Allura was in high spirits over their newest alliance as they walked back to the castle. She was happily chatting away to Keith, who nodded along politely as he walked alongside her, Allura's arm looped through his in a rare display of affection from both involved. Lance, Pidge and Hunk brought up the rear, a few paces back, the later two discussing their newest project that they were eager to get back to. Lance was quiet, half listening to the discussion happening around him, though his attention was mainly on the two walking in front of them.
Lance couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Keith.
Keith had been grouchy all week. And after the past couple of weeks they have had, it was perfectly understandable, what with Shiro still missing and the necessary swapping around of Paladins and Lions.
Lance felt his throat burn at the familiar pang of sadness at not being able to pilot Blue anymore. Not that Red was bad, Red was actually pretty cool and super fast, but he had bonded quickly with the Blue Lion since leaving Earth. His connection with Blue always reminded him of water; rivers and streams and the vast ocean they had left back on Earth, which in turn reminded him of Varadero and family and home.
Red, however, was the opposite, warm and comforting in her own way, but not in the way that reminded him of home. His connection with Red always made him think of the summer months he spent at the Garrison and the stifling heat that would overwhelm him. He remembered Keith's shack not far from the Garrison, and wondered if Keith felt comforted by the connection he had with Red like Lance did with Blue, and how different his new connection with Black must be.
On top of losing that connection, Lance didn't doubt that the past couple of weeks had been especially difficult for Keith. As the pilot of the Black Lion, he was now the head of Voltron, and he had pretty much taken Shiro's place. Lance wasn't privy to how Keith and Shiro knew each other before Voltron, though given their interactions anyone could gather that they were close. Closer than he and Hunk were. Lance would say that their relationship was brotherly, given that what they had was similar to what Lance and his brothers shared. Lance couldn't fathom having lose any of his siblings and then be expected to fill the gap that they had left...
But today had been different. Keith wasn't as snappish as he had been over the past few weeks. He was quiet and reserved, not even rising to Lance's taunts during training that morning. He had acted accordingly at the coalition dinner that night, though Keith would usually leave the negotiations to Allura. He may be Voltron's team leader, but Keith himself would be the first to admit (with Lance a close second) that diplomacy was not one of his strong suits.
No, what had really worried Lance was that, after the dinner negotiations had ended, Keith stood up and fell forward, his hip making a painful thud against the table in front of him. Lance had overheard Allura's question of concern, but Keith had simply shrugged it off as getting his foot caught in the long colour-coded cloth that had been ceremoniously draped over each of the paladin's chairs.
But Lance's eyes were keener than he ever let on. He wasn't the team sharpshooter for nothing. Keith's feet had been no where near the cloth, something that Allura or the others wouldn't have known from where they sat opposite him.
Keith hadn't tripped over anything. He stumbled.
Keith Kogane never quiznacking stumbled.
In fact, Keith had fantastic coordination and reflexes. Lance had almost been jealous when they first started fighting together. In those early days of Voltron, time and time again Lance would be knocked flat on his face by the gladiator, only to look up and see Keith dodge it effortlessly. His movements reminded Lance of a cats, agile and sure-footed. Not once in the months that Lance had known Keith had he ever seen the smaller teen trip over his own feet or over nothing.
So Keith's stumble now had Lance's worrying mind running on overdrive. Now knowing what he should be looking for, Lance could see that something was weighing Keith down, grabbing him by shoulders and dragging him towards the ground beneath him. Lance wasn't sure earlier if it was the lighting of the large ballroom that they had spent their evening in, but outside he could tell that Keith was a shade paler than normal, and he could see the sheen of sweat on Keith's forehead, despite the cool night air.
Yep. Something was very wrong with Keith.
"You've been oogling Keith for the past half varga."
Although Lance had tried to be subtle, he apparently had not managed to fool Pidge's sharp eyes. Ever blunt, she broke Lance out of his rambling thoughts, nudging his arm with hers, her eyebrows raised suggestively. Thankfully her loud observation had not drawn Allura and Keith's attention in front of them, who were still happily chatting away.
Lance spluttered, feeling his ears heat up, "O-oogling! I'm not! I'm just-"
Pidge let out a bark of laughter, "Relax, Lance. I'm just messing with you." She shot a look at Hunk who was walking on Lance's other side, the corners of his mouth quirked upwards in amusement. The traitor, Lance thought as he pouted at them petulantly, feeling left out of whatever inside joke was being shared between the two.
After a minute of them laughing at Lance's expense, Pidge settled down, her voice low so that only Lance and Hunk could hear, "But seriously though, what's going on?"
At Lance's questioning look, she huffed, "Your left eyebrow is doing that twitching thing it does when you're worried. Well that, and you're practically boring a hole into the back of Keith's head. So come on, spill."
