#the black lion still chooses Keith as Shiro's temporary replacement which Keith thinks is absurd

[discordiansamba]

Pidge is the first to find out.

Of course she is- she's the one who summoned him. She didn't expect it to work, but now they're both bound by the rules of summoning to forge a contract with one another. Keith knows better than to ask for her soul, so he asks for her hair instead. She has a lot of it, and it she can grow it back if she wants to. It's an infinite resource.

(Colleen just thinks he's a friend of her daughter's. They do not dispute this. She does do a double take when she goes to check on her daughter and finds that she just abruptly cut off a huge chunk of her hair, though.)

Allura is the next one to find out. They kind of have no choice but to tell her, given Keith's disappearing act. It's not as bad as having to tell one of the paladins, though. She has no preconceived notion as to what a 'demon' is. To her, he is simply another kind of Earthling.

(She agrees to keep it a secret, though she's clearly not happy about it. She doesn't understand it would effect the paladin bond more if they knew.)

Shiro is the third to find out, but Keith doesn't learn this until much later. He's there when he faces the Trials of Marmora. Keith never realized just how much he saw there. How when he passed out on the ground, beset by illusions, Shiro saw him as he truly was. Shiro never says anything.

(Shiro understands why Keith never told him. When he smiles and tells him that it doesn't matter what he is, that it's enough for him to just be Keith, he's not only talking about his Galra heritage. If Keith is a demon, then he's been a demon the entire time Shiro has known him.)

Kolivan and the Blade of Marmora all find out at the same time. That he does know. They have questions for him, although Keith is hesitant to answer them in a way he wasn't with Allura. These people are the other half of his heritage. It's a weird feeling. Guess it explains his purple skin and yellow eyes, which he clearly didn't get from his dad.

(For all his apprehension, to them he is no different from any other half-Galra. It is a surprisingly comforting feeling.)

Lance, Hunk, and Coran all find out together.

The mission was a bust. The ship was a decoy, rigged to explode. Regris is on the verge of death, and needs a healing pod fast or he won't make it. So Keith makes a gamble and reaches out to Pidge. Can you summon him back to the Castle right now? She's confused at the urgency but complies. Keith's gamble pays off- he's holding Regris at the time, and he gets dragged along with him. It doesn't matter that he's just appeared right in front of everyone in his true form.

Allura snaps into action and helps him quickly get Regris to a healing pod. He's put right next to Shiro's, where he's been in stasis ever since their battle with Zarkon. It's only then that he has to confront his choice, turning back to face Lance and Hunk. There's no way he can just write this all off as due to him being part Galra. He has to tell the truth.

(When Shiro emerges from the healing pod, Keith has already left for the Blade.)

#demon in space au #the black lion still chooses Keith as Shiro's temporary replacement which Keith thinks is absurd #hello? you're asking a *demon* to lead a bunch of humans? (and one (1) altean) #that sounds like a bad idea to him. there's no way he's going to be any good at this #but the lions are the lions and to them keith is no different from any other creature they've had pilot them #pidge's (highly improvised) guide to demons