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Forever alone, a ball of ice and snow went hurdling onward through it's endless journey, trailing cosmic dust in its wake. Even Keith had to admit it was a gorgeous sight—a simple rock that had somehow found its own ethereal veil, wrapping it in layers of hope and meaning they had only barely begun to understand through their Altean friends. Keith eased up on the Black Lion, drawing the beast up just alongside the comet, scanners already hard at work trying to find their best shot at a landing.
"Aim for that bluff," Shiro suggested, one arm draped over the back of Keith's seat, the older man studying the screens over Keith's shoulder. "We'll be able to get a good look at the geography from there. Could give us an idea of where to start searching."
The younger man was quiet a moment, gaze drifting to the side to catch Shiro's profile. Shiro's eyes were fixed on the screens, quietly analyzing. But for a moment, all Keith could see was Shiro. Shiro, who always managed to stir that longing inside of him. One that Keith carefully pushed down and away. Why ruin a good thing with uncertainties, after all?
Shiro caught Keith's eye and cast him a questioning look.
"Sounds liked a plan," Keith said quickly, setting those thoughts aside. Instead he pushed forward on the controls, urging the lion onward and to begin his descent. They fell quickly through the strange little bubble of atmosphere that had formed over the surface of the comet. Breathable, Coran and Allura had told them. Breathable and beautiful, this one small heavenly body carried with it the cherished heart of a beloved Altean tradition.
"Karasnacht!" Coran and Allura both cried out that one strange word together in unision, hands clasped together, bouncing on their heels. A simple, childish joy sparkled in their eyes. The rest of the Paladins looked on in confusion, gathered around one of the tables in the mess hall.
"What's Karasnacht?" Shiro asked from his spot between Keith and Hunk, eyebrow arched, voicing the question on everybody's mind.
With the way Allura looked at the group, nearly vibrating with excitement, she must have been waiting her entire life to answer that very question. Or at least since the day she'd awoken to a world where there was no longer an Altea.
"It's Altea's greatest and rarest holiday," Allura started.
"Been over 10,000 deca-phoebs since the last!" Coran's eyes swept over Allura, the older man thrusting a hand out level with her thigh. "The Princess must have been about yea high the last time we the comet appeared." His eyes sparkled while Allura smiled softly at his side. Her own eyes grew distant a moment, as those memories washed over her.
Keith watched on from the side, arms crossed over his chest, a hip tilted against one of the bridge's consoles. He'd never had much interest in holidays, but even he couldn't resist the fond smile that had found its way to Allura's eyes.
"Sooooo, what is Karasnacht?" Lance asked for all of them, venturing forward to Allura's side.
There was a shimmer in Allura's eyes as she gave Lance a small smile, her gaze drifting past him and towards the ocean of stars beyond their bridge. "Karasnacht is unlike any other Altean holiday. It doesn't have any specific day or even general time frame of a deca-phoeb that it falls upon."
"Our best scientists and alchemists have tried for generations to predict it, but that comet is a tricky thing," Coran piped up, twisting his mustache knowingly.
"Karasnacht only begins once the Karas Comet arrives," Allura went on, struggling to even begin to explain the magic of the holiday. Keith glanced around at the others, and they all seemed to be catching on. From the sounds of it, was an incredibly rare thing. Even before Allura and Coran's long sleep.
"And oh, that comet doesn't like to stick to any schedule we can find."
Allura folded her hands before her, looking between the paladins, Shiro, and the Atlas crew watching the exchange in silence.
"Karasnacht is about new beginnings, rebirth, and growth." The woman fell silent a moment, her gaze growing distant as she lost herself in colorful memories of a time long past. Lance's hand was gentle on her arm, and she found herself smiling at him, grateful. "It was a reminder that there's always something new waiting to grow from the ashes of the old. And to never hide from change or opportunities, because it might bring forth something wonderful. Above all, it's about hope."
