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Shiro stares over at the four children sitting on the couch and bites back a low sigh. What he actually wants is so start crying, but that wouldn’t be very leader like of him. He’s always the one lecturing the others on taking their challenges head on and working together as a team. He needs to support Coran and Pidge through this too, even if he has no idea how now that they’re the only ones left.
The other paladins have all been reduced to six-year-old (or whatever the Altean equivalent is) children. Shiro, Hunk calling him ‘space dad’ once aside, isn’t good with kids. He was an only child and even Keith was already 15 by the time they met. He has no idea how to handle these new, smaller versions of their friends. And what do kids these ages need? Do they still nap? Can they get dressed by themselves? Is it okay to let them try and fly a Lion if they want to? There are too many variables here.
Shiro glances over at the kids, trying to catch his bearings. Hunk is hugging a pillow to his chest, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and play shorts that belonged to Allura as a child. Next to him, Lance is glancing around the room suspiciously, wearing a blue tank top and shorts Shiro thinks might be an Altean bathing suit. Keith’s next, not having spoken once and in a red robe with matching slippers. Finally, there’s Allura in a pink and white party dress, hands pressed on her hips as she stares back and forth between Coran and himself and Pidge, as though trying to make the connection.
“… Are you one of their dads?” Lance finally asks in a serious voice, glancing at the other three children before he turns his gaze back to Shiro. Lance has his lips pressed together and his gaze is heavy with worry, brown curls bouncing against his forehead as he twists his head around.
“Not my dad,” Hunk throws out after a moment, hugging the pillow tighter to his chest as he leans back into the couch cushion, moving a little closer to Lance. Lance pats him on the arm lightly, giving him a half-smile that the other boy returns readily. Some things are still the same, at least.
“I’m not anyone’s dad! I’m not old enough – I’m not married,” Shiro corrects himself mid cry, because right now he could be all of their (teenage) father. Somehow that makes him feel even more out of his depth than he did a few seconds ago.
“Why are you here?” Keith says in a small voice as he turns his eyes to the three of them, expression closer to scared than anything else as he balls his fists and hugs himself a little. Yeah, some things don’t change Shiro thinks, though this time the thought makes him a bit sad. “Why are we here? This isn’t my house.”
“It is my castle,” Allura announces as she stands up on the couch, glancing around the room as though to reassure herself it is her home despite the strange touches and strangers in it. Shiro gives her a quick nod that Allura ignores, instead crossing her arms as she leans forward to peer at them. Coran gives her a small wave that Allura returns with a bright smile, though it quickly melts into a pout. “But I don’t know who any of you are except Uncle Coran. Did you hire these two to be my babysitters? What about the other three?”
“I didn’t sign up for babysitting,” Pidge mutters under her breath, shaking her head a little as she stares at the kids. Her eyes are wide and her hands are clenched in tight fists, skin pale. She looks as worried as Shiro feels, which is somehow both comforting and ominous.
“We didn’t sign up for a lot of things …” Shiro points out as he glances out the window at the wide expanse of space behind them. If they can handle a war, they can deal with half the team being turned into children for what Coran assures him is only a few days. Shiro just hopes the universe doesn’t need Voltron this weekend. When he glances back to the others, Allura is hugging Coran’s legs and Hunk is showing Lance something on the pillow. Keith is … Fuck. “Where’s Keith?”
“You look for Keith, Pidge and I will watch over these three,” Coran calls as he lifts Allura up in the air with a wide grin, though his gaze is serious as he glances over his shoulder at Shiro. Coran is the only one of them with any experience with childcare, so Shiro quickly nods and turns down the hallway. Hopefully Keith was slower as a child than he is as an adult.
Pidge feels a sense of relief at the fact that Shiro is no better at this than her, but also a sense of dread because having some kind of direction beyond ‘be fun’ (which what does that even mean, Coran) would’ve been nice. Pidge is glad that she at least has those action figures from when they went to the space mall a few weeks back, because Lance and Hunk seem happy to play with the Yellow and Blue and Red Lions. She wonders if they somehow knew those were … are theirs.
“But I’m afraid of heights,” Hunk explains in a soft voice, gazing down the floor and looking a little embarrassed as he holds up the Yellow Lion action figure. Lance frowns at that, glancing up at the ceiling as his grip on Blue and Red grows a little tighter. He stares back at Hunk and shrugs, eyebrows sloping down. they both look so small and sad and it’s kind of killing Pidge, because they’re way too cute to be upset. They’re almost as cute as Rover. Almost.
“You get over it, and you have your Lion to help with that,” Pidge tells them both with a bright smile, gesturing at the toy Lions in their grips. Hunk glances down at this, holding it up with his tiny hand and frowning tightly. He gives Pidge a look of bewilderment and it suddenly it hits her that they think these toys are just that. They have no idea that they’re all pilots in the future. “We fly color coded Lions. Yours is Yellow and yours is Blue.”
Hunk’s eyes widen and he drops the yellow lion to the floor below with a low thud, yellow t-shirt sleeves flapping slightly as he throws his arms up and down in the air. Then he picks up the yellow Lion and whispers an apology to it, before gazing up at Pidge again. His eyes are somehow even bigger now. “And you’re our leader?”
“… Yes,” Pidge says after a beat, smile growing a little wicked as she imagines all the ways she can use her new position of power to her benefit. One immediately comes to mind as she grabs both boys by the hand. “Which means you have to listen to me when I say we’re going to make cookies.”
