Miss Cubbie at one time asked me for a POV from Keith on this story. I had to step away from it for a bit before I was able to do it. So, for those who haven't already read it, I would start with KAEX Challenge: Spin Cycle before reading this one. For those who have read it, experience with my beta reader showed me you may want to re-read it before reading this one. A joke isn't funny when it has to be explained and she didn't get it until she had re-read the first, because she forgot what happened. It made for an interesting conversation on the phone. LOL!
Until next time!
Mertz
I make no claims to any WEP properties.
Reverse Cycle:
Sitting at the dining room table as lunch slowly draws to a close, Keith continues his conversation with Hunk and Pidge about upgrades to the lions in between bites of his meal. His eyes drift across the table, as they seem to more often than they should, to find the princess pushing her food around her plate and ignoring everyone around her. A deep sigh escapes her as she lifts her fork and her brow furrows in such a way that he can't stop himself from asking, "Princess, is everything all right?"
The contents slip off the fork and land on her shirt as she jumps in her seat and looks at him. Allura seems to notice just as quickly, grabbing her napkin and dabbing at the mess as she remarks, "Oh! My new shirt! Nanny is going to kill me!"
Contrite, Keith is about to apologize for startling her when Allura looks over at the doorway to the kitchen in a panic when the door starts to open and Nanny's voice comes through it. She rises from her chair and races out of the room just before Nanny walks in. The governess looks around the table, puts her hands on her hips, and asks, "What happened to the princess?"
Deciding to give Allura a chance to change, Keith answers, "She said something about needing to finish a report before her next meeting, and left a few minutes ago."
Nanny sniffs in disapproval as she glances at Allura's half-eaten plate, "She needs to take better care of herself."
As she begins to clear the plates, Keith looks over to find Lance smiling at him. The smile is gone a moment later as Nanny turns back to them and gives them a pointed look, "If you've all finished, I have much to do before my staff meeting in an hour."
Taking the hint, Keith sets his napkin down and pushes back his chair. They all rise and slowly leave the room, Hunk grumbling when they get out of earshot, "I barely got to finish my lunch."
"You were on your second helping!" Pidge retorts.
"What's the point of eating when you don't get to enjoy it?" Hunk returns crossly.
"Nanny has a lot to do," Keith states when it looks like the argument will get out of hand. "As do we. Get going on those upgrades, you two."
As Hunk and Pidge walk away, Lance shoves his hands in his pockets while remarking slyly, "Nice job lying to Nanny to buy Princess some time to change and hide that shirt."
Rolling his eyes, Keith retorts, "You know how Nanny is. She'll give Princess a hard time over it and it's just a shirt. Ridiculous."
"Yeah, I know. I just find it interesting that you always come to Allura's rescue."
Refusing to be baited into that conversation again, Keith changes the subject, "Don't you have some work to do, or do I need to find you some?"
"Grouch," Lance replies but picks up his pace and quickly walks away from him.
Sighing, Keith glances at his watch. He has a meeting in a couple of hours, but now would be a good time to complete another chore. The laundry room should be empty now for an hour or two. They have lunch and that meeting with Nanny shortly after. Thinking about the growing pile of dirty laundry in his hamper, he changes direction and heads for his room.
Exiting the elevator near the laundry room a few minutes later, he glances down at his full basket and decides this is the best option. He hates using the laundry room when the women are working. They tend to stare at him when they think he isn't looking, whisper to each other and giggle obnoxiously. Keith isn't oblivious to his effect on women, but at times it can be very annoying when he just wants to get something done. To avoid dealing with the women, he either has to do his laundry late at night or at times like this, when he knows the room will be empty for a couple of hours. Entering the laundry room, Keith stops suddenly and demands, "Princess, what are you doing in here?"
She jumps and spins around while backing into a washing machine to face him, her hand over her chest as she exclaims, "Keith! You frightened me."
"Sorry," he replies as he crosses the room.
He listens to her take a deep breath then explain, "I'm just waiting for my shirt." She looks down at the basket in his hands curiously and asks, "What are you doing here?"
Moving over to a machine, Keith starts placing his clothing in it as he responds, "I do my own laundry." He adds detergent and sets the dials.
"Why?"
Stopping what he is doing, Keith looks back at her, "Because, I'm used to being self-sufficient. Feels strange enough to be served meals. I'm used to mess halls where the meals are served buffet style or when on mission, making my own meals." He smiles at her, "I can certainly do my own laundry."
He watches the princess as she opens her mouth to reply then stops suddenly. The expression on her face changes, her eyebrows knit together, and her lips form an O. Her cheeks turn a bright pink and she crosses her arms over her chest. About to ask if she's all right, Keith watches her expression change again to one of pure horror as she exclaims, "I'm stuck!"
