Life Aftr IC Inbox

[thermalwind]

Need to contact, Keith? Do it here. Just put date in the header.

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november 1st

[ladytakamaki]

[ ann should have made this call sooner, but she'd been sitting on this for a while. people seeing her persona. she remembers nari telling her that she knew about the phantom thieves because of akira. he'd trusted the people here enough to confide in them...

keith is one of the people she trusts the most. he asked her about it, and she'd been meaning to tell him about what he saw eventually—especially because he knows about shiho now—but there were other things she had to deal with first. like seeing her future self.

now that things have started to settle down, she can finally get around to talking to him about her memory. the phantom thieves.

her call comes around sunset. ]

Hey, Keith? It's Ann. Do you have time to talk?

[thermalwind]

[The visions of the future have been unsettling at best. Keith does what he once did when a glimpse of the future showed things going horribly wrong. He begins to prepare for it. At sunset, he's doing sit ups when his farstone warms in his pocket.

He sits up and pulls it out.]

Yeah. What do you need?

[ladytakamaki]

It's about what you saw at storytelling. And...I guess some of what I saw from your memories, too.

[ she inhales audibly. this is it. no turning back. ]

There's a lot more to that memory you saw than just glowing yellow eyes.

11/7

[ladytakamaki]

Keith! It's Ann! Can you hear me?

11/7

[thermalwind]

Ann! Yeah, I can hear you. [There's a pause, his tone shifts to something that might suggest relief.] ...and you remember me. Went home for a bit?

[ladytakamaki]

[ you remember me. ]

Of course I do, silly. You're pretty hard to forget.

[ she's teasing, but she's also relieved. he's here. ] Yeah, I did. And I'm so glad you're still here.

11/05

[diplomacycheck]

[She has to wait until Shiro is well out of hearing range for her to make this particular call. It is still far too dark for any other sort of message, but... He needs to be warned, and soon.]

Keith? Do you have a moment?

[thermalwind]

[It is lucky for Allura she caught Keith as he’s readying for his post guard shift nap. He answers the rock with a slightly sleepy,]

Yeah, what’s going on?

[diplomacycheck]

[Yeah, about that nap...]

Shiro caught me as I was starting my break. He asked me about the state of the Galra Empire and why my tiara is gone. I thought you should know in case he brings it up to you.

post-trials

[ladytakamaki]

[ the trial of forgiveness was not a trial. it was her personal hell. dying once was bad enough, but being put through that over and over again by her own teammates--by her own persona--the wounds may have scarred, the the wounds on her heart and soul are open.

when she sees keith, there's barely any acknowledgement. no wave, no chipper "hey, keith!" like she usually gives him. only a girl who's been broken down too many times to count. she chose to stop keeping track after the second time.

she'd passed. she made it. but the rewards will never be enough to make up for all the damage that'd been done.

the only way keith knows she sees him is because she is, quite literally, looking at him. and when he gets close enough, if he decides to approach, she looks away. ]

Hi.

[thermalwind]

[Keith walks slowly. He still has memories of what happened when they tried to be fast. He forgets it when he sees Ann. Her eyes are dull and unseeing. Keith picks up speed, switching from a slow stroll to fast distance eating strides. He reaches her and comes to a stop.]

...hey. What happened?

[ladytakamaki]

[ she sighs heavily. the wounds are still so fresh...and running into him not long after escaping her own personal hell means that she's emotionally and mentally vulnerable, exhausted, and checked out.

so checked out that she doesn't say anything. it looks like she tries to, but whatever ann wants to say is replaced by a quiet sob. her hands are clenched at her sides. her eyes shut and well up with tears.

immediately, she starts rubbing at her eyes. ]

Sorry... I...

post-trials

[antepone]

[ It's a couple days after... everything. She's been thinking a lot, about her trial. About what she had faced. About... how the sword in her hand had felt so foreign. How she'd been almost scared to use it... but how, when the time had come, she'd used it.

She's still shaken. Maybe Keith can hear it in her voice, when she contacts him over the stones. ]

Keith? Can I talk to you?

[thermalwind]

[He’s not used to hearing so many people he knows sound so rattled. It tips his need to protect them into overdrive. He sets aside the knife he had been treating with heat.]

Yeah, sure. I’m here. What’s going on?

[antepone]

It's nothing really serious or urgent. It's just...

I have a favor to ask you.

