Summary: 5+1: five times the team almost discovered Shiro and Allura, and one time they did.

Rating: High T

A Mutual Understanding

(-1).

The first time Shiro kissed Allura, no one else was around. It was late, and they had stayed up talking, about battle plans and war tactics, the planets they had freed, the other paladins and Coran's wacky antics, and anything else that came to mind. Anything but their relationship―or, therefore lack of one.

They were friends, of course. Very good friends, when Shiro thought about it (which was far too often). Allura was one the person he felt he didn't have to wear a mask around when he was feeling down or weak or inadequate. The other paladins were younger than him, and even beyond being the leader of Voltron, they looked to him for hope and guidance. He couldn't let them down. Allura was different. Sure, she depended on him―but she couldn't be let down. Not really. She understood the pressures of leadership better than anyone, that both of them were making up plans as they went along.

She also understood that there were much more important things to think about then relationships, with everything else going on. Saving the galaxy could take years, maybe even a lifetime, and the task may still not be complete. All of their energy had to be focussed on defeating Zarkon and taking care of their team. There wasn't room for anything else. There shouldn't have been anyway.

Yet here he was, his gaze dropping routinely to Allura's lips as she spoke, watching the way they formed words. Shiro didn't stop staring even when her mouth stopped moving.

"Shiro?"

He quickly averted his eyes, forcing them back up to her eyes. (Not that it was hard, because they were beautiful. Everything about Allura was beautiful.) "Sorry, princess. What were you saying?"

"I was saying," Allura said, a frown tugging at her lips even if she sounded rather amused, "that we should probably at least try to get some sleep tonight.

Shiro let out a small sigh. "You're probably right."

They rose from the table at the same time, and Shiro was glad that for once he wasn't in his armour. It was easier to sleep in comfier clothes―a gray t-shirt and loose black pants―even if it was never all that easy to sleep. He glanced at the clock, and saw that it was three ticks past one in the morning. Every time he and Allura stayed up together, it seemed to get later and later.

Not that he minded. He loved spending time with her, especially when it was just the two of them.

"I'm afraid I keep you up far too late," she said, catching where his eyes had gone. They had quickly learned that Alteans didn't need as much sleep as humans (or that she and Coran were still being affected by their 10,000 year long sleep).

"No, no," he said quickly, stifling a yawn as they left the table. "I…I really appreciate this. It makes me feel less alone, and I like getting to know you better. I like spending time with you. I'd pull an all-nighter if I thought I could afford to."

Allura looked at him with a small smile, almost shy. The pink markings around her eyes, resting above her cheeks, seemed to turn a little red. Was that…her blushing, he wondered. "Shiro," she said softly, so unlike her usual confidence, yet he found it just as compelling, taking a step towards her. She wouldn't look him in the face. "What is courtship like on your planet?"

His jaw went slack. "Oh." He tried to keep his voice neutral. "Well, humans go on dates. Like, they'll talk to each other and eat food. Or watch something entertaining, or walk around. And people do that for years, sometimes, they may even live together before they get married." He swallowed hard. "What―what's it like in Altean culture?"

"It's shorter. An Altean usually has multiple suitors, and relationships are often on the shorter side, since Alteans live such long lives. But those who do get married are committed to each other forever. Alteans are compassionate, loving beings in nature. Because of our diplomatic beliefs and shapeshifting, interspecies relationships is―was fairly common."

She was so close, so very close he could see the stars in her eyes, as he tentatively reached for her hand. "It was?" Shiro whispered. Her fingers, warm and soft, curl into his, skin against skin. Their noses were nearly touching.

"It is," she confirmed, and then pressed her mouth to his. Displays of love and affection were another thing their cultures had in common, obviously.

Shiro tugged her closer to him by their linked hands, his free one going up to the back of her head. Her mouth was warm and soft, her lips parting slightly to deepen it. He felt warmth flood him, as her hands went up to the crook of his elbow, lightly gripping his arms as he let go of her hand and wound that arm around her slim waist, pulling her into his arms.

Whatever they had been dancing around was finally gone, and so was the space between them.

