#protective lance

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Lance wiped his eyes as the door hissed open behind him, pulling his jacket a bit tighter around him. “Sorry Coran, I’ll be going to bed soon.” 

There was no verbal response, no footsteps sounding closer to him. He turned quickly, his heart beating faster at the idea of an enemy behind him. His eyes fell on Keith, who stood a bit awkwardly by the door. His body a mixture of tense and relax, almost as if part of him wanted to turn around and bolt and the other part wanted to stay. 

Lance sighed, “sorry I thought you were Coran,” he turned back around, resting his chin on the top of his knees. His eyes focused more on the stars above, twinkling in the sky. He pushed the intrusive thoughts out of his mind. The thoughts that would force him to figure out how far away they were from Earth. Thoughts that’s wouldn’t stop until he was shaky where he sat; the feeling of helplessness consuming him. 

No sounds were made by the red paladin and Lance found himself borderline obsessing over why he decided he needed to be in the same observation deck as Lance. 

He didn’t have to dwell to long on the ‘whys’, his thoughts running away as Keith cleared his throat. “Can I sit with you?” 

“Yeah,” his voice was hardly above a whisper. He swallowed around the dryness in his throat, wiping his eyes once more. 

Keith hesitantly stepped closer, taking a seat a couple of feet away from Lance. His face was up towards the glass ceiling, Lance could faintly make out the stars in his eyes.  

Lance dragged his eyes back up, silently naming the constellations he created. He forced himself to keep naming them, imagining a dotting line connecting each star. But the thoughts began to swim into focus, repeating that he was never going to get home. His family wasn’t waiting for him, they had already mourned him and moved on. He was never going to get back to Earth. If he ever did, he would be in a box. 

How long had it been? How old was Veronica now? He missed Rachels graduation didn’t he? How was mama doing? Was she feeling better? Did papa ever retire? He took a deep breath, trying to breath through the constant questions. He closed his eyes counting backwards from 10 in his mind. 

“Are you okay?” Keith’s voice was hesitant, concern rolling off it. He seemed unsure of what to say. 

Lance gave a small nod, rubbing the skin under his eyes with his jacket sleeve.  He bite his bottom lip as his skin burned, borderline rubbed raw. “Yeah, just...Earth is really far away y’know?” 

Keith kept his eyes at the stars, “yeah.” 

Lance looked down at his knees, wrapping his arms around them. “Do you miss it? Earth I mean.” 

Keith didn’t respond for a moment, his eyes remaining still. “I don’t really think of it I guess. No much is waiting for me.” 

Lance made a small humming noise. This conversation was defiantly different than when Coran joined him. Coran would share stories of his youth, stories of Altea, stories of his family. 

“Who’s waiting for you?” 

Lance gave a small chuckle. “You don’t need to listen to me talk about my family.” He looked at his fellow paladin, “why are you here anyways?” 

Keith looked at him briefly, his eyes going back to the unmoving stars. “Couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to be alone.” 

Lance didn’t respond, and he returned his gaze back to his knees. “Happy to help I guess.” 

Keith cleared his throat again, “I don’t mind hearing about your family. I think it would be good for team bonding or whatever.” 

Lance found himself slightly smiling, “okay mullet. It’s a big family.” 

Keith gave a breathy laugh, “lay it on me.” 

Lance did. He told him about his mom and her home cooked meals. She was a nurse and the sweetest person he had ever met in his life. He talked about his dad and how hard working he was. He was a college professor teaching chemistry, unless he hadn't retired yet. 

Marco studies biology in college and he was starting rotations in med school the year Lance left. Luis was married to Lisa and they had two kids together; Nadia and Sylvio. Luis worked in business doing something Lance never understood while Lisa was a first grade teacher. Nadia wanted to be an actor when she grew up and Sylvio wanted to be a dancer. 

Veronica worked for the Garrison and was his main inspiration for applying himself. She worked in the analytic side, another complicated job he didn’t fully understand. And finally there was Rachel. She was still undecided with her major in college but she liked animals. She was probably going to do zoology or something. 

He took a deep breath, realizing how long he had been rambling. He glanced over at his teammate, expecting to see a look of annoyance. Keith’s eyes were closed, his face relaxed. He sat back on his hands, his head rolling back slightly. 

“Did you fall asleep on me?” 

