Dog Days // Sheith

Chapter 8

Keith opened his eyes, and he could see the stars up above him. He was lying on his back, although what he was lying on he couldn't really tell- it wasn't hot or cold, firm or soft. He looked around himself, turning his head to one side and then the other- all he saw was the night sky and stars, thousands of them, more than he knew were ever visible. He didn't know where he was, but at the moment, he couldn't make himself care. Where ever he was, he wasn't in any pain. That was all he cared about. No pain. He closed his eyes, stretching his arms out beside him, spreading his fingers out. Not cold or hot. Soft or firm. He was just comfortable. Keith sighed, and it didn't seem strange for him to see his breath in the air above him, shimmering and silver. He just watched it as it slowly dissipated, and thought that he wanted a cigarette. And then he did have a cigarette, resting between to fingers. He looked it over, already lit but never burning down and then he took a long, deep drag and nicotine flooded his system. Keith exhaled slowly, watching the bluish smoke twist up and away from him. Endless cigarette. Another reason for Keith to want to stay just where he was. He left the cigarette hanging from his lips, folding his arms under his head and closing his eyes again, lazily taking drags and exhaling through his nose.

Bliss.

"Kogane."

Keith cracked one eye open. There was no obvious source of the voice, which was a woman's voice, not one he recognized at all. Deep and pleasant, but strange. After a moment of silence, he closed his eyes again and puffed on his cigarette.

"Kogane. Get up, lazy bones."

This time, Keith sat up. His cigarette was gone and he didn't question it- he didn't want it anymore so it had gone away. Kogane . He was being called Kogane, not Keith. He scowled out into the distance, at more black and more stars and nothing else. "Hello?"

"Don't make me come over there. Get up!" It wasn't a mean voice. It was sort of teasing, it reminded him a little of how Allura spoke to him and his friends. Slowly, Keith stood up and for the first time, saw what it was that he was standing on; nothing. There was no floor under him, just more stars. There was a momentary rush of vertigo before Keith gingerly stepped forward and found something solid under the toe of his boot, just nothing he could see. Okay. Keith licked his lips and started walking forward, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his flannel and looking around for who might have been calling him.

"Over here, Kogane. Come on."

The voice seemed to be coming from somewhere to the left of him, so he turned on his heel and wandered in that direction. He felt light, like if he jumped up he wouldn't come back down. His surroundings never changed as he walked. When she appeared, it felt like she suddenly sprung up out of nowhere, but also like she had always been there, standing there a little impatiently, her hands on her wide hips.

She was a Galra woman, and Keith had to tilt his head back to met her eye. She was strongly built with wide shoulders and hips, her hands large but graceful. In her face, Keith saw himself. She had the same narrow features he did, the sharp chin and slim nose, eyes that swept upward at the corners though they were still that strange shade of yellow, not dark like his.

Well, Keith had never really looked much like his father, who was a man born and raised in Texas with a southern drawl and a fondness for cowboy boots and blue jeans. Almost a caricature. Far more American and masculine than Keith had ever been, though he'd never been bothered by the fact. Meeting his mother now just helped him make sense of things he'd always wondered about. After all, he had grown up without a single photo of her to look at. His father had told him she was a Japanese woman. Kogane.

Keith stared at her for a long time and slowly, she smiled at him, and it was his smile coming right back at him. A little crooked but very warm and when she lifted her hands up to his face, Keith didn't flinch. He allowed her to touch him, tracing the planes of his face with her fingertips.