It happened a couple other times, mainly with the swivel chair but once with a lounge cushion. The team was already thinking that Keith would never live it down, when it went a step further.


No one really knew what had caused it. It had been a boring movement, and the whole team had been listless. No one noticed at first, but Keith had been training a lot with all the free time.

Shiro found him in the training room late one evening. With Pidge's help in checking the security footage, he discovered that Keith had been there all quintant. Keith had then been dragged to the lounge to relax with the rest of the team.

Shiro had to smile at Keith's annoyed expression when he was forced to stay put. The boy's arms were tightly crossed and Lance's attempts to get him into a game of chess were steadfastly ignored. Lance finally gave up and started a game with Hunk.

After a few vargas, Shiro was about to start herding the team toward their rooms, when he felt a slight weight on his shoulder. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow upon seeing that Keith had leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Tired?" Shiro murmured.

Keith grunted. He blinked slowly at Shiro, half asleep already. Shiro chuckled and shifted to get his arm behind Keith back, when Keith turned toward him. Before Shiro could move, Keith latched his arms around Shiro's middle.

Of course, Lance noticed instantly.

"Oh, look at Keith!" Lance squealed, scrambling to his feet. "He's like a little koala bear!"

Shiro glanced away from Keith. "A koala bear?"

"He's right!" Pidge said with a giggle. "Come on, Shiro, stand up!"

"I don't-"

"Just try it! Worst case scenario, Keith lets go and stays on the couch!"

Shiro sighed, but did as Pidge suggested. He fully expected Keith to slip off and probably wake up.

He didn't.

With a tiny grumble, Keith's hold switched to over Shiro's shoulders and tightened. His legs curled forward to wrap around Shiro's left leg. Shiro stood in front of the couch with Keith's entire body clinging to him.

Silence.

Lance broke it with a strangled squeal. "Just. Look. At. Him!"

"He's gone full koala!" Pidge cackled.

"How is that-" Hunk couldn't even finish at the ridiculous sight.

"Guys…" Shiro said with a sigh. "Help me get him off."

It was several doboshes before the younger paladins got themselves under control enough to help. Hunk was the first one to take pity on the eldest paladin.

Between Shiro and Hunk, they managed to pry one of Keith's arms free. But as soon as they let go to get the other one, it returned to its former position. It happened a couple more times before Shiro turned his head toward the still laughing blue and green paladins.

"Lance. Pidge. Could you…?"

"Come on, Pidge," Lance snickered. "Let's help get our little koala to bed."

But even with the extra help, Shiro just couldn't get free. It took two paladins to get a limb free and hold it, so there weren't enough hands to get Keith entirely off at once.

"Maybe we could get Coran and Allura," Pidge suggested. She grunted as her and Lance's hold on Keith's arms started to slide. "Then we could get all but one limb off, and he'd have to let go!"

"Wait a tick." Lance let go of Keith, making Pidge yelp as she had to quickly retract her hands. "Once we get Keith off of Shiro, what if he grabs onto someone else?"

Everyone stared at Lance with dawning realization.

"What about a cushion?" Pidge said. "If we stuck it between him and Shiro, maybe he'd accept it as a surrogate cuddle buddy."

Lance and Hunk snorted at Pidge's word choice, while Shiro gave her an unimpressed frown.

"There's no harm in trying," Shiro said with a sigh.

Hunk grabbed a cushion and stood ready. Lance and Pidge took Keith's arm again and pulled. Shiro pushed back on Keith, who must have tightened his hold at some point, because it took several doboshes to get the one arm free. Shiro pushed harder, and his other arm slipped.

"Hunk, now!" Shiro gasped.

Hunk shoved the cushion between Keith and Shiro, then Lance and Pidge let go. Keith sleepily reached for Shiro and his arms wrapped around the cushion.

Keith's face pursed in a frown. The team froze, mind scrambling for an explanation if Keith woke up.

After a dobosh, Keith gave a heavy sigh and released Shiro with his legs. Everyone grunted in alarm. Hunk and Lance barely managed to catch Keith, then laid him carefully on the ground.

Shiro felt kind of bad when he looked down at Keith. While the boy hadn't awoken, his expression was slightly distressed as if upset about losing a warm body to hold onto.

"Aw, he's pouting," Lance cooed, taking a picture.

Shiro shook his head, then something occurred to him.

"Lance. You didn't take any pictures when Keith was still… attached to me, did you?"

Shiro barely had time to register Lance's wicked grin before the boy was on his feet and bolting out the door.

"Lance, you-"

Shiro gave up when Lance was out of sight. Ignoring Pidge's smirk and Hunk's chuckling, Shiro scooped up Keith with his cushion. Keith needed to be put to bed.

Then Shiro could track down that phone.