Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Shi’o.”

The man in question winced at the rasped plea. His fingers carefully guided Keith’s sopping wet hair behind his ears, reaching for the Altean equivalent of a hair dryer. He flicked it on, grabbing the only tool in the universe that could help tame the boy’s hair.

“Shiro.”

“I know, I know. I’m so sorry, bud. I know this sucks.” 

Keith’s eyes, already bloodshot from the fever and the exhaustion, watered. He couldn’t do this.

The paladins had been invited to represent the cause they were pioneering to a new planet. The customs were similar to earth, except for the consequences one would suffer if they failed to show proper respect to the leaders of the clans. No excuses, except death, were acceptable to allow the absence of a member. None. 

So when Keith arrived from a four day blade of Marmora mission, bruised, sore, and exhausted, Shiro was tasked with getting him up to snuff for the ceremony scheduled three hours from then.

The black paladin’s heart twisted at the defeated sob that tumbled out of his little brother. He turned off the hair dryer, half way through the mop of hair, bending down to wrap him in a firm back hug, pressing a kiss onto Keith’s temple.

“-iro, please, I can’t.”

“Sweetheart. Otouto, I can’t imagine how awful this must feel. I’m so, so sorry we couldn’t think of any other way but I’ll be right by you the entire time, every second, I promise. Okay?” His heart dropped when a quiet sob answered him. Even though it hurt to do, he pressed another kiss onto him, and pulled back to continue fixing Keith’s hair.

With a heavy heart, he flicked the machine on again, letting cool air dry the ebony strands. Gentle hands pulled the comb through thick locs, leaving untangled, shiny, loose waves in its wake. 

Once the hair was dry and smooth, he moved to thread the hair together into a loose braid, letting a few pieces hang around Keith’s face so he wouldn’t feel too exposed. He had just tied off the last elastic when Keith’s torso lurched with a gag. 

“Shit. Okay, hold on.” 

Shiro suppressed a gag himself when the sound of retching echoed through his room. After putting a makeshift bin down, he started rubbing circles into Keith’s trembling form, patting with a little force to help get through the last few tortuous heaves.

He pinged Hunk’s comm to leave a message. ‘Bring over some water when you can, and if there’s anything to settle an upset stomach.’

After a moment’s hesitation he pinged Kolivan too, the older Galra wasn’t in the castle but he might be able to help. ‘Hello. The paladins are required to make an appearance at a ceremony in hours and Keith is feeling very unwell. If there is anything that would help Galra with sickness or to ease the discomfort, I would be eternally grateful to know. Thank you, Shirogane, Black Paladin.’

Messages sent, he got back to the task at hand. They had roughly an hour and a half to go till the ceremony began and.....Keith was crying. It was soft hitches of breath, the kind of high pitched whimpers Shiro had naively thought he’d heard the last of at the Garrison. 

He blinked back his own tears and moved the pair to sit on his bed, easing Keith back so that he was still upright but leaning on a pile of pillows. His hair was done at least, now for the rest. 

“Keith, love, can I take off your uniform?” 

They were expected to wear traditional formal clothing that had been sent ahead. Shiro had already pulled his own on. Thankfully, the style resembles Earth’s Middle Eastern wear; full length, light, flowy clothing, loose around the limbs, the dips and folds of soft cotton flowing around the wearer. 

He tugged the rubbery suit off Keith’s lithe, limp, fever hot body, tossing it into his makeshift hamper by the door. He wrung out a towel into the basin of lukewarm water he had prepared, using it to give Keith a birdbath, wiping away the mission's grime and sweat. 

He moved methodically over the trembling body, crooning whenever a particularly broken cry sounded. He wiped the cool, soft towel around his neck, down in long strokes to his arms, the chest. His touch lightning when it came to a darkening bruise or shallow cut. 

Though he was done in minutes, Keith was still shivering in the end, his teeth chattering loudly in the quiet hum of the room. The older boy moved quickly, grabbing the laid out clothes from his chair and guiding his brother through the right place, straightening the garment out once Keith was bundled in it. 

Alright, hair done, showering done, clothes on. All that was left was shoes and final touches to his face. And meds, Shiro corrected, watching as the smaller boy’s chest spasmed with wet coughs. 

Seeing as he had a moment to spare, he moved to the most important task. 

He pulled Keith into his arms, willing the warmth from his body to help soothe him in some way. His hand petted carefully over the braid, cupping the searing hot skin at his neck once in a while. 

