#Shiro whump

[icypantherwrites]

New Fic: A Star-Filled Sky

Summary: Space was supposed to be exciting. It was supposed to be looking up into the star-filled sky and wondering what else was out there, how far could they go? It was something to dream about, to have hope for.

And that dream…

For Shiro it had become a nightmare.

Or; set directly after Keith + Garrison Trio rescue Shiro from the Garrison and Keith and Pidge reflect on the Kerberos Mission and their brothers.

Story snippet:

Keith reached up and took it with a soft thanks and his stomach took that moment to let out an embarrassingly loud grumble and Keith could feel his cheeks and ears heating.

“Yeah, I was gonna ask if you were hungry,” Pidge said, “but I think that question’s been answered. Hunk’s going through your fridge—”

And at that Keith did turn around again because water bottles were one thing but that was his entire food budget for the week and no offense to Hunk but he looked like he enjoyed eating and Keith didn’t really have all that much to spare. Everything he bought was with the emergency money Shiro had given him and what little he could make doing odd jobs for some of the older residents who lived outside Garrison City and were happy for the help.

Something must have shown on his face because Pidge added, “There’s no use asking him to stop. He’s determined when he’s hungry and he stress cooks or bakes when he’s upset and, well, he’s more than a little stressed right now. Don’t worry though, we’ll take care of your supplies, okay?”

Keith gave a slow nod, pulse slowing down again.

“He’s a great cook,” Pidge said, a small smile on her face. “And you,” her eyes were searching but hesitant, “look like you could use a home cooked meal.”

Keith gave a small shrug, not sure what to say to that but unable to deny it.

“Have… have you been out here since you got kicked out?” Pidged asked, blunt and almost rude despite the careful delivery but Keith found a comfort in it. He liked straightforward people and he didn’t like useless small talk.

And considering today was the most he’d spoken to anyone in months and he’d already had to deal with Lance’s confusing comments and declarations, he really appreciated this approach.

Read it here

[just-a-scratch-man]

Voltron Legendary Defender 06x01

Little tough episode for Shiro

“Shiro what’s wrong?”

“I’m ok…”

YES SHIRO. TOTALLY OK.

+ Bonus screencap

[zenithpng]

Briefly, he pleads with the universe. He begs the stars to take him. Please, he thinks, just let me join you today. He pleads silently with the stars and planets and himself and even with the witch. He begs with himself to work faster. He begs with the void of space to take him home.

But not with a god. Never with a god.

If god is real, Shiro will maim them just as he has maimed arena opponents. He will fight until blood stains his teeth and fingernails, until those holy eyes are glassy and unseeing, until god pleads with Shiro just as he has pleaded with the stars today.

Or, Shiro's lost year and its aftermath.

[onlythegoodpretzels]

This is how my Shiro got his scar. Head collar!

[sukoshininja]

Blood Gamble

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

"It's not mine."

That's what Lance had said, because it couldn't be. He would know. Wouldn't he?

But judging by the look on Keith's face, he was clearly missing something.

"We need to put pressure on that," Keith said slowly in that carefully enunciated voice, the one he used when he was trying to hide his alarm.

Again, it wasn't his. But he knew better than to interfere when Keith was like this, teetering on the edge of panic. Better to let him see for himself. 

Lance allowed Keith to remove his left rerebrace, which, to Keith's credit, was slick with blood. Keith wrinkled his nose and bit the tip of his glove, pulling it off his hand.

"See? Not mine."

 "Nothing on this planet bleeds red, Lance," Keith reminded him as he forcefully pressed the rubber glove into Lance's tricep. 

Oh yeah.

But if that was true, then why didn't--

Oh. Oh. Okay. Now it hurt. The pain was so sharp it felt cold, spreading ice to his nerves in his fingers. He wiggled them experimentally. Bad idea.

 Keith tapped his helmet, activating his comm, "Red team withdrawing. We need to get Lance to a healing pod. Stat."

"Do you need an extraction?" Allura asked, concerned. 

"No, but he's losing a lot of blood."

"How much blood are we talking?" Hunk asked as Lance's vision started to get fuzzy around the edges

"Tourniquet level," Keith replied as he pulled his hairband out with one hand, the other still holding pressure to the wound. 

His heart was beating so fast that Lance half expected it to explode. He tried to focus on taking big slow breaths, but he found himself gasping for air when it seemed like he couldn't get the air in fast enough. Oh no, he was hyperventilating. That couldn't be good. 

"Hold this," Keith instructed as he folded the band in half and wrapped it around Lance's arm, pulling the elastic tight.

The pressure on his brachial artery was not a welcome sensation, he realized as he felt his hyperactive pulse push against the elastic band. Nausea rolled in his stomach.