Lance sighed, looking at their new Black Paladin walking a few paces ahead of them, "Something's wrong with Keith. He just seems, off tonight."
"Yeah I noticed too." Hunk's eyes narrowed in concern as he glanced between them and Keith, "But I mean, he has had a lot to deal with lately, what with Shiro gone and now having to take his place piloting Black. Like, it can't be the easiest time for him right now."
"That, and I know that he's still going out every night searching for him." Pidge added.
Lance's eyes widened, "Wait seriously? I thought he stopped doing that after the lion swap."
"I thought so too. But I saw him heading to Black's hanger the other night when you guys were already asleep. When I checked the surveillance videos the next morning, it showed that Black had been gone for at least two vargas."
Hunk, ever the mother hen – especially now with Shiro gone – straightened, pointing around Lance at the smallest Paladin, "Wait, what were you doing up so late?"
"My business and my business alone." Pidge bristled, crossed her arms defensively.
"We've talked about this, Pidge. You need to sleep! Pulling all-nighters all the time isn't good for you. You're young and you need proper sleep."
"...uh guys."
"You say 'young' as if you're not only two years older than me!"
"And I get my 8-10 hours of sleep that is recommended."
"Guys."
"We're in space! Whats to say that you guys are actually going to bed early."
"I dunno, maybe the fact that the castle runs on a cycle system and you just so happen to stay awake when that cycle is in the 'sleep' phase."
"Hey you two, cut it out! Keith, remember?" Lance gripped the two arguing paladins arms, snapping them out of their bickering before it could escalate and bringing them back to the real problem.
"Oh right." Hunk shrunk back a bit, sheepish at going off track, with Pidge mirroring the action.
Lance sighed, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck, "So if he's out searching at night, and doing Voltron stuff with the rest of us during the day, when the quiznack is he sleeping?"
Lance's question remained unanswered as the group arrived at the already open entrance to the Castle of Lions, Coran dutifully waiting for their return.
"Ah Princess, Paladins, how were the festivities?" Coran moved to help remove the shawl wrapped around Allura's shoulders as she happily began recounting the events of their night, with Pidge and Hunk adding their version of the night's events when needed. Lance pretended to be invested in the debrief, watching Keith in his peripheral. If Keith caught him staring he might put his guard up like he usually did whenever Lance was concerned, and Lance wasn't having that tonight. He was going to figure out what was wrong whether Keith liked it or not.
From the corner of his eye, Lance saw Keith sway slightly and Lance turned his attention fully to the Black Paladin, every nerve in his body prickling with nervous energy. He took in Keith's wan expression; his skin washed out, – the fluorescent lighting of the Castle not really helping – heavily contrasting with the dark bags under dull, vacant eyes. The weight on his shoulders only seemed to be getting heavier, given how Keith had begun to slouch as the debrief went on.
Keith looked absolutely exhausted.
Lance steeled himself. Nope that was it! He was shutting this down right now! They could debrief in the morning after everyone, especially Keith, was well rested and not about to fall face first on the floor.
However, his decision was too late as he watched what he feared would happen play out in what he thought was slow-motion.
Keith's eyes closed for a second too long, what remaining colour draining from his face. The weight on his shoulders finally won out, as Keith fell heavily to his knees.
Lance's heart lurched into his throat. He reached forward with a wordless cry of alarm, narrowly preventing Keith's head connecting with the hard castle floor as the black-haired teen slumped to the side.
He felt more than heard the flurry of movement as everyone rushed to them. Lance however was solely focused on his unconscious friend he was now cradling in his arms.
Lance gently tapped Keith's cheek, "Hey, come on buddy. I need you to open your eyes for me, yeah?" Keith's eyes cracked open, and Lance felt some of the tension loosen, though that relief was short lived as Keith's unfocused gaze stared up and straight through him.
Lance startled as a hand gently gripped his shoulder. "Lance, we need to lie Keith down so that I can check him over," Coran coaxed gently from where he knelt in front of them.
He nodded, slowly lowering Keith so that he was flat on the cold floor, keeping a hand under his head to provide some comfort. Keith flinched slightly, eyes closed tightly as he tried to turn away from the Castle's harsh florescent lighting.
"Hunk, I need you to elevate his legs," Coran instructed as he began fussing over the semi-conscious paladin.
Hunk settled at Keith's feet, lifting them into his lap, "Is he going to be okay?" he asked, worried.
Allura and Pidge, who had been quiet during the past few minutes, broke their anxious stare from their downed friend and turned it toward the older Altean. They hovered nervously, looking over Coran's shoulder, standing between Lance and Hunk respectively, though standing slightly back a bit to give them space.
