Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keith watched as the knife in his hand, elongated into a blade. “What is this? What’s going on?”

“That blade can only be activated by someone who possesses Galra blood,” Kolivan answered.

“So… what… does that mean?” Keith asked in fear.

“It means…” Kolivan sneered, “You are a monster…”

Keith looked down at his reflection in the blade and screamed when he saw a Galra version of himself staring back. As the blade clattered to the ground…

Keith shot up from his bed out of breath. He was panting as he fumbled for the glass of water sitting on his nightstand. It had been over a month since his first meeting with the Blades of Marmora, and he had suffered from nightmares almost every night sense.

He let out a sigh as he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. On nights like these, it was impossible for him to fall back asleep after he had had a nightmare. He figured if he was going to be awake, he might as well make himself useful.

Keith glanced around the bridge when his eyes finally landed on Shiro, who was sitting reading a book. They always tried to keep one person awake at all times, just in case of an emergency.

“Hey.” Keith sat down next to him.

“Keith?” Shiro set his book down. “What are you doing up so late.”

He shrugged, “I just wasn’t very tired. I figured sense I was up already; I could take your shift for you if you wanted.”

“Pidge told me that you took over her shift last night.” Shiro looked at him with concern, “And Hunk said that you took over for him the night before. And the night before that was your own shift. Keith, are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.” He snapped, before looking down, “I’m sorry. I just… I have a lot on my mind and… when I try to sleep, it’s like that’s all I can think about.”

Shiro stood up and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I know how you feel. Sometimes it feels like… like the fate of the entire universe, is in our hands. Which… it is in a way… but you can’t let it get to you. We are working on a plan to defeat Zarkon for good, so we can finally end this war. We just have to have faith. The Galra will pay for what they have done.”

Keith took in his words, even though they made him feel the opposite of comforted. If Shiro knew who he really was… what he really was… would he still be trying to make him feel better right now? Or would he be one of the Galra who are paying for their crimes?

“I… thanks Shiro…” he said quietly, moving his shoulder out from under Shiro’s hand.

Shiro’s eyes filled with sadness, “Keith… if there’s anything you want to take about… I’m here for you. You’re my little brother, I want to make sure you’re ok.”

“I’m alright.” He mustered up the best smile he could, hoping it didn’t look too fake. “I guess… the anticipation is just getting to me. I’m ready for all of this to be over. Ready to be back on earth, just living a normal life.”

“I know.” Shiro smiled, “Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith smiled. For real this time. As long as the team didn’t find out he was Galra, he really didn’t have anything to worry about.

“Now, how would you feel about playing one of these Altean board games?” Shiro asked.

“Aren’t you going to bed?” Keith asked. “I can take over for you.”

“Nah.” Shiro assured, “I’ve been sleeping all day to prepare myself for staying up tonight. If I go to bed now, it would really mess up my sleep schedule. Besides, I figured you could use some company.”

“Do you even know how to play any of these?” he questioned.

“Nope!” Shiro grinned, “But I figured we could figure it out together!”

“Alright…” Keith chuckled. He knew that Shiro was only acting this goofy for his own benefit, but he didn’t mind. Shiro always did have a talent for cheering him up.

“Great!” Shiro began setting up the board, and soon, they were trying to decipher the rules of a ten-thousand-year-old board game. After just a few minutes, Keith was soon fast asleep. Shiro smiled as he took his jacket off and wrapped it around the smaller boy’s shoulders.

“I just wish you would open up to me. I hate to see you hurting yourself like this…” he gently ran his hand through his hair a chuckled when Keith made a noise akin to a purring sound. “Oh, I wish I had a camera right now…” he laughed quietly before walking back over to his book. Little did he know, that was the first dreamless sleep Keith had gotten in months.

Chapter Text

Another few weeks had passed, and Keith was starting to feel a bit better. His conversation with Shiro really had helped, even if Shiro hadn’t actually known what was wrong. This would all be over soon, and all Keith had to do was keep the others from finding out he was half Galra. Given that he himself hadn’t known until a couple months ago, this should be easy as pie.

The team had been keeping up contact with the Blades of Marmora and had even helped them out on a couple of missions. The plan was to eventually work together and combine forces to defeat Zarkon once and for all. That was a ways off, however, as both sides would need more resources before they could even begin thinking about coming up with a plan.

As of right now, the Blades and Voltron had been working together to free as many planets from the Galra’s grasp as they could. Most of the team had finally become accustomed to working with Galra, to defeat the Galra, but not all of them were quite as convinced. Allura and Lance namely were not afraid to make sly comments about the evil of the Galra, in front of members of the Blades. It was conversations like these that solidified Keith’s need to keep his identity a secret.

“Galra?! I… I can’t be Galra!” Keith shouted as he looked at the blade in his hand.

“It is true,” Kolivan assured. “There is no mistake, only a Galra can wield a Blade of Marmora.”

“But… my friends…” Keith could feel himself beginning to panic. “I… they’re going to hate me when they find out…”

“Then stay.” He offered, “Train. You have skill young Paladin. With the proper training regiment, you could be a full-fledged Blade of Marmora.”

“What?” Keith looked up at him in surprise. “I… I can’t… my friends… you don’t know what it’s like if I…”

“Don’t I?” Kolivan asked sadly. “Some may view you as lucky, Keith. You are half Galra, yet you appear to be human. For the rest of the Blades, we have to live with discrimination every day, simply because we resemble the oppressors who have taken over the galaxy.”

“I’m sorry…” Keith looked down, “You’re right… I am lucky…”

Kolivan laid a clawed hand on his shoulder, “Apology accepted. I know that this must be a difficult time for you. Do not feel pressured to accept my invitation, just know that you are always welcome. The Blades will never turn their back on a fellow Galra. Half-human, or not.”

“Thank you…” Keith gave him a small smile, “One more thing… do you think it’s possible to not mention… me… to the other Paladins?”

Kolivan nodded, “This conversation does not have to leave this room. However…” he looked at him seriously. “I would suggest that you do tell them eventually. You are setting yourself to carry a lifelong secret, that were they to find out about it later, would most likely only make them react worse.”

“I’ll think about it…” Keith said quietly.

“That’s all I ask.” He nodded. “Now, it is probably time for us to return to your friends. I'm sure they are probably worried about you.”

Keith snorted, “Allura is probably trying to convince them to blow up the base as we speak.”

“Then let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. One last thing,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small communicator, and handed it to Keith. “This way you have a way of getting in contact with me. I shall give Voltron a more official way of getting in touch with the Blades, but this is for if you need to specifically get in contact with me. In case you have any questions about your Galra heritage.…”

“I… thank you… I appreciate it.” Keith put the communicator in his pocket as he walked them back to the red lion. He had a lot to unpack, and all he really wanted to do was sleep. He let out a sigh and started heading back to the Castle of Lions.

He still couldn’t believe it had been 2 months, sense he found out he was Galra. It felt like he had been keeping this secret for his entire life. He hated lying to his friends, but he also knew that only bad things could come from telling them the truth.

“Hey, mullet!” Keith looked up from his daydream and saw Lance, Allura, and Pidge.

Allura waved him over. “Hunk is almost finished with dinner. Come join us.”

“Ok.” He gave them a small smile as Pidge began telling a story about some new invention she was working on. He laughed as Lance tripped when he tried to hold the door to the dining room open for Allura. He couldn’t help himself from letting out a content sigh. If telling them meant that he would lose moments like this with his friends, then he would take this secret to his grave.

Chapter Text

“Hey Keith, it’s time for breakfast!” Hunk glanced down at his watch. They had all sat down to breakfast a few minutes ago, but Keith was missing so he went to check on him. But now he wasn’t answering. Could something be wrong? “Keith, buddy? You okay in there?” again, no answer. Hunk bit his lip, “Look, I hate to invade your privacy or anything like that, but I need to make sure you’re alright. So, I’m coming in 5… 4… 3… 2… put some clothes on if you’re not decent…”

Hunk slowly opened the door and peaked his head in with his hand over his eyes. “Keith?” he slowly peaked through his fingers and was pleased to see that everything still appeared to be in its place. However, that relief quickly vanished when he looked over at Keith’s bed.

To put it bluntly, Keith looked terrible. His hair was matted down to his forehead with sweat, he had bags under his eyes, and he wouldn’t stop shaking. “Hey man, you, okay?”

Keith peaked one eye open and winced at the bright lights. “Do I… look… okay?” he groaned weakly.

Hunk gave him a sheepish smile, “Yeah okay, stupid question on my part, you’re right. But hey, if you’re coherent enough to be snarky, then that probably means that you’re not dying. Right? You’re not dying, are you? What doesn’t feel good?”

“m… migraine…” he mumbled.

“Oh ok…” Keith would have to thank Hunk later for thinking to lower his voice. “I’ll ask Coran if Alteans have any kind of medicine for migraines. In the meantime, can I get you anything? Water? Juice? I could make you some soup if you wanted.”  

“Jus’… w… water…” Hunk picked up the glass on his nightstand and went over to the adjoining bathroom to fill it up. He also brought back a wet washcloth to lay on his forehead, which felt heavenly. “Th…anks…”

“No problem, buddy.” Hunk gently pat his shoulder. “I’ll go check with Coran on that medicine, and will be back to check on you in a bit. I’ll tell everyone that you’re not feeling well, and try to keep that out of your hair. You just try to relax and let me know if there’s anything you need.” With that, Hunk made his way out the door, leaving Keith in silence.

He had no idea what was going on with him. When he woke up this morning, he had felt absolutely terrible. He thought his head was going to explode from all the pounding. At first, he had thought that maybe it was something he had eaten. He had gotten food poisoning a couple times when growing up, and he had felt kind of like this. But that didn’t make sense, all he had been eating for the last several weeks was food goo, and he hadn’t had a problem with it before.