Keith hummed, “no, just trying to imagine you being the youngest.” He opened his eyes and brought his head forward again. “Is it stressful being part of a big family?” 

Lance shrugged, “it’s all I’ve ever known. I liked the loud house. As the others grew up and moved out the quiet bothered me.” 

“I’ve only really known the quiet.” 

Lance grinned, “what? I couldn’t tell.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, “shut up.” 

They sat in the silence for a bit, Lance’s mind slowly easing up on him. It felt good to talk about his family. 

“You’re going to see them again. I promise.” 

Lance blinked a couple of times, trying to let the words sink in, “thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

Lance hugged his knees again, “thank you for letting me talk about them. It felt nice.” 

“Anytime. They sound like a loving family.” 

“Yeah,” he took a deep breath. 

Keith adjusted where he sat, his eyes moving from the floor to the ceiling to Lance’s shoes. 

Lance raised his eyebrow at him, “did you get bit by something? Why are you squirming like an insect under a microscope?” 

Keith released a breath Lance didn’t even know he was holding. “I um...I’m not very good at this okay.” 

Lance nodded slightly. 

Keith took another deep breath before making his eyes land on Lance’s shoes. “Do you need a hug? Or like want a hug?” 

Lance felt a smile tug at his lips, “yeah Keith. That would be nice.” He stood, waiting for Keith to follow his lead. Keith stumbled up, his eyes still moving around the room as if he was searching for an enemy. 

Lance took a step closer, Keith shuffling forward a bit. Lance opened his arms, letting Keith move closer at his own pace. He eventually stepped close enough, letting Lance wrap his arms around him. 

It took a couple of moments but Keith’s arms slowly wrapped around Lance, his fingers curling into his shirt. 

Lance placed his chin on top of Keith’s head, pulling him in a bit closer. He missed human contact. Keith tighten his own grasp, his shoulder shaking ever so slightly. 

Lance closed his eyes, shifting his head so his cheek was against Keith’s head. His eyes opening when he heard a small noise escape from Keith’s mouth. He pulled back quickly, as much as he could from the other boys grasp. “Keith? Are you okay?” He did his best to keep his voice low and quiet, trying to push down the frenzy feeling blooming in his chest. 

Keith pulled away from him quick enough to make Lance stumble backwards a bit. “Sorry I uh,” he met his eyes briefly, “I need to go,” he headed towards the door. Nearly tripping over his own feet. 

Lance watched the other boy leave, confusion plaguing every aspect of his being. He knew he should leave it be. He should just sit here and look at the stars more or head to bed himself. He told himself that he was heading back to his room, not Keith’s.  They just happen to have rooms next to each other but he was still heading to his room. 

He raised his hang and knocked hesitantly on Keith’s door; cursing himself out. He should just go to bed. Give Keith his space, he obviously needed space. He thought back to Keith’s eyes. How wide with worry they were, he looked almost scared. He knocked again. 

“This is stupid” he began to turn on his leg, he needed to go to bed. The door hissed opened, a blanket wrapped around Keith. “I uh, sorry you left so fast I didn-” 

Keith reached forward and grabbed the front of his shirt. He dropped his grasp almost as quickly as he grabbed it. “Sorry, I um,” 

Lance frowned slightly, “can I come in?” 

Keith looked around, Lance could tell he wanted to say no, maybe he wanted to shove him away and tell him off. But he did none of that, bobbing his head a bit before stepping aside. 

Lance entered quickly, letting the door close behind him. “Keith what is going on?” 

“I don’t know,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “What did you do to me?” 

Lance tilted his head slightly, “what do you mean?” 

Keith sat on the edge of his bed, his foot tapping a hole into the floor. “I um,” he cleared his throat again, blinking away the excess water that was forming. 

“Was it the hug?” 

Keith looked at him, the hint of fear still in his eyes. 

Lance took a deep breath, trying to think of what to do. Maybe Keith really hates hugs, he wasn’t a touchy feely guy. “Keith, I am thankful for the hug. I’m sorry you felt the need to do something like that when you weren’t comfortable with it.” 

Keith looked at the ground, his foot still moving. “I’ve hugged others before but I never felt like that before.” 

Lance hummed in confusion, “I don’t know what you mean.” 

Keith met his eyes, the hint of purple captivating Lance’s ocean eyes. “Safe.” 

