Adrenaline

Shiro's Realization

It had been clear already after only a day of Keith being awake that he had problems with eating. Hunk had wanted to build the armrests higher on the chairs on the second day but Keith found a way to wedge himself in the chair. It looked extremely uncomfortable for his spine, but it kept him upright without too much effort and it had made Keith happy to show that he didn't need a special chair, which was important too. Keith could seem emotionless at times but Shiro knew it was only an attempt to seem tough and keep himself safe mentally.

Sadly, Keith couldn't fix all of his problems alone. Such as his problems with the literal act of eating which inspired the others to give him a mirror in the middle of his second meal out of the cryo pod. Luckily, Keith did accept that help without too many unhappy looks and quickly did his best to seem unaffected when using it. Shiro wasn't personally affected by watching someone eat but he could imagine how weird it would be for Keith to watch himself eat, especially with how closely Keith had to so if he didn't want to reenact his first meal out of the pod with all the mess and worry.

Shiro could just not figure out why Keith was looking bored and even slightly disgruntled by the concept of eating. It was the same reaction no matter what he put into his mouth.

Hunk had been allowed to use the small stash of tasty ingredients they had on board in an attempt to restart Keith's appetite. At first it had seemed to work as Keith had looked at the food with something closer to excitement but he soon enough looked pained and like it was a chore to eat.

Coran gave Keith some food too, made to fatten him up, and Coran had apologized as he gave it to Keith and said he knew it didn't taste very good but Keith had eaten it with as much boredom and as forced as any other meal. Coran's food, which had been told to taste even worse than Coran's usual cooking, had been received as well or badly as Hunk's best since they left Earth. And it really had been Hunk's best cooking. Shiro cared a lot about staying in shape but he could have easily eaten himself a few pounds heavier if he had access to that food.

A whole week passed with all the paladins trying to keep themselves mentally together at the same time that they tried to think of anything that could fix Keith. Even if it were just one of his problems, it would have been heaven sent. A week that should have bulked Keith up but he instead looked thinner than ever which Shiro hadn't let himself think was possible. Keith hadn't been even close to fat before the... incident between him and Shiro but he hadn't looked painfully thin either which he had turned before even leaving the pod.

Shiro actually wished Keith looked like he did when he was in the cryo pod. At least he had had some fat and muscle on him when he was taken out of the pod but a week of barely eaten had taken the last bit of meat and left him looking like an Asian-like version of the starved, African children Shiro's television back on Earth had been filled with from time to time.

It didn't help that Keith was literally unable to move around the castle on his own two legs. He had tried to crawl but that was just painful to look at and even on all four, he hurt himself more than it was worth. He was told to stop and could from there fourth out not travel around the castle without an escort. It didn't take long for them to find out that it was far more effective to just carry him instead of only being his balance and having Keith watch each step with great care. Keith had complained loudly with resentful grunts and stares each time someone indicated they were going to carry him but the protests had slowly quieted down after a few days and Shiro didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. He hoped it meant Keith had accepted that he needed the help but it was nothing to be ashamed of but he feared it meant Keith had given up.

No, not Keith. Keith was far too strong to give up after only a week and the only reason he didn't remind the others he needed help moving to the dinner room was because he was tired. At least that was what Shiro chose to believe.