Keith snapped his fingers in front of Lance's nose. Lance tried to focus on the eyes looking back at him with intensity. "I'm gonna need you to keep pressure on this, as much as you can."

Lance nodded, the pain making him feel so weak he was numb, like his extremities were slowly disappearing. It wouldn't be long before he was weightless. 

Keith hoisted him in a fire's carry before bolting for Red.

Lance was barely aware as his cheek lay against the cockpit floor. It was cool. And he was the coldest he had ever been. 

Fog pressed up against him, clouding his awareness. 

-nce

What was that?

-ance!

The sound dipped in and out, gently, like a lullaby. 

Lance! What's your blood type?

And everything was quiet. 

*   *   *

There was a pressure in his head. A pounding. Wait. That's what sounds were. Those were sounds. Funny. He couldn't understand them. Not yet. It was like they were all meshing together in one big blob that echoed through his head like a gong.

It was dark too. Oh. His eyes were closed. He should open them. Nope. Too hard. He could wait. Something was off, and he wasn't terribly eager to find out what. 

When Lance came to, he was on his knees.

He slowly opened his eyes. The light burned. He squeezed them shut again.

"How are you feeling, Lance?" a booming voice asked and Lance flinched. 

"I--" words felt weird in his mouth. And was that supposed to be his voice all frail and scratchy? "I'm alive, I-I think."

"You had us for a while there," the voice continued. Lance recognized it as Shiro. 

"Can't keep me down!" Lance replied weakly. Sensations were gradually beginning to return. None of them were pleasant. 

He tried opening his eyes again. Still too bright. 

"You saw that, right?" Pidge asked, alarmed. 

Shiro made a corrective noise. "Let's focus on getting him stable before getting side-tracked. Lance, can you stand?" 

Lance tried, but it was like his muscles couldn't be bothered. "I don’t think so."

"It's okay. I'm going to carry you, alright?"

Lance nodded. As Shiro lifted him, he attempted to open his eyes once again, but this time only by a hair. It was still too bright, but it was bearable, and he could roughly make out the figures around him. They were in the medical bay. He must have just exited the pod. 

"Should I wake him?" Pidge asked, gesturing at a makeshift cot.

"Let's wait until Lance gets settled," Shiro advised. He gently carried Lance, bridal style, to his room. 

Pidge pulled back the sheets and Shiro gently placed him down on the mattress. They fussed at him, arranging his limbs, fluffing pillows and tucking him in. Shiro adjusted the weird cape thing that draped from Lance's shoulders. It reminded him of that thing barbers snapped around your neck when getting a haircut. 

 "What's this?" 

It did not escape him how they both stiffened. 

"We’re gonna wait until you are a little more sober," Shiro said carefully. "You'll get to see it soon, after you heal a little more."

That bad?

"Chicks dig scars," Lance made it sound as flippant as he could. 

Shiro regarded him with a calm mask. "Do you need anything? Water, more pain killers?"

"Can you turn the lights down? They really hurt."

Shiro adjusted the dimmer until the lights faded to a soft glow.

Everything came into sharp focus as he was able to open his eyes fully. His vision was still a little off, though.

Pidge was looking at him intently, almost as if she was studying him.

"How long was I out?"

"Long enough to have us all worried," Shiro answered. "I'll let the others know you're awake. I'm sure they'll want to see you, but it's okay if you're not up for company just yet."

"I can say hi," Lance offered.

Shiro nodded and stepped out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. 

Pidge was still squinting at him. He was not about to apologize for the low light. She looked pale, like all the color had gone out of her. 

"Why do you look...less?" 

"You're standing in the presence of a universal donor, you greedy bastard," she announced proudly, striking a hero pose.

That couldn't be right. She was much too small. She definitely didn't hit the weight limit to safely donate. "I thought you had to wait at least another year to give blood?"

"If I waited, you'd be dead."

Oh.

"You're welcome."

"I don't know how to thank you," Lance said quietly. He owed her his life, that was a debt he would never be able to repay.

"Don't. Anyone would have done the same."

The door slid open and Keith strode in, out of breath and hair a mess.

"How was your nap?" Pidge asked. 

"I brought the pain drugs. Is he sleeping? Why is it so dar--" Keith made eye contact with Lance and froze. 

"Shit," he whispered.

"Keith!" Shiro called from down the hall, he appeared in the doorway a moment later. "I told you to wait."

But Keith wasn't paying attention. His eyes locked on Lance, lower lip trembling. Suddenly he turned on his heel and all but ran out of the room. 

"SHIT!" Lance could hear him scream into the hall.

Not exactly the reunion he expected. 

Shiro heaved a tired sigh, "I'll be back."

*  *  *

It had been days, and Lance was getting antsy. 

"Is it really that bad?" he asked Allura when she brought him breakfast one morning. 

