WEP owns everything except the voices in my head.
on a day like today
the whole world could change
the sun's gonna shine
shine thru the rain
on a day like today
ya never wanna see the sun go down
ya never wanna see the sun go down
Bryan Adams - On a Day Like Today
Lance sighs noisily, turning his back to the windows in the rec room and huffing as loudly as he can manage. Realizing that no one is paying him any attention, he pitches his voice to carry across the room. "It's still raining! I can't believe it. It's been five days already." The Red Lion pilot throws his hands up in the air and begins pacing restlessly. "When's it going to let up? I'm so tired of being cooped up in this castle," he whines, turning to glare at the grey clouds that stretch all the way to the horizon.
"Lance, we're all starting to get cabin fever, but unlike you, the rest of us are trying to make the best of it," Allura chides him gently. "Why don't you come over here and play cards with us. Or find a book to read. I'm sure the rain will end soon."
Lance turns away from the window once more and spends a few seconds watching his friends continue their game, before sighing loudly again. He slowly makes his way over to the low table before the couch, dragging his feet like a petulant child as he goes. Reaching his destination, Lance flops onto the floor and crosses his arms over his chest.
Keith watches his second's show of immaturity out of the corner of his eye and suppresses a smirk. Without missing a beat, he plays a card onto the table, eliciting loud groans from Pidge and Hunk.
"How do you always do that, Chief?" Hunk asks, tossing the rest of his cards down in defeat.
Keith chuckles quietly, eying the sullen form picking at the carpet before speaking. "Easy, I don't let Lance's antics distract me."
Lance doesn't say a word, merely turns his head to glare daggers at his commander for a few seconds before grunting and poking at the carpet again.
"C'mon, Lance, there has to be something you want to do besides annoying the rest of us with your whining," Keith encourages his friend. "You name it and we'll do it," he sighs in resignation, "within reason of course."
"Pfff, reason. You take the fun out of everything, Keith." Lance mutters, frowning.
"Fine, if you wanna sit here and pout over the weather, feel free. I think I'm going to go read in my room for a while." Keith walks into the hallway, shaking his head as he goes.
Allura watches the captain leave and turns to face Lance once the door closes. "So Lance, is there something that you'd like to do?"
He shrugs without looking up. His fingers continue to pull at individual carpet fibers as he sits in sullen silence.
Hunk stretches his arms up over his head, letting out a noisy yawn. "I think I'm gonna go take a nap. This kinda weather always makes me sleepy. Wake me when lunch is ready, OK?"
Pidge gathers together all the cards on the table, tapping them into a neat pile. "Sure thing, Hunk."
After the husky pilot leaves the room, Pidge fidgets with the deck of cards in his hand. "So, anyone still want to play?"
"Lance, would you like to play cards?" Allura asks the lanky man sulking before her.
"Not really," he mumbles quietly.
"Sorry, Pidge." Allura offers him a small smile.
"It's OK, Princess. I'll see you guys at lunch. Good luck with Lance." Pidge smirks as he makes his way from the room.
As the door closes, leaving Lance and Allura alone, the princess gets up from the couch and sinks gracefully to the floor next to her friend. "Anything you want to talk about, Lance?"
"No."
"Well, you don't want to play cards, you don't want to talk, there has to be something you want to do."
"I dunno. I'm just bored." He exhales loudly and flings himself onto his back on the floor. "Actually bored would be an improvement." He glances at the princess, an apologetic smirk on his face.
Allura screws up her mouth and looks around the room as she tries to think of something that might entertain her friend. "So, what would you do if you were still on Earth and the weather had you cooped up?"
"I guess, annoy Keith mostly." Lance chuckles quietly.
Allura's laughter joins with his. "Well, you've already done that. He seemed at least mildly irritated when he left. What else would you do?"
"If I had a girlfriend at the time, I'd annoy her for a while." He slips his hands beneath his head and peeks at the Princess from the corner of his eye as he works to prevent a smile from forming on his lips.
