ch.12: Quick, Put on Some Speed

Keith wakes up, feeling the now familiar warmth of Lance's back pressed against his. It's been a little over a week since he arrived and married the Altean, and so much has already happened. He found out he's partially human, a secret he's keeping between him, Lance, and a reluctant Shiro. He's learned that not all of Altean technology has a use in battle, which is just weird, and most recently he discovered (after maybe trying to kill one) that each of them have a personal bodyguard lurking in the shadows.

That one is both creepy and insulting. Which is why he demanded to be rid of his.

Of course it didn't take long to learn that Altea was vastly different from Daibazaal, and Alteans were worlds apart in values when compared to the Galra, but sometimes it does still catch him off guard. Something as small as a patch of facial hair can be seen as a sex symbol, as he learned from watching Coran in the royal gardens one day. A mistake he will not make again. Coran is a sweet man, but seeing him flirt is like...how did Hunk put it? Seeing your uncle try to get laid.

Keith doesn't have an uncle, but after witnessing that with Coran, he thinks he gets the jist.

Alteans for some reason seem to care about small things as well, even a quiet sneeze that the Galra would pointedly ignore, they see as something to be concerned about. Something he learned on day three, when he may or may not have gotten a cold from playing in the waterfall the evening before.

He also learned that Altean cold medicine is the most disgusting thing in the universe and he will be trying extra hard to avoid needing it again.

Also, that nothing is more terrifying than having Allura and Shiro tag team to lecture.

Seriously, he thought Shiro was bad but Allura is savage .

Lance took it well, though. Probably used to it.

Over the rest of the week he has seen just how truly frustrating it is to watch Shay and Hunk circle around the fact they are absolutely smitten .

Yes, smitten.

He doesn't ever use that word, but he's fairly certain it was created centuries ago specifically to be used for how Shay and Hunk feel for each other now.

Lance and him are currently devising ways to hook them up , with the help of Pidge.

Speaking of her, Pidge has actually (unknowingly) helped Keith learn a lot about his human side. She thinks he's just interested in how she works, and he kind of is, but it's definitely more for self interest.

The two of them are also learning more about Altea together through daily classes with Coran and that is painful. Especially after he saw Coran flirting with the women in the garden on day 4.

He's spending a lot of time with Lance and his friends day to day, as well. Over the course of the week, Lance has been teaching him how to drive the hoverbikes, another thing he learned quickly.

Much to Lance's dismay he refuses to race him.

He's not making that mistake again.

The rest of their free time is spent playing human games. Mostly their video games. He asked Hunk once why they do not play Altean games, and he said it's because Pidge would probably get hurt playing them.

It makes sense.

She'd definitely get hurt playing Galran games.

Aside from getting lectured, and their daily group meals, Keith doesn't really see Shiro much. He's off on his whirlwind romance with an Altean princess, and Keith chooses to believe that is the only reason he hasn't seen him lately.

Instead, over the course of the week, Pidge has sort of fallen into the role of his best friend. Lance has Hunk, Shiro apparently has Allura, and Keith has Pidge. He's very happy he has Pidge, too. They have a lot in common and connect in ways he just doesn't with the others. He can't help but wonder if that's because they are the same race. At least partially.

Over all in the past week Keith feels like he's sort of fallen into place. He and Lance get along for the most part, except when the Altean takes something out of context and gets angry with him. Keith is not good at communicating so this actually happens at least once a day.

Still, they are getting along enough for Lance to lay beside him at night. It started slowly, both of them inching a little further from the edge each night until finally around night 4, when they were discussing Coran and his garden exploits, they ended up side by side.

Neither of them moved away.

Neither of them mentioned it.

The next night Lance plopped down in the middle of the bed and since then it is an unspoken thing that they sleep next to each other.

He knows it's partially out of loneliness on both of their parts. Neither of them have the sibling (figure in his case) to confide in anymore, since they are so wrapped up in each other. Lance talked about it with him once, when they stayed up late playing video games and just crashed in bed, tired and open. He's pretty sure it was two nights ago, their sixth night, when Lance admitted he missed his sister.

That night they both shared stories about them and decided if they do get married at least Lance and Keith will have adorable nieces and/or nephews.

