Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 -Pidge's POV-

 When she first came to after being released from the healing pod, she was parched.

Of course speeding up the body's natural healing abilities to about twenty times the normal input would make one rather thirsty anyway; but having visited the healing pods three no, four times now, Pidge could tell something was up.

Reuniting with the team came first though, and after some meaningful hugs and reassurances that no guys I'm not dead yet it wasn't a superficial wound Keith can testify to it, everything was ok, she was ushered into the dining hall eagerly just as she felt like her mouth was gonna detach to get some food by itself.

She drank every beverage handed to her, even then nunvil wasn't safe from her ravenous thirst as she felt like she shriveling up inside. No one said anything aloud, but their stares were enough to say what they were all thinking. Pidge understood, after all, it was a little uncharacteristic of her to just guzzle down the liquids handed to her, but she really could care less when her body felt like it was dying.

“You sure you’re okay? That’s a lot of water there, kiddo.” Shiro said concerned as Pidge inwardly groaned. Not like I don’t catch you putting twenty layers of makeup over your eyelashes every day, but hey at least I never say that to your face. She pouted, refusing to comment in favor of filling her mouth with more nunvil.

 “Hey man, fluids are good for the body. As long as the castle has plenty of water to spare I'm not complaining,” Lance admitted, saving Pidge in one fell swoop as she sent a silent thank you his way while Shiro was distracted.

“Alright, just don’t overdo it.” He sighed, turning to walk away as he rubbed his tired face and headed back to bed. It was still a little past one in the morning since Pidge awoke, and needless to say, the whole team was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation.

“Don't drink so much you pee yourself Pidge,” Hunk called as he left, having one last yawn as he went and waving goodnight while Pidge began chowing down on food.

Keith followed not long after, as did Lance, the two no doubt up to some secret romance ritual they tried so hard to hide from the team when they thought they weren't looking. Then Coran followed, muttering something to himself about checking on the Princess, who still hadn’t woken up from the pods after receiving her concussion.

Pidge just shrugged and shook her head, returning to eating the rest of the alien goop on her plate before it got cold. Sometimes the seven of them did some strange things, but at the end of the day they were still a family, and families cared for one another. Pidge reminded herself of this as she finished up what was left on her plate.

It wasn't even an hour later and Pidge was beginning to think something might be wrong with her.

After chowing down on food, her body wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and rest, but noooooo, for some reason the lack of light was making her even more restless. Nauseous even when she laid on her stomach.

It couldn't have been because of the healing pods right?

Groaning, she got up to turn the lights back on as she grumbled and scratched at the tingling sensation fixed around her gunshot wound. It was bothering her rather badly, and the more she scratched at it, the more she wanted to yank off her med suit and scratch.

“Wait a minute…” Pidge blinked as she realized she didn’t have to wear the suit anymore, and immediately began pulling it off in the bathroom.

She instantly felt better as she let out a content sigh and allowed the cool breeze from the vents and the warm light from the fixtures to energize her. A brief look in the bathroom mirror showed something akin to a stubby bark like texture plastered over the wound on her shoulder blade and she let out gasp as she ran a hand over it.

“Okay, that’s not normal.” She spoke to herself as she grabbed a night shirt from the bin next to her and started to pull it back over her head. Started to, but that’s when the nauseous sensation flared up again.

“Ugh, maybe I'll nap first and then deal with this.” She huffed as she had one arm in the outfit and the other one out. The part that wasn't dressed felt much better than the part that was, so she decided screw it and tossed the shirt aside as she climbed back into bed with the lights on.

She didn't bother with pulling the covers over herself this time. The moment she flopped down she was out like a light.

Of course, Lance was the one to stumble upon her sleeping.

“Pidge! Wake up! You've gotta see this!” Lance shook her shoulder until Pidge awoke and grumbled annoyed at the boy.

“What in the quiznak are you doing in my room, Lance?” She rubbed a tired eye as she squinted in the bright light.

“Can you shut the lights off? I'm kinda topless.” She grumbled as she fished around for her glasses as Lance made an awkward choking noise as he suddenly realized that Pidge was indeed without a shirt.