Maybe it was stress. Any time they made a call to the Blades he was afraid that Kolivan would accidentally let it slip and the team would find out what he really was. That thought had been weighing on him a lot lately.

Another wave of pain racked his body. It also didn’t help that his ears wouldn’t stop ringing. Whatever this was, Keith hated every second of it.

Hunk came back to check on him a couple times, along with everyone else on the ship. It turns out that Alteans did have a remedy for migraines. With his not being Altean, it could only help so much but it at least helped him get the strength to be able to move around a little bit.

Once his friends had left him for the night, with promises of coming back to check on him in the morning, Keith decided that what he really wanted was a shower. Laying in bed with a fever all day left him feeling like he was covered in a layer of grime.

He stepped into the bathroom, slowly removing his clothes, trying not to make his headache worse. As the warm water fell down his skin, he let out a sigh of relief. This made him feel so much better. The migraine soon began to ebb away, and he picked up the bar of soap to begin washing himself.

Once he felt like all the dirt and sweat had been wiped away, he began his usual hair ritual. While Lance may frequently make fun of him for his “mullet” (It’s not a mullet!) he rather likes his hair and tries to take care of it when he can. This meant shampooing and conditioning every other day.

As he massaged the soap into his scalp, he was finally able to think clearly again. If he had known all he needed was a warm shower to feel better, he would have taken one hours ago!

He relaxed for a few more moments before deciding that he was getting tired and should probably head to bed soon. He turned off the water, and stepped out, proceeding to dry himself off with a towel.

Once he was dry, he focused on his hair again. He took the towel and began to fluff his hair dry. However, that’s when hot noticed something strange. He took a step towards the mirror and tucked a strand of hair behind his ears. Only, they didn’t look like his ears anymore. Now, they were pointed…

Chapter Text

Keith just stared at his reflection in shock. There was no way… he reached up and touched his ear. Sure enough… they were pointed. “No…” he couldn’t help himself as tears started to drip down his cheeks. “What… what’s happening to me…”

He backed away from the mirror in horror and slid down to the floor. This couldn’t be happening… it… it had to be the Galra blood in him. that was the only explanation… but why was it only showing itself now? What was he going to do when the others saw him like this?

He needed to think. Think Kogane! He grabbed onto strands of hair and pulled. Why did it have to happen now? Right when everything had been going so well?

Keith could feel himself panicking, so he slowly tried to take deep breaths like Shiro had taught him when he was younger. God, he wished Shiro was here. Of all his friends he hated lying to the most, it was Shiro. He was also the one he was most afraid of disappointing with his being Galra. The others, he had only known for a few months. But Shiro… he was like an older brother to him. He hated to think what Shiro would say to him if he knew he was the same race as their enemy.

Keith slowly stood up, and robotically got dressed. Once he was finished, he walked back over to the mirror. He messed around with his ears a bit and noticed that they were surprisingly bendy. If he didn’t know better, he would have said he looked like and Altean, on minus the face markings. As he stood there in the quiet bathroom, he also noticed that he was able to hear noise coming from the next room over. It sounded like Hunk was snoring. It seemed like he now had a better sense of hearing.

“Ok…” Keith let out a sigh. “Don’t panic, you can make this work.” He pushed his hair back into its usual style and noticed that this covered the points quite well. “See, no one will be the wiser…” his biggest fear though, was what if these changes continued, slowly becoming more and more noticeable? What if one day he woke up purple?! There had to be a way to figure out what was happening…

Kolivan!

He ran into the bedroom and frantically reached for the box he had hidden under his bed. He tore the lid open, and found the communicator, laying next to his knife. He pressed the button on top and waited for a response. There was a good chance he was on a mission. Or asleep. Or…

“Good evening, Keith. Isn’t it rather late for you to be up?”

Keith let out a sigh of relief as the Galra man appeared on the screen, “Sorry to bother you this late. But I… had a problem…”

“Does Voltron require assistance?” he asked with concern.

“No no, we’re all fine.” He shook his head, “It’s… well…” he sighed before reaching up and tucking his hair behind his ears.

“Oh.” Kolivan studied him. “I’m assuming those are new?”

Keith nodded sadly. “I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. I just went and took a shower and when I got out… my ears were like this…”

“That’s very interesting…” Kolivan continued to stare at him.

“I… was wondering if you had any idea as to why this was happening?” Keith asked quietly.

“Hmm…” Kolivan thought about it for a moment. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were going through Galra puberty.”

“Wh… what?” Keith reddened in embarrassment. “I’ve already gone through puberty.”

“Yes, for your human half.” Kolivan clarified. “However, the lifespans of humans and Galras are much different, so it only makes sense that they would occur at different times. This is all just speculation of course. You are to only human/Galra hybrid I have ever heard of.”

Keith huffed, “Sure is great to be unique…”

“How old are you, Keith?” Kolivan asked.

“I just turned 19.” He replied.

Kolivan nodded, “In Galra years, that would put you just around the age at which Galra boys experience puberty.”

“How long is this going to last? How much more am I going to change?”

“I’m sorry,” Kolivan looked at him sadly, “I have no idea what kind of changes you will undergo. Galra puberty usually lasts for about 5 Phoebs. I’m sorry, that’s all the information I can give you.”

“It’s alright… I appreciate your help.” He looked down.

“Do not hesitate to call me again as you experience more changes.” He assured. “Also, I would suggest you tell your friends about this. They can help you through it. Plus, it is better they find out now, than when you no longer have a choice.”

“I… yeah… that’s good advice. Thanks again.” They said their goodbyes as Keith shut off the communicator.

5 Phoebs? That meant he had 5 months of changes ahead of him. What all could change in 5 months?

He sighed and laid down in bed, trying to fall asleep. Maybe the changes wouldn’t be too bad and he could keep them hidden from the rest of the team. Maybe it would just be little things, like developing a taste for Galra food. Or getting better eye sight. Stuff no one would notice. He drifted off to sleep trying to think optimistically, even though deep done, he knew that this wouldn’t be the last of his changes.

Chapter Text

When Keith woke up the next day, it was to a series of quick knocks on his door. “Hey, buddy. You feeling any better today?”

SHOOT! He immediately hopped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. He had completely forgotten that Shiro had promised to check in on him before breakfast.

“Uh yeah… I’m ok… just… give me a second!”

Shiro stared at the door in confusion. Keith certainly sounded like he felt better. But he also sounded… strange… “Ok… no rush. I’ll just wait out here.”

Keith let out a sigh when Shiro said he wasn’t coming in. He quickly changed clothes before setting to work on his hair. He could hear Shiro’s foot-tapping from in here, so he knew he had to be quick. He grabbed his hair gel and began to smooth out his hair, making sure to pay extra attention to the strands near his ears. Once he was satisfied with the result, he walked out the door and was greeted by his friend.

Shiro gave him a once-over. “Good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?”

“A lot better. Thanks.”

“Any ideas of what happened?” he asked as they started walking towards the dining room.

He shrugged, “Not sure… probably just stress.”

Shiro frowned a bit, “Are you stressed about something?”

Keith chewed his lip, he wanted to tell him so bad. But… “No… just… in general stuff. The war and everything.”

Shiro stopped them before they walked in. “Keith, if there’s something you’re not telling me… something you’re worried about… I can help you. I want to help you.”

“There’s nothing wrong…” he can’t meet his eyes, “I promise…”

Shiro looked him over once more, trying to find some clue as to why he was acting so strangely. “Ok… well, let’s get in there before Lance eats all the pancakes.”

“Hunk made pancakes?” Keith said in surprise.

“Yeah,” Shiro smiled, “he asked me what your favorite breakfast food was. He said that the last time we were at the space mall he picked up some pancake mix. He’d been saving it for a special occasion and figured this was a good enough time sense you weren’t feeling good.”

Keith’s eyes widened as they walked inside. “Wow…”

“Hey, Keith’s back!”

“Hello Keith, are you feeling better?”

“What’s up mullet? You done dying on us?”

Keith quietly walked over to Hunk who was smiling at him. “Hey, Keith. I hope you’re feeling better. Shiro said you liked pancakes, so I decided to make you some.”

Keith gently leaned in and hugged Hunk. He wasn’t normally the one to initiate contact, but he also didn’t normally have someone who made him a special breakfast, just because he wasn’t feeling good. “Thank you…”

“No sweat man! Just glad to see you’re feeling better.” He gave him a big grin before they all sat down and began eating.

“Wow Hunk, these cakes made of pan are delicious!” they all laughed, “What, did I say something wrong.”

“They’re called pancakes because you make them in a pan.” Pidge corrected. “Not because they are made of pans.”

“Oh, I see…” Allura inspected her pancakes as if still trying to find miniature pans inside.

“So, what are the plans for today?” Keith asked.

“I figured we would do some training,” Shiro responded. “We haven't gotten any word from the Blades about a planet that needs liberating, so all we can really do is wait. That is, assuming you are feeling up to it Keith.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He assured, and that really wasn’t a lie. Every sense he had woken up this morning, he had surprisingly felt really good, and he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe sense he had stayed in bed all day yesterday, he was more well-rested.

“Alright then, as soon as everyone is finished eating, we will head off to the training room.”

Chapter Text

“Alright everyone,” they all looked to Shiro as they gathered in the training room. “Today, we are going to be working individually with the training bots. We will specifically be working on hand-to-hand combat. There is no telling when you may be put in a position without your weapon, so it is good to be prepared.”

They all went over to separate corners of the room, while Allura and Coran kept an eye on the bots from the observation booth.

