The Lord and His Vassal

Chapter 2

"-Eith...hey, Keith, wake up, bud." Keith groans, voice hoarse as he opens his bleary eyes. It takes a few seconds for his vision to focus, but when it does, he turns his head to find Shiro at the side of his bed, leaning lazily on the edge. He has his working clothes thrown on, but his hair is ruffled and sticking out in odd directions, and his eyes look as glazed over as Keith's feel. He probably just woke up as well, meaning it must be pretty damn early; Shiro is well known for waking up before the sun even rises, which also explains the darkness the room is cast in, now that he's thinking about it.

A small lamp is the only source of light, and shadows dance and flicker across the walls where the candle's light doesn't reach. The room is soaked in an orange, eerie glow, making Keith's hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He decides that it's best not keeping Shiro waiting (and he'd rather not be pestered out of bed), so he hoists himself up into a sitting position, rubbing the drowsiness away from his eyes before stepping out into the cold air. Winter has been slowly creeping up on the city, and Keith finds himself grateful that he located Shiro just in time. He probably would have frozen to death if he stayed one more week alone.

"Why don't you come with me to the shop? I'll bring some clothes out for you, and we'll discuss what we need to do about this new situation," Shiro mutters quietly, the darkness preventing him from speaking any louder. Keith understands, though, and nods in affirmation, standing next to the bed while Shiro finds some old work clothes. Keith is pleasantly surprised when Shiro brings out a neat pile of non-giant clothes, and looks up for some sort of explanation while he sets them on the bed.

"Allura figured you'd want some clothes that aren't either too big or too...noble-ish for when you want to walk around, so she tweaked an old outfit of mine when you were asleep so that you'd fit in it," Shiro explains. "It may not be the best fit, as she didn't have you around to take measurements, but hopefully it'll do the trick."

Keith...honestly doesn't know what to say. Sure, he's had people make him clothes many, many times, but never out of the goodness of their hearts. Keith can only mumble out a small, hardly audible 'thanks' before Shiro smiles and walks out of the room, leaving Keith to change.

The clothes are actually a fairly decent fit, and are oddly comfortable--he isn't in the least used to that. Noble clothes are always so...itchy and tight. These are loose and airy, and made out of some sort of smooth, warm cloth. Not to say they look the greatest, but, in all honesty, he's never cared all that much about his appearance anyway.

Keith walks out of the room, fumbling around a bit in the darkness. Eventually, he makes it out the door, and he sees Shiro leaning drowsily against the wall, the lamp on the ground next to his feet. He stands up straight when he sees Keith and picks up the lamp, motioning to Keith to follow him. Keith obeys, trailing behind him silently as he just...observes.

They're on a dirt path with a house every mile or so, all of them dark and sleeping. Keith looks up at the stars, gazing up for an unknown amount of time at the constellations. He begins to spot certain constellations he's learned throughout his lifetime. He spots Orion, the Little Dipper, and so many more. He loves the stars, he's always loved space. It seems so mysterious and unknown, but he has no desire to uncover its mysteries; whatever is hidden from the human eye is hidden either because it doesn't want to be found, or there are better things to focus on, like studying what we can see and understand. It's what his father always used to tell him.

The feeling of being surrounded by darkness and silence in a place usually bustling with noise and shouts and laughter sends a shiver down Keith's spine, but the aura...it's actually comforting, in some way. The Silence is soothing, and somehow...he can hear it. For so long, he's been able to understand Silence; he can't communicate with it, but he can hear it, sort of. Sometimes it cries out, but now? Now it's almost content. The world is sleeping, and Keith is able to witness it for once.