7. Friendship – Bromance

Characters: Lance, Keith

Summary: Keith gets physically ill due to either catching some kind of bug, or because of a negative reaction to fauna. A misunderstanding between him and Lance occurs.
Pairings: No pairing, but there is a misunderstanding between the two.

Theories: Keith and Shiro are siblings.
Warnings: There is a misunderstanding between Keith and Lance, plus CPR attempt.

The red lion was damaged. Keith knew that long before the wormhole destabilized, so feeling his ship spin out of control into an unknown place honestly wasn't a surprise. The young paladin, however, felt a feeling of anxiety as he found himself unable to control the lions decent. A sweat spread across his body, gluing the uniform to his armpits in a rather unpleasant manner. Nothing stopped the lion from crashing, and when that happened he found himself, due to the damages, thrown onto the floor, or in this case the roof.

Pushing himself up, Keith felt a pain in his shoulder, so sharp it jarred a yelp from his dry throat. His dark eyes snapped shut, one hand touching the hurt limb, his mouth muttering a few choice curse words. The young paladin heard a crackling sound on the other end, but no other voice came through. Keith stood up, the hand of his uninjured arm carefully touching the wall, only to every so often touch the painful shoulder as a pitiful hissing sound escaped his lips. The way to exit echoed the sound, thankfully letting him out.

Looking around, Keith couldn't help but feel lost, a feeling he'd not felt since Shiro had gotten back. The young paladin headed out into the woods, wondering where everyone else had gone. He opened his mouth to say something, only for the dryness of his throat to prevent him from saying anything. His walked past a tree, jumping when a thorny branch scratched his hand. The red paladin looked around, trying to get his bearings, pulling his hand to his mouth to suck on the offending injury.

Keith finally sat down, pulling off his helmet, letting out a deep breath. His eyes began to droop despite the fact he knew he needed to stay away, and soon he collapsed to the ground, the dizziness overtaking him, his breath slowing. Sleep overtook him, one of his hands grasping the ground tightly as he came in and out of the half-sleep. Despite the fact Keith knew something was wrong, he found himself struggling to stay awake.

Keith continued to lay on the cool grass, and yet it only cooled the one side. Keith couldn't move to the other to cool off the temperature which racked his body, nor could his mind place whether the fever started before or after leaving the cockpit, or why. For a minute, he thought he dreamed of lying in the meadow he used to play in with Shiro as a child before their parents died, but this went away.

Something touched his shoulder, bringing his state of mind closer to being awake, and yet he didn't open his eyes. The red paladin stopped his already slow breathing in case a Galra found him, not wanting to know what they would do should they think he was still alive. The instinct which normally told him to fight now told him to play coy.

Whoever was there pulled them over onto his back, pulling him slightly away from the tree. Keith could sense the person leaning over him, listening for a breath. He'd hoped the person would go away, as he figured one of his teammates would say something had they found him. Something brushed up against his lips, a sensation which in the deep pit of his stomach felt wrong.

Keith's eyes snapped open, sucking in a rather large breath of air upon seeing the blue paladin doing something which he'd never, ever thought he'd see Lance do. The red paladin's actions startled the other paladin, and he pulled back spluttering. Keith attempted to move, his entire body still without the energy to move. "What... what were you trying to do?"

Somehow he managed to blurt the words out, his cheeks hot with embarrassment, his eyes closing shut. The red paladin knew he didn't swing that way, and for certain had thought Lance swung the same way completely. His fears were confirmed when Lance piped up. "Look. It's not what you think. It's nothing like what's going on between you and Shiro. It's the exact opposite in fact. Plus..."

"You're an idiot." Keith felt a tremble run through his body.

Lance pulled himself back, leaning over Keith so that the red paladin's eyes snapped open. The other teens mouth twisted up as if he were thinking. "So..."

"Don't you dare think of taking advantage of me simply because of the dire straights I'm in right now." Nausea hit Keith in the pit of the stomach, and his eyes rolled back into his head as thoughts of what Lance could do rattled around in his brain.

