Written for the Hunk's Corner (thenewhrh dot weebly dot com) drabble challenge using the prompts "Flip-flops" and/or "Popsicle"
"On a nice day like this, I'm gonna find a place to go swimmin'," Pidge declares when our practice ends.
Minutes later Blue Lion stands in a shallow area of the castle moat. Pidge runs from its open maw, splashes into the water below, and laughs as Hunk and I join him.
"Beautiful form!" Pidge snickers. "Show us some real style, Keith," he yells to our leader, who seems content merely lounging against a giant fang.
I bet he's waiting for Allura, though whether it's to be a gentleman or to get a better view of her entering the water I'm not quite sure. "Hate to embarrass ya!" he shouts, taking his place on the lion's lip, unable to resist Pidge's taunt.
As he's about to dive into the water, Hunk, Pidge, and I notice the princess emerging atop Blue Lion's head. She's wearing the skimpiest bikini I've ever seen; my companions seem to agree. Our catcalls distract Keith and he turns, overbalancing himself. He flip-flops into the water beside me, hitting back first, the breath forced from his lungs. I glance over making sure he's uninjured before turning my attention back to Allura.
She executes a perfect dive, cutting neatly into the water with barely a ripple on its smooth surface. When she doesn't reappear immediately, Keith races over, obviously planning to dive down in search of her. It's times like this, when Allura's in danger, real or perceived, that Keith most wears his heart on his sleeve. He's nearly in a panic by the time he gets there and the only thing stopping his plunge into the depths is Hunk's voice.
"Hey, something's coming up over there!" the big guy shouts, pointing out a pink shape bobbing to the surface. Pidge reaches out a tentative hand and seems shocked, maybe even confused, to find the top of Allura's swimsuit clenched in his fist.
Keith takes a deep breath, preparing to dive into the moat's depths, when Allura flies out of the water behind us, shouting for our attention. Yep, that was definitely the top of her suit, no question. After that entrance, I'm not sure we would notice Lotor landing on the bank right now; I know we wouldn't be able to leave the water even if we did. It could be worse I guess. She could have been eating a popsicle.
Keith tugs the bit of fabric from Pidge and brings it to Allura, averting his eyes as he offers it to her. She plucks it daintily from his hand, slipping behind him to refasten it. Then she's covered again, more or less, and acting as if nothing happened. We follow her lead, swimming and splashing, but our glances prove the incident isn't forgotten. I start maneuvering to innocently tug one of the strings free again, when a glare from Keith stops me cold. Message received, though if he doesn't realize I'm about to start suggesting swimming every afternoon from now on, he's in for a surprise.