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Keith bleeds blue.
He's known his whole life; in fact, he didn't know it wasn't normal until he was 8. Until he was with his new Foster family, and he skinned his knee.
They didn't even give him a dressing before calling his social worker and sending him back.
He learnt to hide it after that, but it usually got revealed after he 'got into a fight' (read: someone tried to beat him up, and he responded in kind). The families would send him back after that. Except for one memorable family that tried to exorcise him.
(And one particular Foster mum who bled him until she had bottles upon bottles of his blood lining her kitchen counter.
That's how he discovered he can bleed for a lot longer than most people.
It takes him a lot longer to pass out from blood loss.)
It's been useful, on occasion. But mostly it's just irritating.
Lance:
Lance knows, from a large amount of staring, studying and daydreaming that keith has cool toned skin. It's pale, and almost creamy, and so ridiculously flawless-
And the blood vessels stand out like a scarecrow in a field of corn.
They're almost purple, honestly; it's so dramatic, and lance used to make fun of him for it behind his back. Recently, though he's seen a different side of keith, the one that smiles shyly at him and leans into physical contact, and lance has stopped making fun of anything actually mean.
The veins in Keith's wrists can be seen all the way to the top of his arms, and the ones in his eyelids can be seen quite easily when his eyes are shut.
(Lance only realised that recently, when he ran into keith in the middle of the night, and he admitted to wearing concealer to hide it. Whatever keith saw in lances gaze was enough that he hasn't worn it since.)
The point is, Keith's skin is cool, and his veins are very noticeable. And lance thinks that's cool! He thinks it's interesting, and neat, and pretty in a very non-gay way.
Because he doesn't have a crush on keith.
(He can admit he's bisexual easily, but he refuses to admit that it was keith who made him realise.)
The thing about it is that lance never thought to ask why.
I mean, it seems obvious; he's cool toned, it's some fun genetics, whatever.
But once he's witnessed keith blushing purple (goddamn adorable galra genes. It was cute, and so unfair!) He starts to think about it more.
Is Keith's blood red?
He doesn't think he's ever seen keith bleeding; if he's covered in blood then it's blue, the colour of the galra's blood.
Except keith is galra.
So his blood might be blue, too.
Which is honestly a horrifying thought, because keith has never been in a pod, so who knows how many unhealed, untreated injuries he's tried to hide from them?
That makes lance determined to check up on him more.
After their next mission, he'd go and check on keith, and manhandle him into a pod if he must.
***
The next mission comes sooner than lance is expecting, and he gets his chances absoloutely ruined in a way that still fulfills his curiosities. Not that he's paying much attention to them, since KEITH HAS A KNIFE STICKING OUT OF HIS THIGH!!!!!!!!!
So lance is stressed, and keith is in shock, and somewhere, distantly, once they get back to the blue lion (lance has never been more thankful for the autopilot feature) he realises that he was right, and keith is bleeding blue.
He's still conscious though- he's clearly experiencing symptoms of blood loss, but its taken a lot longer than lance would expect.
'How are you still upright?'
He didn't really mean to say it out loud, it was jusy that his brain to mouth filter wasn't really working. He wasn't expecting an answer, but he gets one anyway.
'Takes... longer. Can bleed for almost an hour before I pass out. More, if the injury isn't too bad. Think it's related to the colour.'
Lance half nods. Yes, that would make-
wait.
'How do you know that?!'
Keith slumps to the side, and lance realises that he's finally passed out.
Which, if keith is to be believed, is a very bad thing, because he should be able to bleed for another 40 minutes or so before he passes out from blood loss. Lance has already told coran they'll need a pod, but he's about to contact the castle about this new development when suddenly blue is flying into her hangar and he's stumbling down the ramp with keith on his back, and then they're in the medbay and keith is muttering something about saving it?
And then keith is in a pod and hunk is hugging him and hes- oh, he's supposed to be breathing.
He focuses on that for a second.
When he can breathe again, hunk turns to him.
'Did you know Keith's blood is blue?'
'Well... I thought about it. But I didn't know for sure until the idiot went and got himself stabbed!'
Shiro gives him a reprimanding look from where he's standing next to the pod Keith's in.
