Work Text:
As far as Voltron missions went, some were frankly more glamorous than others, some were just plain boring, and some were.... well, Shiro would have said “interesting” to be diplomatic. Keith on the other hand had a few choice words that wouldn't be good to share in front of professional company.
It was just a coincidence than many of them happened to be only four letters long.
Despite the Galra Empire being the most grave threat throughout the universe, it wasn't as if every place had been blessed with peace before the Galra decided to invade. Even those planets that hadn't been touched by the galra were often riddled with problems of their own. Voltron's mission was more than just battling the Galra; as Allura put it, they were ambassadors of peace to other lifeforms. Despite diplomacy being a weak point for most of the paladins (basically all of them besides Shiro), they each truly believed in their duty of helping out those who needed it, of leaving the universe a bit better than they found it regardless of whatever challenge was at hand. It was a responsibility that not a single one of them didn't take lightly.
So when Allura had sent a transmission to the Viscune leadership of the planet Erasc requesting an audience to discuss an alliance with the Voltron Coalition, and in response the Voltron team had received a distress signal, they weren't about to turn and walk away.
The Viscune were a gelatinous kind of people. Their bodies were thin, sleek and partly transparent, each one a single solid shade of pink, purple or blue. Their eyes were large and shaped similar to a human's although the similarities ended there; they were a single solid color like their bodies, only brighter and glowing, and considering the creatures had no bodily hair, they lacked eyelashes and eyebrows as well. For appendages they had flipper-like forearms that could grab anything as easily as if they had fingers, and moved along on a tail-like leg that allowed them to sliver upright. None of them had mouths yet were still capable of speaking, their heads housing a star-like light that would flash in flutters in time with their words. Their speech was odd compared to Galactic Common, as if the translators didn't quite know how to interpret context or intent – understandable given that there was also no inflection in their voices.
It turned out that the Viscune communicated emotions among each other using those flashes of light as beacons; however, for other species that didn't have similarly fine-tuned light receptors, the natives of Erasc had found a way to compensate. Lacking any sort of brow bone or jaw muscles (or any muscles, really) they instead could change the shape of their eyes as if they had eyelids, enabling to convey a finite yet plentiful set of expressions. Unfortunately, those expressions didn't always correspond to ones the paladins and alteans were familiar with, and because the castle held no information regarding this planet or its people, the Voltron team had to learn through trial and error.
Also just as unfortunate, it turned out that there had been more errors in communication than they initially realized. Apparently, completely closed eyes did not mean a slight problem but instead a grave danger. So when the team left the Viscunian castle to go clear out the worms that had been destroying their crops as requested, the situation wasn't exactly the small pest problem that they had first assumed.
The churned-up uneven and rocky earth surrounding the crumbling fortified village walls suddenly made more sense.
Allura had stayed back at the castle while Shiro, Keith and the others went to investigate the fields outside the walls, the team armed with a few liters of pesticide that Coran was sure wouldn't damage the crops. The dozen of seven-foot long centipede looking creatures that sprung from the earthy plot of land to greet them were certainly not what they were expecting, but it took only a few moments for the team to swiftly dispatch them, the pesticide left discarded to the side. That was the easy part.
It was the five-story abomination that erupted from the ground beneath them, roaring so loud from its teeth-filled maw that one of the nearby damaged walls had started to crumble, was a different story. Apparently it was the mother of the group, and apparently it wasn't happy about its children being slaughtered. Lance had quipped with no amount of confidence that they were going to need a bigger bottle of pesticide.
For once Keith could agree.
“Hunk!” Shouted Shiro, stumbling on the shaky ground as the enormous creature dug back into the land. “Get some distance between you and the gralak then draw it toward you with some covering fire!”
“What?!” Cried Hunk, turning in dismay to the Black Paladin, cannon on the ready. “Why do I have to be bait?!”
“Because you're the only one with a long range weapon that can pierce this creature's skin and you're the only one that this thing currently isn't attacking because you're far enough away!”
“...Ok, that's very fair.”
As the Yellow Paladin booked it as fast as he could carrying heavy artillery, the paladin leader turned to the other three.
“Once Hunk distracts it long enough to let us regroup, we're going to need to go at it as hard as we can.” The ground beneath them rumbled ominously. “Lance, find some cover further away and try to aim for its eyes. Keith, Pidge, I think the only way we're going to do any damage with short range weapons is if we get on top of it. It's too dangerous to try and go after its belly with it digging so much.” Shiro touched his hand to his communicator. “Coran! How far out is the castle? We need Voltron!”
“I'm about six doboshes away!” Replied the altean, his voice anxious. “The dust storm in the higher atmosphere has picked up; it's blowing the castle around like a yalmor with a kvynvian on its back! Just hold on!”
“Paladins!” Allura's voice chimed in from within the Viscune's castle. “What's going on?!”
The rumbling increased, uncomfortably closer than it had been before, the floor starting to shake. “Ahhh, small issue with the deworming...” Shiro muttered, staring at the dirt below his feet. The four paladins looked at each other for a moment before Pidge shouted in panic, “Quick, run!”
They each scattered to the four winds just in time for the gralak to resurface in the very same place that they had been standing. Unfortunately, the uneven ground made running difficult, and the surface near the worm-like creature shattered and lifted like planks of wood, sending each of them staggering to regain their balance.
“Oh heeeere, monster monster! I've got a nice tasty treat for you!” Hunk called out before unleashing a volley of blasts with his bayard from a good hundred yards away. The shots seemed to do little damage, but it was safe to say that the distraction did work given the way the gralak slithered in his direction.
“Uhhhh.... Shiro?!” Hunk called, his confidence diminished as he took a step back, still firing. “What's step two?!”