He really likes when Lance is open and honest with him, those moments where he feels like the Altean truly sees him as a friend. Hopefully soon Lance will drop whatever lingering hatred he has for Keith and they can truly be friends.

As if sensing the boy's thoughts (which Coran insists Alteans cannot do but Keith has his doubts), Lance opens his eyes and looks over to him.

"Are you just watching me sleep? I mean, I can't say I blame you, but...still." He teases with a tired smile and Keith groans, grabbing one of his own pillows to slam into his husband's face.

"I just woke up, Lance, don't flatter yourself."

"Mmhmm," Lance moves the pillow to reveal a wide grin, clearly unfazed, "Excited about your horses today?"

Keith blushes some, "Th-they aren't my horses, Lance, and I mean...I suppose it'll be interesting."

Lance busts out laughing, " Interesting ? Says the boy who asked Pidge so much shit about horses yesterday that I'm pretty sure everyone in this castle knows all there is to know about them!"

Keith grabs another pillow to slam into his husband's face, "Shut up!"

Lance, again, is unfazed, "Also...when we go...if you like any of them, it can be yours."

The currently human boy looks over to Lance wide eyed, "...What?"

"Mmhmm. Take your pick, whatever ones you want. Unless, you know, I want one. They are presents for the royal family after all."

Keith begins to fidget in his seat, excited, "So, if I own one, what..um...what...would that entail?"

"Well, you would own it. You can go see it every day, right it or just hang out with it, feed it, do whatever else you want to from that long ass list of horse care Pidge told us yesterday. Anything you don't want to do, or if you are busy, the stable hands will take care of." Lance explains casually, stretching beside him, his back arching off the mattress a little as he does so, which is…

Not…

Alluring .

Keith awkwardly clears his throat and gets out of the bed, "Well, let's hurry and go see them, then." He says before gathering his clothes and heading to take a shower.

"Not excited my ass ." Lance teases.

Their normal morning routine...may or may not be rushed slightly by Keith today. Including how long Lance showers for, Keith personally opening the bathroom door to hollar at his husband to move his ass . Breakfast is also quick, since Hunk seems to have foreseen Keith's excitement (as everyone apparently did), and made a very light meal.

Soon enough they are at the royal stables.

Horses are much bigger in person and Keith is kind of in love with them all.

One stands out, though.

A beautiful horse with red fur.

He walks over and begins to stroke it's neck, earning a nose in his hair from the horse.

"Since Alteans tend to be taller than humans, we brought some of our largest breeds, that one there is a Suffolk Punch," Pidge explains, "Very beautiful type. Seems to like you a lot."

Keith smiles over at her as he continues to pet it, the horse now sniffing his ear, "I like it as well."

Lance grins at him, "Then it's yours! What will you name it?"

His ear twitches a little when the horse's lips smack against it, but his smile only widens, "Red."

Lance and Pidge's faces fall.

" Seriously? " They ask in unison and Hunk just continues to smile.

"That's so cute!"

Soon enough everyone has a horse. Lance ends up with a blue Shire Horse he names Blue (apparently to match Keith's), Hunk gets a Clydesdale with a golden mane he calls Big Boy, and Pidge gets a Haflinger she names Bae Bae. He doesn't really know much about the breeds, all he knows is Bae Bae was specifically sent for Pidge and had been hers on earth.

Also that these horses are bigger than normal ones. Except Pidge's, hers is apparently a normal sized horse.

Anyways, they spend an hour or two just getting lessons from Pidge on how to lead them, bond with them, and after what feels like forever, how to saddle and mount them.

They all require stools, but Pidge herself struggles to get on even with that so Keith goes over and physically lifts her onto the horse.

She doesn't quite appreciate it.

Still, once they are all on, Pidge shows them what to do in order to keep control of their horses, making them walk around in the stable for probably another hour, before telling the stable hands to open the gates so they can go out and explore.

Keith is excited . He's already bonding well with Red, although honestly besides Pidge, Lance seems to have gotten closest to his horse in their time with them. Still, having a pet is exciting.

Things are going well as they all ride alongside each other, Lance and Keith in the middle with Pidge and Hunk at their sides. Lance, being himself, has already challenged everyone to a race and been turned down. Hunk is just going slow, taking in the scenery and stroking his horse every now and then. Pidge keeps trotting away from them and then having Bae Bae jump over tree stumps and other things to show off.

