Work Text:
Recently, The Castle of Lions has been having some… malfunctions.
Coran’s been fixing them the best he could but every time he fixes something, a new problem shows up somewhere else. It’s exhausting.
Even if the rest of the paladins aren’t really helping out with fixing the problems, it’s becoming annoying and they’re beginning to get tired of something happening when they’re just trying to do even the simplest of things.
It’s kind of like that one time when they had Sendak aboard the ship.
Just, less dangerous.
A whole lot less dangerous.
Though the biggest danger they've encountered since the malfunctions was probably when the food goo machine started acting up again. Hunk was not happy.
Some of the doors have been locking on their own as well, which they think is apart of the malfunctions but at the same time could also just be Pidge pranking us. They have a habit with locking doors.
Mainly Lance's, as they find it enjoyable to watch him suffer when he realises that he can't go to his bathroom.
Got to admit, it is actually quite funny.
Though, the doors have became a pretty big problem and caused The Paladins to be late to meetings on multiple occasions, it also prevented Keith from getting into the training deck. That could also just be Pidge, Shiro's been trying to get Keith to stop going in there as much.
The door malfunctions have came in handy for some of the team though, especially when they are stopping The Paladins from training. Pidge, Hunk and Lance get the most excited when they realise that training will have to be rescheduled.
Shiro's never very happy about it though.
The malfunctions haven't been to serious just yet, basically meaning not trying to kill them yet.
That was, until this morning.
Keith awoke feeling unusually cold, maybe the covers fell off while he was sleeping. He didn't think much of it.
That was until an announcement echoed throughout The Castle of Lions.
"Paladins! The Castle is malfunctioning again however, I'm afraid it has gotten much worse" Allura announced through The Castle speakers. Her teeth chittering due to the unusual temperature in The Castle.
Keith sat up rapidly, hearing that as soon as you wake up is never a good sign.
He jumped out of bed and grabbed his jacket that was hung up on the hanger. He wondered if Pidge or Coran had tinkered with the heating at all. He was beginning to shiver.
"The hell?-" It was way too cold for his liking.
He exited his room however as soon as the doors swished open, he shivered at the even lower temperature. Keith was pretty sure what the malfunction was now. There was no way that anyone here would be crazy enough to put the castle at this low of a temperature.
...
Well, maybe Coran was.
-
Surprisingly, Keith was the last person to arrive at The Bridge, for once.
Though he understood that it was cold, he felt as though the temperature was making it 10x harder to do literally anything. Once he saw everyone else, he noticed that they didn't look nearly as bad as he did.
Hell, he thought he was going to pass out.
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up." Lance smirked, crossing his arms and running his hands over them in order to keep himself somewhat warm. Though, his fluffy robe seemed to be keeping him atleast a little warm.
"Shut up Lance." Keith growled, with his teeth chattering it didn't sound nearly as intimidating as he wanted it to.
"Aww, is Keithy cold?" He teased.
"Lance, you were begging me for a blanket a second ago." Pidge pitched in, they were wrapped in maybe about 5 or so blankets. Boy did he wish he could be them right now.
"Don't expose me!" Lance exclaimed.
"Right, well now that you're all here. We can finally talk about this heating problem." Allura stated. She was wrapped in a warm robe, very similar to Lance's.
"C-Can we please try and fix it soon? I'm freezing!" Hunk shivered, he was shaking. No one seemed to notice that Keith was also struggling with the temperature.
Pidge handed Hunk one of their blankets seeing as Hunk didn't have any sort of warm nor comfortable fluffy clothes/materials.
"Hey! How come he gets a blanket but I don't?" Lance pouted.
"You have a robe, it'll do." Pidge shrugged, smirking when she saw Lance's offended facial expression.
"Rude!" He shouted, turning away from his best friends.
"How bad is the situation?" Shiro asked, also with a blanket around him.
'How did they all have blankets?' Keith wondered as he stood in a freezing room with just his cropped jacket for warmth.
"It's.. not ideal." The Princess admitted.
"You think?" Keith deadpanned, though he was barely heard though his teeth chittering violently.
