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rubymoon-snape · 1 year

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Chapter Disclaimer: I don't own the supernatural creatures listed in the beginning

Summary: Vampire Keith turns an of age Pidge.

Author Note: This is Kidge with vampire Keith and of age Pidge and was requested by Cmdr_fil.

"A Turn of Events"

Keith never thought he would ever turn someone, especially since he didn't even drink from people. He usually frequented a local blood bank that was friendly to supernatural beings that required blood like vampires, iimpundulu, asema, and the strigoi. Just like vampires, there were some blood sucking creatures that preferred not to take from people. Keith had met a few in passing when he started going to the blood bank. (He even saw a chupacabra once!)

That night started like every other night with Keith waking up and heading to the blood bank. Once he obtained his bag of blood, which he drank there, he normally would take a walk in the city, before going back home. However, he found himself at a park entrance. He cautiously made his way into the park, unsure of what led him there.

There was a smell that wafted over to Keith. He recognized it and relaxed slightly with a small smile on his face. It was his girlfriend, Katie. He had met her online under the name of Pidge on a cryptid website. She was passionate about her beliefs, which initially drew Keith to her. He knew beings that had lived for centuries that didn't have the enthusiasm of an eighteen-year-old tech wiz.

It had been a gamble telling and later showing Katie what he was, but it paid off as she didn't shun him. She got to know him and he her, which involved evening dates. However, it wasn't supposed to be that night, which put Keith slightly on edge. Why was Katie there?

He was about to call out to her when he caught the scent of something he hadn't immediately identified. His eyes narrowed as the scent seemed to be following Katie like it was stalking her. Keith tensed as he was worried about his girlfriend's safety as he finally identified the scent. It was the scent of a fellow blood drinker, a jiangshi.

He was so focused on the jiangshi that he almost didn't catch the scent of the hiding sasabonsam. He tensed as Katie unknowingly walked under the tree the sasabonsam was hiding in.

%%%

Katie hadn't originally had the night off from work, but she worked a shift during the day, so her boss let her have the night off, and she figured she might surprise Keith. She never thought she'd fall for a vampire, but maybe she wasn't entirely surprised. She was passionate about the existence of cryptids, which some people don't believe vampires were a part of. Katie wasn't one of them and was elated to have the knowledge of their existence. She was a lover of knowledge and the process of learning. She always wished she could have the time to learn more.

Cutting across the park was supposed to be a shortcut, and it turned out to be a misstep. She didn't have the enhanced senses her boyfriend did, so she didn't notice either of the blood suckers that closed in on her and eventually attacked.

The sasabonsam jumped down on top of her, and not wasting any time in plunging its iron fangs into the junction between her left shoulder and neck. Katie screamed in shock and pain but was still aware of a thump-thump-thump sound she had somehow not noticed before. A second set of fangs sinking into the other side of her neck wrenched another scream from the teenager.

%%%

Katie's screams enraged Keith, who immediately jumped into action. He grabbed the sasabonsam and ripped its wings off one at a time and snapped its neck with hardly any trouble. He turned to the jiangshi, grabbing it by its hair, which ripped off the decomposing creature. This incensed the raven-haired vampire more and managed to wrap his hand around its neck and tear it away from Katie. He crushed its throat, snapping its neck in one motion.

A wheezing sound caught his attention, hi dropping the dead jiangshi as he turned back to the mortally wounded Katie. He dropped to his knees as his eyes roved over her injuries. The level of emotion in his eyes told Katie that Keith knew what she had already figured out. She was dying.

"At...least...I got...to see you...again," Katie rasped.

Keith gently dragged his cold fingertips down her face in a caress. "I don't want you to leave me."

"We...can't...help that."

"Katie." There was a pause before Keith continued. "If..."

"If...?"

"What about if I turn you?"

"Yes."

The certainty in Katie's voice startled Keith. It hadn't taken her any time in responding to his query. Had she even thought about the ramifications of being turned or was she terrified of death? No, his girlfriend wasn't terrified of dying. Not much terrified her (except for running out of peanut butter).

"Are you sure?"

"Just do it." Katie closed her eyes.

Keith let out a deep breath, more to steady himself than out of any actual necessity, in order to collect his thoughts. He leaned over and as gently as he could slipped his fangs into an unblemished section of Katie's neck.

The gasp that escaped the teen almost caused Keith to dislodge his fangs, but he stayed put. Turning someone wasn't something done light or quickly. The transfer of blood was vital but had to be done in exact timing and sequence or it could end up killing the human. As Katie was dying, it seemed worth it.

After Keith had drank from her for three minutes, he pulled back. He licked his fangs clean as he counted silently to five before digging one of his nails into the opposite wrist. Once he created an opening, he positioned his wrist in front of Katie's mouth, urging her to drink a little.

"Just a mouthful, Katie. Please."

Katie managed to get a mouthful before Keith's wrist healed itself. She swallowed, gagging slightly at the taste of the blood, and minutes later, her body started convulsing. Keith managed to keep ahold of her so she didn't hit her head on the ground as her body changed.

Her skin gradually lost what little color she had to begin with, and Keith could feel her warmth fading as well. He could feel her breathing slow hear and feel her heartbeat diminish.

As he watched his girlfriend change into a vampire, Keith started to worry that she would be angry with him for turning her. He knew it was the only way to save her life and that she agreed to it, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be angry at him. Katie was scary on a regular night; Keith was sure he didn't want to face an angry Katie on this particular night.

%%%

While Keith was noticing the changes his girlfriend was going under, said girlfriend was experiencing the worst pain in her life. Every time she thought she was feeling the worst pain in her life, she was proven wrong. She thought having a long splinter being removed from her foot without anesthesia was bad, but then she broke her arm. She had thought /that/ was bad, but then she was hit with debilitating cramps during her monthly cycles. However, she was fairly certain she was experiencing the worst pain ever.

