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Chapter Text

Kolivan knew that adopting someone into the Blades Of Marmora would take time for both the new recruit and the other blades to adjust, usually it only took a Movement, however he failed to realise that humans adjusted quicker then other species, and with the newest recruit being both galra and human, the blades were in for a big surprise.

Keith always adjusted much quicker then humans due to his time in the care system ad being shipped around for a lot of his childhood and the beginning of his teen years, that when he was recruited into the Blade and then became a full time member, that it took him just a quintent to adjust to the new headquarters. Even though he had adjusted, and through the power of observation and a mild obsession he quickly found the training-rooms, stuff still happened that would stop a normal person from adjusting in a timely manner.

On the first full day on base many things happened to Keith.
First he got lost.
Then he misplaced his data-pad, which then lead him to being reprimanded by Kolivan and Thace for recklessly leaving his data-pad around.
Only for the data-pad to turn up again later with a smashed screen, and when he picked it up, glass cut his hand, and by his already terrible luck Ulaz was near by meaning that he was dragged to the medical bay, and given another lecture about how to dispose of broken glass and electronics while also getting a disappointed stare. All in all Keith's first day on base wasn't great.
The second day wasn't much better, receiving more lecturers for things that weren't his fault, missing dinner due to having a training detention, though in his defence....he hadn't meant to stand on Antok's tail or Regris's during training, he also once again got the disappointed stare off of Ulaz as he once again ended up in the medical bay, having tripped over Regris's tail and spraining his wrist, and he really hadn't meant anger Kolivan by forgetting the nightly briefing.
By day three Keith was lectured several times, banned from missions for 2 movements and given menial labour as a punishment so he couldn't do training for 1 movement and was placed on night shift, where the only interesting thing that happens in watching the space roombas go up and down mostly empty corridors.

However after being observed the 4 higher ups of the Blade were confused, Ulaz knew that usually this broke a person and taught them discipline, as did Antok and Thace, as it was once used on them then they first started in the blade for disobedience, and Kolivan used the punishment on the most unruly of blade initiates if they were not up to par, however usually on the fourth day the blade would crack and apologise and learn from their mistakes and most importantly...Listen.

Having watched Keith, they were confused as to how he was holding up so well until on day on the fourteenth day of punishment Ulaz cracked and approached Keith, Kolivan, Antok and Thace not far behind him. At lunch Ulaz sat in front of Keith and stared for a moment before asking "How are you coping with such a terrible punishment for so long?" The other blades stared at Keith as he stared back, not talking as he had some space fruit in his mouth, his last bite of food.
Keith swallowed the food before clearing his throat and staring at the four senior members of the blade with an intense seriousness he said very carefully and in the most serious tone that he could make.
"Simple, I just chuck it in the fuck it bucket and move on"
Having said that the smallest blade stood up and walked off, intending to sleep before night shift started, leaving behind him some very confused senior blades.

Chapter Text

It was days like this that Shiro liked having a nice warm apartment, only given to Garrison personnel that chose to live on campus. It was much better then the student dorms that he remembered all to vividly living in during his student years. He remembered the paper thin blankets and pillows but on the beds, he remembered the inability of having control of the thermostat for his own room, remembering how cold it got due to those reasons, and while it was okay during the very hot months of the years, when storms hit it was miserable and left most people curled up under the blankets on their bed, teeth chattering so much, he was sure people could hear it through the wall.
He also remembered that on the cold, windy, stormy nights, that the walls were thin, making it even colder and he remembered that the common kitchens were off limits even for a small hot cocoa to heat you up, once it past supper time at 8pm.

No he liked his new apartment that he shared with his fiance, the walls were thick, he could control his own thermostat, the pillows were soft, blankets thick and the mattress was heavenly, almost like sleeping on a cloud, and he could get hot cocoa to run the chills out his bones whenever he felt cold, he also wasn't lone, staying with another person had its perks on the stormy nights, and best of all, on the nights when his fiance, Adam had to work a little later in the Garrison buildings, marking papers or going over final preparations for the next days classes, Shiro could curl up on the couch, under a blanket and in front of the electric fire installed in the living-room. All in all, now that he was out of the dorms, he was enjoying life.

And that's how he stayed, curled on the couch, under a blanket, in front if the fire while flicking through the TV guild looking for shows to watch, while waiting for Adam to come home, ignoring the noise of wind whistling outside and the loudness that the rain gave when battering and pounding against the windows and the occasional clash of thunder and lightning. In the back of his mind, he thought about his charge, a boy he had become close to and considered a brother, Keith. He had visited Keith after classes that day, having heard of the storm on the way, dropping in blankets into the others room, to help him stay warm during the storm.
Shiro closed his eyes just for a moment before jumping up, startled as his apartment door was banged on loudly, although the knocks were loud, Shiro could tell by the small pauses between knocks that the person was hesitant, and so curiously, he approached and opened the door.

For a moment he saw nothing before looking down, surprise on his face as he saw who it was, before he opened the door he had thought that maybe it was Adam, as he may have forgotten his keys, but to his astonishment, in a drenched Garrison cadet uniform, looking like a drowned and drenched cat, it was Keith. The small boy said nothing and just stood there quietly as he shivered in his freezing cold clothes, and before Shiro knew what he was doing, he had pulled his younger brother in everything but blood into his home.

Still startled Shiro asked that small boy while dragging him towards the bathroom "Keith, what are you doing here?" he asked the boy softly, as the smaller boy had a habit of closing himself off when he believed that he was in trouble, after a moment the boy spoke "I...I got into a fight...the boys locked me out the dorms...it was so cold...please don't kick me out" he almost pleaded, as he rubbed his arms to keep warm.
Shiro shook his head, mostly in disappointment and in disbelief that Keith would believe that he would kick him out in such bad weather, or after that he had been through that day "I wont kick you out, I would never do that" he said softly as he put a hand on his shoulder "now...I'll get you some warm clothes to get changed into and a hot cocoa, you stay here" The bigger of the two said as he very quickly went to his shared bedroom and went to Adams side of the bed, though his reasoning was that Adam smaller then him, so his clothes, although they would be too big for Keith, are closer to fitting him then his own clothes.

Shiro returned to the bathroom containing Keith and passed him the clothes "You can dry yourself with the towel in there, and then put these own, they'll be warmer then your uniform...then pass out your uniform so i can wash it for you" he said before adding swiftly "If you need me I'll be in the kitchen" and with that Shiro quickly made his way for the kitchen, starting the kettle, and making a nice got cup of hot cocoa.
He had just added some small marshmallows to the hot cocoa while Keith appeared, a pile of wet clothes under his arms accompanied by a drenched towel. The bigger brother smiled at the smaller one when he saw just how nervous and unsure he was, even though Shiro had said it was okay, the smaller buy looked even more unsure now, though it was probably because he was wearing Adams clothes more then anything. Shiro pointed to the washing hamper and said as he picked up the hot cocoa "Put them there, I'll deal with them later"
He watched just to make sure that Keith would actually do as he was told, before lightly placing the hot glass in his hands and guiding him towards the couch. Using a small remote he turned the temperature of the electronic fire up, before sitting down and fixing the blanket, covering himself before he opened his arm and looked expectantly at the small boy.
Ungracefully the boy flung himself into the comfort of the blanket and his brother, slowly drinking the cocoa as it chased the chill out his bones, and before to long the glass was empty and forgotten on the side table, Keith tiredly cuddled up to Shiro under the blanket with his head on the others shoulder.

After what seemed like mere moments, Shiro felt Keith relax and fall asleep in the warm comfort. And not long later, the apartment door opened and in walked Adam.
A confused looked passed the others face but before he could say anything, Shiro put a finger to his lips and pointed at Keith. With a soft smile the other nodded and approached Shiro. Shiro opened his other arm when the other got close, holding the blanket open to him, like he had done to Keith, and without hesitation Adam joined them on the couch cuddling up to Shiro.

And like that Shiro sat contently, his fiance in one arm and his brother in the other, and both were nice and warm.

Chapter Text

The first time Keith was forced to have a blood test done, he was in his first year in the Garrison.
He was a small naive boy and completely trusted Shiro, which even now he still does, but he does regret being so naive. Back then the day started out like no other: He woke up, had a shower, got dressed and went to his homeroom/registration class.
That day they had letters to attend physicals, to get height, weight and bloods taken, and it was that day that Keith was really shaken to the core, as a fear that he hadn't known he had had surfaced.

He remembered that after Shiro had seen how shaken up he was, Shiro had agreed to come with him, mainly as moral support. Keith remembered walking in with Shiro beside him and waiting, but when his name was called out, he was frozen to his chair, and in a daze after coaxing from Shiro, he finally went behind the blue fabric curtain that creates a cubical, and after that, he didn't remember much other then waking up in the infirmary a few hours after.

After asking Shiro what had happened, Keith was told about how he flipped out, launching himself over the bed away from the doctor and throwing anything that he could get his hands on that the person and Shiro whenever one of them tried to get close, even going as after as to crawl under the bed and flip that. It was from that day onward that Keith swore, he would never have a blood test again and he would never give blood.

The blade recruited the best of the best, of all galra that were against Zarkons reign. The recruited the smartest, the strongest, the fastest and the most agile of people that they could, and so when Keith joined people believed that it was a joke even after he passed the trials and awoken his blade, after all, Keith to them was small, and weak and slow due to being so small and because of this prejudice they did not believe that Keith could carry out an escape mission like he had done, at their very own base, surrounded by trained stealth warriors and agents.

It all started that morning, when Keith was woken to his data-pad beeping from a message alert, upon reading it, it was a request to the med bay, for his medical that had yet to be done on the smallest blade, due to needing to get smaller equipment that would work on his tiny body, as normal galra and galra half-breeds are usually much bigger then the half human recruit.

Of course with Keith's physical being delayed, it happened to fall on the day that the leader, his second in command and the head or communications would also have their physicals done. Upon entering the med bay, Keith looked around and didn't hide the surprise on his face to see the others there, already being checked over by Ulaz, the chief physician and doctor. The look did earn him a chuckle from one of the four however his tired mind couldn't tell who had been the one to laugh.

Not long after getting there, Keith was told to side and after hearing Ulaz and the others talk in Galran for a few minutes, he was tended to by Ulaz as the others were told to sit and wait, and then it started.
Ulaz pulled a chair over to the bed that Keith had been instructed to sit on and pulled out his data-pad "Okay Keith, this is just to determine your baseline health and to update your....empty....medical file" He said, looking at Keith was a frown when saying the word empty.
"Now please answer the following questions....Your full name.....your species....your age......weight and height" Ulaz said as he looked back down to his data-pad, while Keith sighed as he leaned back in the bed.
"My name is Keith Kogane, I am a Human and Galra Hybrid, I think I'm 19, but I'm not sure because space time units are different then human units and I have no idea what month and day it is....and I am 5'6" and I weigh something...I don't know" He said as he folding his arms over his chest and looked at Ulaz, just to be met by the shocked faces of all four blades in the room "Your a child...A galran toddler at best" Ulaz just managed to wheeze out before Antok and Kolivan quickly approached Keith, the tallest of the two pulling him into his chest in a surprisingly light hug while the other looks down in what appeared to be shame "Keith, I apologise for putting you through the trials, you are just a child and should never have been hurt in such a way" Kolivan started before being cut off my Keith "I am an adult by earth standards..-" only to then be cut off by Ulaz.
"While this is a startling revolution, I still have to finish the kits physical, ad we can discuss this after" He said pointedly.

The rest of the physical was boring for the most part, they weighed him, scanned his body, to get data, asked questions and then...Ulaz pulled put the needled that had a small tube attached "we have to take a blood test, to test of allergies, and illness and other things" He said as he tried to move close to Keith, only for the smallest blade to launch himself off the bed and across the room at an impressive speed "Don't even think about coming near me with that thing" he practically hissed out as he eyed up the blades, not wanting them to get closer.
Ulaz slowly edged forwards, as did the other three, to catch him if he tried to run "I have to know what your baseline health is kit" he said before looking at the leaders and dong a quick nod, but Keith was quick and again launched himself out the way of the grabbing hands. Adrenaline taking over. He ran away from them, using his small frame to his advantage as he crawled into a vent to get away.

After a few minutes he dropped out the vent and ran, knowing that the four senior blades would just be moments behind him, and so here the base was. Confused mostly as a small black ball blurred past them, with the four seniors chasing it, it was only after hearing some yelling did they realise it was the small blade running away, confusing changed to amazement. Who knew that the small blade could run so fast away from something he didn't like.
Soon the base was called into help catch Keith as he successfully evaded the blood tube by jumping off of walls, crawling into vents and small spaces that no normal galra could get to, for a long period of time and after almost a varga and a half, eventually with the help of all blades of base, Antok was able to catch the kit and carry him back to the med bay, with Thace, Ulaz and Kolivan behind.

With much coaxing and even a request at being knocked out of it granted, the doctor finally got his blood sample. Sending it away to the lab for another doctor to analyse Ulaz looked at his pack and then at the sleeping kit "Lets take him to the nest" and so they did, taking him to their nest to sleep off the sedative, and for Kolivan and Antok to cuddle the child, in a way that showed that they felt guilty for the trails, and Ulaz cuddled the child to, rationing that kits need hugs to stay healthy, and Thace cuddled everything, as he just loved cuddles and hugs.

Chapter Text

The first time Keith had driven a car, it was actually the day he met Shiro, after hearing the way his teacher talked about him, he had stolen his now brothers car and sped off. Though he had no idea how to drive a car, and that was evident when he was pulled over by the police, though not for stealing the car as that wasn't reported until later, but instead for dangerous driving. He boy at the time was small, even with the seat moved all the way forward and bumped up to be a little higher, he just couldn't drive as he had to stand up almost to reach the pedals and lean forward to see out the windshields. Keith just couldn't drive straight and couldn't get a hold of all the controls.

The second time he drove a car, it was declared that he should NEVER drive a car again. At least that's what he managed to hear through the screaming of his team mates. Earth was slowly being built back up after the war, and now the roads were fixed up and better then ever, buildings were still under construction but the reconstruction of Earth was making progress in leaps and bounds.

And so on one of the rare days off that everyone has, the Voltron team decided to met up and go on a little trip, back to where it all started. The old Kogane shack in the dessert, and so before getting into the car, it was determined that as it was Keith's shack, that he should be the one to drive them there.
Everyone squeezed themselves into the car leaving a bewildered Keith standing outside the car.
"But I can't drive a car" said former red and black paladin as he looked at the others, only for it to be waved away by Lance "It's nothing, for years you've driven fighter jets, and giant mechanical space lions, and hover-bikes, you'll be fine" he said as he squeezed himself to sit beside Hunk and Pidge, with Shiro taking the front passenger seat.

Finally Keith shrugged and climbed into the driver seat, looking at all the unfamiliar controls in front of him before pulling on his seat belt, he checked the rear view mirror before starting the car. Keith was convinced that he could drive a car safely to his shack, it was just a car after all, surely it would be easier to drive then a fighter jet or a giant alien mechanical fighter space lion.

Oh how they were wrong. How all of them were wrong.

Just seconds after starting the engine of the car, it all went wrong. It was like a car possessed, speeding up and flying over sand dunes, getting several feet of air before landing with a hefty bump, and yet the car did not slow down, though it wasn't from a lack of trying as Keith didn't know which pedal was the accelerator, which was the break and which was the clutch. He car sped up, and would take to the air when going over the large sand piles, and would swerve dangerously over the smaller dunes, almost toppling over before landing back on all four wheels.
The screaming started almost immediately, after just a few seconds of catching some air.

Keith TRIED to drive, he tried pressing buttons, he tried pressing all the pedals but just couldn't understand how to drive, and that is how it went, with several voices screaming behind him.
Very reminiscent of the first time they all flew in the blue lion, with Lance being the pilot. At some point Keith hit the windscreen washer fluid button, getting water on the windscreen which sand very quickly stuck to. The screaming intensified with even Shiro joining in with clinging to the hand rail.

Keith ignored the cries to stop, as he tried to window wipers to clean the windscreen, which failed. Keith being Keith though did not give up. The black haired boy instead rolled down his window and stuck his head out the window to see, and that his how he drove until they reached the shack.
Slamming down on the pedals, he finally found out which was the break as the car came to a harsh halt.

Within milliseconds all passengers flung themselves out the car and onto the soft sand outside. Each and everyone of them shaking slightly from the drive, though Keith stayed seated in the drivers seat, looking confused at them.
Lance finally started feeling like himself and pointed at the driver "NEVER AGAIN!, I don't get it! you can drive a hover-bike off a cliff and land perfectly, and can fly jets and fighter space lions, but you can't drive a car! HOW!?" The cuban freaked out, almost in a ranting like manner.
Keith just shrugged his shoulder "I warned you guys that I didn't know how to drive" he said nonchalantly.

It was safe to stay, that on the return journey back to the Garrison and home, that Keith was not allowed to drive, and wouldn't be allowed to drive again for a long time unless he was piloting a ship or jet.

Though Keith didn't really care for cars he realised, he liked his bike better.

Chapter Text

After being in space Keith discovered a few things, more so when with the blade then when he stayed at the castle of lions. The most important things to Keith that he discovered was that even though the blades weren't known by the empire, the top secret stealth rebel organisation rarely went to the space mall, and because of this, if they could, they would grow their own produce and raise livestock. Because of this the blades had their own artificial gardens that anyone could guess, to either get food or grow their own stuff, ranging from fruits and vegetables to flowers too.

Another thing that Keith found out was that space had never heard of nor was there a space substitute for coffee. As a coffee enthusiast it was hard to deal with. However during his first trip to the space mall, which only happens on rare occasions and usually for essential items, Keith was allowed to join and boy did he hit the jackpot.

The small hybrid had been walking around for a little while, a small amount of GAC in his pocket. Who knew that you would get paid for working in a top secret rebel group. He was walking around looking at some of the stores until he spots something sitting in the front of a stall, though he couldn't read then alien name of the stall, he could tell that it was mainly for plants. What caught his eyes was the coffee beans sitting at the very front, and he felt himself being drawn to the little brown beans.

Looking at the beans he failed to notice the Unilu watching him, A grin on its face and arms crossed over his chest "I see you're interesting in the bitter beans!" The Unilu practically exclaimed making Keith jump up to look at the alien that he had previously failed to notice.
"Uhh...Yeah, how did you get these? I thought they hadn't made it into space yet?" He said mostly to himself though he was aware that the Unilu could hear him, and yet he wasn't expecting an answer, so when he got one, he couldn't help but look mildly surprised.
"We found them! on an abandoned ship, near a small moon plant called Kerberos! most of the stuff inside was useless but we grabbed these....what a mistake" The alien said with a sigh before continuing.

"we discovered that is you roast the beans things over fire, grind it to a powder and then pour hot water on it, it makes a really bitter drink! no one likes it" They said as they glared at the beans "I've been trying to get rid of these for over a deca-phoeb, at this point I'd take 20GAC two full boxes I have" The Unilu almost started weeping, possibly at the idea of never being able to sell the 'bitter beans' as they call them.

Upon hearing the amount the alien would take, Keith had never smacked his money down with such force on a counter before "Deal!, I'll take the two boxes" He said, quickly taking the boxes, he ran back to the ship with his haul, waiting for the others to get back so he could get back to base. Though the full time, he was almost jumping up and down in his seat.

Immediately after back to base, he set off to the gardens first to reserve an open garden slot for himself, quickly planting a few of the unroasted beans, he took the others to the kitchen, and roasted them in the oven once he was able to figure out how to use a space oven, and find everything that he needed, like a steamer pan and a non-stick paper for cooking. The small galra was bouncing on his feet the full time, watching the beans change colour through the glass of the oven. He couldn't help but almost rip the oven door off when the timer went off and went straight to work.

