Virus Among Us
Completely Objectionable

Everything…

For Keith, everything which should be seemed to get farther and farther away. Telling Lance about his relationship with Shiro came out unexpectedly, the fever getting the better of him. Things were already bad enough, with the Alteans care practices when someone became ill differing greatly from the way his and Shiro's culture handled things. Worse, however, was the false accusation Lance lobbed at Shiro, making the young paladin feel a great level of stress.

The red paladin itched all over, his lungs itched, his throat dry, and his stomach felt like a bunch of pins were shoved down his throat. In fact, his throat felt likewise. His entire body shook, but also felt weak. Despite this, when Coran attempted to give him some kind of medicine, he managed to hit the item away, Keith's dark eyes closing shut as the royal advisor cleaned up the mess, at the same time lecturing the young paladin about taking his medicine.

The light clicked off after Coran finished, allowing Keith to sleep for a bit, drifting in and out due to the coughing fits which wracked his body.

He jarred completely awake when the door opened, and he hit the light. Lance stood there, back to make his life even more miserable. The blue paladin insisted Shiro abused him,kept breaking into Keith's psyche, pushing the red paladin to finally lunge at Lance, only to find himself pinned on his back, something which would not normally happen if the smaller paladin wasn't as weak from illness.

Keith was utterly, completely humiliated, not to mention extremely uncomfortable with the fact Lance now sat on top of him, looking down at him with those blue eyes of his, as if they were attempting to bore right into his soul. A coughing fit started up, and the blue paladin forced touch upon him, insisting that the touch was actually needed. The blue paladin also managed to say the wrong thing, insisting he would keep his promises.

"Older brothers are supposed to keep their promises Keith. I've told you that before, so when I say I'm going to come back and take care of you when the mission is done, I'm going to keep that promise, alright?"

The red paladin certainly didn't need the reminder of Shiro's broken promise, particularly when Keith knew full well things were out of his older brothers control. Lance's lack of understanding proved baffling, and yet the smaller teen found himself unable to escape from the presence of the blue paladin, the other having forced himself into his world, breaking down the many barriers Keith set up over time to protect him from the emotional backlash.

Lance couldn't honestly begin to understand.

The humiliation grew, the tears coming uncontrolled as Keith's emotions rushed out. The fever prevented him from thinking straight, but also keeping his emotions in check. His tears soaked the front of Lance's clothing, his hands limp at his side, without the strength to push himself away, let alone pulverizing the other paladin for inserting himself in such a personal manner. Regrettably Keith also drifted into sleep, the weakness of his body taking over.

The need to use the restroom woke him up.

Keith found himself leaning up against Lance, the other teen holding onto him, a soft snore indicating the blue paladin also drifted off. Somehow Keith managed to twist around, putting his bare feet on the ground. He managed to push himself up, and left the room, teetering on his feet, moving slowly to the bathroom. The coughing fits were also less, thankfully. The long journey proved agonizing, so relieving himself brought a lot of relief.

He stood at the sink, splashing water on his face to try and relieve the dizziness brought on by the fever, but also the physical weakness. Suddenly his body began to tilt in one direction, Keith's eyes widening upon realizing the control over his body completely disappeared. He hit the ground hard, nobody being there to catch him this time. The air left his lungs, his eyes closing as another coughing fit hit, but also a jarring pain in his stomach.

Instinctively the red paladin's body twisted up into a fetal position. The water continued to run in the sink while Keith's eyes squeezed shut, knowing full well he needed someone to find him. Physically he might be able to lift himself up off the cool ground, but not to stand up. The coolness of the floor also soothed his feverous body, making him relax, possibly drifting off again as the coughing fit subsided.

"Keith?" Lance's voice broke through the mist, and the red paladin felt his fingers move against the floor, his eyes shut as the water turned off. The other teen gently grabbed his arm, lifted him up. His eyes opened up to see the concerned look on the other paladin's face. "If you needed to go to the restroom, you should have told me. You wouldn't have collapsed like this."

"As if." The embarrassment from needing help welled in Keith's chest, his eye on the ground as Lance helped him stagger back to his room. Another coughing fit threatened to overtake him.

"I get that you're mad at me, and thus don't want my help. We're a team though, and supposed to look out for each other. Which is more than I can say for Shiro."

"Don't talk about him like you know him." The red paladin blinked a couple of times, his mouth pushing together in frustration. The false accusations hit hard, and yet Lance seemed to keep at labeling Shiro as an abuser. The coughing fit erupted from Keith's mouth, causing the blue paladin to pull him closer, preventing the smaller teen from collapsing to the ground again.

"Don't talk. I get the fact you're in denial about your brother, but still…" Lance's comment made Keith open his mouth, only for another cough to escape. "Seriously, Keith. You talk, you cough. Let's get Let's get you back to your room. Then we can talk."

The red paladin felt his teeth grind together, in part to prevent himself from coughing again, but also hold back his anger. The door to his room eventually swished open, the two having arrived back at the room faster than it took Keith to get to the restroom in the first place. Lance helped him stagger in, his footsteps unsure as the weakness in his body started to get the better of him. Something sharp, however, pierced his foot, jolting him back. The two fell into Keith's bed, Lance letting out a yelp.

