Star's Aligned

Unconsciousness

Lance blinked when Shiro ran past him, looking worried. He shared a look with Pidge and Hunk who also looked confused.

"Should we go after him..?" Pidge asked after a minute. The older boys nodded and all three sprang up and ran in the direction Shiro had gone of in.

It took them a while to find the others. They got there in time to see Shiro gently pick Keith up, the eighteen year old mumbling quietly. Keith, Lance noticed, was pale, too pale. Not only that, he was sweaty and shaking and had his hand pressed firmly against his mouth, like he was trying not to be sick.

The three of the moved out of the eldest's way, and he nodded his thanks as he walked towards Keith's room. The other three followed, sharing a look of worry between themselfves before following the black paladin.

It was a silent trip, no one daring to interrupt the moment Shiro and Keith seemed to be having. Shiro was the one talking, quietly asking Keith questions that were answered with a slight nod or shake. When they reached Keith's room, Shiro motioned for them to wait outside and then took Keith inside.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Hunk asked after the door closed. Pidge sighted and looked down, biting her lip as she became lost in thought. "It can't be serious, right?"The yellow paladin whispered, looked worried, his large brown eyes watering slightly. Lance patted his arm in a comforting manner, eyes downcast as he remembered how small Keith had looked when Shiro carried him. It was hard to remember that Keith was only a year older than him, especially since he was so far ahead in piloting skills and training. It was a shock to see someone like Keith being carried around without complaint.

"It could just be that he was sick. I mean, he hasn't been looking and sounding too healthy recently." Pidge said, finally looking up. Her eyes were narrowed, calculating.

"What do you mean?" Lance asked. "He looked fine two hours ago!"

"He's been coughing throughout the night, not eating as much and trying to avoid direct contact with everyone." Pidge explained. Lance faltered with his train of thought. Pidge was right, that wasn't typical Keith behaviour. "Before we jump to conclusions, we should ask Shiro though. He'd know." She continued.

As if she'd summoned him, Shiro left Keith's room. Once the door was closed he sighed tiredly and leaned against the door. He rubbed his face roughly before looking at the trio.

"I guess you guys want an explanation?" He asked and sighed again when the three of them nodded. "Meet me in the rec room." He muttered, walking in the opposite direction.

Shiro frowned at himself in the mirror. Keith being ill was bad enough, but Shiro also had to explain what Lance, Hunk and Pidge just saw. That would mean telling them everything, and Shiro didn't want to, but it couldn't be helped. He left the bathroom and headed to where the other paladins were, stopping at the sick boy's room and peeking in. Keith was sound asleep, and hopefully would stay that way till everything was explained.

He carried on walking and stopped outside the door, composing his thoughts before stepping in. Lance, Pidge and Hunk were sitting next to each other, back's ramrod straight. All three of them were watching him quietly.

He sat down opposite them and looked at them all before speaking. "I know you guys are worried about Keith, but he's fine, it's just a bad cough really. The thing that makes it harder for him is that he has a sensitive gag reflex, and coughing is the fastest way to male him throw up. Mix that with him having Emetophobia and it's a recipe for disaster."

"Emetophobia?" Lance asked and Pidge spoke up, adjusting her glasses.

"Emetophobia, the fear of being physically sick, right?" She asked, looking at Shiro. He nodded and the three of them deflated slightly.

"Is that why his hand was covering his mouth? Because he didn't want to throw up?" Hunk asked and Shiro nodded again.

"While were on the topic of Keith's phobia's, I want you to remember how cautious Keith was about walking over the ice about a week ago on Urrilla." Shiro started, getting the youngest paladins attention. They all nodded.

"When he was being silly over the ice cracking? And refused to walk across it at first and was wasting out time, yeah, I remember." Lance muttered bitterly, missing the way Shiro clenched his fists.

"Lance." He warned, getting an innocent look from the blue paladin.

"What?" He asked.

"Keith has severe Aqua-phobia, there are days when he can't even touch tap water to drink it." He ground out through clenched teeth, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction at how pale Lance had gone. "Remembering why he's scared of water can give him a panic attack.  On a bad day, just thinking of water can give him a panic attack. That wasn't Keith being stubborn, he didn't want to go near it. At all. Got it?" He hissed and Lance nodded quickly. He sat back, satisfied that he had gotten that important point across.

"Then there's Keith and being ill in general. He doesn't have a phobia, but he does hate looking weak in front of everyone. Thats mainly because of how he was treated when he was younger, he was mostly kicked about if he showed weakness. All three gasped and Lance exclaimed a "What the fuck?" In disgust.

"Thats why he's so closed off to new people. Now, while you process this, I'm going to check on Keith." With them parting words he stood and turned on his heel, fleeing the room. He needed to ask Keith a couple of questions, but, if he was still asleep he would leave him.

He felt kinda bad just walking out on the other three but he needed to make sure Keith wasn't falling back into the headspace he'd been in when he was first adopted by Shiro. He couldn't let that happen, it had almost killed Keith.

He quietly waited for Keith's door to open, and when it did he looked inside. He was both relieved and worried, because Keith was awake, but looked like he was crying. He slipped into the room and quietly edged towards the bed, watching Keith carefully.

"Keith?" He asked quietly, and winced internally when Keith jumped, head whipping towards him.

"Oh" Keith mumbled, relaxing from the tense position he had been in. "It's you."

"Just me." Shiro confirmed, and Keith nodded before coughing harshly, body shaking. Shiro scooted closer and wrapped an arm around him, rubbing his back soothingly. "Why didn't you tell me you were ill sooner?" He asked and Keith's shoulders slumped.

"Didn't wanna seem weak." He muttered, turning to hide his face in Shiro's shoulder. "Didn't wanna disappoint you either..." Keith admitted. Shiro sighed.

"Why would you disappoint me Keith? You fell through some ice and suffered from mild hypothermia, i'm not surprised that you're sick." Shiro said. Keith looked at him through his fringe with wide eyes.

"Oh" he said again. Shiro smiled, still rubbing his back in an effort to try get him to sleep. It worked quick enough, Keith's breathing evening out as he closed his eyes and went limp in Shiro's hold.

When Keith woke up he was comfortable, warm. He blinked sleepily and looked around, realising that Shiro was the reason. His adopted brother was wrapped around him, and apparently staring at him.

"You awake now?" The elder man asked, and Keith nodded in confusion. "Good, Hunk brought you some soup."

"He did? Why?" Keith asked as he struggled to sit up, why was it so hard?

"He thought you might be hungry when you woke up."

"Huh." He was ravenous actually. Keith allowed Shiro to help him sit up and pass him the bowl and spoon.

"How long was I asleep for? He asked between sips, narrowing his eyes when Shiro froze and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Three days."