Allura drew away only slightly, her cheek still brushing his as their eyes met, and a silent understanding passed between them: for now, no one should know.

1.

Sparring was one of Shiro's favourite past-times. The relieving sting of his knuckles against a punching bag, seeing how he could use his galra arm for good, not bad, and making sure he was staying in shape, were all reasons he loved it. Sparring with Allura was even better. For one, she presented a real challenge, in her skill and superhuman strength. For another, he really didn't care who won as long as she was on top or under him at the end of it.

In the two weeks since their kiss, they hadn't decided to see how compatible human and Altean reproductive systems were with each other, but that didn't stop him from occasionally thinking about it. (Not that it had stopped him before, no matter how hard he had tried.)

Especially when she was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. A few strands of hair had fallen out of her bun, as she let out a huff. "It appears that I have won again." She gave him a triumphant smile.

"Looks like it princess," he said with a light chuckle. His wrist strained against her hand for a moment, and she let him go. He reached up and tucked her loose hair behind her ears, before letting his hand gently caress the cheek. "What was the deal, again?" he feigned forgetfulness, letting his sillier side shine through.

Allura rewarded him with an adorable giggle. "The loser was supposed to give the winner a kiss."

"So it's really win-win no matter what?" he said with a broad smile, before leaning up and kissing her. Their mouths met halfway. Their kisses had usually been chaste, but Allura was kissing him more firmly, and he could feel her lips, a tiny poke of her tongue, coaxing him to part his lips.

And he was just about to, when he heard footsteps. Spending a year in a Galra prison had sharpened his senses, and Shiro hastily broke the kiss. "Someone's coming," he breathed.

Allura quickly eased off of him, offering a hand to help him up, and he made sure his hand didn't linger in hers, as Keith came into the training room, bayard in hand. "Oh, um. Hey," the red paladin greeted, raising his brows in surprise. Shiro supposed that he and Allura never really spent that much time together with the rest of the team around, so finding them together was an oddity. He hoped he wasn't blushing.

"We were just finishing up," Allura announced, her voice smooth, as if truly nothing was out of the ordinary. "The training centre is all yours."

Keith relaxed. "Thanks. I wanted to get some training in before Lance came, he's so―"

"KEITH! TOO CHICKEN TO SPAR WITH ME, HMM?"

Shiro had to hide a smile as Lance waltzed in with an reluctant looking Pidge and Hunk in tow, and Keith face-palmed.

"We'll leave you to it." Shiro winked at him, eyes gleaming with amusement.

He and Allura broke out into giggles as soon as they had left the training centre, and Shiro slipped his hand into hers. One of the things he loved most about her was that she never cared which hand was holding, his flesh or metal one. She accepted them both equally, even though she had every reason to hate the latter, crafted by the evil Galra empire that had destroyed her people and family.

Allura squeezed his fingers. "It is a good thing that you realized Keith was coming," she remarked, a pale pink colouring her cheeks.

"Yeah." Shiro studied her for a moment. "Although, out of them all, it wouldn't have hurt too much that he knew. The worst would've been Lance."

"Or Coran," Allura added. "You wouldn't be able to believe the way he used to tease me when I was a child. Him and my mother were good friends, ooh, he would poke fun at me mercilessly. Especially once I got to marrying age." Shiro nearly frowned, and she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. "Mostly because I never had a suitor that I could seriously consider," she assured him.

Shiro tried not to look relieved, and looked down at their hands as she laced their fingers together. "Now, let's find some secluded corner of the castle, before someone comes looking for us," she said, and he was happy to follow her lead.

2.

Now, it wasn't that they didn't want the other paladins and Coran to know. It was just nice having something that entirely belonged to them, and Shiro was used to keeping things out of his mind whenever the team practiced their mind melding―it had always been memories of his time in prison, horrors he didn't want them to know, and he was glad to say he had much happier memories to deal with.