“The first exercise we will be running is self-defense,” Coran spoke over the speaker. “The goal is to evade the bot’s attacks while making minimal physical contact. We have set a timer for 10 doboshes. The goal is to make it that long without touching the bot or getting hit. As time progresses, the attacks will become faster. Good luck paladins.”

A moment later, the bots started up and began throwing punches. The first set were easy to avoid. However, as they went along, it became harder and harder to keep up.

Hunk was the first one out. He quickly became winded and was no longer able to keep up with the robot’s speed. After Hunk, Pidge wasn’t too far behind. She was a lot smaller, which meant that she was faster, and didn’t get tired as easily. However, she got too wrapped up in the rhythm of the fight, that she accidentally threw a punch at the bot, disqualifying herself.

It was a few more minutes before the next person dropped out. The attacks had sped up so much that lance was starting to get dizzy. He accidentally tripped over his own feet, giving the robot an opportunity to land a blow.

Shiro and Keith were the last two, and it was getting more and more difficult for the former to keep up. Shiro was an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, but unfortunately, his size made him a larger target. Not to mention, it also made him slower. At the seven-minute mark, Shiro was tapped out. This left all of them to watch Keith as he finished the exercise.

They all stood in awe of the sheer speed that Keith possessed. “I’ve never seen him move that fast before,” Pidge said in surprise.

Keith was dodging blows left and right. It almost seemed like he was able to move out of the bot’s path before it even had time to calculate where it was going to throw its next punch. Nine minutes in, and he hadn’t even seemed to break a sweat. To make things more interesting, for the last minute, Coran put the bot on the highest difficulty, but even that didn’t stop Keith. He only realized it was over when the bot stopped moving and the timer went off.

He stopped his movement and walked over to join the others like nothing had happened.

“How… how did you do that?!” Lance said in shock.

“Do what?” Keith was confused.

“You… you were so fast!” Hunk was laughing. “That was amazing!”

“Oh…” Keith blushed, “Thanks…” he hadn’t thought he was moving any faster than normal. They were probably just jealous.

“Uh… anyway…” Shiro cleared his throat. “Allura, what is our next exercise?”

“It is the same concept as the last, only this time you will be allowed to fight back.” She replied. “Once again, you will be eliminated if the bot lands a blow. In order to win, you must either pin the bot down for 5 ticks or disable it. You will have 10 doboshes. Starting… now!”

 Unlike the previous exercise, most of the paladins were able to hold their own for a while longer. Pidge was the first out when the bot struck her in the side. Hunk got out not long after that when he went in for a punch but missed, resulting in the bot having the opportunity to strike.    

However, what happened next was what surprised everyone. Keith was fighting his bot with the same speed that he had possessed in the previous exercise. He finally saw an opportunity to land a punch, so he took it. And his hand went right through the bot’s chest.

Everyone, including Keith, stared at the fallen bot shock. “Wh… Keith, how did you do that…?” Shiro finally asked.

“I…” he had no idea how to respond. What was he supposed to say, he’s part alien freak, who’s going through changes that apparently include inhuman speed and strength?! “I don’t… I…”

“This bot must have already sustained some structural damage from previous training exercises.” Hunk supplied. God Keith loved that man.

“That is a possibility.” Pidge nodded. “If the insides of the machine were already damaged, it is possible that Keith simply gave it the final blow.”

“Way to go mullet! You really showed that bot!” Lance laughed.

Keith tried to smile but glanced over at Shiro who kept staring at him. he obviously did not believe a word of this explication. Keith was going to have to be a lot more careful around him from now on…

Chapter Text

It had been a few weeks since the training exercise, and Keith was finally getting a hold of his strength. The first few days were met with crushed door knobs, snapped pencils, and flattened basketballs. But now that he had started training with the bots every night, he was starting to get a hang of things. He was now able to pull his punches so that he didn’t look so much like a freak in front of his friends.

They had recently helped the Blades liberate a planet, which gave Keith the opportunity to talk to Kolivan in person for a few minutes. Keith didn’t know what he would have done without him. the man was incredibly patient with him and talked him through everything that was happening to him. He said the increased speed and strength were normal in comparison to his human ability. All in all, things had been going pretty well. They’d had several successful Voltron missions, the team was getting along better than ever, and Shiro seemed none the wiser to his current situation. So of course, life had to just go and ruin it.

When Keith woke up the next morning, he felt another headache coming on. It wasn’t nearly as bad as last time, but it still wasn’t pleasant. He walked into the bathroom, and thoroughly inspected himself. The last thing he wanted to do was to head to breakfast, right when he was growing a second nose or something. Hopefully, that wasn’t a possibility…

When he didn’t notice anything that had changed, he figured that maybe this was just a regular headache. He finished getting dressed and made his way over to the dining room.

He quietly took his seat and closed his eyes, while trying to block out the other conversations as the others filed in.

“Hey… you feeling alright?” Keith didn’t need to open his eyes to know it was Shiro talking to him.

“Mmm… head hurts…” he said tiredly.

“Oh, Keith…” Shiro sat down next to him, “You’re putting so much pressure on yourself. It’s not healthy.”

The others were obviously able to pick up on the fact that they were having a private moment, so they didn’t disturb them.

Shiro gently began to run his hand through Keith’s hair. He tensed for a moment, afraid that he would feel his ears, but he quickly relaxed and leaned into the touch, as it helped alleviate some of his pain. However, what neither of them were expecting was the soft purring sound that escaped his throat.

Shiro smiled as Keith buried his head in embarrassment, “You really must not be feeling good.” Shiro joked. “After breakfast, why don’t you just relax in your room. I had planned on giving everyone a break today anyway.” Keith nodded his head but didn’t look up at him. “Are you sure you’re, ok?”

“I’m fine.” He answered a bit too quickly. Luckily, Hunk chose that moment to walk in with the trays of food.

As soon as Hunk set the tray in front of him, Keith was salivating. He had never been the craziest fan of meat. He wasn’t vegetarian or anything, it just wasn’t one of his favorite foods. He could go a couple days without eating meat, and not even noticing. However, this looked heavenly. Hunk had made some scrambled eggs from some kind of space bird they had come across and paired it with a slab of thick, juicy, delicious-smelling, meat.

“Breakfast is served!” He smiled.

By this point, Hunk, Allura, and Shiro were used to Lance and Pidge absolutely inhaling their food. Which they did again today, so nothing new. However, they were shocked to see Keith going at his meal with the same gusto. He had picked up the meat with his fork and tore off large bites with his teeth, not even bothering to use a knife.

“Wow…” Hunk whistled, “I didn’t know my cooking was that good…”

“Keith… don’t you think you should slow down?” Shiro asked gently, “You already don’t feel good, I’m afraid that this will make it worse…”

He tried to put a hand on Keith’s shoulder when suddenly Keith turned to glare at him and… growled? Shiro quickly raised his hands up in surrender. At this moment, Keith came back to himself. He set his fork and the rest of the meat back on his plate. “I… I’m sorry… I’m just so… tired…”

“I know buddy.” Shiro went to pat him on the shoulder but thought better of it. “Why don’t you go lie down. I’ll stop by later to come check on you.”

“Would you like Coran to make you some more medicine?” Allura asked.

“I’ll be alright. Thanks” he stood up and made his way to his room. This was getting out of hand. He could barely control himself.

As soon as he walked in, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and rid himself of the stary pieces of meat stuck there. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he let out a small scream in shock. “No no no… not again…” there, instead of his usual canines, were four long fangs.

Chapter Text

Keith stared at his new fangs in the mirror. “No… why now. How am I supposed to hide these…” He also noticed as he talked, he now had a slight lisp when it came to his ‘S’s.

He carefully brought a hand up to feel his new teeth. However, he winced when after poking one with his thumb, he immediately broke skin.

“I’m a monster…” he slid down to the ground and fumbled around in his pocket for his communicator. Ever since he discovered his increased strength; he had begun to carry his communicator around with him all the time just in case. He didn’t want to be in a situation in which he really needed to talk to Kolivan but wasn’t able to.

As soon as Kolivan took in his tear-streaked face, he knew there had been another change. “What happened now?” Keith carefully opened his mouth, as tears continued to trickle past his lips. “Oh my…”

“What do I do…” he still wasn’t used to how he sounded trying to talk around these things. It’s like his tongue didn’t have any room to move. “I… how do I hide these from my friends?”

“You still haven’t told them?” he asked sadly.

“I can’t!” he pleaded, “Look at me! I’m a monster!”

“You are not a monster, Keith.” He assured. “You are just gaining the traits that are recognizable to your Galra heritage.”

“I’m not Galra!” he yelled, thankful for the fact that he could hear that everyone was still at breakfast. “I am a human! I grew up on Earth, on a farm, with my wonderful, amazing, funny, human dad! And when he died… I was put into foster care, before going to live with Shiro and Adam. What part of that, sounds like I’m Galra?!”

Kolivan sighed, “I know you are upset, Keith, but you need to calm down and listen to me.”

Keith did as he said, hanging on to his every word as tears continued to drip down his face.

“I know, that this must be extremely hard for you.” He began. “Your entire world has been rocked in the span of a few months. And I know that you fear what your friends will think of you once they find out. But I am telling you this right now, and I’m sorry if it comes out blunt, but it will be easier for you and for them if you tell them while you still look as human as possible. I know this is not what you want to hear, but to be frank, I have no idea how far these changes will go. It is a real possibility that you come out of this looking more Galra than human.” Keith began to cry even more.

“I am so sorry so, I just want to brace you for that possibility.” He continued, “If you tell your friends now, then they will have longer to accept they knew you before the changes continue. I urge you, tell them, so they can support you while you need it most.”

