Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender or the puzzles mentioned.

"Puzzles"

Chapter One - Paladins

Keith was heading towards the training deck when he passed by the lounge. He paused in the doorway at the unusual sight of the other four Paladins crowded around a small table. Curiosity getting better of the teenager, he entered the lounge, crept up behind Lance, and peered over his shoulder to see what had captured everyone's attention. To his surprise, it was an old fashioned jigsaw puzzle. "I love puzzles."

Lance jumped about a foot in the air. "Jeez, Mullet! What are you doing sneaking up on people?!"

"Calm down, Lance," Shiro admonished. "Besides, I saw him approach." Shiro noticed that Keith was riveted on the puzzle they were doing, so he scooted closer to Hunk in order to allow the Red Paladin to join them.

Keith sat down as his eyes took in the state of the puzzle. The border was done, but that was about it. "May I see the box, please?"

Pidge handed over the box she had been studying. To his surprise, it was a mythological scene of a dragon guarding a castle. Keith looked over the collection of pieces covering the rest of the table and picked up a couple of pieces and effortlessly put them in the correct places with great accuracy. Lance's mouth dropped open. "How'd you do that?"

Keith smirked. "I told you. I love puzzles."

Shiro smiled. "I remember at the Garrison Keith would put together 300 piece puzzles in as little as thirty minutes and use that as a relaxing activity."

"Who got you the most stressed?" Hunk asked.

"Iverson, naturally. He would try to find something to complain about but could never find any flaw in my piloting skills, so he would assign me to other areas, such as engineer or communications officer, and complain when I didn't do them flawlessly. One time, he had me do three back-to-back simulators. For all three, I was the assigned communications officer. He complained for almost 30 minutes after each one. After the last one, classes were over, and I escaped to my room."

"I found him an hour later putting together a 750 piece puzzle."

Pidge looked down at the puzzle they were doing at that moment. It was halfway done! "When did this happen?"

"When did what happen?" Lance asked.

Pidge gestured to the puzzle in front of them. "It's halfway done already. We were struggling to-" She cut herself off as she watched Keith put another piece in place. She realized that all through his explanation Keith's eyes never left the puzzle as he started putting pieces together.

"Keith, you don't happen to have that 750 piece puzzle in your room, do you?" Shiro inquired.

Keith blushed in embarrassment, almost matching his jacket. "I do actually."

"After this puzzle is done, we could all do that one together if everyone wants to," the leader suggested.

"I'm in," Hunk replied.

"Sure," Pidge responded.

"I'm game," Lance added.

"All right. I will go get it, but I will say if you are struggling with this 300 piece puzzle, the 750 is a lot harder." Keith stood up and left the lounge, surprising the rest of the Paladins. How were they supposed to finish the puzzle without Keith's help? The quartet looked at their puzzle, and their mouths dropped open. It was already finished! They took apart the puzzle and put it back in the box.

Keith exited his room with a box in his hands. He was a little excited to do this puzzle again. It showed a pack of wolves traversing a snow covered field under the full moon with a forest in the background. Maybe the rest of the Paladins would be able to help more this time though he didn't need help. Hopefully there wouldn't be a Galra attack while they were putting the puzzle together. Keith had a smile on his face when he reentered the lounge, happy to spend time with his fellow paladins for once.