They just didn't want them to know right now, to not have to endure the teasing that would follow. And once Lance knew Shiro had a girlfriend, he would insist on having one (even if Keith was right there; oblivious idiots, the both of them). It might even make the team lose focus, which would be something Shiro would have to iron out if it happened. There was also something exciting about being in a secret relationship. An added rush to their stolen touches and glances.

Of course, they'd tell the other paladins and Coran. Eventually.

For now, they were happy keeping their relationship a secret.

Shiro just wished he had made a better game plan for sneaking around the castle when Pidge was quite the night owl herself. Holding Allura's hand as they walked down the dark castle hallways, faintly illuminated the moonlight, they had paused a few times, getting distracted by each other. Still, he hadn't accounted for Pidge being on a balcony that was in their only way to everyone's sleeping quarters.

Shiro chanced a glance. Pidge had her headphones on, a glowing box at her feet with antennae sticking up while she jotted things down in a note pad. Searching for alien signals? For any sign of her father and brother? Part of Shiro wanted to reprimand her for not getting a good nights sleep, but he also couldn't help but be a little curious, and concerned.

He was on the fence of whether to stop, or to keep going and hope she wouldn't notice them, when Pidge's head poked around the corner. "What are you two doing up?" she asked, and then, perceptive as always, "Why are you holding hands?"

Shiro quickly let go of Allura, and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the heat rising to his cheeks. "I could be asking you the same thing."

Pidge threw him a dry stare. "I'm not holding anybody's hand."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "You know what I meant. What are you doing up?"

"Scanning the system for Galra signals." Pidge quickly stifled a yawn. "I know the castle does it, but it doesn't pick up on spoken transmissions―at least, not clearly, and not in anything other than Altean."

Allura smiled a little guilty. "I'm sure I can add another language of your human tongue, Pidge," she offered. She looked to Shiro as he took a seat next to Pidge, giving him a curious look. Shiro patted the space beside him expectantly.

"We'll take it from here Pidge," Shiro told her. "You get some rest. We'll wake you if there's anything new."

Pidge nodded sleepily, and then leaned into his side. Shiro opened his arm and curled it around the young girl. "Thanks, Shiro," she said drowsily. "An' Allura…"

Allura was struck by how much they looked like a father and daughter, in many ways. Shiro was truly like a father to the rest of the team in many ways. "My father would have liked you a great deal," she said quietly, not wanting to wake the green paladin.

Shiro gave her a tiny smile. "I hope so." He wrapped his other arm around the princess's waist. "Otherwise we would have had to sneak around the castle even more."

Allura giggled softly, and then her smile faded. "You really do not mind keeping us a secret?" she checked.

He shook his head, pulling her closer. "No." He smiled as he leaned in for a kiss. "I like having you all to myself."

3.

Allura knew deep down that Shiro should have left once they had finished catching their breath. He should have dragged himself out of her bed, found his clothes from the floor and tugged them back on, giving her one last kiss before heading out the door to give her ample time to do the same hours later, in the morning. Instead, he had properly stayed the night, burrowing in the warmth of her sheets and her body, and they came to in the morning with their legs tangled together, and his hands stroking her hair, caressing the smooth skin of her bare back.

"I should probably go," Shiro whispered, and she could hear the reluctance in his voice.

"Nooo," she half-whined, nuzzling her face into his shoulder, the cool metal of his arm a few inches away from her chin. "Stay, just a few ticks longer."

"The others will be up soon―"

"Shiro."

"Allura."

"Takashi." She knew the simple utterance of his birth name, not his nickname (told to her in one of their long, nightly talks), had him beat as he pulled her closer, pressing kisses to her temple. She trailed a hand down his strong back, her fingers lingering on risen trails of marred skin: the various scars that covered his body. Despite being a reminder of the Galra's physical attempt of ruining him, she found them beautiful, just like the rest of him.

His hands ran down from the slope of her waist and hips to her thighs, one of them draped over his leg. It turned out that Alteans and humans reproductive systems were extremely compatible. "Just a little longer," he murmured, and she nodded, before leaning in to kiss him, tasting the dryness of the morning on his mouth.

