Back at it again, with chapter four! He's here, preteen Keith... watch out. This series is so damn indulgent, nearly 100% fluff with a nice dash of angst on top just to round everything out. Keith's a good boy, out here winning hearts left and right... I'm so proud of him.
desert born
thirteen
Katie and Matt turned out to be just the ticket.
Their first meeting had ended well- Shiro had stuck around for a little longer after they had left, and he could have sworn that Keith had practically been glowing.
(Metaphorically. His eyes could glow, the rest of him, not so much.)
He would ask, often, when they would be coming back- and it wasn't long before Sam turned that into a reality. Their second meeting had gone over just as well as the first, and it wasn't long before a third meeting was arranged.
By that time?
Shiro was pretty sure the three had become fast friends.
Their fourth meeting brought something new to the shack- an old television that Sam had just about been to throw out. It still worked, just not in color. Out here, it could only pick up two or three channels, but Keith was enraptured by the device nonetheless.
But as always, he remained a child of the outdoors, which Katie very quickly proved not to be. Matt was more willing, and there seemed to be no shortage of information that Keith knew about the desert. Half of it was passed down to him by his father, and half he had just learned for himself.
But mostly, they talked about space.
Keith talked to them about everything he knew from his father, as well as the stories he'd told him himself. Matt and Katie were eager to chatter away about their father's work, Keith listening in rapt attention the entire time.
If they ever got creeped out by Keith's unblinking gaze during such times, he never noticed. By and large, they simply thought that Keith being half-alien was cool. And for Keith, that was just the kind of confidence boost that he needed. It wasn't a cure all, but it helped.
Even to his friends, he wouldn't talk much about his mother, or her people. Some things he let slip- that his dad had once said his mother had purple eyes. He couldn't decide if that meant her sclera had been purple, much as Keith's were yellow, or if she'd had pupils.
He showed them his knife, though, and they had both been very impressed. He didn't let Katie touch it, on account of she's a baby and might hurt herself (his words, spoken later), but he did let Matt hold it, even showing him a few basic thrusts.
It was clear to anyone that Keith was happier than he'd ever been since his father died.
With Sam around, Shiro unraveled one more mystery- the source of the shack's mysterious power. He'd stumbled upon it by pure accident, while searching for some tools. It was a generator of some kind- but it's construction was of a kind that he'd never seen before. Though he took some readings, he was unable to determine just what was powering it.
When they asked Keith about it, he told them that it was something his mom had left behind. His dad had told him that it was powered by quintessence, but that he didn't know what that was. Just that it had been running, non-stop, ever since his mother had left.
Sam took a few more readings, but for the large part, they left the device be. They didn't know what it was capable of, and beyond that, they didn't want to risk the shack losing power.
It wasn't nearly so important as the upcoming event- Keith's thirteenth birthday.
Sam Holt, as it turned out, was an enthusiastic celebrator of birthdays, and he had passed this trait on down to his children. So when they heard that Keith's birthday was around the corner, they had leapt at the idea of having a party for their new friend.
It would definitely be a far cry from the more modest affair of Keith's past two- but he made sure to float the idea of including a bit of Halloween into the mix- namely, the candy.
Keith did tend to be a creature of habit.
Katie had her heart set on a surprise party, until he'd pointed out that it wouldn't be much of a surprise when Keith could smell any of them coming from a mile away. She hadn't been happy about it, but she let the idea go.
Besides, he was pretty sure that just having his friends celebrate his birthday with him would be enough of a surprise for Keith as it was already. Watching as Matt and Katie animatedly discussed the details of the party- they had taken the reins at some point- he couldn't help but smile fondly.
On the day of Keith's actual birthday, he had arrived at the shack first. Keith spotted him- he was sitting outside, a basin full of water in front of him, and a handful of clothes in his lap. There was no washer or dryer in the shack, which meant everything had to be hand washed- a skill which Shiro had taught him during his first year of knowing Keith.
He complained about it, like any child would, but he stuck to it.
"Shiro!" Keith called out, lifting a hand, soapy water dripping off of it. "You came!"