It had started all at once. There was a tightening in her chest like she couldn't catch her breath. The tightening spread to her extremities, the pressure increasing the longer it went on. Then, just when it seemed like her bones would crack under the pressure, it disappeared, only to be replaced by waves of pain. She couldn't place where it had started, only that she was engulfed in a matter of seconds. That was when she started convulsing. She was vaguely aware of Keith's arms holding her, glad he was there with her, but her thoughts were consumed by even more pain followed by an immense coldness that was so cold it burned. Katie wasn't sure if she could handle any more pain, when it suddenly stopped, and she ceased convulsing. Then, her body went extremely rigid, not even a muscle could twitch. Katie wanted to scream, but she couldn't even open her mouth. Then, everything went black.

The next thing she was aware of was the sensation of a hand running through her short hair. She managed to open her eyes, which landed on Keith, who looked...apprehensive? Katie wasn't sure that was the right word, but it was as close as she would get without knowing what was wrong.

"Keith?"

"Katie, how do you feel?" Keith helped her sit up.

"Sore, honestly...and the park seems different."

"The soreness will fade, and the differences are due to your senses being enhanced."

Keith's answers seemed almost hesitant. "Keith, what's wrong?"

"Are-are you angry with me?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"Because I turned you."

"I'm not angry. After all, I did agree to it."

"But, why?"

"You know I've always had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and never had enough time to learn everything I wanted to and now, I do! Plus I can even experience the changes the future holds. Imagine the advances in technology!"

Keith couldn't help but chuckle at Katie's excitement over new tech. Neither of them had even considered this turn of events happening, but now that it had, both were looking forward to their future together.

Fin

@cmdr-fil

#vld #voltron legendary defender #voltron #pidge #katie holt #pidge gunderson #keith kogane #vld keith #vld pidge #vampire keith #human pidge #aged up Pidge #kidge #keith/pidge #voltron keith #voltron pidge #cryptid #@cmdr-fil

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spacedorksandlions · 1 year

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This is me requesting 1-word kidge prompts in my ask box for this holiday season. I'm not in any writing secret Santa's this year, but I still want to write. (I'll also be working though some ones that have been in my ask box for a while, but I only have like one)

#kidge #mal rambles #please friends

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actress4him · 1 year

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Can I get falling through ice with platonic kidge? Preferably Pidge falling through but I’m good with either!

I’m so sorry that this has taken me...absolutely forever. And I’m sorry that it’s pretty short and simple, I’ve been having a hard time finding inspiration for fanfics lately. But it’s here! And it’s my last current bingo request so yay for finally catching up!

@badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Prompt: Falling Through Ice

contains: lady whump, hypothermia

“I think it’s right over here!” Pidge looks up from the map on her tablet and points straight ahead toward what looks like a series of caves carved into the side of a mountain. Without waiting for a response from Keith, she takes off at a jog, eager as he is to get the mission in this horrible frozen wasteland over and done with.

“Be careful,” he calls after her, but he isn’t sure whether she even hears since the wind chooses that moment to pick up. Not that she would listen, anyway. He knows very well how Pidge is when she gets her mind set on something.

Besides, that’s mostly what he’s here for. Watching Pidge’s back. She’s the little genius who can read the map and work the tracking technology and identify minerals once they actually find what they’re looking for. He just has to make sure that she stays alive and well in order to do all of that.

With that in mind, he breaks into a jog behind her, head swiveling back and forth to take in the empty, snow covered expanse of planet as they go. There’s no sign of life anywhere. He really doesn’t expect to see any the whole time, he doesn’t know what could even live in this freezing weather. And they’re far from Galra territory, so they shouldn’t be a problem, either. Still, he’s going to remain vigilant, just in case.

The ground under his feet changes, and he slows a little, frowning down at it. Ice. Not icy ground, just straight up ice, like they’re walking on a frozen lake. With the temperature this low, it should be plenty solid, but…

He switches his comms on since Pidge is too far ahead to hear his voice. “Hey Pidge, you might want to slow down a litt-”

His warning is interrupted by a loud, heart-stopping cracking sound, and an almost simultaneous screech that he hears both over the comms and cutting through the wind. Breath catching in his throat, he looks up just in time to see his teammate plunge down through the ice.

“Pidge!”

Ignoring his own warning, Keith dashes forward, feet slipping slightly with each pounding step. There isn’t any time to waste, that water will be frigid and she’s got on her armor but he doesn’t know how well it protects against being submerged and she has her faceplate open…

As he draws closer he can both hear and feel the ice weakening under his feet. Forcing himself to slow down, he inches a bit further before sprawling on his stomach, spreading his weight out across more surface, and starts scooting forward like an insect.

“Pidge!” He can see her head. That’s the only thing that’s keeping him from panicking right now. She managed to get her arms out before she fell completely down into the water and caught herself. If she’d gone all the way down and disappeared beneath the ice…he shook the thought out of his head, refusing to dwell on it. “I’m coming, just hang on.”

“K-k…K-Keith…” She’s already shivering, dang it. “Some…some water g-got int-to my…my…”

“Okay. I understand, it’s okay.” It’ll be fine, he just has to get her out of there and get her back to Red. If there’s one thing Red knows, it’s warmth.

He reaches the edge of the hole after what feels like ages of crawling. “Okay. I’m gonna close your faceplate, just in case you were to slip down any further, okay?” He isn’t sure if what he sees is a quick nod or just a shiver, but he does it anyway, feeling minutely better when she’s sealed off from any more cold water getting into her suit.