His eyebrows arch together in confusion, "What?"
"I'm stuck!" she repeats, while frantically gesturing him toward her. "My pants are stuck on the machine! Please help me. If I rip them, Nanny will be furious!"
Moving over to her, Keith looks between her and the machine. Unable to see what's holding her, he says, "Princess, bend over please. I need to see where you're hooked."
Glancing down as she bends slightly forward, Keith tries not to notice the curve of her derriere. Lifting up on his tip toes, he tries to look between her and the machine and sees nothing. Determining she must be hooked by her inner thigh, the internal debate starts. It would be faster to get down on his knees and have her spread her legs enough for him to look up from the bottom. God! He can just imagine what someone would think if they walked into the laundry room while he's doing that. Feeling his own cheeks beginning to redden because he knows exactly what they would think, Keith decides, no way is he going to do that. He'd be a dead man the minute Nanny heard about it, even if they weren't doing anything wrong. Shaking his head, he mumbles to himself, "Why me?"
Sucking in a deep breath and releasing it while debating his options, he finally gives in to the most palatable and requests, "Allura, I need you to bend farther, I can't quite see."
"I can't without falling over," Allura answers, sounding a little breathless.
"Hang onto me," he responds automatically without thinking, just wanting to get her loose and move away.
With her hands holding onto his waist, she bends even further over, giving Keith a view he knows most men, especially Lance, would kill for. Forcing his mind back to the problem at hand, he searches for whatever has hooked onto her pants. Still unable to see anything, he almost groans. He is going to have to use his fingers to find it. Resisting the urge to swear, he says, "Allura, this is going to seem strange, but I can't work you free without touching you in a way that may seem inappropriate."
She mumbles back, "Ok."
Keith barely hears her as he grabs at the material near her bottom and tries to lift it up and away. When that fails, he sucks in a deep breath while running his fingers between her bottom and the vibrating washing machine.
A noise escapes the princess, drawing his attention, "Princess, did you say something?"
"No."
Her voice sounds more like a squeak. Praying he isn't embarrassing her too much, Keith returns to his search, his fingers moving along her bottom until his finger brushes against a piece of metal. Pulling at the material, he feels her fingers digging painfully into his side. Her hips shift and Keith curses under his breath when he loses the spot. What the hell had he done to deserve this kind of torture? Agitated, he exclaims, "Allura, please hold still."
She doesn't even answer him, her hips still moving in a way that seems almost erotic. Almost like a woman in the midst of… Horror fills him as he feels himself begin to harden at the thought. Good God! With her face where it is, she'd have to be blind not to notice his arousal. Trying to force himself to calm down even as his body betrays him, Keith shoves his fingers back down between the machine and her bottom, almost desperate to find the metal again. Lance's comment about him always saving Allura goes ripping through his mind. Who the hell is going to save me?
About ready to rip her pants away from the machine and to hell with the consequences, Keith finally feels the metal again and runs his finger along it while trying to unhook Allura's pants. As his fingers accidentally brush against her groin, Keith feels his own blood heating to almost unbearable levels and he pulls on the material, finally managing to free her, "There, got it."
Taking a deep breath of his own while trying to recover, Keith takes a step back only to have Allura follow him, still bent over and clinging to his waist. God, he really has embarrassed her, she doesn't even want to look at him. Moving his hands under her arms, Keith tries to pull her up as he asks, "Allura, are you all right?"
She comes to rest against his chest, her cheek rubbing against him as she sighs out, "Yeah," then wraps her arms around his waist.
Utterly confused by her, Keith pats her back awkwardly while apologizing, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."
When she doesn't answer him immediately, Keith takes her by the arms and pulls her away from him so he can see her face. She stares up at him dreamily, her eyelids half lowered, with a wistful smile on her face. Unable to help himself, he looks her up and down, noticing the flushed cheeks and extended nipples pressing against her shirt. Glancing briefly at the machine as a suspicion forms, he looks back at her, arches an eyebrow and asks, "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yeah, I think I need to go lay down now," she replies and begins walking away from him.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Keith smiles to himself as he realizes what happened and directs her in the opposite direction, "Allura, the door is this way."
"Oh, yes, yes it is," Allura replies, in a languorous voice. She slowly walks to the door, bumps into the door frame, and then leaves the room.
Keith watches the princess' departing figure, lips twitching with amusement. Glancing over at the washing machine, he shakes his head as he thinks, Spin cycle, then goes back to work on his own laundry.