"I'm sensing a theme here, Lance. And not a flattering one for you," she points out gently. "Besides, you don't have a girlfriend right now, so what would you do besides annoying people that you claim to like?" She arches an eyebrow as she regards the Red Lion pilot.
"It wasn't exactly like that, Princess," he mumbles quietly. "I didn't really mean to annoy them. It just kind of happened that way." He turns away from her and hides his head sheepishly.
Allura smiles softly, a chuckle in her voice, "I understand, Lance. It's not easy to be stuck inside for days on end when you aren't used to it. It wasn't easy living in the caves during Zarkon's attacks either."
He groans and sits up again, rubbing his face with his hands. "Oh, man. I'm sorry, Princess. You must think I'm a total jerk right now. Here I am, a grown man, whining and complaining about being stuck inside because of five days of rain, when you had to deal with so much worse when you were just a child." Lance lowers his gaze, suddenly finding his fingernails highly engrossing.
Allura reaches out and gently places a hand on his shoulder. "No, I don't think you're a jerk, Lance. You just get restless and feel the need to express it in the most obnoxious ways to those you feel safest around," she teases.
He reaches up and covers her hand with his own. "Thank you, Princess. I'm sorry I've been so cranky." He gives her a lopsided smile before sighing again. "I should probably go apologize to Keith now too." The lanky pilot stands and takes a step towards the door before stopping abruptly and turning back to the princess, who had just gotten to her feet. He impulsively closes the distance between them, encompassing her in a tight hug. Caught off guard, she wobbles, off balance. It is only his embrace that keeps her upright. Recovering quickly, she reaches up and returns his hug, giggling.
Later that afternoon, the team finds themselves gathered in the rec room once again. Lance stands staring out the window as the rain continues to fall unabated. He watches the droplets as they plummet past the castle before splashing into the lake. A bright flash of lightning streaks across the sky; quickly followed by a loud clap of thunder. As the rumbling fades, his face suddenly lights up. "I've got it!" he yells, turning to face his friends.
"You've got what exactly?" Keith asks with concern, "and please tell me it's not communicable." Hunk and Pidge are only partially successful in smothering their laughter as their card game lies on the table, momentarily forgotten. Allura, from her vantage point near Keith's head, reaches over to swat the smirking commander who lies sprawled on the couch.
"Ha ha, very funny, Captain. I meant that I have an idea for something we could do while it's raining."
"Alright, Lance. We're listening. What's your idea?" Allura prompts him.
"Yeah, we're all ears," Pidge snickers.
"Bowling!" Lance declares proudly.
"Bowling?" Allura looks at Lance in confusion.
Keith sits up slowly, putting his book down beside him. "Just where do you expect to find a bowling alley around here, Lance? Did you forget that we're on Arus now?"
Lance rolls his eyes and sighs, turning his gaze from Keith to Allura. "See what I have to put up with, Princess? I finally come up with an idea and he brushes it off."
Allura puts her hand on Keith's arm, getting his attention. "Keith…" she warns quietly, shaking her head at him, before turning back to Lance. "You were saying?"
"Well, first of all, no, I haven't forgotten where we are, Keith," he glares at the captain. "But, a number of people from Earth have come to Arus to help with the rebuilding efforts. They built a bowling alley down near the stadium we constructed for the Space Olympics." Lance crosses his arms over his chest and huffs loudly.
"Keith, you did say that if Lance came up with something within reason that would occupy him, we'd all do it. So, what do you say?" Allura gazes at Keith hopefully.
"Hunk, Pidge, you up for some bowling?" Keith asks the other two members of the team.
"Sure, Skipper."
"Sounds like fun!"
Smiling, Allura turns to Lance, "Do we need any special clothing or equipment for this?"
