#ᵛᵉʳˢᵉ: ᵃᶜᵉ ᵖᶤˡᵒᵗ ( pre-kerberos. )

[silentconfliction]

“Hey, I know that word!”

language barrier  / /  accepting                    »» @impfiltration

     “ そうか。”

  While there’s a playfulness in his expression, there’s an eagerness, too. Loving to share his culture with the Holts, Shiro is always excited when they mention remembering something, and that’s always gone double when it comes to anything to do with the language. Really, he’s only taught them a few words, just some of the basic things like ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye,’ just the stuff that can be useful to know even if you don’t actively speak a language, but he loves to know that they’ve retained any of it. It’s especially exciting when it’s Katie, but maybe that’s just because her finding his ability to speak another language cool makes Shiro feel that much cooler.

     “ So you have been listening to me, ” he teases, crouching down to the girl’s height with a broad grin. Hands on his knees, Shiro raises an eyebrow, giving her a faux-expectant look. “ And do you remember what it means? Or have you just heard me say it enough times that you can recognize it? どれかな… ”

Humming thoughtfully, his head tips to one side, then the other. While normally he wouldn’t switch between English and Japanese like this, he likes to challenge Katie now and then when she shows an interest. If there’s one thing that motivates her, from what he’s seen, it’s not understanding something. He’s seen the girl go to great lengths to understand new concepts. She likes a challenge, and he likes to provide her with them on the somewhat rare occasion that she expresses interest in one of his areas of expertise.

          “ If you get it right, I’ll take you to get ice cream. And I’ll tell you how to               ask for ice cream in Japanese. ”

[silentconfliction]

dropping in to request shiro & keith if you haven't already done them (8

brotp/platonic ship “who does ___”  / /  accepting!!!                 »» @cosmicdvst

who steals french fries off the other’s plate

keith. he has no regard for what food belongs to shiro, he’ll steal the entire meal if he can get away with it. thankfully, shiro draws a line and will eventually start swatting him away.

who jokingly moves in for the kiss when someone asks if they’re a couple

shiro. it happened once and it was literally just to fuck with keith.

who has to bust or bail the other out of jail

do i even have to answer this one? obviously shiro has to bail keith out. way more frequently than shiro likes. he threatens a lot to just let keith stay in jail for a few days so he’ll learn a lesson, but he’s never actually acted on said threat. he has made friends with the receptionist at the police department, though.

who gives the other advice/comfort about dating issues

shiro. as he is with any issue, he’s there to offer advice and comfort when it comes to dating issues. if keith has a really bad breakup, shiro is there as soon as he hears about it with keith’s fave takeout in hand. he’s spent the night on the couch once to make sure keith’s doing better in the morning, and he’s always willing to do it again.

who shamelessly cheats at games by reaching over to cover the other’s eyes

both, but keith does it more often. shiro will mostly revenge-cheat.

who immediately calls dibs on the top bunk

keith. shiro doesn’t care and he figures keith is like a cat and just feels more secure in high places.

who starts and who wins the pillow fights

both. keith is guilty of starting more pillow fights but shiro’s never stopped himself when he’s felt the urge to smack keith in the face with a pillow. shiro tends to win, given the advantage of his size and strength, but keith’s pulled a few wins for himself.

who says “your pants would look better on their floor” to the other’s potential crush

shiro, though keith’s done it once or twice just to make a situation awkward for shiro, no actual crush involved. when shiro does it, it’s done similarly, simply to mess with keith – if he manages to make a situation genuinely awkward for the other party though, he’s always quick to apologize profusely.

[silentconfliction]

verse tag drop bc half are still broken and also i’m trying out splitting up my main verse based on “arc”

[silentconfliction]

"You know what words my dad told me not to say? VIVE LA PLUTO!"

k a t i e …               »» @techspecialistofvoltron

     “ Katie– ”

  The gasp is feigned and overdramatic, paired with the perfect stunned and almost offended look. Of all the things the girl has gone around spouting loudly purely because she’s been told to not say it, this is probably the funniest and least problematic. Knowing that she gets some of the satisfaction from shocking people by saying it though, Shiro plays along, though he has a difficult time biting back the smile that desperately wants to push through.