“Ah! Sorry! I'm so sorry! I just came in here because there was this really nice smell coming from your room, and I had to investigate but then I didn't know if you were in here or not and I didn't want to bother you but-“

“Get to the point.” Pidge interrupted as she slid on her glasses and scowled at Lance.

“Right, right. The point.” Lance said embarrassed as he quickly tossed a black tank top to Pidge and looked away while she turned to throw the shirt on. “Uh so, anyway you're kind of growing flowers on your head?” Lance pointed just as Pidge’s head got snagged on the collar and she huffed.

“Flowers?” Pidge said surprised as she tugged the collar over her face.

“And uh, now that I can see your face clearly, are those… cheek marks?” Lance poked her head as Pidge swatted his hand away.

“Gee, I don't know, let me pull a mirror out from under my bed here and check.” Pidge deadpanned as Lance suddenly realized he was in her way.

“Oh, Right! Sorry! I'll just move.” He rubbed his neck embarrassed as Pidge just rolled her eyes.

She walked over to her bathroom and flipped the lights on. A crest of green flowers was sticking up in between her messy hair, blooming primarily from the side of her head that had been pointed up in her sleep, as Pidge reached out to touch one and it fizzled away in a green light. She leaned closer to the mirror to see what else had changed. Sure enough, two jade cheek marks akin to Allura and Coran’s own ran just below her glasses and felt strangely tingly as she rubbed her face and stared in fascination. “Woah.” She said, not caring at the moment that Lance had squeezed into the doorway and had made a cute little gasping noise.

“You look like a mini Allura!” Lance cooed as Pidge turned red and shoved him. “I do not!” She huffed and crossed her arms as Lance snickered.

“You even have the pout down!” He crowed, as Pidge had enough and sent him out of her room.

“Out!” She called, as she barely managed to push the chuckling teen out the door and shut it behind him. She then randomized the passcode and locked it, deciding she didn’t want anyone to barge into her room until she had herself together.

Once that was done, she let out a sigh of relief reached to touch another flower stem only to have it dissipate once more in a green light. “This calls for some experimenting.” She grinned, as she pulled over her laptop and began to type away.

Chapter Text

Lance's POV

He'd been fine until that wonderful aroma hit his nose and he had to stop and enter Pidge's room.

How did she not smell it?

The humid saltwater air, the okra being cooked inside la casa as it wafted through the breeze down to the beach where Lance used to play as a kid. It was homey, and why it had been coming from Pidge's room he had to know.

Of course, the little gremlin was still sleeping; but as he turned on the lights to find the source of the smell he had to do a double take when he spotted green looking flowers sprouting from the girl’s head.

“Pidge wake up! You've got to see this!” He yelled as he shook her awake. After some embarrassment and handing her a shirt she so wasn't exposed, he'd noticed the jade colored cheek marks and remarked about them. Pidge went to the bathroom to check and yeah, Lance could totally see the resemblance between her and Allura now that she had them.

Of course remarking about them probably wasn't the best idea, seeing as he'd been kicked from her room with only more questions than answers to ask.

Whatever. She'll have to tell us sometime. He thought as he walked down to hall to find Keith.

He and mullet man had gotten even closer the past few weeks since the confession, and as such decided it was only natural to sleep together in each other’s rooms.

Lance smiled dreamily as he thought about how comforting it was to have another warm body next to him. He’d spent so many days out in space that he hadn’t realized how touch starved he’d been until now.

His family often shared rooms to save space, so Lance was used to having more than one body at a time on top of him.

Having Keith sleep with him was different than just sharing a bed with a family member though. He often would stir in his sleep, grabbing the closest object to him, which often was Lance’s arm, and cuddling up next to it. It was cute, and Lance didn’t really mind that much.

Of course, their relationship was still rather fresh, and as such, they’d mostly been working on trying to communicate how they felt to one another instead of doing anything rash; like Lance assumed the team probably suspected of them.

“Let them have their fun.” Keith had told him yesterday when Lance had been complaining about ‘not getting to have any bonding time’. “They’ll get tired of it soon enough so what’s the harm in seeing them smile at something nice for a bit?” He’d said.