“I gotcha buddy!” Lance yelled as he took aim from his position behind the debris he had managed to reach, targeting the eyes on the side of the creature's head and firing. The gralak shrieked as one of its eyes popped from the blast, halting its advance toward Hunk.
It instead wasted no time turning its fury on Lance who wasn't any further away from it than Hunk had been.
Lance took a step back, looking for a way out of its path. “Oh, quiznak!”
“Lance!” Pidge cried. “Catch!” The Blue Paladin turned his head to see the grappling hook of her katar flying his way, Shiro's arms wrapped around her waist. He grinned, grabbing it as the gralak suddenly dived into the air. Shiro kept Pidge grounded as she retracted the cord, pulling Lance out of the way right before the gralak crashed into the space he had just been in.
The impact viciously shook the ground causing slabs of earth to shatter and tilt. As the other paladins stumbled back, trying to regain their footing, Keith instead charged forward with both his unformed bayard and Blade dagger in hand. He hopped up and over each of the slabs, managing to maneuver among them even as they threatened to topple him. The Red Paladin scaled up the incline of the last one only to leap from its edge on top of the prone worm, forming both weapons as he embedded them into the monster's back.
The creature howled, lifting itself upright and violently twisting in ways that nearly managed to send him flying. But like hell he was going to give up his swords to retreat.
“I'm here!” Radioed Coran. The paladins (besides Keith, who was understandably a little preoccupied) looked up to see the castle descend through the opaque, churning dust clouds above.
The team cheered. “Way to go Coran!” Hunk commended.
“Alright team,” Shiro said, turning to the other three. “We'll need to hold it off long enough for one of us to grab a Lion.”
“Well Keith looks like he's having fun so I vote he stays,” Lance smirked, pointing with his thumb in the gralak's direction just as it whipped itself side to side again.
“Bite me, Lance!” Came Keith's winded voice over the comm as he fought to keep his grip.
Shiro shook his head but before he could speak, Coran chimed in. “Hold off on the Lions; I've got a better idea. Get clear!” The four on the ground ran at a 90 degree angle from the ship and the gralak. Meanwhile, Keith managed to get his feet underneath him on the monster's back; using his leverage to rip his swords out of the creature, he backflipped into a roll as he hit the ground with an “oof.”
He had managed to stumble a few yards away before he heard Coran shout “Fire!”, looking up just in time to see a consolidated blast of energy leave the castleship's tip and slam into the gralak. Rather than obliterate it as expected, it caused the monster to swell in size before exploding in a shower of green goo – a shower that engulfed the paladins.
“Ugh, gross!” Lance complained as they all looked down at the mess that covered each of them. Keith just growled in displeasure as Shiro picked off a sticky piece and tried to shake it from his fingers, grimacing.
“Ugh, I think I got some in my mouth,” Hunk pouted.
Pidge just sighed. “Way to go, Coran.”
Despite their gelatinous characteristics and their affinity for liquids, much like the surrounding landscape a Viscune's skin was actually smooth and dry. Their movements across the floor left no residue, keeping the halls of their castle tidy. Sadly, the paladins on Voltron could not say the same as they reentered the throne room where Allura and the high minister of the Viscune awaited their news.
“What happened?!” Allura cried, her air of diplomacy dropped as she cringed at the five paladins' miserable and dripping forms, Coran standing off to the side looking spotless yet guilty. The minister said nothing, only putting her flippers to where her mouth would have been.
“Coran decided it would be a good idea to fire at the gralak while we were in range,” Pidge huffed.
“Again, I'm sorry; I didn't think it would have exploded!” was Coran's meek response.
“Oh no, this won't do,” the minister's monotone voice echoed in the chamber, her eyes nearly closed in regret. “I am most sorry for our failure to speak of facts. Please, reside within our castle walls to rest in our rooms. We can provide mechanisms for cleansing yourselves of the gralak's fluids. Later, we can speak of partnership as we offer you all nourishment from our cuisine.”
“We didn't intend to deplete your reserves as you recover from the gralak's attack,” Allura commented diplomatically. “We have showers and food of our own within our castleship.”
“Speak for yourself,” Lance murmured, “I don't think I'll be able to even look at food goo after today.” Allura shot him a glare, but the minister cut in.
“Please, it would be our honor. We still have plenty in storage at this moment, and there is yet another growing season before the cold sets in that we can use to replenish our stocks. You have done us a great service and we will never regret. Let us please do this little thing.”
“I always like to try new cuisine,” Hunk smiled, giving Shiro a hopeful look.
Shiro nodded, smiling gratefully. “I think sometime outside of the castle would do us some good. It's not often anymore we get to go land-side.”
“I'll do anything to get clean as soon as possible,” grumbled Lance, crossing his arms.
“I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Lance on this one,” Keith muttered, his arms crossed as well. Rather than bickering, Lance only raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment.
“I can't believe I'm agreeing with both of you,” grimaced Pidge. “It's like the bonding moment after the food fight except worse.”
“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “At least the food goo didn't smell like alien worm guts.”
“Please,” the minister began, her eyes raising in delight as she swept a flipper toward a nearby hall, “allow me to show you to the guest chambers.”
The intense scrubbing from the showers each of the paladins took along with the deep cleaning of their armors did wonders for their moods. By the time it was dinner, all five were not only chatting idly among themselves, but also had stopped giving Coran the cold shoulder much to his relief.
One of the minister's counselors had guided the seven of them to a quaint and humble dining hall. Along the way she told them with pride that the castle was considered a memory of the past to be cherished, not a sign of prestige or immense wealth. They each took a seat at a table holding a vibrant assortment of dishes. As they settled in, five other counselors as well as the minister joined them, each of them seemingly delighted to have visitors.
“Thank you all for joining us on this day, for this feast,” the minister spoke, the light within her brightly flashing in joy.
