BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE RARE-PAIR THAT HAS STOLEN MY HEART! ENJOY!

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.

James Griffin liked to think that he was calm, cool, and collected. Key term: liked to think. Right now he knew he most certainly was not.

All he could think about was Katie. Katie, Katie, Katie. And how much he missed her, obviously. He missed her eyes, how she'd lean her head against his shoulder, the way her hand felt so small and delicate and just perfect in his.

And it had only been five days since their last date.

He'd had the chance to see her a couple times— she'd told him that he was free to drop by her lab anytime he wanted to, and that was an offer he'd gladly taken her up on. But their visits had been far too short, often taken up by quick catch-ups on what they'd been up to lately before one of them would inevitably get a call that they had to go.

To put it lightly, James Griffin felt like he was going to go insane if he didn't get to see her again soon. Thankfully, he had an opening.

He'd checked over the weekly schedule that morning like he did every day, and by some miracle, there was a block of time where both he and Katie were free. Even better, all of the people who would usually (and unintentionally) interfere would be on their shifts.

And that window of opportunity started in just five minutes.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.

His foot wouldn't stop moving. James knew he should be more disciplined, should be more restrained, should be more focused, but he didn't care. He was going to see Katie soon, and that's all his brain could think about.

He craved her like a drowning man craved air, and he knew he'd started acting up soon if he didn't satisfy his need for her.

Part of him felt horribly insecure about the whole thing. He worried that he'd already fallen for her too much, already given over more of his heart than he was willing to admit, already been far too forward with how he felt.

But then he'd see her smile at him across the room or while passing in the hall, and the other part of him wanted to plunge even deeper into the mess he was scared he was creating.

James' eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. Just one more minute.

It passed by in a blur of final assignments, then Iverson dismissed them.

Finally.

He tried to get up slowly, knowing that if he showed anything other than his usual calm exterior for a second, everyone would know something was up. He purposefully took his time in walking toward the door, careful to not draw attention.

The door was in sight. A few more steps—

"Griff!"

It took all of James' willpower to not make a face. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

Rizavi jogged up to him, Leifsdottir and Kinkade in tow. "Noticed you had a free hour in the schedule— wanna go train? Leifs and I wanted to try out the new sim-flights!"

Somehow, James managed to hold his ground. "Sorry, I can't. I have other things I need to attend to."

Leifsdottir's head tilted. "Other things? Like what?"

Kinkade crossed his arms. "Sounds suspicious."

James tried to cover up his internal panic with an eye roll. "Believe it or not, I do have a life outside being an MFE. You guys should try it sometime," he joked. His teammates laughed, and James grinned. "Let me know how they go, okay? Maybe we can set up another tournament like last time."

A confident glint in her eyes, Rizavi punched him in the shoulder. "You're on!"

He laughed and shook his head, turning back to continue toward the door. He made his way over and reached for the handle. James took one final look back. It seemed everyone was distracted enough…he turned the handle and walked through.

Then the second he was out the door, he ran.

'Whew, I need to be more careful around them,' he groaned. He should've known that his teammates would start to have their suspicions, he just didn't think it'd be so soon.

The trip to Katie's lab took just short of three minutes, and by the time he arrived, all thoughts of the meeting had fled from his mind. An uncontainable grin on his face, James slid his keycard and stood back for the doors to slide open.

The moment they did, he melted a little.

Katie was sitting at her station entirely engrossed in her work, her tongue sticking out as she scribbled something down on a notepad. She wore a pair of baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt that said "aliens are real" on the front.

Yeah, he knew he was doomed to fall even harder for her.

It took him a few seconds to realize he'd been staring, then another few to figure out a proper greeting. James folded his hands behind his back and put on a cheesy grin. "Well, don't you look out of this world?"

Katie's head snapped up, her smiling mouth open to retort, but then she looked puzzled. "And you look…orange."

James looked down at his gaudy-colored uniform and winced. "Sorry, didn't wanna waste time getting changed."

"Oh?" she said, her head tilting. "Not just stopping by?"

Finally getting his wits about him, James shook his head and made his way over to her station. "I have an hour free, so I thought I'd check in on you."

