Work Text:
"Pranks"
Keith was sitting on his bed, absentmindedly playing with his Marmora knife. He and Lance had been engaged in a prank war for a good two weeks. It started with Lance putting pink hair dye in Keith's shampoo bottle. Keith had retaliated by hiding Lance's beauty products, and it just escalated from there. At that moment, Keith needed to come up with a big prank to get back at Lance with. The team's sharpshooter had put a temporary love potion in Keith's coffee. It only lasted an hour and was geared towards Shiro. Lance had laughed his head off at Shiro's reaction. Shiro had turned as red as a tomato as Keith fawned over him for a whole hour. Keith really wanted to get Lance back for the whole debacle; he still couldn't look Shiro in the eye.
Suddenly, Keith's knife slipped and nicked his fingertip. A drop of blood dripped from his finger, and Keith watched it as an idea formed in his mind. He grinned and picked up his knife, sheathing it. He needed to go to the kitchen for supplies. He was glad Hunk had found Earth food in a few space malls and stocked up. Keith quickly gathered powdered sugar, red food coloring, cocoa powder, and water. He put the water and sugar in a blender and blended it well. He added the food coloring and blended it together. Then, he finally added the cocoa powder and blended it one last time. He took it into the lounge. He removed his jacket as his mixture would stain anything it touched. He laid down and poured the mixture over his chest and hid the blender container. He carefully dipped the blade of his knife in the mixture and dropped it to the floor next to him. He arranged the puddle to simulate a murder scene with him being the victim. A death prank would surely get Lance good. Keith heard footsteps nearing the lounge and closed his eyes, sure Lance was coming. Unfortunately for Keith, it wasn't Lance.
Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz, and Thace entered the lounge. They were excited to spend time with their kit. They had been away from him for the past two weeks, and, even though they got a lot of work done, they missed their kit. So, when they entered the lounge, they were horrified to see their kit lying on the floor with blood on his chest and his knife.
Antok whimpered as he gently touched his kit's hair. Thace picked up Keith and whined. Ulaz picked up his knife and wiped it off. Fortunately, luxite didn't stain. Kolivan stared at Keith. "What happened? Why didn't anyone tell us?"
Hearing his pack instead of Lance, Keith slowly opened his eyes and nuzzled Thace, purring to them. Thace looked at Keith. "Kit? You're alive!"
"Yeah. This isn't blood," Keith said.
"It looks like it," Ulaz replied. Antok whimpered again.
"Well, that was the idea." Keith reached up to and placed his hands on Antok's face. "Antok, I'm alive. I'm okay."
"Kit." Antok nuzzled Keith's hair.
Kolivan came closer and cupped Keith's face. "You scared us. We thought you died."
"That was the idea. Well, not for you guys to find me. It was supposed to be Lance." At his pack's confused expressions, he continued, "Let me clean this off, and then I can tell you what's going on."
"Agreed, but you are not leaving our sight, kit. After scaring us, our instincts will not allow us to let you out of our sights," Ulaz explained. "We will take you to the nest and get you cleaned up."
"But what about clothes?" Keith asked. "I'll need something to wear while these get clean."
"You can borrow one of my shirts, kit," Thace replied as he carried Keith to their nest. Keith didn't say anything as he was set on his feet. He quickly took off his shirt and pants (boots as well). Thace tossed him one of his shirts. Keith slipped on the shirt, which went down to his ankles and slipped off one of his shoulders.
Keith was then tugged into the nest and set between all four Blades, who were all touching Keith in some way. Antok had his tail wrapped around his waist, Ulaz was nuzzling Keith's neck, and Thace had his arms wrapped around the kit and groomed the longer strands of his hair. Kolivan carded his claws through the top of Keith's hair. "Now, please explain, kit."
Keith couldn't help but purr at the affection from his pack. After being parted for two weeks, he realized he missed it. "Lance and I have been engaged in what's called a prank war. It's not dangerous or deadly, and he started it by dying my hair pink. He and I have been pranking each other for the entire time you had been at headquarters. I was trying to get him back for spiking my coffee with a temporary love potion."
Ulaz's ears twitched at Keith's explanation. "Was the potion geared towards a particular person?"
Keith blushed. "Yes. Shiro."
Ulaz nuzzled Keith's neck some more. "It's okay, kit. Shiro won't hold it against you. Now, we would like you to rest."
Thace laid down with Keith on top of him. Ulaz laid down on Keith's left side, tucked against Thace's side as well. Antok still had his tail wrapped around Keith's waist, but Kolivan was between Keith and Antok. Keith liked that his pack was back and wanted him to rest. He hadn't gotten much rest while they were gone. He snuggled against Thace, and as he drifted off to sleep, his hand slid down and grasped Kolivan's braid, ensuring the leader wasn't going anywhere until he woke up.
Fin