Keith is just enjoying it, though. Like Hunk. He's not comfortable enough to try and go fast yet, although he absolutely plans to in the future, and honestly he is just really enjoying the nice weather and feeling of soft hair beneath his fingers as he absentmindedly strokes Red's mane.

"Holy shit what is that!?" Pidge exclaims as a strange looking creature pops out of the ground, "It looks like a fucking anaconda!" She gasps, as the thing glides across the field before suddenly turning and slithering right between Red's legs. "Oh shi-" Before she can finish her sentence, Red rears up and neighs in fear before his hoofs slam back on the ground and he gallops away.

Keith has no idea how he hung on for that but he did and now he's trying to find purchase on the horse again while listening to Pidge's instructions that are growing fainter by the second as he tries to calm Red down. Nothing works though and soon they are in some nearby woods, Red still running, apparently determined to get them away from the 'snake' or whatever it's called. He makes sure to remain as calm as possible, remembering what Pidge told him yesterday and was just screaming to him about it a horse panicked like this.

She doesn't seem to be slowing down and they are going deeper and deeper into the woods, so Keith looks for a spot he can safely jump off of her at.

There is none.

These woods are dense and anywhere he might try to jump would absolutely end in him slamming into a tree.

Something he does not want to do because Altean trees are thick .

After a while, though, Red eventually feels safe enough to slow down to a trot and Keith takes that chance to try stroking her and speaking softly to calm her down. Thankfully it works and she finally comes to a full stop, allowing him to get off and tie her to a tree.

As soon as she's taken care of the fear washes over him and he collapses on the ground beside her, looking down at his hands to see he's turning human. His eyes widen and he looks up at Red to make sure the transition isn't scaring her, and it doesn't, she simply watches him fade to a pale white and shoves her nose in his hair when his ears vanish.

He eyes her wearily for a moment before accepting she is finally completely calm again and he allows himself to fully panic. Curling in on himself, Keith begins to tremble. His body changed without his permission and it won't go back he's too worked up, but how can he calm down?

Red brought him into the woods where it's dark and he's never been, he knows nothing about woods, Daibazaal didn't really have them, and now he's alone and lost and human .

"Lance," Keith chokes out, his voice breaking, "Please come find me…"

He's not ready for anyone else to see him like this. The explanations and the secrets, he's just not ready . He needs to be found by Lance, or Shiro.

Tears well up in his eyes, because he knows of all the possibilities, Shiro is definitely not a realistic one.

Red makes a noise and nudges the top of Keith's head with his nose, making the human reach up and pet him again.

"We'll leave soon. I just need-"

"KEITH!" Pidge calls from a distance and Keith jumps up.

" Shit. " He hisses, grabbing Red's reigns and leading him away to hide behind a couple of particularly thick trees. Of course they're just fucking trees so she sees him quickly and comes over, making Keith hunch over to try and hide any exposed skin.

" Keith !" Pidge gasps, running over to him, "Are you okay? Oh my god did he knock you off? Did you fall off? Let me see you!" She insists, reaching out to grab him and Keith flinches away.

"I'm fine! Just give me a minute!"

"Keith I swear to fucking god you better look at me right now or I'll-!" Her words seem to get caught in her throat when he finally looks up, very clearly human. "K...Keith….? You are Keith, right?"

"Of course I'm Keith!" He hisses and she scoffs.

"Don't give me lip, boy! What am I supposed to think when I see you here, looking human of all things!? When did this happen!? Why did this happen!?"

"It's always happened!" Keith admits, "I was...I was born like this but I can shift to a galra form. I thought this was my Altean form, but my second day here when Lance found out he informed me that this is very much a human body."

"Yep." Pidge nods, her eyes never leaving him, "That's all human."

"Yeah...so...I didn't want to tell anyone, because, well, if Alfor finds out he might put and end to our ma-"

"Ohhhh no," She begins, glaring down at him, "You should know well enough that Alfor isn't ending anything if you guys don't want to, first of all. Second of all, you're obviously still Zarkon's kid, since he would literally never bother with a child who wasn't, so the marriage is just as valid as it was before." Her eyes narrow even more and she crosses her arms, "Tell me the truth , Keith."