'Don't call him an idiot when he can't defend himself lance. And hunk, you can ask keith about it when he gets out of the pod. Back off if he doesn't take it well though, I doubt something like blue blood with the amount of fights keith got into ever resulted in anything except trouble.'
Hunk:
Hunk can honestly say he's never put much thought into what colour keith bleeds.
Other than his initial reaction to keith being galra, he honestly hasn't put much thought into any ways keith might be different to them in terms of anatomy.
(Other than lances rants, which he tries to tune out. He doesn't need to think about that, thanks.)
So when lance stumbles into the medbay with keith (with a... is that a KNIFE IN HIS THIGH?) ready to go in a pod, he's not really thinking about whether Keith's blood is blue. It's only once keith is in the pod and he's calming lance down that he realises the liquid all over his hands isn't red, but a bright shade of cobalt blue.
He turns to lance.
'Did you know Keith's blood is blue?'
'Well... I thought about it. But I didn't know for sure until the idiot went and got himself stabbed!'
Shiro sighs from next to the pod, but he gives hunk permission to ask keith about it anyway.
***
And hunk does.
When keith gets out of the pod, his clothes are still stained blue from all the blood, and he's clearly still a little off, because the first thing he asks is 'do you have a jar?'
Which is confusing.
So hunk asks 'why?'
And keith visibly starts to say something, before catching himself and shrinking a little bit.
'Never mind, it doesn't matter. Is lance OK?'
Hunk rolls his eyes.
They're a match made in heaven, they truly are, with the way they will completely disregard their own safety to check on the other.
'Lance is fine; he had a panic attack but once he calmed down he was completely OK. No injuries or anything.'
Keith nods.
'I have to apologise to him.'
What?
'No you- keith- why?'
Keith turns to him, looking confused.
'I bled out all over him. My bloods blue. It's not very pleasant to get fucking blue blood all over you!'
Keith seems more upset by this than he probably should, so hunk decides to postpone the 'why-is-your-blood-blue' conversation until he's reassured keith that lance will not need an apology.
'I don't think he cared about the blood keith. He was honestly more irritated you took a dagger for him- but he has also recognised he probably would have died if you hadn't, so he's come to terms with it. Mostly.'
Keith seems to consider that.
'He didn't complain about my blood?'
'What? No! We were all way too worried about you to really think about that. Although, you know, I would like to know if you knew...? About the blue blood thing...? But clearly you do, so...'
Keith lowers his head.
'I did. Its not something I really bring up if I can help it. People tend to be... unsettled by it. They don't keep me around for much longer once they find out.'
And if that isn't the worst thing hunks ever heard.
'Well, we aren't planning on getting rid of you any time soon. Ever, in fact. Actually, I think lance would try to stab me if I even suggested it. And we've been friends since we were seven, so it's a big deal.'
Hunk knows he's rambling. But keith needs to know they aren't going to... send him away, or whatever it is he's thinking they're going to do.
He was going to ask further, but he has some semblance of social senses, so he decides that that's enough for today.
'Hey keith, could you go and check on pidge? She disappeared when you got in. I think she's working herself down because she's worried about you, so if you could just go and let her know you're alive...?'
The request is tentative at best, but keith shoots out of the medbay with speed hunk could never summon up, let alone after a day (a quintant?) In a pod.
Pidge:
Pidge cares about everyone aboard the castle ship.
Even though she attempted to distance herself, she's ended up loving them as a sort of pseudo-family, since her own family is scattered across space in unknown places, and keith is no exception.
When lance had first pulled him out of the lion, she hadn't realised that the blue galra blood all over him was his.
Then she noticed the knife in his thigh, and how lance was carrying him rather than just supporting him, and just how pale he was, and she remembered that he had galra blood and-
It would appear that his 'galra blood' was more literal than any of them realised.
And so she ran away and buried herself in her latest project, and she didn't think about keith.
It didn't occur to her until later that keith must have known his blood was blue, that he hadn't told them, that he'd returned from missions with blue on him before, blue that they'd never questioned because it was the blood of their enemies.
But it was the blood of their friend too.
