(no subject)

[galratech]

[Shiro doesn't remember falling, but it feels a little like he's been dropped off a high building and frankly, given the likelihood that he was teleported here, for whatever reason... he doubts, with his luck, that it was a gentle landing. He deeply considers lying prone for a few more minutes, but the sound of excited voices filter through to his awareness past the pain, talking about a 'beam of light'. Before he can think about how much he hurts, he's rolling into a tense, ready crouch, just in time for several large shapes to break through the foliage. Shiro can only gape at the variety of the figures that fan out to surround him, scales and vines and wings. He hasn't seen such a menagerie gathered in one place since, well... the coliseum.

It's not a comforting comparison.

Weary dread sluices through Shiro's body as they circle him, jeering. He seems weak! and King Darc will know just what to do with this one. and He'll be quite a prize, with this last line, an echo from the past again, ratcheting his pulse up until it feels like his chest will break. Though Shiro knows from their tone it won't do any good, he warns them to back off just once before lunging at the nearest one, hoping surprise will give him enough edge to run.]

Comments

[scaledeep]

Hey! What's the big idea!?

[Guess what Shiro, you're weak as fuck and these Deimos are at the top of their game. They have even been trained in advanced techniques such as: don't kill people before you find out what their deal is. The Deimos that Shiro lunges for dodges and shoves Shiro down on the ground, stepping on his back and pinning his face to the ground.]

Hrrrgh, you're a weak one, alright. Someone so feeble should just hold still, damn it!

[Another chimes up.]

Stop struggling, you'll only make this more painful!

We're bringing you to King Darc, got it?! Even a stupid human should know it's pointless to run!

[galratech]

[Shiro's usually outmatched but being completely shut down floods him with a whole new species of panic that makes him strain and thrash under the Deimos's weight past to when exhaustion and pain crowd his vision with black spots.]

Let—go of me!

[He thumps his robotic fist uselessly against the ground in bitter frustration. Zarkon was defeated, so why is he even here?! How did this even happen? The price of unlocking the Black Lion's real strength... a final ploy by Zarkon... The first thought is bewildering, the second disturbing, when he thinks about the other paladins. He doesn't even have enough strength right now to get himself off the ground, let alone figure out how to get to them. Too weak. It's too too much to process that only after the real fight is over is when his hard-won strength fails him.]

[scaledeep]

Geez! Shouldn't we just knock the human out? It'll save us a lot of trouble!

[another chuffs.]

Ugh, but Lord Darc says he wants them as lively as possible...

[a sigh.]

Well, if we're lucky, it'll just make itself pass out. Heh heh. Look at this thing! It's like a breeze will knock it over.

[sharp, with an animalistic hiss to pronunciate their scolding]

Come on! Our lord has been down in the dumps lately. Maybe if we bring him an injured human, he'll cheer up.

[a more dubious voice]

You think so? I mean, they kinda all look the same to me... I can't tell who Lord Darc's type is at all.

[galratech]

[Shiro wishes he would pass out. It's terrifying how quickly numb acceptance steals over him once he realizes that there's nothing he can do to get free. It frees his mind up to think a little more rationally, comfort himself that he just needs to bide his time. They're not killing him, yet. He can almost block out the part of him that says it might just be better to make them.]

I'll go, [He says hoarsely, after one last, weak attempt to buck.

At least he'll probably black out as soon as they get him up.]

[scaledeep]

Hey! Hear that? Maybe you're not so stupid after all, human!

Come on, get up! Ergh, humans are so dainty... do we have to carry you or something?

[a Deimos enthusiastically yanks him up by his robot arm.]

Huh? Whoa, check this out...

[galratech]

[Oh great, they're interested in his arm!! That prospect is also so potentially horrifying that Shiro offers a weak, incoherent defense.] It's n-not... mine.

[As if that statement could actually separate him from it and whatever they want to do to it.

And then, mercifully, he does pass out.]

[scaledeep]

[What the heck!! Good thing they are taking him to Darc, Darc will know whatever THAT means and how a human could have an arm with magic in it.

When Shiro wakes up next...

Good news: Shiro isn't dead, he isn't in much pain at all, he's in a floor-level bed of nice soft miscellany pelts and feathers. It smells nice?? Very floral.

Possibly bad news: he's naked, his injuries are smeared with unknown substances, he's DEFINITELY drugged.

The room itself has iron walls, and it looks worn and overgrown and repurposed, draped and decorated with skins and bones. It's lit by torchlight. Incense is burning, there are many MANY types of plants growing in pots and out of the ground... and there's distinctly deliberately-placed tool-looking items lined up next to Shiro's "bed."

A man is in the room with him, sitting floor-level with him, wearing a weathered red sarong and gladiator sandals and nothing else. He's covered in scars and weathered horns protrude from his half-human features. He looks like the battered, hardened combatants Shiro has met in the worst of places, and yet absolutely nothing like any alien race he's seen due to his distinctly chimeric figure.

He appears to be studying a tablet. Like, a stone one. There's a few others piled near him.]