“Oh,” Lance looked down at Keith’s shoes, “um happy to help?” 

“I got scared.” Keith’s voice was quiet, hardly above a whisper. 

“That’s understandable.” 

“I felt vulnerable, I...” Keith’s voice trailed off. 

“You didn’t like it?” 

Keith shook his head slightly, “a part of me wished I didn’t.”

“Well I got more where that came from so just say the word mullet.” Lance laughed, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Can I have another one?” Keith’s face appeared a bit flushed, this was clearly out of his comfort zone. 

Lance smiled, “of course.” He allowed Keith to take his time, standing up and approaching him. Keith kept his hands in front of him as Lance wrapped his own arms around him. He pulled him close, humming a random tune, hoping the vibration in his chest would add additional comfort. 

He tightened his arms more as Keith shook a bit, small gasp escaping his mouth. Lance fought back a frown but he couldn’t ignore how heavy his chest felt. He had never experience Keith crying before. He didn’t know the correct ways to comfort him. 

He allowed his thumbs to circle on Keith’s back. He mumbled comforting words into Keith’s ear, allowing him to feel any emotion he needed to feel. 

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Inner child issues? Don’t know her

I’m so glad I finally got around to writing this :’) 

With his arms slung over either boy’s shoulders and their hands hoisting his hips up by the supply pack on his utility belt, they made their way to the med bay relatively quickly, a feat of which was only possible because at some point Keith had stopped trying to keep up and allowing himself to be dragged was surprisingly a lot faster.

The whooshing of the med bay doors after what felt like an enternity was what startled Keith into opening his eyes again.

“Oh, hey guys...” Shiro said, sparing only a partial glance their way before continuing to pour over Pidge with Coran and Allura. She was awake and fighting the helping hands.

No one seemed to notice Keith’s prone form held up entirely by his friends who stood frozen in the doorway, a bit at a loss for how to proceed.

“I think I’m fine, guys! Seriously. All that’s left is already half healed and not nearly deep enough to warrant a freaking pod!”

“Maybe, but you still lost a lot of blood that will need to be repelenished...” Coran pointed, his mustache twitching as he attempted to convey the necessity of the percaution and failed.

Keith’s legs hadn’t been contributing much to the effort of keeping him standing but admittedly had some part in it because the longer they remained where they stood the more they seemed to melt into jelly.

The adrenaline had almost entirely worn off by then, leaving his body buzzing as the pain slowly intensified.

“G-guys...” Keith whispered weakly, his voice was barely audible.

“What’s—“

“Need to sit... like now...” he managed before his legs were wobbling dangerously, suddenly devoid of all the strength that remained in them.

“Alright, that’s okay. Over there, Lance,” Hunk assured, his injured leg completely useless as he transferred even more of Keith’s weight onto his hip to make up the difference while they ushered him towards one of the chairs across the room.

“Uhhhh, how much longer you guys gonna be with Pidge?” Lance questioned nervously once they’d settled Keith down, his heart clenching with fear for how grey his face had gotten, his hands never leaving his drawn up shoulders out of fear of what would happen if he did.

Hunk was already across the room tearing apart medicine cabinets for the burn cream he’d mentioned and Keith was finding it increasingly difficult to support his own body weight.

“Woah! Okkay—that’s okay, just lean against me,” Lance offered when Keith couldn’t keep himself from swaying as he narrowly avoided leaning back against the chair, nearly tilting out of it before Lance righted him and guided his head to lean against his hip.

“We’ll be done as soon as Pidge stops being difficult... why?” Shiro asked, his eyes still scanning the partially mended slash across the smaller girl’s stomach.

“Just uh, Keith is sort of not doing so well.”

Lance wasn’t entirely sure he understood why everyone was being so curt and dismissive, not tearing their eyes away from a clearly fine Pidge, who yes, at one point had been not fine at all, but was now.

And Keith wasn’t.

The blasts on his back were... bad.

Bad enough for him to be in so much pain he was forced to accept his friend’s help. Lance also figured the haunting glaze of exhaustion in his eyes and purple bruises beneath them had a good deal to do with lowering his defenses, the realization of just how tired he was sending another jab to his chest.

The material of his suit looked like it had melted into his skin, lining the edges of the puffy burns with a smokey black. Some were larger than others but there were at least a dozen and they were all bleeding steadily, the constant rise and fall of his chest making it impossible for any of them to clot.