Hurrying closer to her, he crouches down to her height and raises a finger to his lips, shushing her before throwing a faux-nervous glance over his shoulder and around the room. Gaze then coming to fix on Katie once more, he places a hand on her shoulder and leans in a bit closer, conspiratorially.

     “ You live in a house with two astrophysicists, you can’t just say that. They’ve         worked hard to make everyone believe that Pluto is only a dwarf planet, when         actually– No. No, I can’t say anything else. It’s too dangerous. ”

Shaking his head, Shiro makes a show of pretending to hold himself back from sharing the ‘truth’ with her.

          “ I’ve said too much already. ”

[silentconfliction]

shiro/matt for the brotp meme, duh

brotp/platonic ship “who does ___”  / /  accepting!!!                   »» @frequencied

who steals french fries off the other’s plate

matt. he grew up in a family where sharing and stealing off plates was normal, meanwhile shiro grew up with his mom and your plate was Yours and that fact was respected. shiro doesn’t mind sharing though anyway

who jokingly moves in for the kiss when someone asks if they’re a couple

shiro. he’s far more comfortable in his sexuality than matt, and also? he doesn’t have to get a step-stool to even pretend to kiss matt.

who has to bust or bail the other out of jail

shiro has to bail matt out. for a nerd, he sure gets himself into a lot of trouble ( and lbr he gets them both a night in jail at least once with his ideas ).

who gives the other advice/comfort about dating issues

shiro. he’s not worried about dating, meanwhile matt is busy trying to impress all the cute girls. shiro’s own experiences in dating are... not like “typical” cases in a lot of ways but he learned a lot through them and can offer surprisingly good advice for someone who hasn’t actually been in a relationship that lasted more than a month or two. plus, he’s the best person to go to when you need any kind of comfort.

who shamelessly cheats at games by reaching over to cover the other’s eyes

both of them, no question. sometimes it’s not even for their own victory, but for katie’s.

who immediately calls dibs on the top bunk

matt. shiro doesn’t care but matt is used to Older Sibling privilege as well as Older Sibling sacrifice, so he calls the top bunk any opportunity he gets. shiro might pretend to argue about it so it feels more like a victory for him.

who starts and who wins the pillow fights

matt tends to start them while shiro tends to win them, but they’ve swapped roles before. matt is a cunning pillow fighter and sometimes manages to pull of a sneaky, well-timed win even though shiro is stronger than him, and sometimes shiro feels the need to just shove a cushion at matt’s face even though matt is usually the one who acts like a lil shit and throws the first pillow.

who says “your pants would look better on their floor” to the other’s potential crush

shiro. matt is the one who crushes more often, and shiro will get exasperated sometimes with how much he’ll talk about said crushes without actually doing something obvious enough about it. the first time it happened, matt looked so appalled that shiro couldn’t even manage a smug look, he just burst out laughing.

[silentconfliction]

[text] if becoming an adult is chugging a bottle of wine in your bed and crying about your stresses while your dog watches you, sign me up

tfln  / /  accepting all day long, my dudes                   »» @frequencied

[ text: star stuff ] you lost me[ text: star stuff ] where did you find this example of                      adult living?[ text: star stuff ] also, why is having your dog watch                      you an important enough piece of that                      to include[ text: star stuff ] i could handle the wine in bed and                      crying, but the dog thing makes it                      weird

[silentconfliction]

sPaCE 🚀 SP ACE 👽 S P A C E 🌠 space 🌙 I LOVE ME SOME SPACE 🌑 MMMM YEAH THAT ouTERspACE 🌟✨ DAMN THAT SKY THAT OUTERSPACE☀‼💫💥❇⭐📡🔫👾♦

                    »» @frequencied

     [ text: star stuff ] …is this a new meme going around                           that I haven’t seen?     [ text: star stuff ] or have you been reading cosmos                           again     [ text: star stuff ] Matt I swear to god if I get back                           to the dorm and you’re crying                           because of Carl Sagan again…

[silentconfliction]

" do you know how many hours I've spent trying to hatch this jolly gible? twenty. twenty hours, shiro." // oh my god matt

               »» @frequencied

     “Jolly what?”

     The question comes out with a yawn as Shiro rubs at one of his eyes and watches Matt sleepily with the other. He’s only just woken up, but he’s been greeted with the sight of his roommate still sitting at the computer, the exact place he remembers leaving Matt last night when he went to bed. A glance at the clock tells him that it’s nearly noon, and eyebrows furrow as he turns back to Matt, stepping up behind his chair.