Keith looks down for a moment, unsure if he wants to say it, but he might as well since she already knows this much, "I'm not ready to fully face this." He admits, "If everyone knows, if it's okay to walk around in this form...and talk about this and my real mother...I have to fully deal with it. I want to, eventually, I really do, but I'm not ready."

Pidge's stance softens, a small smile coming to her face, "That's fine, Keith. You don't have to talk about it or deal with it until you are ready." She sits down next to him, Bae Bae tied off next to Red, "So Lance knows, of course, you can't exactly hide that from someone you sleep with , but does anyone else know?"

"I told Shiro…" Keith frowns, "But I wish I hadn't."

Pidge raises a brow, "What? Why?"

"He...got weird around me after. I'd like to think he's just really busy with Allura, but...some of the things he does and his body language just scream he's avoiding me." Keith sighs, burying his face in his knees, "That's another reason I'm not ready. If Shiro couldn't take it, how can I expect people I've only known for a week to?"

"Because…" Pidge begins, looking at him unamused, "It's literally not a big deal."

"Wha-? What are you talking about? Obviously it is! Haggar isn't my mother!"

"So? Isn't it normal for the Galran Emperor to have mistresses anyways?" She counters, smirking at the surprised look on his face, "I didn't just study up on Altea before coming to space, Keith, give me some credit."

Keith feels himself starting to relax some and smiles at her, "I did, but I guess not enough."

"Don't let this cute face fool you," Pidge begins with a grin, "I'm the real knight in shining armor."

Keith laughs a little, "Absolutely. Lance has nothing on you."

"Hey now don't knock Lance," She says, lightly elbowing him in the side, "As soon as you faded into the woods he tried to come after you, but I had to have Hunk hold him back since I'm the only one who knows any substantial things about horses."

Keith furrows his brow, "Really…?"

"Yup. So...once you can go purple again we'll head out." She leans against Keith's side, "And when you are ready, Matt and I can help you locate your real mom if she's on earth."

Keith closes his eyes and smiles a little, "I'd like that. When I'm ready."

"When you're ready." Pidge repeats before they sit there for a good ten minutes in silence.

Once he's calmed down enough, Keith shifts back and hops on Red who looks more than eager to head home. Pidge hops on Bae Bae as well and makes sure to bring her up next to Red, grabbing his reigns to help keep control of him as they head out. It takes less time than Keith expected to get out of the forest, and when they get out he's surprised to see Lance and Hunk aren't there.

"Where-?"

"I sent them back." Pidge explains, "To make sure they weren't alone on the horses if something happened to them, too."

Keith nods, "Good thinking."

" Obviously ." She scoffs, leading them back to the stables.

They dismount their horses and the stable hands take them away, before heading out to where their vehicle is, seeing Lance and Hunk sitting in it until they see them.

"You're back!" Lance exclaims, jumping out of his seat and running over to grab Keith's face, "You didn't get hurt, did you?" He asks, closely examining his features for a moment, before apparently feeling satisfied and pulling a very confused Keith into a tight hug.

"L-Lance!" Keith gasps out, his voice muffled from his face being squished against Lance's shoulder.

"Thank you for bringing him back, Pidge." Lance says, and Keith can't see his face, but he can hear the genuine gratitude and relief in his voice.

It does weird things to Keith's heart just thinking about it and all he can do is pray Pidge says something to put an end to it.

"Don't you worry, Lance," The grin in her voice is evident even without seeing it, "I'll always make sure he gets back to you."

Keith scowls against Lance's shoulder.

That didn't help.

A/N: Haaaaaahhhh yeah I couldn't think of what to write if I was doing Lance's POV so it took forever to finish this chapter. My friend finally convinced me I could just do another Keith one and this just flew right out. Ish. I'll try to do two lance ones, I guess? idk.

Also I haven't been on a horse since mine, too, freaked out and reared up and then galloped away with me when I was like 9 lol, soooo...

No wait I went on a very controlled ride in Tennessee when visiting my cousin like two years ago.

Haven't had in-depth horse time since the freak out though. I miss it.