[ Settling back into the position of leader hasn't been easy. He still maintains his contacts where he can and he still does his best to ensure that he balances his time between the paladins and also Thea'la where possible. When the two duties end up meeting in the middle, it's great, but it doesn't happen so often. He keeps in contact with Sendak out of habit, some weird, slightly fucked up habit he can't seem to shake because he does need to keep a finger to the pulse of the Galra rebellion. Doesn't make it any less weird, though.
To their credit, the other paladins have accepted it as easily as they do anything. Hunk wants to cook him everything under the sun and take a look at Black to make sure that she's running properly. It'd been a confusing request until Black pointed out that Red was able to make the sharp turns and short maneuvers as a smaller lion, but Black was a little bit larger. The concern is misplaced, she says, but it's sweet of him to worry. She agrees to let him take a look because they both understand that it's just Hunk trying to do whatever he can while things are weird. Pidge is doing the weird cat thing where they both want to be close to him but seemingly only close enough to give him dubious looks, which still isn't the weirdest thing.
It's Lance's response that is the most surprising, perhaps. He and Keith still butted heads, from what he could tell, but in the time that he's been gone Lance has adjusted. Mellowed out. He pulls Shiro aside a few times, partially to hug him, and partially to try and pry into whatever this thing is with Keith, equal parts concerned friend and something else that Shiro's not sure he wants to delve into. Whatever happened while he was gone isn't any of his business if it's...personal.
Keith, though. Keith's response is about where he expected but there's no denying that it's hard as hell to figure out where they go from here, how they navigate things. He's still the team leader and he's still dead set on not letting Keith get perceived special treatment which means coming down on him the same as he would Lance, or any of the others. The mistake, though, is thinking that it would be that easy. Nothing ever is and Keith's reaction, while strong, isn't shocking.
The suggestion to talk in person isn't one he actually expects to be taken up on, so he mostly keeps his device active while he does pull-ups. Voice to text is something that has, thankfully, gotten better when it comes to quality so he tends to do that rather than actually texting. A good thing, considering he's not sure he wouldn't accidentally clench his fist too hard and crush the phone out of sheer frustration.
Another ten pull ups and he sends another text, a simple, tell me if you want to talk, alright? but it goes unanswered so he focuses on doing something he can actually put his mind to - in this case, another set of reps. The knock to his door isn't surprising; Lance was going to stop by later, especially after how spectacularly that mission went to shit. Given Keith's temper it's probable that's going to be a point of conversation too. Lowering himself down, he lets himself hang, feet pointed to the ground, sweat itching as it slides down the small of his back. ]
Open.
[ He probably ought to put a shirt on, but it's not like he and the others haven't seen each other bare-chested before. Shiro doesn't glance over to the door just yet, starting another set of pull-ups while he waits for Lance to enter, not able to see who it is while he works on pulling himself up.
Wryly, ]
Lance, if we can talk about this later, I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to keep to one argument a day quota.
no subject
To their credit, the other paladins have accepted it as easily as they do anything. Hunk wants to cook him everything under the sun and take a look at Black to make sure that she's running properly. It'd been a confusing request until Black pointed out that Red was able to make the sharp turns and short maneuvers as a smaller lion, but Black was a little bit larger. The concern is misplaced, she says, but it's sweet of him to worry. She agrees to let him take a look because they both understand that it's just Hunk trying to do whatever he can while things are weird. Pidge is doing the weird cat thing where they both want to be close to him but seemingly only close enough to give him dubious looks, which still isn't the weirdest thing.
It's Lance's response that is the most surprising, perhaps. He and Keith still butted heads, from what he could tell, but in the time that he's been gone Lance has adjusted. Mellowed out. He pulls Shiro aside a few times, partially to hug him, and partially to try and pry into whatever this thing is with Keith, equal parts concerned friend and something else that Shiro's not sure he wants to delve into. Whatever happened while he was gone isn't any of his business if it's...personal.
Keith, though. Keith's response is about where he expected but there's no denying that it's hard as hell to figure out where they go from here, how they navigate things. He's still the team leader and he's still dead set on not letting Keith get perceived special treatment which means coming down on him the same as he would Lance, or any of the others. The mistake, though, is thinking that it would be that easy. Nothing ever is and Keith's reaction, while strong, isn't shocking.
The suggestion to talk in person isn't one he actually expects to be taken up on, so he mostly keeps his device active while he does pull-ups. Voice to text is something that has, thankfully, gotten better when it comes to quality so he tends to do that rather than actually texting. A good thing, considering he's not sure he wouldn't accidentally clench his fist too hard and crush the phone out of sheer frustration.
Another ten pull ups and he sends another text, a simple, tell me if you want to talk, alright? but it goes unanswered so he focuses on doing something he can actually put his mind to - in this case, another set of reps. The knock to his door isn't surprising; Lance was going to stop by later, especially after how spectacularly that mission went to shit. Given Keith's temper it's probable that's going to be a point of conversation too. Lowering himself down, he lets himself hang, feet pointed to the ground, sweat itching as it slides down the small of his back. ]
Open.
[ He probably ought to put a shirt on, but it's not like he and the others haven't seen each other bare-chested before. Shiro doesn't glance over to the door just yet, starting another set of pull-ups while he waits for Lance to enter, not able to see who it is while he works on pulling himself up.
Wryly, ]
Lance, if we can talk about this later, I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to keep to one argument a day quota.