Adrenaline

Shiro's Findings

Keith not knowing and Keith knowing what had happened was two completely different people. It had taken Keith a while but the truth eventually bled through and he showed more emotions than he had in a long time. Keith showing emotions was usually a good thing but when that emotion was hostility toward oneself, it made it a mixed experience.

Almost everyone was in the dining room when Shiro arrived. He did a quick headcount and came one person short but didn't realize who right away. Not that they needed him to remember them. The only one who needed such a thing was Keith and he was already sitting next to Hunk and looked up when he heard footsteps. The look of light curiosity grew colder when he saw it was Shiro.

"Keith I-" Shiro started. Dinnertime was far from the best timing for apologies but Keith was hardly seen by anyone in the castle when it wasn't time to eat and Shiro decided to use his courage when it poked its head out.

Keith turned his head and closed his eyes. It reminded him of when a cat would actively ignore someone but instead of being funny, it just tightened Shiro's chest and forced him to stop talking because of the fear that the ball of emotions in his throat would show itself to everyone.

Hunk gave Shiro a look. It wasn't really unkind but far from a welcoming sight. Hunk then turned to look at Keith and let his features melt into something more sympathetic.

"Do you want to eat somewhere else?" Hunk asked and Keith opened his eyes and turned his head just enough to look at Hunk in the corner of his eye and gave a small, almost non-existing, nod.

Shiro wanted to stop them from leaving. Telling them that he would stop talking or even that he could leave so Keith and Hunk didn't have to but Shiro found himself both mute and unable to move from his spot on the floor until Keith and Hunk was long gone. He couldn't even say anything when Pidge arrived to the table and asked where Hunk and Keith was.

----

"Allura can heal a whole sentient planet but not a person and we're trusting aliens who's never even seen a human before?" Hunk asked right after Coran and Allura had told them they were heading towards Jedremi since it would be midmorning for the people they had saved. Technically they could have landed on the planet any time they wanted to but it was easier to go to the people who already knew of them and kinder to wait the few vargas it took for it to be morning on the planet. Allura and Coran had left shortly after to make a wormhole and fly the castle to the planet on the other side of the wormhole.

"We don't really have another choice," Pidge answered quietly.

"We've barely met these people before, how do we know they won't try something funky?"

To be fair, under normal circumstances, Shiro would probably have been backing Hunk up. Both because letting a stranger do something unknown to a friend was an alarming concept in itself to Shiro but also because of the fact that under Hunk's usual suspiciousness of strangers he had an impeccable ability to see if people had alternative intentions.

However, Pidge was right in that they didn't have another choice. Besides, Keith had expressed his willingness to try and he was right when he said it was his choice. Even if Keith had the self–preservation of a mouse infected with Toxoplasma gondii. They would just have to be cautious but open to the aliens.

A couple of doboshes passed and they all felt the castle move through a wormhole and the castle started to move through Jedremi's atmosphere, when questions started to plaque Shiro.

Should they tell the Jedrics about Keith's heritage? It would be a risky move considering the image the Galra must have for all captured or ex-captured planets but at the same time, it would be risky not saying anything since they didn't know the differences between humans and Galras and didn't know how much Keith was of each. Not that Shiro suspected the Jedrics to know a lot about Galra anatomy.