She slowly pulled away, burying her face in his neck, letting her relax into the warmth surrounding her. She had hardly ever felt so peaceful. In fact, she nearly fell asleep again, when what felt like only minutes there, was a knock at the door.

"Princess Allura?" Coran's voice was bright and cheery, and she could picture him smoothing down his bushy mustache on the other side of the door. Shiro nearly fell out of her bed. "Are you ready? You wanted me to run a diagnostics test of the castle's overnight defences and the results are here―surprisingly in some funny human language I suppose and―"

"I'll be there in just a tick Coran!" she called, trying not to sound panicked. She threw off the covers and reached for her unworn nightgown hanging on her closet doorknob, quickly pulling it on. Shiro was beside her in an instant, helping her along the way, before pulling on his pants. "Hide!" she hissed at him.

"Where?"

"Allura, are you alright?" Coran asked.

She forced herself to sound cheery. "Fine! Just―" Stars above, she had never expected to be a grown woman hiding the fact she had a boy in her room from her family's favourite royal advisor. "Just give me a few more ticks, I'll―"

She turned around to Shiro, her face set, and promptly shoved him into the closet. To his credit, he only let out a soft oomph noise of surprise when she slammed the door in his face, leaning heavily against the wardrobe as Coran slowly opened the door. "Good morning Coran!" she chirped.

He gave her an strange stare. "Allura, is everything okay?"

"Never better―" Her voice nearly pitched as she noticed Shiro's shirt lying near her bed, her sheets lying haphazardly across the mattress. "I did have a bit of a restless sleep, though." She forced a chuckle, walking over to her bed and hastily smoothing down the covers, using her foot to push Shiro's shirt underneath her bed. Before Coran could comment, she said, very brightly, "So, the diagnostics?"

Coran's suspicion was seemingly gone as he perked up, puffing out his chest importantly. "Ah, of course." He whipped out some papers from his pocket. "These came out of Pidge's odd human contraption, she calls it a printer, anyway―"

Allura followed the chattering man out of her room, glancing back at Shiro who was peeking out from behind the wardrobe door. She pointed at the bed, indicating his shirt, and he gave her a thumbs up, before she shut her door and turned her attention back to Coran, who was oblivious as ever. She focussed on what he was saying as much as she could, and let out a sigh of relief once he was gone.

Whew. That had been close.

4.

It turned out humans were a very diverse bunch, and unlike Altea, had loads of different cultures within the tiny planet. Shiro was something called Japanese, although he had been born and raised in a different country than his parents ("Countries?" she had asked, and he had gone into an explanation that both made a great deal of sense, and was also very overwhelming) and his grandmotherhad passed down family recipes.

Thus, Shiro had started to teach them to her. He had to find Arusian and intergalactic substitutes, of course, but there were fish and spices that could make them taste the same way they would back home. To have him share part of his family and heritage with her meant a great deal, and all the food really was delicious.

"You should cook for the team more often," she told him, smiling as he rested a hand on the small of her back, before sitting down next to her at the table.

"Hunk enjoys it so much, though. Besides, I wouldn't want to do it every day. I do have more important things to attend to." He gave her a knowing smile. "Like my beautiful princess."

"Flattery may get you somewhere," she told him, leaning in to kiss him when they heard whistling in the hallway. They quickly broke apart, looking to Hunk as he strolled into the kitchen, reaching for a plate and heading over to the green goo machine.

"Hey guys!" He waved and gave them a friendly smile, squeezing some goo onto his plate before sniffing the air. "Ooh, Shiro did you cook?"

"A bit," the black paladin admitted. Hunk wasted no time before scooping some of the sushi up and stuffing it in his mouth, chewing noisily.

"Mmm!" He swallowed and grinned again. "It's really good! Mind if I have some more?"

"Go ahead," Shiro shrugged, and once Hunk was distracted, he exchanged an amused look with Allura. After Hunk was done, he busied himself around the kitchen, starting on everyone's dinner later that evening, and they found each other's hands under the table, hooking their pinky fingers around each other, if only to maintain some kind of contact. She wished she could actually hold his hand.

They were just lucky they hadn't gotten caught.

5.

"Shiro!"

