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"Sunburnt"
In hindsight, Keith supposed he should have expected this, but he didn't. He loved being in the sun. It was one of the best things about being in the desert. The view of the sunset (and sunrise) from his Pop's shack was amazing and one of the best things about it. He had been smart and wore long sleeves and pants and put on sun screen, especially when he was searching for the strange energy, which ended up being from the Blue Lion.
His pack had gone to a tropical planet to gather intel and supplies, but even five adults couldn't stop the three kits playing. They ended up playing in the water of a crystal clear lake, Keith showing off how well he swam. To his delight, Krolia, Acxa, and Regris were good swimmers too. Kolivan, Antok, Ulaz, and Thace were more reluctant to enter the water but were lured in by their kits' pleas.
Kolivan had red stripes along his arms and torso. They reminded Keith of tiger stripes. Thace looked like a drowned purple cat with his long, purple fur. There was a starburst scar on the left side of his chest that was devoid of fur from where he had been shot during a botched mission.
Ulaz was the one who was lucky due to his short fur. All of the other adult male Blades had long fur. Ulaz seemed to not be straying too far away from Thace. It was a side effect from their long term undercover mission at high command.
Antok had a scar matching Kolivan's except it was across his left eye and had the same fur color as the leader. He had large furry ears and a strip of white fur on the top of his head, much like Ulaz.
Regris was also the same color as Kolivan but was devoid of any lasting marks. He had pointed ears like Ulaz and headfur like Thace. He also had a habit of wrapping his tail around Keith; sometimes his waist, sometimes his leg, and other times his wrist. Right now, his tail was floating in the water.
Keith was just having so much fun in the water and laying on the shore, letting the warmth dry him, that he didn't give any thought to the repercussions of doing so. The next morning, he regretted it immensely.
He woke up in the nest to the feeling of slight pain where the blankets touch him, where his shirt was laying against him, and where Regris's tail was wrapped around his left leg. He reached down to unwrap his brother's tail and paused when he saw the redness of his legs and arms. His eyes widened as the events of the previous day caught up to him. He all but leapt from the bed, dashing to the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in horror. Hoping it wasn't as bad as he was thinking, he took off his shirt, suppressing a hiss as the motion hurt as well as the shirt sliding off his abused skin. It didn't look any better. He inadvertantly let out a whine of dismay.
"Kit? What's wrong?" came Krolia's sleepy voice.
Keith froze but couldn't not answer his mom. He mewled, "Mama..."
Krolia's eyes popped open at Keith calling her 'mama' and widened in shock. "Kit!"
Her shout woke up the rest of the pack that was still there (Kolivan and Antok were already up and gone from the nest).
"What's going on?"
"Keith?"
"What happened?"
The screech that came from Acxa when she caught sight of her twin was the worst. The rest of the pack then saw Keith still standing in the bathroom in his shorts with his skin no longer pale but a vivid red.
Ulaz approached Keith but didn't touch Keith, which he was grateful for and dismayed about at the same time. He whined, "Kit, what happened?"
"It's a sunburn."
Regris perked up. "You mentioned this before, right?"
"Yes. It hurts a lot." Keith whined.
Thace whined in response. "And you turned red!"
Acxa whimpered and tucked herself against her mom since she was still in the nest. She wanted to nuzzle Keith but knew it would hurt him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
"What can we do to help, kit?" Krolia asked, carding her claws through Acxa's hair.
"Unless you have a space version of aloe vera, I don't know."
"Will we be able to snuggle?" Regris inquired.
Keith shook his head sadly. "Not for the first few quintants. The sunburn makes my skin very sensitive to touch. Even my shirt was hurting me. I need to cool off somehow."
Krolia tugged Regris against her other side to comfort him. "Go ahead and take a cool shower then, kit."
"Since you are in pain, kit, I will go find some pain medications," Ulaz offered.
"Drinking water is good when you're sick, so I'll bring some so you don't have to leave the nest room," Thace mentioned.
Keith nodded, and the pair of mates left the nest room to gather supplies for their hurt kit. Keith decided to take a long cool shower, and Krolia comforted the other two kits, lulling them into a light slumber that she herself followed them into. No one thought to inform the two highest ranking Blades that their youngest kit wasn't his normal self.
The tick Keith left the shower, he gently patted himself dry but not completely. Leaving some moisture on his skin was important, especially during the first few quintants; that much he knew. He put on a pair of shorts but not a shirt as he didn't want anything pressing up against his burns.