“Alright. Time to get you out of there.” He hasn’t actually figured out how exactly that’s gonna happen yet, but it only takes a second of consideration for it to come to him. “If I turn around, do you think you can grab on tight to my ankles?”

“Y-y-yeah.”

“Okay. I’m gonna use my jetpack, so make sure you get a good grip.” Painstakingly, trying not to go too fast but feeling the urgent need to get her out of there, he spins himself on the ice until his feet are in front of her. Pidge pries one arm away from the ice, then another, latching onto his ankles with what he’s sure are stiff fingers.

He just hopes this idea is actually a good one, and that she can hang on.

“Here goes!” Keith activates his jetpack, and he goes shooting forward on his belly across the ice. Thankfully, he feels Pidge’s weight come with him. As soon as he’s certain they’re clear of the hole and back on more solid ice, he cuts the jetpack off and quickly sits up. Pidge has rolled over onto her side and curled up into a ball.

“Hey.” He scoots back toward her, looking her over, though he’s not sure what he expects to see. She’s not injured, just freezing. “You okay?”

A shiver racks her body. “Mm-hm. P-peachy.”

It was a stupid question. “Um. I don’t think I should call Red over here, not with this ice. Is it okay if I carry you back?”

“W-w…what ab-bout th-...the m-min-nerals?” She cranes her head to look toward the caves they’d been headed toward.

Keith rolls his eyes. “I’m taking you back to Red to warm up. If we think we can get the minerals after that, fine. But we’re not doing anything else until you’re safe.” Holding out his hands to her, he waits until she accepts them, then pulls her up and loops her arms over his shoulders. “One, two, three.” Pidge helps as best she can to get them up, Keith on his feet with his hands hooked under her thighs and her hanging onto his back.

“You g-good?”

He nods. “I’m fine. You hardly weigh anything.”

She slaps him weakly on the helmet as if that’s an insult.

“Alright, it’s gonna be slow going until we get off this ice. Don’t need a repeat incident.”

He picks his way carefully across the terrain, wishing that there was any way to make this trip go faster. His jetpack won’t carry the both of them, though, and hers is frozen and useless. Every once in a while, he asks her a question, usually checking to see if they’re going the right direction, though it’s mostly just to make sure she’s still awake and aware. The longer they go, the more fuzzy her responses become, and since they’re no longer on the ice he forces himself into a faster trot.

By the time Red’s welcome form looms through the falling snow, Keith’s exhausted, but he just pushes himself a little harder still. “Almost there. Stay awake.”

“Mm.”

“I mean it, Pidge. If you fall asleep on me now I’ll, uh…I’ll rearrange stuff in your lab when we get back.”

“Nuhh. You woul’n’t.”

“I will. Stay awake.”

“Ugh. ‘Kay.”

She barely does. Keith practically runs up Red’s ramp, into her blessedly warm cockpit, and lowers Pidge into the pilot’s seat as carefully as he can on trembling legs. Her head lolls to the side, but when he taps the side of her helmet she grunts at him and squints her eyes open.

“Are we home?”

The corner of his mouth crooks up a little. “We’re in Red.” He glances up at the ceiling. “Can we crank up the temperature in here?”

The Lion gives a quiet rumble in response, and the room grows a little warmer.

Keith looks back to Pidge. “Feeling any better yet?”

She smiles a little and shuts her eyes again. “Mm. ‘t’s warm…”

“Yeah. We should probably get you out of those wet clothes, but I don’t have anything for you to change into.”

“Feels good. Jus’ need…five more minutes. Then…then minerals.”

He huffs in disbelief. “You need a lot more than five minutes, Pidge. I think I’m gonna take you back to the Castle. We can come back for the minerals later. I don’t wanna risk you getting sick out here.”

Pidge sighs heavily, but she’s in no shape to put up a fight. “Fine. I’m gonna…take a nap.”

Keith laughs lightly. “I guess you can do that.” Now that they’re out of the cold, he’s pretty sure she’ll be safe. “Not in my chair, though. I’ll take you back to the cargo hold.”

He helps her up, and she manages to hobble to the back with one arm around him. As he’s getting her settled, she reaches out and pats him on the arm without opening her eyes.

“Thanks, Keith. You’re…a good teammate.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, simply staring down at her in surprise. Finally he relaxes a little into a smile. “Get some sleep, Pidge.”

#badthingshappenbingo #bad things happen bingo #falling through ice #voltron: legendary defender #voltron whump #pidge whump #katie holt #voltron pidge #hurt pidge #lady whump #hypothermia #vld #voltron fanfiction #voltron fic

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godestof3worlds · 1 year

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Just wanted to say, thanks for writing the vampire Kidge on ao3.

Hey, no problem! Thank you for requesting it and I'm glad you liked it! :)

#ask answered #answered ask

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man4jiro · 2 years

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◞✧°→ lovecore and mermaidcore kidge icons

↻ for @afrolatinaorihime; like/rb + credit if using

#vld #vldedit #kidge #keith kogane #pidge holt #ship icons #icons #request #mywork

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fuckthisshitimin · 3 years

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Kidge soulmate AU for @flannelfangirl!

46: You feel intense pain in your soul when your soulmate is in life-threatening danger

Curses & Blessings

He dreams of heavy rainfalls and the slow murmur of water in the gutter, of the fresh air the raindrops would move, falling from the sky, and the distinctive smell they would leave behind them.

It’s not that Keith is really familiar with rain, being raised in the desert, but he finds the thought reassuring. Water, in all its forms, always had a special place in Serrano’s stories. Keith never knew the downpours he described, the unforgiving rainstorms that would risk flooding cities, drowning every person, every building in its chanting grumble, before leaving it shiny and washed out, the puddles on the pavement reflecting a timid sun. But he is turning eighteen, and this means The House doesn’t have anything to offer him anymore. And this, means he can go wherever he wants. Leave the desert and the memories, the other kids and the books he read countless times. His childhood.