He sadly shook his head, “I can’t…”

Kolivan looked at him sadly, “I understand. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.” Keith nodded, before hanging up.

He stood back up and went over to the mirror. Opening his mouth around his friends was not an option if he wanted to keep them in the dark. If he wanted to talk to them… he couldn’t…

Tears started to drip down his face again. He hated having to do this. But… it was worth it if it could keep them from hating him…

Chapter Text

“Hey, buddy.” Shiro knocked on Keith’s door. “Can I come in for a sec?” he expected to get either a yes or no response, however, he was instead met with Keith opening the door for him. “Oh hey. Are you feeling better?” he nodded.

“That’s good.” Shiro smiled, “We were all going to watch a movie in the lounge, would you like to join us?” he thought it over for a moment, before nodding his head. “Great! The others are getting everything set up right now.”

“Ugh, I hate monster movies!”

Allura chuckled, “Now Lance, it’s only fair. You got to pick the movie last time.”

“Yeah, and it was terrible!” Pidge scrunched up her face, “Who likes all those icky rom coms anyway?”

“I do, as a matter of fact!” he glared at her, “Is this your way of punishing me? Making me watch one of these lame B movies?”

“They aren’t lame!” She retorted. “I’ll have you know, Godzilla: More God, More Zilla is a cinematic masterpiece!”

“Even the name sounds ridiculous!”

The two continued arguing as Hunk walked over to Keith and Shiro who had just found a spot on the couch. “Hey, guys. Would you like some popcorn? I just made some.”

“I’ll take some.” Shiro smiled. “Thank you, Hunk.”

“No prob.” He looked over to the other boy, “What about you Keith? Want some popcorn?”

He shook his head. as good as popcorn sounded right now, he just couldn’t risk eating in front of them. At least until not after he had gotten a bit more used to his fangs.

“Ok, just let me know if you need anything.” Hunk went off to get everyone their popcorn.

“You sure you’re feeling, ok?” Shiro asked with concern. “You love popcorn…” Keith nodded quietly. “Ok… hey, remember that time we went camping and burned our tent down trying to cook popcorn?”

Keith smiled but didn’t laugh. It hurt him so much not to be able to laugh and joke with Shiro and the others like he used to. When he didn’t respond, Shiro frowned. Keith normally loved to make fun of him when they told that story. But now he was… quiet…

Keith normally wasn’t a very talkative person, but it was strange that he hadn’t said a word sense this morning. He didn’t have time to think over it much longer, as Pidge was finally starting the movie. Maybe he was just tired. They had been working pretty hard the last few days liberating planets, so maybe all he needed was some rest.

“Man… that movie was booooring!”

“Oh, be quiet,” Pidge rolled her eyes, “You were freaking out with the rest of us any time something excited happened!” 

“Ok, maybe there were like, a couple good parts… but the rest of the movie still sucked!”

“Why I oughta…”

Allura laughed as the two continued to argue, “I actually thought it was pretty good. On Altea, we had live performances, but we didn’t have anything like you’re earth movies.”

“I’m so glad we found that set of them at the space mall.” Hunk smiled, “They had some pretty good ones in there. I love the adventure ones.”

“I rather enjoyed the mystery film we watched a few doboshes ago.” She grinned, “I did not expect the butler in the slightest!” they all laughed. “What about you Keith, what’s your favorite kind of movie?”

This was the moment he feared the most, being asked something other than a yes or no question. All he could do was look down and shrug. At this, everyone started to become concerned.

“Hey are you alright, Keith?” Pidge asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet today.”

“Maybe he just hates your monster movies as much as I do.” Lance joked but when Keith didn’t so much as crack a smile, he became serious.

“Keith, why don’t you tell us what’s wrong.” Shiro coaxed.

Tears were started to well up in his eyes, but he just shook his head. He hated this so much. He hated seeing his friends worried about him.

“You can’t tell us, or you won’t?” Keith looked up at Shiro pleadingly and he sighed. “Ok, it’s been a long day. Why don’t he all go to bed, and hopefully we are all feeling better in the morning.” They all nodded and said their goodbyes, Keith just giving them a simple wave before heading to his room.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he broke down and cried. One day of self-imposed silence down, a lifetime more to go…

Chapter Text

The next day, Keith rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. He started by getting dressed, then moved on to brushing his teeth. However, he let out a yelp when he tried to brush one of his fangs and accidentally ripped the bristles out of the toothbrush. He sighed, looks like he would just be using mouth wash until he was able to get the hang of them a bit more. Lastly, he brushed his hair into place, before heading down towards the dining room.

When he walked him, Allura and Coran were already seated, and he could hear Hunk in the kitchen finishing up. “Good morning lad, sleep well?” Coran greeted.

Keith gave him a small wave and nodded. The two Alteans gave each other a look of concern as the rest of the paladins walked in.

“Good morning everyone.” Lance greeted. “What’s Hunk cooking in there?”

“I believe he was cooking more of that meat from yesterday,” Allura answered.

Keith’s ears perked up, and he had to make sure they weren’t actually sticking out. That sounded so good right now, but he couldn’t eat in front of them. He would just have to take some back to his room later.

“Good morning.” Keith looked up nervously as Shiro sat down directly across from him. “How are you feeling today?” Keith just gave him a thumbs up, unable to meet his eyes. Shiro was about to ask him about it when Hunk came in with the food.

“Wow Hunk, this looks delicious!” Pidge praised.

And she was right, it did look amazing, and it smelled wonderful, but when Hunk tried to place a plate down Keith just shook his head.

“Huh?” Hunk along with everyone else just stared at him. “You’re not hungry?” Keith shook his head again.

“Keith, what’s wrong?” Allura asked, “You haven't been acting like yourself.”

“Keith, buddy, talk to us,” Shiro begged.

He had to keep the tears from welling up in his eyes but shook his head.

“You can’t talk to us?” Pidge asked and he nodded.

“Did something happen on a mission? Did you hurt your throat?” Coran asked with concern. He shook his head.

“Are you cable to talk?” Hunk asked. Nod. “But you won’t?” another nod.

“But why?” Lance along with everyone else was confused but he just hung his head.

“Are you ever going to talk to us again?” Shiro asked sadly.

Keith couldn’t meet their eyes as he sadly shook his head. They could see the tears dripping down his cheeks.

Pidge couldn’t take it and threw her arms around him. “I… we don’t know what’s going on, but we’re here for you Keith… you’re our friend…”

They all stood up and gathered him in a group hug. He hated doing this to them… but it was the only way…

Chapter Text

A few weeks had passed since Keith stopped talking and things had actually been getting a bit better. It was weird at first, but the others eventually got used to his silence. While it seemed to still make them sad, they had at least mostly gone back to treating him how they had before.

Now, whenever they ate together, Keith would just sit with them, and take his food back to his room later. It didn’t take a ship full of geniuses (and Lance), to realize that the issue must have been something with his mouth. But they couldn’t figure out what.

Now, the only time that Keith spoke was when he made one of his calls to Kolivan, but even those had become few and far between. He had grown tired of listening to him trying to convince him to tell his friends. Plus, he couldn’t stand the sound of his voice now. He was sure that with practice he would be able to sound a bit more like normal, but he couldn’t even listen to himself talk for long enough to do that. It was a bit lonely not being able to talk to people, but he made up for it by hanging out with his friends.

After a few series of interesting charades, Keith was eventually able to find an activity that he could do with each of his friends in order to spend time with them but didn’t require talking. For Hunk, it was helping him in the kitchen. Hunk was pleasantly surprised to find that Keith was a pretty good chef. He obviously couldn’t ask Keith about it, but when he asked Shiro he said that Keith had used to make a lot of the food when he stayed with him on Earth.

Hunk could see how much Shiro was hurting because of this. Keith was his little brother, and it was eating him up inside not knowing what was wrong with him. Hunk laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and assured him that everything would be alright. But he didn’t know if he believed that himself…

For Allura, she and Keith enjoyed playing volleyball together in the castle’s gym. Keith had not spent a ton of time with Allura before he found out he was half Galra, but he actually enjoyed her company. She was easy to talk to, given that she talked a lot, and could hold a conversation all on her own. It also helped that the space mice followed them around everywhere, so she was able to talk to them.

It took a long time for Keith to convey to Lance that he wanted to spend time with him. A loooong time. He thought that Lance might enjoy playing basketball with him, so he tried to suggest it. However, even when Keith brought in an actual basketball, and pointed between himself and Lance repeatedly, he still didn’t get it. Keith sat down and banged his head against the table. “Hey, I just got a great idea, we should play basketball!” Keith hit his head even harder.

Pidge was one of the easiest to convince to spend time with him. In fact, she was the one that first asked him if he wanted to hang out with her. “I know that… well… I know you are going through a rough time right now; I don’t know what that is but… I was wondering if… you would want to come play some video games with me? Sometimes I find that they’re… a good way to escape the real world. Just for a little while at least…” Keith gave her a small smile and nodded his head. he might be terrible at video games, but he did enjoy playing them with Pidge.

Lastly was Shiro. Spending time with him came almost as easy as breathing. However, he could tell that things had changed between them. Currently, they were both sitting in the lounge playing one of Allura’s Altean board games. Unlike the others, Shiro didn’t try to talk more whenever he was around Keith to fill the void. In fact, Shiro remained quiet as well, only speaking whenever he was making a move in the game.

“Can I ask you something?” Keith looked up in surprise when he finally spoke. He nodded. “Whatever happened… was it something I did?”

Keith’s eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head.

Shiro let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good.” He leaned back on the couch, seemingly forgetting about their game. Keith scooted over and sat next to him.