Lance had laughed, pulling Keith into a hug as he smiled and relished in the fact that his hair was so soft. “I thought I was the sentimental one.” He chuckled, as they both pulled away and shared a quick kiss.

“You are.” Keith booped him on the nose, “But I’m the romantic one.” He cracked an even bigger smile as Lance returned it with a laugh.

Now that Lance was thinking about it, he could feel his cheeks flush at the idea of snuggling next to Keith again tonight even though that was still hours away. The smell from Pidge also kinda reminded him of Keith now that he thought about it.

That pine fresh scent with a hint of mint and paprika that always seemed to emanate from him. Of course, sometimes Lance swore he smelt like smoke, but that didn’t make any sense since they weren’t near any open flames in space. Well, maybe the oven… Lance thought, but I’m not even sure what kind of heat source that thing runs off of anyways… Probably not an actual fire.

As his mind drifted away from him, Lance found himself standing right outside the training area, the door sliding open in front of him to reveal Keith and Shiro sparring.

Lance took a moment to lean against the door and smirk, noting the tight form of Keith’s muscles against the suit as he parried against Shiro. It made him look even sexier.

Deciding not to bother the two sparring, Lance carefully trekked his way up to the observation deck and watched as the two finished their first round and then helped each other stand back up before going against each other again.

It was a mesmerizing thing to watch when he wasn't the one having to have their back in battle. Their movements were so quick and precise, nothing too dangerous since this was just sparring, but from an outsider’s perspective, it appeared as if they were dancing. The two traded close calls a couple of times but always managed to stop before things got too far.

The idea of even a stray hit nicking either one of them made Lance uncomfortable. He loved his team, and every time they went into a pod it made his stomach plummet from the fear that they might not come out.

Thankfully they always did, but it would always just be a matter of time…

Lance shook his head, banishing the dark thought away as he felt his stomach churn in disgust. How dare he even think anyone could touch his team! They were way too awesome to even be hit, even without their lions.

Speaking of which, Lance's mind turned back to his incredibly itchy throat and sighed as he opened a juice pouch and drank it. He didn't mind having gills now actually, but sometimes it was a hassle to keep them properly hydrated so he could breathe easier.

Blue might've saved him from drowning, but everything has a cost. Lance’s was that he needed a lot more water to sustain his second pair of lungs.

Things will change for the better soon my paladin. Blue kept repeating in his head. It's better to sooth an itch with medicine than it is to scratch or ignore it. She chastised as Lance just grumbled and downed the rest of the juice.

He knew Blue was right. Sometimes though he wondered what would happen if he just ignored his internal gills in favor of his actual lungs. He shook his head as he stood up to stretch his stiff back. It wouldn't work even if he could do it. He was much too thirsty to bother trying to cut off any vital organs he possessed, and bodily harm always made him sick to think about.

Tossing the juice pack in the trash bin, Lance looked out the window to see Keith and Shiro cleaning down their armor from their scuffle and storing it back on the shelf. He grinned as he walked over to congratulate Keith.

“Nice moves cowboy.” Lance completed as he gave Keith a smile.

“For the last time, I'm not Texan- “, Keith froze in mid retort as he stared at Lance wide eyed.

Lance frowned confused, “What? Do I have something in my hair?!” He panicked as Keith reached out to cup his face, calming his thoughts down as he looked at the other’s eyes concerned.

“Your ears…” He frowned as he bent Lance head down to the side and gently felt, “Were they always so pointy?” He said confused.

“I’m pretty sure yours are pointier.” Lance retorted back, chuckling as he remembered saying the same words to him earlier in the week.

“They’re not pointy! Just… Rigid.” He’d pouted, and later admitted it was probably due to his Galran genes that his ears had a slight tip to them.

Lance by no means was a pointy guy. Sure he was bony, a little gangly looking too, but never pointy. This thought only served to make him frown deeper as a weird sensation crept over the place Keith was touching and he yanked back.

“Sorry!” He called embarrassed as he saw how offended Keith looked in surprise. “They’re just a little tender right now.” He laughed, was it suddenly getting hotter in here?

Keith frowned, but it quickly turned to concern as he put his hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. “You wanna go to your room and clean up?” He offered, knowing Lance kept all his skin care products in his room.