"Uh, Keith? Buddy? You alright?" Lance asked, causing the whole team to turn their attention to Keith.
Keith was standing there in his regular jeans, shirt and a cropped jacket. No warm items and icicles were beginning to form at the tips of his mullet. He was shivering like crazy and his chittering teeth were beginning to be heard.
"J-Just. Fi-ne." Keith shivered, clearly lying as just seconds later he was passing out. Falling onto the cold, metal floor.
After a bit more research (plus a health scan,) the team found that the Galra did not do very well in low temperature. That definitely explained why Keith was reacting to the temperature so much more than the rest of the team.
Keith didn't have many Galran traits, but it seems that this was one that he did pick up.
"Oh man, what are we going to do?!" Hunk panicked, pacing around Keith's room.
"The Castle won't be fixed for- Uh, how long again?" He asked.
"I'd say about.." Coran thought for a moment then, resorts to finger counting. "2-3 Quintants!"
"What can we do to help him warm up?" Shiro asked, concern in his eyes as he looked at Keith who was passed out and now laying on the bed.
"Well, Number 4 won't warm up very quickly. But, blankets and soft things will do!" Coran exclaimed.
"We're on it Coran!" Pidge saluted, grabbing Hunk by his wrist and bringing him with them.
Shiro turned to look at the three, Coran, Keith and Lance.
"I'm going to go make him some tea, it'll probably be good for him to drink something warm." Shiro said.
"Good idea Shiro! I believe I know where a stock of pillows are, I'll go get them!" Coran said, putting the health pad down and leaving Lance alone in the room with a passed out, freezing cold Keith.
...
"I guess I'll stay here?" Lance said aloud to no one in particular.
Lance sighed and turned to look at Keith. It didn't seem like he was warming up at all. Lance reached to touch the tips of Keith's hair, attempting to chip off some of the ice and frost.
Keith was pale, paler than usual. It was times like this that made him wonder just how useful Galra fur could be.
Plus, Keith would also look pretty cute with purple fur.
Yeah, he was just going to ignore that he even thought that..
Hopefully the blankets and pillows that the others bring back will warm Keith up, Keith's still shivering even with a blanket already on him.
Lance was beginning to question just how sensitive the Galra really were to the cold.
Winter probably wasn't a very fun time for Keith.
Maybe that's why he lived in the desert.
"You'll be alright Mullet." Lance smiled, patting Keith's cheek with his hand.
Surprisingly, Keith reacted immediately and leaned into the touch. Lance freaked out for a moment but, as soon as he realised that Keith hadn't woken up he released a breath of relief.
Lance's hand was in no way warm, but it definitely was warmer than Keith.
Then, the others burst through the door with panicked expressions. They were panting too which probably meant that they ran the whole was here.
Lance ripped his hand away from Keith's face, hoping nobody saw him do so. Luckily for him, the others were too worried about Keith's state to notice.
Though, Keith noticed. As soon as Lance pulled his hand away he whined and reached his hands out. Almost like he was conscious.
"We- we're here!" Hunk puffed, his breath showing due to the cold temperature.
"We went as fast as we could." Pidge breathed.
"Wh- why are you guys more panicked than before?" Lance asked concernedly. Is it getting colder or is it just him?
"Coran-" Hunk panted, then continued, "Coran said that Keith was getting worse." He finished.
"But he looks fine." They paused. "Or as fine as he could, I guess." Pidge corrected, finally catching their breath.
"Uhh, well about that-" Lance tried but got cut off by another person entering the room in a rush.
"Is he okay?!" Shiro exclaimed, quickly bringing the tea over to Lance and Keith in case Keith wakes up soon.
"As I was saying-" Lance got cut off once more.
"Not exactly. Number 4 seems to be getting worse, just as I calculated!" Coran exclaimed, twirling his mustache that was beginning to frost over at the tips.
"Calculated?!" The team shouted, causing Keith to groan at the sudden noise.
"Hm, well yes. I didn't tell you to hurry for nothing." Coran admitted.
"Lance, have you checked Keith's vitals since we were gone?" Shiro asked, causing the others to turn and face him too.