Just to Keith's luck, the blue paladin also managed to land on top of him, making a groan of pain escape his lips. Lance pushed himself up off of his fellow paladin. "Hey, you alright."

"No." Keith choked out. "You landed on me, and my foot."

The smaller attempted to pull his foot up despite the weakness in his body, his mouth pulling tight at the corners. Lance grabbed at his foot, pulling it up into a rather awkward position, the color draining from his face. "Oh quiznack." The blue paladin's blue eyes looked at the mess on still on the floor, the blood now mixed in with the broken glass laying next to the pillow. "This is my fault. I didn't clean it up."

Keith felt his shoulders tense up, the anger boiling over. He felt too weak to pull his foot away, but his fellow paladin now found himself preoccupied with something else. "And yet you accuse Shiro of abusing me?"

Lance looked up, the color still drained from his face. The blue paladin obviously, from the look on his face, took the words as an accusation. "It's not the same Keith."

"Not the same? Yes it is." The smaller teen started coughing, this time for a short period of time.

"No, it isn't."

The red paladin swallowed. "How would you know, when you don't know what happened? You only asked me if Shiro ever asked me, never how and why."

"It's still not the same. No way you would answer yes to my question if Shiro dropped a glass and you stepped on it."

Keith hit Lance with his hands, the blows coming lightly, but his frustration evident. "You…"

"I'm going to go and get a first aid kit. Could you stay put until I can get back to pull this out? Well, of course you will. No way you're stupid enough to walk on this foot of yours." Lance stood up, leaving the red paladin to stew on the floor, crossing his arms in frustration, waiting for the other teen to get back. The blue paladin managed to get what he needed quickly, along with something to clean up the glass. As he swept up the glass before pulling out the shard, the taller teen let out a muttered, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Keith grumbled, irritated that Lance wouldn't listen.

"For not cleaning this up."

"But you're not sorry for not listening to me."

Lance stopped, looking the red paladin in the eye, making Keith look away, eye contact not to the smaller teens liking. The red paladin felt his mouth push together. "I've been listening. How else would I…"

"You jumped to conclusions."

"I did not."

Keith took a deep breath. "Yes, you did."

"How so?"

"Martial arts." The words came out of Keith, a coughing fit preventing him from saying a full sentence, making his mouth twist in frustration.

"Martial…" Lance let out a sigh. "The fact Shiro used martial arts on you doesn't make it better! It makes it worse!"

"No." Keith shook his head. "My aniki taught me martial arts."

"What…" The blue paladin's blue eyes blinked a few times, and then Lance shook his head in frustration. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Shiro sometimes accidently hurt me while teaching me martial arts. Other times we were goofing off. He's never, ever hurt me intentionally. Ever."

Silence fell over the room, the blue paladin staring at Keith, the red paladin's words sinking in. Lance let out a cough to clear his throat before looking away. A coughing fit from the red paladin brought him back, and he gently lifted Keith's foot this time, carefully removing the shard before bandaging the injury. He then proceeded to help his fellow paladin up onto the bed, before sitting down at the end of the bed. The red paladin found himself dozing off, his energy sapped. In some ways Keith blamed Lance's overabundance of energy for his own lack of energy.

A nudge brought him out, the dark blue eyes of the red paladin opening up to see Lance moved closer. Now the blue paladin sat at his side rather than the foot of the bed, his body uncomfortably close. "Hey…"

"Go away."

"No. I need to apologize." The blue paladin's words made Keith's eyes blinked a couple of times. "For, you know, accusing Shiro of…"

"I'm not forgiving you."

"Come on!" Lance's mouth twisted into a pout.

The red paladin looked away, not pleased with the puppy face the other paladin gave him. "Shiro's not just my brother. He's also my dad, so to speak."

"Not possible. He's not old enough." The tone of voice made quite clear how baffled Lance was.

"He's old enough to take care of me. Only one who ever did. Looking out for me, that's why he's the way he is. Or was. Yet you went and accused him to his face of abusing me. It's not me you've got to apologize to. Plus…" Keith's mouth snapped shut, not wanting to say what went through his head.

Lance reached out to touch him, making him jump. "Plus what?"

"Plus don't touch me!" The red paladin felt a shudder run down his spine as Lance turned his head away, pulling his hand away.

"Plus what?" Lance's voice remained tight.

"I don't like being touched by strangers."

"I'm not…" The blue paladin's lips pulled tight. "Just tell me what's bothering you."

"Shiro was already avoiding me after I got out of cryostasis! You just made it worse you moron!" Keith choked on his words, starting into a coughing fit. Somehow he managed to gasp out the next part after the fit. "I can't lose that. Not again."

Lance patted his shoulder, making Keith flinch. The blue paladin's mouth twisted up into one of his trademark pouts, only to have his hand hit away again. "I got it. I've got to do something to fix things between you and Shiro."

Keith's eyes widened. "Don't! You'll only…"

"I made a promise, didn't I? I told you I keep my promises." Lance stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hang tight. I'm going to go and apologize to Shiro. I really feel like a douche, and am really sorry."

The red paladin's eye twitched, noticing the last words came with a puppy pout just as the blue paladin stood up, slipping from the room. Keith found himself to weak to follow, everything taking a major emotional toll on him.

Note – Chapter six ended up going through a few major drafts before I finished, and I found myself starting into chapter seven really quickly.