     “…You haven’t been to bed at all? Matt—”

Tone disapproving, Shiro still cuts himself off before he breaks off into a lecture, if only because… Well, twenty hours is far from the worst Matt’s done. He’s stayed awake way longer before, and suffered worse consequences. Not that Shiro’s thrilled about twenty hours, but it’s… more manageable. With a hefty sigh, he rests folded arms on his friend’s shoulders and leans forward, eyes drifting to the computer screen as his chin comes to rest on Matt’s head.

          “I can’t believe you’ve been trying to hatch a virtual pet              for twenty hours straight. You know we have class              tomorrow, right?”

[silentconfliction]

"I don't wanna wear this anymore!" She's whining, grunting a little as well while fidgeting with her poofy skirt. Katie stomps at least once, too, heels lighting up—something her mom added to her wardrobe as long as she was in her wandering phase. Her pitch might've been bratty, but the sniffle and wetness to her eyes is genuine as the girl mussed at the make-up whiskers across her face. "It's stupid and I'm gonna get laughed at by everyone, why couldn't I have a cool costume like you or Matt."

                        »» @techspecialistofvoltron

     They have about an hour before they’re supposed to be leaving to take Katie trick-or-treating, so this is just about the worst time possible for her to change her mind about her costume. There’s no denying some exasperation in Shiro’s body language as he turns his attention away from putting the final touches on his own costume and lets it rest on Katie, though the emotion drains right out of him the second he gets a look at her face. She’d sounded like she was just causing a fuss for no reason at first, but as she continues and he peers down at teary eyes, he can tell that this is more than that. That she’s actually self-conscious about her costume.

     “Hey,” he murmurs, crouching down and sitting on his knees so he can be on her level. Gently, he pulls her hands away from where she’s messing up the make-up on her face, smiling softly as he tries to meet her gaze.

     “It’s not stupid. I, for one, think your cat costume is very         cool. I’d wear it myself if it wasn’t too small for me.”

Okay, no, a poofy-skirted cat costume is not his ideal costume, but he’d sure as hell wear one if it made Katie more comfortable or have more fun. It’s a little late to go buy a new costume though, unfortunately.

     “Anyone who doesn’t think it’s cool is just wrong. No one’s        gonna laugh at you, kiddo. I promise.”

The look he offers here is sincere and understanding. He wants to tell her that she shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks of her or what she wears, but he knows that’s a hard lesson to really get a grip on. And he knows it’s something she struggles with at school. For tonight, he’d rather comfort her and just make her feel better, whatever it takes.

     “But, if you’d rather switch costumes, I’m sure we could come        up with something. We could grab your bathrobe and one of        Matt’s lightsabers and you could go as a Jedi! Or… we could        write ‘book’ across your forehead, so you could go as Facebook!        …Or, we could wash your face and I can redo your whiskers if        you do still want to go as an awesome cat.”

A smile, wider now, and one of Shiro’s hands rests on the girl’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

          “It’s up to you, Katie. I just want you to have a costume you               like so you can have a great Halloween, okay?”

[silentconfliction]

“Let’s carve a pumpkin!”

halloween sentence starters  / /  accepting                          »» @lnstinctive

     “Great idea, buddy. I’ve been waiting for the right time for         us to sit down and do that, and I think you’re right: now is         perfect.”

     With a grin, Shiro pulls the ( admittedly fairly small ) pumpkin off of the counter, where it’s been sitting since he bought it last week. Even though there’s two of them, there’s only one pumpkin because it’s all he could afford – the same reason that it’s on the small side. He doesn’t let that hamper his excitement though, because carving their pumpkins together has been one of Shiro’s favourite Halloween activities since Keith joined the family.

Gesturing for his brother to follow him, Shiro moves to the middle of the kitchen floor and sits down, setting the pumpkin down in front of himself. A marker is produced from his pocket so they can draw on their design before any knives are needed, and he passes it off to Keith, a bit of reluctance crossing his face the moment it’s taken from him.

          “What do you say we do something different this year               with our jack-o-lantern, huh? We’ve done Mothman so               many times now that I’ve lost count.”