Keith ground up the roasted beans with a mortar and pestle that he is ashamed to admit, he stole from the med bay while waiting for the beans to roast. He ground it into a powder before putting it in a tight woven piece of fabric, placing it over the cup, he then added the almost boiling water. The scent of coffee, making Keith shivered a little, filling the cup up just over half way, he topped up the cup with space milk and space sugar.

He had become so obsessed with his coffee that for the second time today, he failed to notice Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz and Thace walk into the kitchen with a curious Regris behind them "What do you have there kit?" asked the resident doctor on base, Ulaz

With a face of pure seriousness Keith looked up and stared at the doctor intensely "Heaven, Ulaz, pure heaven and bliss, and you will not be taking this from me unless you want to experience a fate worse then death" He said before taking a sip of the steaming beverage, a shudder going through his body before being followed by a content sigh "Oh how I have missed you old friend" Keith spoke to the cup before talking away, a smile grazing his lips.

In the kitchen stood the blades, all rather shocked but amused. Amused that someone Keith's height could threaten someone several feet taller then him, and shocked that Keith would threaten him over a drink.

An unspoken agreement happened between them.....They would speak to Keith later when he didn't have the drink......and didn't have murderous intentions if they took the drink away.

Chapter Text

Fathers day was always a rough spot for Keith. When Keith was growing up, he would celebrate with his father, they would have pancakes, go out on the hover-bike and just have fun. He loved spending time with his dad on fathers day as he tried harder then so many other parents and stood in for his non-existent mother that he never know, he would take the day off of work just for him on fathers day, and just had fun...Keith missed it.

After Keith's father died, he was lost, upset and angry, and soon he stopped talking about it, he continued to miss his father but went numb eventually. But every year when fathers day came around it was hard for the half galran paladin. The only person that knew about all of this though was Shiro, but even then nothing helped him.

It wasn't as bad when he was in space, because he was surrounded by others somewhat like him: Allura's dad died, Shiro also didn't have parents, Pidge's dad was missing in space and possibly dead too, Lance and Hunk were light years away from both their parents. So when fathers day rolled around on the castle of lions, no one noticed his change in behaviour, as they all became caught up in their own memories and thoughts to notice a difference in the red paladin.

Nothing changed once Keith got back to earth, in fact, if their was a change, it was that his behaviour around fathers day changed.
He stopped meeting up with the paladins, days before the earth celebrations to honour dads, he became quiet and withdrawn, he stopped talking to people, and he just always seemed distracted or in a little world of his own.

Keith knew he shouldn't be like that though, but he couldn't help the pain that would surge through his chest when he saw the other paladins with their families and their fathers around that time of years, he felt happy at them having their families but he also felt hollow and cold in his chest as he remembered that he would never have that again...not with his own father as he would never be able to see him again in person.

For a while Keith was quiet around that time, but soon people started noticing and then on the day its self, the blade operative disappeared, no one had seen him leave, or had seen him at all, no one could get a hold of him as he had turned his communications off. Keith just vanished and went off the grid, certain that no-one would notice for the day, as he went on his own little private mission, one so top secret that the only person that even knew of the location was Shiro.

Keith walked past a rickety old gate, one that he was surprised was still standing after the war, and went inside, staring at the ground as he walked. He no-longer needed to watch where he was going in his location having used to have come here every day for years on end to be with his only family member.
Walking past rows upon rows of stones, each having a name etched into it. Location markers for family members, even though the people they would visit wold never move again.

Finally with his head down Keith approached a white head stone, the name damaged by years of rain eroding and eating away at the stone. Caught up in sorrow Keith got onto his knees in front of the grave stone and just stayed like that a while before putting several items on the grave.
He delicately placed a red rose, before placing next to it a rare black rose.

Once he placed them, he sat back, sitting on the heels of his feet, as he stared at the grave, eyes watery with tears he refused to let fall.
Finally he placed the last thing he had with him on the grave, using an old single stem flower vase to hold it down. A picture he had printed off, one captured by Coran, once he was reunited with his mother.
A picture of Keith and Krolia, mother and son together at last.

Finally Keith spoke, his voice cracking just a little as he tried to stay strong "You're right Pa, Mum is an amazing person, and I'm so much like her. You're right she is out of this world..." He chuckled weakly at that as he remembered that's what his father used to always say then a young Keith used to ask about his mum "...Literally....I wish you were here...then we could be a full family.....Now I have a mum and no dad....and I miss you so much pa. I miss you so much" he forced out as the tears finally flooded out of his eyes as a sob forced its way out his throat.

The black haired man leaned forwards again, hands covering his eyes and face as he cried away, sitting at his fathers grave.
And for the first time in years, he allowed himself to cry and mourn, the lose of such a prominent figure in his life.

Even through death, the connection of this father and son never broke. The connection stayed strong but left behind a broken son instead.

Chapter Text

When in space Keith didn't eat like the others.

The other paladins and even his team at the Blade of Marmora base would eat double or triple servings when coming back from missions that would take a while. Keith never done that, he didn't know why he didn't eat like that, even though he wanted to, but each time he would stick to eating the single serving that he got with his meals and then sit around and wait for the others to finish before going and doing what it was that he need to do.

He remembered once after a mission with the paladins that they had been travelling in their lions for a few quintants, maybe 4 or 5 quintants, because Allura couldn't open a worm hole to them, and the lions were low on power, he remembered running out of the weird protein nutrition bars around 2 and a half to 3 quintants in to the journey back, as did everyone else.
He remembered getting back to the castle of lions, feeling hungry, ravenous even, he remembered Lance complaining loudly about being starving and Hunk and Pidge also complaining... though not to the same extent.

He remembered being thankful that they didn't have food goo that night and thankful that Coran didn't cook a traditional Altean meal either, no instead Coran followed one of Hunk's recipes, which wasn't that bad.
He remembered skipping the debriefing in favour for food, as did everything else that day, and surprisingly Allura was fine with that too.
He remembered Lance going back for 3rds, Hunk also going back to 3rds, Pidge going for 4ths and even Shiro going for 2nds. Keith however didn't go back for any extras, even though he was hungry, he just had his one serving and that was it. This got him so weird looks and after he found his mum, some concerned conversations about his eating habits.

This didn't really change once they got back to earth, after the reconstruction and everything was going okay, he remembered coming back from after distributing aid supplies to planets that were still struggling and everyone declared that they should go out to a world buffet. And so they went, Lance had just 2 plates, Hunk had 3 as did Shay, how he had invited along to she could try earth food, Pidge and Matt had 5 plates, Shiro and Curtis each had 3 plates, Krolia had 4, and Keith, Keith just had 1, which sparked another concerned conversation about his eating habits. But he was fine.

It wasn't long after that, that they decided to do it every month, meet together, have food, maybe even watch a movie.

The 4th month into it they decided to order some Domino's pizza, and a lot of it. He remembered some of the order. That night they got 3 pepperoni passions, 2 classic cheese, 2 hot and spicy, 1 Texan BBQ, 1 Domino's Tandoori Chicken and 1 Meatior pizza all of the pizzas large in size. The order was huge but thankfully, being a defender of the universe, they got a half price discount as a thanks, and would do so for their rest of their lives.

It was just the five of them that night, and so they all lounged around, getting the pizza they sat down, and finally Keith showed his true side, he had one slice of each different pizza before settling for the pepperoni passion. He finished the first one himself and put the box away to the recycling before starting the second box, he watched and listened to everyone, not talking as he was enjoying his pizza.

Keith was so into it he didn't notice when everyone stopped talking and eating and were staring at him, he didn't even notice when Pidge started to tally up the amount of slices he had finished, finishing the second box, he grabbed the finally box and set in on it, eating the 10 slices in record time, and it was only then, they he realised how quiet everyone was, looking up, he looked at their staring faces confused.

"What?" He questioned them as he crossed his arms over his chest.
It was Pidge that spoke up "Keith, you just ate like 30 slices of pizza" she exclaimed, as he just blinked dumbly before looking at the 3 empty boxes.

Keith shrugged his shoulders "oops?" he said casually and it was instead a Hunk that spoke up for once, instead of Lance.

"Dude, where did you put all that food" he said with a laugh and a shake of his head, though he had a smile on his face.
Keith gave his genuine, blunt reply, being a very oblivious person "ummm....In my stomach?" He said confused, blinking as they others started laughing at this reply.

He didn't get it, he just didn't get it, like he didn't get the Voltron chant.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing that Keith was surprise hadn't made it into space yet....it was glitter.

The tiny sparkly pieces of plastic stuck to everything, so for it not to have been accidentally created and released by one galaxy yet, it truly amazed him. Amazed and inspired him to create it, and pitch it to the blades potentially. After all getting glitter stuck and embedded into a carpet was a persons worst nightmare, as it was never coming out, or you'd find glitter randomly for months, even years to follow.

Sitting with his thoughts, he remembered a time when he was younger, doing winter crafts one day in school and using the red glitter, it was fun but got everywhere and so glitter was limited that year, he remembered not using it for a long time after that, long after the summer and well into the new school year. He remembered blowing his nose during the summer, a good six months after using glitter, only to have a spec of sparkly plastic in his tissue, which was fresh out the packet moments before.

And so with new resolve, he spent the next several weeks in his private quarters, planning and working away, even being lucky enough at his last stop at the space mall to find a thin plastic, somewhat iridescent in colour and even some Holo thin plastics and coloured foil like substance. It was then that Keith knew...he could make his torture device a real thing.

He spent weeks working with the plastics and foils, fusing some of the plastics and foils together to get different colours of glittery materials, he then spend weeks carefully using his knife to carefully cut the sheets of iridescent, coloured and holo into very small pieces, testing it's level of annoyance on himself.

He would purposely put glitter on his hand and then try and wash it off, of it didn't come off, he deemed it a success. Storing them in glass viles, closed with only a cork. He set to work on his second idea, to make them even worse to the people that oppose him, he was going to make a glitter bomb, and from then on, he worked cautiously, even going as far as to steal a hazmat suit from the labs. Lying to Ulaz when asked if he had seen who had taken a suit.

At times the young half galra worked through the night cycle to make his glitter bombs, making just three, so that he could pitch them to Kolivan, though he would have to lie and say that he totally didn't dismantle 3 of their normal explody bombs to make his instruments of torture, no.....he'll say that he bought some bomb/grenade shells from the black market and that he made the mechanism....because that is a totally reasonable and normal excuse in space.

Finally it was the day to present this weapon to Kolivan, hunting down the rebel leader, he began to address the much taller Galra.
"Hey, Kolivan. Can I talk to you for a minute, I have something I want to show you" Keith started to the leader, ignoring the fact that an even bigger Galra was the in room, Antok, the second in command.

Keith stayed quiet, waiting for Kolivan to address him, though he was surprised by what Kolivan said "Keith, Good, you're here, I need to talk to you" The rebel leader started before picking up his data pad, within a moment, the office door to the leader was knocked and opened, Thace, walked in. The leader continued "Keith, Thace, In around half a varga there will be an empire ship with Intel we need, I want you both ready to intercept and get the data, Antok will be waiting and piloting your get away space craft" The leader paused, looking at the newly formed 3 man team.

"We estimate that the empire ship will be here for only 15 doboshes before Hyper drive, so you have under 15 doboshes to get into the ship, download the data and get out" Kolivan made them aware "get ready and gather in the hangers in 20 for renedezvous" and with that, they were dismissed and parted ways to get ready.

The newest blade going to the armoury to get bombs, forgetting about his own, already in his weapons pouch.

For the most part the mission was going okay...until they started leaving and triggered sentries, and foot soldiers, running for his life with Thace, Keith reached for his utility belt, intending on throwing a normal bomb at the enemies giving chase, his mind still not remembering his 3 operational glitter bombs attached to his person. He grabbed a bomb and threw it behind him, only looking back when he heared soldiers yelling and following over themselves, a large and thick cloud of silver hovering around them. Keith couldn't hep the laugh and smile that left him.

Still grinning once they started heading back to base, after all, his bombs worked and they got the data needed, it was a successful mission. He closed his eyes and relaxed a little, intending not to move again until they landed at base.
Suddenly he heard beeping, one that he grew accustom to hearing when throwing bombs at enemies, Thace and Antok looked at him confused as the beeping got louder and quicker, looking at what was making the noise, Keith yelped and threw a glitter bomb to the back of the shuttle "OPEN THE AIRLOCK!" he yelled, but it was too late, the bomb exploded, coating the inside of the ship and the three occupants in an array of different coloured glitters.

Landing in the hangers, Kolivan stood at the doors of the pod to talk about the mission and do a debrief, he was not expecting for the occupants to emerge, shining and shimmering and stunned, Antok would mostly be saved due to always having his mask on, and his suit would need cleaned, Keiths face and black hair was shining with specs of blue, red, silver and gold, but Thace was not lucky.

Thace was a long haired galra, and was already experiencing the effects of glitter in the fur, looking at Kolivan and seeing the stunned look on his face, both Thace and Keith cut the leader off from what he was about to say "Not a word" they grumbled, Keith growling lowly to himself "I'm going to shower about ten times and comb my hair, and Thace is probably gonna need to shave himself, and have a pheob with of therapy" He grumbled as he stalked away to his private quarters for a very very long shower.

He left behind him, a stunned Kolivan, an amused Antok and an irritated Thace "Keith called it a glitter bomb" Antok said after a few moments, Kolivan replied quickly "whatever it is, we have to quarantine the material, before it spreads and utilise it against the galra" the leader beclared before watching a disgruntled Thace walk to the showers, and possibly the blades barbers....if needed.

Chapter Text

Princess Allura always pressed on her team of heroes to bond together, to get stronger and get to know each other, as a healthy team meant a strong team and if the team is strong then Voltron is strong. However after their first few bonding exercises and the disasters they turned into, the princess has somewhat given up in having a mentally strong and bonded team in that sense. So the day she walked into the lounge with all 5 paladins sitting inside, sitting on the floor in a circle, she was surprised.

"What are you doing?" Allura's English accented Voice sounded through the lounge, startling some of the more unobservant paladins that operated the lions. Lance after dramatically clutching his heart with surprise still on his face, he answered the question asked by the Altean princess "oh princess! come sit next the most handsome paladin in the room! we are bonding by asking questions!" He said as he stared at the white haired lady.

The princess waved off Lance "No thank you Lance" She said politely as she awkwardly cleared her throat a little "Please continue, I wish to observe if that is okay?" She asked as she looked at the leader of the group for confirmation "Yeah sure" Answered Shiro, quickly cutting off Lance again before he could try and hit on the princess once again.

"Okay, so it was Hunks turn to ask a question" Said Shiro before the big paladin jumped a little "oh! right! what's everyones favourite food?" He asked the group "mine is....anything my gran makes, she's a master in the kitche" He said with a sense of pride before the others continued.

"Sushi" was Shiros
"Paella, Seafood to be specific" was Lances
"I really like my mums cream of tomato soup, with a grilled cheese, she would make it when I was sick, and it was great" Was the reply from Pidge.
"Chili con carne" was the simple reply from Keith.

Next it was Pidges turn to ask a question "Favourite Video game?" they asked the group, falling quiet for a minute to think "I really like world of war craft, or anything that gets my programming skills up" They said casually.
"OH! Overcooked and Overcooked 2" Said Hunk excitedly
" Dance Dance revolution, or the Just Dance games, you guys would never be able to keep up with me" Exclaimed Lance, as he looked proud of his declaration.
"All I had was Solitaire on my laptop" Said Shiro, sounding rather awkward as he scratched the back of his head.
"I was a big fan of the assassin creed games" Said Keith with a shrug, huffing when Lance spoke up again "I knew it! Shiro is totally Space Dad! and Keith got his Ninja training from Ezio Auditore!" He said before cackling to himself, only stopping when he didn't get a rise out of neither Keith or Shiro.

The two just shrugged their shoulders and said in unison "What? it was a good game" they said before glancing at each other and shrugging again.

Next to ask a question was Lance "If you could stay somewhere, where would you stay?" He asked as he gave a slightly sad sigh "I would stay at home with my family, but I would take everyone back to Cuba or maybe Spain" He told them, losing a little of his happy and jovial humour as he thought about home.

"France, or Italy, the food game there is amazing! I could learn so much" Hunk said, as he thought about working in the kitchen with ingredients he actually knew.
"Japan, go back home and back to my roots... or maybe I'd retire to Hawaii or Rome" Said Shiro honestly as he seriously considered the question.
"I would also go to Japan, maybe China, the technology they have over there is leaps and bounds in front of ours" Said Pidge, as they thought possibly about a new laptop.
"I would stay in space" Keith said quickly and quietly "I have family here, and nothing really on earth, so space seems like the best option" he said a he avoided the looks of the others, as he was speaking the truth but didn't want to know if he had hurt the others through his question.

Keith shook his head and lifted it after a dobosh or two of awkward and eerie silence "So...what's everyone's favourite Hobby that we don't already to here" asked Keith as he bit his lip before sharing his answer "I really like Ice Skating and Playing the Clarinet"

"I like Photography" Was Pidges reply
" Surfing" Said Hunk surprising many people "What? Hitting those Beaches and those waves was great, the adrenaline was mad" He said getting excited.
" I used to loom" Said Shiro "But Origami and Reading was right at the top of my list of hobbies" he said quickly, cutting of the choir of voices, exclaiming "SPACE DAD!"
"I would make soaps" Said Lance, with a shrug "it was fun, kept me busy and got money in my packet" he explained casually.

Shiro cleared his throat as it was finally his turn to ask the question "What pleasures do you like, that out weigh the risks?" He asked the group "Min would be sushi, because of the high risk of food poisoning" was Shiro's admission.

"Aerial silk dancing, could fall and hurt myself or get burns or even more injuries, but I love it" said Lance with a sigh as he remembered that "That's another hobby I love by the way!"
Next to answer was Pidge "Peanut butter, it's thick and tasty and so easy to like choke on, and if you eat too much of something you can actually grow an intolerance or allergy to it, but its worth it" they said with a content sigh.

"Oh um...I think it would have to be...making stuff through engineering, I could really badly cut or burn myself, or if something explodes....anyway! I like making and fixing stuff for people and seeing their happy faces at the stuff I make" Said Hunk, very honestly with a large smile and a small Laugh.

Last to answer the question was Keith "Chocolate" he said, not bothering to explain why chocolate was a pleasure that out weighed all risks, leaving most confused until Shiro cut in bluntly.
"Keith...You're Lactose intolerant" he said pointedly at the red paladin "So?" Keith asked as he pulled out a chocolate like treat that Hunk had made recently using Kaltenecker's milk.

"Keith no" Shiro said seriously as Keith raised the treat to his mouth, Keith just shrugged and replies with two simple words.

"Keith yes" he said as he took a bite of the sweet treat and sighed happily "Soooo worth every repercussions later, and the disappointed dad stare down you have going on there" he said casually as he stood up "Now excuse me! I have a date with anti-cramp medication, my bed and probably the toilet, petty soon-ish" he said as he left casually, ignoring the yells of "EW" and "GROSS".

Princess Allura looked confused at what just happened, but she didn't mind, if it worked and helped them bond, then she was fine with their methods of bonding. Even though it confused her to no end.

Chapter Text

Keith is known for being almost fearless in all situations that would shake a normal person that had been thrust into an intergalactic war. He could fly a ship throw clusters which could easily explode at the slightest touch and not break a sweat, He could run into an exploding building to try and save his friends and act normal after it, He could fight and cuss out an enemy around three or four times his height and not flinch.
The only thing that the Blade of Marmora and one of five paladin know that shakes Keith to his very core is Needles.

Shiro knew this little bit of information from his years working with Keith at the Garrison, he remembered very clearly the event of his first blood test, he remembered Keith freaking out, cussing them out, even going as far as to flip things over and trying to escape. He remembered similar events on the few years to follow when the annual vaccinations and flu jabs happened, though they were never to the extent of the first encounter with a needle.
Over the years of knowing Keith, he witnessed that nothing else really seemed to bother Keith, not even Iverson or Admiral Sanda seemed to scare Keith as he would just stare them down or fight back without fear of the repercussions.

