Chapter Text
“Are you listening?”
“Yeah, Kolivan, I’m listening.”
“Repeat what I just said.”
“You want me to go back to Jing next movement to see how they're doing with the new agricultural program, and before that you want me to check in with Acxa's team in the Trisona System.”
Kolivan grumbled disappointedly at being proven wrong, and Keith shrugged minutely in response. He was sitting on the floor in what functioned as the Denebola’s living room, Mervus mostly hidden from view behind him. She was doing something to Keith's hair, but he wasn't paying it a lot of attention. Hair was hair, and it was easy enough to undo any designs she had put it in with a little bit of untangling. Kosmo was on the floor in front of him, content to be used as a stand for the tablet as long as Keith kept scratching at his ears.
“You let her remove your braid," Kolivan said, not quite accusingly. There were all sorts of rules about Galra braids and hairstyles, Keith had learned, and some of them were being reinstated in a bid to find non-oppressive traditions now that the Empire had well and truly crumbled. But Keith only really needed to take care not to make any social faux pas when he was in a diplomatic gathering, and as imperious as Kolivan liked to be, diplomatic gathering this was not.
“She likes my hair. It’s a different texture than hers and she can’t do most of this stuff to her own hair without it hurting.”
“I had two different colored bows and I couldn’t decide which one I liked better so I’m doing pigtails to use both,” Mervus informed Kolivan from behind him.
“...I see,” Kolivan said.
Kolivan did not see. Keith wasn't actually sure Kolivan knew, or cared to know, what pigtails were. He was mostly surprised that Kolivan was entertaining Mervus's participation in this meeting at all. Krolia must have yelled at him again.
"Was that all you wanted?" Keith asked, a pointed eyebrow raised. This was cutting into Mervus-and-Keith time.
"You should reconsider -"
"Not interested," Keith cut him off. It was the same argument every single time. 'You should consider raising your adopted empath child planetside. Daibazaal, specifically.' Keith knew it was mostly an attempt to get him to stop going rogue every few movements. It was really hard to keep to a schedule when your kid looked at you with big, round eyes, asking to visit 'that pretty moon over there.' So yeah, Keith went off schedule or off track sometimes, but he still got his shit done.
Correction. He still got his stuff done. He was a parent now, and according to Krolia, that meant not swearing in front of his child. It was a work in progress.
But anyway, regardless of what Kolivan wanted, there was no way that Mervus could be around that many people for that long of a period. She could barely handle lengthy stops at supply posts right now. It would be a disaster.
"Very well." Kolivan managed to make the sigh sound both pitying and annoyed. "Then yes, that is all. I'll call you again in three quintants for a debrief with Acxa."
"Great. See you then." Keith disconnected the call before Kolivan could get another word in, feeling a little guilty about it. Kolivan was trying to help, in his own, clumsy way. And it was true that raising a traumatized child while simultaneously flying through space on intergalactic aid missions would be easier with an extra pair or two of hands. A few more adults (because despite the way society viewed the former Black Paladin, Keith did not feel nearly adult enough to have a child).
But he wouldn't do that at the expense of Mervus's health.
It had been difficult, finding any information on how to help Mervus control her empathy, and Keith had nearly succumbed and asked Coran for help on more than one occasion. But then eventually Chroptka had turned up some documentation. It was old, but seemed to be accurate so far, and it did claim that eventually, an Evalüir would be able to live amongst many other people, but not until their empathy had fully matured and they had learned how to filter out everyone else's emotions. And Mervus's control was already shaky, having taken a huge beating when she was under Treptor's 'care,' carted around to different gambling planets. Keith didn't want to make it worse by introducing too many people, too soon.
Besides, there was something kind of nice about it. Just Keith, Mervus, and Kosmo out in the stars. A little family, sure, but a family nonetheless.
Keith had a family, and he wasn't going to let anything or anyone cause them harm.