Toxic Bias [Voltron Fanfic]

Chapter 13

One Month Later
Yorak's body trembled slightly as he walked to the training room. The sickness didn't get better, nor did it get worse. And Yorak wasn't sure whether to consider that a good sign, or a bad one.

He wondered if he was reacting badly to the goo. Perhaps Marmoran Galra had issues digesting it. Issues he wasn't aware of.

Yorak disliked the idea. Because it would mean bringing it up with Hunk and Coran to get it to stop. And he had already resolved to stay quiet and deal with what he was going trough if he didn't find a way to solve it himself. He already had enough issues with his bonds with the team, anyway.

Yorak paced toward the training hall, pausing as he passed a room and heard voices.

Coran: It's been over a month now, Shiro. Are you going to let them get married?

Shiro replied, the response was something that a good part of Yorak had already expected.

Shiro: No, not yet, anyway.

Coran responded in a sharp tone that Yorak rarely heard.

Coran: What do you mean not yet? That's what you told Yorak and Lance last time. Are you just going to keep putting it off until they go behind your back? You saw how disappointed they both were when you told them that the first time.

Shiro: I just don't want him making a hasty decision that he'll regret later.

Coran raised an eyebrow.

Coran: Him? You know there were two people in this situation, yes? Why are you so sure they'll regret it?

Shiro sighed.

Shiro.: I just know that we've been tricked before. I want to wait a little longer, so we know for sure if we can trust the Galra.

Yorak's ears went down.

Coran: His name is Yorak. It's not that hard to remember, especially since you've known it for a decaphebe.

Shiro: Sorry. But that's my final word in this for now. I'm sure Allura agrees with me.

Yorak started walking again. His ears never moving up by even a centimeter.

One year. One full year of building trust, and trying to make a decent bond with the other paladins. One full year of putting himself at risk to protect his teammates. And one full year to try and move away from his former identity.

All a waste.

Yorak practically dragged himself trough training. His ears down the whole time. It was hopeless. He knew it would take a while for everyone to move on. And to accept him as Yorak. But it had been a full year with no sign of real progress. It felt like the first month he was there, to be frank.

Why did that have to happen...? Why couldn't he have kept his galra form a secret for the rest of the time? Why couldn't he have gone in his own armor that day instead of attempting to disguise himself?

If he did that, he would have still been known as Keith Kogane. Just a regular human like the rest of the team.

He still would have had Lance. He would have still had his friends. He would have still had his older brother, Shiro. He still would have been on friendly terms with them at least. If he had just kept his true species hidden.

He wouldn't have suffered such a heavy loss in that cold, empty cell.

Suddenly, the training sequence was cut off. Yorak turned his head to see Coran, looking at him concerned.

Coran: Yorak, are you alright?

Yorak paused, his face wet, and he only nodded. Realizing that if he tried to speak, his voice would have cracked worse than his ribcage when he was imprisoned.

Coran: You don't look alright, my boy.

Yorak wasn't in any state to argue. Sitting on the floor, and registering Coran sitting next to him.

Yorak: Coran, could I ask you something? It's a little weird.

Coran nodded immediately.

Coran: Of course! Ask away!

Yorak paused, not sure if he would regret what he wanted to say.

Yorak: Why are you nice to me?

Coran looked at Yorak, understanding clear in his eyes.

Coran: Well, because you are a part of the team. And, over the past decaphebe, you've proven to be an exceptional paladin, and a good person.

Yorak didn't say much.

Yorak: But, why did you stand up for me and Lance? When you talked with Shiro? I would have thought you'd have more reason to hate galra like me.

Coran's eyes went downcast.

Coran: Well... let's say that I learned my lesson about having that biased mindset. I'm sure that you know this, but at one point, we personally imprisoned a galra, who we suspected killed our last Red Paladin, Keith.

Coran continued staring at the floor. His eyes going darker with every sentence he spoke.

Coran: It turned out, that the galra was being tortured much worse than we thought. Not only that, the galra was completely innocent, as I found out after the fact. It still somehow got worse, because when I went to clean out the cells. There was a dead body. And a lot of blood.

Coran swallowed hard, Yorak's ears dove down further as he recognized what Coran was talking about.

Coran: As it turned out. That galra wasn't fit for battle in the first place. The guards who tortured him put him through a miscarriage. Likely without any medical supervision. And they seemed to simply leave him alone to deal with the pain.

Yorak wasn't sure what reaction he expected the others to have when they eventually found the corpse.

But he certainly wasn't expecting it to affect Coran so seriously.

Coran: If I didn't think it already, I knew when I saw that box and what was in it. I knew that he was innocent. No galra has ever been allowed to be involved in a battle while they are in such a condition. He never deserved what happened to him. I can never forget that. That's why I'm trying so hard to be more accepting. And to make you feel more welcome. I wouldn't blame you for wanting to leave with how everyone has been acting towards you. It's not fair to you.

Yorak looked at his feet. Coran swallowed.

Coran: Keith? Is that you?

Yorak's ears raised with alarm. Coran sighed at the confirmation. Guilt evident in every note in his voice.

Yorak could only nod.

Coran reached out for him, clearly wanting to pull the young galra into a hug, but unsure if he should.

Yorak answered instead, hugging Coran tight, and being tipped over the edge by Coran's words.

Coran: I am so sorry. You didn't deserve any of the horrible things that happened to you. I wish the others could see past the fact that you are a galra and realize what they're doing to you.

Coran hugged Yorak back.

Coran: Go ahead, let it out.

That was it. Tears started to form rapidly in Yorak's eyes, falling out like double water falls just as fast. And before long, Yorak was sobbing into Coran's chest. His breathing becoming ragged, and his fur getting soaked.

Coran let him get all of it out. Continuing to hold him close to comfort him. He briefly saw someone else see, but he shot a small glare to get them to go away. Yorak didn't need to feel humiliated on top of everything he was letting out.

Coran felt on the verge of crying himself, simultaneously realizing that he was also the galra they imprisoned. That everything he went through also included the torture he insured in that cell.

And there was no way to reverse what was done to him.