"Of course I came." Shiro told him. "It's your birthday."
The statement was so simple, but this would only be his third birthday since his father died that he had been able to celebrate with someone else.
"You need a hand there?" Shiro asked, crouching down by the basin.
"No, I'm almost done." Keith told him. "You can hang them up, though."
"Can do, buddy." Shiro told him, draping the wet clothes over his arms after rolling up his sleeves, carrying them into the shack. Hanging them up in the bathroom, where they wouldn't be exposed to sand, he took a moment to look over the shack.
It was still modest, rundown in places, but at least it looked better than when he had found it. Keith wasn't the best at cleaning, but the older he got, the more he tried.
By now, it had seemed to sink into him that Shiro was a part of his life now, and that he wasn't going anywhere. He couldn't yet tell if he thought the Holts would last or not, but he'd accepted them into his life just the same.
For someone like Keith, that must have taken a lot of courage.
"Everything's all hung up." Shiro told him, peeking his head back out of the shack. "You done?"
Giving him a wordless nod of his head, Keith got to his feet, tipping over the basin and emptying out the excess water with one. Making his way back into the shack, he peered down at the table, before glancing up at Shiro, curious. "No cake?"
"Cake's coming later." Shiro told him.
Blinking, Keith frowned at the comment, taking a moment to let the pieces click. "Is Mr. Holt bringing it?"
"That's not the only thing he's bringing." Shiro told him, unable to keep himself from grinning.
Keith perked right up at that, golden eyes wide. "Matt and Katie are coming?"
"They sure are." Shiro told him. "Said they didn't want to miss your birthday for the world."
Ducking his head, Keith shifted on his feet, in a way that clearly telegraphed his excitement. Glancing down at his sopping wet clothes, he quickly darted for the chest where he kept them, changing out of the shirt and pants he had been using to wash clothes with, and putting on fresh pairs.
Huh. He hadn't taught him that.
Presenting himself to Shiro, Keith grinned. "When are they coming?"
"Half an hour or so." Shiro told him, before blinking.
Was it just him, or had...?
"Did you get taller?"
Keith's grin grew brighter, almost seeming to preen. "You noticed?"
He had, Shiro thought. Before, he had barely just poked up past his waist, and now he was several inches taller than that. It made his pants look a bit on the short side, but they held for now. It would have been hard to tell with his boots on.
"Guess you're hitting your growth spurt." Shiro said, letting out a faint huh. "Soon you'll be all limbs, just like Matt."
Scrunching his nose up at that, Keith made a face. "No thanks."
Letting out a chuckle, Shiro shook his head. "Come on, help me clean off a place on the table. There's going to be five of us here, so we'll need more space than usual."
He'd never seen Keith so eager to clean in his life, practically brimming with enthusiasm. All for a simple birthday party with two of his friends.
For a normal kid, that was nothing special- but Keith wasn't a normal kid. For him, it was something new- something he'd never had before, even when his father had been alive. Maybe he couldn't quite give him the normal life he deserved, but at the very least, he could bring him a little closer to it.
Keith heard Sam's car first, freezing in place for a moment, before bolting for the door. If he wasn't used to it by now, the abrupt movement would have startled him, but as it was, he simply watched fondly as Keith threw open the door.
"Matt!" He called out, waving a hand. "Katie!"
He could make out both of the Holt siblings calling Keith's name back, but Katie's voice was the loudest. Getting to his feet, he made it to the door just in time to see her launch herself at Keith, who caught her in open arms, beaming from ear to ear.
Guess he didn't really need to talk to Katie about personal space after all.
Matt trailed behind her, and as much as he had teased him, he was looking a bit less like a mess of arms and legs at this point. His voice had more or less settled, moving on out of that awkward phase of puberty.
Which he probably still had to talk to Keith about. Had his father ever given him the talk? He kind of doubted it, Keith had still been pretty young when he'd passed.
God, he really hoped his alien genetics didn't mess things up too much. Puberty was bad enough when you knew what you were in for, but when you didn't? He wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Sam got out of the car last, laughing as he watched Keith all but drag his kids inside the shack. Going out to meet him, Shiro glanced down at the box in his hands. "Need a hand with that?"