“We should be the ones thanking you,” Allura graciously replied. “This is quite a plethora of dishes.”
The minister closed her eyes in acknowledgment. “My understanding from our earlier conversations is that our visitors are not familiar with our culture, so we wish to share a part of us with you all. For example,” she motioned to the plates in front of them, “cuisine is one of our greatest passions.”
“Well, you and our Yellow Paladin, Hunk, have that in common,” the altean princess cheerfully said. Hunk nodded with a smile.
“That is pleasing to hear,” the minister widened her eyes to express the authenticity of her comment. “Perhaps if time allows someday soon we may exchange knowledge of this art. For the moment, we shall reveal to you the nature of our nourishment. My understanding is that lifeforms such as yourselves consume food for both sustenance and taste, is that true?”
Hunk nodded again. “Yeah, though when we use the term cuisine it's mostly in regards to the latter.”
The Viscune nodded in an attempt to mimic the team's mannerisms. “For our people, the nature of delicacies does not reside in taste as we do not have such receptors. Instead, our food is meant to evoke feeling.” Her eyes raised into crescents to demonstrate amusement, “although after the first few engagements with other civilizations we learned that taste is vital for other species, and have thus modified our nourishment according.”
That garnered a handful of chuckles across the room. The minister swept a flipper in a flourish over the table. “Let us begin the feast. We shall enjoy the casual company of one another and then afterwards the princess and I may retire to the library to discuss our agreed expectations of allyship over evening beverages. The time until then shall be for relaxing. Please, enjoy yourselves.”
The food was unlike anything they had seen thus far on their voyage into space. Even Allura and Coran hadn't seen such dishes before, each of the offerings bite-sized like an appetizer. Everyone seated at the table passed the bowls and plates among each other in no specific order. The Viscune seemed to prefer specific recipes as they would pile only three or four types of cuisine on their plates; the paladins and alteans on the other hand would pick a few pieces of everything, unsure of what to expect from the unfamiliar food.
The first plate that had been passed to Keith looked like turquoise berries muddled into a jammy consistency and then poured into some sort of edible purple cup. The next had been a spongy orange circle with gray noodle-like pieces fanning from the middle like a fountain. The third was a simple square colored a deep royal blue, dense with a powdery exterior. By the time the dishes had completed their trips around the table, all of their plates were piled with food, although the Viscunes' were far less colorful.
Unsure of where to begin, the Red Paladin decided to start with what he had first received and work his way down the order. Taking a small bite of the edible container and filling in one go, he blanched and fought the urge to spit it back out. It tasted horrid, an ashy, dry sort of flavor with a metallic tang. Not a moment later his tongue suddenly felt like it had grown hairs on it. He tried to discretely look at his teammates' reactions, but although none of them looked overly pleased, neither were they appearing to be equally as disgusted as him. In fact, Shiro, Allura and Coran were calmly chatting with a few of the Viscune while they nibbled away at their pieces.
Looking down at his plate, he placed the unsavory food on the side so as not to touch any of the other pieces and contemplated his next move. Maybe it was just that one that wasn't good? No one else had been eating it... Keith tried the next one in line, the orange-gray noodly one. Perhaps because it looked so unappetizing, it would taste better? He took a smaller bite this time.
No, no it did not. In fact it tasted rancid. The feeling of cold shivers down his spin a few moments later didn't help his opinion.
Not wanting to make a scene or offend their hosts, Keith forced himself to swallow it down before quickly putting it next to the previous one. At least as a consolation prize Pidge might have been proud of his use of the scientific method. Hypothesis tested and failed – onto the next experiment.
The royal blue piece was next in line so he gingerly lifted it to his face. This time he candidly took a sniff of it before taking a bite. It didn't have much of a scent but at least it didn't smell noxious, so he risked the tiniest of nibbles on one of the corners. It was... not bad, he thought. At least it was edible, a light sort of nutty flavor that reminded him of cashews. He took another bigger bite before eating and swallowing the rest. Despite the Viscune's comment on their food providing a sensation he didn't notice anything. Well, at least now he wouldn't starve.
Keith continued on trying a few more of the other pieces, finding the rest as equally terrible as the first two, when Lance's voice shattered the calm of the table.
“Oh man!” He exclaimed, one of the delicacies pinched between his fingers. “Guys, you've got to try this black and red one – it tastes super sweet and it makes you feel like you're getting a massage!”
“Ah, yes, the oreunel is a favorite among our kind,” one of the other Viscune supplied, smiling with their eyes. “Because it embodies the feeling of relaxation it is often created and gifted to loved ones when they are facing times of strife.”
“'Loved ones in times of strife', eh?” Lance commented thoughtfully, before picking up another of the oreunel and turning to Hunk. “My dear friend Hunk,” he conveyed as if he were an actor overplaying their part, “given the war we find ourselves in, I wish for you to try this ore – oreun – orune – this red and black food.”
“Awwww, Lance, you shouldn't have,” Hunk smiled, the Viscune chuckling at their silliness. The Yellow Paladin put the whole thing into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before perking up in his chair. “Man, you're right! I've had this kink in my shoulder for weeks and it feels like it's getting worked out! Plus the sweetness is really rich without being too sugary and kind of reminds me of strawberries; that's a nice touch.” He picked up one of the oreunel off of his plate and turned to Pidge.
“Pidge, I know you lost Rover not long ago; may I have the honor of presenting you with this piece of oreunel?”
“I suppose I could be tempted,” she grinned, plucking it from his fingers and taking a bite. “Mmmmm. Reminds me of the jellied candies Mom would make back home.” The Green Paladin popped the remaining piece in her mouth, chewing slowly to savor the taste of home.
“I hope their actions do not offend,” Allura winced uncomfortably, “unfortunately with the war going on the paladins rarely get an opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves.”