"Is what bad?" 

"My face."

There was a reason all the mirrors were covered, that Shiro had tried to stop Keith from barging in, that when the others come to see him they wore curated expressions.

"Still got your looks, if that's what you're concerned about," Allura laughed, mussing his hair affectionately.

Lance tried to lean into and enjoy the rare casual touch Allura graced him with. But the feeling that they were hiding something from him wouldn’t leave him alone. 

"Keith took one glance and bolted," Lance challenged. He hadn't been back either. That bothered him more than he cared to admit. 

She smiled softly. "I believe he feels at fault for what happened to you."

Lance's memory was pretty hazy at best, but he seemed to remember Keith saving him. "What are you not telling me?" 

Allura hummed thoughtfully. 

"I'm going to find Shiro." She raised a hand at Lance's protests. "He can explain it better than I can. I'm afraid I don't quite understand how you earthlings work. He wanted to be the one to tell you anyways."

"You're scaring me."

“It’s been a very scary time for all of us,” she agreed as she slipped out the door.

When Shiro walked in a few moments later his mouth was set at a grim angle. "Hey, champ. How are you feeling?"

Lance shrugged. "Arm hurts. I'm stuck in this room because you won't let me out of bed. And everybody is hiding something from me."

That came out a lot harsher than he had meant it. But he was frustrated. 

Shiro nodded somberly as he took a seat on the bed, facing him. "We should have had this talk earlier, I'm sorry. We wanted to give you a chance to get your strength back a little first. I understand your frustration, but I still stand by that decision."

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think you know this, but we came so close to losing you. There was a stretch where we didn't think you would make it. "

"Hunk said Pidge nearly killed herself to save me."

"She gave more than she should have,” Shiro confirmed. “However, you needed more than she had to give. When it became clear she would bleed herself dry for you, we had to make a choice. Losing both of you was not an option."

Hunk had conveniently left out that bit. 

"But neither was losing either of you. So, as your senior officer, I made a decision. A decision that should have been yours. But in the moment I was so scared of losing you that I didn't care. I am sorry I took away your choice. But understand that I do not regret my actions. The important thing is that you're still here, the rest is details."

Shiro looked down at his mechanical hand. Flexing his metallic palm open and closed a couple times. He reached behind Lance to undo his cape. As it fell off his shoulders, Lance braced himself for what he expected to be a nasty scar.

Only there was no scar.

Because there was no arm.

“There was no saving it,” Shiro whispered after a moment. “I’m so sorry.”

Lance could feel his heart rate quicken as his breaths became shallower. He lost his arm. They cut off his arm! How was he supposed to shoot?How was he supposed to pilot his lion? He couldn’t be a paladin anymore. He couldn’t even return to his life before, not with one arm.

“When you’re further along in the healing process, we’ll get you outfitted with a prosthetic,” Shiro continued. “Coran claims my Galra tech is too clunky and that Altean tech is much better suited for prosthetics.”

Oh yeah. Shiro had lost his arm as well. He seemed to be doing just fine. Alien technology for the win. When he dreamed of following in Shiro’s footsteps, this isn’t quite what he imagined.

He forced a smile that he didn’t feel. “We’re twins.”

“Now back to that choice I made.”

Lance felt his stomach drop. There was more?

"As I said, Pidge alone couldn’t save you. But she wasn't the only one aboard with an O negative blood type. But given that Keith’s not all human we didn’t know how your body would tolerate this blood. But when it became clear that you need more, what choice did I have? Watch you die? Or pump you full of alien blood and watch that possibly kill you faster? Or possibly live? At least you had a chance. So I gave the order. I didn’t even ask him.”

Was that why Keith couldn’t stand him? Because he stole his blood?

Shiro sucked in a big breath before slowly letting it go. “It saved your life, but there were…side effects.”

“Side effects?”

Shiro handed him a pocket mirror.

He caught a flash of yellow, glowing, pupil-less eyes from a familiar face.

“He turned me into a quiznacking Galra!”

Next Part -> my whumptober masterlist

[vcepsis]

17 and 50 with hurt Keith and Shiro (some broken bones pls?)

Hi so I received this ask in JULY. OF 2019. Dear anon, I am so, so sorry. If you're still out there, I hope you see this. I actually had this saved for a long time, but, well. Here it is.

This was a dialogue prompt. 17 and 50 were: “I’m going to take care of you, okay?” “Here, let me help you.”

Beta'd once again by @feverflushed who is perfect in every way <3

----

“That absolutely sucked,” Lance complained loudly, stretching an arm over his head. “Did anyone else feel like that sucked? Like, a lot more than normal?”

Keith could only roll his eyes at Lance’s dramatic complaining; they’d barely been back on the Castle for thirty seconds before Lance had started this up. Now, standing in the hangar, they were all taking a few minutes to have a quick debrief of that disaster of a battle.