"No, I've got this one just fine." Sam told him. "But there's a bag in the trunk with the candy and the presents, so if you could grab that, that'd be a big help."
"Sure." Smiling at him, Shiro cracked open the trunk of the car, grabbing the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "I've never seen him this excited."
"Think I might be able to talk him into coming to our place for Thanksgiving?" Sam asked. "Colleen's been dying to meet him."
Shiro frowned at that. "I don't know. Keith's been making a lot of progress lately, but I'm not so sure he's ready to leave the shack just yet."
Nodding his head, Sam accepted that. "Maybe next year. Might I interest you in coming?"
"Me?" Shiro asked, blinking. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Son, if someone invites you somewhere, that's usually a good indication that you won't be intruding." Sam pointed out. "Give it some thought. Either way, we'll probably have some leftovers for Keith."
"Shiro!" Keith called out from the shack, poking his head out the door. "Come on, hurry up!"
"Dad, bring the cake already!" Katie called out, poking her head out, just underneath Keith's.
Laughing, Sam quickened his pace, leaving Shiro to follow suit. Setting the cake box down on the table, he carefully opened it up. "Shiro tells me he's been buying you grocery store cakes for the past two years, Keith, but this one here, my wife made."
"Mom makes the best cakes." Matt told him.
Peering at the cake with marked curiosity, Keith gave it a sniff. "Can we eat it now?"
"You don't want to open your presents first?" Shiro asked, setting the bag down, producing the bag of candy- assorted chocolates, cracking it open and dumping it in the bowl they'd already set aside.
Keith squinted at him, as if he had said something strange. "Cake goes first, Shiro."
"Of course it does." He said simply. "You want to try cutting it? You're thirteen now, Keith."
"Same age as me!" Matt chimed in. "For now, at least."
"Bleh, you're both old." Katie joked, sticking out her tongue- and though Shiro laughed, he couldn't help but wonder what that made him in her eyes. Suddenly twenty felt too old. "Hurry up and cut the cake already, Keith!"
Nodding his head, Keith picked up the cake cutter- and after studying it for half a second, wasted no time in splitting up the cake with more skill than he'd ever done it with. Guess his skills with the knife translated.
The party picked up from there- cake and candy alike were both gone before either of the adults had even noticed. Presents were exchanged- and he was pretty sure some small part of Keith's brain ground to a halt when he realized he was getting more than one present this year.
By the end of the party, he could tell that Keith was exhausted. It didn't come as too much of a surprise- Keith wasn't used to being the center of attention like this. Katie and Matt said their goodbyes, to which he gave a sleepy wave, watching on the porch until Sam's car disappeared back over the horizon.
"You can take a nap, if you want." Shiro told him. "I can finish cleaning up."
Letting out another yawn, Keith blinked his eyes, merely giving him a nod, before he all but collapsed on the couch. He was out like a light before he knew it. Pausing his work, he tossed a blanket over him, before he finished gathering up the plates and utensils, moving as quietly as he could.
When he was done, he stooped over by the couch, ruffling Keith's hair lightly. Cracking one eye open, Keith peered up at him. "Leaving?"
"Yeah." Shiro told him. "You have fun?"
Closing his eye, Keith nestled further into the couch. "Yeah."
Smiling, Shiro drew his hand away, watching as Keith drifted back off into sleep. Maybe he couldn't give Keith the normal life he deserved, but if he could still make him this happy, then he must have been doing something right.
In the end, that was what mattered the most.
"You know, I got offered a new job."
Perking up, Keith peered over at him, a hint of apprehension in his expression. "You're not moving, right?"
"Nope, still with the Galaxy Garrison." Shiro told him. "They want me to help transport supplies to the new Mars research colony."
Now he had really caught Keith's attention- sitting straight up, he crossed his legs in front of him, peering up at him. He always felt bad about taking the couch whenever he was over, but Keith always seemed pretty content to sit on the floor, so it probably wasn't that big of a deal.
"You mean you'll get to go to Mars?" Keith asked.