Keith didn’t, by any mean, have a “peaceful childhood”. If being dragged back and forth from The House to Other Houses wasn’t enough, you could mention the familiar, excruciating pain that had him screaming every now and then as a “disturbing element”. It’s a word adults like to use around him. This must be disturbing. He must be disturbed. Now that he’s eighteen, he’s thinking about getting a tattoo saying DISTURBED. The attacks of pain happen without foreshadowing, failing to follow any pattern he or The House’s doctor could think of. Maybe a chronic illness? She said, and left it at that.

So Keith’s mother is dead, his father is dead, and as far as he is concerned, his soulmate is dying.

This isn’t the kind of happy childhood they try to promote on The House’s website, of course, but still, as he packs all the little things he came to call his, it tinges in his chest. That’s not a perfect childhood, but that’s his. His whole world, his support system, as deficient as it can be, his minuscule universe.

“You know we have a spare bedroom.”

And at the center of his teeny-tiny universe stands the strong figure of Shiro, somehow unshaken by the winds howling in the desert.

“I don’t want to take your future kid’s room. I’ll be okay.”

That doesn’t ease the look of concern on Shiro’s face, and as the years passed, it became more evident how he could be the strongest person Keith ever met, him who did not have powers. Other adults of The House had hair like ropes that could catch you and get you back into your room, voices that could silence yours, nails sharp as razor blades or hard skins or eyes that could make you forget your own name if you weren’t careful. Shiro was human all the way, from his fragile soul to his deteriorating body. Yet, taking just a glance at him, Keith is overwhelmed by a wave of admiration, digging in the quiet strength emanating from the man.

“If you stayed, you’d be a great big brother to them.”

Keith smiles, and he closes his bag. It’s unsurprisingly light, balancing his heavy heart as he walks towards the door. He said goodbye already. Shiro is the last one he’ll see. The man follows, they walk into the blazing sun.

Keith is heading North. He craves the rains and the forests and the cold he heard of. Maybe he’ll find Serrano, too. He doubts that, but that would definitely be a nice twist of fate.

“I want to see the world. But I’ll come to visit.”

“You better. You have my number, right?”

Maybe his most prized possession. He knows it by heart, now, but he won’t let go of that notebook. He hasn’t figured out what he wants to write inside it yet, but there is Shiro’s number and address on the first page. They’re also written in his medical file, as his emergency contact, but that’s not quite the same. It’s mixed with social security numbers and diagnosis and prescriptions.

The sound of a jingle-tingle, a twinkle, the metallic and distinctive sound of keys taken out of Shiro’s jacket pocket.

“I probably shouldn’t give you that.”

The worn-out leather keyholder is easily recognizable, and upon looking around The House’s parking lot, Keith finds the only bike he’s even drove. Pitch black and well taken care of, old but reliable. He makes a move to grab the keys, and Shiro takes them away from reach.

“You have to promise me that you will not drive through the pain.”

If anyone knows about chronic pain, it’s probably Shiro. He’s going through that, too. At least Shiro knows what is going on inside his body. Keith can only hope he finds out before it’s too late.

He fears the day the pain will stop. He read about that. How it gets worse, and worse, and worse, and then nothing. There isn’t a climax. It just. Stops. Suddenly, the pain is gone, and even if one second ago you were wishing with all your might that it would cease crushing your bones and your soul, even if you were whining and crying for anything to soothe the ache, you wish it would come back.

Keith can’t fathom that there is something worse than this pain.

Yet, this is what people say. It’s suddenly empty. A void. It’s like every thing that hurt is just gone, and you know it’s forever. Your soul doesn’t hurt anymore, of course, but that’s because you do not have a soul left.

The death of a soulmate is not something Keith would wish to his worst enemy.

“I promise.”

He grabs the keys. He drives North. He wonders if his soulmate’s heart beats a bit faster, when he drives off-grid.

They dream of rocks, and dust, and warmth, about lizards sleeping under the sun, they dream about all the things they cannot see from their window. It’s easier to sneak out at night, when their parents are sleeping and their brother pretends to not hear a thing.

They know how the moon feels like when it caresses their skin, soft and light like white silk on a windy day. They know the constellations and the wetness of the grass at four in the morning, the silence of the night, subtly disturbed by the passing owl or the cars far away.

They like the mud between their toes, even though their insides disagree so much with the outside.

Pidge is mostly an indoor person. If they have a familiar enough room and a computer, they can go weeks without taking a breath outside. But eventually, this happens. It’s something like a call, a soft buzzing beneath their skin that draws them to the garden where the plants rest.

It has been a while since this feeling was new, but they were not always like that. The voice that takes them outside, it wasn’t always a part of them. It’s an addition. A side effect of the treatments.

October has come and passed, the leaves fell from the trees, brown and dead, and now that the garden is being put to sleep, the stars seem somewhat further away than before. The grass is freezing cold beneath Pidge’s feet, and it would be very bad if they caught a bad cough.

Even if they know this much, they can’t find it in themselves to retrieve to the winter garden their mom is keeping. Right now, it feels like they are breathing, unhindered for the first time in forever. They feel free, and the little voice inside, the one that sounds like rain in the forest, is chanting a happy melody Pidge is the only one to hear.

Fifteen going on sixteen, they feel cured.

They run out of the garden and into the fields, welcoming the crispy air brushing their lips, messing with their hair and they only stop at the edge of the forest, out of breath, almost crying from the draining. It’s going to be bad, they think, but they don’t feel like going home. Or, this feels more like home than their bedroom right now, and they let sleep wash over them in a quick wave of dizziness, closing their eyes. The last thing they see is the dark edges of the naked trees, tall sharp silhouettes cutting through the distant sky.