Shiro gently ran his hands through his hair, and Keith couldn’t help but make that stupid purring noise at the back of his throat. Shiro smirked, “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.” Keith blushed, but couldn’t help but melt as Shiro massaged his scalp. He blamed it on the Galra blood, but this just felt so good right now. Keith eventually fell asleep with Shiro continuing to pet his hair. “Why did you push us away?” it was strange. Keith had seemingly pulled himself away from all of them, with his silence. Yet, he was now spending more time with all of them than he ever had in the past. It just didn’t make sense. Shiro sighed, “I just wish I knew what was going through your head… I could help you if you’d only let me…”

Chapter Text

It had now been a couple months since Keith’s fangs had come in, which meant that he only had 2 more months before these changes would finally be over. So far nothing else drastic had changed so he was feeling optimistic. His eyesight had gotten better, and he now had an increased sense of smell to go with his improved hearing, but all of those were changes he didn’t actually mind.

That day Voltron was going on their first mission in a couple weeks. There was a satellite run by the Olkarions that had recently been having some trouble with Galra fighters. So, the team was on their way to help them out.

For the most part, it was a pretty routine mission. Pidge flew in with the green lion first, getting a read of the situation while she was in stealth mode. Once she had gathered enough information, she signaled to the others, and they all flew in to join her.

Things were going fairly well. This was the kind of fight when they did better without Voltron, so they all flew around in their separate lions, taking out fighters left and right. They had almost defeated the fleet when Keith noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

He saw a fighter heading straight for the black lion. It wasn’t firing at him, instead, it appeared like it was trying to crash into it and take black down with it. Victory or death… and the worst part, Shiro didn’t see it coming.

“Shiro! On you’re right!” Shiro and the rest of the paladin’s eyes widened. That voice had been Keith’s. but it sounded… strange… Shiro didn’t have time to dwell on it though for when he turned, he saw what Keith had been warning him about. With a quick blast, he was able to take down the fighter, effectively ending the battle. After a short ‘thank you’ from the Olkarions, they all flew back to the castle of lions.

“So, you can talk?” Keith exited his lion and was met by Shiro and the rest of the teammates. They didn’t look angry, but they did look hurt. He nodded.

“If you are able to talk, then why don’t you?” Lance asked. “And why don’t you ever eat with us anymore?”

“Is it…” Pidge looked like she was on the verge of tears, “Is it because you… hate us…?”

Keith’s eyes widened and he immediately shook his head. He then knelt down and wrapped her in a hug. They knew that Keith must have been hurting as well if he was the one imitating contact. It was obvious that Keith wasn’t doing this because he wanted to. He had a reason. And Shiro was going to figure it out…

Later that day, Shiro asked Keith to go do some recon on a planet they were planning to liberate in the next couple days. He told him he was sending him because red was the fastest lion, but in reality, he just wanted to have a meeting with the rest of their friends.

“Ok, I’m sure you all don’t like talking behind Keith’s back, but this is the only way that we are ever going to figure out what is going on.” Shiro began. “I want to help him…”

Hunk tapped his chin, “He stopped talking around two months ago. Is there anything that could have happened around that time?”

“Let me check our logs…” Coran began tapping on a screen. “Two months ago, the team liberated several planets with the Blade of Marmora, we made stops at Olkarion and the space mall, oh and a month before that there was that weird training session.”

“That’s right…” Allura recalled, “That was when Keith punched a hole through one of the bots.”

“He also was like, super-fast,” Lance commented.

“Wasn’t that also around the time that Keith started having those weird migraines?” Hunk asked. “Maybe that has something to do with it.”

“Maybe…” Shiro thought over this new information. “So, whatever is going on, started about 3 months ago… Pidge, pull up the audio from our fight today. I want to hear Keith again…”

 Pidge did as he asked, and I moment later, the heard Keith’s voice coming over the speakers.

“Does he sound strange to you?” Lance asked after listening to the recording several times.

“Yes, he does sound… different…” Allura agreed.

“It might have just been the stress of the situation.” Hunk theorized.

“Or maybe simply because he hasn’t spoken for so long,” Coran added.

“I don’t know…” Shiro wondered. “I think there’s more to Keith that we aren’t seeing…”

Chapter Text

Another few weeks had passed, and Keith was beginning to think that the team may suspect something. It seemed like every time he turned a corner, one of them was standing there waiting for him. Then again, he couldn’t really blame them. It's not like he was being honest with them.

That after noon, the team had decided to all go for a dip in the pool. They had been working really hard, and Shiro thought it was time they relax.

“Hey Hunk, I bet I can make a bigger canon ball than you!”

Lance laughed from his seat in one of the deck chairs, “I’m not so sure about that Pidge.”

She glared at him and jumped into the pool with as much force as physically possible. A huge wave splashed out of the pool and landed right on Lance. “How was that?”

He grits his teeth at her as water dripped from his hair, “Ten. Out. Of. Ten.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile as the team laughed at Lance’s misfortune. “Hey guys, wanna play some water volleyball?” Hunk held up a beach ball.

“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Allura smiled.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were on one team. While Allura, Shiro, and Keith were on the other. Allura and Keith’s team quickly took the lead, as the two of them had been playing volleyball against each other every week for months.

“No fair!” Lance groaned as another ball landed on their side. “You have Shiro and he’s like, a gazillion feet tall when we’ve got Pidge who can barely keep her head above the water!” Pidge glared at him and stomped on his foot. “Ow! Ow! Ok sorry! Ow!”

It was now Keith’s turn to serve. He was trying to aim towards Hunk because he was obviously their team’s weakest link. However, as soon as the ball made contact with his hand, it popped. In the same moment, a searing pain went through his fingertips. He clutched his hand to his chest, not sure what was going on.

“Man…” Lance whistled, “You’ve sure got a strong serve their Keith.”

“Good thing we bought a whole box of beach balls at the space mall.” Hunk joked.

Pidge grinned, “Lance owes me ten Gac. I bet that we would have popped the ball with in the first 10 minutes.”

“Actually, it has been 11 minutes since we started, so therefore you owe me ten Gac.” He corrected.

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

Allura gasped, “Oh my, Keith are you alright?” they all turned to look at him.

Sure enough, when he glanced down at his hands, they were covered in blood. He wiped some blood off one of his fingertips when… his eyes widened in horror. He looked up at his friends before quickly jumping out of the pool and running out the door.

“What was that about?” Hunk asked in surprise.

“Keith looked like he was hurt,” Pidge noted. “We should go check on him.”

“I’ll do it.” Shiro stood up and got out of the pool, heading towards Keith’s room.

“Keith? You in there, buddy?” he didn’t receive an answer, but he could hear shuffling coming from inside, which was answer enough.

“Look, Keith,” Shiro sighed, “I don’t want to invade your privacy, but you’re hurt. I just want to make sure you’re ok. I’m coming in, alright.”

He was just about to open the door when “Don’t!”

Shiro stopped dead in his tracks. “Keith? Are you alright?”

Another moment passed. “Yeah...”

Shiro frowned, “You sound different.” No response. “Why can’t I come in?”

There was a long pause. “I… cut my hand. I’m… embarrassed.”

Shiro slid down to the ground so that his back was to the wall. “Why are you talking to me now? Why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

He heard movement on the other side of the door and could tell that Keith was now also sitting with his back to the door. “I… can’t…”

“Don’t you trust me?” Shiro asked sadly.

“With me life.” He could hear the emotion in his voice.

“Then why don’t you tell me what’s happening?” he pleaded. “Why don’t you talk to me?”

“Because… I don’t know how I could go on, with you hating me.” Shiro wanted to ask him more questions, but he heard him stand up, and the door to the bathroom open and shut.

Shiro sighed, and stood up, walking back to tell the others what had happened. He just wished that Keith would tell him what was going on…

Chapter Text

After his conversation with Shiro, Keith went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him just in case. He looked down at his hands and sobbed. Were his fingernails had once been, were a set of sharp claws that had literally ripped through his skin.

He grabbed a towel to try to clean off some of the blood, but he only succeeded in ripping it to shreds. Blood kept spilling out of his hands as he got a closer look at his newest addition. “How am I going to hide these…”

He slowly brought one claw to his arm, and slowly pressed down. It didn’t take but a second for it to break skin. In anger, Keith turned around and clawed at the wall, leaving a deep scratch. He was so angry, he didn’t even realize he was growling. He turned to look at himself in the mirror and saw that his eyes had turned yellow for a second. He willed himself to calm down, and they were soon back to their usual purple.

He let out a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “At least that’s one change I can control…”

He thought about calling Kolivan but eventually decided against it. He knew exactly what he would say if he called, and he really didn’t want to hear it right now. He had been right, he should have told them when he looked more human. Before he got as far into this mess as he had. But it’s too late now, and there’s no going back…

“So, you actually talked to him? Like, he spoke back?” Pidge asked.

Shiro nodded, “Yeah he did. But he didn’t say much.”

After he had talked to Keith, Shiro went back to the pool room to talk to the rest of the team. They had all quickly dried off and were now discussing things in the lounge.

“What did he say?” Hunk asked.

“I didn’t understand most of it,” Shiro admitted. “I asked him if he was alright, and he said yes. I asked if I could come in, and he said that he had cut his hand, and was now embarrassed.”

“How do you cut your hand on a beach ball?” Lance asked skeptically.

“What else did he say?” Pidge asked.

Shiro continued, “I asked if he trusted me, he said yes. I then asked why he couldn’t tell me what was going on.”

“And what did he say to that?” Hunk and the others were on the edges of their seats.

“He said…” he looked down, “He said he didn’t know how he could go on if I hated him…”

“So whatever he is hiding… he thinks we will hate him for it…” Allura murmured quietly.

