Strange (Keith x Altean!Reader)

¡°/" [16]

We all returned to the castle. Almost everyone was in the control centre, running some final scans on the area where Ulaz had destroyed the monster and transferring all of the data within the station to our systems. Lance wasn't helping as far as I could tell, but he was very good at entertaining the group while they worked. Shiro and Keith weren't there. My assistance wasn't needed- it was a tedious task, not a difficult one- so I opted to go looking for them. I wandered around for a while before finding Shiro in the observation deck.

"Hey," I said as I walked in. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm... okay," he sighed, then turned to me. He smiled weakly. "Thank you. For believing in Ulaz... for believing in me."

"I do not regret my decision," I smiled back, standing next to him. "Ulaz seemed to be a good person, if not a little socially inept."

"Ah, well," Shiro shrugged. "Aliens, right?"

We both chuckled at the comment, and I lightly pushed his arm. "I'm an alien too, you know."

"My statement still stands," He said playfully, his gaze drifting to the side.

I hit him in the arm as I laughed, "Rude!"

"Ow!" He laughed too, stumbling to the side as he clutched his nonmetal arm. He rubbed it as he returned to his position next to me.

We stood there for a moment, giggling with each other before the laughter slowly died off. We sat in silence for a while.

"So... do you think we really have allies now?" he asked quietly.

I sighed, crossing my arms. "I... hope we do. Nine people, no matter how strong, no matter what weapons, can't win a war against an army like Zarkon's. I have suspicions that there are small rebellions- but I am sure they are nothing more than small groups in hiding. Tyranny breeds revolution, but Zarkon's fist is crushing. I doubt anything substantial has come along."

He sighed. I looked over at him and pursed my lips.

"But..." his gaze trailed back to me as I spoke. "This... Blade of Marmora could be a different story. They are Galra, and the potential of infiltration is real. Additionally, I cannot deny that the lowering of Zarkon's solar barrier was very convenient. None of us did that- I know this for certain. I will place... cautious trust in Ulaz and the coordinates he provided. I am willing to pursue the possibility of allies in this disadvantageous battle." I smiled at him. "I want to trust Ulaz. I want to go to the coordinates."

He smiled, chuckling as he looked at the floor. "I see why you were so renowned as a general..."

"Yeah," I shrugged, "Well, my family is-"

"No, not your family. You," He said. I raised an eyebrow. "I only saw a few of those pages, but the difference in the writing is crazy. Yours had so many tips- things to focus on and ways to help yourself improve on certain skills. The other pages... nothing was explained and they were kinda demeaning."

I raised an eyebrow. That was certainly typical of my brother... and everyone else in my blood family.

"I dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into it," He shrugged. "But just from working with you- I can tell you were seen as such a good general. You're pretty easily frustrated sometimes, but you're kind. That's something I really value- something the other paladins value too."

"Thank you," I smiled. "I guess there's a reason Alfor saved me."

"There is," he grinned back. "I can tell."

"Man, no wonder you're the black paladin," I laughed, then looked at him, feigning disgust. "You're all mushy and nice and compliment-y and-"

He pushed me, making me laugh again. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Never mind, you're the worst."