"Which we celebrate by banging on the narbel drums at the start of every party!" Coran crowed, eyes squeezing shut tight as he slapped out a beat against the imaginary drum, banging out a tune only he could hear.
"Oh, and the Karasnacht cakes." Allura rocked on her toes, clapping her hands together. Hunk perked up at the sound of that.
"And most important of all—" As one, Coran and Allura turned towards each other, reveling in the thrill of a holiday thought lost for so long. "The Comet's Gift!" Their voices rang out in unison, the pair bouncing on their heels as they clasped hands, an aura of infectious cheer sweeping up around them.
"How will we even know it when we see it?"
A 'growing crystal' and 'they'd know it when they saw it'. Mysterious and useless, as far as advice went. But it was all Allura would tell him when Keith asked her what the comet's gift even was.
His question hung between himself and Shiro now, caught in the chill that nipped at his exposed cheeks beneath the young man's helmet. Shiro stood at his side, the pair of them looking over the mounds of snow and ice, shaping a landscape of deep crevices and jutting ridges that reflected the starlight off like diamonds. It was almost like a winter wonderland, if every part of a snow-covered forest were made of crystal and diamond, sending a kaleidoscope of soft colors bouncing back towards them.
Above them, the stars shone almost too bright beyond a faint blue aura that licked at the sky—that shimmery bubble that kept this little piece of paradise whole and stable within the empty vacuum of space. They illuminated the permanent night that fell over the comet, an ethereal light shimmering up from the very ground itself, giving the world a soft, dream-like glow.
"Guess we'll just have to start looking," Shiro said even as the man reached up and undid the fasteners on his helmet. A hiss of air escaping, the suit depressurizing as he tugged it away. The man's grin was broad, shoulders relaxing as he took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with something fresh and natural. "Come on. And shout if you spot something fluffy." The man was in his element as he stepped out into that new landscape, helmet tucked under his arm.
Keith just shook his head faintly, as he fell into step beside Shiro, half-skidding down the powdery hill, the forest of glass rising up ahead of them.
It was a comet full of crystals. They just had to find the right crystal.
"Solmaks are very fluffy, and also very quick. Most of their fur is white, so they'll blend in with the Comet's surface. But keep an eye out for the blue patch on their back. That will stand out," Allura advised, looking between Keith and Shiro for their part in preparations for a good old Altean Karasnacht celebration.
Pidge and Lance were handling the decorating, while Coran was out searching for a proper drum. Because Karasnacht could never happen without the drum. The man had been practicing his air drumming for the past varga now, taking breaks only to share his half remembered recipes and vivid memories of Karasnacht desserts with Hunk. The chef was only too eager to get to work on crafting the perfect Karasnacht feast.
And that had left Shiro and Keith with what Allura had deemed the most important task of all.
The Comet's Gift. The centerpiece of Karasnacht. The very embodiment of rebirth and regrowth and new life. Out here, in the midst of war against the remnants of the Galra Empire, there had never been a more fitting moment to celebrate a message of hope. Hope that there would be something to come after.
"So, we just follow this Solmak and it will lead us right to the gift?" Keith questioned, still rather skeptical about this whole thing.
"Not just follow it!" Shiro and Keith both jumped as Coran burst up between them, throwing his long arms around both their shoulders. "You have to catch the creature. Make it show you the way! No Karasnacht can begin without a good run around, after all. Yes, yes! Just like that!"
Keith let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as Coran slipped around to Allura's side. Her mice had scampered up to her shoulder, the smallest two making a show of tackling Platt down, all three tumbling down and into Allura's waiting hands. Coran bounced his fist off of his palm, cheering the mice on in their enthusiasm.
Shiro just settled a hand on the younger man's shoulder, a quiet reassurance as he gave Allura a warm smile. "We'll find it and be back in no time."