“I’ll come check him out once—“

The burns were so deep, like little caverns carved into his skin and Lance was suddenly concerned about how zapped the nerves must be that he didn’t even realize he’d been injured this severely.

They looked so painful.

Breathing looked painful. And sitting, and talking and the way moving air brushed against them.

Shit, Keith.

“No, Shiro...”

The words came from deep in his throat, his voice low and serious, a stark derision from his usually charming vibrato.

“I think someone needs to check him out now. We’re talking about Keith here! You should know better than anyone that when he’s says he’s not okay, he means it.”

Shiro’s shoulders dropped as he straightened up, Lance couldn’t even find it in himself to worry about getting told off for his tone with how angry he was, his irritation justifying itself as he watched Keith’s breathing devolve into something more and more erratic.

The room seemed to silence all at once after he’d raised his voice. The inflection of it, shrill with fear and frustration is what got Shiro to finally look their way, his already weary expression falling further at the horror of how Keith looked against Lance. Slumped and panting, his features tight in anguish as blood dripped steadily from somewhere and collected in a now sizeable puddle on the floor.

Pidge was being forced to lay back down when surging up to see what was wrong had her keening and clutching her middle, Allura remaining at her side while Shiro and Coran raced over to the boys.

“What the fuck happened?!” Shiro demanded, his eyes grey pinpoints that bored into Lance with a sort of accusation until the two men reached the pair, both gasping simultaneously when they got close enough to take in the sight of Keith’s back.

“I don’t-I don’t understand, you said you were tired Keith!”

“Plasma blast burns... most of them 2nd degree it looks like...” Coran offered, his eyes flicking wildly as they scanned the burnt and bloody skin.

“He is tired...” Lance assured, turning his gaze back to Keith’s shaking shoulders. His trembles seemed more like spasms then, each jerk prompting a fresh gush of red from the wounds.

“He’s fucking exhausted but was too stubborn to tell anyone he was hurt...” he continued as Coran left muttering to himself in search of supplies, joining Hunk in his endeavor of locating more than just the burn cream now.

“S-sorry... really thought it was just one...” Keith explained before Shiro shushed him, crouching down to run his hand through his hair even though it was slightly damp with sweat.

His eyes weren’t open so he tensed when the hand first fell into place but soon softened under Shiro’s touch, the cold weight of the galra metal oddly comforting.

“It’s not on you, bud. I should’ve checked in more thoroughly, looked you over myself...”

Lance seethed at that, Keith was feeling guilty when Shiro was the one who had fucked up by ignoring him. He didn’t even sound sorry.

“Damn right you sh—“

“What’s that?” Shiro entreated, cutting him off and lifting his head to face the younger boy with something so fierce in his eyes that Lance had to force himself to look elsewhere.

As much as he wanted to tell Shiro how royally he’d fuck up he knew it wouldn’t be productive. Knew full well that the last thing anyone needed was more chaos.

But before Lance had to take actual precautions to contain his anger, Keith made a noise as if he wanted to respond but all that came out was a defeated whine as his chest stuttered which pulled even more at the mess of his back, sending him into a fit of flinching and hissing.

“Hey, you’re alright—“ Lance cooed, the additional hand on Keith’s neck centering him while he tried to ride out the pain without causing more “—that’s it, just take a second to calm down...”

But Keith couldn’t calm his breathing in time to avoid the waves of agony that followed such harsh breaths, eventually becoming desperate enough to clamp his lips shut and hold his breath until his heart let up with its incessant pounding.

This admittedly made the general haze clouding his mind so much worse, sending black dots dancing across the floor as he stared at it against Lance. He hadn’t realized when his hands had traveled up to clutch at Lance’s stomach but they were there now, clawing at the unwavering material stuck to his torso like glue for something to hold onto.

There were so many hands on him but he couldn’t feel much of anything other than the heat on his back and strain in his lungs as he continued to restrict his breathing. It had come to hurt so badly he was afraid to even try to breath normally again.

“-ith!”

Voices sounded so weird and distant then, like they were calling to him from across a noisy room.

“KEITH!”

It wasn’t until someone was knelt down next to him and nearly screaming in his ear that he could understand anything.

“Stop doing that, you have to take deeper breaths or you’ll pass out...”