“The second we can get out of there we will. We’ll be back here, and you can sleep in my room for as long as you want.” The towel he had tossed over his shoulder was getting damp from its place under Keith’s eyes. He pulled them closer together, wishing he could keep this up for however long Keith needed. “Keith, honey, I’m so sorry. ”

Keeping Keith pinned to his chest with one arm, he tugged his blanket around them, rocking gently to provide any sort of comfort he could. 

A quick glance at the clock showed that they had roughly forty minutes to make an appearance. 

“Hey, shh, no it’s okay. Go ahead and nap, I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

Keith, either too out of it to understand or resigned to what needed to be done, let his eye’s fall shut. Breathing in the warm, distinctly Shiro scent that was surrounding him, letting his awareness drip into nothingness.

Shiro used his prosthetic to open the door when there was a knock on it twenty five minutes later.

“Hey, Shiro. How is he?” Hunk whispered. He looked like royalty in his ensemble, but the worry clouding his face was a testament to what they were about to do. 

“I don’t know Hunk, not great.” Shiro sighed, looking over to scan Keith. By now he was settled sideways in Shiro’s lap, head pillowed on his shoulder, curled into himself to keep warm under the blanket. “If there was any way out of this, I would have taken it.”

“I know. I wish there was.” The yellow paladin whispered, feeling all sorts of guilty. He held out the water pouch and a small tablet. “Here, it’s similar to an anti-nausea med on earth. We found it a few phoebes ago. I know it sucks, but we have to get going, it’s time to wake him.”

“You’re right.” Shiro sighed, tightening his arms around the bundle in his arms. “Keith? Keith, honey, it’s time to go. Kiddo? Come on, up you get.”

“He doesn’t have to walk if he can’t.” Hunk interrupted, his eyes a little brighter at the small bit of help he had to offer, “Allura and Pidge engineered a wheelchair together while you were getting ready. It shrinks down to a tiny box, so whenever he needs it, it'll be ready to go.”

“That’s great, Hunk. Really.” Shiro grinned tiredly. He turned back to the boy in his arms, bouncing him gently to help rouse him, “Hear that Keith? Anytime you need to sit, all you have to do is let any of us know. How does that sound?”

Shiro had sort of hoped Keith would reject the idea. That he would have gathered enough energy to be snarky and all too independent. 

Bleary purple eyes shimmered, fever bright, when they fluttered open. 

“Hey, looking snazzy.” Hunk offered, grinning. He held out the pouch to his teammate, he had already crushed the pellet into the liquid earlier, angling the straw into his mouth to help Keith sip at it. “It sucks that you're feeling bad, buddy, but Hunk will be on the watch to help out whenever you want. Did you hear what Shiro said about the chair? What do you think?”

“Chair?” Keith croaked quietly.

“Pidge and Allura built a wheelchair for you. If you need it.” Shiro reiterated. He angled them off the bed, “It’s time to move, can you stand with me?”

Shiro froze when Keith shook his head, body folding into itself, muscles refusing to pull together any longer. “I ne- I need to sit. Please.”

Hunks face fell, but he salvaged what he could, “Of course, absolutely. I’ll go tell them to bring it in here. I’ll be right back, try to drink the rest of this.”

“Come on, bunny, few more sips.” Shiro coaxed, angling his head to see where Keith had burrowed into his shoulder. His body was concerning limp, chest the only region rising with the effort to keep pulling in air.

“N-no more.” Keith breathed after a few more gulps, angling his head away. He felt a little better being in clean clothes, in warm arms, but the pain and now sickness he had was ravaging his nerves. “Shi’o? Ho-How long do we- have to stay?”

“I’m not sure, bud. We were estimating around four to five hours.” 

Keith’s eyes scrunched shut, trying to keep frustrated tears at bay. He let out a shaky breath through trembling lips, cursing at himself when a whimper fell out. This wasn’t like him. He was the red paladin, he was an agent of Marmora, he couldn’t be so weak. 

So much of him was grateful for Shiro when he was pulled impossibly closer to him, Shiro’s nose pressing into his temple to keep him tucked under his chin. 

The door swooshed open. Shiro blinked in surprise to see that it wasn’t Hunk who had brought the chair, but Kolivan. The seat looked comically small in the hands of the seven foot Galra. 

“Kolivan?”

Keith stirred in his arms. The full Galra kneeled by the bedside, analyzing the boy. 

Shiro was surprised when he reached out to stroke a loose tuft of hair on Keith’s head. The action tender. 

“Agent. Status report.” 

Keith twitched, muscle memory yearning to obey the command. He blinked at the looming purple mass, trying to get his eyes to focus, but the second the yellow irises and gray braid clarified a wobbly keen grew from his chest. 

Kolivan’s stance softened, “Kit. Come here for a moment, little one.”