When he left the bathroom, a yowl caught his attention. He had never heard such a sound from any of his pack mates. Then, he was unceremoniously scooped up and carried out of the nest room. He looked up and saw Antok had picked him up. He squirmed uncomfortably and tried not to cry out, which was difficult. Even though, the largest Blade had a gentle hold on him, his back was still pressed against one of Antok's arms and there was a hand on his arm. Fortunately, the other arm was under his knees, which weren't sunburnt. A look to the side showed him that Kolivan was accompanying his mate to...Keith looked around and realized that they were taking him to the med bay. Keith huffed but remained otherwise quiet. At least, he would get the pain meds quicker this way.
Antok gently set Keith on an examination bed, while Kolivan fetched Ulaz. Antok carded his claws through Keith's hair while they waited. "I don't know how you changed color, kit, but I'm sure Ulaz will know how to fix you."
"I know how this happened, Antok. I spent too much time in the sun yesterday. I already told the rest of the pack, but you and Kolivan were already gone when I woke up."
"'Van and I had an early meeting to attend," Antok answered before Kolivan and Ulaz came over.
Ulaz blinked when he saw Keith sitting there. "Kit, I thought you were going to stay in the nest?"
"That was the plan, but no one told these two about my sunburn. One of them made a sound I have never heard before. I hope it didn't wake up Regris or Acxa or Mom won't be happy."
Kolivan's ears pinned back. He had been distressed when he saw his youngest kit was a different color that he just reacted without thinking and not thinking about the consequences. He hoped he hadn't disturbed the pack's other two kits.
"Well, since you're here, you can have this pain medication." Ulaz approached Keith with a syringe in his hand. Surprisingly, Keith flinched away from Ulaz, causing the pale doctor to pause. "Keith?"
"Is-is there another way to take it?"
"Afraid not, kit. This medicine is most effective when injected."
When Keith gave a mewl of dismay, Kolivan turned Keith's head away from the sight of Ulaz with the syringe, burying his face in his uniform. "It's better not to witness it, kit," he said as he gave Ulaz a nod
Ulaz quickly injected the medication into his kit's arm, and Keith slumped against Kolivan's chest. At Kolivan's questioning gaze, Ulaz explained, "I added a hypnotic-sedative to the medication, since I didn't think Keith would be able to rest without it. Let's take him back to the nest. He mentioned something called aloe vera. Maybe it will help his burn."
"Perhaps the Paladins know of this substance," Antok suggested as he scooped up their kit.
"I can call them when we get back to the nest room," Ulaz replied.
The group re-entered the nest, and Antok laid Keith down in the nest near his other kits and their mom, who were all still thankfully dozing. Acxa and Regris were curled up with each other on one side of their mom, leaving a spot next to Krolia for Keith to settle into. Krolia instinctively and sleepily nosed Keith's hair, eliciting a sleepy purr from the youngest kit.
Ulaz pulled out his data pad and contacted the castle ship. Shiro was the one who answered. "Hello, Ulaz."
Ulaz smiled. He like the human he saved from the arena and was his second favorite Paladin. "Hello, Shiro. I need some help."
Shiro sat a little straighter. "What's the matter?"
"What is aloe vera, and where can we acquire some?"
The question was met with silence until there was light snickering from the background. Suddenly, Lance appeared over Shiro's shoulder. "Did Mullet get a sunburn? I have to see!"
Shiro nudged Lance in the ribs. "Lance does have a point. Aloe does work but only on types of burns. May I see Keith please?"
Ulaz hesitated but relented. "All right, but he won't wake because I gave him a sedative to ensure he wouldn't be in more pain while the medicine I gave him started working."
Ulaz turned the data pad to face the pile of kits with their mother. It was startling to see him with red skin instead of his trademark pale. Lance sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Ouch. That looks like it hurts!"
The Blue Paladin's words disturbed the three Blades who were still awake. Kolivan asked, "Have you ever had a sunburn, Blue Paladin?"
Lance shuffled a little nervously for some reason. "Uh, no, but a few of my friends have, and they told me it was very painful."
"So, back to the aloe vera. What is it, and where do we acquire it?" Antok questioned.
"Aloe is a plant back on Earth, whose sap helps soothe the heat of a sunburn. People still have it stocked in their houses," Pidge answered. "Matt and I used it all the time. It's a cooling gel, if that helps."