"Nah, you're fine wearing what you have on," he says eying her pink jumpsuit. "And they have the rest of what we'll need there."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Allura springs to her feet and races to the door. The four men watch her go. They exchange glances and shrugs then follow her out.
When the boys catch up to Allura, she is standing before one of the air cars, tapping her foot impatiently.
"I guess Lance wasn't the only one going a bit stir crazy, was he, Princess?" Keith asks her, one eyebrow quirked mischievously, his lips in a restrained smirk.
She shrugs and scuffs the toe of her boot on the ground. "I'm excited to learn about something from Earth, that's all."
Keith chuckles and points to one of the cars. "Get in, Princess. Lance, you ride with Hunk and Pidge. I don't think I can handle both you and the princess at the same time on the ride over." He shakes his head slowly as he joins Allura.
Once everyone is settled into the vehicles, they close the transparent domes to keep out the rain. Pointing to the other car, Keith indicates that they should lead the way. Lance eases the craft out of the castle and heads toward the bowling alley. Their destination isn't far, but the poor visibility brought on by the weather slows them down. Allura peppers Keith with questions about bowling as he drives. He answers her patiently, but heaves a sigh of relief when Lance pulls into a covered area and powers down his car.
They follow Lance through a doorway in the corner of the cavernous parking area and find themselves inside a large open room. The Red Lion pilot leads the group to a desk near the entrance. A young man moves around behind the counter organizing shoes into cubbies. He looks up as they approach and immediately stands up to his full height. "Princess Allura! It's so nice to see you! We-" He stops speaking abruptly midsentence as he catches the princess's subtle hand gesture.
Keith raises an eyebrow at the young man who gulps under the scrutiny of the Voltron commander. "We're ho-honored to have you all here to-today," he stammers out nervously, his eyes flickering from the princess to the captain and then back to the princess again. Keith glances at Allura from the corner of his eye only to see her staring around the facility in awe.
"Hi there… Emyl," Lance greets the youth after reading the name tag on the man's shirt. "We'd like shoes and a couple of lanes for a while."
"Of-of course! Anything for Princess Allura and the rest of the Voltron Force." He asks them each for their shoe size, producing horribly garish footwear for them all. "We're not busy today; feel free to choose any lanes you'd like." He waves his hand towards the far end of the room which is divided into aisles of shiny wood flooring.
Shoes in hand, the group makes their way to the lanes. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk start boasting to each other as they sit down and remove their boots, replacing them with the shoes Emyl provided. Keith stops and narrows his eyes for a moment, chewing his bottom lip, before turning and leading the princess to the other end of the room.
He sits on one of the hard plastic chairs and tugs off one boot before realizing that Allura is still standing, silently staring at him. He puts the boot down and looks up at her questioningly. "Something wrong, Princess?"
"What are we doing way over here, when the others are over there?" she waves her hand behind her in the general direction of the rest of the team.
"I just thought this might be easier for you. They tend to get a bit competitive when they bowl and I figured since you haven't bowled before, you'd rather not get caught up in all the nonsense that's likely to break out down there. We can join them later once you're more comfortable with how the game works."
She smiles at the captain, her eyes twinkling, as she slips into the seat beside him. They both finish changing from their boots to bowling shoes, sliding their own footwear under the table before them. Keith stands and offers his hand to the princess, assisting her up. "Now, let's find some bowling balls." He picks one up from a nearby rack and shows her how to hold it. "Make sure that it doesn't feel tight on your fingers or thumb and that it's not too heavy to hold in one hand. This number tells you how much the ball weighs. Look through them and find a couple that you want to try."
She bends to the rack, seeming to examine the various choices before her and watches from the corner of her eye as Keith wanders further down the racks, browsing among the choices. Once he has moved a fair distance away, she smiles indulgently, letting a soft chuckle escape her lips. Carefully schooling her expression, she chooses a couple of bowling balls and carries them back to the lane where Keith is waiting. He takes the colored spheres from her and puts them next to his in the ball return.
