A Dreadful Thirst

Sleepless Nights

"Can't you just try?"

"No! Shiro, you know what would happen. I-It could literally kill me."

"Not even a drop?"

"No!"

An uncomfortable silence fell. It was the middle of the Castle of Lions' artificial night and everyone else was asleep except for Keith and Shiro who regularly went without.

"Alright, how many supplements do you have left."

Keith produced a clear bottle with no more than four sickeningly red pills just larger than peas. Shiro carefully slipped one out of the bottle and placed it in his pocket to give it to Pidge later and make clear just how little time Keith had.

Shiro gave a disappointed sigh. "And how long can you go without these."

Keith stared at his now restless and shaking hands. "Once I get off of them...two days. After that you'd have to lock me up or-" he choked on the next words, not wanting to recognize or admit them. "I'll need a lot. Probably more than one person can give... God, it's been years."

Just the thought had Keith shivering. Being on supplements was hell—head-pounding, nauseating, body-aching hell—but it was better than the alternative.

Shiro sat gingerly on the edge of Keith's bed. "I know this is hard for you. Everything about it sucks, but you have to find someone who you can trust with this. Even at her best Pidge will take...maybe a week to replicate the supplements and you'll have to tell her what they're for. If you're careful, you can have a couple sessions over a few days and then you only need one person-"

Shiro froze when he realized Keith had gone entirely still: no nervous fidgeting, no characteristic shaking, not even breathing.

"Kei-"

And suddenly Keith had launched himself from the bed and what was a nervous, hunger-fueled anxiety blossomed into all-consuming panic. Keith paced from wall to wall and his hands flew from his hair to the T-shirt he wore to then scrub helplessly at his face. His eyes never left the floor as he stared ahead attempting to discern an impossible answer.

"Shiro, what am I going to do? I haven't told anyone since you and that was eight years ago and I haven't actually-actually drank since before that. What if I can't control myself? What if kill someone? And even if I don't, what am I supposed to tell the team and how are they gonna react? And what if Pidge can't make the supplements? What will I do then? I can't go back to drinking, Shiro, I really ca-"

"Keith!"

Keith stilled, but his usual shakes were amplified beyond what Shiro had ever seen. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, older and more tired than a boy of his age should have. It made Shiro think of a frightened animal.

He slowly approached Keith. "Look, I don't know what you were like when you-" he paused, noticing the way Keith tensed, "when you drank. But we'll get through this. I'll handle the team and Pidge is brilliant. She'll find a way to make more supplements if she has to give up sleep for a week. Right now, you just have to get through the next couple of days without starving. Okay?"

Keith visibly relaxed. He took a few deep breaths saying, "Yeah. Okay. I-I can do that."

Shiro attempted to give his most reassuring smile. "Good. Now you get some rest. Think about who you're going to talk to and when you're ready to get Pidge, I'll be there."

Keith nodded half-heartedly retaking his seat on the edge of the bed and Shiro left, glancing back at the shivering figure of his oldest friend before closing the door behind him.

Keith spent the rest of the night staring at the space between his feet. Questions seemed to swim in the darkness and his mind offered few answers. This situation is the whole reason he lived away from people. Why he took supplements religiously and ventured into society rarely. And maybe he was a bit paranoid, but he'd gotten himself into a pretty bad... "drinking habit" a while back and after that- Well let's just say he'd rather be safe than sorry.

--

Shiro headed towards the observation deck to sort through his thoughts. Five days. Keith had five days to figure out how to trust someone enough to share a secret he had shared less than a handful of times before. And share it with people he'd met hardly a month prior. In all honesty, it was probably just dumb luck that the supplements were in his pocket when they all left earth and he had even gotten this much time.

Still. Keith was one of- No, was the most isolated and least trusting person he knew. This wouldn't easy for him, but if he couldn't do it in five days, Shiro didn't know if he could handle him. He had turned his back on the hunting ways of his family shortly after meeting Keith. He'd hated the whole business in the first place. Killing things--people--just for the sake of killing them. It made him sick. All he ever wanted to do was help people, be someone that one day his kids could be proud to call their dad. Well, if he lived that long.

But, assuming this all worked out and Keith decided to trust someone, how could he be sure Keith wouldn't drain them? Keith had quit drinking before they had met and, as far as he knew, the transition from supplements back to blood was none too pleasant. God, why did hunter blood have to be poisonous to vampires?

For a while, he just stared at the stars before him and let his mind wander. A silent prayer formed in the back of his consciousness that all would be fine. He would check with Keith to make sure that he figured out who talk to. After a session or two, they would talk to Pidge about creating more supplements from the one in his pocket under the guise of a blood disorder. Keith would get healthy again and get back on supplements and then they would address the entire team about his vampirism and Shiro would add his hunter heritage. That would be that and hopefully, the team would react well to the situation.

No matter how optimistic Shiro was and how much he hated everything his parents taught him, he had to admit their first rule was best right now: prepare for the worst.

He deftly made his way to his room and pulled a small kit from his drawer. It was the one thing Keith made sure Shiro had before they left. They didn't know when or if they'd be back. He opened the latch with a small click and studied the shining new glass syringes within.

Quietly he set to work. This was something he could do in his sleep. Dexterously, he filled two syringes with holy water, painful and would slow down any vamp, but no real damage. The next he filled with vervain extract; it would produce the horrid sensation of burning from the inside and that's about what it did. With luck that would knock Keith unconscious, if worse came to worst. Finally, he directed a needle to his own vein. If nothing else worked this would be his last option: a fatal dose of hunter's blood.

Watching as the vial slowly filled, Shiro wondered if he could really do it. Kill his own best friend. The idea was mad, insane, bonkers. Keith was more than a friend, they were brothers, but he made a promise years ago that if Keith ever put anyone in danger, he would be the one to stop him.

Shiro was never one to break a promise, but if it was up to him, he wouldn't even have to use the holy water.