The first thing they see, after that, is green. Pines and moss.

Pines, in the distance, and moss so close. It’s covering the undergrowth, and their arms. They feel it, soft and itchy, on their cheeks, around their neck, beneath their clothes too, and they are not cold. They can see the air coming out of their mouth, white with condensation as it meets the outside of their body. But their throat doesn’t hurt like it should, they don’t feel feverish or tired.

They look at the forest, and then at the fields. They should go home, but the voice is still here. A strong instinct telling them to go further into the woods.

It’s quieter than the night before, and they manage to fight it, to convince it that they can come back here later, and explore these wilds as much as the voice wants, after having breakfast and reassuring their family that they are okay.

It’s a long walk, longer than what hey remembered from the night before, but they make it to the porch of their home as the sun slowly disappears beneath heavy, dark clouds. They don’t know how much the moss would have protected them from that.

“Matt?”

It would be easier, if they could face him before facing their parents, but the sound of the door opening already has their mother running down the stairs as they talk. Colleen is quick to grab her child by the arm, to take them into a long, warm embrace.

“Where the hell were you?”

“The edge of the forest, the—”

“And you’re covered in moss, did you have a crisis?”

Colleen holds their face in her hands, and Pidge can feel her nails starting to dig between the moss and their skin, trying to wash them from the plants.

“Mom, don’t tear it off my skin, it hurts!”

“You had me worried sick, you have no idea.”

Pidge sighs, taking a step back to free themselves from the contact.

“I’m fine.”

They hope the moss will fall on its own, though. It’s not exactly discreet, and as it is, the thing that was supposed to allow them to go outside might just make them a perfect target for monster hunters.

He found the rain and he found the cold, he found the heavy clouds his soul longed for, and the long roads, and the so-tall trees, he found it all.

He could smell it with his eyes closed, had he not found trouble so soon after meeting Freedom.

The North is an unwelcoming place, this much he thought he knew, for people of his kind, yet he was not prepared. The rain pouring down and the sound of gunfire. He never was one to know how to hide in the rain. His hunters were familiar with the landscape, with the weather and the scent. Petrichor, he remembers it is called, but he cannot smell it with his eyes closed, only disinfectant, chemicals, and the distinctive smell of a room that doesn’t have any window. He’s laying on a hospital bed, and he feels a needle going up his arm.

He remembers the few months he spent driving the lonely roads.

He remembers during those months he felt nothing at all. Not an inch of pain, and the certainty that it must be too late now.

He could not search the world for someone that was already dead, and as he thinks his time is quickly approaching, he’s somewhat glad that no one will have to suffer from that. He doesn’t know what it would feel like, to know that somewhere your soulmate is dying a slow death.

They lied, he thought. The people that told him he would feel it, if his soulmate was to pass away. That the pain would come to a brutal stop. It didn’t. It stopped like it had stopped many times, a slow de-escalation, and it just never came back. It said see you later and it closed the door.

Now he can open his eyes and see a man in a white laboratory coat. His eyes are sharp, his hands large. And he smiles at Keith.

“You’re awake.”

Pidge never felt that before. It’s tugging at their chest. It’s heavier than they imagined, pinning them to the ground. It’s a pain so loud they don’t hear their own voice screaming.

There was no build-up to this, no hints of what was coming before it is here. It’s not their throat nor their lungs, it’s utterly unfamiliar, new. It’s painful and it’s urgent. It sends panic running down their veins, horror filling their brain, and they breathe harder and harder as a hand finds its way to their back.

“Mom! Mom, Pidge’s puffer, now!”

Matt’s voice barely makes it through the pounding of their heart, it’s faint and blurry, but the words are familiar enough to make it out without fully hearing. Their puffer, he said? No, no. They know it’s not that. Moss is spreading on their legs, vines tangling around their chest, but the pain they are fighting is not within them, it comes from further away.

They learnt how to deal with the pain. It never gets easy, it’s barely bearable, but it’s somehow manageable. The pain is not something they can control, or keep at bay if they scream hard enough. But the fear? That is something they can deal with.

Do not panic. Do not give yourself up to panic.

They open their eyes. They can see the floor, really close.

What is your name?

Pidge. Holt.

Simple questions, to remind themselves they know how to think.

Where are you?

Home. First floor. Corridor.

The brain works like that. There is a part for emotions, and another for thinking. They just have to turn that switch. The pain makes it harder. But the best way to stop panicking is through mental exercise.

18x52?

520, 40, 16, 936.

72/3?

12, 4, 60, 20, 24.

What is happening?

Their breathing is calmer already. They open their mouth, find themselves unable to speak. They reach out for Matt’s hand. They squeeze it a bit too hard. He doesn’t let go.

“Soulmate,” Pidge says, and it doesn’t do any good to the ache in their chest, but the panic that fills the room regresses to a manageable level. “I’m okay.”

What they really mean is, their own life isn’t in danger, but they are not, by any means, okay. Their soulmate is in danger.

The always found it cruel. This whole soulmate-thing. You can be very aware that one of the most important people in your life is dying, and the pain that crushes you prevent you from helping them. Trying to save them. You are trapped inside your pain, useless. Even if Pidge knew who their soulmate was, what was the danger and where to find them, they could not move to help them. Speaking is hard enough, and they think they are calm enough to try a breathing exercise. Visualize the pain. It’s a red ball of fire in their chest. Now, every breath they take comes towards it, it’s fresh, it takes a bit of the pain, and as they breathe out, it helps the pain go away. Do that again. The green, cold air circles around the ball of fire. It weakens it. Slowly.

They find they are good enough to get up, to cross eyes with their mom and reassure her with a weak smile. Matt’s hand is under their armpit, holding them up as he takes her towards their room, helping them to sit down on the bed.