"I'll go first so you can watch me and get an idea of how this works." He picks up a black ball with deep red veining and stands before the lane. Holding the sphere in his right hand, he cradles with his left. Standing still, the commander looks to the end of the alley, appraising the 10 white pins arranged in a triangular formation. They look almost like soldiers waiting for a battle to begin and the captain is about to start the offensive. Keith takes a deep breath and then begins moving gracefully toward the pins. His right hand swings back, grasping the ball with his fingers and thumb. Before he reaches the line marking the end of the approach, he begins sliding along the floor, his arm moving forward and releasing the ball. Allura's eyes travel along his body, watching his effortlessly fluid movements appreciatively. As he comes to a standstill, she moves her gaze back to the alley, watching as the ball rolls along the smoothly polished and oiled surface, striking the pins forcefully, and causing them to fly around in a barely controlled chaos. When everything finally comes to a stop, the pins are all either lying on the ground or missing completely from view. Her eyes shift over to Keith again, as he turns and walks back to her, a grin on his face.
"OK now it's your turn." He winks at her as he moves to take the seat he had vacated earlier.
"Wait just a minute, Keith. How am I supposed to figure this out just from watching you once? Especially when you moved so quickly…" She stands glaring at him with her hands on her hips.
A soft chuckle escapes his lips as he faces her challenging glare. "Well, just try it. I need to see what your instincts are before I can try to teach you. Let me see what I have to work with."
The princess doesn't move, simply continues to stand and stare at him incredulously. "Keith,-" she starts before he interrupts her.
"Humor me, Princess. Please? Just trust me, alright?" A gentle smile from him coaxes a resigned sigh from her in response.
Allura stomps over to the ball return and grabs a neon green colored ball that sparkles in the overhead lights. She stands at the beginning of the approach and glares menacingly at the pins waiting at the other end. Hugging the ball to her chest, she practically marches to the foul line before tossing it down the lane. It travels a few feet before promptly dropping into the gutter and rolling out of sight.
Keith grimaces and shakes his head from his seat by the table. Allura clomps over to him and flops into the seat next to him. "Happy now?"
He bites the inside of his lip to keep from smiling and laughing at her expression, quickly regaining control of his amusement. "You get another try, Princess," he says calmly and quietly.
Allura stands up with a loud huff and stomps back over to the approach. This time she chooses a pale blue ball with purple swirls. She repeats the actions of her first attempt, this time managing to get the ball into the other gutter. Her lips pressed into a thin line, she clomps to her seat and drops down heavily, a loud grunt escaping from her.
Keith refuses to meet her gaze, knowing that he will not be able to keep a straight face. Instead he stands and takes his turn, but his concentration has been impaired by her antics and the soft guttural noises of frustration that she is still making. He manages to knock down most of the pins, but his performance is nowhere near the showy spectacle of his first frame. Sighing heavily, he rolls his second ball, managing to knock down the remaining pins to pick up the spare.
Walking back to the table where the princess sits, he notices that even though her head is pointed down towards her hands, she has been watching him from the corner of her eye. As he nears her seat, Keith reaches out one hand to her. "C'mon, Princess. I'll help you this time."
Allura gets to her feet once more and allows Keith to lead her to the approach. "OK, let's just practice a few times before you actually let go of the ball. Which one did you like better, the green one or the blue one?"
"Blue," she mutters. Keith bites his lip again, trying not to laugh as she pouts. Reaching down, he grabs the blue bowling ball and holds it out for her. She slips her fingers into the holes and lifts the sphere from his palm.