Lance chewed his lip as he nodded, the tingly sensation traveling down his neck and making his gills flare up in pain. “Yeah. Let’s go.” He said quickly, praying Keith understood his urgency, as he and Keith left the training deck only to have Lance struggle to stand upright a few feet down the hall.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” Keith asked concerned as Lance began to breathe heavily.

“My throat feels funny…” He slurred, as the floor spun and he fell down. His neck was killing him and the tingly sensation only spread further down, numbing everything.

Keith was next to him in an instant, asking him what he could do to help, but Lance wasn’t able to respond as he felt like his throat was closing up.

Lance tried to respond despite the pain but he grew tired, and even though Keith was trying to get his attention he closed his eyes and let exhaustion take him.

Chapter Text

Keith's POV

Keith was freaking out.

Lance was currently passed out in his arms unconscious and he didn’t know what to do. Should I run and get Shiro, or should I go down to med bay first and then call everyone? His indecision was eating away precious seconds, as Lance’s labored breathing sped up.

“Quiznak!” Keith swore as he shifted Lance in a better position and decided to half drag him down to the med bay, which wasn’t too far since injuries frequently happened during training…

His hands were hot and sweaty as he managed to lift Lance up on a cot and radio in for help.

Coran was down in an instant, remarking upon Lance's condition and asking for details of his symptoms before he passed out. Keith tried his best to explain what he knew, but even then he wasn’t sure any of it would help.

“Let me just run a preliminary scan to check for surface problems before we do anything dangerous.” Coran frowned as he pushed a few buttons on the cot and it glowed bright blue for a few seconds before fading away.

Lance continued to groan even in his sleep, his form convulsing a bit with each painful gasp as Keith’s heart reached for him.

“Oh dear...” Coran frowned as Keith’s heart leaped in his throat.

“What? What’s happening to him?!” He panicked as Lance began to breathe even faster, his huffs sounding less like breathing and more like well, him dying.

Stop it. Keith scolded as a small cough emitted from Lance’s throat.

Coran turned the scan screen over towards Keith as he quickly ran over to Lance and placed a cool rag on his neck, “His gills are bleeding internally.” He shook his head worried, “Not ruptured I think, but something is causing a lot of blood to pool around his skin and it looks close to-“

Gurgle…

Lance’s neck gushed bright red as he let out a silent yell and arched his back in pain. Blood began seeping through everything, the cuts on his neck, the blood in his mouth, all the way up to his nose beginning to bleed.

Coran immediately ran over to restrain him, as he shouted for Keith to drag over his floating medical kit ASAP.

He pulled out a rag from the bin and carefully applied it to a rather bad spot and cleaned away the blood. Keith leaned over to see what he was doing but didn’t see much thanks to Coran’s hands hovering over the wounds.

“We heard the call and came running,” Shiro said as he and Allura rushed over to help, and Keith thanked them.

“I heard yelling, is everything okay?!” That was Hunk, who came storming down the hall only to turn and see the commotion.

“Lance?” Hunk said quietly as if afraid his voice would break him.

Lance was better now, his heart rate was slowing down and the blood only trickling down his neck at this point.

“The worst is over for now,” Coran said as he dabbed a bit of sweat of his brow. “It appears that his gills have made some kind of opening in his neck, but why I’m not sure.” He gently pried a finger over one of the openings, causing Lance to shudder before he quickly let go. “I’m not in good conscience going to put him in a recovery pod until I know for certain he isn’t going to go into cardiac arrest or shock from this.” He turned, looking towards the concerned faces of everyone. “Princess? Would you mind helping me start up the water chamber?” He called as the Princess followed him over to a panel on the wall as a giant water tube came out.

“We have a water chamber?” Pidge suddenly appeared next to Keith, her hair looking slightly tussled as she startled Keith.

Coran went into explaining mode as Keith turned towards Lance concerned and watched as he twitched unconsciously now and then.

A hand found its way on his shoulder and he turned to see Shiro looking at him reassuring. “It’s going to be okay.” He said assuring, as Keith let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding…

Lance was quickly lowered into the tube as it began to emit a soft blue glow and his breathing became even.