The Blade of Marmora knew of Keiths aversion to needles when they tried to do their blood tests, after all the small galra hybrid, had outrun and escaped all four higher up blades, Kolivan, Antok, Thace and Ulaz, leading to a base lockdown and calling in assistance from other blades. To knowingly runaway from the Leader of the blades and the head medic, the blade began to believe that the only fear Keith had was needles, as Kolivan was scary in general, but to mess and go against what Ulaz wants and needs to do, to keep track of someones health, the head medic, can turn utterly and totally terrifying.

This all changed though when the Blade of Marmora diplomats travelled to the Castle Of Lions to talk about their alliance and plan with the Voltron Coalition. The group of Blades consisted off Kolivan, Antok, Thace,, Ulaz and Regris, and Lastly Keith as he could act as a liaison between the two groups, to try and ease tensions that are bound to be their for a while.
The plan was to be there for a movement before going back to base and resuming operations while prepping and training themselves for battle and do that is how it went.

On the first day the two groups met and had a briefing about what they had found out on their sides before splitting up for the night, no one noticed Keith minor anxiety and hesitation to go to his room for a while before joining the pack of blades in their nest for the night. It was something new to the blades and to Keith but it was nice.

On the second day, the meetings continued with breaks for lunch and dinner, and even at the later end of the day, when the food had long settled but it was to early to go to bed, they trained, the blades watched the paladins as they trained together, working on their team working skills, they were observing the paladins so intensely that not even Kolivan felt Keith get closer to him, and shivering a little, while squinting at a slow moving black dot on the wall of the training hall.

On the third day, they once again had meetings, but stopped sooner then the night before, the blades this time training for hours, honing their stealth and blade wielding skills, though after a while, it changed to the blades tutoring Keith as his blade wielding etiquette was still lacking, while very good for someone his age in their mind, they knew he could do better. After the rigorous training, they headed to the kitchen, to have a drink and perhaps a small snack before heading to the nest for the night. Keith opened one of many cupboards, searching for a bowl, while the members of his pack all went to get Hydration packs. Picking up the first bowl on top if all the other bowls, he looked inside and gasped, instantly dropping the bowl and backing away.
The loud clatter and smashing of the Altean glass bowl drew the attention of Hunk and Thace, Hunk having just came into the kitchen and Thace as he approached Keith with a hydration pack.

"Wow! what happened?!" asked Hunk as he quickly came over, Thace very close behind, Keith tried to play it off, even though he could see a black dot quickly creep across the floor and out the room, clearing his throat Keith spoke "nothing, dropped a bowl....my arm cramped and I lost grip for a second" He lied easily as he turned his back to them "Imma gonna get the space roomba" he said before walking off.

On the fourth and fifth day nothing really happened, they had meetings, ate together, planned some more, trained more and that is all that happened. Though by the fifth day, The blade and Shiro had noticed that Keith was constantly looking around the place, would grit his teeth randomly, mumbled stuff under his breath and even began to be hesitant to enter other rooms without anymore there.

On the Sixth day, they found out why Keith had been acting so weird.

All day everything had been fine, selecting to use the last two days of their visit as a time to relax and get to know each other, all of team Voltron and The Blade of Marmora had decided a lazy day in the lounge would be the best. After having their dinner, everyone met in the lounge and finally Keith relaxed. Dressed in some Pjs, Under a blanket that Coran had found him, with a Disney Film that Pidge had somehow been able to download playing and surrounded by his family and friends. Keith relaxed.

In his head, it was a big mistake, Half way through Moana, he noticed that Antok had got up and left the room, shrugging he tuned back into the movie, only getting distracted when Antok came back, as the giant of a galra hybrid cast a shade over him. After a moment out of his peripheral vision he saw movement, turning his head was the biggest mistake.

Right beside his head, and down on his blanket were around four, large spiders, or spider like things. Keith screeched, and in less then a millitick (millisecond) he had scaled the towering frame of Antok, his legs wrapped as far as he could around the galras chest, while clutching his head with such force that the galra didn't even support Keiths weight as he was sure that the strength of Keiths death grip was enough to make sure he didn't fall.

Looking at what spooked the boy with no fear, they saw several of the scuttling creatures on the couch and the blanket "Get those spiders away from me!" He yelled from Antoks back, refusing to get down.

"Calm down Keith, its only a spider" Said Lance as he picked up one of the creepy crawlies "Your not creepy at all, I think I'll keep you...Your name is now......Paul" Lance said to the bug, while also keeping eye contact with Keith.

The smallest Galra hybrid glared at Lance and said in his calmest voice that he could muster at that moment in time "I would rather physically fight with Zarkon...Again" he said.

A throat beside him cleared and he looked down at the Leader of the blades and the head medic "What do you mean 'again'" Asked Ulaz.

Keith just realising what he had said and done could only mutter one thing "Crap"

Chapter Text

Keith was a part of the Blade of Marmora, a galra rebel force designed to take down the empire in many ways, from the inside out and from the outside in. This rebel group prided themselves in being silent and stealthy to finish their missions, risking life and limb for their cause if they are caught or seem.
Being a part of the rebel organisation required stealth and speed, most people that were stealthy, or fast or even both.

Keith was both, however it took months for the Blades of Marmora to notice something about their youngest member. It started not long after Keith was forced to give up some blood for a blood test, the first person to notice was Antok. He had been sitting next to the young boy one day when having a meeting with Team Voltron, they all where taking notes though Keith was using some old technology, not extinct, just out dated now that everything can be done on a data-pad, Keith was using a pen and paper.

Antok was sitting next to Keith taking his own notes when he heard a very subtle, tap like noise. But the noise wasn't coming from the tapping of wood or the tapping of metal. Looking around he found the source of the weird tapping noise, whilst listening to Shiro talk about plans to take down the galra, even looking up at Shiro, giving him his full attention, Keith was shaking his hand holding the pen, the pen was seated in between the thumb and the forefinger, the quick shaking of the hand caused the pen to hit his pinky finger making a slight tapping like noise.

Looking around the room, no one else seemed to have noticed the movements, not even Keith. So Antok went back to ignoring the noise, though he heard the noise through out the meeting, not once did it stop.

The second person to notice the movements was Thace. Being good with computers left him working with the blades in both the communications department, but also the Engineering department. Because of this Thace had the job occasionally of training recruits how to use Galran technology, from computers, to apps that would help the recruits from different universes and galaxies learn Galran for missions if they had never had the change to learn Galran.
Thace had heard from Antok of Keith preferring to use the more popular way of taking notes on Earth, Pen and Paper.

That did not bother Thace and it did not disturb what he was going. After teaching the recruits about the computers and technology, he took the recruits that did not known Galran to a conference room. Explaining the language building app, he allowed the recruits to sit and study in the room, sitting down, he observed the recruits learning the app. It wasn't unusual for him to do so, he liked to do that just in case someone got confused, or the app bugged out. He wanted to be their for if any problems regarding technology arose.
Keith used the app, but before answering, he would write down in his notebook, all the words that were shown to him and the pronunciation and meanings. Soon though he would write everything he remembered after each lesson. In that time, he would just work through the app, busying himself a little.
Soom though, Thace heard a weird noise, at first he believed it to be coming from a data-pad or another piece of technology, only rejecting the thought when he couldn't find the source of the noise. Looking around the room, he found the source of the noise, Keith subconsciously without realising, was clicking his pen, every few seconds as he worked. Thace realising that there was no danger, let him continue, as he wasn't hurting or distracting himself or others, Just using his thumb to slide the lip off and the press it back on.

The third person to notice was Regris. The two had just finished mid-morning training and had went to the lunch hall to get food before their mid-afternoon training. Keith had got his food first, being smaller and needing to eat less, he went and got both himself and Regris a table. While sitting and waiting Keith began to munch on a carrot like vegetable thing that he had picked up from the table, seating silently. Going into his own thoughts he didn't realise that he had started rocking a little where he sat.

Regris, after filling his plate up a bit, went and found the table that Keith had chosen for them, approaching him quietly, he noticed some small movements that Keith was doing but put them off, thinking nothing of it, he went and sat down in front of Keith, where he usually sat, as the other members of their pack would be joining them shortly after signing off their areas for lunch.
Sitting with Keith, the two began talking, making small talk as he had their mid-day meal, though they didn't keep to any specifics as they conversed, changing to the most random of topics, like: Do galra swim? because they are giant space cats. And d you guys have space dentists, asking for a friend.
Through-out their conversation as they ate their food, Regris noticed that Keith was rocking more and more, though still he didn't seem to notice what he was doing. Staring at Keiths face, Regris could tell he wasn't sick, due to having no change in colour, so he became curious, in another possibility.

Was the rocking due to....digestion problems?? Deciding then and there he would not question Keith, as it was not the best topic to talk about other food. Letting it go, he watched his friend and pack member rock, a little more, while eating and conversing. If Keith wasn't going to say anything, then neither was he.

The fourth person to notice Keiths inability to be still was Kolivan, the leader of the Blade of Marmora, and the leader of Keiths pack. Once again the blade were in a meeting, though not with team Voltron, no this time it was at a mission debriefing that Ulaz was holding in respects to his most recent mission, Gathering medical supplies by infiltrating both normal empire ships and ghost ships.
Sitting at the meeting table, Kolivan places his hands on the table in a professional manor, as he listened to Ulaz. Only to be confused and mildly disturbed at the small shaking and trembling at the table. Hiding his concern be began to see if anyone else had noticed the tremors. Not seeing anymore else react to the small shakes of the table, Kolivan began to investigate. He didn't feel the floor shaking, and thus his mind as made up, it was just the table shaking, but why?

Looking around at his operatives once again, he finally noticed the small shaking of Keiths frame, looking and observing closer, he realised that it wasn't the boy shaking, in coldness or illness, no, his leg was bouncing at a very fast speed as he sat paying attention to Ulaz with his arms on the table. The source of the small tremors was Keith and his leg.
Tuning out Ulaz for moment, knowing that he wasn't missing anything as what Ulaz was saying would be in his later mission report, he observed Keith, he seemed fine, perhaps little grumpy and bored looking but otherwise fine and healthy. His skin was not discoloured, he was not fatigued, nor was he breathing heavily, or shallowly or quickly or slowly.

Thinking quietly, he just couldn't place why the young blades leg as bouncing so fast and for so long without a break, was he working out his ankle strength, or toning his calf muscle, he didn't know, but he also didn't see it harming the blade, even though it was evident that he was doing it without realising, doing it subconsciously with no thought on actually doing it.

The leader tuned back into the debriefing right as Ulaz as finishing it. To him, the bouncing leg was not a problem of anything and so he kept it to himself, opting there and then that he would keep it to himself and not bother Ulaz with what could potentially meaning nothing at all

The last to find out was the fine doctor himself, Ulaz. He had taking a day off from his work not long after finishing his mission. He didn't mind his days off, but he really didn't mind his day off when the kit, Keith, was also spending a day in the pack nest. Though he likes the privacy of his own quarters, Keith had came to the nest that day, just wanting some company was he wasn't planning on doing much that day.
The kit sat silently in the nest, a book in hand, and so that is how both pack members sat for hours on end, Ulaz reading a book and then occasionally taking a break of the book to read a recently published medical journal. It was during one of these breaks that Ulaz heard a popping and cracking lie noise coming from Keiths direction.
Confused and curious the doctor looked around, seeing nothing he went back to his reading, as whatever he had heard, hadn't disturbed Keith.

Not to long after though another popping and cracking noise sounded in the room, looking up instantly, he saw Keith, one hand on his book and the other in a fist, or so it appeared. Putting his book down, the doctor decided to observe the child in his care for a little while, not taking his eyes off Keith for more then a few seconds, it wasn't long until he found the source of the weird noise that he had not been able to identify before.

Keith had used his thumb to press down on his fingers, pressing them towards his palm, only stopping when a finger would make the weird popping/cracking noise. Ulaz wanted so badly to act on it but decided to wait and see if it hurt Keith or not. Each time a pop was heard, Ulaz stared at Keiths face, looking for any signs of pain, seeing none, he reluctantly went back to his own book.
Once again getting immersed into it.
He was pulled out of his book though when he heard 2 very loud cracks in the room, followed deeply by a sigh. Looking at the kit, Ulaz was disturbed to see that he had used his hands to push from his chin, forcing his head round so it would pop. He watched even more intensely and even with more fear as he watched Keith twist his back until that also popped violently. YET he still done nothing as the kit was not in pain and he didn't know enough on human biology to know if it was normal or not.

Through out the rest of the day, just from the corner of his eye, he noticed Keith playing with his hand as he read. Popping the bone and then constantly doing the action that would pop the bone, even though the bone would not pop. Soon he was subconsciously popping his bone and then repeating the animation over and over again.
The and there, Ulaz decided that when his day is over, he would investigate.

It was not rare for the pack to be in their nest without Keith, while lounging lazily and winding down for the night, Ulaz asked his pack a question "Has anyone noticed that Keith seems to have an inability to sit without moving?" he suddenly asked. A moment or two he was given an answer.

"Keith is always moving some part of his body all the time, other then went he's sleeping" Replies Kolivan, as he glanced at his pack mate.

"I've witnessed his leg shake and bounce restlessly" Explained Kolivan.
"He likes to shake pens against his own palm and fingers" Antok said.
"He rocks in his seat....a lot" Regris said almost hesitantly.
"He liked to push his pen lid off and then press it back on...constantly" Thace replied to Ulaz.

The doctor nodded his head "I witnessed him popping his bones and then repeating the motion, not stopping until he went to do something else" he told his back, before they sat in silence.

It was then that they realised that Keith was that one blade, the one blade that can be quiet and stealthy, but have the inability to be still for long periods of time.

Chapter Text

Keith hadn't intended for his glitter bomb to go off like that, had it exploded out the ship then he wouldn't have minded to much about the malfunction, had they been able to open the open the airlock in time, he also would not have minded to much, but they hadn't. The bomb didn't detonate outside the confined ship, and the airlock didn't get opened, and now...they were facing the consequences. In Keiths head, he couldn't help but think that maybe just maybe, taking a part and dismantling a real explosive bomb wasn't the best idea....especially without proper training to do so and maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to reassemble a live bomb with a new component without training too.

Keith followed Thace towards the pack bathroom, usually they wouldn't shower however one was installed in every pack room, it was used by the more reptilian and human built operatives, but also it was good to have for the more....messy missions. Keith liked his privacy when showering, opting to use his pack shower instead of the public showers that were installed for the people that didn't want a pack or didn't have access to a shower, such as their pack one broke and they were waiting repair.

Because of this, Keiths hygiene products were kept in a storage compartment near the nest. He had everything in there, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, anti-perspirants and so much more, just random things he had picked up more had been gifted to him from. team Voltron. Getting into the pack room Keith all but groaned as he looked around, quickly realising that his extra clothing was in his own personal quarters, where he had been staying the past few weeks as he made his....little balls of evil. Grumbling a little, he turned and left the room, passing the rest of his pack in the poses and leaving Thace to go shower first.

It took several minutes to reach his personal quarters, and then an extra few minutes as he looked for something to cover his hands, as he didn't want to transfer glitter onto his glitter free clothing, having decided that he had seen enough of the sparkly and clingy partials for a long time. Finally he found a cleaning rag, one that was usually used for cleaning his everyday boots, he was able to handle his clothes and go back to the pack room. Very aware of the trail of glitter that he was sprinkling through-out the base, but he just couldn't find the will to care about the mess he was creating, opting to just let the space roomba have a blast at removing the tiny sprinkles of plastic, though in the back of his mind he know, he just know that they wouldn't be able to clean up all the specs of hell, and that the blade were now doomed to forever find it within the base at the most random of times.

As he walked he also realised just how bad the ship must look like from the inside. The outside had no evidence of a glitter bomb explosion, but the inside....the inside looking like a unicorn had barfed all over it. The only place that wouldn't have glitter on it, would have been were all three of them had been sitting, leaving the outlines of the bodies on the chairs, like a forever shade, burned into the chairs. In Keiths mind, the only way to clean that ship was to...not clean it but send it into space with autopilot and then activate the self-destruct sequence.

Finally getting back to the room, he looked around, Antok had changed his suits for another suit, and Thace was no where to be seen, though with the slight humming and steam coming from the bathroom, he could tell that Thace was in the shower, trying to remove the glitter from his long-ish fur. Being careful not to go to close to the nest, in fear of contaminating it with glitter, he went to his storage space and stopped short. The door was open.

"Who's been in my storage area?" He asked almost instantly, quickly looking at his pack with his hands on his hips. If there is one thing that Keith doesn't like, it's when people take his stuff without asking or without a good reason.

"Thace had run out of shampoo and conditioner and we aren't due a stop at the space mall for another 3 quintants, We hope you don't mind" Ulaz replied from his space in the nest, head down as he read something on his data-pad "We hope that after your shower you can explain what happened? Thace was to....frustrated to do so before going in the shower?" The doctor asked calmly.

"Maybe, we'll see" was the only reply that got from the young halfling, as he looked into his storage, to see what shampoo and condition Thace has taken as he had many different types, He had so many he could probably open his own shop. He has shampoos and conditioners to 'repair and protect' 'anti-frizz' 'sleek and shine 'normal hair' 'strong and sleek' one of everything, even though he didn't need that many, he sometimes liked the choice. Grabbing the ones he wanted.

Keith was a weird person, he liked being smooth, claiming that the less hair you had, can make you faster. It was true in the cases of swimming but Keith liked that idea, this meant that he also had razors in his storage, however none were missing and none had been used in many months. No he hadn't used a razor since Lance found out about his not liking body hair, and trying to prank him with hair removal cream in his conditioner bottle. How Lance had found hair removal cream was beyond him, but it was quick and effective. Looking for the bottle, his eyes widened as he didn't see it.

"Ulaz! what conditioner did Thace take with him to the shower?!" He asked almost desperately, as he searched his storage area over and over again and then checking several times that he hadn't already taken it out.

"I believe it was the 'Herbal Essences' one, that was in the Red bottle" He said oblivious as to why Keith was so desperate to find out.

Keith paled, paling so much so that it was such a new shade on the pale boys skin they began to worry for him and his health before he yelled out in alarm.

"ULAZ THAT WASN'T CONDITIONER!!! THAT IS HAIR REMOVAL CREAM!" He all but screeched. Ulaz got up quickly to warn Thace. Keith not wanting to know the consequences grabbed his stuff and bolted before the others could even ask what happened.

All he left in his wake was a cloud of floating glitter, almost in the form of a body that was once standing there and a small trail leading out the door.

Chapter Text

If their is anything that people knew about Keith, it's that he does not admit to having many problems. Sometimes he may be open to them, but other times he refuses to acknowledge of register if he had any form of problem. To be fair, he was very good at hiding them, and usually they were personal problems, nothing big or bad enough to have to actually talk to people when he did find that he had a problem. When the problem was small and insignificant, he just failed to realise it.

It was the paladins that first found it weird that he always had a pen on his person, even with the use of data-pads Keith always had a pen on him, and not just one pen, which they found out one afternoon, while having a relaxed day onboard the Castle of Lions. Team Voltron had mostly been relaxing in the lounge, minus Lance as he had found something and went to find supplies for what he wanted to do. Looking at the door, once it opened a dejected Lance walked in, pulling a large A1 size paper-pad in behind him.
Keith had no idea where the blue paladin was able to find these most random of products, but it both amused and amazed him.

"What's wrong dude?" Asked Hunk as he noticed the look on Lances face, the Cuban flopped down on the couch next to his friend "I found A1 paper and wanted to play pictionary, but the castle doesn't have any pens" He said as he let go of the pad, the rustling of paper sounded through-out the room, as it slip and settled on the floor.