"Uhh, well no-"
"Oh god, oh my god. What if he's dying?!" Hunk cried, beginning to pace around the room.
"He's not going to die." Lance paused and turned to Coran. "Right?"
Before Coran could say anything Pidge interrupted.
"He will if he doesn't get any warmth!" They rushed over with as many blankets that they could carry, Hunk soon following with the rest that he found.
Pidge and Hunk placed the blankets and covered most of him in hopes to warm Keith up sooner, Coran followed and did the same with the pillows he found stashed away.
Lance thought back to the moment to took his hand away from Keith and how Keith reached out to him, he wondered if he should maybe bring it up to the team.
Who knows, maybe it could lead to some sort of answer? Even if Lance does get embarrassed in the process.
"Uh, guys? Something did happen while you were away." Lance admitted, rubbing his arm self-consciously.
The team waited for him to continue.
"You see, um so I kinda pat his cheek right? And he uh- reacted?" Lance shrugged, unsure how to word it in a way that he wouldn't get teased as much.
"Interesting.. How did he react?" Coran asked the boy.
"He leaned into it, then when I moved my hand back he um.." Lance stopped himself, blushing and cursing himself for not keeping that part out.
"And he??"Pidge questioned, a smug grin appearing on their face.
"He.. reached out." Lance mumbled.
"He?" Shiro questioned, wanting Lance to repeat the answer as he said to too quietly.
"He reached out to me alright?! Like, he did grabby hands!" Lance moved his hands about and soon decided on crossing them and pouting. He was definitely about to get teased for this.
Pidge burst out laughing, it was almost like they couldn't believe what they were hearing. That, or they were actually making fun of Lance.
Coran was quiet for a while but as he twirled his mustache he finally thought of something.
"Of course! How could I forget!" Coran exclaimed, smiling to himself.
"Uh, Coran? What is it?" Hunk questioned. Lance nodded, also wanting to hear what Coran now knew.
"Physical touch! Keith might just be craving some or it is what he requires!" Coran informed, causing the rest of the team to turn and look at Keith who was unconsciously wrapping himself more and more into the blankets around him.
Now THAT was cute.
"Lance, my boy. Why don't you touch him for a second." Coran suggested.
"Wha- why me?!" Lance exclaimed.
"He reacted to you the first time Lance, try it again." Shiro told him, causing Lance to sigh and do as him and Coran said.
"Fine."
Lance did the same thing he did before, he put his hand on Keith's cheek but kept it still instead of patting it.
...
Nothing happened.
"Ha, see! I told you nothing would-" Lance grinned and turned away from Keith to face the team. But as soon as he got cocky he felt something wrap around his arm which caused it to just land on the blanket infront of Keith.
Lance snapped his head back to Keith, only to find the Keith Kogane, hugging his arm. Tightly.
"You were saying?" Pidge smirked.
Lance glared at them and tried to pull his arm away from Keith but instead just found himself being pulled even closer along with an annoyed grunt which emitted from Keith.
Okay, this is a little less cute.
"Uh, guys? I'm stuck." Lance admitted.
Shiro snorted, it was almost as if he knew something that Lance didn't.
"Good luck getting him off." He chuckled.
Okay, he definitely knew something that Lance didn't.
"Keith fell asleep hugging me once, I couldn't get him off me even when he woke up."
And.. There's that thing he didn't know.
Lance gapped, his eyes grew wide. Oh he was so screwed.
Pidge cackled evilly, "Ha! Good luck Lance." Then they walked right out of the room.
Not before taking a picture of course.
Lance turned to his best friend.
"Hunk? Buddy? Best friend in the whole entire world? Help me out here?" Lance pleaded, watching as the others exited the room too.
"Sorry Lance, you're own your own." Hunk smiled innocently.
"WHA-" Lance was flabbergasted, never did he think his own BEST FRIEND would leave him in this situation.
..
God dammit Pidge bribed him, didn't they?
"Well, guess it's just you and me now buddy." Lance sighed. He wondered if Keith was going to wake up soon.
It was silent, other than the sounds of teeth chittering and Keith moving around in the bed.