“We’ve put chemicals in the water to relax his body.” Coran said after they’d finished moving him, “It won’t heal him, but it should stabilize whatever’s going on long enough for us to do a more thorough scan. Could take a couple of vargas before we get anything.” He reminded.

Keith stared sadly up at Lance as he watched him occasionally twitch and jerk about, each movement hurting him more to look at.

“Come on, let’s go get a shower.” Shiro offered as Keith finally tore his eyes away from the pained expression on Lance’s face and sighed.

“Yeah, okay.” He said as the doors closed behind them.

Keith scrubbed hard through his scalp to focus his thoughts elsewhere. He was angry. Angry at Lance? No. Angry at himself for not noticing his pain earlier? Yes.

But mostly he was just angry this even happened. He was boiling inside at everything eating him up, and he felt like he needed to scream.

Scream he did, and was swiftly rewarded with a mouthful of water. He gagged, spitting the concoction of alien soap and recycled water out of his mouth.

It soured his insides as they churned around lunch and he clutched a hand around his abdomen. “Stupid alien cuisine.” He cursed, as he swiftly dunked his head back under the water and washed the soap out of it. He turned the faucet off as he went, rubbing his hair through a towel as he exhaled.

Steam trailed out his breath and around him as he finally felt himself relax. Shiro was right, he did need that shower.

Throwing his clothes back on, he grunted as he felt his pants constrict around his ass. “Of course.” He sighed, “Why couldn’t I lose weight in space instead of gain it.” He grumbled as he ignored the tight fit and wrapped a belt through the loops since he couldn’t button it. “I’ll get Coran to see about it later.” He told himself, as he rushed out the bathroom to catch up with the others.

Chapter Text

Hunk caught himself trying to eat the silverware again.

It was the third time he’d nearly swallowed a fork when he wasn’t paying attention, and it wasn’t helping his anxiety at all.

So he may have had, still has, a problem with stress eating; but Hunk would like to see someone else handle the craziness without doing something to help cope with the anxiety. Hell, even Hunk knew Shiro had his fair share of stress to deal with. (Sometimes he wondered if Shiro ever got headaches too…)

Still, that should in no way make his body betray him like this!

Sighing, Hunk put down the fork he’d been holding a little too close to his mouth, back in the cubby for their utensils and pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d been getting a lot of migraines lately, and it didn’t help that Lance wasn’t there to lift the mood.

Hunk grimaced, placing his hand on top the counter as he rubbed his forehead in deep thought. Lance was basically in a medically induced coma until they could figure out what was wrong with him, and Hunk was beginning to worry. Yellow had been trying to tell him something yesterday about a metallic sphere-like object, but he’d been too busy worrying about everything to properly process things.

That had been hours ago and Hunk still had no idea what that was even supposed to mean; let alone know what to do with the information. Asking for clarification from his lion only resulted in more confusing imagery and sounds and other foreign concepts that left his head reeling; so he’d eventually stopped trying to ask after sensing Yellow’s irritation at not being able to explain. Pidge had always been the better decipherer of their group, maybe he’d ask her later for help.

Still no word from Coran after he’d left to rest for the evening. Yesterday had been a mess, with Lance and all bleeding out in the medbay; they still weren’t sure why in the world he’d suddenly developed gills slits on his neck when he had perfectly functioning ones on the inside.

“The lions would never allow harm to come to their Paladins if they could help it.” Allura had explained earlier as the scans reported Lance as ‘stable’ but ‘impaired, whatever the heck that meant.

“He’d said something about Blue talking to him a lot yesterday.” Keith had helpfully pitched in as he returned from his shower looking rather haggard. (Hehe, Haggard. Hunk chuckled at the pun in his head as he briefly imagined Keith walking into the room looking like a grizzled old witch.) “I don’t know specifics, but she said something about making sure Lance stayed hydrated.” Keith’s puzzled expression said it all, as Coran hummed in thought and began turning a few dials on the pod.

Afterwards it was unanimously decided that Lance would stay in the water pod until tomorrow morning when he could be properly stabilized. Since Blue had remained silent since Lance’s unfortunate accident, the team figured that an overnight stay in the hydropod would help to replenish whatever Lance needed now that he sported a pair of external gills.