Desperate fingers just barely brushed over a pale strip of blue fur on the creature's otherwise white body, before it darted off again. Shiro was left eating powder, puffs of white bursting up around him as he landed hard in the exact spot the creature had just been lounging in. The man lay there for a moment, sprawled out on his stomach, legs kicking uselessly at the snow. A disgruntled note burst out as Shiro lifted his head, dark eyes narrowing as the creature taunted him.
The Solmak sat right there in front of him, just barely out of arm's reach, tipping its fuzzy little head to the side as if trying to make sense of this human that had come bounding after him. It's long ears twitched over its head, beady black nose wiggling in the air as it stood up high on its hind legs. A long tail curled out behind him, that raised mane of pale blue fur bursting up in a path, running from the back of its neck, all the way to a tuft on the tip of its tail.
Shiro spat out a mouthful of snow, and the Solmak burst into motion, kicking up the soft snow-like substance, camouflaging its escape.
A dozen feet away, and slightly uphill, Keith lay sprawled on his back, staring blindly up at the pretty sky above. A soft puff of air formed over his lips with each breath.
Keith let out a frustrated breath, before shoving himself back up with one thought playing over and over again in his mind. He should have brought Kosmo. The wolf would have caught that speedy space rabbit in an instant.
"This is impossible," he grumbled aloud, rising unsteadily back to his feet, the snowy hillside threatening to send him sprawling again. From nearby, he could hear Shiro's frustrated, but not-giving-up-yet laugh, short and half-hearted. Keith's own lips quirked up as he turned and actually saw the man laying there, spread-eagled in the snow.
Or whatever this white stuff was. Not snow, but more of a soft powdery crystalline substance that wasn't water-based as Coran had put it.
But just calling it snow was so much easier.
Treating it like snow was even better; a fact that Shiro had apparently settled on. Keith quirked an eyebrow at the man, as the older of the pair started sweeping his arms and legs back and forth, delicate wings taking shape in the white powder as his legs left behind the skirts of the snow angel. Playful, childish, but it only drew Keith's attention, that funny little warmth filling his chest that was reserved only for Shiro. Especially the Shiro who left a piece of himself in the snow, shaped as an angel. Shiro lifted his gaze, an easy smile gracing the man's lips as Keith's shadow fell over him, the Paladin crouching down at his side.
"You giving up?" he asked lightly. Keith already knew the answer.
Shiro hummed in response, legs still as he carefully propped himself up on an elbow. "Just taking a well-earned break."
"But we haven't even caught the Solmak yet." A fact neither of them needed to be reminded of. But Shiro just groaned, flopping back down into the print on the snow, bits of powder already clinging to his pale hair.
"We've face-planted enough to catch a dozen space rabbits." His artificial arm drifted up, large fingers wrapping gently around Keith's forearm a moment. The younger man dropped his gaze down to the artificial fingers, mentally preparing himself for the inevitable. It came a moment later as he was tugged off balance, tumbling down into the snow, feet dragging right through Shiro's angel skirt as his shoulder absolutely destroyed one of those wings.
Shiro hardly seemed to mind, the man laughing and Keith tossed his arms up over his face just in time to block the fistful of snow that came crashing down on him. "Hey!" he retorted, indignant, but there was laughter there beneath the annoyance as he shoved himself up, shaking snow from his dark hair. Shiro just flashed him that innocent, carefree smile and Keith's returning grin was downright devious.
The space angel vanished amidst a furious volley of snow, the two men forgetting their mission, Allura and Coran's holiday, and just filling the air with powdery white as they grasped for any handful of snow they could reach. And there was so much of it. Shiro rolled onto his side, propelling himself back up to his feet, stumbling a bit over the loose ground, sending a spray of white at Keith. The young man definitely had the advantage, less worried about getting snow in his eyes as he charged right through the white stuff, helmet and all, stopping short to kick up a pile of snow.
They were two shadows darting amidst the crystalline trees, their images fractured and distorted as they ducked behind one and then another. Tightly packed snowballs flew back and forth, laughter, taunts, and compliments filling the space between each.