“Fear not; tt warms my soul to see you all take great joy in our nourishment. It is meant to be enjoyed in such jovial ways, especially during times of war as you have described,” the minister praised before continuing, “I am most grateful to find that our culture could provide even a little comfort. However, if you may, I am unfamiliar with the term 'massage'. Would you impart the knowledge of what this is to us?”
“It's a technique humans and alteans both use to help our bodies repair,” chimed in Coran. “Our bodies move by means of muscles and sometimes these muscles becomes strained, resulting in knots. Massage can help alleviate the pain; it mostly involves one person pressing on another.”
“Most interesting. For us the feeling of the oreunel is one of our bodies going limp with comfort, such as when one floats upon water. It appears the sensations our peoples both experience are similar yet not quite the same. How curious.”
As she and Allura continued to chat more about the cuisine while the other three paladins played around with it, Keith quietly looked down to the piece or oreunel that was on his plate, one of the few remaining types he had yet to try. It was pretty non-descript - just a smooth, cake-like sphere. That had to taste decent, right? He contemplated trying it even as a restless feeling made itself known in his limbs, perhaps from anticipation for another unpleasant flavor. But before he had even starting reaching for it, he felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder.
Turning, he saw Shiro facing him, holding out his oreunel in the palm of his hand. “Here,” the Black Paladin smiled softly. “I know you've been going through a lot recently, what with the Blade of Marmora and the whole part-galra revelation, plus you're one of the hardest workers on the team. I think you could use a couple of these.”
Keith said nothing at first, his mouth slightly opened in surprise. Finally, coming back to himself, he gave a small smile as he carefully took the oreunel from Shiro's outstretched hand. “... Thanks.” Rolling it between his fingertips, the half-galran observed its marble-like coloring before tentatively taking a bite. His blue violet eyes widened in shock as the taste of liquid sugar flooded his mouth. The aftertaste did remind him a bit of strawberries, but of strawberries that had been picked far too early in the season, green and bitter. At least Lance and Hunk had been right about the massage feeling that came soon after – it felt as if all of the tension in the shoulder he injured during the Trials was released. Too bad he couldn't bring himself to eat any more of the oreunel.
He must not have been able to mask the wince on his face as he heard a soft laugh next of him. “Not a fan?” Shiro teased. “You never were big on sweets at the Garrison.”
Keith put the piece down before picking up the one on his plate and presenting it to the Black Paladin. “Here, you have a try.”
Shiro smirked, raising an eyebrow as he took the proffered oreunel. “Are you asking just to be generous or because you want me to help get it off of your plate?”
The Red Paladin grinned back as he helped himself to the last of the vibrant blue squares on his dish. “It can be both. Plus everyone knows you have a huge sweet-tooth.” And also out of all of us you deserve it the most, he couldn't bring himself to voice as he chewed.
Shiro courageously put the whole piece in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. His eyes then slid shut as he leaned his head back in his chair. “Oh quiznack that is so good.”
Keith couldn't help but fondly watch him. “Enjoying yourself?”
His best friend sat up straight again, smiling widely. “We might need to bring back a tub of these, especially since we haven't found any sort of massage chairs in space yet. And Hunk was right, the taste is amazing.”
“Here,” Keith handed him the last of his oreunel, “two birds with one stone.”
“Thanks.” As Shiro added the red-black orb to his plate, he glanced down at Keith's, noticing that various half-eaten bits of food. “Not a big fan of the meal?” He asked quietly so as not to risk offending the Viscune. Not that any of the paladins thought it possible to upset their kind and thoughtful hosts, but better safe then sorry.
He received a grimace in response. “No. Everything tastes way too strong and it's like someone just grabbed random ingredients from the kitchen and put them into a blender. And I know that's not the case, because I just watched Pidge eat a bunch of the squiggly-topped ones without a problem.” He sighed. “Maybe it's just me.”
Shiro put a comforting hand on his shoulder which he was grateful for, the touch easing his anxiety. “Maybe it's because you're part galra? Maybe you have taste receptors that the rest of us don't have. It would explain why some of the Garrison cafeteria food didn't taste good to you.”
“Shiro,” Keith deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. “The food wasn't good. You'll just eat anything.”
“Hey, the pasta dishes were good!”
“The pasta dishes were somehow half soggy and half burnt at the same time. Taste hardly even mattered in those cases.”
“I have to agree with Keith on this one,” Hunk chimed in as he turned to the two holding the plate of the royal blue squares.
“You guys just don't appreciate good food,” Shiro jokingly derided.
“Said no one ever about Hunk,” Keith muttered, rolling his eyes.
Hunk chuckled in response. “Here,” he offered the plate to Keith. “I noticed that you were only eating the goilans. Can't have our resident gralak-stabber going hungry. Nice job not getting crushed by that thing by the way!”
Surprised at Hunk's considerate attention to detail and touched by the gesture, Keith could only bring himself to give a heartfelt “thanks” as he put several on his plate.
Hunk only quietly smiled in response before turning to the Shiro. “Oh fearless leader, might I tempt you with some Viscune delicacies?”
“Don't mind if I do,” Shiro grinned as he helped himself to the plate.
The rest of dinner carried on without further event. Unfortunately none of the other bits of cuisine tasted edible to Keith so he ended up forcing down as much of the goilans as possible, at least enough to satisfy him until he could get back to the castleship and force down some food goo. Even if it would remind him of monster guts, at this point he'd rather suffer that than another piece of the orange-gray noodley things.
For some reason however, as the evening went on, a growing sense of dread had lodged itself in his chest. Combined with the restlessness of his limbs and a sudden feeling of ants under his skin, it was everything Keith could do to not fidget in his seat. It took every inch of muscle control he to keep himself from sighing in relief when the minister excused herself and the Viscune from the table to prepare for negotiations. Allura and Coran followed them as they headed to the library, leaving the paladins to their own devices.