Somehow he managed to bring his hand to his mouth, and Lance, in turn, managed to read his actions and turned him over so Keith could puke his guts out. "Seriously, what am I supposed to do here?"

Instead of answering the other young paladin, Keith found himself drifting off again, the fever getting the better of him. When he awoke, a sticky sweat spread across his body, his tongue dry, the nasty taste of vomit in his throat. "Aniki, don't leave me."

Lance nudged Keith shoulder before lifting the red paladin up into a sitting position. "Look, I don't get what you're saying. You're kind of talking in a different language than I am. No, you are talking in a different language."

Keith attempted to pull away, his body stiffening, remembering what Lance did earlier. "No. Not romance. I mean..."

The blue paladin pulled away, the other paladin's words making him uncomfortable. "Just spit it out.

"I'm not looking for a romantic..." Keith's mouth snapped shut.

"Um, then what?" The blue paladin's voice shook as if the situation were making him uncomfortable, and yet the other paid no attention, his fever getting the better of him.

The teens eyes snapped shut. "I want my nii-chan." It felt good closing his eyes. "I want Shiro."

"What?" Lance still seemed confused. "Keith, talk in English already."

"Huh?"

"English. I don't know what you said means. I mean, not unless you teach me."

"Not sure I want to."

"Um..." Lance folded his arms, thinking in a manner which obviously, in Keith's mind, hurt the blue paladin's head. A light bulb went off, and a finger was held up. "One word to describe what you want."

"Aniki. Nii-chan. Aniue" Keith's eyes closed, and he drifted off as the other paladin yelled at him attempting to get a translation. Eventually he woke up, something cold touching his neck. His hand reached up, only to fall back as soon as he felt the cold wetness on his neck, the fever still raging despite Lance's attempts to cool his fever.

"What does Aniki mean?"

Keith's eyes blinked a couple of times. "Big brother."

"And Nii-chan. No fare doing more than word on me."

"Big brother."

"Anuie..."

"Big brother."

"Keith, I get that your fever's making you delusional, but..."

"They mean the same thing." Keith's eyes closed. "I want Shiro. He always made things better."

He drifted off, this time, briefer than the other times, pulling out when Lance said out loud, "I got it. I can do that. This is what a big brother would do in this situation, I think." Keith felt an additional heat spreading across his neck, thinking Lance was using this as an excuse to get closer. He tried wiggling out but found his body too weak. "Uh-uh. Let me act like a big brother now Keith, and get your wubbie, wubbie rest."

The red paladin caught a hint of Lance's usual teasing, and knew the boy was enjoying it, but now the reason why made Keith want to kill him even more. The teen, however, found himself unable to stay awake despite the embarrassing situation. When he drifted back, he found himself spurting out, "I want Shiro."

"Um..." Lance spoke out from above the other young man, indicating Keith had said it out loud. "Look. I know you've got a crush on Shiro, and you may be, you know, shifting that crush on me, but I'm not bi. I like girls, so..."

Keith felt his entire body tense up, and he sat up looking at Lance, his vision slightly blurred, and would have yelled had he the actual strength to do so. "Wait, I don't have a crush on Shiro. That's gross"

"Yeah, then who do you have a crush on then?"

"Allura..." The red paladin's eyes closed as he attempted to stay awake, only to snap open upon realizing he'd said that out loud. "Um..." Keith found enough strength to move himself to the other side of the tree, sulking and attempting to hide his embarrassment.

"He, are you just saying that to hide your crush on Shiro or something?"

The red paladin opened his mouth to answer but drifted off again while Lance muttered in irritation. Eventually, he woke up, his mind groggy. Lance kept muttering. "How long was I out this time?"

"Quite a bit." The blue paladin made it clear he was irritated with Keith. "I'm not here for you to crush on."

"Seriously, I don't swing that way." The red paladin turned his head to look at Lance. "And aren't you the one whose..." Keith swallowed. "Just stay away from me."

"What?" Lance turned to look at Keith. "You think I have a crush on you?"