"It doesn't seem serious, maybe a virus, though he doesn't seem feverish so I think exhaustion may be more likely. However, I won't know for sure until I properly scan him." Coran stood, wincing slightly as his knees cracked, "For now, let's get him somewhere he can lie down comfortably. While you all do that, I can pick up some supplies from the infirmary and meet you all there."
"The common room's probably the closest." Hunk suggested.
"That would be the best option. It doesn't seem to be serious, but I would feel better if he rested somewhere where we can keep an eye on him, just in case."
Moving Keith to the lounge area was slow going. Lance and Hunk had taken up supporting the shorter teen on either side, slowly walking him between them. Keith had stubbornly insisted that he was able to walk on his own to begin with, however about half-way to their destination, they found themselves carrying all of Keith's weight, and Lance's suspicion that he had blacked out again was confirmed by the confused expression Keith had when they lowered him onto the sunken couches.
Coran had met them there a few minutes later, passing Pidge and Hunk (who were set on their mission to retrieve every blanket and pillow they could find to create a massive blanket nest) as he entered, medical supplies in tow.
Lance sat Keith up, slipping himself in between Keith and the back of the couch as Allura sat herself down next to them, grabbing Keith's closest hand and soothingly rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. She sent Lance a look over the Black Paladins head and he realised that Allura looked as helpless as he felt.
The next few minutes passed in silence, broken only by the quiet beeping coming from the tablet in Coran's hands. Black hair tickled the edge of Lance's jawline as Keith relaxed into Lance's hold, his breath evening out, and Lance assumed that Keith had dozed off again.
"Well, the good news is that it's not serious." Coran announced, just as Pidge and Hunk had returned and started arranging the blankets on the floor. "The scan didn't detect a virus, though the results say that there is an imbalance in his electrolyte levels."
"So he's dehydrated, then?" Pidge caught on.
"Yes it would seem so." Coran looked up from the tablet with a relieved smile. "It's manageable though. Probably won't need to set up a drip if we can get him to drink enough fluids over the next few vargas."
Lance's eyebrows furrowed, "So wait if it's not serious, then why did he pass out?"
"Well, we know he hasn't been really sleeping lately. Maybe that combined with being dehydrated just made him sorta, well, shut down I guess?" Hunk shrugged.
Coran looked worriedly down at Keith, now sound asleep against Lance's side, "Yes, that would probably do it."
The rooms atmosphere turned sombre, everyone's expression forlorn.
"What should we do?" Allura's question broke the silence, her usually confident voice wavered with uncertainty.
Lance didn't miss the broader meaning of Allura's question, and looking at everyone else, it seemed it wasn't lost on them either. Nothing had seemed right since Shiro's disappearance. Before, everyone had a set place on the team. Now, they were all floundering, trying to fit into roles they felt that they weren't meant to play. But they all continued to keep up the facade, wondering that maybe if they kept at it long enough it would eventually begin to feel normal. And it had seemed to be working. They were now able to form Voltron regularly, and the success of tonight's and previous coalition functions were proof enough that things would at the least be able to go back to some semblance of normal.
However, Keith fainting had shattered the illusion, reinforcing everything that was wrong with their current situation. And right now, it revealed that Keith was struggling, both from missing Shiro and from having to fill the place that he had left. Keith hadn't even wanted to be the Black Paladin, but eventually he took on the role for the benefit of the team. And as a result, he had driven himself to the point of collapse.
And all of them had been too caught up in their own issues that not one of them noticed until it was too late.
Lance, the new Red Paladin, Keith's right hand man, his friend; hadn't noticed until it was too late.
"Rest and water should pick him back up again. Though it might take a few quintants for him to be truly back in fighting form." Coran said cheerfully, though Lance could see the worry crinkling at the corner of his eyes. He pointedly ignored the broader issue, something Lance appreciated for the most part. Tonight they had to focus solely on getting Keith better. That and Lance could see that the nights events had put everyone on edge. They could talk about everything else when everyone was up to it. Keith especially.
With the blanket nest now adequately set up, Hunk bee-lined for the kitchen, Coran on his heels. Allura helped Lance lower Keith down from the couches so that he was sitting on the blanket nest on the floor, Allura supporting his shoulders from behind, as Pidge moved in to help Lance remove the bulky pieces of Keith's paladin armour. Keith stirred as Lance was removing the chest plate, slurring out another stubborn assurance that he could do it himself, as he weakly grasped that the straps that connected the back and chest plates at his side. He tugged at it for a few seconds, his brow furrowing in frustration at not being able to undo the easy clasp, before Lance gently guided his hand away. Keith glared weakly at him before finally accepting defeat, slumping back into Allura's hold and allowing Pidge and Lance to finish their task.