12/24

[galrarm]

[ He wakes on the beach of Enso, hair white and with a new arm. Shiro takes a moment to breathe, to take everything in. It looks the same, here; but who knows how long he's been gone? For Ann, it had been only a few days in this world. Longer for her. She'd come back with new memories, and for Shiro...

More scars. More memories, too; so many that it makes him a little dizzy. He can't believe he forgot this place. He can't believe that he's been gone. After promising-- ]

Keith.

[ He's the person Shiro needs to see first, and the most. He makes a beeline for the islets, and when he gets to their cottage, he knocks on the door. He'd go in, but he's not sure who's home, if anyone.

He hopes Keith is. ]

[thermalwind]

Shiro? [The voice comes from behind him. When he turns around Keith is there, shirtless for once. His hair hangs loose softening the sharp lines of his face. It does nothing to soften the scars. He had scars before but not like he does now. His right arm is marred mid-way up the bicep in a mirror of Shiro’s old scar. He steps closer and searches his face.

Shiro had knocked on the door. He’d come straight here. His arm isn’t familiar but.] You...do you remember the islands?

[He dares to hope. Just a little bit.]

12/22 - sometime after her conversation with Ann

[diplomacycheck]

[It... took her some time to collect her thoughts after the conversation with Ann, and her conversation with Mira. Yet seeing how Keith reacted to Shiro disappearing once again, she at least made it obvious she was staying close by - close enough he could sense her, even though she remained silent for a while. Mostly because what is words when it involves something personal and not something that is dependent on the stability of the universe?

Okay, Allura. You're a princess and a paladin. Speaking to your teammate, leader, and surrogate brother should not be so difficult. She takes another breath before actually approaching him.]

Keith... would you like to spar? [At this point it'll likely help the both of them to get out of their heads.]

[thermalwind]

[He stares at the ocean as if it will give him all the answers. Shiro left after they had a little downtime with the trials. It seems like in the aftermath is when he loses people.

Keith looks up when he hears footsteps and turns to face the direction they're coming from. He's on his feet when Allura speaks up.

His dull eyes brighten. Fighting could help.]

Yes. Bayards or hand to hand?

[It's like watching a Lion come to life, he shifts on his feet, all of his attention locked on her.]

4/3

[antepone]

[ Well, after her message over the stones, Mira's thoroughly unsettled. She can't have been gone, right? ... Honestly, she isn't sure. It's scary to think that she could be gone and then back again, and... ugh. If she was gone--she needs to make sure--then one person for sure would know.

So... here she is, knocking at the door to Keith's place. ]

4/3

[thermalwind]

[The door opens and Keith stares at her. She has the look of someone clearly in need of a moment. Like Shiro, she'd come to him instead of a chance meeting. A knot of tension inside him unravels and the steps to the side, holding the door open.] Welcome back.

Come in. We can talk about it after you sit down.

after keith's message on the rocks;

[galrarm]

[ He seeks him out, immediately after reading the message. Shiro isn't sure what exactly happened, but he sure can guess.

When he finds him, it's when his hair is white, when he's a little older than twenty-six, with a ring on his finger. ]

Keith. [ His voice is laced through with concern, wound so tightly through his name. ] What happened?

[thermalwind]

They were full of anger and had someone to hit. [Keith says as he uses his knife to sharpen the end of the wood spear he's been making for at least fifteen minutes. His tone is resigned.]

Same old story with the same old insults. [It hit home. It hit him straight in the oldest of his issues and left him unwilling to fight about it.] I don't want anyone else experiencing that.

[He lays the half-made weapon and his knife aside. Keith raises his head and sighs. But the sight of Shiro, the Shiro he married stamps relief on his face.] I'm...I'll be alright, Takashi. Some things still sting even years later.

backdated to keith's birthday

[galrarm]

[ It's a special day today.

Shiro now, thankfully, isn't totally helpless when it comes to making food. He can roast meat and vegetables, at least, and today? He wants to spoil Keith totally and completely. He deserves it, after all, especially after he's been alone for so long. So... when Keith wakes up, Shiro's there with a plate of food for them both. ]

Hey. Good morning.

[thermalwind]

[The scent of food pulls Keith from sleep enough he opens on eye as Shiro enters their bedroom. He sits up and kills a yawn before it starts.] Morning.

[It takes a moment for him to process the situation. With the lull in activity on he has taken advantage of it to get a decent amount of sleep at night. Between the warmth of Shiro and Kosmo he definitely gets what he wants. He blinks and his brows go up in surprise. He doesn’t remember anything special on the list, then he says,] Wait. Shiro? What’s the occasion?