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The planet was, Keith realized when he ambled out of the Castle of Lions and into the open air, a lot like Earth. Blue sky, puffy white clouds, and thick tree cover hiding the floor of the valley they’d set down beside from their eyes. It was, according to Coran, a good place to let the castle ‘rest’ (Keith didn’t even want to ask what that might mean) and for them to resupply on water and things like that.
In the meantime the paladins were free to do what they want, which meant Lance had beelined to parts unknown, dragging a bemused Shiro along with him (Keith didn’t want to know about that either and prayed at night that he would never ever have to know), Pidge went right back to work on the Lions, and Keith.
Keith went outside.
He needed it, the open space and fresh air and a chance to not feel like he was a rat cornered in a very large maze. Not that that he had a problem with the castle itself, and it wasn’t really cramped, but sometimes he just needed to get out. Roaming around in space, trying to find their way back to something Coran and Allura knew while avoiding people who might want to kill them for whatever reason (ranging from not liking the way they looked to wanting the Lions) made things like time lose meaning. There was no night or day, no real way to keep time in a way that made sense to Keith.
He wasn’t even sure how long they’d been gone, in Earth time, and he couldn’t put a finger on why it mattered. It wasn’t like anyone was looking for him or waiting for his return. Shiro was all the family and the only friend he’d had for a very long time. He could never go back to Earth and no one would miss him. But he wondered anyway, wished he knew what day it was, what time, what month.
But it was easier when he got to put his feet down on the ground and breath air that hadn't been recycled a hundred times over. To feel wind and sun on his skin, maybe grass or dirt under his feet, be able to pretend that everything was still and quiet for a little while.
“Hey, Keith!” He frowned at the sound of his name being called but slowed his steps.
He’d found an old barely there path, probably made by animals if the uneven and slightly overgrown nature of it was anything to go by, leading into the valley and had decided to follow it. It had taken some time, he wasn’t sure how much, but he was glad he’d made the trip.
Up where the castle was it was hot and bright in a way that reminded him of that little cabin he’d been holed up in, but further down, beneath the thick canopy of trees, it was cool enough that Keith wished he’d worn his jacket and shaded. The ground felt soft, covered in a dense carpet of what he supposed were pine needles if pine needles were orange instead of green, but there was very little undergrowth. The sun pierced the leafy tree cover in some places, casting pools of light on the ground here and there and in those places bushes and flowers and patches of orange grass rose up, crowded together and stretching up towards the light, but for the most part it was empty, dim, and still.
Or had been. Now the heavy sound of hurried footsteps was all Keith could hear.
Hunk fell into step with him, smiling widely. He was sweaty, hair windblown As much as Keith wanted to be annoyed he couldn’t work up anything but a frown in Hunk’s direction. Getting angry with Hunk was basically impossible as far as Keith could tell. He’d tried but it seemed like Hunk’s worst trait was his shit taste in best friends (Lance) and considering that Keith’s best friend was...well, no, still not thinking about it. He wasn’t in a position to judge, was the point.
Hunk was just too damn nice and too sincere and too genuine to mad at, not even for intruding on his rare moment to be alone.
“Hope you don’t mind a little company.” Hunk said, smiling apologetically. “I wanted to see if there was anything down there that looked like it might be worth taking back to the castle and checking to see if was edible.”
Keith nodded, turning his attention back to the forest around him. He knew Hunk had some kind of ‘alien plant life’ hobby going on and had gone so far as to convert part of the castle in some sort of greenhouse full of his finds.
The food quality had gone up considerably, as had the amount of time Coran spent grumbling about nutrition over meals.
“Normally Lance comes with me but he and Sh-”
“Don’t.” Keith muttered, shaking his head. “Please.”
Hunk snorted but didn’t say anything else, for which Keith was grateful. This was another reason it was impossible to be annoyed with Hunk. If Shiro was here he would try to talk, ask how Keith was doing, how he was holding up, how he’d been while Shiro was gone, which was another thing Keith just didn’t want to talk about ever. (What was he going to say? That he’d been doing badly? That he’d lost his shit because he’d thought Shiro was dead, that he’d been so angry and spiraled so out of control that he’d been kicked out of the garrison, then he’d wandered into the desert to listen to space chatter and search for odd ‘energy pulses’?)