Keith curled in on himself, pulling Lance's arm closer and nuzzling into it and the blankets surrounding him.
Okay, Keith probably wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
Lance was getting tired of the position he was in, he was sat at the side of Keith's bed, hunched over the bed slightly since Keith kept pulling his arm closer to himself.
Lance was really beginning to consider just laying down next to him.
He though for a moment.
Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen? Right? Surely there can't be anything worse than this plus, his posture is going to be so fucked up if he just stays hunched over like this.
Lance sat up slowly, not wanting to disturb Keith too much seeing as that never ends well for him.
He slowly fit himself onto the bed, lifting the cover along with many blankets and pillows that were sat over the top of it. It proved to be quiet challenging.
Though, once he was finally in the bed he relaxed. Just then he began to realise just how warm it actually was under this many layers of blankets.
Lance sighed in content, this was the first time he had felt this warm in a long time. The Castle's heating was never really that great.
The warmth was reassuring, it felt nice and he began falling asleep rapidly. However, just as Lance managed to get comfortable he felt a cold arm find it's way around his chest and a leg intertwine with his. Then, Keith sighed happily, a rare smile forming on his face.
Holy shit, how was Keith still so cold after all these layers of blankets?!
Lance froze when he realised what had actually just happened. Keith Kogane, the broody emo, was cuddling him.
He was the last person Lance expected to like cuddling.
Lance's eyes were drooping, he was surprisingly tired. Lance turned to look at Keith, the last thing he was expecting was a happy smile on his face and he moved closer to Lance. Lance was pretty out of it by now.
Lance smiled at Keith and just before his eyes closed, he said something with a lovesick smile.
"Cute."
Then, he was out.
A few days later, the heating malfunction was fixed. Luckily, there hadn't been any signs of anymore malfunctions around the castle either.
Sadly, that also meant no more breaks from training.
Though, Lance was able to catch a moment to himself. He was reading up on altean as he didn't really know the language other than 'Quiznack' and time.
Usually reading would bore Lance but this, was surprisingly entertaining.
He remembers Pidge learning altean a different way but with the way that it went for them, he'd rather do it the easier way. Or better yet, the safer way.
Lance was sitting in The Lounge, flipping through the book and saying a few words aloud if it came with ways on how to pronounce it. Also, can he just add how comfortable the couches are there? So unfair.
Anyways, Lance was minding his own buisness. Reading through an altean book when suddenly, he had company. Quite, unexpected company too.
Lance looked up when he heard the sound of one of the doors swooshing open. When he saw who it was, his eyes grew wide for a moment but welcomed him in.
"Hey Keith." He smiled. Then, he went straight back to reading his book.
Keith hummed in response which, was pretty normal for the most part. He was probably tired too.
The last thing Lance was expecting was Keith actually coming closer to him.
He looked up when he heard the footsteps coming in his direction instead of one of the other couches. Lance watched for a moment but as Keith got closer, Lance lowered the book.
"Keith? What are you dOIN-" Lance screeched when Keith quite literally, fell on him.
Lance caught him just in time to stop him from rolling onto the cold, metal floor beneath them.
Once Lance stabled Keith, he asked him a question.
"Uh.. Keith? Buddy? What are you doing?"
Keith was silent so after a few seconds Lance poked him to check if he was still alive. He received a groan and a hand swatted his away.
"Don't make a big deal out of it." Was the only thing Keith said before he wrapped his arms around Lance and nuzzled into Lance's neck.
All this nuzzling was really starting to remind Lance of a cat.
"Uh, Keith? I was kind of doing something?!" Lance exclaimed, shaking him to stop him from sleeping.
"Yeah? Well, I'm tired."
God, why did it feel like their roles just switched.
Lance tired for a while longer to get Keith off of him, he really didn't have the heart to just push him off.
Lance seemed to annoy Keith the more he talked and jabbed at him so eventually Keith just looked up, grabbed Lance's face and glared.
"Shut the fuck up and sleep."
Then, he was out like a light. Leaving Lance to contemplate whether he should do the same. He was starting to feel tired..
Maybe, a short nap wouldn't hurt.