Hybrid, Chapter 2
Keith stood and watched as the Castle of Lions slowly descended from the sky, righted itself, and landed on the sand. He brought his arms up to block the sand and wind kicked up from the ship's boosters. He registered his teammates' grumbles in his helmet as they struggled to stay standing. The red paladin didn't hesitate to crouch down once more, dropping to one knee and using his body in an attempt to sheild the other paladins.
He could hear the wonder in their voices when they were no longer pummeled by the wind and sand. Pride was evident in Shiro's when he thanked Keith. After the boosters had been turned off and the dust settled, Keith lowered his arms and looked up. Allura and Coran were descending from the ship.
"Oh my," came the soft, Altean voice.
"Quiznak!" shouted Coran.
Keith sighed. Pidge walked in front of him, between the lions that seemed to be standing guard around the massive paladin. She stopped and looked over her shoulder when Keith didn't move.
"Well?" she huffed. "What are you waiting for? We need to get you into medbay immediately. Maybe, if we hurry, we can figure out what happened and reverse it."
Keith hesitated. He didn't want to hurt anyone with a careless step. He glanced down at the three normal humans at his feet. He shuffled in place, unsure about taking even a single step forward. Lance, dramatic as always, turned and ran for his lion.
Shiro shook his head. "Give him time," he said, looking up to Keith. "This is new to all of us. And Lance is, well, Lance. There's no changing him."
Keith nodded mutely but still refused to move. Hunk, sensing his friend's trepidation, smiled and jerked his thumb towards his lion. "I've got to get my lion back in his bay. I'll see you inside, Keith."
The red paladin pressed his lips into a thin line and just barely dipped his head. His eyes shifted to look down when he felt something rest against his calf. Shiro had his hand there and was looking up to the younger paladin.
"Come on," he said softly. "Pidge is about to put her hands on her hips and tap her foot if you don't hurry." When Keith still didn't move, Shiro smiled. "Keith, you're not going to hurt anyone. You're the red lion's paladin. The most agile among us, remember?"
Keith frowned a little. The lion was agile. Not necessarily him. And not at this size.
"Keith!" This time it was Pidge's voice that echoed in his ears. "If you don't come on right now I'm going to have Black to drag you in like the big baby you're being!"
This took him aback for a moment. Then he laughed. Well, his shoulders shook, his eyes creased with mirth and his lips turned upwards, but no sound ever came. After a moment, he shook his head and took his first step forward. He paused, making sure no one was hurt, then took another step forward. A few more steps and he was standing right in front of Coran and Allura.
To the princess' credit, she didn't even flinch when he walked up. Coran, just like Lance, skittered backwards a few steps.
"Princess!" the older man called, a worried tone to his voice. "Stay back. He may not be safe."
"Coran," Allura chided. "It's just Keith. He may be a little, uh, taller. But he is still a paladin of Voltron. And our friend." She smiled up at the giant young man. "I am glad to see you safe and sound, even if you did have a bit of a growth spurt. Get into the medbay and we will see how to fix you."
Keith gave his ghost of a smile and nodded before walking around to the black lion's bay. The door opened and he ducked his head just slightly to get inside. Once in, it was roomy and spacious. He could see the big rolled door that opened into the common room and the significantly smaller ones meant for humans to easily travel between bays.
He would not be using those, obviously. The large door rolled up and he once more ducked as he walked into the common space. One glance at the normal door that led into this area told him he was not going to be getting to the medbay. He pulled his helment off and sighed as he settled against the far wall, one leg stretched out and one bent at the knee to rest his arm on. His helmet sat on the floor between himself and the wall.
The noise of the other lions entering their bays and the exterior doors closing behind him echoed in the massive room. The floor was comfortable enough for the moment, but he doubted it would last long. Although there was little he could do about it. He would have to figure out some way to be comfortable. He was stuck in here until they figured out what was wrong with him.
His eyes shifted to the door when it opened and Pidge came in, a tablet in hand. One eyebrow arched as she paced over to him. Her attention was nearly wholly focused on the tablet and whatever the read out was telling her.
"Here," she said as she stopped beside him. "I'm going to scan you since we obviously can't get you into the medbay. But I sync'ed my tablet to the computers in medbay, so the computers can still tell us what's going on with you."
Keith sighed in acknowledgement. At least something was getting done.
Pidge started at his feet, letting the tablet scan his legs, up to his torso and stopping when she reached his chest. A frown tilted her lips as she sized him up from behind her glasses. "I need to get to your heart, lungs and brain scanned," she said. "So lay down."
Keith rolled his eyes but shifted to lay down. Pidge scanned one side of him before huffing. "I need a better scan of your other side. Bear with me, here." With that, she pulled herself onto his chest, slid across and off on the other side. Pleased with herself, she continued the scan.
The red paladin froze when she climbed onto him, hardly daring to breathe. He had no idea where she got her bravado from, but when she was off of him, he realized he appreciated her attempts to not make him feel any more out of place than he already did. She completed her work, stepped across his legs and walked back up to his face.
"You can sit up now," she said, a bit of a smile curling her lips. "All the data is transferring over to medbay. I should get a report update soon." She took a half-step back to give her fellow paladin-in-arms room to brace himself as he sat up. "But prelimanary scans show everything functioning normally, aside from your sudden size change."
Keith nodded. That made sense. Other than being sixty-feet tall and not having his voice, he felt fine. Remembering his lack of voice, he caught Pidge's eye and tapped his throat.
She frowned a little and looked back to her scans. "I'm still waiting on medbay's report. This prelim didn't tell me anything about your vocal chords."
He sighed and let his head thunk against the wall. Pidge marched up to him, squeezed herself between his arm and chest, and punched his ribs. Keith blinked and looked down at her, surprised with her brass.
"Don't be stupid and wallow in self-pity. We'll get you fixed. I promise." She smiled up at him. "We can't have Voltron without you."
Heh. Keith couldn't help the little smile that curled his lips. He reached up and, carefully, ruffled the girl's hair. She protested and batted at his hand. He complied and pulled it away, still grinning at her disgruntled expression. She fixed her hair before turning her own smirk up at him.
"See? You can be careful if you want. So quit being a big baby about it. Just relax. Shiro said he's going to bring your mattress in here. You can use it as a pillow."
Keith rolled his eyes. But the thought of somewhere comfortable to lay his head when he slept, if he had to do it at this size, was a pleasant one. He watched as the green paladin sat down and slouched against his side. She made herself comfortable, crossing her legs and resting her head on a softer portion of his suit.
Pidge glanced down at her tablet when it chirped. "Alright. The update's in." They both looked up when the door opened. Shiro and Hunk came through, carrying the mattress.
"Where do you want this?" Shiro asked, grunting as Hunk nearly dropped his end, forcing Shiro to heft his end properly back into his grip.
Keith arched a brow and leaned forward, Pidge not moving from her spot against him, and carefully picked up the mattress. He brought it close and slid it behind his lower back. Relief was evident on his face. The little bit of support it offered went a long way.
Pidge looked over her shoulder at Keith. "Do you want to hear the news?" she asked in a very serious tone.
Keith gave her a flat look. Of course he did. What kind of question was that?
Pidge took a breath, inadvertantly drawing Shiro and Hunk closer with the way she wasn't quite speaking.
"Alright. The scans say..."
Keith managed to get a look at the tablet over her shoulder. His eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. Well, that was unexpected.
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
Im currently laid up with a bum ankle (sprained it yesterday), no internet and frustrated that I'm missing my good friend's baby shower and my date tomorrow. My internet is out of data so I couldn't work on ACL. This weekend just has not been good for me. So, here you go. Chapter 2 of Hybrid.