"What else can we do to help Keith?" Ulaz asked as Thace walked in, carrying a jug of water and setting it down near the nest.
"Well, drinking more water is a good thing," Hunk remarked.
Thace all but ignored the Paladins in favor of checking on his kit. He didn't do much more than grooming his hair, though. Even though Keith was in a medically induced sleep, Thace didn't want to cause any more distress for his kit. He just ignored the conversation happening mere feet from him, grooming his kit's hair.
%%%
After ending the conversation with the Paladins with less than stellar information, the Blades stayed in the nest room, waiting for Keith to wake up. Ulaz reached over and hovered a hand above Keith's skin but not touching it. He sighed as he pulled back his hand. "At least, he's not radiating heat anymore."
"That's good," Antok commented. He had been worried about how hot his kit felt when he had picked him up.
A soft whimper interrupted their whispered conversation. Everyone turned to look at the youngest kit, who was just opening his eyes. Krolia scooted closer and carded her claws through her kit's hair. "Are you feeling any better, kit?"
"A little, Mama. I don't feel as hot, but it still hurts."
Krolia longed to hold him close and comfort him, but she knew it would cause more harm, which was the last thing she wanted to do. "I understand, kit."
"How long was I out?"
"You were asleep for a couple of vargas," Ulaz spoke up.
"I guess I was more tired than I thought." Keith let out a little mewl, directed at Krolia.
Krolia answered with a questioning sound to which Keith replied with a whine. Krolia rumbled to Keith, who all but launched himself into her arms. Despite it hurting a bit, it still felt good to be held by his mother. Krolia purred to her youngest, trying to make sure she wasn't pressing against his reddened skin.
Keith was reluctant to leave the nest due to his appearance, and his pack was content to let him stay put. Krolia was the one who stayed with her kit on a consistent basis, though the Dads checked up on him constantly. This continued for nearly a phoeb with the only sign of healing being that Keith's skin wasn't as red as the day before. That was until Keith started peeling.
It was another thing he should have warned his pack about, but hindsight was always twenty-twenty. It once again started in the morning. Keith got up and looked at himself in the mirror as his routine had been for the past phoebe. His smile was wide as he saw the beginnings of his skin peeling. He carefully bounded back into the nest and began picking at his skin. For some reason, he found it therapeutic to pull large swatches of the dead skin off, content in the knowledge that as soon as he had pulled off the rest of his dead skin he would be back to normal.
As he grabbed and pulled a rather large swatch of dead skin off, he heard a cacophony coming from the rest of the nest. He could make out a screech, a yowl, and a mewl of dismay. He paused, turned his head, and looked at his pack mates. He could tell his sister screeched, Kolivan had yowled, and his mom mewled by just the sounds. "What?"
"Kit, what is going on?"
"Humans aren't supposed to shed their skin!"
"Did we not care for his sunburn right? Is our kit dying?"
Keith let out a little laugh before he purred to his pack. They froze as they heard his purr. It had been awhile since he had purred to them, being in too much pain to do so. "This is normal. When a human's skin gets sunburnt, it's just quicker and easier to grow new skin underneath and then shed the outermost layer."
"So, you're not dying?" Thace repeated.
Keith smiled. "No. As soon as this dead skin gets peeled off, I will be all healed up."
Regris came closer and watched as Keith pulled off another swatch. "It doesn't hurt?"
"Nope. I don't feel anything more than a slight tug." Keith continued pulling off pieces and depositing them into an nearby trash can. After seeing how interested his brother was, Keith told him, "I'm going to need some help reaching some places on my back and someone to make sure I got everything off."
Regris grinned. "I can help with that!"
Even with Regris helping him, it was still a rough few quintants for Keith (and technically the rest of his pack) before the peeling stopped. The last quintant right before the night cycle saw Keith in the middle of a humongous cuddle pile in the nest. He was on top of Kolivan with Regris and Acxa cuddled up next to him, the former's tail was wrapped around Keith's left leg. Antok was under Regris with his tail curled around Keith's waist. Krolia had Acxa laying on top of her, and her claws were buried in her youngest kit's hair. Thace and Ulaz were crowded around Keith's head, Thace above Antok and Regris and Ulaz above Krolia and Acxa. Ulaz nuzzled Keith's neck, while his mate groomed the longer strands of Keith's hair. Keith was so relaxed he was lulled to sleep, his purrs filling the nest room.
Fin