“We'll meet you back at the common room on the castleship,” Shiro told the two alteans as he lead the group away from the dining room.
It felt like the walk through the halls was taking forever. Keith crossed his arms in front of him in an effort not to shiver from the uncomfortable feeling that had set in. Was he coming down with something? The last thing Voltron needed was to have one of the pilots down with a bout of space flu. As they pressed on however, Keith falling behind to bring up the rear, he was beginning to realize that maybe he wasn't the only one feeling unwell.
“Hey guys?” Lance asked, roughly scratching at the unarmored part of one of his arms. “Does anyone else feel like something is crawling underneath their skin?”
“Now that you mention it,” Pidge added, her gloved fists squeezing and releasing in a consistent and subconscious manner. “I started feeling a bit off during dinner.”
“You don't think we caught something from the gralak's guts, did we? Maybe we should contact Coran?” Hunk worriedly questioned as he tugged at the neckline of his suit.
“We're almost back to the ship.” Shiro supplied. Even he seemed affected, rubbing uncomfortably at his forehead. “Let's head to the medbay and see if we can figure out what's going on. If we can't, then we can get a hold of Coran, but let's not interrupt their discussions until we know we actually have a problem.” The team nodded and continued through the hangar they had just entered to the stairway entrance to the ship. Shiro hesitated for a moment when he realized that he hadn't heard Keith say anything for a while and looked back, the Red Paladin trudging slowly behind with a slouch in his shoulders.
“Keith?” He asked, approaching him in concern. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” the other bit out, though it seemed more out of strain than in anger.
Shiro paused but then nodded slowly, understanding. He knew that the Red Paladin hated to seem weak in front of other people – a regrettable carry-over from his days of being bullied in school. “Hang in there, we're almost there.”
At Hunk's request (“I feel like I'm being suffocated!”) each of the paladins took a chance to change into their casual clothes before rejoining in the medbay. Pidge sat on top of one of the gurnies while Shiro ran a scan over her with a tablet-like device. Lance rubbed his arms furiously as leaned against one of the counters that Hunk was sitting on top of, the latter's elbows on his knees as he pulled at his hair (in frustration or as a distraction, it was difficult to tell). Keith, who had been previously leaning against one of the walls, had given up fighting to stand and ended up sliding to a sitting position on the floor.
The Red Paladin felt like his heart was racing, only going faster and faster without any hope of slowing down. He hadn't been sweating yet his skin felt cold and clammy despite Shiro having confirmed that none of them had fevers. In fact, per the medical database's analysis, none of them had any sort of illness on record, so by all accounts they shouldn't have been sick.
“I don't understand,” Shiro gritted out, struggling with a splitting headache. In just ten dobashes their symptoms seemingly had doubled in intensity. “None of these readings make sense. It's like the cardiovascular system is under extreme duress but there doesn't seem to be a reason as to what could have triggered it.”
“Let me see,” Pidge requested, holding out her hand which violently trembled. Shiro did as she asked while opening up an audio comm line at the same time.
“Coran, we've got a bit of a problem,” the lead paladin said, trying to keep his voice firm despite the lightheadedness that suddenly hit him.
“Is someone feeling heart palpatations, dizziness, formication, and/or anxiety?” Came the staticy response.
“Fornication!?” Lance cried, his head sharply turning to look at Shiro in horrid surprise. Keith rolled his eyes at the dramatic overrreaction.
“No, forMication,” Pidge sighed, putting the tablet down. She hadn't been able to draw any hypotheses of her own. “It's the feeling of bugs on your skin.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, that's a pretty accurate description,” Shiro replied, soundly ignoring Lance's outburst. “Do you know what it is?”
“No, just that Allura and I have it as well.”
“Oh, no...” worried Hunk, looking at Lance who looked back with the same level of concern.
“We're with the Viscune in their medbay right now. I'll let you know if we find out anything. In the meantime, let me know if anyone worsens on the ship; we have a stock of medications to help treat symptoms, but I'd prefer to be the one to administer them as overdosing even slightly could prove fatal.”
“Noted. Thanks Coran.” Groaning in discomfort and frustration, Shiro shut off the comm line.
“So wait,” Lance began as he started to hurriedly pace back and forth. Here we go, thought Keith. “We're just going to sit around and wait to see if they can figure something out?”
“What else can we do Lance?” Pidge grumbled, repeatedly kicking her heel against the gurney, the sound driving Keith up the wall who gritted his teeth to try and avoid unfairly lashing out at her.
“What about more of that food? Like the oreunels or whatever they're called? Maybe those can help!”
“What if those are what caused it?” Shiro calmly retorted, the effort to do so evident on his face given the vessel twitching in his forehead.
“We don't know that! Even you said earlier that this wasn't an allergic reaction!”
“...We do know,” Keith finally spoke from his position on the floor, his voice weak and gravelly as he panted. Lance spun on his heel to glare at him, but as he opened his mouth to retort, Keith continued, looking up at him, “it was those blue squares we ate. I'm pretty sure anyway. They were the only things we ate that I didn't feel anything immediately after.”
“You know, that makes sense,” Pidge agreed with increasingly unsteadier words like she wasn't fully present in the moment. “I didn't notice anything either.”
“Oh man, Keith...” Hunk began regrettably, releasing his hair to look up at his teammate on the floor. “And I gave you a bunch of it; I'm so sorry.”
“Don't be,” the swordsman tried to smile although it likely came out as a grimace. His chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. “You were just trying to help.” Lance crossed his arms and frowned, no longer interested in picking a fight seeing as how his proclaimed rival was failing to hide how poorly he was doing; the Blue Paladin instead resumed his pacing.