By the time that Pidge and Lance had moved to remove their own armour, Coran and Hunk returned, Hunk's arms overflowing with water pouches for Keith and various snacks for the rest of them. Coran managed to get a half-asleep Keith to down one of the water pouches, before he and Allura gently lowered him to lying down on his side in the middle of the blanket nest, Keith asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Lance settled himself down on Keith's left side. Pidge claimed the spot to Keith's right, with Allura and Coran settling on her other side, and Lance could feel Hunk shifting to get comfortable against his back. The lights dimmed remotely and soon the sounds of soft snores – well, loud in Hunk's case – and breathing filled the room.
However, Lance couldn't sleep. He stared intently at the ceiling above him, the nights events still bothering him. He supposed that the good thing was that Keith was going to be okay. 'Rest and water', was what Coran had said. But Lance still worried.
They could have avoided this. Honestly, what had happened to Keith could have happened to any of them considering the stress they had all been under in the past couple of weeks. Lance himself had his insecurities over being the new Red Paladin. Being the Red Paladin came with a whole new set of responsibilities, as well as having to fly the Red Lion, who by the way was way faster and way more temperamental than Blue had ever been. But he had voiced those concerns to Hunk weeks ago, and while his friend didn't have the answers Lance desperately needed, it had helped to at least talk about his concerns, sharing the burden with someone else…
Oh…
Lance's eyes widened, realisation hitting him hard. With Shiro now gone, Keith probably didn't have that support anymore. Lance doubted that Keith felt comfortable enough to come to either of them to help him with dealing with losing Shiro along with the extra stress of now being the Black Paladin. Lance supposed that he was partly to blame for that one. He wasn't very inviting to Keith when they had first met.
Lance looked over at Keith, the shorter teen finally getting the much needed sleep that he needed. The relaxed expression he wore was one that Lance could not remember seeing on him in a very long time, even before all this mess began.
In that moment, Lance determined that from now on things were going to change.
He was going to be there for Keith.
He must have fell asleep because the next thing Lance knew he was being shocked awake by the shifting of blankets next to him and sudden loss of warmth on his right side. Dazed with sleep, his eyes skimmed the room, trying to find the cause of the disturbance that had woke him, before they landed on Pidge, her face slack and glasses askew, lying next to him. Lance's sleep addled brain took a moment to realise that something was wrong with that image.
Oh yeah, Pidge wasn't next to me. Keith wa-
Lance shot up, all traces of sleep forgotten as he frantically searched around him, taking in the rest of the group still sleeping soundly on the blanket nest, having not been disturbed by Keith's escape. Stealthily removing himself from the pile and climbing over the back of the sunken couch, Lance made his way down the hall, propelled by the gut feeling that Keith was heading to Black's hanger.
Thankfully, he didn't need to search for long. Lance turned into the corridor that lead to Blacks hanger in the centre of the Castle and stopped short when he almost collided with the Black Paladin. Given that Keith currently had his hand braced against the wall in a desperate attempt to keep himself upright, it looked like fatigue had caught up to him first.
Lance quickly composed himself and crossed his arms, attempting to seem more disapproving rather than letting on just how concerned he actually was, "And where do you think you're going?"
Keith startled at the question, only now aware of Lance's presence behind him; and honestly it was a terrifying sign of how out of it Keith really was. Lance had put it down to being part Galra, but Keith was almost impossible to sneak up on.
"I need to look for him." Keith rasped out, not bothering to turn and face Lance, desperately trying to move his way towards Black's hanger.
"You need to take it easy."
"Lance…" Keith breathed out, tone suggesting that he was going to fight Lance on this and try and change his mind.
Lance wasn't going to give him the chance, "Oh no. No, no, no don't 'Lance' me, Keith! Are you even looking at yourself? You can't even stand let alone fly right now! Quiznack, Keith! You fainted tonight! You do realise that you scared us all half to death, right? That you scared me half to death!" Lance's voice shook slightly at the admission.
Keith turned carefully to face him, looking at him apprehensively. Lance covered the short distance between them, holding onto the shorter teen's shoulders to steady him when he faltered slightly.
Lance sighed, his voice gentle, "I know you miss him Keith. We all miss him, but I know that Shiro was more to you and you're taking this harder than us. But Keith, you know you can come to us for help right? You don't need to keep pushing through all this and putting on a brave face around us until the point you run yourself down." Keith ducked his head, and Lance bent down slightly to try and meet his eyes. "Yeah, we're not Shiro, but we will always be there for you. You don't have to go through all of this on your own."
"I had to before." Keith whispered.
Lance almost flinched, "Kerberos?" he asked, remembering the year Keith had spent alone in that desert shack, booted from the Garrison and having no one to turn to. The only person close enough to care, lost and declared dead.
His response was a slight nod, "I just got him back." Keith's voice cracked with emotion and Lance quickly pulled Keith to him, arms wrapped tight around him, reassuring him that this time, Keith was not alone.
