Just Allura
by (Kitty)Shannon
Disclaimers: Voltron and all associated characters are owned and copyrighted by WEP. Original/new characters belong to the author.
Rating: PG - Mild Language and Innuendo
Chapter 9
An entire week had passed by and finally the big night had arrived. Although the week had been mostly uneventful, a few interesting developments had come about.
Lance, with a lot of smooth talk and some very charming smiles, had convinced Nanny that the members of the Voltron Force were quite capable of being perfect gentlemen - reminding her of the discipline brought about through rigorous military training. He told her of their own accord, they all would be wearing their dress uniforms, that they owed the Princess at least that much respect. Then he introduced the thought that they were all young adults, and surely she trusted them enough to allow one small dinner party without chaperones.
But the icing on the cake was his comment about how seeing all the members of the Voltron Force with their dates might very well be the inspiration the Princess needed to find her very own Prince Charming.
After considering this last point, and just how Allura would feel seeing that Captain Keith with another young lady, she decided it would be a good idea. She was certain that when her baby saw that the good-looking space explorer had an interest in someone else, Allura may feel a little disappointed, but she would lose interest and get on with the task of finding a fit husband. So, with a few not-so-idle threats, Nanny conceded; if any funny business went on, she would have them all put to work scrubbing the castle's toilets with their toothbrushes.
Allura had divided her time between confiding her deepest feelings about her newfound love to Lance, and doing her best to catch Keith alone - whenever or wherever possible. But the handsome pilot of the Black Lion had spent most of the week avoiding the pretty Princess, always finding an important reason to dash off whenever he found himself face to face with her.
The Princess still had no idea about the party. In fact, after Lance had told her about the new dress, she had assumed that had been her big surprise. She had been left completely unaware that everyone else in the castle had been hard at work with the preparations for what they all hoped would be a beautiful night.
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After a long, delightful, soak in her tub, Allura found herself sitting at her vanity table as a maid worked her luxurious hair into a lovely 'do. Lost in her thoughts, the Princess wondered once again where Lance would be taking her this evening. The rascal had told her no more than he had absolutely needed to, only suggesting she wear her new dress and leave the rest up to him. When she had begun to protest, a most attractive pout on her full lips, Lance had promised that he would make sure that Keith would be there, and that she would have every chance possible to talk to him alone. Of course, that had done the trick.
Her mind filled with different scenarios between she and Keith - all very different, but the ending remained the same, each closing with the two of them locked in a passionate embrace. She smiled and sighed, but her muses were interrupted by a knock on her door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me. Lance. Can I come in?"
"Just a minute," she responded as her maid helped her put her dressing gown on. "Okay, now you can come in."
The door opened, revealing the handsome pilot of Red Lion standing in the hallway. One of his hands covered his face and one eye peeked through his fingers. "Is it safe to open my eyes?"
A chorus of giggles filled the room as the Princess's maids all prettily batted their eyelashes at the newcomer. Allura glanced around with a grin, noting that whenever Lance was near, there could always be found a flock of smiling young women. Returning her attention to her guest, she had to admit that she could see why; Lance was a very good-looking, extremely charming, man.
Lance removed his hand from his eyes and smiled. "Wow, Princess! If you look that gorgeous in your robe, you'll knock 'em dead in that dress tonight!"
She giggled. "I have to admit, I'm still a little surprised that Nanny agreed to let me have a dress like that made."
The young man smiled sheepishly; he wasn't about to tell her, or anyone else, that the designs he had shown Nanny were completely different from the ones he had shown Allura. "Well, I just wanted to make sure that you'd be ready by seven. I'll stop by here then to pick you up. You will be ready, right?"
"Yes, I'll be ready," she said, her voice laced with mock-irritation.
He gave her a quick wink. "Hey, I know how women are. I do have a sister, you know, so don't get huffy with me. I'll see you at seven, sharp."
"Will I need a wrap? Will it be cold tonight?" Her question was posed in hopes he'd slip and tell her where he was taking her.
"Nice try. But I can see right through you!" He laughed as he shut the door behind him, leaving her to finish getting dressed for the evening.
The Princess laughed as she returned to her chore of getting ready. She glanced at the time and grinned at her maids. "We'd better hurry if I'm going to be dressed by seven."
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Pidge bounced up and down on the edge of Lance's bed. As usual, the youngest member of the Voltron Force had more energy than it seemed his small body could hold.
"Hey, little buddy," Hunk began, gently placing a hand on the youth's shoulders. "If you keep that up, your uniform will be wrinkled."
The Big Guy proceeded to guide his young friend to stand close to the door. Once there, he looked back over to where Lance was still taking his sweet time in getting ready. Hunk tugged at the collar of his uniform. "I don't know why you told Nanny we'd wear these things."
"Hey, what else could I do? It was they only way I could get her to let us have this thing without any chaperones. Besides-" Before Lance could continue with his usual spiel about how much women loved a man in uniform, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lance motioned to Hunk and Pidge and the duo got ready to hurry out of the room intent on running an imaginary errand.
"Who's there?"
"Who do you think it is? Open the door," came Keith's voice.
"Alright, man, give me a minute," Lance called back irritably.
The door opened and the elegant Captain walked into the room. He gave Hunk and Pidge a questioning look. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No, we were just telling Lance he'd have to pick up the Princess, 'cause we have to help with some last minute flower thing for tonight," Hunk said.
"Yeah, Nanny needed some extra help getting the flowers ready," Pidge reiterated as they both rushed out the door and disappeared down the hall.
"What's with those two?"
"I dunno, maybe they're nervous about spending the evening un-chaperoned with the Princess." Lance didn't bother to look up from what he was doing.
"Why aren't you ready? I thought you said someone had to pick up the Princess by seven."
"I'm supposed to but I can't seem to find my cufflinks."
"Lance, why is it..." Keith shook his head and thought better of starting an argument with his second-in-command. "I have an extra pair, I'll go get them."
~'Leave it to Keith to come up with something to ruin my plans,'~ Lance thought.
"I can't find one of my shoes, either." Thankfully they all wore different sized shoes. "Maybe you can just go meet Allura for me. If someone doesn't show up soon, she's gonna get her feelings all hurt."
Keith took a deep breath. He really didn't want to be alone with Allura. But he knew Lance was right. He ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, I'll go get her."
Lance looked at Keith in confusion. "What's wrong with you? I just asked you if you could meet the Princess for me and bring her to the party. You'd think I'd asked you to have a tooth pulled, not meet a beautiful, sweet young woman and escort her to a surprise party being held in her honor."
Keith glared at his friend before heading out the door. "Just hurry up."
Lance crossed the room and poked his head out the door. When he was sure that his Captain was really gone, he returned to his bed, reached under and pulled out a box containing one shoe and a set of cufflinks.