“Oh, Keith…” Pidge said with sadness.

Lance suddenly slammed his fist on the table, startling them out of their grief. “Then we’ll just have to do something about that!”

“Like what?” Hunk looked down, “We’ve tried just about everything to get him to tell us, and none of it has worked.”

“Then we just need to prove to Keith that he is loved, no matter what is going on,” Lance stated firmly.

Pidge cocked her head, “How do you do that?”

“By supporting him.” Shiro supplied. “Reminding him at every opportunity that we are his friends, and we care about him.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“It has too,” Shiro answered. “It’s the only idea we’ve got…”

Chapter Text

Keith got up the next day and began his routine of hiding all his changes from his friends. He now added a pair of gloves to the ensemble, praying that his claws didn’t rip through the wholes. He only had to make it one more month before all of this could be over. Surly nothing else could change in that time…

He opened the door to his room and walked towards the dining room, so he could sit and watch his friends eat.

“KEITH!”

He was taken aback when before he even had a chance to open the door, a small ball of brunet had thrown herself into his arms. He looked down at her in confusion. “Good morning.” She grinned before letting good and walking back into the dining room.

Keith was not sure what to make of that interaction but followed her in any way.

“Hey buddy!” this time it was Hunk who wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “How’s it going?” Keith looked at him in confusion before giving him a thumbs up. Hunk looked confused, “What’s up with the gloves?”

Keith unhooked himself from Hunk’s hug and folded his arms so that his hands weren’t visible. This confirmed to everyone that whatever had happened to Keith’s hands yesterday, was somehow connected to all of this.

“I kind of like the gloves.” Lance teased. “They go well with the mullet.”

Keith glared at him and accidentally growled at him. He quickly faced the table in embarrassment, preying that his eyes hadn’t flashed yellow.

Lance just laughed, “Good to see no matter how much you change Keith, you will still be possessive of that old mullet.”

Keith’s head shot up and looked at him in fear. Did Lance know about the changes? How much did he know? Was he going to tell the others? His heart started beating out of his chest.

“Hey, you ok man?” Lance asked with sincerity. “I was just joking. Sorry if I upset you…”

Keith just shook his head, hoping to convey that he wasn’t upset.

“So, Keith,” Allura began, “I am working on a surprise for Coran, and your assistance is vital.” Keith blushed but gave her a quick nod.

They all smiled over at her. It seemed like their plan was working so far. They wanted to make sure Keith knew he was a vital member of the team, and that they all cared about him deeply. And telling him that he was an essential component for a project to work, definitely made him feel better.

Keith and Allura went off to work on her project for Coran, while the others brainstormed ideas to make Keith feel loved and needed. They were sure Keith was going to love it.

Keith couldn’t get away from these people! It was like every time he turned down a hallway, one of his friends was there either hugging him or begging him for his help with some kind of project, that only he could do. He had no idea what was going on. It almost made him sad, thinking about how if they knew what he really was… they wouldn’t treat him like this anymore.

It was times like this that he wished he had never become the paladin of the red lion. That would have meant that he never would have had to put his friends through this heartache. Then again… if he wouldn’t have become the red paladin, he wouldn’t have made any of these friends. His life really was just a lose/lose situation…

Chapter Text

“Oh, come on…” Keith looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He only had two more weeks to go, and he was still dealing with these stupid changes.

He brought a clawed hand and ran it through his black, and now purple hair. He groaned, this change wasn’t even that bad, it was just annoying. How was he supposed to explain a new purple streak running through his hair, when he obviously didn’t have it yesterday. Would they believe him if he told them he had dyed it?

He sighed and finished getting dressed. All things considered… he looked back at his reflection in the mirror. He actually kind of liked the purple. For a moment, he tucked his hair behind his ears, took off his gloves, and smiled, putting his fangs on display. If he lived during a different time, when the Galra weren’t evil warlords, he might have actually accepted some of these changes. He didn’t mind the enhanced strength and senses, and honestly, the pointy ears weren’t too bad once you got used to them.

The claws were pretty annoying. He had lost count of how many pairs of jeans he had ripped trying to put them on. Everyone else thought he did it on purpose to fit his “emo aesthetic” but the truth was that he just wasn’t used to maneuvering with them.

The fangs were probably his least favorite addition. Thanks to them, he was no longer able to talk to his friends. Not to mention, all of the times that he had bitten through his tongue! Just last weak he had had to keep himself from cursing in the middle of a meeting with the Olkarions when he accidentally bit himself. He didn’t know why people admired vampires so much. Their lives must be a living hell. If he was a vampire, he would walk directly into the sunlight, just to put him out of his misery.

The fangs were also very strange to eat with. They were great at tearing food like meat but weren’t very good at chewing. Besides, he tried to avoid meat these days. He got strange… urges whenever he ate it. He felt… more powerful. And almost… animalistic in a way. So, he tried to avoid it when he could. No matter how much he craved it.

Keith put his hair back over his ears. How was he going to cover this up? If they saw the purple streak, they would figure out something was going on for sure. Unless… he glanced over at his jacket. He slipped it on and pulled the hood up over his head.

He let out a long sigh. It wasn’t perfect, but he would just have to work with what he had until they could make a stop at the space mall, and he could hopefully buy some black hair dye. But until then, this would have to do.

“Hey, Keith!” Pidge went in for her usual morning hug but stopped when she noticed the hood over his head. “Oh…” they all turned to him in surprise as he took his usual seat.

Lance couldn’t help himself from getting upset. He stood up and went over to him. “What next? First, you won’t speak to us, then you cover your hands, and now this?!” Keith flinched from the loud voice, right next to his sensitive ears.

“Do you really think that we are that shallow that we would judge you for whatever’s going on?!” he continued. “We’re your friends! We love you! We won’t judge you.” He just hung his head. After a few more moments of silence, he got up and went back to his room.

Lance sat down in defeat. “I shouldn’t have said those things…”

“Do not blame yourself.” Allura set a hand on his shoulder. “What you said was true. The only issue is that Keith doesn’t believe us.”

“I guess our plan isn’t working.” Hunk said sadly.

Shiro looked down, “It’s possible… that we may need to take more drastic measures…”

Chapter Text

With one more week to go, Keith had almost completely secluded himself from the other paladins. He still attended meetings and went on missions, but he had stopped spending time with them outside of events related to Voltron. What was the point? He already looked like enough of a monster that none of them would want to be his friend anymore if they saw what he looked like. Galra or not, he was hideous.

“Keith?” he heard Shiro knocking on his door. “Can I come in for a sec?”

Keith could have just answered through the door, but he hated getting Shiro’s hopes up. He didn’t want him to think that things were going back to normal. Keith could never be normal again. Instead, he stood up, and opened the door for him, and looked at him hesitantly.

“Don’t worry…” Shiro held up his hands. “I’m not here to talk about… this…” Shiro gestured to his overall appearance. “I just wanted to… hang out. Like we used to.”

Keith seemingly thought it over for a moment. “We could play a board game. He added. Even one of the ones that you’re really good at, but I suck.”

Keith gave him a small smile, before finally nodding.

“Great!” Shiro smiled and stepped into the hallway where he had conveniently left a pile of Altean board games. “You’re choice.”

The two ended up setting the game up on Keith’s bed while each of them sat on different sides of the board. Things were going pretty well. Keith was winning, not that that was a surprise. This was the first time that he and Shiro had spent some quality time together in a long time.

“Man…” Shiro whistled, “You really are good at this game.” Keith smirked.

However, Shiro’s face took on a more serious tone. “Keith, I’m so sorry to have to do this…”

Keith wasn’t sure what he meant until out of nowhere, Shiro ripped the hood off of his head. Keith stared at him in horror, while Shiro just looked confused. “Purple hair? That’s your big secret?”

Keith glared daggers at him and growled. He wouldn’t be surprised if his eyes had turned yellow but at the moment, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Shiro had just violated his trust, and he wasn’t even able to yell at him about it!

As soon as Keith saw his reaction, he looked down. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. But we’re all just so worried about you…”

“Out…”

Shiro’s eyes winded and looked up at Keith. “What?”

“Get. Out!” He said through pursed lips.

Shiro did as he said, and heard the lock mechanism fasten as soon as the door closed. He had really messed up…

Keith had really messed up. “He should have suspected that one of them would try to pull a stunt like this sooner or later. He just never anticipated that Shiro would have been the one to break his trust. A few stray tears dripped down his cheek, as he picked up the pieces to the board game.

A little while later, he heard his communicator from Kolivan. He had been keeping him updated on his situation, so he wasn’t surprised to be receiving a call this close to the end.

“How are things?”

“Not great.” Keith looked down and twiddled his hair absentmindedly with his claws. “Shiro pulled my hood down today. Saw the purple streak.”

“I see…” Kolivan looked at him with sympathy. “I can not talk for long, but you already know my opinion on this situation, so I will not repeat it. Just know that whatever your final form takes, you are not a monster. You are a brave young man, who has his life on numerous occasions to save the universe. You are not Zarkon.”

“Thanks, Kolivan.” He gave him a small smile, “I think I needed to hear that.” They both said their goodbyes, and Keith settled in for bed. Just a few more days. He prayed that the changes were over but he feared that those prayers would not be answered…

Chapter Text

“I messed up.” Shiro was pacing the floor of the lounge. “I really messed up.”

Lance sighed, “Look man, it’s been almost a week. If you don’t calm down you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”

“But I messed up! So bad.” Shiro finally stopped. “I broke Keith’s trust. I don’t know if he will ever be able to forgive me…”

“You just need to give him time Shiro.” Allura comforted him. “I’m sure Keith just needs some time to cool off. Just give him space for a while. Everything will work out. We just need to have faith.”