Shiro let him tumble out of his arms when Keith reached out for the older Galra. Kolivan scooped him up with ease, rising with the fever hot bundle nestled in his arms. He started a walk around the room, a deep rumble sounding from his chest.

“Black paladin.”

Shiro blinked himself back to the present, tearing his eyes away from the hand-paw-Kovlian was using to rub circles into the sides of Keith’s neck. “Yes?”

“Get the chair. I will deposit the kit into it once you are ready for the audience. We must leave at once.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And bring the covering.” Kolivan added, nodding his head at Shiro's blanket.

They walked in semi silence to the hanger. Kolivan kept up his rumbling the entire way, coaxing small chirps and one, rare purr from Keith.

“Hey guys. How’s mullet doing?” Lance whispered, concerned eyes on his limp rival.

“Could be better.” Shiro answered honestly. He held the chair steady while Kolivan knelt in front of it. 

The Galran leader crooned, gently uncurling Keith’s fingers from his fur, before settling him into the chair. 

A nervous, upset silence fell over the group. Keith’s head was bowed, torso slumped into the cushioned seat. 

“Keith?” Pidge called her voice for once, young and nervous.

“Yeah.” He managed, straightening somewhat, he looked at the hangar door, resigned but determined to do it as well as he could. “Let’s go.” 

Chapter Text

“We shall now all stand for the ceremo- oof .” The leader of the aliens glared at his wife, pointedly rubbing where her sharp appendage had speared him. “Ehm, ehm, of course, those who would prefer to remain seated are obviously not going to be forced to stand, Pamella .”

Pidge snorted where she was standing by Keith’s chair, fingers absently twirling a strand of his hair. The ex-red paladin managed a small uptick of his lips in the direction of the general’s wife. 

The ‘Gathering of Allies’ had been going on for roughly 2 hours and 39 minutes at this point. The paladins had all seemed to have been bit by the same spider; all of them wanting to circle around Keith, keep him as comfortable as possible. 

They weren’t the only ones who had caught the bug though.

The general’s wife had flown into a worried flurry at the sight of him. Apparently, before being appointed as the general's second in command and his life-partner, she had spent half a lifetime (around 600 years) as a babysitter. As such, she had sat her fair share of Galran kits. And this one was absolutely not up to her standards of care.

The kit in question had no energy left to evaluate her for threats. His head was propped up with his hand, eye’s closed tightly to keep the searing light out. 

Kolivan and Shiro were wary of her initially but once the Galran leader heard her mention ‘Blanket, Dimmer, Protectors’ he warmed up to her, letting her come closer to his charge.

Keith, who by now had swallowed the prickly unease at being a child by Galran standards, managed a small smile when she knelt by him to tuck another blanket around him. 

The blanket was something Pidge would a thousand percent be stealing later to study. According to the queen, it had been lightly perfumed with scents that were soothing to Galran kits. And it worked too. A few pinched lines had eased off of Keith’s face after being bundled into it. 

“Thank you but - Isn’t this bad for our image?” Keith croaked, sweat beading from the effort to speak.

“Absolutely not.” The queen snipped, tucking his hands into the blanket, “It announces the importance of self maintenance. If anything it would look horrid on our part if we did not possess the capability to adapt and provide to other’s needs.”

The queen had eased the paladins' worry about their teammate, had encouraged the others to mingle and spread news of the voltron alliance after swiping their wrists onto Keith’s blankets. Apparently, that would keep him soothed and spare him the exhaustion of having to keep an eye on them the entire time. 

Kolivan was distantly impressed by someone so knowledgeable about the care of kits when millenia had passed since they had been in abundance. 

“Would you like some refreshments, dear one? I can have some that are infused with Aylariani berries and essence made for you.” She asked softly, kneeling by his seat, keeping a hand on his blanket covered arm. Keith blinked at her before nudging his head back against Kolivan’s hand, letting him take care of conversing.

“That is most kind. The kit hasn’t tried Aylarian extract as far as I am aware. He has spent his formative years on the planet Earth. I’m sure he would appreciate the gesture.” Kolivan replied.

She trilled at Keith before she left, giggling at the surprise on his face when it drew a chirp from him.

The leader's ears twitched in amusement. He sat down to be closer to the kit, pulling his chair right beside himself, “I would like to monitor her making the refreshments along with the yellow paladin. Do you require any assistance currently?”

Keith shook his head, careful not to dislodge the hand Kolivan had weaved through his locks before it inevitably slipped away. His hands knitted into the blanket as he watched them walk away, willing his body to soak up the warmth in an attempt to stop shivering.

“Greetings Red Paladin. Would you have a moment to discuss the potential alliance with our novel pla-”

‘Fuck.’