"Yup." Shiro told him. "Journey will take longer though, so I'd be away for longer."
Quickly determining what he was getting at, Keith narrowed his eyes. "Shiro, if you don't take this job, I won't let you back in the shack."
Wow, that stung.
Letting out a small chuckle, Shiro merely grinned. "Okay, point taken. I'll take the job."
Keith looked pleased with that. "Good. Make sure to tell me everything."
"Promise." Shiro told him.
Satisfied with that, Keith gave him a curt nod of his head. "Remember what I told you."
"Don't go after any purple aliens." Shiro told him. "Don't worry Keith, I've got it. Besides, I'm pretty sure someone would have noticed by now if your mother's people were hanging out in our solar system."
Cocking an eyebrow, Keith merely gestured to himself- which okay, good point.
He'd grown again- only a handful more inches, putting him up past his elbow. He seemed to grow in unpredictable spurts, gaining as much as a few inches at a time. It was hard to say when his growth period would be over, or even how tall he would get at the end of it.
It was enough for him to need new clothes. Thankfully, Sam had saved some of Matt's old clothes, and although green looked terrible against Keith's purple skin, it was cheaper than having to buy him clothes that he'd just outgrow in a few weeks time.
He'd outgrown his boots, though, and was once again barefoot.
Glancing at his feet, it wasn't hard to see why- they'd definitely gotten a bit larger. He'd go so far as to say they were almost slightly out of proportion for his body, but perhaps he'd grow into them yet.
They had opted to wait on replacing his shoes- custom ordering boots wasn't exactly cheap, and it was better to be sure the pair they bought him would fit by the end of the month rather than rush into it. He wasn't too wild about the idea- the reason that they had bought them in the first place had been to protect him, but it was also probably their best option.
"Shiro?" Cocking his head, Keith caught his head. "Something wrong?"
Blinking, realizing that he had been staring, Shiro shook his head. "No, just thinking about your growth spurt, that's all."
Giving him a small smile, Keith looked amused. "Mom told dad once that some of her kind could get up to eight feet tall."
If he had been eating something, he almost surely would have choked on it. "Eight- eight feet!?"
Keith had one hundred percent said that to earn the very same reaction he was giving him now, but damned if he couldn't help it. He'd accepted Keith growing taller, but eight feet tall? He couldn't even wrap his head around the idea. Where would they even get him clothes?
"But mom wasn't that tall." Keith added. "She was shorter than dad, just by a bit."
Letting out a breath of relief, Shiro placed a hand over his heart. So this is what they meant by the phrase almost had a heart attack.
"Don't tease me like that, Keith." Shiro told him. "No offense, but I can't even imagine you getting that tall."
"I'm not sure I'd want to be that tall." Keith admitted. "I already don't blend in as it is."
Being around Katie and Matt had done wonders for his self-confidence, it was true- but it had also sharpened the reality of how different he was from normal humans. There was nothing he could even say to that- he couldn't reassure him that it wasn't true, because he knew that it was.
No matter how you sliced it, Keith stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Who knows, maybe a few years from now, Earth will discover alien life." Shiro told him. "Then you could be free to do whatever you wanted."
Keith frowned at that. "That's wishful thinking."
"Nothing wrong with that." Shiro told him. "Sometimes it's nice."
"Not when it won't come true." Keith told him, brow furrowing. "Besides, if Earth does come in contact with alien life, it'll probably be-"
He stopped himself short there, glancing down at his clawed hands.
Frowning, Shiro watched him in silence for a long moment. As he suspected, he knew more about his mother's people than he let on.
"Whatever is true of them, it's clear that it's not true of you." Shiro told him. "Besides, you said it yourself, right? Your mother's not bad."
Shaking his head, Keith still didn't look up, his frown not fading from his face. "No, she's not."
"See?" Shiro told him. "Besides, you've read enough history to know that there's plenty of bad humans too. Maybe a lot of your mother's people are bad, but I don't think whatever it is that causes that is in the blood."
"I know." Keith admitted, finally peeking out from underneath his bangs. "But sometimes I wish I still looked human."
