Life's Work
Title: Life’s Work
Verse: A Pretty Enough Story
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Pairing: Adam/Shiro (this chapter), Keith/Shiro overall
Summary: “And that’s why I’m going to stick to my life shattering angst. I can’t imagine giving up my life’s work for anyone,” Matt said.
Warning: A little jumping around, timeline wise, in this verse. Just an FYI, there will be no Adam bashing in this verse. We all know what happens there, but I think they were happy once and I'm going to see how that leads to where it ends (and where other things pick up :P).
Matt was never one to mince words and he shook his head at the two of them. “You are disgusting. All this happiness really gets in the way of my life shattering angst over not being able to find my soulmate.”
Adam laughed loudly and Shiro just looked at him for a moment to see what his lover was going to say. They’d talked about it before but it had never been so closely mentioned since then.
“Sorry, hate to be the lucky one, but … wait … no I don’t. I’m a lucky son of a bitch and I know it,” Adam said as he draped an arm across Shiro’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to his temple.
Shiro smiled at him because they were lucky. It didn’t matter that Shiro had a soulmark and Adam didn’t. It didn’t matter to Shiro that somewhere out there was someone who had a matching mark on his bicep. It didn’t matter because he loved Adam and nothing could change that. Even if he met his soulmate, nothing could change that.
That was what Shiro believed. So if Adam wanted to tell people they were soulmates, Shiro didn’t care. Their relationship was all he needed.
“You’d think that after a year of this, we’d be used to it,” Andrea said from across the lunch table.
“I think it’s sweet,” Jack said beside her.
Jack was the newest to their group, an underclassman who exceled at engineering. They didn’t know him that well yet, but he fit well with them and though he was often quiet, he wasn’t the brooding sort. Just thoughtful.
“My parents were soulmates,” he admitted. “My Mom used to say that once she met Dad, nothing could keep them apart. She said time, space, nothing would stop her from being with him. Which was good because they lived in completely different parts of the world and she had to bust her ass because he was already a well respect physicist and she wanted to be able to work side by side with him. She killed her graduate work though and was given an assignment in his lab.”
“What if she hadn’t been assigned there?” Matt asked.
“She’d have kept working until she was. Or he said he’d have found someplace else so they could be together. He said nothing was as important as being at her side. He didn’t care if he had to leave the most prestigious position he could achieve. She was more important.”
“And that’s why I’m going to stick to my life shattering angst. I can’t imagine giving up my life’s work for anyone,” Matt said.
Everyone laughed, but Shiro felt a little hollow as he joined in. Because he couldn’t imagine it either.
A shadow fell over the table and they all looked up.
“Takashi Shirogane?”
“Yes sir,” he said as they all stood at attention for the officer.
“If you could come with me.”
“Of course.”
Adam gave him a questioning look and Shiro just shrugged. He didn’t know what this was about either.
The officer only moved a couple steps before he stopped at another table. A boy was there on his own, no friends and no one close by. Shiro felt a pang of regret because he recognized him. He’d recruited him. If he’d seen him sitting that close and by himself, he’d have called him over to join them.
“Cadet Keith Kogane.”
“Yes sir," he answered the summons.
“Come with me.”
Keith looked up at Shiro as they fell in line behind the officer and followed. Shiro gave Keith a small smile and the younger man seemed to relax a little.
Shiro should have known. He should have recognized from the way Keith acted when he’d been recruited that being at the Garrison would be a tough adjustment for him. He made it up his mind to pay more attention to Keith in the future. The kid needed friends and Shiro could be that at least. He might be busy himself, but no one was that busy.
Adam might not like it since it might cut into some of their time together, but Shiro had been a loner as well, when he came to the Garrison. He’d been too strong willed and too narrowly focused to see all the things he needed to see. He wished someone had been there for him. He could be that for Keith, at least.
He felt lighter somehow, for having made that decision. Besides, from what he remembered, Keith was going to be a fighter pilot. It would be fun to share some tips and secrets of the trade with someone else who was interested in his life’s work.