If Keith was holding onto his flesh hand, he's certain the tight grip would have begun to hurt by now. As he's not, Shiro just rubs soothing circles into the back of Keith's hand.

"We don't have to do this now, if you want. The equipment's not going anywhere." Last night, Keith had hidden under their sheets and admitted quietly that he wanted the brand Kuro had given him gone. He didn't like being unable to take off his shirt without having a stark reminder of what happened. Shiro could relate. If only his own were so easy to remove.

"No, I want to get rid of it today," Keith looks over to were Coran is standing beside the medical cot and nods, "Go ahead I'm ready."

"Alright my boy, this will sting a bit." The needle Coran is wielding is wickedly pointed. He feels a people as advanced as the Alteans should have found some better way to administer numbing agents, but then again, the Galra hadn't either. Their needles looked like something out of a horror movie. No, bad thought. Especially in this setting. He needs to be the reassuring one right now.

He watches Keith's face for signs of discomfort while Coran works. Still nervous, but the needle isn't the cause. If he has to guess, Keith is worried about the scalpel gleaming off to the side. That disturbs him as well. He's not going to be able to watch as Coran removes the scarred skin. Not without going places he really shouldn't.

"We'll leave that for a few ticks, and then we can start. Now you need to tell me if you feel anything." Keith nods in answer.

Shiro catches his eyes and smiles, "All be over soon," He squeezes Keith's hand.

Keith squeezes back, "Can't wait,"

Coran's picking up the scalpel now. It's sharp, the shape, the curve looks like the same kind the druids used. Without the anesthetic the thing would probably hurt the same. He forces himself to look at Keith's eyes instead. Purple the color of rare jewels instead of magic filled labs of pain. "Shiro? Are you okay?"

"Fine," He'll be fine, this isn't about him. Distraction will help though, "Just thinking about what to do after. I was thinking about borrowing Pidge and Lance's game station. What do you think?"

Keith's looking at him far too closely. He's been growing more aware recently. More observant of Shiro's own moods. That's good, means he's healing, but also bad, as he becomes more and more conscious of where Shiro is wearing thin. He has to work harder at keeping himself in check. He can't slip back into using the younger man as an emotional crutch.

There's no more words between them. Coran works quickly and efficiently, and Shiro tries to pretend he can't see the raw meat revealed. Keith stares him down the entire time. Coran carefully applies a bandage, no healing pods for what has become an obvious reason, and gives a cheerful, "All done!" The white covering the wound makes the constriction in his chest ease. Everything is okay, this is real medical treatment, not let's poke him to see what makes him scream loudest.

"Playing a game sounds nice," Keith says.

"What?" Game? What game? Oh right, the console, he'd asked him about that. Keith has a little frown on his pretty lips, "Right, I think they own one of those racing games. We could go a few rounds."

"Sure," Keith sits up, hops off the cot, and tugs Shiro towards the door. Damn it, he's slipping worse than he thought, they're nearly at the door before he realizes that Keith is leading him away from a source of panic. He needs to do better.

Allura's waiting for them outside the room. "Do you have a moment?"

Keith answers "Yes," before Shiro can make an excuse. She has her serious face on. The one when she's about to deliver important or bad news. He would have appreciated if she'd waited until she could catch him alone to bring whatever this is up, but Allura was one of the biggest proponents of bringing Keith back into the loop. She'd most likely chosen now on purpose. Keep him from hiding whatever she had to say from Keith.

"Pidge and I have discovered how Kuro managed to circumvent the Castle's defenses." Keith's back muscle go tight and still. This is exactly the sort of thing he'd prefer to have run by him first. Allura continues, "We have also determined he can not do so again using the same method."

Shiro wraps his human arm around Keith's shoulder and pulls him close. Reassurance by presence. Then he looks up at Allura, "Explain," He curtails the harshness he wishes to put in his voice. Letting anger show won't help.

"The spell used to create him was placed on you." She looks at Shiro, "Likely started while you were still in captivity," That's to be expected, Kuro had displayed enough of his knowledge that he had to be a part of his creation, "It takes time and quintessence to execute, you escaped before they could finish." That makes a terrifying amount of sense, his act with Matt had only worked so long. The guards had quickly realized that his persona in the ring wasn't real. Someone must have wanted a real 'Champion', "Sometime recently, Haggar must have gotten close enough to order the spell to finish. Kuro was created inside the Castle."

Only one question, "Can they make another?" He will leave right this instant, if there is even the slightest possibility of him being the source of another Kuro. None of his team will ever be hurt by that monster again.

"Not without recapturing you. The spell is spent. There will be no more Kuro's." Allura hesitates for a moment, then adds, "We are all safe."

"Thank you for letting us know," Shiro says in a clear tone of dismissal. Keith is still stiff by his side. They need privacy, so he can check on him.

They say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. Shiro makes an executive decision and heads for their bedroom instead of the common room with the others.

Keith lets out a huff of what he thinks was supposed to be laughter when they go inside. "I'm fine," Keith says before Shiro can ask.

"You don't have to be fine," Keith glares at him. That's one of the lines he used to like to use on Shiro, "You went through a lot." He adds.

"Lance nearly died, and you don't see him hiding in his room over it." Lance also doesn't remember that happening.

"How about me?" Keith had spent hours curled around him after a nightmare, whispering sweet nothing until sleep finally over took him again. If he could do that for Shiro, as bloody as his hand were, couldn't he do it for himself?

Keith looks away, he remembers all those times just as well as Shiro does. Probably better considering the hazes of some flashbacks. Shiro cups the back of Keith's head, pulls him in to nestle against his chest, "These things take time, and no one expects you to stop being hurt." Keith's arms find their way around him too, and they just stand there, soaking each other in.

"Can we call it an early night?" Keith's deflecting. Trying to get out of Shiro's flawless logic.

"Sure," He lets him. He'll try again later, and then again, and again. Until Keith finally believes him.


End Note:

This was written on my phone. I'm probably going to hold off on anymore updates until I regain access to my computer after Mother's day, because this is a painful way to write.