There... wasn't much he could say to that. There was no denying that Keith's life would be much easier were he still human in appearance. He might be on track to becoming a cadet at the Garrison by now- fourteen was the minimum age at which someone could apply. He knew Matt was already looking into it.
Instead he was here, out in the desert.
"You know, if you ever wanted to go out in public, I'd support you." Shiro told him- and clearly Keith hadn't been expecting that, because he jerked up his head, golden eyes wide. "I won't lie to you, it wouldn't be easy, but if you ever wanted it... I'd be behind you."
For a moment, Keith was struck speechless- before he cracked a small smile. "That'd be nice."
He shook his head then, gaze drifting downwards again. "But impossible."
Shiro wanted to say something, to deny that it was such- but he couldn't say them in complete sincerity, and if there was anything Keith deserved, it was that.
"Besides," the smile that Keith cracked was strained, and stung just to look at, "-the desert's not so bad. You can see more stars out here than in the city, dad said."
"Yeah," letting out a long sigh, Shiro returned his smile, "-you can."
"Alright Keith, give her a try."
He'd spotted Sam's car as he pulled up to the shack, so it was no surprise that the man was here- he just hadn't expected his voice to be coming from around back. Making his way in that direction, he made out a strange sound- one that took him a second to register as the sound of an engine sputtering, and then dying.
"Professor Holt?" Shiro called out. "Keith?"
"Back here!" Keith's voice called out, and he frowned, coming around the back of the shack. It was only once he saw what was going on, that understanding clicked.
"Trying to get that working again, huh?"
"Yep." Wiping some oil off of his hands, Sam nodded his head. "Easier said than done. I thought it was just lack of maintenance that did the poor girl in, but it looks like she's got a few more woes than that."
Poor girl was Keith's father's hoverbike. Ever since his death, it had been sitting at the side of the shack, with only a tarp to protect it from the harsh desert elements. It's once vibrant red and white paint had dulled over the years, and when he'd given it a try years ago, it had sputtered and died almost instantly.
"Mr. Holt's been teaching me!" Keith told him- and he couldn't help but notice that he was covered in oil, too. Thankfully, he'd changed into some of his father's old clothes, rather than get any of it on his new clothes.
He'd leveled out at about chest height, and from the looks of things, he was done growing for now. All things considered, he'd gotten pretty tall- for a thirteen year old, at least. At least with this, they had been able to buy new clothes for him, that fit properly- not to mention a new pair of boots, which he had designed to match the old pair almost exactly.
Creature of habit indeed.
"Has he now?" Shiro asked, arching a brow, glancing over towards Sam, who merely gave him a shrug. "Well he's a pretty good teacher, if you want to learn."
"Makes me long for my old days of teaching engineering at the Garrison." Sam remarked.
"Why did you switch?" Shiro asked. He'd heard about it before, but he'd never known the reason why.
"Not enough bio teachers." Sam said simply. "I've got a double major for a reason. Might as well put it to good use."
"He taught my dad!" Keith piped up, jumping off the hoverbike.
"That I did." Sam noted, patting the hoverbike. "Most of this girl's a custom job, from the looks of things. He always was good with his hands."
Huh. He'd been wondering about that- it was different from mass market hoverbikes, and even the more cutting edge ones that the Garrison had. A custom job made sense.
"Now I hope you weren't planning on trying to fly that thing without any lessons." Shiro said, shifting his gaze back towards Keith. It was easier now that he was taller, but it still took some getting used to, not having to look down so far. He was so used to him being waist high, that to have him this tall was just a bit surreal.
Well, at least he wasn't eight feet tall.
(Not yet, some part of him supplied. Which... nope, not gonna think about that.)
"I was kind of hoping you would teach me?" Keith ventured.
Smiling, Shiro ruffled his hair- on the plus side, that was a lot easier to do now. "Of course, kiddo. All you had to do was ask."
"But," he added, "-no solo flights until I clear you, okay?"
"Promise." Keith told him.
"Great." Shiro said. "Now, what can I do to help?"