And pidge was left wondering just how many times keith had had to wrap up injuries by himself, why he'd never said anything.
It hurt a surprising amount to realise keith might not trust them as much as they thought.
But it would be OK, and keith would be out of the pod soon, and-
'Pidge?'
And there! There's keith. He must be out of the pod, or possibly she's hallucinating.
'Yeah?'
Keith pops his head around her door.
'Oh good, you're in here. Hunk said to let you know I'm alive, but I left before he could tell me where you are, so I had to guess.'
Pidge wonders why he was in such a hurry to leave.
Keith comes and sits next to her.
They do this sometimes, she'll work on a project and keith will come and sit with her in companionable silence, and it's nice.
Today, though, there's something on her mind.
'Keith...'
'Yeah?'
'Why didn't you tell us your blood is blue? What if lance hadn't seen you be hurt, and we just thought it was a an enemy galra's blood?'
Keith sucks in a breath.
'I don't like telling people. A lot of people have... ostracised me for it. They find it unsettling. Or occasionally they get greedy, and thats worse. And it's a reminder that I'm... not entirely human. I was scared before I knew I was galra, and once I knew I didn't want to remind anyone. You've all suffered so much at the hands of the galra, I didn't want to be a reminder of things everyone's lost.'
(She files away the 'makes people greedy' to think about at a later date)
That... makes sense.
It's such a keith thing to think; so selfless it's self sacrificing, so kind he hurts himself.
It makes her want to cry.
She sniffs before she can help it.
Keith turns to her quickly in alarm.
'Pidge?'
She throws her arms around him.
He freezes for a second, then tentatively puts his arms around her, too.
'You scared me,' she says in a small voice. 'I thought it was ok because it was all galra blood and then I realised it was your blood and there was so much of it and-' she breaks herself off, taking a deep breath. 'I really don't want to lose you, keith. I've lost one brother already, and that's quite enough.'
Keith's arms tighten around her.
'You won't lose me, Katie. I promise.'
Shiro:
Shiro has known keith for years.
He's gone from the uppity little kid with amazing sim scores, to his sort-of-apprentice-cadet who's beating all his records, to his sassy little brother whom he loves with all his heart.
The fact that keith is galra hasn't changed that, although shiro knows that Keith's abandonment issues are bad enough to immediately jump to that conclusion, so he's not terribly surprised when it turns out that keith has some galra traits he's been hiding from the rest of the team.
Hinestly, he's most impressed keith managed to hide his blood at the garrison, given the amount of fights he was in. Maybe that's why he was always so desperate to win.
What doesn't make sense, is how he keeps trying to keep it.
It's not a fully conscious motion, but he goes to try and catch the blood; not stop it, but catch it. Lance mentioned that he knew he could go about an hour before passing out from blood loss, and hunk said keith had asked for a jar when he came out of the pod. It isn't painting a pretty picture.
The other day, he cut his finger in the kitchen and he held it over a plate until hunk rushed over to help him clear it up, and wrap it in a tissue.
Maybe shiros jumping to conclusions; but he knows keith has had some bad experiences with Foster parents.
(Come to think of it, he bets this is the reason for the exorcism.)
He knows keith has dabbled in petty crime before.
He knows keith refuses to talk about his years in the Foster system.
The combination of these things is making him grow tense, so he decides to talk to keith about it.
***
He finds keith on the training deck.
It's unsurprising, but inadvisable. Shiro drags him out and stands with his hands on his hips.
'The training deck? Really keith? You got stabbed less than a day ago!'
Keith pouts at him.
'I was bored! There isn't exactly a lot to do on here if you don't want to talk to people. All the books are in altean!'
Shiro pauses. That's actually a very good point.
'Still! Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about.'
Keith sighs.
'This is about the whole blue blood thing isn't it? I didn't tell you because I was scared, shiro. It was stupid. I've already had three separate lectures on it, and I'm sorry.'
Shiro shakes his head slightly.
'It is about your blood, but not that. I was just... you always try to collect it?'
Keith freezes, and shiro moves a bit so the corridor is available, so keith has an escape route and isn't trapped.
'It's... I'm...'
He's really pale, now.
'You don't have to tell me. I just wanted to make sure you were OK?'