Only it seemed quick was just a dream at this point. 

“Yeah, it really did,” Hunk chimed in. “I know we won and stuff, but didn’t it seem like a lucky fluke?”

Pidge took her helmet off, running an agitated hand through her hair. “I’m with you on this one. That solar flare hitting the Robeast was the only thing that kept us from getting our asses completely kicked.” She huffed in frustration. “So much for ‘strongest weapon in the universe’…”

Keith crossed his arms across his chest, only to drop them almost immediately as the pain spiked anew. He rubbed a hand across his chestplate, trying to subtly determine if it was broken anywhere. As far as he could tell, the armor was intact, despite the awful crack he’d heard when he’d slammed into the control panel in Red. 

Really, they all looked a little worse for wear. Hunk’s helmet was cracked across the top, Pidge’s undersuit was ripped along her side, exposing the skin there to a (thankfully mild) burn, and Lance kept stretching out the same arm, like it hurt.

“It was a tough battle,” came a voice next to Keith. Looking over, he saw Shiro take his helmet off gingerly, the visor almost completely shattered. Part of his white bangs were stained pink, sticking to a cut just above his eyebrow. “The important thing is we’re alright, more or less.”

Everyone nodded solemnly at that. The battle had been long and unforgiving, but they were all alive in the end.

“You should all get checked out by Coran before getting some rest,” Shiro continued. There was some more grumbling at this, but eventually the others turned in the direction of the med bay.

Keith sighed softly, but even that small movement made him wince. It was like embers in his chest, the fire licking up to burn his lungs. It came and went as he breathed, but never abated completely. He knew the impact he'd taken in Red would be a hell of a bruise, but it hurt like a bitch. Definitely one of the worst bruises he'd had.

A hand touched his shoulder, and even though it was gentle, it made Keith jolt in surprise. This time, he couldn’t hold back his sharp hiss of pain, and he felt the hand let go almost immediately. Looking over, he saw Shiro, brows furrowed in concern.

“Are you alright, Keith?” he asked softly. 

Something inside Keith melted at Shiro’s tone, and he turned. Thankfully, Shiro seemed fine, other than the cut on his forehead that was still leaking blood. 

“What about you?” Keith said, trying to ignore how talking made the pain spike anew. “Are you gonna get checked out by Coran too?”

“I’m fine,” Shiro said easily, like he was parroting the words rather than actually being sincere. 

“But what about—” Keith reached up to Shiro’s head, intending to inspect the wound there, when a flash of pain worse than all the others combined stopped him. A choked noise escaped him, and he stumbled forward as it threw him off balance.

“Whoa!” Strong hands gripped his shoulders, keeping him upright. Keith couldn’t help but groan; it felt like his chest was cracking open now. “Keith? What’s wrong?”

Keith blinked back tears, raising his arm again to try to find the source of the pain, only to be nearly blinded by it again. He let his arm fall to his side, but even that small movement felt like torture.

“Alright, you’re alright.” Shiro murmured soothing words as he gently guided Keith to sit on the floor. Keith went willingly, hoping that sitting down would somehow ease the pain that seemed to be coming from everywhere. 

Kneeling in front of him, Shiro cupped Keith’s cheeks softly, taking care not to apply too much pressure. Then he swept his bangs aside, turning Keith’s head this way and that. “I don’t see any head injuries,” he said, and Keith couldn’t help but snort at the irony as the gash on Shiro’s forehead continued to ooze blood. “Where does it hurt?”

Swallowing back the urge to cry, Keith again tried to raise a shaking arm, but barely made it past his stomach this time. “C-chest,” he managed to choke out.

Though he was barely able to focus, he saw how Shiro’s eyes immediately flicked down. “Let’s get that armor off, then.”

Keith could only offer a jerky nod, and he instinctively reached up to pull the chest plate over his head, but Shiro managed to stop him before he got too far. It was a good thing, too, as the burning hot embers inside him quickly turned into a raging fire in his lungs.

“That looks like it hurts,” Shiro said, clearly trying to sound calm for Keith’s benefit. “Here, let me help you.”

Shiro reached around Keith’s back, fumbling a bit before finding the latch that allowed the armor to pop open rather than having to pull it over his head. Shiro tugged it off, taking care not to jostle Keith too badly. Keith could hear how his own breathing had gone rough and ragged, but he couldn’t seem to stop.

“Do you want to lie down?” Shiro asked, starting to tear the top of Keith’s undersuit in quick, steady movements. “Or would that make it worse?”

There was a long pause while Keith tried to process what Shiro was saying, to the point where Shiro raised his eyebrows. Eventually, the signals managed to fire properly in Keith’s brain for him to answer with a weak “W-worse”.

