#keith would love nothing more than to remain on standby and await orders

[discordiansamba]

It becomes rapidly apparent to the Alteans that Keith is different from the other four humans brought to the Castle.

It's not simply that he's the only one among them who isn't a paladin. It has much more to do with how he carries himself. Both he and Shiro carry themselves like soldiers, but it's more readily apparent in Keith- as if he were born and bred into it in a way Shiro wasn't. His face is completely expressionless, but they can both sense the suspicion he regards them with nonetheless.

When they finally inquire as to the difference with Shiro, he heaves a long sigh and explains that Keith isn't fully human. They don't know what he's mixed with- his mother apparently left long before he would have been able to remember her, and his father never told him anything about her. He goes on to explain how the Galaxy Garrison- the space exploration program he worked for- became aware of the Galra Empire's presence at the fringes of their system years ago. That in their search for answers, they found Keith-

-and turned him into the equivalent of a living weapon.

Allura wants to be sick. Coran actually is sick. That is absolutely horrid. She has half a mind to take the Castle and storm into this Galaxy Garrison herself, and demand to speak with this Admiral Sanda. But she knows that would accomplish nothing, and Shiro has a point- maybe they can help Keith.

He asks them to keep this matter a secret from the paladins. He really wants to give them an opportunity to get to know Keith as a person, not as the weapon the Garrison made him into. It... does not seem to be going extremely well, if Allura is perfectly honest. It is clear that Lance resents Keith to a noteworthy degree. Hunk and Pidge don't necessarily follow along, but it's not exactly a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Allura decides to do what she can. She opens the Castle's clothing stores to Keith, so that he can take whatever he wishes from it. She attempts to engage him in conversation, though he mostly stone-walls her. Coran has him help around the ship, having a little more success in getting him to open up. She helps arrange exercises with Shiro that conveniently need a sixth person.

She's just... not sure if they're actually getting through to him.