But he couldn’t manage anything other than short and rapid inhales that weren’t nearly enough. He didn’t care if he passed out. It wouldn’t hurt so bad if he were unconscious and it had gotten to a point where he sort of wished for that kind of relief.

Coran was speaking to Shiro over them then, of which Keith had only ascertained from the way Shiro’s hand left the base of his skull to rest more on the crown of his head just as a dull and disordered humming began.

His hearing had abandoned him again once Shiro left his position, reducing the conversation to unintelligible murmurs drowned out by the rumbling in his eardrums. The static spotting his vision not letting up as the blast wounds burned relentlessly on his back. It felt like there were literal flames licking up at even the slightest movement and marring deep as the fire only seemed to spread.

The entire expanse of his upper body had gone numb with it, his arms slack at his sides and his neck weak under the weight of his head as he put all of his concentration into slowing his breathing and keeping it as controlled as possible. He didn’t even feel the hands slipping under his armpits or fingers tugging at his supply belt, only the scorching stretch of his body straightening as he was pulled to his feet.

Lance and Shiro shifted around him with care, Shiro guiding his head to rest on his shoulder when it rolled limply, Coran hovering anxiously as they struggled to lift him to his feet without jarring his injuries. In reality, it was entirely unavoidable but hey, it’s the thought that counts.

Keith really tried to hold his own weight this time, but as soon as he was upright, his back lit with a new fury that had his vision whiting. Soon he couldn’t even be certain his feet were still on the ground as his body went lax and the darkness that had been teasing him descended quicker than he could process.

He assumed he had screamed bloody murder since his stinging throat was the only pain he could pinpoint as he lost consciousness, but by then he wouldn’t have been able to hear his own voice if he spoke so he wasn’t be sure. All he knew was that he’d pitched into a slew of arms like his bones had spontaneously emulsified, blissfully unaware as to how the whole room seemed to cry out when he did.

Pidge was near tears with Allura struggling to assure her that Keith would be fine, and Hunk was so startled by the commotion that he had nearly flung the supplies he was organizing on a sterile tray.

“Let’s get him settled comfortably before he comes to,” Coran ordered, his voice sharp and anguished as he motioned towards where Hunk was stood.

Together and with considerable effort the three dragged Keith’s limp body to the other side of the room, careful to keep his torso straight and his injured leg from bending so they didn’t inflame his wounds further, depositing his lifeless weight onto the table on his stomach where all of his injuries could be tended to.

“We have to get as much of the suit off as possible... some of it will of course take a little more effort,” Coran sighed as he poked at one of the darker blast marks with a wider radius than most of the other. There was a ring of molten black around it that looked like it had dripped into the pit of missing flesh from where the material of the suit had melted off. The sentry that shot him there must have been only a few feet away.

“Alaran...” Allura gasped out as she made her way to the group once Pidge had calmed down enough to be left alone.

“These are going to need extensive cleaning before we can put him into a pod.”

“I know, Princess. Let’s get started, maybe we can get the bulk of it finished while he’s still uncioncious,” Coran postured, distributing the supplies Hunk had gathered to everyone.

The task was harrowing and had everyone slightly queasy, but the urgency to complete the process before Keith woke up prevailed everyone’s gag reflexes, even Hunk’s.

Being enveloped by the black that had teased him so long wasn’t as bad as Keith had imagined it would be. It was warm like this, more absent of cold than possesing a distinguishable heat. Pleasant. Peaceful even. A more than welcomed improvement to the inferno he was slowly being consumed by when he was awake and alert.

Sounds started coming back to him slowly as his body recovered from the shock of his plummet in blood pressure. His friends’ words sharpening gradually to where he could almost make out what they were saying.

“...suction... yes, that bit has to go as well...”

He still felt floaty and numb from the pain but knew he was laying on his front and could feel a sensation of tugging and pulling on his back.

“...keeps moving... waking up...”

It wasn’t so much painful as it was uncomfortable in his state of semi-consciousness.

“...dangerous to... sedative before a prolonged stay in the pod...”

His brain was just too fuzzy, still replenishing the blood supply to his brain.

“...looks like he’s in pain...”

Each moment he remained in limbo he grew more restless.

“...Coran I can’t... this piece... tearing the skin...”

The in and out of everything was making him anxious, he’d rather just be entirely out or entirely conscious.