Letting out a breath, Shiro nodded, tearing the undersuit as gently as he could around Keith’s chest. Unfortunately, he managed to brush the epicenter of the pain, and Keith couldn’t contain his cry.

Shiro cursed, but didn’t stop. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said desperately, before finally ripping away the last of the material. Keith didn’t have the energy to be embarrassed, even though it was Shiro and he was looking at Keith half naked and vulnerable weak disgusting worthless---

“Keith,” Shiro exclaimed, and though it was more of a breath than a word, it managed to break Keith out of his downward spiral. “You should have said something.”

Finally looking down, Keith saw.

The skin all around his upper body was bruised, as he expected, but he was unprepared for the red, swollen skin that wrapped around his chest. If he looked carefully, he imagined he could see the outline of Red’s control panel, though that didn’t make any sense at all.

“M’sorry,” Keith mumbled, trying to suppress the urge to cover himself. Lifting his arms hurt, and for some reason he kept forgetting. But he couldn’t help the awful feeling stirring again in his stomach, the awful mix of anger and bitter disappointment at letting Shiro down. Again. Tears gathered in his eyes again, and even though he knew it was irrational, he couldn’t make it stop.

“No, Keith, don’t be sorry,” Shiro said, and he sounded sad this time. Keith looked up, meeting Shiro’s eyes, and only saw tender concern there. “We need to get you to a pod, though, ok? This is…” He reached out a tentative hand, not quite making contact. “This is serious. I think you might have broken something.”

Oh. That made more sense than just a bruise, if the pain was any indication.

Shiro quickly scrambled to his feet, only to bend down again. “Can you stand? We need to get you to a pod right away.”

Keith nodded without actually believing it, but Shiro was right: this wasn’t something that would be fixing itself anytime soon. Putting a hand on the floor, he tried to use it to push himself up, only to have the pain spike through his chest again, this time so bad that he nearly blacked out.

Just then, there were arms behind his back and under his legs, slowly lifting him up. Keith knocked his head against something hard, turning a bit to see Shiro’s white and black chest plate.

“I’m going to take care of you, okay?” Shiro said softly, keeping his hold gentle, but still secure. 

Keith let his eyes flutter closed as Shiro began to move, and Keith could feel how Shiro tried to keep Keith as steady as possible.

At that moment, it didn’t matter how bad the pain might have been. In Shiro’s arms, Keith would always feel safe.

[callaeidae3]

Whumptober2024 Day 21: (Alt prompt) Secrets revealed

"You're still you. You're still Keith. Being part Galra is not new; it's always been a part of you, who you are. It's just that you never fully understood this part of yourself before. It's just another part to who you are.

"And I'm sure - if we give them some time - the others will see that, too."

[mosscreeper-ao3]

Whumptober Final Masterlist (prompts from @whumptober)

Keith's fic (Dear Agony, 10k words) covers the following prompts

Day 1-race against the clock/search party

Day 3-set up for failure/wrongfully arrested

Day 4-hallucination/sensory deprivation

Day 7-only for emergencies/unconventional weapons

Day 8-sleep deprivation/forced to stay awake

Day 12-starvation/"just a little more"

Day 16-necrosis/wound cleaning

Day 21-body horror/spirit possession

Day 22-bleeding through the bandages/reopening wounds

Day 24-radiation poisoning/equipment failure

Day 26-nightmares/parting words regret

Day 29-fatigue/"who said you could rest?"

James' fic (Prelude: Terms and Conditions, 15.4k words) will cover the following prompts

Day 2-trust issues/role reversal

Day 5-sunburn/heatstroke

Day 6-not realizing they're injured/unhealthy coping mechanism

Day 9-obsession/broken window

Day 11-seeing double/loneliness

Day 13-team as family/"death will do us part"

Day 14-left for dead/“Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted”

Day 18-revenge/loss of identity

Day 23-forced choice/broken pedestal

Day 28-denial/CCTV

Day 31-asking for help/"I'm alive, I'm just not well"

Jaith drabble +ficlet collection (Twin Skeletons, 2k words)

Day 10-blow to the head/"I can't think straight"

Day 15-childhood trauma/"I did good, right?"

Day 17-nowhere else to go/"we had a good run"

Shiro drabble collection (I've Grown Tired of This Body, 432 words)

Day 25-surgery/"it's for your own good", solo Shiro

Day 27-voiceless/muzzled, solo Shiro

Day 30-recovery/"what have I done", solo Shiro

One shots

Day 19-blood trail/"is there anybody out there?" (187 words), Paladins

Day 20-emotional angst/"it's not your fault (480 words), Shiro & Keith (broganes), Shiro & Pidge (space dad Shiro)

[crimsonwolf715]

Friendly Fire

“Everyone report to the training room,” Allura says over the loudspeaker. 