"Good throw!"
"Where were you aiming!?"
"Nice use of your surroundings."
"Cheap shot!"
"Going to have to try harder than that!"
It was a subtle change at first, the pair hardly noticed that first vein of pale blue spreading throughout a tree. And then the next and the next; A soft, delicate glow spreading ever outward, a new life breathed up through the roots running deep to the core of the comet. Those blues grew from something deep as the ocean, all the way to tones so pale they were nearly white. Keith's eyes danced from one tree to another, lips slack as he watched the comet awaken, a snowball gripped loosely in his hand.
He knew nothing of Karasnacht, beyond what little Allura and Coran had been able to make out between the descriptions of strange holiday traditions and the excited bouncing or clapping, the pair barely able to contain themselves. But this? All around him? It was something quiet and beautiful and solemn, bringing a strange new life to an astral body that should have been bitter and cold and lonely.
Keith knew bitter coldness. He knew loneliness. The young man had lived with it, nurtured it, accepted that bitter truth for what it was in the years before he'd met his sun. And in that moment, as his back hit Shiro's, the two of them spinning around, pulled like gravity towards each other, Keith knew there was no longer any room in his heart for that frozen chill.
In the same instant their eyes met, Keith's hand moved reflexively, catching the back of Shiro's neck, a handful of snow smooshing harmlessly there, caught against the sealed fabric of the man's spacesuit. White rolled harmlessly down the man's back, but Keith's hand lingered. It lingered as he caught the man's gaze, something tight rising up inside of him, an impulse, a need, a draw that he had spent so much time stamping down on, pushing aside, ignoring because things were already as perfect as they would get.
Though maybe there was something better. Something better as Keith's hand tugged on Shiro's neck, drawing the man down as he tipped his head up and Shiro grunted. The man grunted and jerked back and Keith's heart shattered a little, eyes widening. It was a mistake. A huge mistake. He'd misread. Assumed too much. Reaching too far only to get burned, and...and...
"Ow."
Keith blinked, and Shiro winced, rubbing his nose. His other arm was wrapped loosely around Keith's shoulder. The older man wrinkled his nose, quirking an eyebrow at Keith whose cheeks were flooding with color. Knuckles rapped lightly on his helmet, against the faceplate that had just bumped the older man's nose.
"Oops." Keith cringed, gaze darting away.
Shiro's own cheeks were faintly flushed, eyes warm as his hand fell away from his nose. "Yeah, let's try..." he started, fingers already reaching knowingly for the clasps holding Keith's helmet securely in place. It took little effort to undo them, working from memory of a matching helmet he had once worn, and he tugged Keith's helmet off.
The helmet bumped his leg as Shiro's hover arm dropped down to his side. His other arm wound up, fingers carding gently through Keith's dark hair. Once more, Keith tipped his face up and Shiro leaned down, the two of them meeting halfway with a soft touch of lips. Until Shiro's fingers grazed over Keith's cheek, thumb stroking lightly and they pressed closer, finally giving way to that inevitable step the pair of them had been shying away from for too long already.
All too soon, they were parting with a soft breath, Shiro laughing softly, both of their faces flushed from more than just the chill that permeated the comet. Wrapped in each others arms, the forest glittering gently around them, they were slow to pull apart. Shiro's lips quirked up, eyes shining as he tipped his forehead against Keith's. Keith's hands slid down from their comfortable perch on Shiro's shoulders to rest against his chest, his own smile sheepish. A funny little thrill built in his stomach and he wanted to lean in again, draw out the moment until they forgot why they were there.
"That was nice," Shiro breathed out between them.
Keith hummed in response, leaning back slightly. "I didn't break your nose that time." Shiro barked out a laugh, tugging the man in closer with both arms this time, Keith's helmet bumping his back lightly.