The conversation petered off into an uncomfortable silence, each of them anxious for another call from Coran. Keith kept his sight on the floor between his legs with his arms resting over bent knees, not really seeing anything, too focused on trying to reign the symptoms in. He pressed his forehead into his forearms and dug his fingertips into his elbows, squeezing every muscle in his body in a fruitless effort to keep himself from shaking. It was practically impossible to keep from sounding any more breathless than he already was. The skin-crawling feeling he previously had was slowly transforming into a gradually rising pain, like a pins-and-needles effect where the pins were trying to push their way out of his skin.
Shiro watch his right-hand peer intently before turning to share a look with Hunk, both of their brows furrowed in worry. The others might not have noticed but even as their own symptoms slowly became more severe, Keith's were progressing at a much more alarming rate – it appeared the young adult was right about the goilans. The Black Paladin turned back to watch his struggling friend wishing there was something he could do. More than ever he wanted to go and comfort the other to the best of his ability, but he knew how much Keith hated being singled out. The most he could do was keep an eye on him while they waited for Coran's call.
It felt like vargas had ticked by when it had only be thirty dobashes. No call had rang.
With a huff, Lance stopped his pacing. “I can't take this anymore,” Lance hissed, his tone more of frustration than of spite. The marksman started walking toward the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “I'm gonna go find Coran and see if they've made any progress on a cure, and if they haven't then I'm gonna take an escape pod into orbit and space myself.”
“Wait, Lance!” Hunk shouted, hopping off of the counter to follow him. He reached out to grab the other's arm. “Come on, don't say things like that-”
The moment he made contact, both of them froze, eyes wide. Neither of them proceeded to move.
Pidge looked back and forth between the two. “Um, guys...?” She nudged. The two legs of Voltron soundly ignored her.
“...Lance?” Hunk cautiously asked, not letting go. “Are you feeling that?”
The Blue Paladin slowly nodded. “Yeah... You feel it too?”
“Do you think...?” Hunk's sentence drifted off. Lance's eyes went watery, his bottom lip trembling; he gulped and nodded.
The two rushed toward each other, embracing as tightly as they could. Pidge and Shiro both gaped with naked surprise, uncertain as to what they were witnessing; Keith barely raised his head to glance over before resting his forehead on his arms once more.
Lance had begun to openly cry. “Oh my god, sweet relief!”
Hunk didn't appear to be much farther behind. “I know, right?!”
“Guys, not that I want to ruin the moment, but what's going on?” Shiro finally interjected, stepping forward.
“It's gone, the terrible feeling is gone!” cried Lance, squeezing Hunk even harder. The other teen didn't seem to mind, adding, “I don't know why, but something about hugging makes that horrible itching feel stop.”
Seeming to have finally become more lucid, the Blue Paladin looked over his shoulder. “Come on guys, get in here!”
“This isn't a horniness thing, is it, Lance?” Pidge sounded dubious, raising an eye brow.
“No it's not a horniness thing!” came the outraged response. “God, what do you take me for?!”
She shrugged, hopping off the gurney. “I take you for being Lance.”
“She's got you there,” Hunk chuckled as both he and Lance extended an arm, making space for the Green Paladin to fit in.
“Dude, whose side are you on?!”
“Oh geez, you guys weren't kidding,” Pidge exhaled in relief as she tried to further close the space between them. “It's like an application of cooling gel. Why didn't we think of this sooner?”
“Right,” came the scoffing reply, “like who would have thought that a cuddle orgy would fix things.”
She grimaced. “Don't make it weird, Lance.”
“Shiro! Keith!” Hunk called out, extending an arm again. “Come on, you'll feel a lot better!”
The Black Paladin, who at this point looked as if he was struggling just to stand, slowly approached with an embaressed smile. “This feels like the ending to those old cartoons, the kind where 'love saves all' or whatnot.” He stepped into Hunk's arm and gently pressed into the group, using the long length of his own to practically wrap around the entire group. The effects were immediate as he sighed, relaxing. “Quiznak, I can finally think straight again.”
“See?” Pidge pointed out. “Shiro didn't make it weird. Why can't you be more like Shiro?”
“Someone in the group has to give him a reason to be our moral barometer.”
“Ugh.”
Shiro didn't bother to comment, not really wanting to hear the rest of the conversation. Distracted, he had just realized that he was the only one of the remaining two paladins to join them. He looked back over his shoulder to see that Keith hadn't moved from his position against the wall, hadn't even lifted his head to look over. Without a second thought, Shiro pulled away from the group, much to the complaint of others (“Come back, Shiro,” Hunk whined. “You're like a security blanket!”), and walked over to where the Red Paladin was still seated.
“Hey,” Shiro spoke softly. Keith slowly raised his head, and Shiro was taken aback to see that his dazed purple eyes were now catlike and surrounded with a faint yellow schlera. Momentarily surprised but not deterred in the slightest, he held out his hand with tender smile. “Don't you want to feel better?” His tone wasn't pressuring, just one of gentle support.
Keith looked to the others who had all stared back purposefully. It just felt... weird. He never really felt part of the whole group like that. The other three had been closer, or well, at least closer than he was to them at the Garrison, and Shiro as their mentor was a jigsaw piece that was a perfect fit; Keith on the other hand always felt like he belonged to an entirely different puzzle. There had been a sort of shim between him and the younger teens, and that gap had only seemed to have widened with the revelation that he wasn't even completely human. It was only around Shiro he felt comfortable being any honest version of himself.
“You don't have to,” Shiro coaxed, “but you're more than welcome to.”
“Come on Keith, I promise we don't bite!” Hunk jovially called.
Lance grinned. “Yeah, mullet, get yourself over here!”
“I need my fellow arm!” Pidge cheered, then bashfully added, “also admittedly it would be more comfortable to hug someone closer to my height.”