“...should will help with any discomfort...”

Whatever was meant to help wasn’t. He was aware he’d probably been given some sort of drug or medicine but still he couldn’t relax.

It didn’t matter that he was utterly exhausted, his body was reacting to the anxiety bubbling in his stomach whether he had the energy to support such a reaction or not.

“...easy Keith...”

That’s the thing, he couldn’t take it easy. His mind was wired and his body was going into shock once again as things clarified and he woke up more.

“You’re alright number four... steady now, just breathe...”

If he thought it was hard to breathe before it seemed like it was absolutely impossible now.

“-us? Keith...? Keith, can you hear us?”

He could. He could hear everything now. It was all so loud and piercing, everyone’s voices, the tools clicking, his heart beating, the tear of medical supplies packages. Everything was so crisp and right there, the smallest noises sending tingles down his spine that made him want to cringe and he struggled to surpress the urge to.

“Quiznak! Coran I’m gonna hurt him if he keeps squirming!”

He was panting now, his mouth hung open against the towel folded under his face that was catching the blood still leaking from the wound under his eye. A hand came down on the back of his neck and he jumped.

That did it for the pain that seemed to have been numbed, not gone, just too far away for him to register. It was just as close as all of the sounds were now.

Hands clutched at his shoulders and forearms and hips as he wailed, pushing him flat so his flailing didn’t make it worse. He sobbed loudly and unabashedly as the pain surged its way back to the forefront of his awareness, a strange warmth similar to the one he’d felt when he had passed out taking the edge off but not staving it much.

“Keith! Listen to me, you have to relax. I know this is torture, but you’re only going to make it worse if you keep struggling,” Shiro urged, his voice the closest.

Shiro was right, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t in control of his movements anymore, because if he was he would listen. He didn’t want to hurt anymore but his body didn’t seem to give a shit.

“Coran,” Allura said sadly, her eyes looking at him with a sort of heart breaking resolution.

“Okay, Princess,” he agreed, his expression falling dejectedly.

“What-what is it? What just happened?!” Lance asked worriedly, knowing something had seemingly been decided but no idea as to what.

“We’re going to have to give him a muscle relaxer to keep him still, but it won’t take away his pain. We simply cannot risk putting him in a pod while medically sedated, we couldn’t be sure he would ever wake again if we did.”

For the second time that evening a collective silence fell over the room, one filled with such aching and regret and fear that it was as if it wasn’t silent at all.

“Do whatever you have to,” Shiro advocated, handing the tools he’d been using to Hunk.

“But he’ll be in pain Shiro?!” Lance noted desperately, his indignation back in full force.

Shiro just looked at him sadly and moved to drag a stool over to the other end of the table where Keith’s head was, his face twisted up as his sounds of pain continued.

“How can you be so heartless? It wouldn’t be so painful if Allura had partially healed him too! If you had given enough of a shit to notice sooner! To notice at all!”

The sound of Lance yelling bore into Keith’s skull sickeningly, his body unable to contain the shiver that overtook his muscles at how bone deep the sound irked his now oversentive ears.

“Lance—“

“No, Allura. He’s right, this is my fault. I was too focused on the fact that Pidge was hurt to notice that he was too and now he’s worse off because of it. I didn’t listen to him when I should’ve. Administer whatever you have to Coran, I’ll help him through this, it’s the least I can do right now...”

Coran didn’t have to be told twice, skillfully pulling liquid from a vile with a syringe that he poked gently into Keith’s neck.

Hunk nudged Lance’s arm to break his death glare at Shiro and get back to freeing one of the wider wounds on his shoulder as the medicine took affect almost immediately.

“Sh-sh-shir-Shiro...”

“I’m right here, shhhh, don’t speak. Just relax, I’ve got you,” Shiro soothed, grasping Keith’s hand tightly as he took shuddering breaths that grew more and more shallow as whatever control he had left over his body slipped away from him.

With some last few twitches he sagged completely into the table. The hand clutching Shiro’s released its grip and the older boy started to thumb assuring circles into the limp appendage since he could still feel it.

“This is gonna suck, but just focus on me okay?”

Keith couldn’t nod, couldn’t move his exhausted body at all now, so he sighed instead. The tears that had welled at his eyes falling defeatedly and mixing with the blood staining his right cheek to make a slightly pinker mess on the towel beneath him.