"Now, let's start by practicing your arm movement. Stand up here at the foul line." Keith steps behind the princess and gently places his hands on her waist, guiding her to the spot he indicated. Releasing her, he takes a couple of steps back before speaking again. "OK, now without letting go of the ball, practice the arm motion." As he watches, she pulls her arm backwards clumsily, barely missing the side of her knee as she moves. The captain closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Stop a minute, Princess." Once he's sure that she isn't about to clobber him with the bowling ball, he resumes his position behind her. Keith's left hand rests lightly on her hip, while his right hand reaches down to cover hers as she holds the ball. He gently pulls her hand backward, moving slowly, only to suddenly realize just how close the rest of her body is to his. His senses are overwhelmed by her proximity and without realizing it, he presses up against her back, molding himself to her before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, losing himself in the scent of her hair.
At the other end of the room, Lance looks over towards Keith and Allura. His eyebrow arches as a smirk forms on his lips. "Hey guys, take a look over there," he commands quietly, lifting his chin in the direction of their teammates.
"Don't they look cozy?" Hunk grins as he watches the couple.
"I don't remember bowling being a contact sport," Pidge snickers.
"Yeah, well the joke's on him. She already knows how to bowl." Lance picks up a purple ball and walks up to the approach, taking his turn. When he turns around Pidge and Hunk are staring at him blankly.
"Whadda ya mean she knows how to bowl?" Hunk furrows his brow and waits for Lance to answer.
The Red Lion pilot glances around to make sure no one else is close enough to hear him before speaking. "Look, you can't say anything. Allura swore me to secrecy."
"Who are we going to tell, Lance?" Pidge asks in exasperation, his eye rolling.
"Alright, alright. I came here a month or so ago to check the place out, and found the princess here. Turns out, there is an Arusian sport that is nearly identical to bowling and our little princess over there is pretty good at it. As soon as she found out that they were building this place, she started finding ways to sneak over here and hone her game. She's the one who actually gave me the idea for bowling this afternoon."
"Then why is Keith giving her bowling lessons?" Pidge looks at Lance in confusion.
Hunk chuckles softly. "Looks like someone decided that she was tired of waiting for Keith to come to his senses."
Allura lets the hint of a smile lift the corners of her mouth as she feels Keith pressing up against her back. Seconds pass as they stand still, their joined hands holding the bowling ball in the backswing, his nose buried in her hair. "Keith?" she asks quietly.
"Hmmm?" he murmurs against her ear.
"The bowling ball is getting heavy," she whispers, turning so that her lips are nearly touching his.
His eyes snap open and he swallows hard. "Uh, right, um, how about we take a break for a few minutes?" he asks, pulling on his collar with one finger before taking the ball from her and gently placing it back onto the ball return, his eyes locked on hers the entire time. Without realizing what he's doing, the captain closes the distance between them once more until only inches separate them.
Hesitantly, he leans forward, his eyes almost closed as his mouth nears hers. Keith pulls back slightly just before his lips touch Allura's before moving closer once again. Finally, after two or three such false starts, their lips join in a soft kiss. One kiss becomes two, three, more and his hand slowly comes up, his fingers tangling into her hair as he cups her head. His other hand splays across her lower back, pressing her against him. The princess grasps the fabric over his chest with one hand, clenching the fabric tightly within her fist as she pulls him even closer.
A sudden outburst of wolf-whistles and cat-calls breaks the spell that holds the couple entranced. Releasing their embrace, Keith and Allura stand forehead to forehead, blushing furiously. "Maybe if we ignore them, they'll stop," Allura whispers.
Keith snorts in response, "Have you ever met Lance?"
She giggles softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So, did you still want me to teach you to bowl?"
"Um, about that…" She steps away from him and walks back to the front desk. Keith watches her, his brow furrowed as he tries to figure out what she's up to. She gets Emyl's attention and after a brief conversation, he reaches behind the counter and hands the princess a pink ball with opalescent white swirls. She turns back toward Keith and slowly strolls back to the alley. His head turns to follow her as she lines up on the boards, the ball cradled in her hands. The captain watches in confusion as she begins her approach, pulls the ball back with her right hand and executes a flawless release. His jaw drops as the spinning sphere makes its way down the lane, striking the headpin perfectly. Keith merely blinks, dumbfounded, as the system registers her strike.