Lance would have tried to drown him with nonstop chatter, would harass and poke and goad Keith for the sake of his imaginary rivalry. Pidge would have chattered too, though it would have been about the Lions and Galra tech they’d salvaged and none of it would have been for the purpose of getting under Keith’s skin. But it would have.
Hunk was quiet, scanning the ground and trees, occasionally wandering off to scan and then pick something but always returning to Keith’s side after. After a while Keith started waiting for him, standing and watching as Hunk crouched down and carefully dug up plants that were deemed non-lethal, bundling up delicate roots and dirt in strips of cloth then dropping them in the pack he was carrying.
It was a strange kind of soothing watching Hunk work. Large blunt fingers were quick and deft as they moved dirt around and surprisingly gentle as he pulled the plants free, never bending any stems, ripping any leaves, or injuring the roots. He hummed, soft and tuneless, and it washed over Keith to become part of forest.
He barely noticed that it seemed to be getting darker and cooler out, willing to chalk it up to the sun starting to go down or moving to an area with thicker leaf coverage. He shivered, rubbing his bare arms against the slightly chill, then shook his head. Hunk was peering very seriously at a berry, consulting with a small handheld device that, supposedly, gave him an idea of what was safe to touch. His brows were furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line, and his fingers were dancing over the screen of the machine.
It was almost funny to see somehow looking so focused on tiny bright pink berries. He might have laughed because Hunk’s head swiveled around, dark eyes wide in surprise but, before either of them could speak, a deafening boom rang out.
Keith jumped away from the tree he was leaning against, fingers twitched towards his bayard, and Hunk scrambled to his feet. There was a flash of light, bright and illuminating the dim forest as if someone had thrown a flash grenade near them.
And then the sky opened up and water rushed down. There was almost no warning, just a few moments of water droplets gently pattering down to let them know something was coming. Keith saw Hunk straighten up, heard him call his name as he started walking away, but Keith was too busy staring up through the gap in the trees he was under. One moment there Keith was, head tilted back and watching that now ugly gray sky, and the next water was coming down in sheets. Keith stayed where he was for a moment.
He hadn’t seen rain, hadn’t felt it, since...well he wasn’t sure how long. But now here he was, water coming down hard around him, on him, pattering over his head and skin. It was...he didn’t know what it was. Nice. Familiar.
Something he’d missed in the castle with it’s perfect temperature and constant comfort.
“Keith!” Hunk shouted for him just as another boom, this one even closer and seeming to shake the ground, split the sky. He blinked, lashes already clumping together as water ran over his face, then squinted. For a second he couldn’t see anything, the lack of light and the strength the water was coming down making it so he could barely see more than a foot or two in front of him.
Another flash of lightning illuminated everything, casting a strange strobe like effect over the world, and he could see a large Hunk shaped shadow to his right. He ran after it, finding that if he stayed where the trees were thickest there wasn’t much rain at all.
Not that it mattered much. But the time he was huddling under a rocky outcropping with Hunk he was soaked through. They were on a smooth rock that was slightly elevated, he had no idea how Hunk had spotted it but he was grateful because already he could see puddles starting to form and spread when the lightning flashed.
“Wow.” Hunk said as he lowered himself down to sit on the rock. “I don’t...I don’t know if I thought we’d be seeing rain again. Is that weird?”
Keith couldn’t see Hunk’s face, it was officially dark as hell, but he heard something wistful and sad. Something familiar in a way he wished it wasn’t.
He didn’t say anything and neither did Hunk; he wasn’t sure the other teen had actually wanted a response at all. He flopped down, sighing as his clothes squished, and wrapped his arms around himself. The chill, now that he was sitting still and soaked through, was worse than he’d thought it would be.