“Okay!” Lance and Hunk both cry out as she leads them down the hallway toward the kitchen. Lance is still holding the blue lion in his hand, glancing down at it wistfully every few seconds in a way that makes Pidge wonder if they remember more than they’re letting on, or if maybe only their hearts do. She pushes away the pain that causes in her chest and hopes Hunk remembers how to bake because she doesn’t actually know how.
Allura glances up at Coran, arms crossed against the white and pink folds of her dress, rustling the lace a bit. Coran bites back a warning about that, because it’s not as though she’ll ever wear it again. He can still remember when she outgrew it as a child, his hard work in making it all for two parties. But she truly looked like a little princess at both and seeing her so small and regal and wide-eyed again fills Coran’s heart with an equal measure of joy and regret. They’ve lost so much so quickly. This Allura knows none of that though, raising an eyebrow as she glances at the mice sitting on the table next to them. “I have pet mice?”
“Yes, and you have a psychic connection with them too! You can read their thoughts,” Coran explains with a bright smile as he lifts one of them up so Allura can hold them in her small hands. She has to use both right now, carefully rubbing Platt’s fur with her thumb as she smiles down at them, smile wide.
“Wow! Am I a genius?” Allura asks in an excited voice as she steals a quick look at Coran before giving her full attention to Platt. Coran pauses at the question, eyebrows shooting to his forehead. It’s not one he expected, but it is one he has an answer for. Coran is, for the first time in a long time, in his element.
“You could say that and I certainly would, Princess,” Coran tells her with a wide grin because his dear Allura has taken to leadership and her new roles with an aplomb and quickness Coran doesn’t think even Alfor would have. If that isn’t a type of genius, he doesn’t know what is. Coran gestures for the other mice to come climb onto the couch as well. He’ll have them put on a show for her, Allura will enjoy that. He imagines the other children will as well, once they find Keith. “You’ll only grow wiser as you grow older.”
“I’m already older though, I thought,” Allura mutters as she wrinkles her nose, glancing down at her dress and letting out a low sigh. Then she turns back to Coran, expression suddenly filled with worry, gaze bordering on teary. “But that’s okay, Father and Mother are good rulers. They can rule for as long as they want. Will they be home soon?”
“No, not for a while, I’m afraid, princess,” Coran murmurs as he glances away from her so he can collect his own feelings, lest they show on his face. This is the question he’s been afraid of since this happened a few hours ago. Eventually Coran manages to turn back to Allura with a soft smile he hopes she can’t tell doesn’t reach his eyes. “But here, how about the mice and I do your hair while we wait for them?”
“The mice can do hair?” Allura cries with wide eyes as she grabs onto the edge of her braid, already starting to undo it. If she caught any pain in Coran’s voice, she doesn’t seem to be thinking about it now, pressing a few white strands into Platt’s hand excitedly. Coran watches them and thinks of more innocent times he’ll never have again, heart heavy and light all at the same time. He still has his daughter, and that is, has to be, enough.
“Keith? Keith!” Shiro calls as he walks across the hangar, after not finding Keith in the bedrooms or, thankfully, the training room. Though he’s not sure here is much better, with Keith’s penchant for running off without warning. It doesn’t seem like age has changed that one at all. Then he sees small legs hanging out of the back of a red robe, arms wrapped around one of Black’s legs. Shiro’s eyes widen as he reaches Keith’s side, gently pulling him away from the Lion. “Are you trying to climb into the Black Lion?”
“It’s the biggest one so it’s the safest,” Keith murmurs as he squirms away from Shiro, crossing his arms as the sleeves fall over his hands a bit, making him seem even smaller. Keith pouts a little as he stares down at the floor, voice more of a whisper than anything else as he speaks again. “And I wanna be tall.”
“Hey, if you want to be tall, you could get up on my shoulders,” Shiro offers with a wide grin, gaze soft as he reaches a hand out toward Keith. Keith looks at it thoughtfully and then shakes his head, taking a step back away from him and toward the Black Lion. That’s … unusual, to say the least. “Are you all right, buddy?”
“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” Keith mutters in the same small voice as before, crossing his arms against his chest. His small eyes are wide and a little teary, voice growing more emotional on his next words. “My daddy says so.”
Shiro winces at that, kneeling down so he’s eye level with Keith. He has no idea if those words are from fear of him or pain, because his dad is already gone. There’s so much he somehow still doesn’t know about Keith, so many walls they’ve never gotten past. Maybe this weekend will be good for that, if nothing else. “I’m not a stranger, at least not when you’re older.”
“Nothing makes sense – wait if there are lions in space and I’m really a grownup,” Keith murmurs, tone growing curious and then hopeful as he glances over at Shiro with a small smile. Keith grabs his sleeve, tugging on it slightly, shyness apparently forgotten in his sudden excitement. “That means Bigfoot totally exists too, right? And Mothman?”
“Haven’t found them yet, but maybe you and I can together if we go back to the living room,” Shiro suggests as he reaches a hand out to Keith again, grinning softly at the other boy. Some things really haven’t changed, and Keith is still Keith, just without any of his edges. Shiro can work with that. “It’s probably time for your nap.”
“I’m six and a half!” Keith cries as he takes Shiro’s hand, giving him an exasperated look. He starts yawning a few seconds later though, grip on Shiro’s hand growing a little tighter as they reach the living room and he sees everyone else. Shiro isn’t surprised when he sees Keith dart behind his legs, peeking out from behind them and then hiding behind them again just as quickly. Shiro grins and pushes him toward the other kids, because that’s all he’s ever known to do with Keith. Hopefully he’ll rise to the occasion.