Keith shot up from his bed screaming. Luckily, he could hear that everyone was in the lounge. But that was impossible, that was way too far away…

He couldn’t think about that as a wave of nausea coursed through his body. He didn’t even have time to make it to the bathroom before he vomited onto a pile of dirty laundry. Could have been worse. It could have been his pile of clean laundry. He really should think about putting his clothes in actual drawers…

Keith held his forehead, as he felt like his head was going to explode. Today was the last day of Galra puberty, and it felt like this change was going to be a big one.

He sobbed from not just the pain, but also just his circumstances in general. Why him? He had lived such a normal life on earth with his dad. Why did things have to change? Why did his dad have to die? Why did his mom have to leave? What did his mom have to be an alien?

Keith couldn’t take this pain anymore and stumbled into the bathroom. He had to see what was going on. Only… now he wished he hadn’t…

Sitting tall on top of his head were two fur-covered ears, which almost resembled those of a cat. The outer fur was the same dark purple seen in the streak in his hair. The fur on the inside was a much lighter people, almost falling more into the grey category.

He couldn’t believe it. He reached up gingerly to touch one of them and found them to be very sensitive. And they were huge! Each ear was about the size of his hand! It would now be impossible to be seen around his friends. He would never be able to leave his cabin. But without him, they couldn’t form Voltron. But if they saw him like this, would they even let him stay on Voltron anyway?

These were all the thoughts running through his head as he sobbed his eyes out. He noticed that when he became upset, the ears flattened against his skull. There was no way around it now. He was a certified freak and there was no going back.

“Keith?” he heard a knocking at his door. It sounded like Pidge. “I know you’re in there. Look, I’m coming in alright?”

Keith’s heart started racing. He couldn’t let Pidge see him like this. Suddenly, his eyes landed on his paladin helmet, and he knew that was his only hope. He slid it on, thankful that he had already slipped his gloves on beforehand. He didn’t lower the face shield like they would if they were in space, so you could at least see the bottom half of his face.

“Keith?” she peaked her head in. “Why are you wearing your helmet?” no answer. “If it’s because of the purple hair thing, Shiro already told us. He feels super bad by the way. He was really just trying to help.” She walked over to him and took one of his hands, “We all are. Won’t you at least come sit with us? We’ve missed having you around.”

He subconsciously felt his helmet. “Don’t worry.” She assured. “You can keep the helmet. We just wanted to see you again. It’s been a week, and you haven’t come out of your room sense. Please???”

He lets out a huff and nods. He knows it's probably a bad idea, but he’s never been any good at saying no to Pidge’s puppy dog eyes. He really doesn’t want to be doing this right now. He needs to call Kolivan. But, it would only take a few minutes before he could go back to his room. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?

Chapter Text

“Hey, guys! Look who I found!” Pidge marched happily into the lounge, dragging Keith behind her.

“Keith!” They all ran over to him, and Hunk wrapped him in a huge hug. They were all concerned about his wearing the helmet, but for the moment, they didn’t care.

“We missed you so much.” He looked up and saw Shiro walking towards them. Keith gave him a small glare, not knowing what he was going to do next.

“I’m sorry.” Shiro looked down. “I… what I did to you was terrible. I was blinded by my own desire to help you, that I didn’t think about what I was doing. I am so sorry… can you forgive me…?”

They all turned to Keith who remained silent, but eventually, a small smile appeared on his face, and he gave a nod. “Thank you.” Shiro squeezed him in a bone-crushing hug. “I don’t know what I would do if you hated me…” Keith's eyes widened, acknowledging how he felt the same when it came to his being Galra.

Before they were able to do any more catching up, they heard Coran’s voice over the speakers. “Paladins, we have just come across a Galra cruiser, and they’ve spotted us! We need to take the fight to them before they are able to radio for backup!”

They all ran to their respective hangers, as they could feel the castle taking fire. Once they were in their lions, they soon started firing on the cruiser. When that wasn’t making much of a dent, they formed Voltron and tried using the sword instead. Unfortunately, that seemed to have been their plan all along.

Before they knew what was going on, they found themselves trapped in a tractor beam. “What’s going on?!” Lance yelled.

“It’s like the beam we encountered on Zarkon’s ship!” Pidge yelled back.

“This was a setup.” Shiro glared up at the ship, “Once they saw we were in the area, they purposely let themselves take fire and waited to form Voltron. That way they could capture us all at once.”

“What do we do now?” Hunk said in a panic. “I can’t move.”

“We just have to wait for an opening to escape once we get inside.” Shiro tried to remain calm for the sake of his teammates, but even they could tell that he was worried.

Once they were brought inside the ship, the lions were forcibly separated, and the paladins were dragged off to a holding cell. All of their weapons had been confiscated. Including Shiro’s arm, which they didn’t even know was possible.

“What are we going to do?” Hunk said miserably.

They had overheard one of the guards say that they had radioed the Castle of Lions and had threatened to kill the paladins if they tried to follow them. They were sure Allura and Coran were trying to come up with some kind of plan to free them, but without knowing what it was, they didn’t feel very hopeful.

“I’m so stupid…” Shiro slammed his fist against the wall. “I should have questioned why they were only attacking the ship and not the lions. They were just trying to draw us out…”

“Hey man, don’t blame yourself…” Lance put a hand on his shoulder. “None of us figured it out either.”

“Any ideas on how to get us out Pidge?” they all looked at the small girl who was sitting on the floor.

“Our one bit of luck is that they didn’t think to take our armor.” She answered. “That means I still have access to my wrist computer.” She continued typing away.

“That’s great!” Hunk cheered. “So can you get us out?”

She bit her lip, “Well, that’s a bit of an issue.” She pulled up a map of the ship. “We are here. She pointed to the screen. “Right outside our cell, is a door that will lead us to that hallway. From that hallway, we can reach the room where they have most likely taken our weapons. From there, it’s a clean shot to where they are keeping the lions.”

“That’s great Pidge.” Lance praised. “So, all we need to do is find a way to get this cell open, and we’re home free!”

“It’s not quite that simple…” She pulled up a schematic of one of the doors. “It seems like the Galra are getting smarter. Every door on this ship has one of these bio scanners. That means that only Galra can operate them. Normally we are able to bypass this issue with Shiro’s arm. But since they took it…”

“Even if we are able to escape the cell, there’s no way we can get past those doors…” Hunk finished, and she nodded.

“Could we…” Lance was thinking as fast as he could, “Couldn’t we like, cut off the hand of one of the guards and use that to open the doors? I know it sounds gruesome but if it could work…”

She shook her head, “No, the door also scans the user before it opens. It’s a security measure so that exact thing won’t happen. It won’t even open if the guard is unconscious. If the hand isn’t attached to someone who is alive and awake, it won’t open.”

“Damn!” Shiro punched the wall again.

“That’s it then…” Hunk slid down to the floor. “We’re stuck, and Zarkon is going to get the lions, and he’s going to use them to conquer the universe…”

Keith could only watch as Pidge silently cried, and Lance tried to comfort her. He looked down at his own hands and thought over his options. He could either keep his secret or watch all his friends die. Or…

“We need to distract the guard…” They all looked up in surprise to hear him speak. His back was to them, but he continued. “I can get us out…”

Chapter Text

Pidge sighed, “Keith, even if we are somehow able to jump the guard and free ourselves, we will still be trapped because of the doors.”

“I… have a plan.” He said quietly. “Trust me…”

He turned around and met Shiro’s eyes. “I…” He could see Keith begging him to believe him. “I trust you…”

“How are we going to take care of any guards we come across?” Lance asked. “We don’t have our weapons.”

“I’ll handle it…” Keith said with confidence.

Shiro looked over at him, still unsure of what exactly he was planning. “If Keith says he’s got it, then I believe him. So here’s the plan…”

They all started making a ton of noise, so eventually, the guard had no choice to see what was going on. “If you all don’t shut up in here, I’ll…” but before he had time to finish his sentence, Keith hit him over the head, knocking him out.

They all ran out of the cell and were now face to face with the bio scanner. “Alright Keith, whatever this big plan of yours is, I hope it works,” Lance said sarcastically.

Keith took a deep breath before walking over to the scanner. He took off his glove and place his hand onto the pad. They all held their breath before it finally slid open. Keith quickly put his glove back on and turned to them.

They all stared at him in surprise. “How… how did you do that?” Shiro stared at him.

He turned back around, “We can… talk later. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here.”

While they were still curious, they accepted that response and began running down the hall.

“Ok,” Pidge glanced at the screen on her wrist, “I’m not exactly sure which of these rooms will have our weapons in them, so we will just have to check all of them.”

“Can you scan the room to see if there are any guards in there?” Lance asked.

She nodded, “I’m detecting four life signatures in this room.”

“How are we going to take out that many guards without our weapons?” Hunk asked miserably.

Before they could come up with a plan, they saw Keith get up, open the door, and storm into the room. They were about to go in after him when they heard the guards yelling in pain. A moment later, Keith walked back out. “All clear.” His hands and face were covered in blood. He tried to wipe some of it off on his sleeve but he only succeeded in smearing it.

“How did you…” Shiro gapped at him when they peeked into the room and saw the guards laying on the floor, covered in blood.

Before they had time to ask any more questions, Keith had moved on to the next door. They kept up this rhythm until they got to the last door.

“Ok…” Pidge pulled up the map. “Our weapons have to be in here. I’m detecting over a dozen life signatures.”

“Dude, there’s no way you can take them all by yourself.” Lance pleaded with him. Keith seemed… different. He had blood all over him, but he didn’t even seem to care.