Soon their mother joins, a pill in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Pidge swallows it swiftly, disappointed the pain doesn’t go away immediately. They have no idea how long they have been hurting, but they are exhausted. If the opium takes more than half an hour to kick in, they’ll probably pass out before that.

But as they form this thought, the pain regresses. It’s still there, holding a firm grip on their heart, but they can talk. Look down to meet Matt’s worried gaze.

“Fuck, Matt, I can’t believe you live with that.”

Of course, they always knew it was hard. But whenever the pain would hit him, Matt just curled up in bed, crying silently. Pidge can’t believe he didn’t scream.

“You get used to it.”

They don’t want to get used to it. Especially knowing what they know. They see how worried Matt looks, constantly. How the fear of a dying soulmate eats him alive. Their own soulmate must know that fear, too. They wish the lack of attacks in the last few months reassured them. Well, if they don’t die today.

Like raspy claws squeezing their insides, slowly, deliberately. Their soulmate is still alive. They hold on to that thought.

“I’m sorry, Matt.”

He looks at them, a baffled look over his face. And then a small smile, crooked, personal, familiar.

“There’s nothing you can do about it.”

They wish there was. Anything.

The sound of the car outside disturbs their silence, and the door is quick to open. Too quick, Matt thinks. Their father is running.

“Colleen, I need you in the lab! Pidge, you too, I’ll need your new monitor. Matt, prepare the spare room.”

They try to get up, but a hand holds them down.

“I’ll go. I know how to use your stuff.”

“The pain is almost gone, I can help.”

“Your legs are shaking. Trust me, you need the rest.”

They look down to their lap, to see their brother is right. To be fair, they don’t even feel their legs. That’s probably not a good sign, either. They nod.

“OK. I’ll come down in five.”

“I found him on the road. Almost hit him with the car, actually.”

Colleen sighs, looking at the kid her husband brought in. He seems to be approximately the same age as her own, but it’s hard to tell with all the mud on his face. Pidge’s monitor in hands, Matt checks his energy levels.

“Yep, he’s definitely not full human. I’ve never seen readings like this, it looks like his body is overcompensating. He’s not stable.”

Samuel nods, carefully preparing the solution for the perfusion. Lucky for them, the kid had his bag on him, and a handful of papers identifying him. Emergency contact info, too, and his medical records. It says he reacts well to generic power inhibitors, no specific allergies. It seems like the kid was born like that.

“What made you think he was abnormal?”

“He burned my car seat. I just needed confirmation this was within him naturally, and not some sort of burning fluid someone would have poured over him. Okay, perfusion ready, Matt, put on gloves and hold his arm. Thermoisolant.”

Colleen looks down on the kid for a moment. She doesn’t know how he ended like this for sure, but she has and idea. Monster hunters have been spreading like wild-fire in the area. Killing abnormal people is back in fashion, it seems.

“I’ll go back upstairs to call this… Takashi Shirogane. Call me if you need help.”

“Sure. Matt, how are the readings?”

“He’s responsive. His energy level’s going down. Body temperature, 48 Celsius. 47. 45. 42. 41. 39.”

Samuel nods, moving around the lab to find a new syringe. He doesn’t know what happened to this kid, but blood analysis seems appropriate. His records say he left his House four months ago, and there is no entry whatsoever between that date and today. Maybe he just escaped from a facility where they ran experiments on him. That wouldn’t be unheard of.

“He stays stable at 39 degrees Celsius. Do we try to lower it more?”

“No, for all we know, this could be him normal temperature. I’ll need a towel and a bassine, though, to clean him up a bit, can you get me that? Oh, Pidge. Matt said you were resting.”

They smile, giving a soft bump into Matt’s shoulder as he walks by them to get out of the lab.

“I was. You’ve been down here for almost an hour. Mom said you looked stress, so I brought snacks.”

“You know we don’t eat in the lab.”

“We’ll clean up thoroughly afterwards. Mom was right, you look tired. There’s coffee, too.”

Samuel rolls his eyes, accepting one of the mugs as his child proceeds to seat very unprofessionally on a working table, opening a chocolate bar. Colleen had said Pidge had had a soulmate-pain episode, so he could let this much slide for today. It is an unusual day.

He stops after only a sip of the burning beverage, though, as his monitor picks on something changing.

“Oh, I think he’s waking up.”

Pidge stays put, bending over to get a better look at the sleeping face. That’s someone like them. They don’t know how, but they feel it. It’s like the plant inside them is growling, calling out to this other being, this stranger that already feels like family. Pidge never met anyone like them.

Eyes, open, dark and so blue they almost look purple, but Pidge blames it on a trick of the light. He looks at their father, and Samuel smiles in response.

“You’re awake.”

There is someone behind him. Keith can feel them. He looks down at his hands. They aren’t tied. From what he feels, he’s been administrated a power inhibitor. They probably thought that was enough to render him harmless. And that was a mistake they were going to regret.

He needs his whole body to be ready before he starts moving. If they see it coming, he might just waste his only shot at escape. He looks around a bit more. Between himself and the only door, the one like him. They don’t seem dangerous, but they are powerful. Not to be underestimated. On the other side, the man in the lab coat, computer screens, surgery tools. He has no idea what is going on in their crazy minds, but he doesn’t want to stick around to find out.

He takes a moment to visualize his future movements. When it’s clear in his head, he’s quick.

Up, perfusion, scalpel, lab coat, neck, operation table, scalpel again.

“What the fuck, dude?”

Now he’s by the door, and whoever that kid is stares at him, bewildered. Eyes big and sandy like the desert, green veins, no, green vines crawling under their skin, threatening to pierce the surface and attack him.