[silentconfliction]

😝 Specifically baby Katie licking Shiro's hand when he tries holding hers, ain't no room for the buddy system on the streets

touch starved  / /  accepting                         »» @techspecialistofvoltron

😝: Lick my muse

     It’s common sense to grab a child’s hand when you’re walking with them down the street, right? It’s smart. It’s safe. It keeps them from running off and lets them feel safe if they’re nervous, or anything like that. Shiro wouldn’t say it’s instinct that makes him reach out for Katie as they approach a busy part of town, but maybe it is a mix of the two — he had done this with Keith when he was a bit younger, after all, and Katie… Yeah, she’s his best friend’s little sister and the girl he babysits now and then for the Holts, but he’s come to sort of see her as a little sister too in some ways. He wants to make sure she’s safe.

While he does successfully get a hold on her small hand, a second later he feels something soft and moist on the back of his hand that makes him jump.

     “What the hel–ck?!”

He catches himself at the last second, remembering he’s in the presence of a minor, but it’s a weak save. An utterly startled look is worn across his face, even with hints of fear for lack of knowing what’s just touched him, and his gaze shoots down to his hand. …Where he sees Katie pulling her face away, her tongue sticking out at him. Did she just—

     “Did you just lick me?”

Like he even needs to ask. Katie hates being ‘babied’ when it’s not on her terms, and this wouldn’t be the first time she’s taken issue with having her hand held out in a crowd. Also, it’s absolutely not beyond her to lick someone to try to get them to let her go or even just to gross them out. Well, consider Shiro sufficiently grossed out, as he expresses by the bit of a curl at his lip, but aside from that, Katie’s plan doesn’t work out the way she wants it to. He has yet to let go of her, and has less plan to now than before.

          “Katie, come on. You know this is how things go when we walk               down here, and that’s not going to change because you lick me.               I’ll let your hand go once we get to the park, okay? For right now               though, I need you to stay close.

                    “—Also, please don’t lick people. That’s really unsanitary                              for everyone involved.”

[silentconfliction]

“Can you tell me why you have an actual skeleton in your closet?”

halloween sentence starters  / /  accepting                         »» @cosmicdvst

     Pausing, Shiro looks over to where Keith is standing, next to his closet with the door open, skeleton on display where it sits on the floor. Standing from where he’s been setting the pizza box down on the coffee table, a hand raises to rub at the back of his neck and an unanswering shrug is given as he gestures to the closet.

     “It’s a joke I’ve been working on. Or, waiting for the right time        to use, I guess. You know how everyone always says that I        don’t have any secrets? I… thought it’d be funny to ‘prove        them wrong’ by showing them the literal skeleton in my closet.”

Does he look a little sheepish? Yes. Mostly because Keith didn’t get the joke just from seeing it, which makes him think it’s not as funny as hethought it would be. Also because explaining it just makes it sound even worse, especially considering Keith has found it before he was supposed to.

     …Wait.

               “—What are you doing, looking in my closet, anyway?”

[silentconfliction]

@bladelearnt​: ( x )

“It doesn’t matter, Shiro! No matter how horrified I am that she left me, it still

    hurts!” Keith suddenly shouts at top volume, his shoulders quaking as he

    finally lets go of a choked sob that had been sitting in the back of his throat

    for as long as Keith could remember. ‘Hurts’ is an understatement for what

    Keith may feel due to not only his mother’s, but his father’s abandonment. He

    feels less spiteful towards his mother for some reason, which is why he

    aches for her loss in a manner that could only be described as ‘crushed’ and

    ‘broken.’ He’s practically mourning for her, as if she was deceased.

  “Why?” Keith starts, letting every vulnerability slip out of his mouth and eyes

    for the first time, tears spilling over the edges of his eyes and running in

    rapids down now-reddened cheeks. He’s been hurting for far too long, all by

    himself. He’s been alone for far too long.

  “Why did she leave me, Shiro? Why did they leave?” Another choked sob, a

    pain tighter than anything he’d ever felt, constricting until it releases once

    more with that choked crying from before, “Didn’t they love me?”

     He’s never seen Keith like this. This is way more than Keith has ever been willing to show of himself, even since they’d become good friends, and while later Shiro might feel happy that his friend feels comfortable enough about him to be so open about something so painful, right now? Right now, all he can do is feel the need to comfort the kid. To be there for him in this moment where it’s all become too much and he’s broken down after holding all of this inside for god knows how long.