[galratech]

[Due to the drugs Shiro's not sure if he spends ten seconds being too scared to move or ten minutes. Either way, he eventually flexes a wrist and realizes he's not bound. A flood of relief hits him like a second drug and he lets his eyes drift shut, briefly. Small victories. Sluggishly, he pulls the rest of his perceptions together. The warmth, the softness surrounding him... His body feels useless and heavy and he's a little concerned he's not more concerned about that but his instincts are telling him he's safe.

As for the figure... Shiro's not getting the vibe that he's a guard, despite the fact that he's obviously a fighter. Maybe it's that he seems to be reading, such a weirdly normal thing to be doing by someone's... hospital bed?]

Uh... Hi?

[scaledeep]

[Darc looks up with an immediate, animal-speed alert, with the same fixated stillness of a startled lizard.]

Hnh... You're finally awake.

[galratech]

[Shiro blinks.

There is nothing speedy about his response.]

Was I... out long?

[scaledeep]

[Darc's voice sounds way older than his face looks, like he has been gargling rocks. He leans forward, studying INTENTLY, his set of red, slit eyes still completely fixated on Shiro with an open, raw stare.]

If you can call that being out... you've been thrashing around and half-conscious for two days. Coalesk poison will do that.

[galratech]

Poison? I don't remember...

[Shiro can't really retreat from the scrutiny but after a moment it occurs to him that the guy seems worried, an absurdly cheering thought. He attempts a smile, wane with exhaustion.]

You took care of me this whole time? Thank you.

[scaledeep]

[He startles. Staring perhaps even wider at Shiro.]

... Not the whole time! I only handled some of it.

[he seems to STEEL HIMSELF]

Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive? I have a lot I want to ask you.

[scaledeep]

[a long day of sweaty hard work and nosy, excited Deimos later. Deimos are apparently pretty stoked for building, and turn it into a power competition pretty often. Labor is just interrupted by food and the occasional rowdy overdramatic brawl that ends in lots of enthusiastic swears for revenge, followed by acting completely normal again afterwards. And also buzz over their temporary human guest.

They're definitely interested in Shiro. Most of them just blurt out what's on their mind and refer to him as "hey, human," boisterous beasts of many MANY shapes and sizes and cultures. They all got the memo from Darc that he's off limits for any harm, even non lethal "I just want to see if he's tough gee," which translates into a lot of LETS SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN BUILD, HUMAN, DO YOUR TOOLS SHAPE UP TO CLAWS?? Some are all eager to learn about Shiro, with a lot of boisterous negging of how very human he is. There's also a lot of curiosity and friendliness. It's clear the Deimos have a lot of individuality and are in very different, very OPINIONATED places.

But it's clear everyone here is VERY loyal to Darc, and eager to gossip or do well by the city. The fact that Shiro is willing and eager to build a Deimos city is an immediate, huge plus, which baffles and impresses most of them (and one checks his work to make sure he's not SABOTAGING.) He still has Darc's scent all over him, which stops some from flirting, ENCOURAGES others, and definitely encourages gossip.

Darc spends all day trying not to daydream about fucking him and failing.]

[galratech]

[After a full day of gamely going along with the Deimos's challenges and endless questions, Shiro may or may not be purposefully using Darc's presence as a sort of shield as the day winds down. It doesn't really discourage most of the Deimos from chatting at him, but he's noticed that a certain amount of proximity to Darc seems to encourage a little more restraint—they want to impress him, which makes Shiro grin to see. He finds the Deimos incredibly likable (much like Darc), but atheir attention was exhausting. More than a couple arguments had been sparked about whether a lot of scars meant someone was strong or if they just got beat up a lot. The periodic physical squabbling had his heart beating hard long after the parties had stopped fighting. He was being asked about sex a lot.

All of this contributed to being fairly eager to be alone with Darc again.]

[scaledeep]

[y. Yeeas

Darc meets Shiro's look so, so many times during the day and each time causes a MOOD or FEELING or EMOTION until there is a tangible build of. Something. That he feels like, SURELY Shiro can feel it too. Didn't his father call this "empathy?" building the same feeling in each other and being aware of it

Even though he's SURE, it still takes time to work up the courage to ask. And when he does he just blurts]

Shiro! That's enough. Come with me!

[galratech]

[Surprised but relieved, Shiro blinks, smiles.]

Sure.

[scaledeep]

[off he Goes!!]

Do you want something to drink? Or smoke?

[galratech]

[Maybe he should not be getting high with aliens. It feels irresponsible, even if he's not technically on combat alert. On the other hand, he's jittery and tense from being on guard all day. That feels like manufacturing an excuse and Shiro's torn about whether he needs to manufacture excuses to do substances and maybe have sex with Darc again. Evaluating things, there's really not much he can do about contacting Voltron for at least a couple of days, until Kharg gets there.

He can relax. He can relax. If it goes well, he can call that a reliable pattern.]

That sounds nice, yeah.

[scaledeep]

Good. I demand you relax!

[galratech]

[laughs?!]

You do, huh?

[scaledeep]

You'll be pushed to exhaustion if this goes on further!

And besides that, the Deimos have better to offer than what you were given for pain.

[galratech]

[Protesting that he's fine seems kind of pointless when he is, in fact, pretty tired.]

I'm not sure I could handle much better.

[scaledeep]

[frown.]

Not stronger! Better.

[galratech]

Alright. I trust you.