Keith couldn't help but sit up and look at the blue paladin "I have pens" Keith said as he opened his pocket, out of his right pocket, he pulled out a pen before going to his left pocket, opening it, he pulled out yet another pen, before then pulling one out his belt. Keith, unbeknown to him, the paladins were watching silently.
Keith didn't register the stares of the paladins as he bent forward, reaching inside the small gap in his boot, he pulled a pen out of each boot.
Only then did Keith look up and register the stares "What?" he asked curiously, only to be met with laughter. He sat their confused.

The second time the team found Keith a little weird when it came to pens, they were all in the yellow lions hanger, looking at Hunk as he got more and more frustrated, looking for a tool to mark and write down measurements. It was rare to see Hunk, the gentle giant, get angry, upset or frustrated, so to see it happening before you was a sight to behold, and at the same time, due to his gentle giant statue, concerning.

Keith walked into the hanger, having just came out the training hall, he had wanted to talk to Shiro, but being unable to find his big brother figure, he went on a man hunt and found him, along with the others in Hunks hanger, feeling the atmosphere, he asked the closest person to him what the problem was "Hunk needs to take a measurement and mark stuff off, but space hadn't really used pens and stuff in years, and the castle of lions has nothing like that" explained Pidge, as they continued to watch Hunk get more and more frustrated.
Nodding his head slowly Keith silently left the room, though no-one seemed to notice.

The red paladin came back just minutes later, a medium sized poly-pocket, one typically used for storing paper in an organised manner, within a ring binder, in his hands.
The poly-pocket half full and slightly bulging with the amount of pens he had. "Hey Hunk, I have something for you" He said as he moved forward.

Setting the heavy bag in front of Hunk "I know pencils are usually better, but I don't have pencils" He explained awkwardly before clearing his throat.
Scratching his head a little "I also don't know what pens you prefer, so I brought all the pens I had...black, blue, red, green, purple, gel, glitter, highlighters, felt-tip, fine-tip, fountain" He listed then off.

Thinking not much of it Hunk grabbed the first pen at the top of the pile.
"Yeah! thanks man!" he said as he finally got to do what he needed to do.

Keith grabbed his bag of pens and left, the others didn't think much of it, after-all it was just a pen, and everyone usually has a small stockpile of them on earth, usually collecting them from school or work.

Another time anything happened, the team had made a stop at the closest space mall that had not been taken over by the Galra Empire yet. They had all mostly split up once again, however this time, Keith and Shiro stayed together, they did have GAC, but hadn't found an interest yet, and originally had just planned to window shop.

That thought however instantly left Keiths mind as the duo walked past the Earth Store, stopping Shiro, the two agreed to go inside to have a small browse, to see what new Earth products the store had some how gotten. Looking around, Keith froze and then bee-lined away from Shiro, finding what he thought to be a holy-grail in his mind. He had found a stationary isle.

Ignoring all the other stationary products, Keiths eyes were glued on the pens. So many shapes, and sizes, and colours and types, for a moment he couldn't look away before following his instinct.
The red paladins grabbed as many cases and types of pens he could before going to the front of the store to pay for them. Seeing Shiro appear at the checkout, as Keith payed, he noticed his brother rise an eyebrow in question.
"What? you never know when you may need one!" Keith defenced as he grabbed his bag and walked past Shiro, very happy with his purchase and very much in belief that he had validated his purchase.

Almost a year had passed from that point, and Keith had become a part of the Blade of Marmora. Him and his pack decided to take a small trip to the castle of lions, with intent to build a better bond between the two groups, so that they could build an even stronger coalition and plan with each other to arrange supported attacks and liberalisations of enslaved planets.

The blade, deciding to make a pack nest in Keiths room, followed him there, as well as his old team, so that they could talk to him, apologise for what they did to him and more. Team Voltron did miss their friend, brother and former red paladin after all.

Entering the room, the blade quickly made a nest while Keith changed out his gear, into comfier clothes as he just wanted sometime to relax in the first room that had properly been his for so long.
Once Keith finished changing he left his ensuite bathroom, he noticed most of his pack lounging now in the nest, while his old team was standing at the door rather awkwardly.
The small blade opened his mouth only to be cut off.

"Keith can we use some of your drawers to store some items?" Asked Ulaz, as he held armfuls of items ranging from mediations, to food, to clothes to water and even more.
Turning his attention to Ulaz he nodded his head "Yeah, I think the top right drawer is empty" Said the former red paladin, though by the tone of his voice, it was clear he was unsure. After all, he hadn't been in the room for months.

Once again he turned his attention back to the paladins ans opened his mouth to address them, when he was once again cut off, and once again it was Ulaz. Keith couldn't know the small growl that left him as he looked at the doctor galra.
"I knew at headquarters you had an interest in pens, but this is.....ridiculous Keith" The doctor said as he put down his items on the desk and pulled the drawer out the desk.

Looking around the room, it was clear that Keith, the paladins and the rest of the pack were confused by Ulaz. The doctor scoffed a little and flipped the drawer upside down. Hundreds and Thousands of pens falling onto the ground, some bounces a little, some rolled away, and some made a very large pile of many colours.
The shock on everyone face was evident, everyone other then Keiths face, who gasped and stood silently seething as the pens hit the ground.

"No! my pens! be careful" he said as he started gathering them up by the handful, not wanting to lose any or for any to get damaged by someone stepping on them. Huffing he finally got them all picked up and safe.
He looked around the room and looked at everyone's face "What? you never know when you may need one" he said, sparking the memory from a year earlier in Shiro.

"Keith...You have a problem" Ulaz said slowly and softly, not wanting to insult or offend his kit.

"No I don't have a problem! You're the one that has the problem!" Keith snapped defensively, as he hugged his beloved pens to his chest.

"Don't listen to him" he said to his pens with a small smile "He doesn't know what he is talking about" he mumbled before looking up with wide eyes.
"I can stop whenever I want okay" he said with a huff, but never stopped hugging and cradling is pens to his chest.

Chapter Text

On Earth, people rarely past a certain would be told not to do something, and this is for two reason.
1) They are deemed old enough to know logically not to do something.
2) If you tell them not to do something, then in the spirit of spite, they will do that one thing, they were told not to do.

In space however it was different, if you are told not to do it, there usually is a good reason behind why, and if something says not to do something, they aren't questioning your age or logic, they are just being helpful, nothing more, nothing less.

However Keith did not grow up in Space, and the pack of Galra he lived with, didn't know much about Earth etiquette, and how Earthlings react to things. Because of this, they did not realise or know they reaction they would get out of Keith if they told him not to do something. Keith was unpredictable most of the time, and he can be one of the most spiteful person ever in those situations.

The Galra rebel group did not know this about Keith, and they wouldn't know until one moment that could have a deadly impact on the group of higher ups.

This moment came in the form of a mission, it was unusual for the four highest up members of the blade to go on a mission, but it did occasionally happen, it was even more unusual for all four members plus Keith to go the same mission. That is what happened.

Kolivan was the pilot of their ship and working communications.
Thace was to infiltrate the ship and hack into the system for information.
Antok was security for Thace.
Ulaz was on standby in case medical attention was needed, if someone were spotted and attacked.
And Keith was to go and do minor reconnaissance and look in any nearby empty rooms.

Gearing up, they were in the empire ship in no time, Thace was hacking into the ships system, turning off broadcasts around the ship, just in case they were caught. Antok was watching the door, and covering Thaces back from any possible and impending attacks. Ulaz was listening in carefully and making sure his medical kit was well packed and stocked. Kolivan was sitting in the pilots seat, watching live footage from their suits, the built in GPS and feeding directions and information to them through their earpieces built into their helmets. Keith went to search other rooms silently for information and supplies.

"Status?" Kolivan called, around 15 doboshes into the mission, Keith didn't answer straight away, letting Thace go first.
"75% complete, ETA to finish, 2 doboshes" The fluffy Galra said, as he types into his mini hand-held computer.

Keith stopped outside a door "Found some route maps, and small medical supplies" he replied as he looked carefully into the doorway. Only to jump a little as Kolivans voice was heard loudly in his earpiece.

"Keith, don't do that" The galra leader scolded just a little "I have movement signatures in that room, do not enter" The galra warned the small halfling.

Keith scoffed a little, instantly the feeling of rebellion and spite filled him, standing silently he looked into the door way again, watching for only 30 ticks before the sentries left, Keith stalked into the room, looking around in interest. To him the room did not look interesting, looking around, he walked to a small podium, it was very out of place to him. Quietly he walked around it before shaking his head, walking around the room again, he found a small switch.
Curious, he flicked the switch, a small buzzing at the podium drew his attention.

Out of the small podium came a cube, sitting on top of the cube was a nice, big, bright, red button, instantly it drew Keith close.
"Hey Kolivan? what's this button for?" he called through his communication system as he stared at the button, it was red and blinking and he couldn't take his eyes of the round pressible and curiosity catching button.

"That is the emergency self-distract button Keith, do not touch or press it Keith, I repeat, Do not touch or press" The leader replied and repeated "I advise you to move away from the button" He said after a few ticks of silence.

Keith hummed and nodded in response as he once again went around the room, opening cupboards and drawers, however his eyes always wandered back to the button. To Keith it was like the button was calling him, taunting him with its constant blinking at him. Shaking his head, he continued to search the room for supplies, eventually finding everything deemed important and useful to the blade.
Looking around, he once again noticed the button, slowly he approached the button, seemingly in a trance at its flashing greatness, it was sleek and red and to him pleasing on the eyes.
"I'm finished, download at 100%, ready for withdrawel" Thace said through the communication system, breaking Keiths trance.
"Okay, everyone make your way back to the ship" Kolivan replies straight away.

Keith turned to leave, getting to the door, before spiteful rebellion took a hold of him, running back in, he smacked his hand onto the beautiful shiny red button and then took off in a sprint. Running past Thace and Antok, he grabbed their arms and pulled them along, running at full speed.

"Gotta go!" Keith said, as he dragged them behind him, the ships siren going off, as the halls all turned red "quick quick quick! he repeated as he pulled them onto the get away ship.

"GO go go go go go go" Keith said to Kolivan, closing the hatch, they took off just getting out of the blast radius as the galra empire ship exploded.

"Didn't I tell you not to press the button" Kolivan said after getting a safe distance away, looking at Keith "I had to" Keith replied.

"You told me not to, that made me NEED to, plus it was a shiny RED button, everyone knows you have to press the red button" He said like it was obvious.

Kolivan stared for a moment before asking a simple question, a genuine question "How are you still alive?" He said with a shake of his head.

The half galra, half human shrugged his shoulders casually "I think it's a mixture of caffeine, rebellion and spite" Keith them stretched and lay down on the floor.
He did not notice the other galras in the ship with him, shake their heads in amazement, amusement, disbelief and bewilderment.

Keith was a big ball of mysteries, surprises and confusion.

Chapter Text

Everyone that has ever met Keith knows 1 of several things about him, for example:

Keiths favourite colours were black, red and purple.
He wasn't good at social interactions or social cues.
And he took almost everything very literal.

Those are the several things that the paladins know about Keith. Naturally Shiro knew more than the other paladins due to their time spent together and their brotherly bond, created by years of building trust with each other and communication.

But even Shiro did not expect Keith to be this literal, never had Shiro expected Keith to be this oblivious before.

This all started once Earth had begun to heal and fix itself from the Galra invasion, usually it is hard for all the paladins to be able to meet up more than once a month due to new jobs and engagements, but last month the paladins agreed to meet up twice all because of Keith and Lance.

The last meeting had been very very normal, the group had met up as scheduled, the all went to Shiros apartment, like usual, and also like usual they ordered pizza and put on a movie, that month the movie request had been a Disneymovie they had missed while fighting in an intergalactic space war: Moana.
So that is now the night started, with food, movies and good company and that is how it was for most of the night, right until the end of the movie.

The room had been silent, everyone was just sitting back and relaxing in the silence before Lance suddenly spoke up.

"I would love some like... Chili instead of pizza for once" The ex-blue and current red paladin said. It was that one nonchalant comment that knocked the ball rolling in Keiths head, as he was in charge of organising the next meet up with the other paladins.

Keith remembered vaguely a time that is father had made him 'chili'. He remembered mostly the spice and he remembered the 2 reasons why 'Chili' had the name chili.

So he got to work, when he had free time and supplies, he would work on his fathers recipe and try to perfect it. Making several batches until he was happy with it, because only when he is happy with it will be served to his friends. And it is that thought and belief that brought them to this moment in time.

It was time that time, the time for the monthly paladin meetup, and Keith was in his Garrison issue apartment that he had for when he stayed on Earth. He had made sure the living room was clean and setup for Pidge, to plug their laptop in so they could watch movies, he had pillows and blankets on the couches, on some seats and on the floor. Keith himself was the kitchen, staring into his bubbling pot of chili, a small smile on his face.
Soon a knock on the apartment door drew his attention, turning the heat on low, careful not to burn the contents of the pot and have it high enough to keep the chili warm. Confident he went to his door and opened it. Greeting the others, he let them in before going back to the kitchen.

"So...I haven't ordered pizza this time"Keith called to them as he tasted his creation and hummed.

Slowly he plated up the food in bowls, he looked into the living room and scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and cleared his throat.

"So...I know I'm no chef like Hunk, but last time Lance said he'd like chili instead of Pizza, and well...I gave it a try"
The Half Galra said as he directed everyone into the kitchen, the chili already sitting In bowls on the kitchen island. I Keith went and started handing out the cutlery to the others.

picking up his own bowl, he shrugged a little "I hope you all enjoy" The second oldest in the room said. He looked at the others.

"Keith, buddy...you didn't need to do this for me...but thank you" Lance said after what appeared to be a moment of stunned silence.

Keith smiled a little at them and decided he would take a bite at the exact same time as them. Watching them closely, he finally took a bite when the others did. He couldn't help but hum at the spice.

Looking at the others, he grinned when he saw 4 red faces and 4 bodies shivering almost violently.

Coughing violently after a few minutes, Lance cleared his throat "W-Wow, this is really really really spicy" The Cuban Paladin said with a strained voice. Nodding his head obliviously Keith took another bite before speaking.

"That's how good chili is" he said with a small shrug

"Chili is called chili for 2 reasons, The first reason is its name, If translated means chillis/pepper with meat. And secondly I believe chili is only chili...if it is Spicy enough to make you feel chilly or cold...so that's what I have done" Keith said obliviously and even innocently.

The others all shared a look but said nothing as Keith had been nice enough to try even if he took the name way to literally.

Chapter Text

Keith liked to be prepared. There was only rare occasions that he would ever be caught in situations when he wasn't prepared and he took pride in that fact.

In space it was harder to be prepared for the unexpected as there are so many new situations to be prepared for, but somehow Keith managed and somehow he still stayed prepared for most situations.

It really should have been obvious to the other paladins, the princess, Coran, even the Blade of Marmora. To Keith it was very obvious after all he doesn't even try to hide his utility pouches and obviously they aren't there just for aesthetic purposes, after all the pouches are khaki in colour and clipped onto a dark brown belt, not even easy to hide and very obvious with what he wears.

This did not become common knowledge until one of the rare moments of free time that both the paladins and blades had. It was so rare and such a surprise that no-one expected actually having more then several vargas off without being called into work or a meeting or anything at all. So when no call transmissions from the coalition, Planets in distress or Blade Of Marmora HQ came in, the paladins made their way onto the bridge of the Castle of Lions.

"Okay People! It has been almost 24 vargas without any call, transmission or need for Voltron! We have just passed a planet with a beach we are getting of this ship and going to relax!" Lance practically demanded as he made his way in front of the group, hands on his hips. The way he spoke left no room for argument from The Princess, the leader of the blades or even Shiro.

The princess sighed a little and opened her mouth, but to Keiths mild amazement Shiro bet Allura and spoke first "To be honest...we have worked really hard recently and we do deserve a break" The Voltron leader said with a thoughtful look on his face. Keith just studied his face silently as he too agreed with Lance for once. And for a new once, he also did not want to train on his free time, though that is for 2 reasons: 1) He needed a break from the training bots because they were beating him and it was annoying him.
2) If Kolivan found him training one more time, he would be in a lot of trouble.

The Princess sighed a little "fine, for today we will go on to the beach and relax" she said with a small shake of her head, but a small smile on her face.

Lance cheered and raced out the room, with the others including Keith and Shiro following at a much slower pace.

That is what lead them to this moment:

Everyone was on the beach planet and even more surprisingly everyone was on the beach, this included: Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Lance, Allura, Coran even the visiting blades! Kolivan, Ulaz, Thace, Antok and Regris was on the beach. It was a surprise but the biggest surprise currently is the fact that Coran had found swimsuits for everyone though the blades opted to just wear their suits.

Lance and Hunk instantly went to the water, surprisingly yet again the blades followed with the 2 reptilian like blades, Antok and Regis going to the water to have fun. Everyone else staying on the gold and white sands of the beach. Keith being Keith still came with his utility pouches, still attached to his belt that he was carrying over one shoulder.

And so! Everyone relaxed or had fun.

"I wish I had some sunscreen" Shiro said suddenly after only half a varga, sitting on the sand next to Keith. Blinking at his brother in everything but blood, Keith opened his utility pouch and pulled out a bottle of SPF 50 Sunscreen.

"Here Shiro, I have some I'll give you some" Keith said as he tossed the small bottle at the tallest Paladin, before going back to lounging under the sun. He missed the 'thank you' he got in response from his brother.

The next person to make a comment was Pidge, who had been working on their datapad as they had left their laptop in the castle, not wanting sand to get into it. "on man! my datapad is going to die and I don't have a power-bank! I forgot it back inside the castle" They said. Keith heard them and reached for the pouches.
Barely rifling through the pouches, he pulled out a Powerbank.

"Here Pidge, you can borrow mine" Keith said casually as he handed the genus tech expert his power bank before he closed his eyes and once again relaxed under the sun, almost missing the happy noise she made which was followed by a small comment.

"Thanks Keith, you're a lifesaver" Pidge said before plugging in their datapad and going back to work.

Next it was Allura that made a comment, though it was mostly to Coran.

"Coran, do you have and bobbles so I can tie my hair up" The Princess asked only to be met win a shake of the orange haired mans head "afraid not Princess, I left everything on the castle" he said with a sigh "I even forgot my sunburn ointment" and once again Keith heard with his good hearing. once again he opened a utility pouch and pulled out a pack of 100 bobbles (hairties) and some Aloe vera gel that he had found at the earth store.

"Catch" was all Keith said as he tossed the 2 Items at Coran, before turning to lie face down on his towel. Once again he missed the combined comments from Allura and Coran "Thank you Keith/number 4". it was now that Shiro began to wonder just how much Keith had in his utility pouches.

Soon though, Shiro would find out as 2 Vargas later the two blades left the water huffing and grumbling a little. Just ticks later Hunk came running on to the beach carrying Lance in his arms, running over sharp broken shells in the process as he carried a wailing Lance, who was clutching his leg.

"What happened!?" Shiro asked as he jumped up to help Hunk, with Ulaz following him. The Galran doctor instantly looking for injuries.

Red welts appeared on Lances right leg, and Hanks feet were lightly bleeding from running over broken shells "I don't know! one dobosh we are swimming, the next Lance is crying and screaming bloody murder" Hunk said as Ulaz inspected them.

"It appears to be a sting of some sort" The doctor found before signing "I have nothing to treat it with, with me" He said almost angrily as he shook his head a little.
Keith grumbled alive and stood up, grabbing his utility pouches as he approached the group.

Tipping his pouches onto a towel he rummaged through the pile and pulled out a spray bottle with a clear liquid in it, and started spraying it on Lances Leg "White Vinegar, works great on neutralising Jellyfish stings" He explained, missing the looks he got from everyone as they looked at the small pile of bits and bobs that had come from his utility Pouches. He gave the spray bottle of vinegar to Coran to keep spraying on the stings. Going back to the pile, he pulled out some Hydration Pouches, bandages and spray plaster before going to Hunk.