The first time he let Keith at the controls of a hoverbike, one thing became clear to him.
The kid was a natural.
He took to the concepts presented to him with ease, absorbing information with eagerness. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise- he'd been much the same when it came to academics. Keith was clever, taking to his lessons with enthusiasm.
It only made the fact that his dream of becoming a pilot was so unattainable hurt more. No wonder he took to learning how to fly a hoverbike so eagerly- this might very well be the closest thing he could ever get to flying for real.
(In the back of his mind, the roots of a plan were forming, but that was for another time.)
Their lessons were on a Garrison hoverbike- not only was it what he was most familiar with, but Keith's father's bike was still very much a work in progress. Sam quickly discovered the problem- mixed in with very terrestrial parts were parts of decidedly extraterrestrial origin.
Which, given what he knew about Keith's father, somehow didn't surprise him.
Still, Sam was nothing if not brilliant- and though it took him awhile, eventually, he got it up and running again. He'd taken Keith on it on a ride through the desert, and the thing handled like a dream. It made his Garrison hoverbike look like a child's toy in comparison.
Which just left one thing- painting.
"You know, now that we're actually doing this," Sam said, "-I'm not sure this was such a good idea."
He was probably right about that, Shiro thought.
One teenager, one preteen, and one child, with several buckets of paint. What could possibly go wrong?
A lot. A lot could go wrong.
"That's what the adult supervision is here for." Shiro told him. "Besides, we already did the first coat, now all they need to do is add the red paint."
Sam merely lifted his brows, the expression of a man with far more experience with parenting than he had. He'd be lying if he said it didn't fill him with a certain sense of dread, but he pushed it aside for the time being.
It couldn't go that badly, could it?
As it turned out, yes, yes it could.
"Huh," Shiro frowned, "-I guess paint doesn't come off easy on you."
Grumbling, Keith buried his face in his hands, partially masking the bright red handprint that stood out against his purple skin. It was the exact size and shape of Katie's hand, right on the side of his face, all but swallowing one of the darker violet markings on his cheek.
At least the bike was painted. Looked pretty good, too.
"At least I don't go anywhere. No one out here to judge me but coyotes." Keith muttered, peeking out from behind his hands. "It'll have to wash off eventually, right?"
"Eventually." Shiro told him. "You have to admit, it's pretty funny."
Shooting him a glare, the kind only a thirteen year old could manage, Keith frowned. "It's covering my markings."
Lifting his brows, Shiro dunked the rag back in water, indicating with one hand for Keith to move his. He did, allowing him access to the bright red handprint. "Is that important?"
Closing his eyes, Keith let Shiro fuss at him, trying largely in vain to get off the paint. He knew Keith's skin texture was different, but he hadn't expected paint to cling to it so well. "They're the same as my mom's."
Ah. He didn't need to say anything more than that.
Keith might have complicated feelings towards the alien half of his heritage, but none of that seemed to apply to his mother. He had been raised on his father's stories of her, of the valiant, brave woman who went back into space for the sake of protecting them.
He also knew he longed to meet her.
He still didn't know what his mother looked like- there were no photographs of her around. If Keith had any, he was keeping them hidden. Just the fact that they had the same markings was new information.
"It's just," Keith began, "-I don't look the same as when she left. What if she comes back, and doesn't recognize me?"
"I'm sure she would." Shiro assured him.
Mothers always recognized their children- but beyond that, there was the much simpler reason that Keith was the only purple half-alien living out in the desert that he knew of. Even if she didn't, the dots wouldn't be that hard to connect.
"Yeah, but what if she doesn't?" Keith insisted.
Dropping his hand, Shiro gave him an assessing look. The paint still wasn't coming off, but he imagined with time, it would eventually flake off on its own. "So you think she'd recognize her markings?"
Peeking one eye open, Keith glanced at him with a slight frown. "Yeah."
Letting out a slight sigh, Shiro hung the rag on the bucket. "Are you mad at Katie? For covering it up?"
"No." Keith said, a little too quickly. Arching his brow, Keith caught the look, quickly averting his eyes- he'd been around him long enough to be able to tell. "...maybe. A little. It wasn't on purpose."
