shining like the stars

1

Keith stood under the hot spray of the shower head, his eyes closed as he focused inward and trying desperately to regain some sense of composure. He wasn't really sure what was wrong with him today; he was the only one out of the entire team moving out of sync in their training exercises, he'd snapped off at Pidge and run himself into one of the invisible maze's walls so hard that he was still slightly dizzy from it and even now felt like the static jolt still buzzed under his skin. When Shiro had touched his shoulder, eyes concerned, his touch was like a fresh electric current and Keith had yanked himself away.

He realized how quickly he was breathing and turned around under the spray, trying to bring his heart rate under control and even out his panting breaths. He had turned the water on full blast, hot enough to scald but now he was beginning to feel like that was a bad idea, like the blood in his veins was just as hot as the water and if he let it keep going he would burn up, combust right here and now.

The shower stalls themselves were on the small side, and gave the illusion of privacy when the dividers between the boxes only came up to chest height. Keith gripped the top of one of the dividers to maintain his balance, he felt like a fever had come up on him out of nowhere and it hurt, it throbbed in his temples and in his chest and lower, too. He should turn off the water but he was suddenly too dizzy to move again, and all his thoughts ran back to earlier, and Shiro's hand on his shoulder electric jolt and all, and how comforting that was....

"Keith...? You okay, buddy?"

It too a monumental amount of effort to lift his head and look to the corridor that ran between the two rows of shower stalls. Lance was standing there in his ridiculous, fuzzy blue Altean-cut bathrobe, a towel slung over one shoulder and carrying a little caddy with bottles in it. He was staring unabashedly at Keith, eyebrows high in his hairline. Usually he would have turned red by now, or looked away or something because Keith was clearly naked and that was awkward, but the look he was giving Keith was clearly concerned instead, and that only made him feel worse. If Lance was concerned about him....

"I'm fine," Keith croaked, because he wanted Lance to go away , he didn't want to be seen like this. But then his body decided to up and betray him, his legs giving out and Keith slid down the divider to sit on the tile floor, the water from the shower head sluicing down his body. Keith groaned at the weakness in his own limbs, the water too hot, his skin even hotter. Keith closed his eyes and pressed his cheek into the wet, alien-feeling material of the divider, relishing in its cooler temperature despite the heat of the water, and after a moment realized the sensation of water hitting his skin had abated.

When he opened his eyes it was to see Lance in the stall with him, still wearing his robe but now drenched, the shower head dripping slightly but the water shut off. He was staring at Keith, eyes wide and now obviously alarmed. "Do you want me to get Shiro?" Lance asked, and Keith watched the water drip from his soaked robe. He reached out and caught the hem of it, felt the water run down his hand, still warm. Yes, getting Shiro would be nice ... he wanted to see Shiro, although he wasn't quite sure why, and he really didn't want Shiro to see him like this.

Whatever this was.

Lance crouched and put his hand on Keith's shoulder, clearly about to try to help him to his feet but he hesitated, his hand lingering on Keith's skin. "Holy shit , you're burning up."

'I'm fine' wasn't even remotely accurate, but Keith said it anyway. Or at least, he tried to.

Lance didn't remove his hand from Keith's shoulder, and Keith's annoyance at the fact that Lance was touching him was beginning to mount. He leaned in closer to Keith, wide-eyed, and asked in a hush whisper, "are you in heat? "