Looking at Hunks feet, he used the hydration pouch to clean the sand out the cuts. Keith was busy helping Hunk he didn't notice Shiro and Kolivan pour more of the contents of his utility pouches out, the small pile getting bigger and bigger.
Keith used the spray on plaster to seal the cuts and the bandages to protect the cuts from the sand.

Shiro couldn't stop himself from looking closer at the pile Keith had made, There was: Bar soaps, deodorants, Hydration pouches, neutriant bars, charging wires, moisturisers, Pens, paper, keys, tweezers, Swiss-army knife, lip balms, ointments, fake snow, battery's, tin foil, pocket hand warmers and so much more.

So much that the amount should not be able to fit into the small utility pouches, Shiro shared a stunned look with Kolivan. The blade leader looked stunned"How?" He asked.

Shiro shrugged a little "I don't know... Pocket TARDIS?" He suggested only to get a confused look from Kolivan.

"Huh?" Keith said as he went to go repack his utility pouches "What is a TARDIS? I just pack things like its a game of jenga...No...a game of Tetris" he said casually as he easily packed his Pouches easily, without a struggle, before going back to his towel and lying down face down, as he relaxed again.

Chapter Text

Mornings are not and have never been Keiths cup of tea. Usually the red paladin didn't get much sleep and when he did get to sleep he was almost always woke up early by alarms, a broken internal alarm clock or people. So because of this he was not a morning person, going as far to consider mornings almost as evil as the Galra Empire, and to actively despise mornings.

Usually this was okay, usually being up before most of the other paladins it allowed him to drink crap space coffee, brood and sulk in peace, with the occasional and rare interruption from Shiro, Allura, Coran and rarest of them all Hunk.

This morning he did not have that luxury.

Feeling horrible, Keith Woke up late having had almost no sleep through the full night, unable to sleep due to feeling restless as a result of a nightmare that he refused to talk about. No, instead of talking about his nightmare, he opted to go and spend most of the night on the training deck, only going back to sleep in his quarters once exhaustion was clinging to his bones and when he had to actively force his eyes open, sadly though he was destined to only get a little half Varga of sleep before big woke up again by the pounding feet of the currently staying over and visiting blade operatives.

The noise having forced Keith out of bed, made him get out of bed again. Grumbling he got up and went to the kitchen, hoping for it to be empty only to be disappointed when he not only found the usually quiet Hunk in there, but also the 5 culprits that woke him up for the second time. Ulaz, Kolivan, Antok, Thace and Regris were all talking amongst themselves at the little island in the kitchen.

Pouring himself a large mug of the crap space coffee that does absolutely nothing for the half Galra, but the taste and routine helped to keep him calm ...to an extent.

In his mind on thought came to mind "how can stealth agents be so loud, loud walking, loud talking, even their swallowing is loud" he sulked into the coffee mug. He just wanted quietness and to go back to bed, but that wasn't an option of him, not now that he was awake and the day cycle had officially started and training would commence through-out the day. If he's lucky though, he can sneak away at some point to name during the day.

Thankfully though the blades quietened down, the full time they had been in the kitchen, Hunk had been quiet, another thing that he was grateful for, as the pounding that was going on inside his head wouldn't progress into anything worse, at least hopefully it wouldn't.
Standing up he went to the fridge to get himself for real breakfast, opting for a cereal type food, he poured a bowl of something very akin to cocoa pops, however looking in the fridge for milk, even though he wasn't supposed to be drinking milk, he grabbed the first container of milk that came to hand.

With no label on it, and being half asleep, he didn't realise that he had picked up chocolate milk, for his cocoa pops , it wouldn't be a bad combination as it was just chocolate in chocolate milk. While he isn't allowed dairy, he didn't care and the blades didn't know, so he was going to indulge himself, a rarity, and he just needed it as he was exhausted and in need of serotonin.

Pouring the chocolate milk into the chocolate cereal, he dug in. Sighing happily at the chocolate taste in his mouth. The slight taste of the crap space coffee and the chocolate combined and it made him so much happier, that he didn't even notice the other paladins slowing tricking into the kitchen for their start to the morning.

Hunk had already had his breakfast. Shiro came in and got a weird space fruit salad type thing, the leader of the paladins acting like he had been awake for hours, which is very likely for the leader. Next to come in was Pidge, they walked in half awake and like everyone so far, went straight for the space coffee before grabbing the weird breakfast omelette that Hunk made, and digging into that.
The last person to come in, having woke up late like every morning was Lance, and just like usual, Keiths bubble of peace and quiet was shattered and popped by Lances loud presence.

Trying to ignore his presence, he realised it was impossible as no matter how trained you are in ignoring people, it's just simply impossible to ignore the Blue paladin, but at least he's more tolerable after he has had sleep then without, though it was be easier if Keith had also had more the a varga worth of sleep too.
Keith sat silently next to Shiro and just listened at the conversations happening around the table, not really caring to much about what was being said.

Hunk and Pidge were talking to each other about technology and engineering.
Ulaz and Thance, being mates were talking about work, so computers and med day duties.
Kolivan and Antok talking about training and no regimes they could implement into day-to day training.
Regris was practically asleep with his head resting on the table.
Lance was interjecting into Pidges and Hunks conversation occasionally.
And Shiro and Keith were sitting silently, having never been morning people, they did't talk much unless needed to or annoyed at people.

That is how it was for a while before Lance got up and went to the space fridge to make his own breakfast, and all was normal until Lance suddenly froze and asked in a serious voice, or a voice as serious as Lance could get it.

"Who has been drinking my chocolate milk?" Lance asked as he help up the container.
Keith having just finished his cereal shrugged a little at Lance and replied to the question, that he wasn't really taking to seriously because he now had some serotonin going through his body.

"Yeah, sorry, that was me" Keith said as he went to wash his bowl, missing the look of irritation on Lances face.

"well next time! use your own milk! or best yet! don't use the milk" Lance said to Keith, in a snarky tone, grabbing the attention of the others around them, as they could sense that there was a potential fight brewing between the Red and Blue paladins.

Keith turned to look at Lance, a glare present on his face, he asked the Cuban male coldly.
"why would I do that?" he questioned, looking ready to jump on Lance, and start a fight as his good mood, or a mood as good as he could get without a good amount of sleep started leaving him, leaving him on tired, angry and murderous.

Being so tired though, he didn't notice Shiro moving to go stand between them, with Antok and Kolivan close behind, to restrain the pair if a drawl did indeed break out.

"Because you're not even allowed to have dairy! you're lactose intolerant!" Lance almost hissed at Keith if it wasn't for the fact that the blades scared the blue paladin and he didn't want to fight the blades...and Shiro...and Keith.

Ulaz made a startled noise "lactose intolerance! you shouldn't be touching milk and dairy never-mind chocolate milk kit!" the doctor galra exclaimed as he crossed his arms over his chest, now glaring that the red paladin they considered a galran kit.

"you are in so much trouble kit, we are going to have a good LONG talk on you and your inability to have some form of selfcare" the doctor said, with the three other adult galras nodding their heads in agreement. The statement was quickly followed up by another statement from the leader of the blades himself "until you can prove you can self care and talk allergies seriously, one of us will accompany you to meals! until we are sure you will talk care of yourself properly" The leader said as he moved to stand behind Keith.

The youngest galra huffed, frowned and growled a little, though mostly under his breath, his glare completely trained on Lance and his soul, he looked ready to attack him and rip him limb from limb, but a large clawed hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"now come kit, so we can talk to you about the importance of selfcare" Said Ulaz as he lead the group of Galra, plus Keith out the room, with the exception of Regris, that was carried out the room, still asleep on Thaces back.

Before Keith was out the room, he heard Lance yell out to him, confident now that the galra were leaving and taking Keith with them.

"serves you right for using MY chocolate milk" he said cockily, but Keith wasn't going without retaliation.

Yelling back at Lance as he continued to be lead away by the leader of the rebel galra group, Keith hit back, though his comment was something they had never heard before...for the most part.

"I hope you enjoy your chocolate milk Lance! because....ME CAGO EN TU LECHE!" Keith yelled, grinning as he heard a choir of laughs, followed by a loud and dramatic "ewww gross" from Lance.

Feeling joy from the reaction, he walked with the blades, who looked between each other in confusion at what Keith said, as their translators didn't translate it.

"what does that mean Kit?! Ulaz asked after a few ticks of confused silence, almost becoming scared as Keith's grin grew a little on his face.

"It's Spanish, and it roughly translates to 'I shit in your milk' have fun enjoying your chocolate milk now Lance" Keith said with a near sadistic grin, not noticing the disbelieved expressions of the 3 adults behind him.

Chapter Text

After years of fighting for the freedom of planets and species that had fallen to the brute force and rule of the empire, the paladins were finally able to sit down and RELAX, something of which none were very familiar with anymore, Fighting, flying, training and so much more for years on end, being able to sit and relax was so foreign to all the paladins, but no-one more so then the former red and black paladin.

While the other paladins relaxed after saving earth and the universe, Keith did not, instead the time he used to use for training was now used to help with the reconstruction of earth or helping other planets but giving relief in the form of food and supplies. Finally though that wasn't needed as much and earths reconstruction was almost completely over, now being left to the professionals, and so finally Keith was forced to sit down and just BREATHE.

So early on when he was sitting down to relax, he was introduced to the game 'The Sims4' by Pidge, having seen them playing around with it on their laptop on their down time, a very odd time for the shortest of the paladins, as it was very rare to not see them working on a new task with their dad, or Matt or even occasionally with Hunk.
Vaguely watching and getting a small interest in the game once he heard it was a simulation game, Keith decided to get it and give it a try.

Buying games was still hard to do even with reconstruction and the economy getting back to normal and stable, but it was easier to do then when they had just liberated earth, finally getting the game with help from the resident tech genius, he was finally able to sit down and try the game.
Siting down in the family sitting room, in the property that he shared with his mother and Kolivan, the game booted up on the big TV monitor, the iconic theme tune made Keith thinking that he had heard or played the game before, but long ago, he couldn't be sure as he could have heard the theme tune in passing, either then window shopping, in a foster home, group care home or when ducking into a shop to avoid being beat up or the harsh weather outside after being kicked out the houses.

He started playing around with the game, going into create a sim, suddenly he got an idea and he set to work about doing it, a small smile on his face as he worked hard to create the times, with very specific images and references in mind.

When Krolia walked into the sitting room with Kolivan, she did not expect to come in to an upbeat tune of sorts playing, the lights off with the TV illuminating the room, and her kit sitting on the floor, cross legged, controller in hand and staring intensely at the screen with a small smile on his face. Sharing a confused and curious look with Kolivan, they nodded in an unspoken agreement to see what Keith was doing, carefully they moved to see the TV screen.

Krolia made a confused noise as she seen the characters on the screen. There was one female, two adult males and one male child. Looking even closer the one woman looked like her, the hair matched hers in style back was brown in colour, the eyes were pink, almost purple, the shape and build were close and the character was dressed in her favourite colours: Blue, black and purple, the character was even dressed in the style of closed she liked, comfort clothes, tank tops and sweatpants, with some tighter clothes thrown in.
The first male she seen was odd to say the least, a male with white hair, in a braid, very muscular in build and strong looking, the eyes were a weird mixture, a black sclera and pupil and a yellow iris, the clothes that character was wearing were mostly black and purple, mostly very tight clothing or very formal looking.
The other adult male looked very familiar to Krolia, the square/ rectangular jaw, the short dark brown/black hair, strong and muscular build, but not as big as the previous male that she had seen, and the others were familiar, either vests with t-shirts under, or looks jackets, all paired with jeans.
Lastly was the little kid, small and scrawny in stature, shoulder length black hair, similar to hers, the same pink-ish eyes as her, and wearing a red hoodie and flat shoes with black shorts.

The characters looked to familiar to Krolia that she shouldn't help but approach her kit and make a confused noise "What do you have there Kit?" she asked, and waited patiently for Keith to answer her as he was very much into his little game "It's a simulation game of sorts? called the sims 4, the 4 is because it's the 4th edition and make of the game" Keith said as his attention went back to the screen.

Krolia looked at the screen again "You're simulating something? but what? and who are these people you're using?" She asked the innocent question to her innocent and young kit, once again Keith's attention did not leave the scree, not even when Kolivan joined mother and son on the floor.
Keith froze his game and used the cursor to go over the characters one by one.

First he moved the cursor over to the only female character "That's you...They haven't made a galra pack get....so this is how I imagine you as human but...I tried to make it look like you" Keith said, and Krolia couldn't help but feel touched by that, the kit moved the cursor over to the white haired man "This is Kolivan...it was harder because you don't look human at all...so this is as close as I could get it....and with imagining you as human" He said softly, some what shyly to the blade leader, making the leader look at the kit fondly, feeling warm inside.
Next the cursor went over the small child "This is me....Young me" he said almost awkwardly as he started at the character models, dazed for a moment before going to unpause his game, not saying about the other male, being curious Krolia asked the question.

"Who is the other male?" She asked him, and looked almost panicked by the sad look that covered her kits face, the cursor slowly going to the dark haired adult male "That's dad..." he said, a small lump in his throat as he stared at the character model.

Sharing a look, Krolia and Kolivan knew one other question needed to be ask, but the war between them was 'who' would ask, looking to the sad look of the female galra, the task was left up to Kolivan "You said the game was a simulation....what were you simulating?" he asked slowly and carefully.

Keith was quiet for a few minutes after but what left his mouth broke the heart of his mother and the blade leader "I was simulating what my life would have been like....with everyone in it....a mama, a pa...and someone that cared for me....simulating what it would have been like to have the things....I grew up without...."

Once he finished the words hung heavy in the air, and suddenly the mum was hugging her child tightly, both mother and son almost crying, carefully Kolivan joined the them, hugging both of them. Keiths heart hurt, but now he could start to heal even if it is just a little.

Chapter Text

After the death of his dad Keith got migraines, going to the doctors he was talk that his migraines were mostly stress induced and so for years with some migraine medication to use, he was able to make them tolerable, he had even forgotten how bad they could get...until he entered his first bad foster home, where the 'guardians' were just in it for the money.

Running out of the medication happened soon enough and the so called parents refused to refill his prescription...and then he remembered just how bad his migraines got... the photophobia was blinding, the phonophobia made his head pound, the pain combined from the two of them were more then uncomfortable, it was down right debilitating, the nausea caused made him run to the bathroom, his vision doing black even with his eyes open, and then to stop it off the pain overwhelmed him and like many people with severe migraines, he fainted...of course no one knew and he woke up on his bedroom floor sometime later.

This happened a few times, but once he met Shiro it was like the migraines disappeared and never existed , and so overtime he forgot he got migraines, and debilitating ones at that. He stopped worrying about them, of course he had told Shiro about his migraines, but thankfully he never did suffer an attack. Not until Shiro disappeared and he was booted from the Garrison, that was the first time in years that Keith had a migraine and he barely coped with that, as it had very similar outcomes to the one he had with his bad foster families.

Being thrown into space Keith put down his migraines to over training or not drinking enough when training, or even the sound of Lances voice, even so some simple pain medicine in the rooms and in the lions helped mostly to keep his migraines at bay, and so once again he began to forget the impact of his migraines, and everything that came with them. That is until he left team Voltron and went to the Blade of Marmora.
So much stuff happened in that time, finding out about his 'kit' status from his mad bay exam, finding his mum in space, almost more times then what he can count, almost losing the people he cared about and so much more.

The day started like any other day, he woke up, and got out the make shift nest that acted as a bed for his makeshift family, which consisted of his biological mother, the leader Kolivan, second in command Antok, head doctor Ulaz, Communications expert Thace and compared to himself a senor initiate Regris.
He could feel that something wasn't right that day, his head felt like there was a low amount of pressure in it, quiet static in his ears and his eyes felt dry, but still he got up, believing that it was just morning dehydration and that he needed to drink some water to feel a little better.

As his day went on, it got worse and worse for the young galran hybrid, first thing he noticed is that everyone seemed to be talking so much louder then usual, the static and ringing in his ears also getting louder so that it was clear to hear over the loud voices of everyone else. Trying to ease the pain he drank more water and rubbed his forehead constantly, this small action catching the attention of his attentive mother, though she did not say anything, to Krolia the act could be him rubbing sweat off his forwhead after finishing a training session that he had just attended.

The next thing that acted up was his eyes, the dryness never went away and his eyes felt like they were burning by early afternoon, that water doing nothing to really help him, he started closing his eyes constantly and just keeping them closed for a few long seconds, before opening them and rubbing them, it was this action that caught Antok's attention, as he was the head instructor for training and observing Keith.
He had noticed his kit being slower and sluggish, not to mention clumsy and unobservant today, but he just thought that maybe, just maybe an eyelash or some fur had gotten into his eye and was irritating him, but he will keep an eye on his kit.

By dinnertime Keith knew a migraine was building up, his head was pulsing with pressure, his eyes burned when open and he could barely keep his eyes open in the pure white dining hall, the noise of blades making everything worse and soon nausea was growing. Usually he would sit and eat with his pack but he just couldn't bring himself to do so, the nausea and pain being to much for him to even think about food. Standing up he left the dining hall, almost staggering out, hand on his head and using the wall he left, and it was Ulaz that noticed this odd behaviour as he was early to the hall for once.

The doctor got his food and sat down at the table, eating slowly and thinking to himself, what could be making Keith act so weird today, he didn't appear to be sick, he wasn't distressed, his body language to him looked like one of pain, but often times, in Keith pain can be mistaken for tiredness...with resolve he decided to bring this up to the rest of his pack when they turn up for dinner.
It didn't take long for everyone minus Keith to turn up to dinner, sitting down with their plates Ulaz looked at everyone, he noticed the concerned look on Krolia and Antoks face, with a slightly confused look on Kolivan, Regris and Thaces face.

"I seen Keith some and leave the dining hall towards the sleeping quarters" Ulaz said as he seen Krolia open her mouth, most likely to ask about her young kit. The look of concern growing on her face when she heard that.
"He has been acting odd today...I am going to go and see if he is okay" The only woman in the group said as she stood up, abandoning her dinner, and going towards the rooms.
Ulaz frowned as he looked at the full plate left on the table "Someone box that up...and make a small food box for Keith too...I haven't seen him eat all day" the doctor said, before continuing to eat his own meal.

Krolia was a seasoned senior operative in the blade, she was not easily surprised, the last surprise she was genuinely surprised at was her kit in space, and an ex-paladin at that, the last surprise before that was a good 19 years before, when she found out she was pregnant with the child of her human mate. However she was very surprised when she walked into the nest room and seen Keith burrowed under as many blankets as he could get, in what he called either a fluff tortilla or a blanker burrito, this for Keith was vert uncharacteristic, and concerning to the Galra mother.

"Keith kit? are you okay?" Krolia asked as she approached the ball of blankets, almost jumping back when a pained whimper left Keith, in the blink of an eye, Krolia had her kit gathered up in her arms, blankets and all, nuzzling the fluff on her kits head, trying to comfort him.

"I have a migraine mama..." Keith said in a whisper before whimpering again and holding his head, hands over his ears as he tried every-way possible to ease the pain and pressure of the pain in his head. Krolia tried to purr to her kit, hoping to help her relax but stopped once she seen the pain he was in and how it wasn't helping.

"oh kit...I wish you had told us earlier....we could have helped" she whispered into his hair as he continued to hold him close to her, hoping to distract him before it could get any worse then what it already was. Back on earth she remembered that her mate had migraines, and usually responded well to medication, water, silence, darkness, heat and cuddles. Slowly and carefully she reached for her data-pad.