The rain kept coming down, what felt like a long time passing with only the increasing cold and more spaced out thunder and lightning to mark the passage of time. When he started shivering he wanted to roll his eyes at himself. Great, just great. He couldn’t even enjoy being outside for a day without everything going wrong and falling apart.
A hand touched his shoulder. He tried to jerk away but Hunk’s hand, wide and long fingered and warm, squeezed him.
“You’re wet.”
“It is raining.” Keith deadpanned. “But thanks for letting me know. Must have slipped my notice.”
Hunk’s hand left his shoulder and Keith thought that would be the end of it. Hunk was good for knowing when to back off and just let him fume silently, a skill he wished the others would pick up.
He heard shuffling and the sound of something scraping over the ground. He tried to peer through the darkness, saw the large shadowy form that was Hunk moving around, arms raising up and
“What are you doing?”
“Taking off my shirt.” Hunk said it casually, as if there was nothing strange at all about doing so. “Take off your clothes.”
Keith jerked back in alarm, breath catching in his throat. “What?”
“You’re wet and cold. I’m dry. If you take my shirt you’ll be less wet and might start to warm up.” Hunk explained, patient as always. “I’ve got some...well, ripped up towels, that I was using for the plants. You can use them to dry off some.”
Keith shook his head, spraying water around their small safe haven. “No! I’m not...that’s stupid. You’ll be cold, for one-”
“Nope. I’ve got a t-shirt and my vest.”
Keith scowled. “And I’m not taking off my clothes!”
Hunk was quiet for a moment then, softly. “I won’t look.”
Keith sputtered. It wasn’t about Hunk looking, it wasn’t like they could see anything, it was...it was....he just didn’t want to. It was stupid. Besides, he’d been the one to stand in the rain, gaping like he’d lost his mind, so he deserved this.
“C’mon.” Hunk prodded his shoulder with a finger. “Just do it. If we go back and Shiro finds out I let you sit out freezing he’ll make me run the invisible maze with Lance as my partner for a week.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to argue that Shiro wouldn’t do that. The older paladin was too busy dealing with Lance these days, doing whatever it was they did, and it wasn’t...Keith didn’t care. Shiro was happier, less high strung and on edge, actually looked like he slept some nights, like Lance was somehow getting him to relax and that was great. Sort of.
Keith didn’t want to think about it.
Either way, he doubted Shiro even noticed he’d left nor would he notice if he came back dripping water everywhere.
Lightning lit up the sky and their little alcove again and, for a few seconds, Keith was looking at Hunk who was looking at him, eyes locked. He looked focused and determined and, fuck Keith’s life, sincere.
Arguing with a Hunk who’d already made up his mind to do something for someone else was like trying to physically move one of the lions with nothing but his hands. Hunk had more than proven that he wasn’t easily swayed from a path. Though, of course, that had been about Shay, who Hunk clearly cared about a lot, and her people’s lives. Keith being a little wet and cold wasn’t on that level.
“Or maybe he’ll ban me from the kitchen. Or make me eat Coran’s food. Keith, please-”
“Fine.” He huffed, rolling his eyes. “If you’ll be quiet.”
Hunk agreed and, a moment later, a handful of rags was dropped between them. Hunk shuffled around, making a show of turning his back to Lance. Ridiculous, it wasn’t like there was anything Hunk hadn’t seen before in the communal showers back at the garrison. Keith sighed then pulled his shirt off, cringing as it peeled away from his skin. He started to reach for one of the rags, wondering what good they could actually do, when Hunk spoke up again.
“Pants too. Or else you’ll just be sitting in a puddle.”
Keith hesitated then stood up to push his pants off. Hunk was right, there wasn’t any point in doing this if he just ended up still wet from the waist down. All he would end up doing is getting Hunk’s shirt soaked too. And it wasn’t like it was a big deal or anything. No different than being in the locker room.
Aside from the dark and the dull roar of the rain, trapping them in their little alcove, and that it was just him and Hunk, not an entire class of guys and-
Totally the same. His shoes, socks, and pants joined the sodden pile that his shirt had started. He paused again then, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Hunk was still looking elsewhere, skimmed off his boxers too. The air was cold, goosebumps rose up just about everywhere and certain parts of his anatomy were doing their best to shrink up near his body. He shivered again then grabbed the rags and started toweling off as best he could, dropping them into the pile when he was done.
