After Voltron

To Have A Home

    Keith hadn't kept much in contact with the rest of the team since he started helping other planets with the Blades of Malmora. It was one long day after another; wake up early, intensive work out, continue to help planets, sleep late, repeat. The war was over, but his body didn't quite know that. He needed to keep himself busy. Any time he even considered relaxing, he'd immediately get anxious at the thought. He only slept because he knew it was essential for his survival and to keep his strength to help other planets. Some nights, sleep was just an afterthought. He trained at night til he passed out from exhaustion or someone caught him and convinced him to take some time to rest. Cosmo stayed by his side every time he slept or trained to watch over him, and monitor him. He was a dog, or a wolf, rather, but he wasn't stupid. Even he knew Keith was cracking.

    For some time now, Krolia had begun to notice as well. She had been doing the same thing in secret, like mother like son; the only difference was, she often had Kolivan to at least monitor her and be her rock for when she pushed it too far. There was no one to keep Keith from putting this much intense stress on his body.

    The more he stressed, the more frequent his night training became. Cosmo eyed him skeptically as he put on his training clothes, a loose tank top and some leggings. It gave him the maximum amount of flexibility, and it had a similar silhouette to his blades uniform. He looked at Cosmo and glared. "What?" he whispered, slightly offended. "Training helps me clear my mind." Cosmo of course didn't buy it, and glared at Keith. Keith rolled his eyes and ignored him, pulling his hair into a low ponytail and grabbing his gym bag. "Fine. If you don't like it, you don't have to come with me. I can sneak past the other's rooms just fine without you." he touted, but he wasn't quite sure about that statement. He was sneaky, as he was trained to be, but not that sneaky. He had to remember that these where other Blade members he was trying to sneak by. He was bound to get caught at some point.

Cosmo gave in and walked over to him, leaning against his leg. He teleported them to the training room and then took a few steps to the side, sitting and looking up at Keith as if to say "happy now?" Keith smiled a little and gave him a little piece of jerky. "Thanks, buddy." Cosmo walked over to the wall and sat against it, guiltily eating his treat.

Keith trained for hours. It was intensive and non-stop. It was soon clear that he was going to do this until he passed out again. At about 0300 hours, he finally collapsed, heaving and shaking. Cosmo went over to his bag, retrieved his water jug, and brought it over to him. He nudged his hand with it, but Keith didn't take it, though he knew he should've. He just laid there on his stomach and wheezed like a dying horse. He was slightly dizzy and his mind was buzzing. His lungs stung like a million bees. Cosmo didn't like the looks of this. He disappeared, teleporting to go get help. Right when Cosmo left, Keith felt bile rise in his throat. He gagged, a nasty taste entering his mouth as he threw up on the floor. There wasn't much to release; he hadn't eaten much yesterday and didn't have any breakfast. Even still, it was enough to make him feel cold and achy all over.

The training room door opened and Keith heard quick footsteps. "Keith" said his mother Krolia, worriedly. She never sounded like that. She was always so hardened and formal. Keith couldn't see her, as his eyes were too watery. He could only respond with a shaky breath. Krolia was suddenly picking him up, taking him somewhere. He didn't know where, as everything was fuzzy. His  body was soaked to the bone in sweat and his hair clung to his skin, along with his clothes. His knuckles were bloodied and his breathing came out hollowly. He was in bad shape. Krolia brought him to the infirmary and called for Kolivan on her communicator. Keith started to drift off, no longer feeling the pain his body was in.

He woke up a while later and looked around groggily until his eyes fell on Krolia, and then Kolivan, who were both standing in the corner of the small room that was lit by purple light. Krolia's toned arms were crossed disapprovingly, and Kolivan stood next to her, emotionless. Keith's throat felt dry, like he had swallowed a bag of sand. He tried to sit up, but his body ached so bad he could hardly convince himself into going any farther. He felt a wet nose on his hand and craned his neck to look down. Cosmo was touching his hand with his muzzle, wondering if he was ok. It was a relief to see his familiar black and sapphire fur; a friend on his side. He knew what was coming, so he'd need the support.