Slowly and carefully Krolia sent a message to the rest of the pack to let them know what she had discovered, marking the message as urgent as her kit was in pain and she didn't want her kit to be in many more pain when what he already was "Keith has a migraine as has been building up all day, he is in pain, and currently burrowed in the nest room....Ulaz please get pain medication ASAP" she sent the message straight away and then went back to giving her kit pressured cuddles.

It took several minutes but slowly the rest of the pack entered the pack room, being very quiet as they entered, now aware that Keith was in pain and knowing what migraines are, they knew that light and sound could make things much worse.
Last to enter the room was the doctor, a small tub that looked comedic in one of his large hands....paws...who knows? in the other hand was a hydration pack, quietly like the others, he approached the mother and kit before sitting down beside them.

"Keith kit...I have some pain medication here...to help with your migraine" he whispered as he took a pill out the bottle and snapped it in half, not wanting to give the kit an adult dose as he didn't know how he would react to the medication just yet...and the fact that Keith was still a kit, a human adult but a galran toddler.
Slowly the ball of blankets started squirming slowly the ailing kits face popped out.

He popped slowly with shaky hands took the half pill and water, tilting his had back to take the pill with water, he whimpered again as the lights burned his eyes, an action was instantly taken to remedy that by the blade leader, who lowered the lights in their room with his data-pad, not wanting to get up and leave his kit, he wanted to stay close and provide as much comfort as he could.

Soon the kit opened his eyes and was able to take the pill, quickly burrowing back into the blankets, and cuddling up to his mum and he waited for the medication to take effect, it didn't take long, but soon even in the ball of blankets they blades around the kit could see the tension bleed out of him, as he slumped completely against his mum.

"Kit...it's important that you tell us these things" Krolia whispered to the child in her arms. "I know...I'm sorry mama..." Keith mumbled back as he poked his head out of the blankets to look at his mother, he didn't look great but that's to be expected when having a migraine all day.

"It's true Kit...Galra get migraines so much worse because we are already sensitive to light and sound...migraines and make you very sick, you could vomit, go temporarily blind and even faint...if that were to happen in battle or on a mission kit....it could be fatal..." The doctor said as he watched Krolia lie down with her kit tucked close to her.

"I know...I'm sorry....I'm just really used to dealing with it myself....and I haven't had them in a while I forgot" Keith said sheepishly as he tucked in even closer to Krolia, seeking heat and comfort.

"We know kit... we know... just remember you are no longer alone" The mother said, slowly the other galra lay down, finding a way to hug Keith.

Krolia was hugging him to her chest, Ulaz hugged Keiths back, with Thace hugging his back and Keith, Kolivan was hugging Krolia and Keith as he was hugging Krolia's back, Antok was large enough to be hugging Kolivans back, and still be hugging Keith, and Regris lay down on top of them, to be able to hug them.

"I know....I like the sound of that" the young kit said softly and quietly as he slowly drifted to sleep, a small purr leaving him as he drifted away.

The adult Galra all smiled at the typical kit reaction to being cuddled asleep while surrounded by their pack, an unspoken agreement happened between them...and that was that Keith out never EVER be alone again, and never in his life time will he be alone and in pain again.

With the unspoken agreement, slowly the adult galra drifted off to sleep, smiles on their face as they cuddled their kit close and was surrounded by the ones they love the most.

Chapter Text

Being in space is was hard to keep track of time and dates, especially when being light years away from your own solar system, the time and date scales being completely different in deep space then what it would be in the milky way system. So when Coran and Pidge worked together to create an Earth calendar it was exciting to the other paladins to say the least.
After all they could now track how long they had been away from home and count other events, like holidays: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Year, Bon-fire Night and even Birthdays, which excited most of the Earthings so much as it gave them a sense of home and stability.

The only person that didn't care so much was the only half Human half Galra hybrid paladin on board the castle of Lions, most people would ask why? Why wouldn't he want to be reminded of home, the people he cared for and the people that care about him, holidays and memories that come with them? well the answer was very simple for Keith...He did not have anyone that cared about him on Earth, he didn't have a family and the families that did have him didn't create much or many of good memories for him, so for Keith the calendar wasn't a big deal or game changer for him.

The only one that knew this other then Keith was Shiro. The only "family" he had had on Earth after the passing of his own biological family and the abandonment of multiple other families after that, he had no friends and not many happy memories and so, to him Earth was just a place, and no dates there were significant to him anymore...other then a select few much weren't the greatest.

Shiro being Shiro did not like it when Keith was alone, nor did he like the lack of care he had for things to do with himself....he was determined to change that, determined to show him he has friends, and a family here in Space, and once they returned to Earth, in Earth too.
Being Keith's only friend and family Shiro knew things about Keith that no one else knew about him. He was going to change that...show Keith that he was cared about, and to do that he would need to talk to the other paladins and the Alteans, with checking the calendar Shiro knew he had to work quick as Keith's birthday was around the corner and he WILL make this one memorable!

Being careful he approached the paladins in the lounge one night, it was easy though as he went other Keith's schedule, he realised that Keith spent all his down time training, something he'll talk about to the younger paladin after his birthday, entering the lounge he was surprised to the the Altean princess and the adviser also in the lounge for once, this made his work easier. Clearing his throat, he began speaking.

"So there is an event soon...it's not on the calendar because a well...a certain someone doesn't think it's important" Shiro said slowly and calculatedly as he stood in front of them, he could already tell the gears were turning in their heads, finally it was Lance that spoke up "what's coming up?" he asked as he scratched his head "what didn't Keith tell us this time" He said in an almost fed up voice.

Shiro shook his head "Keith's birthday is in a few days, I want to make it special this year, so please be nice and lets work together to make this birthday good for him like he helped make your birthdays good" Shiro said almost scolding Lance in what they refer to his 'Space dad' voice.

He could see the shocked look on the others face, before Pidge, Hunk and Lance got a determined look on their faces "Yeah! let's do this!" The three youngest paladins said as they highfived. The Alteans sat quietly for a moment, Allura spoke first.

"We will happily help make his birthday special Shiro" She said formally as she usually did, Coran though approached Shiro and roughly pat his back like he did to everyone else "Let's make this number 4's best space birthday" He said with a smile as he twirled his orange moustache.

"Lead the way and take the lead Space dad" Pidge cheered, a small mischievous look on their face but currently Shiro didn't have the heart to tell them off, his little brother was going to have the best birthday ever in a long long time.

"Right here is what we are going to do..." And with that the jobs and preparations were underway.

It took 3 days of doing work and keeping Keith busy, but they got everything ready. Hunk had managed to make a cake, Pidge was in charge of entertainment, Lance made decorations, and Allura and Coran were tasks with keeping Keith busy.
It was easy enough as all Allura and Coran needed to do was keep Keith out the lounge, and the way they were going to do that was by asking Keith to 'test out a new training program'.

Shiro over seen everything, he watched as Pidge hooked their laptop up to a screen and he watched as Lance hung up decorations like homemade bunting and banners and he couldn't stop the smiling cross his face once he was able to see how everything was working out, his smile growing as Hunk walked in a cake in one hand and a tray of snacked and drinks in the other, things were coming together and he couldn't wait to see Keith's result, picking up his data pad he sent a message to Allura and Coran. It read 3 simple words.
"We are ready"

It didn't take long but suddenly the doors opened to the lounge, and Keith walked in, freezing in the door way as he looked around "oh- um- did I miss something today" He asked nervously as he looked at everyone's faces almost scared in case he had missed something important. Forgetting that Coran and Allura were behind him.

"Yeah...You did forget something today Keith" Shiro said softly with a small smile on his face "But don't worry because today is all about you" He said quickly as he realised that Keith almost got scared, that almost scared look turned into a look of confusion.

Shiro laughed softly at his sudden change in expressions "Keith it's October 23rd" He said softly as the smile on his face grew a little.

Keith looked around the room, taking everything in, before Hunk picked up the cake, drawing his attention to that. Keith stared in disbelief and even more disbelief when the Alteans attempted to join in on the song that they clearly didn't know.
He stared and stared and stared at the cake and candles, unsure if what was happening was real or not, a dream or a hallucination of something he so desperately wanted "Happy Birthday Keith...go on...blow out your candle" He heard someone say.
The voice sounding familiar and familial, a voice from a memory from long ago, a voice like his dads.

He blew out the candles and covered his face "wow...thanks guys" he said with a small smile "can't cry...promised I wouldn't cry" he said, happy and grateful tears fighting their ways out his eyes and into the fabric of his jacket and gloves, suddenly he was pulled into a tight, strong hug.

"Happy Birthday Keith, your family and friends are here" Shiro said as he held him in his arms, the moment was quiet and sweet, but it was made even sweeter with a sudden declaration by Lance.

"Group Hug!" Lance almost yelled before joining the hug, quickly followed by Pidge and then Hunk, with Allura hesitating before joining and then Coran joining last, hugging them all tightly and even lifting them all off their feet with his Altean height change and strength. Keith laughed softly.

"Thank you guys...this has been the first birthday in a long time thats been great...Thank you so much...thanks for everything and being friends....damn it I'm going to cry again!" he said before burrowing his head into Shiros shoulder.

The older brother laughed softly "don't thank us...that's what friends are for...family is for, we couldn't really get you anything but...we tried" Shiro said as he rubbed Keiths back as they continued to hug even after everyone let go.

"No this is perfect, thank you guys so much, this has been an amazing birthday....the most amazing one ever...." Keith pulled away and smiled at them, a genuinely grateful smile.

"This is the second best birthday ever...I'll remember it forever thank you" he said as he rubbed the tears off his face and sat down, relaxing and enjoying the day with the people most important to him. A small smile stayed on his face as the day ingrained it's self into his memory as one of the best days of his life.

Chapter Text

Keith had been slowly maintaining his new coffee farm, low maintenance as it was, roasting the beans was something that helped the relax him, it made him happy knowing that he could once again enjoy his favourite beverage and fight away the need for sleep with the great caffeine boost from his home grown coffee beans. He knew at some point the blades would find out the properties of coffee and he knew at some point he would have to let the paladins in on his new project, but not yet, the bitter elixir of coffee was his for now, and as it was his, he will decide who is worthy of enjoying his beverage as he is the sole farmer of coffee in Space.

Eventually the time came, a meeting with the paladins, Keith didn't mind though, he knew that he could stop the others finding out about his new stash if he really wanted too, but maybe he'll be nice and grant knowledge to a paladin in need, after all the blades motto is 'Knowledge or Death'. He holds the knowledge, who ever is close to death from lack of caffeine will be granted knowledge. It's not quite what the blades mantra means, but he was willing to twist it a little for his family at the castle of lions.
Though if anyone gives the Blades of Marmora accompanying him knowledge of coffee, this will prey for death once Keith is finished with them. Mainly because this family at the Blade Head Quarters are fiercely protective of him, and that family consisted of Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz and Thace.

Packing his bags, he included 2 large tins of roasted coffee means and a single tin of unroasted beans, a gift to an individual who he sees as worthy of having what he deems are the true elixir of life. He also packed his everyday clothes, a few hydration pouches for the flight as well as a few blankets, because no matter how much he wished, they weren't flying in the red lion, the guardian of fire, meaning it was hot, and the fastest lion, meaning that it was going to be a slow flight. A slow and cold flight to accommodate with the Galra having fur.

During the trip, Keith let himself rest and sleep, not having much of a choice as there wasn't any way to make coffee inside the Marmorits pod, it was okay though as soon enough he would be able to get the dark liquid he loved so much.
Waking as the pod touched down, he made sure he was once again buckled into his seat, only getting up once the pod had completely come to a stop, following the same landing procedures that planes have on Earth. He grabbed his bag and got off the pod, immediately being bombarded by the paladins, with Coran and the princess having more restraint and standing further back, and Shiro also having restraint but standing closer to him but not yet within arms distance, it made Keith sad just slightly but he knew that he'll probably have some bonding time with his brother later.

And later he got want he wanted from his brother figure, after all the meetings formal and informal he was able to relax in the lounge, while the other blades were away to fix their rooms up and have it 'habitable for their needs' whatever that meant. And so he was sitting in the young relaxing when the other paladins came in, Shiro, Lance, Pidge and Hunk. Almost instantly Keith was pulled into a tight hug by Shiro, before the taller and older man roughly started to ruffle his long somewhat unruly hair.
Keith groaned as that, knowing it would take a lot of tugging of a comb to get the knots out.

He looked over and seen Lance, the man that he was, obsessed with his skin and hair brushing his hair, he sighed softly, biting his pride and asked the tanned boy "Hey Lance, can I borrow your comb" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, being a little grumpy though he wasn't sure if it was from the lack of sleep, the slight hunger he felt, or the lack of coffee as he had now not had a coffee in the last few hours, which isn't like him anymore, usually he would finish a cup of coffee and within 30 doboshes to 1 varga he would have another cup in his hands, ready to be drank.

"No can do, unless you have something to exchange for it" The tanned man said as he practically waved the comb right in front of Keith's face, but Keith didn't notice because now he had an idea...he just had to see if it would work, and he was planning on trying it...later into the night cycle, when most would be asleep, and so with a small smirk he shrugged "Whatever" he replied as he sat down on one of the couches, now thinking out a plan.

Keith went to 'bed' that evening, just listening and waiting for everyone to go to sleep themselves, while he couldn't tell of they were actually asleep, he knew they were in their rooms, and so he sat and waited, waiting for the lights to dim to the point it was almost impossible to see 2 feet in front of him, and it was then he stood up and silently left his room, a small bag on his back, its contents? A flask of warm coffee and some coffee beans.
Quietly he sneaked past Shiro's room before attempting to sneak past the Blades room, he wasn't sure if he was able to, but all that mattered is that none of them came out to interrogate him on his late night mission. Slowly he made his way down to the training bays, he attempted to open the door, only for the hand panel to flash red, entry denied.

For once Keith was actually hoping to be locked out the training hall, though he would never tell anyone lest he wants them to believe he's sick, dying or a clone of sorts. Being locked out the training hall would allow him to try his plan and theory and so he made his way back to the sleeping quarters for the paladins and visiting blades. He approached his room, but didn't go inside in fact he went two doors up and stood there quietly, usually in a normal house on earth you would see light from under the slight gap from the door and the door from to see if someones awake, but in space, you don't have that, and so he stood and waited, listening for any noise to signal that the resident was still awake and after a few moments he got his signal in the form of quiet yet rapid clicking of keys and the person typed away.

Quietly yet quickly Keith gave the door a few short raps to the door, waiting for the person to respond. It didn't take long as he got a somewhat distracted 'enter' and so he did, he opened the metal door and stood at the only space he could without standing on something or knocking something over,and that space was right against the door, his back toughing it as he looked around almost stunned at how messy the room was, almost stunned that one person could have so many things...did a pile of clothes just move? He thought he seen a creature but he didn't know for sure and currently he didn't really care.

"Hey Pidge, I have a proposition for you" He said as he slowly slid his bag off his back, waiting for the other to reply. He hadn't yet taken the coffee and out the bag, not wanting to expose his edge to the computing expert of the paladins "If you help me then I can give you something in return" Keith said as he leaned against the door a little, his arms almost crossed over his chest.

That got Pidge's attention, they put down their laptop before looking at Keith with a slightly raised eyebrow "No offence Keith, but we have all seen your room...you have literally nothing to give, like...nothing" They said as he stared at the smallest male paladin. Keith couldn't help but smirk and give a small laugh before pulling the travel flask out his bag, he held it up "I bet you that I can change your mind with a taste of this" He said as he unscrewed the stop, ready to hand it over to Pidge, the distinctive smell of coffee quickly spreading throughout the room "Keith you know that space coffee has like zero affect on us....it's a terrible alternative" The light brown haired person said with a small shake of their head.

"Trust me Pidge, take a sip" Keith said as he handed over the cup, a soft smile on his face as he watched them. Slowly the other in the room took a small sip of the coffee that Keith brought in with him, their eyes widened as they took a slightly bigger sip "What?! no way! how?!" They almost exclaimed loud enough to wake up their neighbours "Doesn't matter, but if you can hack into the training deck and unlock up...I'll hook you up" He said as he watched the other very carefully. Feeling somewhat happy as the other enthusiastically nodded their head "I have one condition though...You can't tell anyone about this" Keith said "Yeah! yeah! of course! I've got you!" Pidge said.
Feeling pleased, Keith walked away, leaving the coffee with Pidge, he made his way to the training deck, almost fist bumping the air when he found it unlocked. This could really work.

A few days later, Keith had been in the kitchen, an unusual occurrence for the former red paladin, but then again he had been eating some more being with the Blades, though that wasn't completely of his choice, it was hard to do what he used to do when your informally adopted by the leaders of an Rebel organisation, and when one of the people in the make shift family is also a doctor.
Keith was going through the cupboards, looking for something that he knew they always had in the kitchen, he looked around the in the cupboards, in the fridge, even on top of the cupboard and yet he couldn't find it, couldn't find what he wanted, what he craved!
Shiro walked into the kitchen, blinking at his younger brother standing on the worktops of the kitchen, peering at the top of the kitchen cupboards "Keith? what are you looking for?" Shiro said as he went to go get a hydration pouch.

Glancing down at his brother, he watched as the other took a sip of his water "Where is the chocolate?" Keith asked as he jumped off the counter tops, crossing his arms as he stood in front of his brother. Shiro choked slightly on his water and awkwardly scratched his head "We hid them for your own good" Shiro said staring down his brother as he was glared at intensely "Oh we'll see about that" Keith said ominously before stalking out the room, leaving Shiro in shock...Did Keith just NOT blow up at him, What just happened? Shiro continued to sip his water, though he was thoroughly confused.

Later that night Keith got exactly what he wanted. He walked into the kitchen a little while after dinner with a tin of pre-ground coffee, and Hunk was there, the nice man that had a habit of panic baking, he went over to the space kettle and slipped it on, so that the water was boiling "Hey Hunk" Keith said casually as he pulled out a coffee cup from the cupboard that contained most of the crockery.
Now Keith was lactose intolerance, but he'd be damned if he didn't take milk in his coffee and he'd also be damned if he wasn't able to get to his chocolate that he waited all day for.
"Hey Keith, what are you doing here?" the yellow paladin asked somewhat confused as Keith was never usually in the kitchen "I have a question" was Keiths reply as he finished making the coffee, adding boiling water to the coffee, some sugar and milk, he put it down between himself and the huggable Hunk.
"Sure what's up buddy?" Hunk asked as he pulled the cookies he had been baking out the space oven. Keith crossed his arms over his chest "where is the chocolate?" he asked repeating the same question he asked Shiro earlier in the day.

Watching Hunk he could literally watch the anxiety flowing out of the resident engineer and cook "Well... you see.... we hid it...for your own good....because you're lactose intolerant" The yellow paladin said as he started to fidget somewhat. Slowly Keith nudged the coffee towards Hunk "If you give me the location...I will give you something you miss dearly from Earth" Keith said casually before shrugging "Pidge loved theirs" He told Hunk before watching him get confused "Give me something? you literally only own the clothes you wear....and I'm not even sure...if you own them legally" Hunk said confused. Keith nudged the cup over to him "Take a drink and I bet you will reconsider and tell me" Keith said rather casually.

Blinking the nervous paladin slowly picked up the cup and sipped, Keith watched and smiled as he practically saw the other shiver slightly "No way..." Hunk mumbled before Keith spoke up "Tell me the location of the chocolate...and I'll hook you up with a supply of coffee" Keith said. Instantly Hunk pointed towards the cup board with the cleaning chemicals in them "Its in the tide pod looking container" Hunk said as he sniffed and sipped the coffee "Happy to do business with you...oh! and you can't tell anyone about the coffee...Other then Pidge"" Keith said as he grabbed several chocolate bars and left without looking back, knowing Hunk was now very happy and would never betray him.