Lance gets up off the floor where he was assisting Pidge and Hunk with their projects. He stretches, then heads towards the training room with them. 

“Hey, Princess,” Lance says when he sees Allura in there. 

“Hello, Lance. Pidge and Hunk.” 

Pidge waves and Hunk gives her a pleasant sounding hello. Keith walks in without his jacket on, which Lance pegs as odd, but doesn’t comment on. 

“So, what’s the training exercise?” Lance asks. 

“I spoke with Shiro and he said that it is a common training exercise on Earth.” 

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what is it?” Hunk asks. 

Shiro over with a gun. 

“Paintball,” Shiro says, holding up the gun. “It’s been modified to shoot their version of paint. I tested it out and it hurts about as much as it does to be shot with a paintball.” 

“You do remember that you have a higher pain tolerance now, right?” Keith asks. 

Shiro nods. “Yeah, I’m gauging it based on my old standards. I may be a little off, but it’s the same difference.” 

“Just making sure.” 

Shiro nods again. “You’re being split up into teams. First round is Keith and Lance versus Pidge and Hunk. You’ll swap partners until you’ve partnered up with everyone.” 

“What about you?” Lance asks. 

“Allura and I have a different objective. Coran’s watching to see who gets the most points.” 

“We also have a tracker for it,” Allura whispers. 

Lance laughs while everyone else seems grateful because Coran is not a great referee. 

After being armed with some protective gear and “paintball guns” they separate and the walls come up. The battle starts and Lance and Keith work together to get Pidge and Hunk. There are four times that Lance gets shot in the side and Lance thinks that Keith’s shooting him when he isn’t looking. Once the buzzer goes off, Coran informs Keith and Lance that they won by a small margin. Keith and Lance high five as the walls go away, then Shiro and Allura come over to the two groups. 

“What were you and Allura doing?” Lance asks. 

“Sneaking around and shooting you guys,” Shiro answers. “Every time we got a shot off on you guys, you lost points. It’s about being aware of the people around you because you’ll never know how many people you’re up against in a real fight.” 

“I knew that and avoided Shiro,” Keith replies. 

Shiro nods. 

“How?” Lance asks Keith. 

“I’m pretty attuned to Shiro’s presence, so I can normally tell when he’s around me,” Keith says with a shrug. “Shiro’s the same way with people.” 

Shiro nods again. “Mine took training. Keith just kinda picked it up.” 

“I’m pretty sure that Keith shot me while we were doing the exercise,” Lance says. 

“Didn’t happen.” 

A shot goes off and Lance gets hit with a paintball. 

“Stop shooting me, Keith!” Lance shouts. 

“I didn’t shoot you!” Keith replies, then proceeds to openly shoot Lance. 

“You just did it again!” 

“No I didn’t.” 

“You’re the worst, Keith!” 

“Nah, that’s for sure Zarkon.” 

Lance huffs, annoyed. Keith laughs, annoying Lance further. 

“Stop it, you two,” Shiro says. “Switch partners.” 

Alarms start going off. 

“There’s a distress beacon coming from one of the planets we’ve helped,” Allura says. 

Everyone runs to Command Center and Allura pulls the beacon’s signal up. 

“I’m setting up the wormhole now. All of you need to get to your lions,” Allura says. 

The paladins rush to the hangar and get ready, then hop into their lions. They fly out and Allura tells them over comms that the planet’s forces will come when they can but something’s wrong with their systems at the moment. The paladins originally don’t have an issue with splitting up and taking out the groups, but more keep coming out, making it difficult to stay separated. Lance is trying to keep up with the increase in enemies, but he’s not doing the greatest job. Neither is anyone else though. 

“We need to form Voltron!” Hunk shouts. 

“On my way!” Lance and Keith both shout at the same time. 

“Stop copying me, Keith!” 

“I’m not copying you.” 

Lance doesn’t hear the next part but Shiro immediately reprimanded Keith, which makes Lance think he called him something unkind. Lance goes to say something back to Keith when a shot goes off and Red goes falling towards the atmosphere. 

“One of the planet’s ships just shot Keith down!” Pidge shouts. 

“The planet’s army is coming. You guys assist however you can. I’m going after Keith,” Shiro says. 

“Don’t get shot too,” Lance says. 

“I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose,” Hunk replies. 

“Who cares if it was on purpose?” Lance asks. “They shot Keith out of the sky!” 

“Stop shouting, Lance,” Pidge says. “You’re undoubtedly bothering Hunk and you’re giving me a headache.” 

Shiro, not having the energy to stop them from arguing while worrying about Keith, flips his comm off. Shiro lands and quickly rushes over to Red. He goes in and Keith’s slumped over his console, a little blood coming from a cut on his forehead. 

