Don't Ask About My Demons

Pieces

Keith lay curled up with his blankets pulled tightly over his head. He shivered in the cold and nuzzled deeper into his pillow in silent desperation for sleep to take over once more. In that moment, a weight rolled on top of him and pulled the blankets away from his face

"Wha--Lance! How did you get in here?" Despite his annoyance of being pinned down by the taller Paladin, Keith welcomed the warmth.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!"

"...Good morning to you too."

"You sleep like a cat all curled up like that."

"I do not!" Keith protested, struggling to sit up only to have Lance push him back down.

Lance sat on him with a proud grin. "Aw! Whatcha gonna do, Mullet? I already pinned ya!" He teased.

"Not for long!" Keith's arms wriggled from under the blankets as he tried in vain to break free.

Lance quirked an eyebrow. "Uh huh, yeah. Reeeeaaaaally scary. Everybody run! It's the half blooded menace! He's fluffier than ever before!" He ruffled Keith's hair playfully, causing Keith's bangs to fall over his eyes, obstructing his view. "Seriously, mi amor, you need a haircut." Lance tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Not that it isn't cute..." he added.

"Oh shut up," Keith replied, blowing the hair out of his face. "I'm not cute!"

Lance draped his hair over his face again. "Yes you are."

As Keith felt Lance's weight shift, he spun around to free his hands, grabbed Lance's arms, and rolled over until their positions were switched. "Am not!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Lance protested.

Keith tossed his hair out of his face and laughed. "Oh, you wanna talk about fairness with me now?"

Just then, Keith's door slid open. "Hey Keith, Shiro wanted to know if--" Pidge stopped abruptly, taking in the scene before her. Her eyes widened.

Keith sprung up from the bed as if it was filled with hot coals. "It's not what it looks like!"

Lance sat up. "Good morning, Pidge!" He greeted cheerfully.

Pidge cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "Good morning, Lance. Well, I guess I won't have to make the trip to your dorm, then."

"You said Shiro needed something?" Keith pressed, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah." Her gaze switched between Lance and Keith. "We have already retrieved Blue from the crash site and are working on repairing it now. However," Pidge returned her attention to Keith. "Red is proving to be a bit more difficult due to... more severe damages," she said carefully.

Keith crossed his arms. "How bad is it?"

"You might wanna take a look. Just try not to get too upset, okay? We're working on finding all of the pieces."

"FINDING ALL OF THE PIECES!" Keith roared.

Pidge flinched.

"Okay, calm down." Lance directed.

"I need to go." Keith muttered before marching out.

"We still can't find whoever was piloting the Red lion before it crashed," Pidge continued. "But I think I have a good idea of who it was."

Keith paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at Pidge, nodding solemnly.

"He was as brave as any Paladin of Voltron." Pidge dipped her head as a sign of respect for the departed clone.

"I have him to thank for my life," Lance added.

Keith's eyes shifted to the scar that ran along the left side of Lance's face. Without the Other Keith, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Lance would have died. For almost a month, Keith was certain that Lance was dead. He hated the nagging feeling of helplessness that ate away at his insides during that time. He couldn't imagine losing Lance or anyone else on the team ever again. Voltron was his family and he vowed to protect them until the end.

"Keith, are you okay?" Pidge asked.

Keith pushed the thoughts away. "Yeah... I'm fine." He responded. "Let's go check on Red."