Keith walked into the lounge one day, looking for Shiro, he wanted a sparring partner but thus far hadn't been able to locate his brother, tilting his head at the empty lounge, he tried the last place that came into his mind...The black paladins room. Knocking on the door, he slowly entered to see his brother sitting at the desk, typing something up on his data pad "hey Shiro... you up for some sparring" Keith asked as he approached Shiro.
"Not right now Keith...can't be bothered" He tallest paladin replied. Keith blinked and left...knowing now what he must do to get what he wants, while supplying a demand.

Keith left the room and came back just a short while later, having got his travel flask back from Pidge, he was once again using it to transport coffee. Entering Shiros room, he was the other staring at the data pad boredly.
"Right so...say I can give you something you can't live without will you do me a few favours?" Keith asked Shiro as he sat down on the bed, the travel flask nice and warm in his hands. Shiro didn't even look up "I'm almost sure that there aren't any things that I can't live without in space" He said stiffly, reading at something, though it was clear he was bored.
Keith stood up and handed the taller man the flask "Oh try me, I bet I can and I bet I just did" Shiro sighed as he looked up, rubbing his eyes he took the flask and opened it, smelling it, he took a sip. There was an instant reaction, Shiro leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes "hello coffee....my old friend" He said as he took a few more sips "Okay Keith...what do you want?" The black paladin asked.

Keith put a hand on his brothers shoulder "10 sparring sessions whenever I want...and I'll hook you up" He said as he took a step back.
Shiro was almost instantly standing up "Okay, deal, what are you waiting for....lets go" Shiro said as he put his arm around his bothers shoulder and guided him out the room, while carrying his coffee in the other hand.

Keith, Pidge, Hunk and Shiro sat at the dining table just a few days later, with no sign of Lance yet, though they weren't expecting him due to the alarms blaring and the fighting half way through the night cycle. Keith, Hunk, Shiro and Pidge awake, ready and alert for the day thanks to the coffee.
Sitting in silence they sipped at their morning coffee, because Lance stumbled in, half asleep and loud. Everyone ignoring them, due to being in a state of relaxed tranquillity.
"How are you guys not feeling dead on your feet" Lance asked with a whine and a groan.

Hunk shrugged a little "we have found something to give us hope and energy" he said as he put his cup down, standing to get Lances breakfast. Everything continued to sip away at their cups, almost as if they were ignoring Lance.
The tanned man huffed and looked at Hunks half full cup "what did you guys discover" He asked with a grumble as he picked up the cup and took a sip, Lances eyes going wide "No way! can I have some?" Lance said as he put his friends cup down...though he didn't want to.

Keith slowly up his cup down and everyone looked at him, the keeper of the coffee "I can hook you up....at a price" Keith said as he leaned back in his seat, hands clasped on the table, almost pyramided. "Sure, whatever! what do you want" Lance asked, almost jumping up from his seat, even ignoring the food put down in front of him.

Keith took a deep breath "Can I borrow your comb?"

Chapter Text

Sleeping, a normal task that most people do, some sleep more then others, some sleep less, but it is a fact that sleep is normal task....unless you are Pidge...Shiro....and Keith. But as stated before, sleep is a very normal and common task, and as such napping is also normal, especially in Pidges and Shiro's case....but not for Keith, no Keith does not sleep. He barely sleeps during the night and he does not nap through-out the day, even when tired he finds something to do:

Training....
Swimming in the Altean Pool...
Stretching...
Even just helping out around the ship, he doesn't rest, though no one is sure if he just doesn't like to, doesn't want to or if he doesn't know how to...much like Shiro.

And this is why it was so weird...on a day where Team Voltron wasn't called on mission after mission, and on a day that even the Blades of Marmora didn't steal Keith for some top secret missions that were dangerous and deadly...that team Voltron discovered that their Red paladin did in fact sleep.

The first person on team Voltron to discover that Keith did sleep was Hunk, it started like any other day. Everyone got up, had breakfast and a small training session and then because it was a really chilled day, they all went to go do their own things, Hunk wanting to relax went to the kitchen, to try his hand once again at making cookies...ones that were actually edible and not teludav parts, and so for the about 50 minutes after finishing training, he was finished. So while the cookies were cooling Hunk left the kitchen and started to walk around, to find his team mates and friends, and that's what brought him to where he was now, on the bridge of the and staring at the red paladin drone seat...where the red paladin was fast asleep, having a good nap...though in paladin seat he was sitting or rather maybe lying in his seat?
His legs drapped over the side of his seat, his back resting on the armrest and his head thrown completely back, it looked ridiculous and not comfortable at all and all Hunk could think was "how in the world is that comfortable?" Hunk shook his head before quietly leaving the bridge, as the door closed, Keith stirred from his nap, unaware that Hunk had seen him as he got up and left....Maybe to do more training, who knows.

Keith must really have been tired as he was caught once again, later in the day, napping once again...this time in the training deck...and by his big brother, Shiro. Now originally when Shiro had entered the training deck, he had expected to see his brother and though nothing of it, as looking at his brother, he was stretching to either warm up or as a cool down, and so Shiro got to work on warming up for his own work out. He looked at his brother again, finding it weird that Keith hadn't acknowledged him, but then again, Keith was known to get really into his work outs and just zone out. It wasn't until about 15 minutes into Shiro's own work out that he realised Keith hadn't moved. Shiro made his way to his little brother and just looked at him a little closer, before stepping back, an incredulous look on his face.
In front of him was his little brother....asleep, on the floor of the training deck, but what got him the most was the position Keith was sleeping in. Keith was doing a sitting vertical splits, while leaning over to do a toe touch, his chest and face almost completely to the floor as he weakly held his foot....fast asleep. Shiro didn't know how it was possible, how anyone could fall asleep in that position, not to mention how he was able to get into that position to start with, for Shiro it just didn't seem possible.
The older of the brothers sighed and shook his head as he went back to his training, being unaware of when Keith woke up, stretched a little before getting up and leaving the training beck, to do what he does. Who knows, maybe he'll read a book now that he was finished with his training.

And so Keith made his way to the lounge and got comfortable there….with his book.

And that is how Pidge found him a few hours later and just after lunch too. Pidge had made their way to the lounge after eating, laptop under arm, usually they would go to their room or the green lying but the hangers and Pidge’s room was being cleaned and so the lounge was the only other place Pidge could work on their programming, and after lunch is when it’s usually it’s most empty and quiet. And so Pidge entered the lounge and stopped short at what they were seeing.
They blinked a few times, even going as far as to remove their glasses and clean them on their soft t-shirt, replacing the glasses back on their face, they found that the scene in front of them didn’t change at all, not one bit. And so there stood Pidge, at the entrance of the lounge just staring at a sleeping Keith.

After Keith has left the training deck before lunch, he went and got a book before going to the lounge to read, and so he had made himself comfortable before falling asleep, while reading and he was still in that position when Pidge found him.
Upside down, legs hooked over the back of the couch with his hands and book resting open on the floor, right in front of his face. And like that he slept, accidentally sleeping through lunch, not that it was announced that day, and it was normal for Keith to skip that meal anyway.
Pidge just shook their head and used their data-pad to snap a picture before scurrying away, being careful not to wake the sleeping half-galran, having decided to continue their work in the dining room area, though as they left they sent the picture to Keith’s extended family, Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz, Thace, Regris and Krolia.

Keith at some point, once again woke up, and rolled off the couch, after placing his book mark in his book, he felt refreshed and relaxed and just ready to deal with the day and so, before dinner, he know what his next step would be, in his very chill day. Placing his book on the lounge table, he left for his next activity, which unbeknownst to Keith, would be his next sleep spot for the day. And unbeknownst to them, it would be Lance that would find him next.

Now Lance didn’t usually run out of things to do on chill days, usually he’d sleep in, have a late breakfast, do his beauty routine, which on a chill day did take a lot of time, watch a few Disney movies, courtesy of Pidge and their amazing Skills to hack into anything. He played some games until he was bored on his game station, started reading a new book, at some of Hunks cookies and now…well, he had ran out of things to do on his off day, so now he was away to visit the mighty blue lion. Lance huffed a little as he had to walk to the blue lions hanger, the shoots being down for maintenance on their day off, but to get the blue. Lance had to go through the Red Lions hanger, and that’s were he saw the most amazingly bizarre thing ever

Keith, the space ninja samurai, the man that didn’t sleep, asleep. But not on a casual way, noooo Keith had to be that little bit extra, Lance thought as he stared at red Paladin. A small pout on his face. Keith was sleeping, wrapped up….on the red lions nose, as she sat at roughly 20 feet tall. And there was Keith, curled up asleep on his nose, as if he wasn’t at risk of falling off and potentially to his death.

“I can’t even….just how?!” Lance almost yelled in disbelief, how could anyone be able to ignore that risk enough to sleep? He shivered a little but decided not to wake the sleeping paladin, after all, he knew that Keith didn’t really sleep much but also…Keith is a half-galra, galra and giant purple space cats, and he was scared that if he woke Keith up, his catty side would come out and well….Lance has just finished his beauty routine and nothing was going g to ruin his skin, not yet. And so he done what the others did and just….left the red paladin asleep, leaving him undisturbed.

Thankfully Keith did make it to dinner, sitting down and eating, he didn't notice all the weird looks that he was getting from all the other paladins, he stayed completely oblivious to the looks on everyone's face as he tucked in and enjoyed the food for tonight, Hunk being the god in the kitchen that he was, was able to make something very akin to pasta bolognese with garlic bread, something that Keith truly loves. He even went and had a cookie for dessert, soft and still goo-y it made Keith very happy and kept him distracted from his surroundings. Eventually though the food was finished, everyone was full and they all left for their separate ways, to relax and digest all the food they ate before calling it a night and going to bed.

Soon the lights around the castle of lions dimmed, signalling the beginning of the night cycle, bedtime had effectively started for the paladins, after all their day of rest was pretty much other and they were back to being on call, and so the curfew was reinstated, and so slowly everyone returned back to their sleeping quarters, most yawning, bags under their eyes, and so like everyone else Keith also went to bed, curling around his pillows an under his blankets he went back to sleep, expecting to wake up the same as he had during the day, refreshed and pain free but....we was wrong, very wrong.

Slowly the night cycle passed and the day cycle started and on time, everyone started their day, all going to breakfast at almost the same time, the last to appear being Keith as he shuffled into the kitchen and dinning room, hunched over and hand on his back.

"My back is killing me today" Keith's voice caught a little in his through as he sat down, a high pitched, whine like noise leaving him, as the muscles pulled a little.

"Okay just no way, a bed hurts you but evvvvverything yesterday done nothing! something is up with your body" Lance said seriously, pointing his spoon at Keith. The other paladins nodding in agreement, leaving the red paladin confused, he didn't sleep in crazy position or anything....right?

Chapter Text

Keith was never one to have much money, actually for most of his life, he had no money at all. He remembered getting a little pocket money when his dad was alive, going to the store and getting a new toy or treat occasionally....and then his dad died. The group homes he was sent to constantly didn't do pocket money, though when he went to a good foster home the adults would usually give him some pocket money, which he saved out of fear he'd be left with nothing.
He tried not to spend his pocket money, even when sent back to the group homes, and when he was sent to the bad foster homes, the little pocket money he saved was his life savings, and he was determined to keep it. But then he was recruited to the Garrison, and because he was a ward of the state, he got small but regular monthly payments, most went to his schooling but the rest he withdrew and kept as cash....cash that he used to survive his year in the desert, after getting booted from the Garrison.

Even when they all went to space, Keith getting a few dollars tucked away, that he did find out was useless in space, even the Alteans didn't have usable currency, and so in space he had no money to buy anything, dollars was only a currency on Earth, having not made it's way into deep space or to any space malls, and Alteans were extinct to the universe and so their currency was long forgotten about, and being a paladin, essentially an outlaw he had no way to get his hand on GAC and so, he just looked but never attempted to buy or steal when he went to the space mall...which was almost never because he didn't want to remember of looking at something, wanting it but never being able to get it because of his circumstances.

That all changed though when Keith left Voltron and joined the Blade Of Marmora. While the Blades were a rebel group that still has money coming in somehow, enough money that everyone got a small wage of sorts and so after being with the Blade for a month, he was surprised to be handed a metal black card and told that he had been payed around 200GAC for his month work with the blade. He was surprised but then he made a decision...It was time to start his life savings again, and so he started saving the GAC. He didn't have anything to spend it on anyway, he had two outfits and he already survived a month at the base with the standard purple blanket and rock hard pillow that was issued to all new recruits and were already in his sleeping quarters when he arrived. The outfits he had being his standard black blade uniform and his casual clothes that he arrived with, the black t-shire, black jeans, his boots and his cropped jacket as well as his finger-less gloves.

And that's how he found himself here... in the space mall, with his galra family. They had found out just how much he lacked in everything, he didn't have clothes, or comforts like pictures or comfy blankets or just anything that felt homey, and so he was taken to the space mall. His 'family' going around buying things for him while being adamant that Keith should spend his month on a hobby or something he really wanted and to just leave the rest up to them. He wandered around for a while, but as he couldn't ready the alien names of the stores he just settled for browsing the Earth store, because at least he could for the most part either read what they were selling or he could guess what it was, and that's where he found his most treasured item to date....and he didn't care that he spend all his 200GAC on it. It was the find of a life time, his prized possession.
And so Keith returned to the Marmora base, clutching this one item to his chest and not letting anyone see it....not yet anyway.

The black haired half-galran held into his precious item for days, keeping it a secret but soon he realised that the others would never have heard what he grabbed and well…he wasn’t usually a sharer of anything that belonged to him, the want and need and ability to share was long removed from him when he was in the group homes, but he really REALLY wanted to share this with the people he though of as close friends and family.
It took Keith a day but he finally found what he needed to be able to share this, and it wasn’t hard to source. After all, there was a lot of alien advanced tech around him…and Thace was head of the tech department, so that made it easier, what stopped him for so long was wiring into the bases intercom system but again, one of his dads are head of the Tech department for the rebel group and one of his other friends in a techie junkie, so he picked up some things from them.

In the dead of night, during the middle of the night cycle, Keith donned his blade uniform and left his room with two small things tucked under his arm, he took a deep breath and started his mission. Using all his training he sneaked around the base, avoiding all the blades that were on security detail for the night cycle...which was Keith was not hard....after all compared to other galra blades, he was much much smaller in height and also much lighter, meaning his foot steps if he wanted could be nonexistent.

He finally got to his target location, Kolivans office, quietly he used his blade to open up a small panel in the wall. A small grin broke onto Keiths face as he went to work, splicing wires and connecting it to the reader he had brought with him, it was something he had seen his green paladin friend, Pidge, do before and so he was certain he could mimic it successfully. Being the kit of the highest ranked blades had its advantages, for example: He KNEW Kolivan would not be in his office in the morning, as he had a meeting that would take place in the large meeting room, he also knew when the meeting is scheduled to start and finish and so he knew his window of opportunity to share his precious with the whole base.
And so Keith sat in and camped out in Kolivans office for the night, taking the extra precaution to lock the door to the office and barricade the door with whatever he could move.

He set an alarm before going for a nap in Kolivans chair, as he was ready to start his plan, now he just needed the morning cycle to start. His alarm went off subtly, only loud enough to wake him and not draw attention. Now Keith wasn't a monster, he set his alarm knowing that everyone would be awake, he didn't after all want to wake anyone up, and so he made sure to time it, as so that everyone was awake and so that Kolivans meeting had yet to start.
Stretching his arms over his head, he grinned to himself before going over to the player he had installed in the intercom system, he took a deep breath as he turned the intercom on before pressing the play button...it was quiet for just a few seconds before the music suddenly rang out through the full base, and Keith couldn't help but huff, suppressing a squeal of excitement.

"It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid"
"At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade"

Do they know it's Christmas by Band Aid went through the base loudly, and Keith well Keith sang along, feeling pure joy as he listened to the music, teaching the blades the joys of Christmas music. And that is how the day continued for Keith, as he ignored the blades banging on Kolivan's door, trying to get access but Keith was not letting them in, he just played the music happily.

"When the snowman brings the snow"
"Well he just might like to know"
"He's put a great big smile on somebody's face"
"If you jump into your bed"
"Quickly cover up your head"
"Don't you lock the doors"
"You know that sweet Santa Claus is on the way"

The best Christmas song rang out through the base: I wish it could be Christmas everyday by Wizzard, he just loved the song and just sang to it, while spinning around in Kolivan's spinny chair. And that's how the day went for them all.

Keith jammed out and enjoyed the rotation of Christmas songs, while introducing the Blades to the best seasonal music on Earth. It was just after: All I want for Christmas is you by Mariah Carey that he received a call from the castle of lions on the data-pad.

"Hey guys" Keith said as he continued to spin around on the spinny chair "what's up" he questioned, a small grin on his face, he hadn't turned the music off or down even to answer the call.

Shiro was the first to speak up "Hey Keith buddy....what are you doing? we got a frantic call from the blades about you...something about barricading yourself in Kolivan's office and hijacking the intercom..." he said as the music finally clicked in Shiro's head.

"well you see Shiro, I found a piece of treasure in the earth store, and I just had to share it!" he said with a smile as another song came on "like come on, I couldn't not share this with them! it's so good" he hummed along with the song quietly as Shiro spoke up.

"oh Keith...oh buddy.....On Earth right now....its June" He said with a sigh expecting to see with turn off the music "its not the time for this music, it's inappropriate to play it right now..." he finished.

Only for Keith the reply instantly "Excuse you, but Christmas music is appropriate all year round, now excuse me" he said as he hung up on Shiro because how dare he say that Christmas music can only be played at Christmas, he just shook his head at that though and that is how the small half-galran stayed for the next 2 or 3 hours as the music played.

Eventually the disk did finish, and being satisfied that he had introduced the Blades for the best genre of music on the planet Earth, he un-barricaded the door and unlocked it, after turning the music off, and fixing the intercom and panel back onto the wall. He left the room, almost skipping past the Galras at the door, they visibly looked frazzled at the small half-galrans. Going over to his "family" Keith smiled a little up at them.

"So how did you like it?" He asked Kolivan, he was obviously very happy and Kolivan....Kolivan didn't have the heart to give him into trouble for what he did, haven talked to Shiro and learning that Keith didn't share things due to past trauma, and if he shared it means he cares and trusts them with everything he has.

"it....it was interesting Kit" Kolivan said with a sigh as he pat Keiths back "just please don't do it again" he said before shaking his head and leaving for his meeting finally, just a few hours late, but the meeting can't start without the leader of the Blades, so it was okay.

Several hours after the meeting, Kolivan was in his office, going through reports of missions and budgets, he hummed to himself. He couldn't get the song out his head and it was driving him insane. The song in question "I wish it could be Christmas everyday".

Chapter Text

Keith, the Blades had noticed was one very very weird being...and they were not proud it took them so long to notice.

When he was hurting, he just didn't show it, though this was not true if he were feeling emotional pain. With emotional pain, he would just crack and crumble, though the blades assumed that was what happened with years of trauma and neglect, and then suddenly gaining a full family in the span of just a few short movements.

No, Keith hid his physical pain, if something hurt him physically, like falling from a great height, getting hit with force in training and in the field, and even the more grave and painful types of injuries.

The first thing the blades caught him lying about was a small burn that the young blade sustained on a mission, nothing serious, it didn't warrant even the idea of the pack to put their youngest in a pod, and yet he lied. On that day:

The mission started as normal really, the blades sneaked into a Galra base, quietly and with expertise sneaking past and destroying sentries if they needed to, this mission was one of just many reconnaissance missions at the Blades went on in their effort to bring down the empire. This mission was simple though, Keith and a group of junior blades had been sent, as well as Thace, the senior tech master in the Blades ranks. This missions objectives? infiltrate an empire ship, get into the server room, let Thace hack into the system, get some much needed information, and set explosive detonators that are to activate once they are leaving the ship.

