A Game of Keith and Mouse

Climbing

"Patience yields focus," Shiro repeated to himself, his voice barely above a whisper.

Adam had told him years ago, after he had heard it on a tv show. Adam had said it ironically, because he thought it was a 'dumb quote that doesn't really mean anything.' But Shiro actually liked it, and used it whenever he needed a reminder to take a breath and focus.

He had never told Keith that it was first said by a cartoon leapord, or that the main reason he said it was because it reminded him of a simpler time, before his disease and before Kerberos and before Zarkon.

Before Shiro got sick, he laughed at people who said things were better 'in the old days.' What they really meant was that they themselves were at their physical primes, and therefore remember those times as better, when in reality, they were simply broadcasting their own blissful cluelessness onto the same world that they now thought terrible.

Shiro was smarter than that, though. He knew that the world wasn't better back then, and that the only thing that was different was that he, at the time, didn't know about any of the awful things happening. It didn't mean they weren't happening.

"Patience yields focus," Shiro reminded himself again, hands gripping tighter on the controls of Black.

After a few hours, Shiro gave up. Black was not wanting to bond, and Shiro knew he had to accept that. He would try again tomorrow, but for now he was too tired to keep going.

When he was at the door of the hangar, he looked back at the black lion. He was surprised to see that there was someone on top of her.

"Keith?" Shiro called up. "What are you doing?"

Keith, on top of the lion, had one leg bent over his head in a way that Shiro would never be able to replicate because his bones didn't bend that way. Keith looked down to his brother. "Just chilling."

"On top of my lion?" Shiro shouted.

"Yeah," Keith shouted back.

"How did you get up there?"

"Climbed," Keith replied simply, as if it were obvious.

Shiro had seen a lot in his years. When Keith was younger, he and Adam had to bolt all of their tall furniture down to make sure Keith wouldn't make them fall on himself whilst climbing with catlike vigor.

But he had never seen Keith climb this high up before.

After a few seconds of consideration, Shiro decided that Keith was fine and could handle himself.

"Cool beans," Shiro called up, "Is your leg okay? I don't think it's supposed to bend that way."

"It's fine," Keith responded, "I've been doing yoga."

Shiro nodded. "Okay. I'm going to take a nap. See you later."

Keith waved in response. "Bye."

Shiro shut the hangar door. He smiled and shook his head.

'What a weird kid,' he thought, 'Adam would be so proud.'