He silently stood up and walked over to the door. This time though, the others joined him. they weren’t going to let him do this alone.

As soon as they opened the doors, the guards spotted them. They started firing at them, but the paladins were quickly able to find some cover. “Look!” Hunk pointed at a table against the opposite wall. “Our weapons are over there! We just need to distract them so we can go get them.”

“I…” they looked over at Keith who was hanging his head. “Don’t watch… ok? I… don’t want you to see… me…” they had no idea what he was talking about and watched as he jumped over their makeshift barricade.

Their eyes widened as they watched Keith in action. He moved with speeds that they had never seen him possess before. He scratched at the guard's left and right and left gaping wounds where he had touched them. Then, to their surprise, he jumped onto the back of one of them and bit them in the neck. They watched as the guard crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

“Keith…?” Shiro asked in shock.

Keith spit out a glob of blood and flesh before he looked over at him with tears in his eyes, “Sorry…”

Shiro slowly went over to him and wrapped him in a hug. “You don’t have anything to apologize for…” he gently tried to wipe some of the blood off of Keith’s face. “You saved us…”

“Guys, we need to go!” Pidge called, “There are more guards coming to our location.”

They all quickly grabbed their weapons, while Lance helped Shiro reattach his arm. Once they had everything, they ran towards their lions and made their way back to the castle. Keith shuttered as he pulled into the hanger. The thing he feared the most was finally happening… and he didn’t know if he would be able to take it…

Chapter Text

“Oh, thank heaven you all are alright!” Allura and Coran ran into the lounge where all of the paladins had collapsed as soon as they got back.

“Oh my! Keith are you alright?” Allura asked in concern when she saw that he was covered in blood.

“I’m alright…” they were surprised to hear him speak. He tried to wipe off some of the blood, but it wasn’t doing much good.

“Here…” Shiro left the room for a second, returning with a pitcher of water, a glass, and a towel. “Let me help you.” He first handed Keith the glass and filled it with a bit of water. Keith poured the water into his mouth, swished it around a bit, and spit it back into the cup. Allura and Coran were shocked to see that it had come back, stained red.

Shiro stared at the glass for a moment before chuckling. “I meant for you to drink that.”

“Oh…” Keith blushed and they all smiled at him. The others moved from where they had been sitting so that they were right next to Keith and Shiro.

Shiro took the damp towel and gently began to wash the blood from his face. Once he was finished, he moved to clean Keith’s hands but he pulled them back. Shiro gave him a confused look, “You’ll hate me…” he said with tears in his eyes.

“We won’t hate you.” Shiro and the others wrapped him in a hug. “I promise…”

Keith still didn’t seem sure, but he slowly held his hands out to Shiro. As the blood was wiped away, the others stared in awe as his claws were revealed. “So that’s why you’ve been wearing the gloves…” Hunk realized, and he nodded.

 “Why did you stop talking and eating with us?” Allura asked.

He looked down for a moment and took a deep breath before opening his mouth. Their eyes widened as they caught a glimpse of his fangs. “I didn’t want you to see them…” Shiro now understood why Keith’s voice sounded different. The fangs were giving him a sort of lisp when he said different syllables.

“How… how did this happen?” Lance asked in surprise. He just looked down.

“What were you hiding under your helmet?” Pidge asked.

He choked out a sob, “I… I can’t… once you know… you won’t want me to be a part of the team anymore…”

Shiro put his hand on his knee. “Keith, you’re our friend. You’re my little brother, there’s nothing that you can show us that will stop that. So why don’t you tell us everything…”

Keith met his eyes and let out a long sigh before he slowly removed his helmet. He didn’t dare look at them as he heard them gasp.

“You… you’re Galra…” Allura said in surprise.

“So that’s how you were able to open the doors…” Pidge realized.

“Wow…” Hunk just stared.

Lance chuckled, “You look like a cat!” everyone froze before they all started laughing, the tension in the room, immediately dissipating.

“I do not, look like a cat!” Keith glared at him.

“Sure, you do! You’ve got claws like a cat, teeth like a cat, and ears like a cat! We should just call you Kitty Keith.” He growled at him and bared his fangs, about to make a retort when… he froze…

“Wow…” Pidge giggled, “They’re so soft…”

Keith was physically incapable of keeping up his growl and instead melted under Pidge’s touch as she scratched him behind his ears. He couldn’t help himself as he leaned further into her touch and began purring.

“Oh, that’s adorable…” Hunk and the others chuckled.

“Ok… ok stop…” it took all of Keith’s willpower to finally pull his head away from her.

Lance smirked, “See? What did I tell you? Kitty Keith.” He growled at him again.

“When did all of this happen?” Shiro finally asked.

“One second…” he got up for a moment and ran off to his room. He came back a moment later with a box in his hands. “I…” he pulled out a small knife and showed it to them. “My dad gave me this… before he died. He said that it belonged to my mother, but I never knew what it meant.”

“That looks like the Blade of Marmora’s insignia…” Coran pointed out.

Keith nodded and willed the knife to extend into a blade. “I… when I went to talk to the Blades for the first time, I took my knife with me. they were upset that I had brought a weapon, and had broken our agreement. I wanted answers though, so they put me through a series of tests. When I passed… the knife extended into a blade. Kolivan said that that could only happen… if I was part Galra.”

“So, you’re mom…?” Hunk began.

Keith nodded, “Apparently, she was Galra. I still have no idea who she was though.”

“When did all of… this start happening?” Allura gestured to his ears.

“I… well… apparently…” he couldn’t keep himself from blushing, “Kolivan said that when Galra’s turn 19 they… go through… puberty…”

There was a short silence before Lance started laughing hysterically. “You went through two puberties?! That’s so funny!!!”

Keith glared at him, and his ears flattened a bit to look more threatening, “I could literally scratch your face off, right now.”

“Man, you’ve got a temper just like my cat back home.” He joked.

“Think over your next words, carefully.” He growled.

Lance rolled his eyes, “You know, I think I liked it better when he wasn’t talking.”

Shiro quickly stepped in to deescalate the situation. “Ok guys let’s settle down…” he looked over at Keith and took on a sad expression. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you through this…”

He looked down, “I… was afraid that you would hate me when you found out I was an alien. That I was… from the enemy…”

“Oh, Keith you dork…” Shiro wrapped him in a hug, “We would never hate you for something like that… You’re still our Keith. You just look a bit different now. But that’s ok because we still love you…”

“Really?” he said with hope, and Shiro nodded.

“Just because you are half Galra, doesn’t mean you are evil.” Allura continued. “The Blade of Marmora have taught me that. At first… I hated working with them. I didn’t trust them simply because they were Galra. But now… I’ve seen just how much good they have done for the universe. How much good you have done. Galra or not, you’re still our friend…”

Keith broke down, and everyone piled on top of him, reassuring him of how much they loved him. Kolivan was right. This did feel much better…

Chapter Text

“Hey guys, Hunk told me to come get you. Dinner’s ready.” Pidge peaked her head in at Shiro and Keith as they were playing a board game.

“Sounds good, thanks, Lance.” They both stood up and walked towards the dining room. It had now been a month since the team had found out about his being Galra, and Keith couldn’t be happier.

He was so afraid of keeping his secret, that he had drifted apart from them. But now, he was finally able to be himself again.

“Hey Kitty Keith, Hunk wants to know how you want your meat cooked.” Lance poked his head out of the kitchen.

Keith’s ears flattened and he glared at him, “Don’t call me that.”

“Ok Hunk, he wants it weeeeell done. Like completely burnt.” Lance called back.

“No…” Keith whined, and they all laughed.

Hunk stepped out of the kitchen, “I really doubt he said that. How do you really want it cooked Keith?”

He blushed, “Rare…” he was embarrassed, but no one made fun of him. early on, they had learned that after sense he went through his changes, Keith had a serious craving for meat, only he had been trying to suppress it. Coran told them though that meat was actually a huge stable in a Galra’s diet so it was unhealthy for Keith to go so long without eating it. After that, Hunk tried his best to make some for him as often as he could. Apparently, to Keith’s utter embarrassment, he also preferred it with more blood in it. But they didn’t mind. He was their friend and they still loved him.

After they ate, they went into the lounge to watch a movie. “Who’s turn is it to pick again?” Allura asked.

“I think it’s Keith’s turn.” Pidge supplied.

“No, I think it’s mine!” Lance rose his hand.

“No, it’s not.” Hunk immediately shot him down.

“Which movie would you like to watch, Keith?” Allura gestured to the box.

He leaned down and pulled out some old action movie. “This one looks good.”

Pidge put the DVD into the player, and they all got settled in to watch the movie. Keith sat on the couch curled into Shiro’s side between him and Pidge. Keith was in heaven, and could barely focus on the movie as they both gently scratched his ears, and played with his hair.

It had become his friend’s new favorite pastime to scratch his ears whenever they got the chance. Keith would have been annoyed… except for the fact that it felt absolutely heavenly every time they did it. There would be times that he would be in an argument with Lance, but someone would start petting him and he would completely forget what they had been arguing about. The ears really were his own, personal kryptonite.

“So soft…” Pidge continued to giggle as she pets him. all Keith could do was give a soft purr in response.

Shiro just smiled as he continued to scratch his other ear. “We love you buddy. And we’re never going to let you forget that again…”

Keith smiled to himself, as he slowly began to drift off to sleep. He didn’t know what he had done to get friends this great. But he knew he knew he was the luckiest human/Galra alive. He loved his friends, and they loved him. And no matter what, he knew that they would always have his back. He couldn’t have wished for any better friends in the whole universe. And they all felt the same way about him.