Without a word, Shiro moves swiftly forward the few steps between them and envelops Keith in his arms, pulling him in to a tight, secure hug. Something that says that he’s there, and he’s not going anywhere. It’s not much, not in comparison to Keith’s parents, but he wants him to know that he at least has someone there for him, who cares about him.

     “I don’t see how they couldn’t,” he answers, giving a soft shake of his head. A slow hand starts to run up and down along Keith’s back, and Shiro leans the side of his head against his friend’s. If the contact isn’t wanted, he’ll back off, of course, but he just... he can’t see someone he cares so much about cry like this without wrapping himself around them. It’s just instinct.

     “I don’t know why they left, buddy. I wish I could answer that for you, I really do, but...” He trails off, not wanting to conclude with ‘they’re the only ones who know’, and breathes a quiet sigh, eyes closing as he hugs the other just a bit tighter.  “I’m sorry, Keith.”

[silentconfliction]

He's only gone for TWO MINUTES. Just enough time to wash his hands & grab a cup of water. But when he gets back to the table, what he sees makes him STOP---or rather, it's what he DOESN'T see. Eyes narrow, & Keith turns to give Mochi & Shiro a DARK look. "Which one of you ate my dinosaur chicken nuggets ?"

                      »» @lnstinctive

     Hearing small footsteps making their way back to the living/dining room, Shiro remains in his seat on the couch and pointedly keeps his eyes on the TV instead of glancing over at his brother. He’s silent, pretending to watch whatever babbling is happening on the screen, when really, he’s waiting – anticipating that moment.

It comes quickly, but he does his best to play it cool, eyebrows giving just the slightest of raises as he blinks and glances over to where a pouty Keith stands by the table. Mochi, the massive lump of a dog lays on the floor nearby, tail wagging as he clearly doesn’t understand the situation. For just a moment, Shiro contemplates whether he should change his answer a little – even if it is pretty funny to see Keith look so betrayed by something that can easily be remade, he does feel kind of bad.

     “Hey, I only had one. Mochi was greedy and ate the rest        before I could stop him.”

A shrug, and admittedly, the look Shiro wears is a bit sheepish, mostly because he’s lying. He… –Well, okay, yeah, he ate them all, but he’d only gone in intending to eat one! But it was good, and he was hungry… He’d just kept telling himself that ‘Keith won’t miss one more’ until they were all gone and he realized his mistake. Originally, he was going to blame it all on the dog, so… at least he decided to come a little clean?

[silentconfliction]

quick tag dump since mine are all still fucked ( thanks tumblr )

[silentconfliction]

Have you ever eaten the peanut-butter cookies mom made for /me/, and not you and Matt, then blamed it on dad? ("Crime busting" baby Katie coming @ u hot)

send ‘have you ever’ questions; shiro can only answer with yes or no.  / /  accepting                »» @techspecialistofvoltron

     Damn. She’s got him cornered this time; he can’t get away with a vague answer or even a lie ( again ). She has him right where she wants him, and Shiro is aware enough of this that he fidgets with the hem of his shirt and watches his fingers intently, as though they’re suddenly fascinating. Katie never took well to having her treats taken from her, even when the parties who ate them weren’t necessarily aware they were only for her, and it’s been three months since the event that’s obviously in question.

     The kid holds a grudge. She doesn’t forget, she simply plots      a new way to drag the truth out of you.

The event she’s so heavy-handedly pointing at had been an honest accident. Shiro had come home with Matt to hang out for the evening, and when they’d gone into the kitchen, there had been a freshly cooling batch of peanut butter cookies. They’d just been sitting there, and no one else had been home, so they’d just had a few each. …Only to hear a shriek from Katie erupting from the kitchen an hour later when her mom brought her home from school.

And okay, yeah, maybe they’d wormed their way out of any trouble by blaming it on Commander Holt. …Shiro still feels bad for that, but Matt had been the one to pipe up first and it wasn’t like he could contradict their cover story. It had been an honest mistake, one that he’d forgotten all about until this particular moment, and yet he does feel a strange churn of guilt in his stomach as he rubs at the back of his neck and glances away from Katie’s face.

          “…Yes.”