Hunk frowned as he found his hand once again in the utensil drawer while he was distracted.

He growled, pulling the offending limb away from the metal, only to find it stubbornly clinging to the metal handle next to it as if in retaliation.

“Okay… Apparently, I’m going crazy.” Hunk laughed nervously, as he took his other hand and slowly pried it off; the hand going limp and resuming normal functions like he hadn’t just experienced alien hand syndrome.

“I need to get out of here.” Hunk reasoned as he began to walk away. Clearly being in the kitchen was worsening his anxiety to the point of desperate binge eating, and well… Hunk had never had an easy time saying no.

He passes Pidge on his way out, the girl carrying her laptop as she walked, and that’s when Hunk noticed something unusual.

“Hey, Pidge? What’s that on your face?” Hunk asked curiously as the girl stopped to turn and look over at Hunk.

“What is what on my face?” Pidge asked confused as she ran a hand over her mouth and cheeks. “I need specifics.” She explained as Hunk couldn’t be happier to have a distraction.

“There’s these green lines under your eyes, and are they kinda glowy looking? I can’t tell with the lighting to be honest.” Hunk frowned as Pidge looked like she realized something.

“O-oh. I forgot.” She blushed embarrassed, “I think it’s got something to do with my connection to my lion and Voltron.” She explained as she started walking again down the hall and motioned for Hunk to follow.
“You know how I can never get drunk because my biology literally digests poison?” She said casually like she was simply rattling off the weather forecast. Had it been any other circumstance Hunk would’ve called the Suicide Hotline already, but knowing what he knew and how they’d already checked and double checked, then quintuple checked again, he nodded, following her line of reasoning.

“Yeah, yeah. Like how my body is like a brick wall since Yellow’s element is Earth.” Hunk replied as Pidge nodded in response.

“Well, apparently that’s not all my connection does.” She said excitedly, touching the vibrant jade green markings on her face before a thought struck her as her face lowered and she sighed, “Lance was there too when it happened.” She winced, trying not to think about where Lance was at the moment, shaking her head. “Anyways, he discovered the marks on my face and said I looked like a ‘mini-Allura’ so naturally, I kicked him out of my room before I started actually processing things,” Pidge said as Hunk snorted.

“Yeah sounds like something he’d say.” He laughed as they made it to Pidge’s workstation now and the conversation settled into casual musings over what possible implications the team’s connections with their lions might have in the long run. Pidge set down her laptop on the bench and beamed up at Hunk excited.

“So when I also woke up I discovered I could do something else really cool!” Pidge grinned as her face scrunched up in concentration and Hunk looked ready to ask her if she was okay. “Check this out!” She smiled as her markings began to glow.

It was faint at first, just a small dusting of green lighting appearing near the center of her head, then the world exploded into color and Hunk found himself nearly buried in a pile of ferns now sticking out from Pidge’s hair.

“What? Huh? I don’t- “, Hunk started as Pidge just sat there and laughed as the ferns disappeared in a flicker of light and Hunk found himself looking up at a smug Green Paladin since he’d fallen to the ground in shock.

“So apparently I can summons these energy plants from my hair, and while that’s cool and I’m totally going to figure out how to weaponize it, I came down here to run some more tests.” She began rambling as Hunk was still reeling from what he’d experienced.

“But, how is this even possible?” He asks as Pidge just shrugs.

“If I knew, you’d be the first I’d tell.” She said nonchalantly. Then paused in thought to look up at Hunk, “Do you think Lance- Hey, what are you doing?!?” Pidge asked confused as Hunk followed her line of sight trailing down to meet his hand.

His hand, that was clutched around what used to be part of a wrench, that was now in his mouth. Hunk tasted metal.

Pidge looked at him shocked, her eyes huge as she looked from his hand to the wrench to his mouth that was still grinding and chewing apart metal. Hunk continued to chew, before swallowing, his face mimicking her horror as he realized what he’d just done.

“Holy… Crow.” Hunk whispered as his stomach churned and he began to tremble.