“Keith!” Shiro shakes Keith and Keith picks his head up. 

“Shiro?” 

“Hey, are you okay?” Shiro asks. 

“Yeah, my head hurts though,” Keith answers.

The ground shudders, so Shiro flips his comm back on. “What’s going on?” 

“We beat the Galra force and the Castle landed close to you and Keith’s position,” Allura answers. “They’ve also asked to see the red paladin.” 

Shiro sighs. 

“I’m fine to go, Shiro,” Keith says, who’s listening to comms via Red. 

“Fine. We’ll meet you at the Castle,” Shiro says. “You sure you can walk, Otouto?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Keith stands up and only wobbles a little. The two of them walk back to the Castle, Keith slightly leaning against Shiro. Shiro patches Keith’s head up, then Allura, Shiro, and Keith head to the planet’s castle. When they get there, Keith gets a lot of apologies from the king and queen, which Keith tells them that it was an accident and that it happens sometimes. Shiro smiles as Keith keeps his tone calm and steady. Once they’re heading back to the castle, Shiro lightly bumps Keith with his shoulder. 

“Very diplomatic of you,” he says with a smile. 

“Thanks,” Keith replies. “Let’s not have me do it again since my head hurts.” 

Shiro laughs. “Deal, you should get some rest.” 

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” 

“Well you can hang out with me for a bit and hopefully you’ll get tired.” 

Keith gives Shiro a confused look. “What do you plan on doing?” 

“Paperwork,” Shiro teases with a smile. 

“You’re right, that would put me right to sleep,” Keith says with a small smile. 

“It used to work when you were younger, so I was hoping it would still work.” 

Keith laughs, which makes Shiro smile again. They get back to the Castle and Keith spends a half-hour in the healing pod to deal with his minor concussion at Allura’s request. Once that’s done, Keith and Shiro head towards Shiro’s room. Lance is waiting by Keith’s door, so Shiro pushes Keith towards Lance. 

Keith walks over. “Hey.” 

“Hey, Allura told us that you’re fine.” 

“Yeah, I spent half of an hour in the pod because of a minor concussion. Such a pain.” 

“But you sure you’re alright, Keith?” Lance asks. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Keith answers. “Thanks for worrying though.” 

“I wasn’t worried.” 

“Okay, my bad then.” 

“See ya later, Keith.” 

“See ya.” 

Lance heads towards the hangar and Keith turns towards Shiro. 

“I think he was worried,” Shiro says. 

“That was literally never in question,” Keith replies. “Our friendship is weird.” 

“Yeah, reminds me of a friend I had one time. He was super weird about being friends too.” 

“Who? I don’t remember you ever making a reference to someone like that.” 

“Oh, it was while I was in the Garrison. We hadn’t talked since graduation due to busyness. A story for another time.” 

“Okay,” Keith says with a shrug. “Where’s the paperwork at?” 

Shiro laughs. “Come on.” 

They head to Shiro’s room and sit on the bed together. Shiro ends up reading aloud until Keith falls asleep leaning against Shiro.

[hood-ex]

Keith might have just taken hold of the blorbo seat. S2E8 was a great episode for him. And when he was hurt, his lion started raging and fucking shit up. Hell yeah! That's the type of devotion I liiive for! Let's go team red! Plus then Shiro intervened and was also about to throw down on Keith's behalf.

Shiro's dad behavior is raising him in the blorbo ranks as well because now I just want to read protective Shiro fics.

[icypantherwrites]

Fic Update: Found, Chapter Nine

Chapter snippet:

“L-Lance,” Shiro whispered, tasting blood along with failure.

Again.

He’d failed again.

His own desperation was no match against whatever fear drove Lance forward and his handicap of having to refrain from an attack that could kill while Lance this time had no such qualms…

He stared up at the faceless person looming above him, sword shaking ever so.

“My name isn’t Lance,” came the distorted voice. And then, a sneer. “Champion.”

Shiro’s eyes widened.

What?

What had Lance just called him?

“You betrayed the Empire,” Sniper said, alarmed to hear his voice shaking, alarmed more that he was engaging with Champion when he should just kill him why wasn’t he killing him why was he stalling? “You betrayed me.”

And it was time he ended this.

No more hesitating.

No more stalling.

No more feeling a twinge of something for this man collapsed before him.

He was the enemy.

And enemies died.

Read it here

(posted up to chapter 6 on AO3)

[eightyhdsaf]

My taste in men:

I thought for the longest time that my taste in men was angsty boys with longer dark hair, memory issues, who usually paired up with at least one (1) golden retriever type. Bonus points if they have a streak of white in their hair. So my childhood/teen crushes were Bucky Barnes, Jason Todd, and Shiro.

