you're gonna go far, kid | ON HOLD

chapter 2

"The vigilante team that identifies themself as Voltron have done it again, saving roughly forty civilians from a violent hostage situation in a mall downtown this morning. Miraculously, only one was injured and was given leave from the hospital a few hours ago. The suspect has been detained and--"

"Shiro, isn't there something more interesting to watch than the news? Isn't there like a movie playing in some channel or other right now?" Keith said in exasperation, but his brother's attention was entirely on the small screen. He suspected that he hadn't even heard him.

He was about to open his mouth again when it went to the weather, and finally muted the TV and looked at him. The older man raised an eyebrow. "There's freaking superheroes running around the city now, superheroes who saved your sorry ass this morning, might I add, and you want to watch a movie?"

Keith snorted. He'd hardly call them that. This Voltron had been running around the city for nearly two weeks now, but he didn't think it wasn't anything for them to get excited over; just a few idiots with some agility trying out crime stopping for a few days, who had somehow also gotten a power nullifying rope. Like Wonder Woman, he thought with a snort. Besides, it wasn't like they actually did anything today. Keith had done most of the work, and they lassoed up the guy like a cattle rancher after it was all over.

The city's new protectors, okay. And Keith was an alien with furry ears and a tail.

When he had first woken up, it was in a hospital room. Matt was hovering over him and making weird facial expressions, looking ominous in the awful fluorescent lighting of the hospital. Pidge and Shiro stood off to the side, both snickering when Matt shrieked loudly, screaming like Dr. Frankenstein when the boy had opened his eyes.

It gave nearly every person working on the floor a heart attack.

Much to Shiro's dismay, Keith was able to convince the doctor to let him leave half an hour later. When they walked into the apartment, Keith made a beeline for the couch, unmoving and staring at whatever was on Cartoon Network. When Matt put a bag of cheap 7-11 popcorn in front of him, Keith had eaten two thirds of the bag by the time an episode of Adventure Time had ended. None of them pointed out that despite his blank expression, his hands still shook uncontrollably in his lap.

The two men eventually gave up trying to get a reaction from him and decided to go to the grocery store. Why, Keith had no idea. Maybe that morning's events inspired them to buy some cilantro. Whatever, he didn't really care anyway. His eyes didn't even move from the TV as they left.

Maybe an hour later, judging on how many episodes had played since they'd left, Shiro and Matt came back.Stepping inside, Shiro took off his shoes and tossed a bag of Swedish Fish into Keith's lap, reaching to grab the remote and turn on the news. Though he'd scowled, Keith could tell that he was relieved that he had even gotten a reaction.

Keith shrugged in response, straightening his back until there was a small pop. "I don't feel like eating anything right now, so you can order your pineapple pizza or whatever abomination you eat when I'm not here." Without waiting for a reply, he stood and walked to his room.

"Yeesh, teenagers," he heard Matt say. Shiro laughed softly.

Keith didn't even bother to look up as he shut his bedroom door and flopped onto the twin sized bed in the corner. He stared blankly at the design on the comforter, mind unusually quiet. It was only when his eyes began to water and the dark red and white blended into a light pink did Keith remember to blink.

As a joke for his seventeenth birthday, Shiro and Matt had thought it would be amusing if they got him the My Chemical Romance Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge comforter, and though he had scowled when he opened the gift, the stupid blanket still sat in a bundle at the center of Keith's unmade bed, over a year later.