“Um-”
Something warm brushed his skin; he jumped then, realizing that Hunk was holding his shirt out, but still looking the other way, snatched it. He tugged it on, biting back a sigh when it settled into place. The neck was a bit wide, sliding down onto one of his shoulders, the sleeves went past his fingertips, the shirt was wide and billowy, and the hem fell to about mid thigh. He knew he must have looked stupid.
He was practically drowning in Hunk’s shirt and he should have seen it coming. Hunk was a big guy, not much taller than Keith, but...well, big. He remembered there had been guys who’d given Hunk shit for it and that Hunk had always shrugged and laughed it off, never outwardly ruffled. He also remembered that, even then, he’d been a little impressed because Hunk was about as in shape as most of the recruits were, stronger than most, quicker than most in their engineering classes. He could have been a jerk if he wanted to, one of the bullies instead of the bullied but Hunk has always seemed happier to keep his head down and try to keep his idiot friend (Lance) in line.
He brushed aside the memories, unsure of why he was even thinking about his time at garrison, hadn’t he told himself he was going to forget about all of it when he’d been kicked out, then looked around for a spot to sit. The rock wasn’t all that big and, between the puddle he’d already started and the pile of clothes next to it, there wasn’t really anywhere to sit.
Hunk’s hand wrapped around his wrist and, before Keith could figure out what he was doing, the bigger teen yanked him down. He landed with an oomph more or less in Hunk’s lap, stupid shirt fluttering up like a skirt and then settling high on his thighs. He felt himself flushing.
“What the fuck?” He snapped as he wrenched his arm away and reached to yank the shirt back into a decent position. That done he tried to push himself up and away from Hunk.
“I’m keeping you warm.” Hunk said, tone deliberately mild as his arm snaked around Keith’s waist to pull him back so his back was pressed against Hunk’s chest. His legs were crossed and Keith settled into the small hollow between his thighs, his own bare legs out in front of them. “Don’t want you getting cold and getting sick. Can’t form Voltron if you’re sick.”
Keith twisted around to glare up at Hunk and tell him to stop fucking around...only to realize just how close they were. He could see his face now, see the slight smile on his lips, feel his warm breath drifting over his face. And, more than that, feel how warm Hunk actually was. Which was to say very. Almost hot in comparison to how cold Keith was. He was tempted, just for a second, to lean in and let himself soak in that warmth.
Hunk’s other arm came around him, wrapped him up in what was basically a hug and Keith’s brain choose that moment to fall apart. Instead of spitting and cursing, because Keith didn’t sit in people's laps and he didn’t let people hug him or get close to him like this or offer him their shirts and this was all wrong, he just sat, ramrod straight and shivering, enveloped in Hunk’s arms. He couldn’t really move and his arms were essentially pinned at his side and he hated things like that, being trapped.
But this wasn’t really like being trapped, was it? Hunk would let him go if he asked and...he was hard, but soft, holding Keith close and it was just
No one did this. Shiro had hugged him on occasion, and there had been that cuddly alien with the deep voice, but none of the foster parents he’d bounced around between ever had and certainly not the parents who’d left him when he was an infant. He couldn’t fathom why Hunk was. People didn't...do this. He didn't know what he was supposed to do back.
Hunk squeezed him lightly. “Relax.”
Keith slept with a knife under his pillow, ready to grab it and use it at a moment’s notice. He didn’t relax, not really. He didn’t know how, never had, and it had only gotten worse after Shiro had ‘died’. He didn’t know what to do around these people, his team-his friends-half the time. He knew he wanted them around, trusted them and liked them, but he didn’t know how to be close to them like they were with each other.
Hunk’s forehead touched the back of his head. “ Relax .”
Keith gritted his teeth, squirmed, and sighed loudly but also let himself press back into Hunk some, commanded his muscles to unwind just a little.