Burnt Out {A Hero!AU Sheith Fanfiction}

A Friendly Chat

It was a nice day out. Finally, the weather seemed to want to warm up. The air was springy and fresh, laced with the light smells of flowers and the sweet aroma of freshly cut grass. Shiro was far enough outside of the main heart of the city that the garbage trucks and clouds of diesel and the accustomed smog weren't so strong. It was nice and quiet as Shiro strolled up the white paved pathway that cut through a healthy yard of fresh green grass. Instead of car horns there were birds that weren't pigeons and instead of machinery there were the sounds of wind winding its way through leaves. He was far enough away from the bustle to really catch a glimpse of nature outside of city life. Shiro always liked going to his friend's manor for that very reason, actually.

Saying Lotor knew how to take care of his property was an understatement, really. It almost made Shiro want a handsome manner of his own.

Either Lotor or one of his servants had already buzzed Shiro in the front gates, but Shiro left his car at the foot of the driveway, wanting to take the rest of the way on foot. Luckily his leg had healed rather fantastically -- sure, there was still a slight limp, and he had a gnarled sort of burn scar that would likely raise some eyebrows at the spa, but a couple sneaky hundred dollar bills under the table would easily settle the confusion. There was little to no pain in his ribs, too -- which Matt said was lucky. Shiro didn't know how he was able to heal so fast, but he was sure a lot of it had to be Matt. He was put on house arrest for maybe a week before Matt let him go off to work again, and even then Matt drove him. As much as Shiro hated it, Matt's overprotective nursing seemed to do the trick. He was back on his feet. Back to work. Back to being the Black Paladin, too, working like mad to try and learn a little more about Red and his bosses.

That was what he was doing at Lotor's, actually. Which was selfish, of course. He could feel the guilt brewing somewhere in his stomach as he knocked on the fine oaken door to Lotor's grand home. Shiro had no right to ask about it -- not to mention he knew how uncomfortable Lotor would get whenever the topic of the Galra would rarely surface.

But... Shiro's only link to them had been Lotor. Aside from the servers and the links of course, but those proved to be dangerous. Shiro knew Lotor had information on them, and he was damn near desperate at that point.

He stepped back, wondering if it would be a maid or a butler opening the door -- and then just wondering if Lotor would open the door himself. He didn't really care, as long as he could see him. It had been awhile since they had spoken to one another. Maybe a formal dinner party or something of the other... there was never really much contact outside of those. Which was an odd way to treat such a close friend.

Lotor was one out of the two people that knew Shiro's secret alter ego.

The door opened after a few moments, revealing Lotor to be the one to open it. Shiro had messaged him about meeting the day before and Lotor had dressed for the occasion, wanting to look his best for when he met with an old friend for the first time in what must have been months. They lived different lives and rarely had time to meet- Lotor had had to clear his schedule to make time for a meeting today and as they hadn't settled on an exact time, and Shiro hadn't mentioned how long he could have been staying, Lotor couldn't just cancel one meeting or one appointment.

He wore a bespoke suit- a white blazer, with lavender decals along the hems of the sleeves and the inside lining of his breast pocket, while the collar and the sleeves were ornately decorated with embroidery in silver threat, and white pants to match while the shirt underneath was black to provide contrast. His hair was tied back into a neat fishtail braid, still reaching halfway down his thighs even while it was tied back tightly. His nails were done, too, nude in colour but sharpened to a point, his makeup fairly natural. Eyeliner, shimmering nude eyeshadow, highlight and contour. His eyebrows were filled and his lips were glossed over with a nude shine but that was it.