“Hunk?” Pidge asked, but her voice sounded far away. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. Just look at me. Focus on my face.” She said as Hunk felt himself coming back online. Pidge was studying him, concern showing in her furrowed brows, as he realized he’d dropped the half-eaten wrench at some point during his breakdown.

“Oh my crow, I just ate solid metal like it was nothing! What is wrong with me? Humans can’t even digest metals, ohooo snap, I’m going to die, aren’t I? I’m going to die, I’m going to die and Lance won’t even be there to say goodbye!” Hunk wailed as a Pidge sympathetically held him in place.

“Hunk, pick up the wrench.” Pidge all but whispered to him.

“W-What?” He said confused in between tears.

“Pick up the wrench Hunk; just trust me.” Pidge echoed as yeah, Hunk could do that. He trusted Pidge knew what she was doing…

So Hunk picked up the wrench.

“Good.” She nodded as Hunk still trembled a bit.
“You see how the metal is bent here?” She pointed to the bite mark where the metal had been warped.

“Yeah?” Hunk said confused.

“Do you think an average human could do this, let alone grind up parts of metal in their mouth?” She asked as Hunk realized what she was getting at.

“No…” Hunk said dumbly as Pidge carefully grabbed the half-eaten wrench and set it back down on the workbench.

“Hunk, open your mouth.”

“What?! Why do you-“

“I need to see for myself if your teeth have changed,” Pidge responded as Hunk reluctantly obeyed and Pidge shined a small compact flashlight on his face. She hummed and squinted her eyes as she gently poked and prodded Hunk’s mouth open until she was certain.

“You’ve gained three new sets of molars in the back, and a few front teeth have also changed into canines,” Pidge explained, as she turned off the flashlight and pinched the bridge of her nose in preparation for the oncoming migraine she was about to experience that was her life.

Hunk sighed as he sat down and put his hands on his forehead. “Still doesn’t help explain my sudden cravings…” He frowned as Pidge hummed in thought and began typing away on her keyboard.

“I have a theory.” She started as Hunk looked up to her laptop, “Nothing conclusive, but I suspect the bond between paladin and lions runs deeper than we thought.” She frowned as she typed away, discarding and adding new theories to her workspace at a rapid pace.

“Meaning?” Hunk asked as Pidge turned to face him.

“Meaning weird stuff like this. I’m not sure what these… Changes mean, but I think it’s leading up to something big.” She responded frowning.

“Oh, please don’t say stuff like that. I’m already freaking out as it is.” Hunk groaned as Pidge placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. The Lions would never do anything to harm us.” She said simply, echoing what Allura had said earlier on.

“I need something to do…” Hunk fidgeted nervously as he stood up. “I’ll be in Yellow’s hangar if anyone asks!” Hunk waved as Pidge mimicked him and went back to her work. Absently she rubbed at the green Altean looking markings on her face and frowned. Just how deep would these changes get??

Chapter Text

Something was wrong, again, Shiro noted as he woke up. Everything in his room looked like it had been dipped in acid colored rainbows and it hurt to try and focus on something for too long. (How many times could the Galra screw him over before he could catch a break?)

Then there was a pounding headache between his eyes, strange noises echoing through his thoughts that he couldn’t seem to block out as the throbbing increased.

Shut up. He groaned, the noise level spiking up for a second before it died down once more. “Ugh, what is going on with me?” He moaned as he pressed his fingers to his forehead and began massaging it. It helped ease the pain down enough for him to actually stand up straight. Right, first things first; he needed to find Coran.

Steadying himself on the wall, Shiro fumbled out of bed on unsteady feet as his vision swam and he felt uncomfortably warm. I have to be getting a fever, Shiro deduced, as he walked forwards before the colors in his peripherals flared up and Shiro greeted the floor with a thud.

“Ow…” Shiro groaned as he felt the air leave his lungs.

“Shiro?” That voice… It had to belong to Allura. What was she doing in this part of the castle? Shiro wondered.

The colors swam even behind his eyelids, bursting like fireworks as Shiro hissed in pain. “l-llura…” Shiro croaked as his body started to shake and he felt gentle hands turn him over.

Everything hurt... The lights did, the colors did, the noise did, even the strange energy coming off of Allura did.

