, brought out of the moment by the awful pun. Those were one thing he hadn't missed. Shiro just grinned, ruffling his hair before he went to speak with Commander Iverson and the rest of the Garrison officers that had come out to receive them. Lance and Pidge were having their own reunions, while Hunk hung back by the cruisers, trying to mask his disappointment over the fact that his family wasn't here.
He thought about Krolia and Regris, then tried not to.
"Adam!"
Keith looked up, easily picking out a familiar face of his own in the crowd. It wasn't hard, not when Shiro had already swept him up into a crushing embrace- or at least, the best he could do with only one arm. Adam looked momentarily shocked, taking in the said missing arm- not to mention the white hair- before he too, returned the embrace, almost as if they had never fought.
Keith couldn't help but smile, something fond stirring in his chest. His clan might be out there somewhere in space, but at least his little Earth family was back together again.
That's when he smelled it.
It wasn't like when they'd found what they'd thought was Shiro. The scent was unmistakably Adam's, and yet there was something mixed in with it that was almost similar to Nadia's. For a second he just thought it was due to her close proximity- with all the Shifters around, his sense of smell was probably just a bit muddled.
But no. The scent was coming from Adam.
But that meant...
Then Adam stopped Shiro from going in for a kiss, and the pieces clicked.
"Yeah, about that," he barely heard Nadia say, "-we actually broke several taboos."