“No funny business or he dies.”

A shadow passes over the sandy eyes, and soon their hands are up.

“OK.”

He hears something coming from upstairs, a heavy sound like something falling to the floor, a voice.

“How many people are upstairs?”

“Just one person.”

“I feel like you’re lying.”

“Two, if you count the dog.”

Pidge does their best to keep a straight face. For now, they only heard their mother – or at least, they assume it was her. Their father has a scalpel to his throat. That should do the trick for soulmate pain. They just hope Matt stays discreet.

“We mean you no harm. If you release him, you can be on your way out.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Yeah, I got that much.”

They bite their lips. Screw their mouth. They are stressed, and tired. It’s harder to control themselves like that. And the vines want to come out, but they have no doubt the man before her will consider it a threat, probably worth killing their father. He doesn’t let go of his grip over Samuel’s unconscious body, walking backwards the stairs, not letting Pidge leave his sight. And Pidge sees her.

Colleen Holt, in her furious glory. Mouth taped to prevent herself from screaming, a hand clutching at her shirt where the heart is. The other one holding a gun. Finger on the trigger.

Her figure looks so pained Pidge feels their chest tightening just watching it. Or maybe their chest is really tightening. Colleen will pull the trigger before she is seen. And it hurts. And Pidge’s eyes widen against their best efforts to keep a straight face, and they are thinking so fast it makes their head dizzy. They can’t help but look at their mother, and they know the man is noticing, and they don’t know how they came to this conclusion but their chest hursts and something in their mind clicks and they jump before they really decided to.

“Mom, no!”

And soon their hand is on the scalpel, their father released, and the pain in their chest is a bit lighter as their mother pulls the gun away to not shoot her child. They know Matt got here, too. He’s waiting for someone to tell him to move, probably. But Pidge can handle it, they just have to prevent their mother to shoot the man they are fighting, and as he uses them as a living shield, they find this is the perfect situation. They feel him tense as the scalpel is now on their throat, Samuel forgotten at the bottom of the stairs.

The kid didn’t prove to be as much of a hassle as he thought they would be. Their body covers itself in vines and moss, but it’s not attacking him. Maybe they aren’t trained for combat?

As he wants to move up the stairs, face half-hidden behind the kid’s shoulder, scalpel on their throat and absolutely ready to kill them and fly if it comes to this, the pain is back.

It’s been gone for four months. Why come back now?

He takes a sharp breath, trying hard not to close his eyes. He’s used to it. He can run through it. He needs to. He wonders if his soulmate is feeling that he’s in danger, too. If they wonder what he’s gotten himself into.

“It hurts, right? Your chest?”

The voice is hoarse and careful, and he tightens his grip on the kid as they snicker.

“I think…” they try to cough, but they can’t. “I think you’re my soulmate.”

He frowns, and their head shift slowly to try to face him. He feels the scalpel cutting through the skin, not deep enough to be deadly in the short term, but it’s bleeding over his hand, it’s getting slippery. The sandy eyes find his, and as he scans them for any malevolent intent, he can only find sincerity, fear, determination.

“I could just have let my mother kill you. Or my brother shoot you in the back as soon as you climbed those stairs.”

He knew there was someone else. He wasn’t careful enough. But why would they tell him? That’s risking too much.

They’re risking too much. But something in their guts tell them it’s worth it. The pain in their chest comes to a halt. The man takes the scalpel off their throat. And all at once, the pain fades away. He must feel it too.

He looks at them with incredulous eyes, and they smile at him, exhausted and satisfied.

“What are you?”

His body is warm against theirs, and it feels strong. And the pain is entirely gone. And god, they are tired.

“I’m Pidge,” they manage, “and falling.”

“Fall-”

The next days pass in a haze.

Colleen informs them that Takashi Shirogane is on his way.

Pidge spends a lot of time in bed. They go through Keith’s medical files. Not the confidential stuff, but the soulmate-pain records. Well, they guess that would be confidential too, under other circumstances.

They match their worst attacks. They knew it was bad. They always knew. They always knew that they could have died multiple times. But the record is still a shocker. They could have died so many times. Statistically, they should be dead. They have no idea how they could escape death this many times.

Their father said they were always a strong kid, too stubborn to die.

Pidge doesn’t know if that’s right. What, does that mean that kids who die from asthma and anaphylactic shocks are weak? No. This happens. The ones who die are unlucky.

And Pidge? They are the luckiest bitch alive.

Keith is mostly confined to his room, too. Nobody told him anything about not getting out, but he almost killed two out of the four inhabitants of this house. He guesses why they wouldn’t want to stumble upon him on the kitchen.

Samuel still treated his injuries, and to Keith’s surprise, he didn’t seem even a little bit scared. Like he trusted him.

This family may not be crazy in the way Keith first imagined, but they sure as hell aren’t normal people.

And there is Pidge.

Finding your soulmate by almost killing them.

Nice work, Kogane.

They’re… Not what he expected.

He didn’t know what he expected really. Probably someone more… traumatized. Scared. They brushed with death so much throughout their life. He would have imagined they kept scars.

He thought maybe they would be a recluse child with a horrible disease. Or maybe a fighter whose eyes would be filled with the blood they poured.

He did not expect someone who could smile so easily. Someone so open.

Someone who would knock on his door and enter without waiting for an answer, someone who would sit on his bed and try to reassure him.

Someone who would talk or mumble for hours on end if no one stopped them.

And more than that, he didn’t expect himself to be that way. He didn’t think he could be so natural around someone else than Shiro. He thought this kind of things took time.

And yet, he doesn’t even bother trying to answer to the knocking on the door before Pidge comes in, he just sits a bit straighter. When Pidge will be seated, he’ll relax. They sit on the desk this time, their hands fiddling with their monitor.