It was only then, as silence fell between the two, that the faint rustling of something digging met their ears. Together, their gazes dropped down to find the space rabbit-like creature pawing steadily, dragging snow away from a narrow spot tucked in the corner between two glowing roots. The Solmak dug its hole deeper and deeper, the snow packed tightly the further down it went.
But it wasn't the hole itself that caught their attention. No, it was the strange vine-like vegetation that had grown up from it. Twisting and twining, little buds of crystals flowering from it, elegant and delicate bursts of life that had found its way here. It stretched up and up and up, wrapping around the tree trunk, twining around its splitting branches. Shiro and Keith lifted their gazes even higher, tipping their heads up. A small smile grew on their lips.
"Think we found our gift," Keith mused.
"Remind you of something?" There was a knowing smile on Shiro's lips, and it was a train of thought Keith could easily match. Once again his hand caught the back of Shiro's neck to tug the man down. This time there were no bumped noses, no painful turns, and just Keith breathing out a simple and direct, 'yep', against Shiro's lips before he sealed that word with a kiss.
Above their heads, crystalline flowers budded in a colorful bouquet of ethereal blues and whites and pinks and purples, edges grazed with powdered snow. And at their center the pale light swirled and shimmered, a sliver of life waiting for the right moment to blossom.
The Atlas' mess hall was near unrecognizable, decorated with festive cloth tapestries of blues and purples, edged with accents of silver and gold. Both crew and visitors sat scattered across the various tables or tore up the dance floor as a small band with a mix of aliens and humans played a jaunty tune. But most spectacular of all was starry sky above all their heads, a holographic projection of dazzling nebulas and shooting stars, painting the image of a living, breathing galaxy filled with life.
And at the very center of the room, bursting up from a large bucket that had been spectacularly decorated by Lance, was the Comet's Gift. Shiro and Keith had debated on exactly how much to bring back to the Atlas and, in the end, Keith had taken only a small cutting—that one burst of flowers they had found hanging low over their heads. Allura had taken it and placed it in the makeshift pot with care, while Coran had knelt down at her side, pouring a pitcher of bubbling liquid over the alien plant. Within a few hours, it had burst up and flowered, vines twisting and coiling until it had a narrow trunk. Delicate branches curving in elegant arcs, weighed down by the living crystal flowers, each aglow with its own light.
Allura's eyes were shining as she sat at a table with the team, taking in the decorations, a part of her childhood brought to life. Coran's grin spread from ear to ear, a finger tugging at his mustache as he regaled the group with tails of Karasnacht celebrations from his youth. Hunk beamed as he passed around plates of food, authentic Altean dishes lovingly crafted with Coran's guidance.
Keith was arguing heatedly with Lance, while Shiro sat beside him, complimenting Pidge on the excellent detail work in the projection tossed up over the ceiling. Beneath the table, a callused hand reached quietly out, twining his fingers with Shiro's metal one. The man smiled softly, gaze flickering over towards Keith who was rolling his eyes at something Lance had just said. But a smile quirked the younger man's lips as he felt a gentle squeeze in return. And though Shiro would never feel the warmth of Keith's skin with his prosthetic fingers, that faint sense of pressure and the memory of a gentle kiss was more than enough.
Neither of them noticed the gentle squeaking beneath the table, or beady eyes blinking up as they processed and acknowledged those joined hands. And then they were scampering back towards a pair of legs, climbing and crawling up Allura as she looked down at them curiously. The mice gathered on the table, waving little paws at her, two of them joining hands and swinging them dramatically.
"Oh, really?" she breathed out quietly. "They are?" Brilliant blue eyes flickered upwards, and for a moment Shiro caught her eye. His gaze slid from Allura, to her mice, and back up again, reading that knowing little smile on her lips. His cheeks flushed slightly, and he just gave a light, helpless shrug as Keith sat obliviously at his side, poking at a mushy something or other on his plate.
"Well, it's about time," she hummed to herself. How fitting that after so many small moments witnessed between the two, it would be a holiday of hope and new beginnings that finally brought them together.