Keith bit his lip with softened eyes, surprised yet warmed by the unexpected responses. Looking back to his long-time friend, he nodded slowly before trying to get his shaking legs underneath him. He slowly reached out with aching limbs to grasp Shiro's hand in his own as the latter started to help him up.
From where their hands were clasped a cooling, restorative wave of comfort spread from his fingertips up his arm, ending in a tiny spark of peaceful euphoria resting in his core.
Shiro watched Keith's eyes widened, the shape and color returning to normal as he half stumbled, half rushed into the Black Paladin's arms. Wordlessly they pulled each other close, that blissful, healing feeling spreading through them both.
“I've got you,” Shiro quietly murmured into ebony locks as his friend whimpered, overwhelmed. He gently threaded his metal fingers through the latter's hair. “It's okay.”
The other three paladins clumsily maneuvered as a pod over to them before enveloping them both with Keith in the middle, snuggling as close as possible.
“See? All better,” grinned Hunk.
“Who knew a group hug would save the day,” Pidge laughed as she wrapped her arms around Keith's middle. “There, that's way more comfortable.” The latter didn't mind, turning ever so slightly from Shiro to loosely wrap an arm around her shoulder as he began to doze off, exhausted from the pain he had been in.
“Woah, Hunk, buddy, stop pushing,” Lance grumbled, fighting to maintain his balance as the taller boy fidgeted.
“Sorry, I'm just - I'm kind of out of the circle.”
“Maybe, if I move a bit this way,” Shiro started as he twisted slightly. Unfortunately when Hunk tried to nudged into the pocket of space Shiro had made, he accidentally bumped Pidge who careened into Lance who immediately lost his balance.
“Woah hey!”
“Oh no...”
“We're going down!”
The group flopped like a giant fish onto its side, Shiro unfortunately being at the bottom.
“Ooof!”
“Oops,” Hunk sheepishly laughed, “sorry Shiro.”
“It's... okay...” He gritted out in pain as the others tried to move their weight off of him without letting go. Well, most of them anyway; Keith had practically gone limp, not complaining one bit except to nuzzle closer as Shiro carefully shifted him to be a bit more on his side between him and Hunk.
“Here,” Pidge said, “let's rearrange a bit and get more comfortable.” After some clumsy shuffling and readjusting on the floor so that Shiro wasn't getting crushed and that they could snuggle more comfortable they found a sweet spot with her and Lance practically laying onto of the other two with their arms draped over Keith in the center. The Green Paladin sighed in satisfaction. “Ah, that's much better. I'm not letting go of you guys until I know for sure that this thing is with the goilans is over with. I'm never eating alien food without testing it first again.”
“Agreed,” Shiro muttered.
Lance turned slightly to get a better look at his engineering buddy. “Hunk, how on Earth have you managed to not poison us yet with all of those alien ingredients you buy?”
“I mean, it probably helps that I test them out on myself before giving anything to you guys?”
“Quiznak,” Lance rolled his eyes, “there's gotta be a better way.”
Their chatter was interrupted by the medbay door suddenly sliding open, both Coran and Allura walking into the room arm in arm. “Good news!” Hailed Coran. “We figured out... the... Oh, it looks like you five have also figured it out.”
Both Lance and Hunk held out an inviting arm, grinning. “Impromptu team bonding event,” Lance called. “Everyone in!” The two alteans glanced at each other and shrugged before kneeling down to join them, Allura to Lance and Coran to Hunk, both of their other arms enfolding Pidge.
“Ahhhh that's much better,” exhaled Allura, closing her eyes in comfort, leaning her head on Lance's shoulder. “It seems the more people there are, the faster the healing occurs.”
“It turns out that the Viscune have a high amount of endorphins in their bodies, much higher than alteans and I'm guessing humans as well, so the goilans only cause a momentary adrenaline reaction for them,” Coran explained. “For us however we don't have enough endorphins to counter the effects which causes them to compound in intensity, so the solution is to find ways to boost our levels naturally.”
“Such as cuddling?” Pidge asked.
“Such as cuddling.”
She rolled her eyes. “This is so corny.”
“Hey speak for yourself,” Hunk cheerfully chided, “we should do group hugs more often. Although, hey Coran? Is the your comm unit I'm feeling vibrate? Otherwise this is about to get a lot more awkward and I might have to rescind my comment about the hugs.”
“Nope, mine doesn't vibrate.”
“Wait,” Lance choked out, trying to stifle a laugh. “Is Keith... purring?”
All six of them silently turned with surprised expressions to look at the Red Paladin who appeared to be unresponsive and near-sleeping on Shiro's chest. The rumbling noise seemed to pick up on each peaceful exhale he gave.
“Oh. My. God,” Hunk quietly squealed, his frame trembling in delight. “That is so cute!”
“He really is a stab-crazy cinnamon roll,” Pidge joked.
“I was not aware that the galra could purr,” Allura added, a hint of honest wonder in her tone.
“They only do it in moments where they feel most at peace,” Coran supplied, his voice turning grave. “It's not something they tend to share in public and I imagine most of them have not had a reason to since before the war began.” Allura hummed in response, staring thoughtfully at the half-galran who blinked lazily back at her.
Taking in Keith's dazed and sleepy visage, Shiro considered this new information carefully. He'd never known Keith was capable of such a thing; he himself having never witnessed the odd sound before. It sadly made sense given the rough upbringing that the young man had suffered. Even though things had improved for him at the Garrison, he had still been stuck as the outcast thanks to some of the more antagonizing students (the real problem cases, in his professional and not-bitter-at-all opinion). The closest they may have ever gotten to triggering such a reaction were the times they had spent stargazing, relaxed on a blanket out in the middle of the desert, the only place Keith ever seemed to feel at home with himself.
