|
sick Keith was cold and tired and a little bit sick. He had spent the past day in bed and he was still tired; he felt nauseous and he shivered and he couldn't sleep from delirium and worry. All he wanted was a hot shower and, and, well, he wasn't sure what he wanted because the thought of food made him feel a little green around the gills. Candied ginger, maybe. Or morphine. But there was work and not enough people around to make sick days possible. So he stripped down and shivered his way to the showers, stepping carefully on cold, slippery tiles. Things would be better after a hot shower and coffee -- lots and lots of coffee, preferably three days old so the caffeine had had time to mature properly and jump start his sleep-dulled brain. But first he needed to feel warm, because the chill had worked down into his bones. He turned on the shower and the bitter cold water that hit his body like tiny bullets made him cry out. Cold, so cold, so very, very cold but he needed to shower, needed to get clean because he'd been sick and smelled stale. He needed to be clean and neat and the hero they all took for granted. So he stood under the cold water and washed away the dirt of the past day and tried not to think about the hot tears and the sobs that were ripped from his tired body. He wasn't more awake when his shower was done, just colder and tireder and shaking so hard that his teeth rattled. And he knew that he should head back to his room and get dressed, but all he could do was slide down the cold metal wall of the hallway and try to stop crying. And he hoped that nobody would find him, but, of course, somebody did. Because that was just the kind of luck he'd been having lately. "Keith?" "I'm fine," he said. "I'm fine." "No, you're really not." Large hands on his shoulders, large warm hands that burned away the chill and made him gasp at the sudden heat. Keith was pretty sure that it was Hunk, because Hunk was always warm, like a furnace or sunshine, and he was the last person that Keith wanted to breakdown in front of. Hunk would try to fix him. Hunk always tried to fix things that were broken. And if Hunk tried to fix him, then Keith would have to admit that he really was broken. "Hunk, I'm fine. I just." Keith bit the inside of his cheek to give himself something to think about other than the cold and the throbbing in his head. "I just slipped." He pushed himself up and presented the strong, together front that he'd always shown. "See? Fine." "Keith." Hunk's voice was full of disappointment and Keith felt as though he'd been slapped. Okay, yes, he didn't want to admit to Hunk that he was anything less than perfect, but, well, that didn't mean that he actually believed himself to be more than human. He got sick sometimes, too, and this wasn't his fault. He couldn't help his body's betrayal. "I'm fine," he snapped. And he took a step away from the wall and didn't fall. "Keith, you're trembling like a leaf in a tornado and you were crying. You're, like, the definition of not-fine." Hunk moved quickly for such a big guy and before he knew what was happening, Keith was slung over Hunk's shoulder and carried back to his room. "Hunk!" Keith tried to struggle, but he felt queasy and weak. He closed his eyes against the sight of the bouncing floor below him. "You're going back to bed, Keith." Hunk shifted his hold and then they were in Keith's room and Keith was suddenly so grateful to be on his bed. Hunk glared down at him. "Now. Stay there." Keith was sorely tempted to do just that. But he couldn't. "I can't," he said. He struggled to get up and began to cough. "Work." "We'll find somebody to cover for you." Hunk grabbed a fresh towel and roughly dried Keith off. The friction felt good and Keith closed his eyes without meaning to. "Voltron," he said, trying to stay awake. "Will be fine." Hunk stroked Keith's hair with slow, gentle motions. "We'll probably be in more danger if you tried to fight right now." He sighed and kissed Keith's brow. "You try to do too much, sometimes. Let me take care of you for a change." Keith nodded, slowly, almost asleep, and decided that he'd like that very much indeed. |