Nodding his head, satisfied with that, Shiro got to his feet. "Well, I don't think there's much more I can do for it now, Keith. You're just going to have to wait for time to deal with it."
At least the paint was non-toxic, he thought to himself.
Grumbling, Keith hung his head, shoulders slumping. "That's what I thought you'd say."
"Chin up, kiddo." Shiro told him, ruffling his hair. "You three did a good job with the bike. It looks brand new."
Glancing up, Keith looked back towards it, a fond smile on his face. He sensed that restoring his father's hoverbike wasn't just done out of his desire to learn how to ride it.
The shack, the bike... they were pieces of his father that had been left behind. Just like his mother's knife, he treasured them dearly.
One dead, the other impossibly far away.
He hoped, at least a little, that he could fill that gap.
The paint did come off in the end, though it had taken awhile to fade. Keith had grumbled about it the whole time, which was pretty understandable- it did make him look kind of ridiculous.
Not that he ever said that out loud. Thirteen was a delicate age.
Thirteen, huh.
Keith had come a long way since the first time they'd met. He talked more than before, and was more open. While he was still afraid of the outside world, his own world was bigger than it had been before- one day, the time might come when he would be willing to leave the shack.
Whatever he chose, Shiro would be behind him, one hundred percent of the way. He wasn't confident that he could protect him, if it came down to it- but if it did, he would do his best. No one would hurt Keith, not on his watch.
If one day, Keith told him he was sick of living in hiding, and wanted a normal life, he would do everything in his power to give him just that. Hell, if he told him he wanted to join the Galaxy Garrison, he'd march him right into Iverson's office himself and demand that the man enroll him, no questions asked- and no funny business. Somehow, he doubted that would ever happen- his fear was deeply ingrained into him, but one day, there was a chance that he might actually accept one of Sam's invitations.
He couldn't help but feel a little proud.
He wasn't certain what the future would bring for Keith- but at least now, he felt a little more optimism for it.
He sensed he wasn't alone in this.
But there was a dark side- the more Keith's world opened up, the more frustrated he grew at his own circumstances. He kept such feelings mostly to himself, but he knew that he had once asked Sam if there was a way to turn him back the way he once was.
There hadn't been.
To his credit, Sam had looked into the matter, to the best of his ability. But the truth was, no one really knew what the cause of Keith's transformation was- just that it had likely saved his life.
As his trust in Sam grew, so did what he allowed to examine him for, coming to understand that any tests he might want to do were truly for his own good, and not for any sinister motivation. The more they knew about him, they better they could care for him if something went wrong. After his scare with the rattlesnake, it seemed he understood this more than ever.
As far as Sam could tell, his mother's species must have been extremely adaptive, especially at a young age. It explained just how well suited Keith was for living in the desert, even more specifically for the exact climate he lived in.
If he did ever leave the desert, it would be something they would need to keep an eye on. After being so acclimatized to living in one extreme environment, it was possible that he might have challenges adjusting to others.
He was used to extreme heat- extreme dry heat. Humidity, Sam theorized, might be something of a problem for him, as well as altitude- the part of the desert in which he lived, while possessing fairly tall peaks in places, was still pretty low. Extreme cold, snow- anything bigger than a small town might be a problem.
Not to mention large bodies of water. Keith didn't know how to swim.
Still, it wasn't impossible. Cooked meat had made him sick the first few times Shiro had given it to him, but eventually he got used to eating it again. He had simply gotten out of the habit.
(He hadn't even known until later. Keith hadn't told him.)
Keith was still young- his development period wasn't over. Probably.
Sam seemed pretty sure of it at least. Half human or not, he was doubtful that someone who carried half of his blood from a race that got up to eight feet tall would remain at the height he was forever. He didn't know much about the lifespan of his mother's race, but Keith, at least, seemed to develop along to lines of a normal human.
Didn't mean it would stay that way, but that was a thought for another time.
Whatever the future brought, whatever Keith decided, he'd be there for him. He'd promised him that much, that day four years ago- and he didn't intend to let him down.