'Do the rest of the team know? Have they noticed?'
Shiro shakes his head again.
'I don't think so.'
Keith sighs in relief.
'It's kind of a fucked up story. I don't really like to talk to about it. I don't... I didn't think it would be useful to share, and I didn't want to freak anyone out...'
'You don't have to tell anyone.'
Shiro repeats.
'I... I want you to know. I just... I don't know how to tell you. It's hard...'
Shiro nods.
'We could use the mind meld?'
Keith tenses up again.
'It could just be us, the others don't have to see,'
Keith considers it.
'Do you think... they'd appreciate it? I don't... I think I'd like them to understand, at least. But it's really... really graphic.'
'I think the others would be honoured that you trust them. If you want to share, you can ask them about it. If they decide not to, they can always refuse.'
Keith nods, more firmly this time.
'I'll go and grab the others.'
Keith:
Keith sits in the lounge, with the others around them. They all agreed to do it, even though he warned them it wouldn't be pleasant. He'd also told them it might trigger a ptsd attack, so they would know to deal with it.
They all have the mind melds on already.
Keith takes a deep breath and slips his on.
He was standing in a room.
It was mom's old room.
He hated calling her that. She's not his fucking mom. She's just some bullshit Foster mom. If he thought his social worker would care, he'd call him in a second.
'Keith! Get your bitchass down here! Useless child!'
He made his way downstairs.
The bottles were lined up on the counter, the way they always were.
'Do you want to do this, or should I?'
Keith took the knife she offered him. He made cleaner cuts than she did.
He held out his arm, and lined it up with the bowl.
He slashed across the veins around his elbow, creating a cut where the blood bubbled up thickly.
It clotted though.
Too quickly.
'Did you take your meds? Keith?'
His breathing quickened. Got shallower.
'Keith! I make you do one thing? And you can't even get that right? Can't even take the fucking blood thinners? I guess you'll just have to cut deeper!'
His breath hitched in fear.
'Well?'
He cut deeper.
The blood flowed out, and mom grabbed his arm to hold the cut open.
'You know this pays for your food. This pays for your life! The Foster people don't give me shit, that's why I have to bleed you. You'd have thought you'd at least make it easy!'
That wasn't true, keith thought, as the blood bubbling in his arm steadily flowed out, distancing him from the world. The reason she bled him was because the money they gave her to keep him went to drugs.
This money payed for food, but not really for him.
Mostly, she spent it on stuff she didn't need.
It made a lot of money. The black market is nothing to joke about. 'Octopus blood' is valuable ingredient for... something. And Keith's blood is such a similar shade, it sold for a lot.
He came back to himself for a dizzying second, unsure of how much time had passed, before his eyes rolled back and he passed out from blood loss.
When he came to, he wasn't in mom's kitchen anymore.
He was out in the desert, several years later.
He ached at the memory of the failed kerberos mission, and he pushed it back in his mind.
He needed to make money somehow, and this would make money. Lots of it.
He still had black market contacts from all those years ago, and he still had blood he could sell.
He needed to eat after all.
So he held out his arm above the bottle, and slashed at the elbow, adding another scar to the hundreds of already healed ones there.
The blood flowed freely, thinner because of the meds he had taken.
It filled the bottle before he passed out, and he grabbed a dirty towel to staunch the blood, before slapping a pre-prepared dressing over it.
He eyed the bottle of blue liquid, mentally calculating how much he could get for a litre.
He had to make money somehow.
Keith pulls off the mind meld, breath coming shallow.
He hears voices, distantly.
Feels a hand on his arm.
Flinches away, violently.
Fingers in his hair.
His fingers.
Pulling.
He takes a deep breath in and relaxes each of his fingers, one by one. He lets his hands fall away from his head, instead running them across his shoulders and down the opposite arm. He folds them over his chest, and opens his eyes.
When did he close his eyes?
The other paladins peer at him, worried.
He sniffs.
Shiro is the first to move forwards, and he hugs keith.
Keith just lays his head on his brothers shoulder and cries.
One by one, each of the paladins join them, surrounding them in a group hug.
Keith stops crying long enough to smile.