"Princess?" he manages to mumble as he tears his eyes away from the fallen pins to look at her.
A bright flush creeps up Allura's neck as she scuffs the toe of her bowling shoe on the floor, unable to meet his gaze. "I, um, kinda already know how to bowl."
"But… How? When? The gutter balls?" He reaches out and lifts her chin with one finger, searching her face for answers.
"There's an Arusian sport that's very similar to Earth bowling that I used to play as a child. When I found out that they were building this bowling alley, I started finding ways to sneak over here and play."
"But then why the act? Why pretend you needed me to teach you?"
Allura merely raises one eyebrow at him before leaning over to kiss him softly. "I guess I got tired of waiting for you to make the first move, so I decided to help you."
"Thank you," he murmurs against her lips before capturing them in another tender kiss. He pulls back and strokes her cheek with one hand. "And unless you feel like going over there and kicking their butts, I don't think I feel like bowling anymore this afternoon," he whispers as his eyes search her face.
She doesn't answer, just caresses his lips with her own. Without breaking the kiss, Keith manages to sit on one of the plastic seats, pulling the princess into his lap. The couple is so lost in each other that they have no sense of the passage of time until they hear the sound of a throat clearing nearby. Ending their embrace, they turn to see Lance, Pidge, and Hunk standing before them.
"We're ready to head back to the castle now. Will you two be joining us or just spending the rest of the afternoon here?"
Ducking their heads sheepishly, Keith and Allura reach down and begin undoing their bowling shoes. Reaching under the table, Keith pulls out two white boots and hands them to the princess before grabbing the other two for himself. He starts tugging one on and looks at it in confusion when it doesn't fit.
"Wow, you do have it bad, Keith," Lance laughs. "That's one of Princess's boots."
"Huh?" Keith looks down at the boot in his hand, finally realizing that the cut is slightly more tapered and narrow than the ones he normally wears. The entire team gets a hearty laugh as the captain and the princess sort out their footwear. After returning Allura's bowling ball and their bowling shoes to Emyl, the group makes their way back to the air cars.
Arriving back at the castle, the team passes through Castle Control. As they approach, Coran makes note of the fact that Keith and Allura are lagging behind the others, holding hands and talking quietly.
"And where have you all been this afternoon?" He addresses the group.
"Keith taught me how to bowl, Coran." Allura gushes.
Coran raises one eyebrow, his mustache twitching. "But, Your Highness, I thought you already knew how to bowl?"
"I did…" she answers softly, looking at Keith in adoration.
Coran merely shakes his head, remembering what it was like to be young and in love.
Later that evening, Coran makes his way down to the crypts below the castle. He climbs the steps to King Alfor's tomb slowly and distractedly. Reaching the top, he stops in front of the sarcophagus, clasps his hands before him in prayer, and sinks to his knees. As he raises his head and opens his eyes, the ghostly form of Allura's father fades into existence before him. Coran smiles at the image of the deceased king.
"Greetings, my old friend. I take it from your visit today that the construction of the Earth sport facility was successful."
Coran nods his head in agreement. "Completely, Your Majesty. The unceasing rains drove them to the, I believe the Earth term is bowling alley, where she was able to gain his attentions. The rest is merely a matter of time."
The spirit of the Arusian King smiles warmly at his trusted advisor. "I trust she did not suspect your involvement."
"No, I covered the financial trail well. She, and the rest of the Voltron Force, believes that it was constructed by those who travelled to Arus to aid in the rebuilding efforts. I simply failed to disabuse them of that notion."
"Thank you, Coran. I had begun to fear that he would continue to resist his feelings. Now that the first step has been taken, you know how to proceed." As the royal ghost's final words float through the air, his physical manifestation fades back into the ether.
"Indeed," he whispers before making his way down from the crypt and back into the castle proper. "Indeed, I do."