“Shirogane should be here in an hour.”

He nods, breathes out as his muscles relax and he sits deeper into the bed, looking at the ceiling.

“Did you decide what you wanted to do?”

There is a lot he has to do. Finding his bike and fixing it. If someone has taken it, he’ll have to track them down. Catching up on the monster-hunting situation, since he clearly isn’t as well informed as he thought. Finding a pied-a-terre, maybe, somewhere he could come back to when he needs some rest.

Five months on the road have him tired. He knows he misses the way The House made him feel. There was a sense of belonging, a sense of home that he failed to find anywhere else. Freedom was intoxication, but now that he takes the time to think, he comes to the conclusion he would like something he could call home again.

“I guess I’ll move to the East a bit.”

That’s somewhat random, but he likes how it sounds. Moving towards the rising sun.

“You’re not settling down any time soon, are you?”

He shifts on his bed to look at his soulmate. They crossed their legs underneath them, and he wonders how this position can be comfortable enough. They don’t seem to mind.

“I don’t think so.”

“Here’s my number.”

They write it down on a piece of paper, crush it into a tiny ball between their fingers before sending it his way. He catches, unfolds it to check it is still legible. His soulmate sighs.

“I don’t like that you don’t have a phone.”

“What, afraid I’ll disappear on you?”

“Maybe. You came in like a bullet, you’ll be out like a bullet. Plus, you’re so careless you look like someone with a death wish, I don’t really look forward to feeling you die and not even being able to attend your fucking funeral.”

He ponders it for a bit. Getting a phone, uh? That could be an idea. He’d need to find a job first. He doesn’t even know what he should do to get a phone to work. Well, he knows how he can buy a phone, but how does he get a phone number? You can’t buy those in stores, can you?

“I don’t have a death wish.”

“Prove it.”

“I don’t have anything to prove to you.”

“Don’t you?”

They snicker, and he wonders if he’s the only one who thinks this conversation is serious. They don’t strike him as the frivolous kind, but he could be surprised. They’re talking about the future. And fuck if he has a clue what it holds.

“I’ll become a hunter hunter,” he says, and he had not decided it before saying it.

“You say you don’t have a death wish and then you say that? Dude, do you hear yourself? You don’t even know what you’re after. I’ve lived here forever. When my parents turned me into an Abnormal, or a Cursed Child, or a Monster or whatever you call it, we prepared ourselves to face that. I can’t believe The House just let you run off like your life isn’t in danger out there.”

“Are you… asking me to stay?”

“No.”

“To take you with me?”

“God, no. You may be my soulmate, but you threatened to kill me three days ago. I am not going on a suicide-trip with a hunter hunter to be. And you should find another name than hunter hunter, it sounds stupid.”

He scowls, reluctant to admit they are right. He didn’t realize upon saying it, but hearing it, hunter hunter does sound lame.

“You basically put your life in mortal danger to prove a point to me. I’m sorry if I don’t have much trust in your survival instincts either.”

“It was the most efficient way to prove I’m your soulmate. And I needed confirmation, too.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t justified. We could be two suicidal anti-heroes on a bike.”

They laugh, and he smiles along. It feels nice, to be the one causing that. They bite their lips.

“Damn, you’re smiling. Who knew you could do that?”

“I smile a lot. You’re just not as funny as you think you are.”

He sits up on his bed, looking at the clock. Pidge said in an hour or so, right? He has no idea what he’s going to tell Shiro. He refused to talk to him on the phone. He knew he couldn’t have convinced him to stay away.

“I am a paragon of humor. And you have a severe case of resting bitch face.”

Pidge’s voice dig him out of his thoughts, and he turns to look at them.

“Excuse me, what?”

“You are excused.”

They get up, too, moving away from the desk and towards the door. They stop just before leaving, turning around.

“I didn’t ask you to stay, but if you want to, this room can be yours for a while. I’m turning sixteen next week.”

“You want me to wish you a happy birthday?”

“At least send a card. I’m staying here for a year, my mother will train me. After that I’ll settle in an isolated house in the forest. I don’t know where exactly yet. I don’t plan on living in the human society, but if I’m good enough, I hope I can join the rebels.”

“The rebels?”

“God, you really were raised in the desert. How much contact did you have with the outside world when you were in The House?”

“None.”

“So you’re basically Rapunzel. Divide to reign, you heard about that? A house divided cannot stand?”

He nods. He’s familiar with the concept.

“Well that’s what’s happening right now. That’s why there are so many hunters. Because the world is falling apart and it has to be someone’s fault. It might as well be ours. How did you not notice that everything is crazy out there?”

He gets up, more curious than ever. Shiro never told him about that. He does think the world is crazy. But he thought… he thought it was how the world works. Violence and crazy and not trusting anyone. They put a hand on their hip, cocking their head to the side as he stares.

“Listen, I don’t want to spoil your character development or whatever, you better have your exploring arc on your own. I have a shitton of opinions and it’d be bad if I stained your precious innocent judgement. But whenever, you know you can crash here. And when I’ll have my own place, you can crash there, too.”

“If I have a place, someday, you can crash there too if you want.”

“That’s a lot of ifs, but I’ll take it.”

They disappear into the corridor, and he looks at his bag.

He feels calmer than before. Maybe he doesn’t need to find a home right now. Maybe he can keep exploring. Maybe for now, this is enough.

#i don't know don't ask me #this was supposed to be short #like really short #but i still had to cut some parts #kidge #keith kogane #pidge gunderson #pidge holt #nonbinary pidge #forestfire #like i have a very clear idea what the outside world is like but i didn't include it i'm sorry #team forestfire #team arms #peith #voltron #voltron fic #soulmates au #requests #please send more i complain but i actually enjoy myself

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