Would you believe that despite more or less shipping Keith and Allura together for the last 20 or so years, I've never actually written anything for them until now?

In an attempt to be a better team leader, Keith had voluntarily spent time with his fellow pilots, one on one. For the most part it went as expected. Hunk spoke at length about his love of cooking – his favorite recipes and the dishes he'd learned at his mother and grandmother's elbows. Pidge went off on a ramble about the tech of the castle and even her limited understanding of the Lions, which apparently she and Hunk were enjoying together. Lance was Lance, in that it was his usual passive aggressive comradery, liberally peppered with stories about his abuela and family trips to the beach and something called la caja china. Whatever that was. Even after two hours of conversation, la caja china remained a mystery buried among the stories of the shenanigans he and his cousins got up to.

That left Allura.

Keith was never sure how to act around her. On the one hand, she had admitted that he was chosen family, that he was someone that she had picked to care about. On the other he still was part Galra and that meant that one of his ancestors had probably taken part of the destruction of Altea and the genocide of Allura's kin. That wasn't something anyone just got over.

He found her with the mice in one of the common rooms. She was reading an Altean book, the writing indecipherable to him, and for all he knew it was just as likely to be a book on quantum physics as it could be a romance novel. If Allura liked romance novels that is.

"Keith!" she said, a pleasant smile creasing her face as she noticed his presence in the room. "What brings you here?"

"I, uh, wanted to see you," he answered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

She cocked her head, a small frown replacing the smile. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no! It's just, uh, you see it's about…well, to tell the truth…" He was rambling and he knew it, but while it had been easy enough to walk up to Hunk, Pidge, and Lance and say that he wanted to know more about them, he couldn't quite bring himself to say to it Allura. Which was ridiculous. It was Allura for crying out loud.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"To be a better team leader I'm learning more about my fellow pilots," he blurted. There, that wasn't so bad.

She blinked at him. The mice look amongst each other. "Really?"

"Um, Hunk told me all about his cooking and Pidge told me about all she had learned about the castle's tech and her Lion and Lance told me all about his family," Keith explained as he started to pace about. "And I don't know, maybe if I feel like I really know the team I can better lead you in battle or something. I've always done well on my own because I had to. It was life or death. Except now I'm part of a team and I have act like I'm part of a team but I've never been part of a team and let me tell you I think Black is a little short in the wiring if you get my drift if she thinks I'm fit to be team leader."

Allura and the mice exchanged a look before the mice scurried out of the room, leaving the princess and the Black Lion pilot alone. "Keith, you're still feeling insecure, aren't you?"

"I'm not team leader material. I tried to tell Shiro and the Black Lion that but neither of them listened."

"But you are. The Black Lion would not have picked you if you weren't," Allura said, her voice gentle. "The Black Lion sees what you can be, if only you'd allow yourself to embrace it. For what it's worth, I don't think she was wrong."

"But I'm part Galra!" Keith blurted.

"Perhaps the Black Lion sees in you what it once saw in Zarkon," she said softly. "Remember, he wasn't always the monster he is now."

"Ugh, this is hopeless," Keith groaned as he flopped down next Allura.

"So," Allura said, deciding a change in topic was necessary, "was there anything about me that you'd like to know about?"

He glanced at her, noting that once again she wore a pleasant smile on her face. "Um, not really. I sort of let the others just talk about whatever was important to them."

Nodding, Allura considered what she would tell Keith. She started talking, telling him about Altea and her people. About their customs and festivals and holidays. She spoke at length about her family – not just her parents but about aunts and uncles and cousins. Keith was entranced. He could have listened to her talk about her past for ages, but eventually her voice trailed off and Keith realized that they had reached the point in her history where she'd lost everything.

"Wow, quite the colorful history," he said when she'd stopped. "Um, was there anyone special?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Lance waxed poetic about all the girls he's loved and lost."

"Must be quite the list," Allura quipped and the pair shared a laugh at Lance's expense. "But, no, not really. Of course there were crushes and a few boys that were kissed that if my father ever found out about would have given him a heart attack, but no great lost love." She gave him a sly grin. "What about you? Is there a trail of broken hearts in your wake?"

He flushed bright pink, which was rather charming. "Uh, no. Nope. Nobody."

"Really? I find that hard to believe."

"Um, what?"

"Well, objectively speaking and all, you are an attractive specimen. Surely you had girls fawning over you back home."

"Objectively speaking? Wait, what?"

"I have eyes that work, Keith."

"Yeah, I know."

"And your features are arranged in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and attractive."

"Uh, thanks. I think."

She let out a small huff and shook her head. "You really didn't notice if any girls were fawning over you at the academy?"

"No," Keith admitted. "I was focused on…other things."

"Very well, I suppose that's a reasonable answer," Allura said. "So you've never been kissed?"

"Whoa, hey, why are you even asking that?!"

"To be a good leader you don't just need to know about your fellow pilots. Your fellow pilots need to know about you," she reasoned. "Your fellow pilots need to know and understand that you will lead them and keep them safe."

"And we've seen that I've done such a stellar job of that," Keith grumbled.

"There is always a learning curve."

"I…yeah…I guess." He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, I'm not exactly what people call social. Attachments to people, romantic or otherwise, haven't exactly been a high priority for me."

Allura hummed. It could have been a startling revelation, but considering Keith's aloof personality, it wasn't. "I suppose you'll just have to learn how to make friends. And who knows, maybe one of these days you'll get a kiss."

Keith snorted. "I doubt that. There aren't exactly a lot of opportunities to kiss people when you're a paladin."

"I suppose," Allura said, her forehead crinkling as she considered his words. Then a sly smile crossed her face. "But one can make opportunities."

He moved to look at her. "What's that supposed to-mmmph!"

Leaning in, Allura had pressed her mouth against his. As far as first kisses went it wasn't bad. The princess certainly knew what she was doing which was probably a good thing seeing as Keith had no clue. But it was rather pleasant and if she wanted to do it again he wouldn't complain. When she pulled back he let out a small whimper at the loss of contact, to which she grinned.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Nope, not bad at all," he answered. He managed a lopsided grin to match hers.

"Well, I should probably check in with Coran and make sure that everything around the castle is still running smoothly," she said as she rose. "This has been nice, we should do it again."

Keith blinked at her. "The talking or, uh, the kissing?"

She cocked her head as she considered his words. "Is both acceptable?"

"Yes!" he blurted, before turning bright pink. He coughed, ran a hand through his hair, and then shrugged. "I mean, yeah, sure, if you're okay with it."

Biting back a smile, Allura nodded. "All right. I'll see you later, Keith."

"Yup, definitely. Later."

The door slid shut right as Allura could no longer contain her giggles. With a sigh, Keith slouched back on the seat. Probably not the most ideal first kiss scenario but he had enjoyed it and it did help him settle the uncertainty he felt when it came to Allura. The fluttering in his stomach hinted at something deeper he wasn't too keen to start looking at quite yet, but it was hard to deny that this was a start. To what he wasn't quite sure, but something.

And something was better than nothing.