"You kissed me!" The red paladin spoke, straining his voice. His body broke out into a coughing fit. "Said that stuff as well!"

"I was trying to perform CPR!"

"You hold the person's nose! And you snuck up on me!" Keith continued to cough, but Lance paid him no mind.

"How was I supposed to know that! I snuck up on you because I thought I'd prank you or something, but then found out you weren't breathing!"

"I was..." Keith a cough. "Playing dead."

"Whatever for!"

"Galra..."

"Well, it's not my fault you mistook my actions because of your stupid crush on Shiro!"

Keith felt the heat rise in his chest as he coughed, finally catching his breath.

"I don't need you transferring this crush on me. I mean, this crush you have on Shiro..."

"Incest's gross." The red paladin felt his eye twitch, nausea hitting the pit of his stomach again, before leaning over and vomiting again. His stomach clenched in a painful manner.

"Yeah, I got the fact incest's gross."

"Then why do you think I've got a crush on Shiro."

"Because..." Lance stopped speaking, his voice tightening as Keith was hit by another fit of coughing. "Wait..." The blue paladin's eyebrow twitched. "Shiro's your brother?"

The red paladin continued coughing, his hands clenching his pant legs, the dizziness, and fever coming back. "Anuie..."

Keith flopped to the ground, his entire body going limp. Lance nudged him again. "Hey, come on. Don't..."

The blue paladin likely told him not to fall asleep again, but the red paladin honestly wasn't sure. He took a deep breath as he woke back up, his body yet again unable to lift himself up. "Nii-chan."

"Sorry Keith. Shiro's not here. You're stuck with me."

"No." A shudder ran down Keith's spine, again thinking of what Lance would do to him. "I don't... not that..."

"What are you talking about?"

"You said." Keith rolled over onto his back, wishing he could get away. "It's the opposite of my relationship with Shiro."

"Stupid head." The blue paladin moved over. "I said that when I thought. Look, I didn't know Shiro was your older brother! Really. I thought you had some kind of weird crush on him."

"How could you not know?"

"How could I possibly know?"

"Everybody knew."

"Keith, you and Shiro have different last names."

"Oh." The red paladin's eyes snapped shut. "That explains a lot."

"That really never crossed your mind?"

The red paladin drifted off again, only to wake up with cold water against his neck again, finding himself propped up. Keith reached up to, only to catch Lance holding out his fist in an odd manner. "Can you do this? Hold your hand like this? Do you have enough strength?"

"Um. I think so." The teen twisted his hand into a fist, then watched Lance bump his fist against his own. "What is that?"

Keith's hand fell to the ground.

"It's a friendship thing." Lance let his own fist drop. "We're friends."

"Yeah, but..."

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Sorry that your first kiss couldn't be Allura either."

The red paladin felt his cheeks heat up, realizing Lance hadn't managed to forget, confusion as to why the blue paladin was apologizing. He closed his eyes, waiting for someone else to rescue them. Lance nudged him awake. "Hey, hey."

"What."

"Guess who's here."

"I don't feel good."

"Isn't that word you used ano?"

"Um, that means, um..."

"Big brother. You told me, or did you forget your own language?"

"Lance?" A soft laugh came to Keith's ear, making the red paladin look up, his vision still blurry. "The word ano is like saying um in Japanese. You're looking for a different word. It's good to see the two of you getting along."

"Shiro..." Keith let out a sigh as a calloused hand roughly the top of his head. The older paladin pulled him up onto his shoulders so that he rode piggyback, his head resting against Shiro's shoulder.

"So, everything that happened. We'll forget it happened, right."

The red paladin let out a sigh, knowing full well Shiro heard what Keith said. "Oh, something happened?"

"Ano?" Lance piped up, using the word correctly. "Don't know what you're talking about. Nothing happened."

"We'll see about that." Shiro lowered his voice to a whisper. "By the way, Keith, I've been thinking. We've not had a heart-to-heart talk since I went on the Kerberos mission have we?"

Keith felt a shudder run down his spine, knowing full well Shiro would take advantage of the fact he was not feeling well.