Its Name Is Fluffy - Blog Posts

this is what it looks like. This is Mr. Hippo. Keith loves him and Mr Hippo loves him too. he's got a patch on his nose, to the left, and on his back. One of his legs was also replaced and the fluff on his tail is so ratty. Keith literally cannot sleep without him.

Keith's got a teddy. He's had it since he was eleven. He found it on the side of the road, and despite Shiro's protests, took it home with him. He fixed it up, patched it where there were holes and gave it at least three washes in soft detergant. Shiro wasn't impressed with it in the beginning but he liked it in the end. It was a hippo. Keith called it Mr. Hippo. He took it with him everywhere.

He got made fun of for it in the Garrison, his roommate saw it and told his friends, but Keith didn't care. Mr Hippo was his friend and he was going everywhere with him, no matter what. At sixteen years old, he still slept with the teddy and was unashamed of it. He couldn't sleep without it.

At seventeen years old, Keith flew away in a magical space lion and they had zero expectations of going back. Mr. Hippo was still in the shack. It was the main reason why he couldn't sleep on the castle, despite what Lance wanted to believe, and the main reason why he went to the training room and then passed out. If he couldn't sleep without it, then he could pass out without it.

Throughout the whole ordeal with Voltron, Keith didn't miss things on earth. He was exactly where he wanted to be, a pilot and in space and he had Shiro back. Everything was exactly where he wanted to be, where he was supposed to be. Keith wasn't made for life on Earth, he was made for the stars and now that he was here, he would never leave. But he did think about Mr. Hippo. He even thought about asking Lance to knit him a plushie to look like the hippo but he shut that down immediatly, unwilling to talk about his secret teddy that would no doubt be used to humanise him.

Shiro most likely wouldn't make fun of him for it, he probably would have smiled a little bitterly and reminisce on the life they used to have.

When Keith got back to earth, he visited the shack where he stayed for a year. Everything was the exact same as how he left it, conspiracy board up and string tied to it. Shiro's clothes that he arrived in lays on the ground in the makeshift bedroom, forgotten and deserving that position. He didn't dare to open the fridge, afraid of whatever would have formed in his oat milk. On Keith's bed, however, is something he could never forget.

Mr. Hippo.

A little dusty, but otherwise the same. Keith smiled softly and reached out to hold it gently, feeling something in him settle when he felt the familiar change of fabric on the back where he patched it with some pink curtains Shiro was throwing out. His stitching was bad then, and it had to be replaced many times over the years, but Mr. Hippo stayed the same. He stayed the same plushie Keith found on the side of the road, abandoned and left to rot in the dirt.

Keith brought him back to the Atlas where they were staying and Shiro did smile when he saw it. Lance didn't make fun of him for it when he brought it into the bed later on, and Keith slept better than he ever did.