Allura was in his arms after only a moment, her embrace tight. The last battle had been particularly harrowing, with a number of close calls. Shiro had pulled off a particularly daring move against a fleet of Galra ships, barely coming out alive. Coran was leading the rest of the team towards the infirmary, and the princess knew her paladin would need to be cared for as well, but for now, she was just so thankful he was alive.

"You had me so worried," she mumbled. His arms were tight around her, and she wanted to hold him forever, but knew she couldn't. Not if she wanted to keep up her secret. Part of her wanted to; she was tired of sneaking around. She was tired of not being able to kiss him whenever she felt like it. Surely nearly four months was long enough?

Slowly, she let go of him, and when she did so, she found Lance staring at him. He had an uncharacteristically thoughtful expression on his face, one arm curled over his stomach protectively, possibly due to an injury.

Allura let her hand trail along Shiro's arm, lingering in the indent of his curled fingers, before finally stepping away from him, looking at Lance. His brow was furrowed, and Allura marched over to him, seizing him perhaps a tad roughly by the arm.

"Lance, let's get you to the infirmary," she ordered. "Come on Shiro. Paladins, let us know whatever injuries you have. There is no weakness in being hurt."

For a tick, she feared it might have been too late, that Lance had connected the dots. He was smarter than they usually gave him credit for, after all. Still, Lance didn't comment on what he had seen, or even blurted it out in typical Lance fashion, instead letting Coran deal with his injuries while Allura took care of Shiro's.

And if she touched him far more gently than the others, than what did it matter, really?

+1.

"Haven't you noticed they've been acting oddly?"

"You know, Shiro has been awfully cheery in the mornings lately, if you know what I mean―"

"Lance, that's not the point, the point is, there's something going on between them they're not telling us―"

"Lance may have a point―"

"I do?"

"Yes, now don't make me regret saying it. I mean, we did check Shiro's room, and he's not there, so…" Keith turned as red as his jacket, Coran, Lance, Pidge and Hunk gathered around Allura's door. Lance pressed his ear to the keyhole.

"Can't hear much," he muttered, and then looked expectantly at the others. "Well, who's opening the door?"

"I will," Coran volunteered lamely, sighing. Hunk pushed Pidge, the youngest of them all, behind him protectively. "Although I wish you wouldn't jump to assumptions. They're both responsible adults," he added, turning the door handle. "I'm sure they―OH MY QUIZNAK!"

Coran covered his eyes with his hands, Keith peering over one shoulder and Lance over the other, the latter giving the naked couple in bed a thumbs up. Allura shrieked as Shiro scrambled off of her, both of them grabbing at sheets to cover themselves, their faces unbelievably red.

Hunk coughed as a split second of shocked silence followed. "So, is this awkward for anybody else or just me…?"

"What are you doing here?" Allura demanded, holding her sheets up to her chest. Shiro looked very meek, sitting beside her, their faces flushed not just from embarrassment.

"Ha, I knew it!" Lance's joyous shout and expression withered under the fierce glare Allura shot his way.

"So, you two are together and dating―and―" Coran batted away Pidge's attempts to get to the front of the group. Someone had to protect the young teenager's innocence. "That's great!" His mustache twitched. "So, um, we'll leave you to your business―be safe! Make good choices!"

He quickly herded the paladins out of the princess's room. Still glaring at the door, Allura's eyes softened as he turned to Shiro, who, almost infuriatingly, seemed to be holding back the sliver of the a smile.

"Well, they know now," he said, his mouth quirking upwards. Allura couldn't help but return it, even if her cheeks were still red.

On the other side of the door, they heard Lance ask, "Hey, can Alteans and humans have kids together, because―Ow! Coran! It's a valid question!" Shiro chuckled softly at the picture of the royal advisor smacking the boy upside the head.

Allura reached for Shiro's hand underneath the covers, squeezing it as she smiled at him. They all knew their teammates would be supportive when the truth came out. Now, they could do whatever they pleased. And she was beyond proud to have Shiro as her partner―and vice versa.

"Yes," she agreed. "They finally do."