Prince Galra Wolf?

A Name

      Lance sat on the other side of the glass wall, watching the dog-creature. The cell was pretty spacious, but really empty. It was just an empty white room with a bed hovering in the corner. The wolf lay curled up underneath the hovering bed in blankets. Lance sighed. The wolf seemed to have gone through a lot. He and Coran had to dress it's wounds the old fashioned way because animals were not allowed in the cryopods, and the poor thing had both forelegs broken, bruised ribs, fractured back legs, and multiply scratches all over its body. Fortunately, Coran said that he was going to make a full recovery, as long as he rested. Lance had asked what kind of animal he was and the only response he got was "A wolf of some kind?" It seemed like the wolf wasn't in the Altean database, so Lance asked Pidge to do some research.

As Lance studied the wolf, he felt worse the more he looked at him. Bandages wrapped almost his whole body and his fur was still dirty. So dirty that Lance couldn't even tell what color he was.

"Hey Lance," Hunk walked up behind him. "What's up? Any change?" Hunk held out a plate of some food he probably whipped up.

Lance took the plate. "Hey Hunk, and nope, no change. He's still sleeping." He looked down at the food. "What is this?" It looked like some really weird pink oatmeal with some solid blue jello-like cube.

"Oh I was just experimenting in the kitchen and all, and I found that this oatmeal stuff kinda tasted like eggs and the cube tasted like some weird form of bacon. It's actually pretty great!" Hunk smiled, "Oh yeah, I also brought food for your Wolf. Does he have a name or something?" He asked as he slid a bowl through a small opening in the glass wall.

Lance smiled slightly, "You know, I don't know yet. He reminds me of my German Shepherd back home. He's actually about the same size, now that I think about it." Hunk sat down next to Lance and they began talking about possible names for the newest member of team Voltron. "How about... " Lance tapped his chin and thought. "How about we let him decide?" He pointed to the figure curled in the blankets. Hunk laughed. "Hah! That's very funny Lance." Then he paused and saw Lance's expression. "Wait, you're serious? How would that work? He can't talk! ...Can he?"

Lance just laughed. "Well we could just list off names and see which one he reacts to the most!" Over the next 2 hours Hunk and Lance watched the wolf and just kept listing names, hoping to see some sort of reaction. "Dante... Mark... Sean!" Lance listed. There was no response.

Hunk yawned. "Ugh, just pick a name Lance. I don't think he can even understand us. He probably just thinks we're talking about something."

Lance sighed, crestfallen. "I guess you're right, Hunk. I want to just try a few more, just in case." He then stood up and stretched. Lance stared intently at the bundle, hoping to see the slightest.. anything! "Kosmo!" Nothing.

"Johnathan!" Nope.

"Charlie!" Uh uh.

"Ugh! Keith!" Lance shouted.

.... a twitch of the ear.

Lance smiled widely. "Hunk Hunk!!" He started jumping and clapping and whooping. "Hunk! He chose Keith!"

Hunk snorted and sat up. It seems as though he fell asleep. No one can blame him though. "Huh what? Keith? Who's Keith?" Then, to their amazement, the wolf's, no, Keith's yellow, iris-less eyes peaked open and stared at the two paladins.

Lance stopped his small "dance of victory," and grabbed Hunk by his shoulders. "Hunk," he whispered, "he can hear us!" Then Lance let go and stepped closer to the glass where he crouched down. Lance smiled very slightly. "Hi, Keith," he said gently, "I'm Lance." He pressed a hand against the glass. "You're safe now, okay? We're gonna take good care of you buddy." Hunk watched with wide eyes, mouth open in wonder. The paladins sat, frozen, as Keith's head raised up out of the blankets, his yellow eyes wide. Suddenly, Keith's head, tilted to the side with his ears perked up. Lance's heart just melted. Keith was absolutely adorable. Even with his fur stained with blood and bandages wrapped everywhere, he was the cutest damn space wolf Lance had ever seen. Hunk watched the scene with watery eyes and a large smile.

"That's it." Lance stood up abruptly. "I'm going in."

Hunk snapped out of his awestricken trance, "Wait, wait, wait, what?! Lance, you can't go in there!" Lance went to a panel to the left of the glass wall and pressed his hand against it. "Lance! Keith may be super adorable, but we don't know what he's capable of!" The panel scanned his hand and the glass wall slid open. "Lancee!" Hunk whined, trying to grab him by the arm. "Lance, don't go in there! Coran and Pidge haven't identified what kind of animal he is yet! Can't we wait until we know if Keith could kill us before going in there?"

Keith lay in his blankets and watched the scene with unblinking eyes. Lance stepped into the white room and slowly approached Keith. "Who knows when Coran and Pidge will identify what he is! Besides, that," he gestured to Keith, "doesn't look like the face of a killer."

Hunk shifted uncomfortably and stood up. "He could be faking or something! I don't know!" Hunk groaned, "Lance, Lance! I swear if he kills you..." Lance kept approaching Keith, with Keith just staring at Lance with wide eyes. "Uh.. I'm-I'm gonna go get Shiro!" Hunk turned and bolted out of the room.

Lance rolled his eyes and got on the floor. He moved the untouched bowl of food towards the wall, then he scooted towards Keith until he was about 4 feet away from the bundle. "Hi buddy," Lance smiled and slowly reached out a hand. Keith's eyes widened a tad bit more and his ears shot back. He lowered his head closer to the floor. Keith made a sound that was like a mix between a growl and a whimper. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, little guy, I promise." He kept reaching his hand out, but Keith made the whimper-growl sound again and scooted back against the wall and curled into a tighter ball. He must be terrified, Lance thought, why didn't I think of what to do before I stupidly shoved my way into his personal space?! Lance then felt crusted fur beneath his finger tips. Keith flinched, but then after a second, relaxed. Once Lance was sure that Keith wasn't going lash out and bite off his hand, he scooted next to the ball of fluff and gently pet him. Keith tensed when he felt Lance's thigh against him, but then relaxed when Lance ran his fingers through his messy fur. Lance chuckled quietly. "You see? You're fine, and you need a bath," he teased. Lance began rubbing the space wolf behind his ear and he started purring. Lance smiled, "You are too cute." Keith placed his head into Lance's lap and snuggled closer. His glowing yellow eyes closed and he kept purring.

Lance sat there with his new friend for a good 5 minutes before he heard footsteps approaching them. He looked up and saw Hunk with Shiro and Pidge. Lance held a finger to his lips in the universal sign for shh, then he gestured to the sleeping wolf in his lap. Shiro's eyes widened and he nodded, eyeing the sleeping animal. Pidge, however, was ecstatic, but sad. Her eyes were shining as she watched Keith sleep. He obviously reminded Pidge of her dog, Bae Bae, back on Earth. "Can... can I pet him?" She whispered.

Lance smiled sadly. "Not yet," he whispered back. "He's still a little skittish. Maybe in a few more days." Pidge wiped her eyes and nodded. "Does he have a name?"

Lance nodded. "His name is Keith."