It turns out I was wrong, and it took me a while to figure this out, but I’m actually more attracted to the golden retrievers that the angsty boys spend their time with: like Steve Rogers, Dick Grayson, Lance, and also my fiancé.

Why do I connect with characters like Bucky, Jason, and Shiro? Because I saw my own life experiences reflected through them, in a way that was safe. Reading fan fiction about the with whump and angst was a way for me to acknowledge my feelings when I didn’t have the words for my experiences yet.

So yeah. Angst is good, but golden retriever energy is good too. One helped me understand, and the other helped me heal.

[yelmor-boots]

whump month got me gettin creative

[onlythegoodpretzels]

Faelbar isn't quite sure how sleep works, but he watched Shiro fight in and out of it many times before they could speak properly. He tries to help smooth the transition when he can.

______________________________________________________________

I named all the lions for my Roots/Routes AU. Faelbar = Black! He's also quite traumatized and he and Shiro try to take care of each other.

I'm trying to learn how to color faster! This was an experiment that went really well.

Late for the prompt day, but for @whumpril prompt day 10: Adrenaline.

[sukoshininja]

Restless

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

A hand fell on his shoulder.

The same hand that had held him back, pinned him down, taken his blood, just a day before.

Keith looked up to see Shiro standing behind him, his sharp features softened by the dim glow of the medical bay's lights. He held out a bowl of green goo.

Keith took it and begrudgingly shoved a sporkfull into his mouth. It was chilled, the way he liked it, but tonight the jello-like texture felt especially nasty on his tongue. He forced it down anyway. Gross. He took another bite.

Shiro stayed with him as he ate, unapologetic and silent. Not that there was anything to say. What had happened, happened. No going back now. There was nothing left to do but wait.

The sounds of his chewing seemed loud in the quiet atmosphere, it did nothing to ease the roiling in Keith's stomach. He fought to keep it down. He'd been shaky since the transfusion.

Of course, it didn't help that he was staring at Lance's arm. Or rather, where his arm used to be.

He'd held his hand as they cut it off. Shiro had had to gently pry the amputated limb from his grip. Keith didn't know where it was now. Did it get thrown out the airlock? Was a piece of Lance floating around in space? That didn't seem right.

He finished eating. There were still small chucks of green around the rim of the bowl, but he couldn't bring himself to scrape it clean. He held his arm. It was still throbbing from where the needle had been none-to-gently forced into him several times before the vein had been found.

"You should get some rest," Shiro said softly. The others had left once Lance had gotten semi-stable, succumbing to the exhaustion and adrenaline crash. In the morning, they had found Keith exactly where they had left him. They spent the day with him, watching and waiting in tense silence, but dropped off one by one as the night dragged on.

Keith studied Lance's comatose face. There was a wrinkle in his brow. Was he in pain? He imagined Lance waking up and falling to the floor with no one to catch him, unable to get up because of the pain and the fact that he was off balance due to the missing limb. Or worse, Lance's body rejected the transfusion.

Keith shook his head. "I want to stay."

If Keith's blood was the thing that killed him, it only felt right that he should watch it happen; be with him in his final moments, whether Lance was aware of his presence or not. Somebody like Lance, so full of life and light, he shouldn't have to die alone.

Shiro sighed. "Do you understand why I did that to you?"

Pidge had been going pale. Lance's heart rate had still been too fast, pressure dangerously low. Shiro had looked on, jaw locked, mouth set grimly. Out of options and paralyzed. He must have been in the midst of processing his grief when his eyes flickered to Keith. Keith had seen the exact moment something snapped in the senior officer, he had felt it in the way he grabbed him and all but threw him down. Keith rubbed his face. "It's fine, Shiro. I would hav—"

"No," Shiro cut him off sharply. "It's not fine. Notice how I never apologized? I don't want your forgiveness. Lance's life, whatever happens, that is on me. Those were my decisions. You had no part in this. Do you understand?"

"I—"

"Do you understand?"

Keith nodded.

"Whatever happens is not your fault," Shiro reinforced. "I want to hear you say it."

"Whatever happens it's not my fault," Keith repeated dutifully.

"Again."

"Whatever happens, it's not my fault."

"Good," Shiro praised, warmth finally returning to his voice. He turned to leave.

"Leave the light on?" Keith asked.

"Only if you promise to sleep soon. You need your strength back."

"I promise," Keith lied.

Who placed blame on who wouldn't matter in the end. If Lance met his end because of his blood, there was no changing that.

Either way, Keith would stay by his side, until the very end.

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my whumptober masterlist

[cielpansyhive]

Just posted my latest work. Sad whump stuff featuring Keith and Lance.

Hemorrhage - CielPansyhive - Voltron: Legendary Defender [Archive of Our Own]