But what was likely the vital element missing in the mixture was physical touch. Back then when Shiro had been with Adam and most of the Garrison thought of him as Keith's mentor, lines had been drawn in the sand that the Garrison pilot had to ensure were never perceived as crossed even if they were untrue. But things were different in space: Keith was older, he was a peer more than a mentee and they didn't have enemies scrutinizing each of their moves for anything they could use to soil their reputations. Shiro was also pretty certain that the dynamic between him and the Red Paladin had been slowly transforming since he had escaped to Earth, and not for the worse either. It had changed when Keith had rescued him from the Garrison, fearless of the consequences; it had changed when he had begged for Black's help to fight off the sabretooth lizards just to keep Shiro safe.
Such steadfast dedication was a lightening bolt that rarely if ever struck twice and he'd be an idiot to ignore it. So instead Shiro gently pulled the younger man closer to his chest, a tender smile gracing his lips, and spent the rest of the time in the cuddle pile wondering what he could do to help his best friend feel so secure and appreciated that he'd want to purr like this again.
Keith sat in the pile of cushions that covered a good portion of the observation deck's floor, silently watching the space outside slowly inch by. He had been too exhausted to train but his mind was too wired to sleep, stuck ruminating on the embarrassing day he had endured. His fingers pulled the plush blanket around his shoulders as he remembered once more how when he had come to his senses, he had found himself dog piled upon by the rest of the team, purring of all things. He didn't even know he could purr.
Quiznak, what other galran revelations was he going to have about himself?
The moment he had realized what was happening, Keith had swiftly extricated himself from the rest of the group and fled to his room, locking the door behind him. He then spent the rest of the evening shamelessly avoiding the others and their knocks on his door, only to sneak out of his room to the observation deck after everyone else had gone to bed once he realized he wouldn't be able to fall sleep. It didn't help that he was still feeling some of the residual effects from the Viscune's food, but he wasn't about to go ask the other paladins to hold him or something equally ridiculous. Ugh, he shuddered, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes, I'm never going to live this down.
The door to the deck suddenly swished open much to his surprise; he must have been so deep in thought that he hadn't heard the approaching footsteps. Peering over his shoulder, he calmed slightly seeing that it was Shiro who had entered, holding a plate of what looked to be green cookies.
“Hey,” the Black Paladin smiled, striding forward. “Mind if I join you?”
Keith scooted over on the cushion he was on, the noticeable space left behind his answer. Shiro sat down, close but not touching as he handed him the plate.
“Here, a peace offering.”
The half galran looked down at the plate and then back up. “What's this?” He questioned dubiously, subconsciously moving the plate of unfamiliar food further away from his person.
“Not Viscune food, that's for sure,” chuckled Shiro, the answer pacifying Keith who visibly relaxed. “I know you didn't get to eat a lot during dinner and figured you might still be hungry so I asked Hunk if he could whip something together. Don't worry, I taste-tested one of them – they kind of taste like a grain bar.”
Keith smiled gratefully as he took one. “Wow, that's... thanks.” He took a bite, immediately appreciating the edible taste, quickly consuming the rest before taking another and offering the plate. Shiro laughed before grabbing one for himself.
“So,” he began, rolling the cookie between his fingers before taking a bite, “you rushed out of the room rather quickly earlier today. Do you want to talk about it?”
The younger man shrugged, finishing another of the treats. “What's there to talk about?” He muttered matter-of-factly. “Just keep learning more freaky things about myself.”
“Keith,” Shiro turned to him, a small frown on his otherwise earnest face. “You're not freaky. There's so much we don't know about space; of course there are going to be a bunch of things that seem bizarre to us. But that doesn't make them bad things - it just means we have a new normal to figure out.” He looked back out at the viewport. “Someday none of this will seem weird to any of us, especially to you. But until then, just remind yourself from time to time: being half-galran doesn't make you freaky, it makes you unique.” He faced him once more, offering a fond and heartfelt smile. “It makes you special.”
Flabbergasted, Keith couldn't stop the blush from flooding his cheeks. Struggling to find anything to say back, he finally gave up and looked to the ground, nodding. The swordsman finished the last of the cookies they had before resuming his observance of the space outside. Shiro joined him, a peaceful silence falling between them as they watched the stars drift by.
It was a few dobashes later that Shiro noticed the other was constantly rubbing his arms despite being bundled up in a blanket. “You're not cold, are you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“...No,” came the timid reply. “Just... still dealing with the after effects.”
“It makes sense; you left before the rest of us had managed to get it out of our own systems. You know, Keith,” he carefully began, his eyes soft. “It's okay to ask for physical affection. And...” He trailed off, struggling and failing to fight the bashful grin and blush that had spread over his face. “.. It's not like it would be a hardship for me.”
There was a moment of wonder in the intense look Keith gave him followed by a warm and grateful smile. He nodded with an “okay” before leaning into Shiro's embrace, wrapping his own around the other's middle. This time however, a kindling warmth spread throughout him, brushing away the residual symptoms of the Viscune food before settling in his chest.
It was then Keith realized as he rested his head over Shiro's heart that perhaps what he was feeling wasn't just the dispelling of the remaining side effects he had, but of something more, especially given the hastening of his heart rate.
And perhaps he wasn't alone, he thought as he noticed how Shiro's pulse had quickened as well.
Keith momentarily pulled out of Shiro's embrace to take the blanket wrapped around himself and drape it over both of their shoulders, the Black Paladin watching him with a tender smile the entire time. He gave a small smile in return as he moved back into Shiro's arms, gently tipping them backward until they were laying side by side among the the cushions, comfortable in each others presences as they silently gazed upon the celestial bodies outside.
And if they had fallen asleep there, lazily bundled up with their legs tangled together, a look of harmony on both of their faces, a soft rumble emanating from the smaller of the two, well, none of the others had to know.
Fin.