And so that is how the mission went, Keith, Thace and the other junior Blades infuriated the empire ship with few set backs, though a few sentries were now dead though hidden in creative places and positions to stop others from being suspicious. While Thace was hacking and downloading the systems and servers of the shift, the other junior Blades, minus two others were placing the explosives, the other two Blades, completing their orders to watch Thace's back as he done his own role.

The explosives, one by one were activated, a small dial in the front needing to be turned until it popped, thus indicating the activation of the explosives, and the timers.
Keith sighed as he placed the last explosive device, mentally be done a small count of all the ones he had placed himself, before making his way back to the server room, to reconvene with all the others.
His mind was still taking count before realising something, his first explosive planted, never clicked. With a steady jog he returned to the server room.

"Mission objective complete, are we ready to leave?" Thace asked, using his comms to communicate as his mask was still up, hiding his face and protecting his identity. Everyone nodded in sync, and just like that, like ghosts in the night, they all started to leave.

Keith fell back from the group at the first explosive that he placed, and just lightly placed a few fingers on it, with the intent to turn the knob until it clicked, only for him to hiss and pull his hand back quickly, the explosive was definitely active, how did he know? the metal of the explosive was searing hot, heating it's self, and preparing to explode. He ran and caught up with the group, entering their pod, and all Blades were gone.

Nothing was noticed on the flight back to the Blades HQ, though the smallest Blade, would clutch and hold his hand to his chest, but no one thought differently and as such they never noticed that Keith was hurt.

Keith returned to the pack room after a very quick shower and went to the little mini fridge that they kept in the room for him. His pack resting peacefully in the nest, just enjoying the company of each other. Keith took out a chilled hydration and just held it until it felt warm to his touch and then he put it back in the fridge before taking another pouch out and holding it, using the cool-ness to chill his burns, and so the cycle continued, he would take a chilled pouch out, hold it until warm and replace it.

It wasn't until the sixth cycle was finished what Ulaz noticed what Keith was doing.

"what are you doing there kit?" the Medic Galra asked the young hybrid, tilting his head slightly.

"Oh uh....nothing, just a small burn I got on the mission, that's all" He said awkwardly, not liking the sudden attention he was suddenly receiving.

"I'm sorry, what did you say!" Was the reply the small Blade was met with "you burned yourself? when? how?! no nevermind, just let me see" Ulaz said, slightly freaked at the child before him, yes the burn was small, but painful and he knew that Keith, he had no intention of telling them...He'll just have to keep an extra eye on the child.

The second time it happened Keith had been training, not during the mandated training sessions taught by an instructor, no this training session was during the free time slot that the Blades got in the evening after the finished their normal duties.

Keith has been practising many of his skills, though he was more so sparring with one of the older and bigger Blades, it was a game, a game of wits, how was a small half galra going to take down a full galra without practice after all.

A swing there, a swing here, duck! and dodge, and don't forget to roll! and that...that is what got Keith into his current predicament.

He rolled, intending to get under a punch and roll between the galra's legs, which were in a strong stance, though being small, Keith could get between. He rolled, and as he was getting back on his feet to try and kick the galra on the back, he lost his balance, his ankle taking his weight , rolling under him, he felt pain and a crunch almost, though he wasn't worried.

"Time! Time out!" Keith called out, as he carefully made his way back onto his feet and hobbled to the sideline, getting a small drink, though he did intend to go back to his sparring match, as he was putting his hydration patch back down, a bell rang over the intercom for the base: Free time was over, it was time of the night cycle, and so the sparring hall quickly cleared out, many of the people training intending to go for a shower or bath before going to spend time with their packs and mates before sleeping for the night.

Keith waited until the hall was clear before picking his stuff up, and slowly hobbling out, he gritted his teeth and took many deep breaths, his ankle hurt but he could tell it wasn't broken. He continued to talk, determined to hide his limp and injury and well...he was succeeding. He made it to the pack room and to the shower without incident, cleaning himself down before going to the nest and settling for the night.
His ankle was throbbing but he still was able to sleep.

The next morning, with gritted teeth and a very bruised ankle, he made his way to breakfast and ate with his family. He started his way to the morning training session before stopping short of the training hall, he had forgotten his Blade at the nest and so he made his way back, cussing quietly at the extra walking he was now needing to do, first to his nest and then back to the training hall.

He tripped in the nest, and out of frustration he pulled his boot off and threw it at the door, a thump noise filling the believed to be empty room, Keith muttering under his breath as he rubbed the sore appendage.
What he didn't know though was that Antok was in the packs bathroom, running late to the training session himself. He heard the thud and went into the room to investiagate, noticing Keith and then zoning into the black and blue ankle, as Keith stood up and went to go get his boot.

"Keith, what the quiznak did you do! and why didn't you tell anyone!?" the giant galra exclaimed, almost growling.

Like a deer in headlights, Keith stood, frozen and staring at Antok with eyes as wide as saucers.

"oh" he muttered and looked at his ankle "yeah, I rolled it last night, but I'm going to training, don't worry" Keith said as he all but shoved his boot on.
Antok was bewildered, just how is this child not reacting to pain in anyway.

"That is not happening, you are now on nest rest" Antok declared, picking Keith up and putting him in the nest, before gently removing the boots, and he did not leave Keith that day, or the following day, until he was sure his little kit was fine again.

Keith secretly was a clumsy person, he usually would drop something and then catch it before it hit the ground, and act like it didn't happen, but Keith somehow didn't drop things or fall or trip often in front of people.

Keith was training his swordsmanship, in an abandoned training hall, moving and flowing to the music he was listening too, as he moved with his blade, his blade that was an extension of himself, at that moment, he felt at peace. He didn't know when, but as he trained his movements, his eyes closed as he just let his music and blade control his movement. He felt one with his blade.

And then....he tripped, he tripped over his feet and fell forward. Landing on his stomach, he tripped over his feet, maybe tripping over empty air, he didn't know. He lay a second as he tried to figure out what exactly. He shook his head in frustration before looking for his blade...He couldn't see it, shifting to sit up, that is when he felt it.

Looking down, he paled a little, his blade was impaled to the side of his stomach. He picked himself off the floor and went back to his private room, the one he used daily before using the pack room. Locking the door, he opened his first aid kit and against all common sense he knew, removed his own blade from his abdomen.
Using a dressing, he applied pressure and waited for the bleeding to stop before wrapping himself with bandages and changing how t-shirt out for a clean one.
No one had to know, no one will know.

Finally after a varga or two, he was satisfied with his cleaning, hiding the evidence, he went to the pack room and continued as normal, no he didn't accidentally stab himself: he kept repeating in his mind.

And after a few days, he simply forgot. Five days after stabbing himself, he was changing his t-shirt in the nest, forgetting about the clear dressing he had on his wound. He had no shame anymore when it came to changing in front of his pack, they were his family and at this point he and everyone else had seen worse and weirder.

Smoothing his top down, it was suddenly pulled up to just above the stab wound.

"Keith, what is this?" the pack leader and leader of the blades asked, an eyebrow raised at him. Everyone else stopped and looked over, curious about what was happening and what Kolivan was saying to Keith.

Keith looked down and laughed a little "oh I forgot about that" he said, not answering the leader for a few moments, as he shook his head in amusement at himself.
"I done a big oops" be said cryptically "I stabbed myself but don't worry, I am on day five and look! no infection" he said almost excitedly.

The nest was dead silent, Keith wondered if space crickets were a thing because he was almost sure he could hear them in the silence of the room.

"WHAT!?!?" The voices of Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz, Thace, Regris and Krolia called out in unison, some heads snapping in the direction of the living quarters from the other side of the ship, the exclamations echoing and reverberating around the halls.

"oops?" was the only reply they got from the small hybrid, as he shrugged and left, no cares give, and no fucks to give.

Chapter Text

From a young age Keith had always had a weird relationship with food, looking at things and before trying them declaring that he didn't like them, partly it was because of his dads dislike for foods, that had put Keith off of trying them and just believing that he also didn't like them, it was normal for a child to imitate their parents at a young again after all, and once the child gets older they try it eventually...right?

Well not Keith, once he got the idea he didn't like something food wise, he was never eating it again, but he wasn't an overall fussy eater, no...he just has a specific palette and taste in foods. No they are not weird, just different!

Keith remembered getting weird look from people when he would eat stuff, well....only once he joined the Garrison...and by some people, he meant Shiro...and Adam....and Matt, they never said anything at first, after all, everyone has a weird guilty pleasure food....Matt being the Chaotic person he was and is use to eat a bowl of Cheerio cereal, with water, ice and whipped cream, and he used to add banana to his pizza, which disturbed well....everyone and get it was rarely brought up for him....but then again, Matt Holt was known for eating anything and everything, and having an iron stomach.

Adam? Well Adam was the chef of the house, with Shiro only allowed to pour liquid but never cook, it was natural that Adam would cook all the time, and his guilty weird meals? well that was Cream of Tomato soup and some caramel popcorn to dunk into it, and when he was nostalgic and missing home and maybe just a little depressed? a bowl of Mayo with boiled garden peas.
And Shiro, poor Shiro, he wasn't allowed to cook, having burnt one to many things and set the kitchen on fire more times then he can count, the only thing Shiro was allowed to do in the kitchen without supervision was pour and reheat liquids. So with such limitations what could Shiro make with just reheating liquids.... Well on the nights Adam made fish fingers, they may be adults with a child's tastes, Shiro would reheat custard using the microwave, and dip his cold fish fingers into the warm thick liquid. Shiro explained that he had seen it on TV and thought it amazing and had to try it (if you know, you know XD) and his other weird guilty food? well was freshly cut apples dipped in a ponzu sauce with a dash of soy sauce.

The first one that noticed Keith's weird guilty food was Shiro and Adam, when they were having lunch in the Garrison canteen, one warm summer afternoon, everyone sat at the time, and the day...well it was a Friday, on Fridays they served breadcrumb coated fish, with some chips, a small side salad and a vanilla sponge cake with just a thin drizzle of thin icing on top. It was the one day they had where the food was relaxed. Slowly Keith ate his chips...and then his fish, humming a little he got an idea, separating the carrot and the peppers in his side salad he would take a few bits of lettuce, but a little on the cake and then take a bite of his dessert. Keith hummed and smiled a little to himself and that's how he continued to eat his dessert until there was none left, leaving the carrot and peppers, he had happily finished his food, standing up, he missed the exchange that Shiro and Adam had at his food combination.

"Is it just me or is cake with icing and lettuce a little weird?" Shiro asked his fiance, the other man nodded before giving a small laugh "yes, but if it gets him to eat his veggies" was the reply Shiro got from Adam.

When they were blasted into space, all the safe foods that everyone knew and loved were pretty much none existent and so naturally new safe space food combinations were born, and everyone once again had a comfort food.
The team had just got back from the space mall, everyone had their own little haul of items, ranging from snacks, to clothing, to accessories and more. Keith? Well he had went and found his dinner for the night and he was more than excited, having missed the food combo intensely, he didn't even know he was craving it until he seen them, most of the ingredients being from the Earth store, and some from alien vendors. Thankfully with some translating technology he was able to find the rest of his much needed ingredients...after getting a comparison of what they taste like in regards to earth meats. He was able to find something called a seasaman buna which is the alien version of a sesame topped burger bun and bò bùrgair, which was the alien version of beef burger patties.

Arriving back at the castle he told Hunk not to worry about making him dinner, Keith was happy, mind made up that he was having his burger for dinner tonight and he was going to LOVE every bite of it.

Finally it was dinner time, and while everyone was settling down for the a fantastic space curry that Hunk had made, Keith was only in the kitchen for about 5 minutes before sitting with everyone at the dinner table, his burger in front of him. The bun was toasted and it smelled like a normal beef burger. And then, he started emptying his pockets, on the table he placed a few sachets of salt, a small bottle of tomato sauce, a small bottle of sriracha sauce and lastly the element to pull it all together, the relish sachet from a Rustlers burger package.

He opened his burger and sprinkled the salt on the burger and the bun, then opened the relish, squeezing it on the edge of the burger patty, making a circle before filling in the circle with the remainder relish, then he went in with the sriracha, squeezing it out in a zigzag fashion, with vertically and horizontally, and lastly he squeezed the tomato sauce on the burger, mostly in the middle, before putting the top bun back on and moving the dun a little to 'combine' all the sauces. Being careful not to let any of the sauces spill, he picked the burger up and took a bite, nostalgia hitting him hard, he hoovered his food down, feeling content once he finished, the combination bring back food memories, he closed his eyes for a few minutes letting the food settle before getting up to clean his plate, once again, he missed the faces of his teammates. Once Keith left the room, the team finally broke the silence.

"Okay, did anyone else just see that!" Lance all but freaked out, gesturing towards where the red paladin had once been seated just moments before. The blue paladin continued to use wild hand gestures to be sure that everyone knew just what he was talking about.
"That...is something I've never seen him have before...kind of looked good though" Shiro said, thinking about the meal Keith had before shaking his head, on second thought probably isn't great for him, the sodium level is probably sky high and Shiro doesn't need any extra stress on his heart, not with his team of children.

Hunk seemed the most disturbed by Keith's food "nope, never again! Keith is not allowed to make his own meals in my kitchen again, that is a crime, it should be illegal to do that!"
Pidge, like her brother, a very chaotic person, she didn't really bat an eye at what Keith had eaten "I just wonder if he'll have heartburn later" was her one and only remark.

After returning to Earth and helping rebuild everything, everyone was elated to finally get some of the best food ever! McDonalds! Everyone settled down in the Atlas canteen with their food.

Pidge had gotten a McChicken sandwich meal, Lance had ordered a McCrispy meal, Hunk had gone for a Big Tasty meal, Shiro had got a McSpicy meal, Allura and Coran having never experienced the joys of a McDonalds before had went with the recommendations of the original Big Mac meal each, and Keith well....He got a 20 piece McNugget box, McDonalds nuggets were good, they weren't Burger King nuggets, the best nuggets but nuggets nonetheless.
Everyone was settling onto their meals enjoying their food, but Keith wasn't really eating and of course Space Dad Shiro noticed Keith's disinterest in the food.
"Hey, what's wrong Keith? something on your mind? is something wrong?" The older, overprotective father figure of the group asked, Keith hummed and looked up, looking at Shiro "Nothing’s wrong, the food tastes nice....just missing something" Keith explained to Shiro before getting an idea.

He stood up abruptly and left the room for a few minutes, his paladin family looking confused and concerned, but no-one said anything, after all it had been at LEAST 7 years since they had a McDonalds, there was no way they would be tearing themselves away from the 5* cuisine in front of them.
As quickly as he had left, Keith was back with a few bottles in his arms. He let them fall onto the table before sitting down himself.
On a small side plate, he opened the first bottle and squeezed, and then repeated the action with the second bottle, and then with the last bottle, he again repeated the action, making sure that all the sauces were squeezed into their own small pile on the plate, making sure the plate had 3 small mounds of sauces.

Sauce number 1 was a basic Heinz tomato sauce, sauce number 2 was sriracha sauce and the last sauce? Well, sauce number 3 was Garlic mayo. Grabbing a single nugget, Keith used it to mix small three of the condiments together into his own unique condiments, and he just couldn't get enough! It was spicy! it was rich! and it was garlic-y and it made him very happy once again. He wasn't hesitant on eating his nuggets, a small smile gracing his face with every bite, man he didn't know it could be THIS good!
Finishing his food he stretched a little.
"Well it was a good meal guys but I'm going to hit the training deck" Keith said as he took his plate to be cleaned and threw his McDonalds packaging out. The door to the canteen swishing closed as he left.

"Okay guys, I'm being serious then I say... we need to lock him out of the condiments cupboard because that is just a no" Hunk said as he looked specifically at Shiro, he was serious, Keith needed to be stopped because he's going too far, the poor poor food.

"Hey, garlic mayo is the best condiment to exist" Pidge told Hunk, the chefs face pulled into one of disbelief and almost disgust "No, get out, your banned from my kitchen too now for that statement" Hunk declared with a tone of finality, there was no room for argument when it came to Hunks domain, and Hunk well....he was personally offended by Keith and Pidge.

The team never intended to stay on Earth for the current, extended period of time, but here they were, all sleeping over at Shiro's Garrison issued apartment, taking a break from staying in the Atlas, this was bonding time after all.
Keith woke up early....earlier then everyone else and like usual he just couldn't fall back asleep, but unlike usual he couldn't go to the training deck, He lay there for a while, unmoving, not wanting to wake anyone up.

Had Adam still been with them, he would be making breakfast by now...but he wasn't, and so finally he got out of bed and out the room before waking anyone else up. Adam had taught him out to make Eggy Toast/French toast before everything went extra bad in their lives, and Keith was determined to make it...it was also one of the quickest meals he knew how to make, but before he started, he quickly and quietly set the table with sauces and condiments and extras, he put nutella down, maple syrup, salt, pepper, fruits and some savoury condiments such as tomato sauce before getting to work.

After a long 30 minutes of frying without setting anything on fire, the stacks of French toast were finished, he may have used all of Shiro's bread and all of his eggs but it was okay and completely justified because he done unseasoned French Toast for the people that wasted sweet french toast, and seasoned with salt and pepper french toast for the people that want the savoury french toast.
Peering into the living room, he was happy to see that everyone was finally waking up and slowly making their way into the living room, still half asleep.

"Good, you guys are awake just in time" Keith said as he put the two tall plates of french toast on the table "breakfast is ready, french toast, so dig in" he said as he went back to the kitchen to get everyone cutlery "The orange plate is for sweet french toast, and the blue plate is for the savoury french toast" he yelled into the sitting room before returning a few short moments later.
Hunk was staring at the food, judging just from the appearance but he had yet to say anything, Keith handed the first get of cutlery to the chef " you first big guy, I promise it won't kill you" he said as he watched the taller boy try both types of french toast without adding anything. The chef's eyes lit up.
"Wow, Keith! I didn't know you knew how to cook" Hunk said to Keith with a wide smile on his face. Keith gave a small awkward laugh "I actually don't, this is like one of 3 things I know how to make" he explained.

The other paladins seeing and hearing Hunks approval started digging into the food, the image filling Keith with a little sense of pride finally took his seat, and took 3 pieced of the savoury french toast, in his head french toast should always be savoury, not sweet....but that was something he got from his dad, his dad never made sweet french toast, it was always 'eggy toast' with salt, pepper and tomato sauce for him, and so that's what he went for as default.

On his top slice of eggy toast, he made a smiley face with tomato sauce before eating it, and it tasted.........it tasted great but it didn't hit that spot, that craving that he had deep down, finishing his slice he frowned a little before standing up, he KNEW what it was, he KNEW exactly the best thing for on top of his eggy toast, and so while everyone was distracted and and tucking into their breakfast, Keith stood up and sneaked into the kitchen.

Opening a specific cupboard in Shiro's kitchen, Keith's eyes scanned the shelves, still frowning until his eyes fell on the one thing he wanted, a grin slowly appearing on his face. Grabbing the specific Heinz bottle, he went back to the sitting room and to his plate, popping open the bottle he squeezed the contents of the bottle onto his french toast after sprinkling a little extra salt onto it, the light yellow-ish thick sauce going onto the eggy toast
Putting a light amount on both slices and then eating it, it really did hit a spot, the last time he had this was with his dad, it brought back memories, he remembered his dad never quite got it, but he went along with it.

Salad cream and French Toast was a very good comfort food for him, and well...for him....the best hangover medicine ever....don't tell Shiro.
When he finally looked up from his plate, the room was silent and everyone was looking at him.

"Okay! that just.....I can't" Shiro said as he started laughing and shaking his head. Hunk had his head in his hands, shaking it slowly, clearly trying to stop himself from being sick and crying.
"Keith....who hurt you" Lance followed up as he pat Hunks back as the chef had a minor breakdown.

"I can't keep watching you do this to yourself....you need an intervention" Hunk said in a grave tone, looking at Keith seriously.

The galra hybrid tilted his head, and shrugged, completely unbothered. "Whatever you say buddy, whatever you say"