Someone was pressing a cool hand to his face. “Must be the fever… Can you get him some f-… -and do a scan?” A voice asked as Shiro felt himself lifted up like a rag doll off the ground but he didn’t really mind.

The world tasted like juniberries anyhow…

Lance’s biosignature was getting steadier. This was what Keith knew without a doubt. He could see the way Lance relaxed when they had moved him to a healing pod and how he was breathing easier using his gills.

Gills. Lance had external gills now. Keith wasn’t sure what purpose he had developed them for but he’d be damned if he didn’t think he looked cute when his gills fluttered open and shut in his sleep. Like a little guppy. He thought to himself smiling.

The suit only zipped up to above the collarbone, allowing Lance’s gills room to breathe unhindered while he slept.

The same couldn’t be said for Keith though. He’d been having terrible anxiety without Lance nearby him, and his back felt super weird when he laid on it in bed.

“Should be just a few more vargas, number four,” Coran reassured Keith as the man was pacing around the room back and forth.

“Thanks Coran.” Keith smiled warmly, as something in Coran’s pocket made a chirping noise and he pulled out a small device and frowned.

“Excuse me for a moment, Allura is hailing me. I’ll be back in a tick.” He called as he left the room and Keith turned back to look at Lance. His coloration was getting better, Keith thought.

“Only a few more Vargas…” Keith mumbled tiredly, as he opted to sit beside the pod and wait for Lance to come out.

Keith was awoken from his slumber by Coran, asking the boy for some help with something as he stood up and stretched.

Something in his pelvis area rubbed painfully down his spine as he stood, biting down a hiss as he eyed Allura dragging an unconscious Shiro into the infirmary.

“What happened?” Keith asked as Coran worked on dabbing a washcloth on Shiro's head.

“I found him barely conscious on the floor in the paladin’s hallway. His whole body was bathed in external quintessence and he was shaking.” She explained, handing Coran something that looked like a cross between a blanket and a scanner as she did so. “It looked like he was fighting against an attack on his very essence.” She frowned, “But there wasn’t anyone nearby that I sensed using that kind of magic.”

A chill ran down Keith’s spine as he snapped into ‘leader mode’, “Lockdown the area just in case. I’ll go inform the others of a possible intruder on board.” Keith explained as he dashed off to go collect his armor and bayard. Allura nodded as she began inputting in the codes in the room’s console to lock it down. The door shut with a quiet click behind him.

“That’s odd,” Coran muttered as he looked at the scanner’s readings. “What is it?” Allura asked as she too moved over to look at the results. Her eyes widened at what she saw. “Impossible…”

Keith bounded down the hall with determination. Someone had attacked Shiro, Keith was sure of it. Judging by Allura’s account of events, the perpetrator likely vanished before they could continue their assault.

Well, too bad for them they picked the wrong ship. Keith thought, as he finally reached his room and pulled open a comm on his armor plate to contact Pidge and Hunk. Radio silence on Hunk’s end… Keith frowned as he changed channels and got through to Pidge’s communicator.

“Keith? What’s wrong?” Pidge asked confused.

“There’s an intruder on board. They attacked Shiro before Allura found him. Hunk’s comm is dead but everyone else is holed up in med bay. We think they might be capable of using quintessence magic or some other device since Allura couldn’t sense them.” He quickly explained.

Pidge nodded as she got up from her chair and began putting on her armor. “I’ll see if I can run a scan through the castle for the intruder. See if we can get a lead on their position.” She said as she began typing away at her screen. “Got it. The scanners picked up something big in Yellow’s hangar. Like, really big.” Pidge said as she continued to type, “Took down my visual feed too.” She frowned, “Heat scans display the culprit is still there but no sign of Hunk.” She looked at Keith concerned.

“Then that’s where I’ll head.” Keith noted on the map as he placed his luxite blade in its holster, “Let’s hope Hunk made it into Yellow in time.” He said as he dashed out his room and down the hall.

“Hang on, I’ll come too.” Pidge noted as she put on the last of her armor, “You’ll need backup and I don’t like that I can’t see where anything is.” She said as she too left her lab to go to Yellow’s hangar.

“Alright, but stay alert,” Keith warned as Pidge nodded and they both ran down the hallway.