Katie perked up, immediately patting the chair next to her for him to sit down. He happily complied, resting his chin in his hand as he took in all of the notes she'd been writing when he entered. He couldn't make sense of them at all, not that he'd thought he could anyway.

"What're you working on?" he inquired.

"Nanothermite tech," she replied. Katie took the notebook and began to flip to a different page. She held it up for him, a sketch of armor laid out in detail. "We're trying to integrate it with the Paladin armor, but it's Altean-made, so the whole thing is proving to be more of a challenge than we thought."

James nodded, his eyes scanning over the design. "What will it do?"

Katie grinned. She got up from her station, ran over to a cabinet to pull out a box, then brought it back to him. She set it down and opened it up. Inside sat a translucent-looking mold of a hand.

"Give me your hand," she instructed. He did, instantly feeling a little rush of joy when her skin touched his. He watched in a stupor as she slipped the mold onto his hand, then held it in her own.

Her sparkling honey eyes looked up at him expectantly. "Ready?"

"Mhm," he managed to intone.

Katie giggled, then straightened up. "Armor on!" she commanded.

There was a flash of light, then the mold began to change. It started at his finger tips, spreading further up until his entire hand was covered in a smooth grey metal.

"Wow," he breathed. James flexed his hand, amazed to find that it felt entirely fluid. He wasn't restricted in any way, unlike some of the bulky armor he'd worn in the past.

When he finally snapped out of his reverie, he found Katie giggling at him. A sense of pride surged through him. "W-Wha— Why isn't this standard issue yet?" he sputtered. "It's amazing, Katie!"

She flushed lightly at his praise. "We can only get certain parts to work, not all of it," she shrugged. "They don't want to interconnect."

"Which leaves weak spots," he assessed.

Katie nodded. "Correct," she said, sending him a meaningful look. "And I wouldn't wanna send you out on the battlefield knowing you wouldn't be safe."

For some reason, James found himself blushing at the fact that she used him as an example.

He watched as she pushed a button that had formed on his wrist. The armor unfurled, and Katie slipped the mold off his hand.

"How long do you think until you can figure it out?" James asked.

"Who knows," she sighed, placing the mold back in the box. She got up and put it away, then gave him a wry grin. "We've been working on it for ages, and it's starting to hurt my brain."

James frowned. "Maybe you should take a break, then? Find a different project to work on? I don't mind sitting here and watching."

There was a twinkle in Katie's eyes as she came back to stand in front of him. "Actually, I was just about to head to Green's hangar if you'd wanna come with me?"

And that was the moment when fear like none other gripped him.

His heart pounding in his ears, he stuttered, "A-Ah, sure! Yeah, w-why not! Sounds great!"

There seemed to be a knowing look on Katie's face as she took his hand and dragged him out the door. Maybe it was just a feeling he had, but he was pretty sure she knew what was going through his mind.

James remembered when he saw the lions for the first time. He'd been impressed, if not a little confused. They were amazing overall, and had he been given the chance, he would have gladly gone aboard to explore.

But then he'd overheard someone saying that they were sentient, and ever since that day, they'd freaked him out.

He'd always made sure to avoid the lions, and rest assured that such a feat wasn't easy. His team's hangar was right next to the lions', and it seemed that almost every single day Rizavi would dare one of the MFE's to go sneak a peek.

James had always been clever enough to make up reasons as for why they shouldn't, but now…now he was simply too terrified (and all too willing to do whatever it took to spend time with Katie) that he was at a total loss for words.

He didn't realize they'd made it to the hangar until Katie's thumb rubbed the back of his hand. He snapped out of his thoughts, blinking down at her.

Katie smiled up at him. "We're here. You okay?"

"As okay as I'll ever be," he replied honestly.

Her smile grew, and with that, she pushed the door open.

The first thing he was struck with was the sheer size of the lion. He'd forgotten how big they were, and now that she was leading him toward it, he felt like an ant facing down a boot.

James walked forward in awe, his mouth dropped open, and he realized after a moment that Katie was laughing at him.

"Come on, you can come closer," she teased, tugging on his hand.

He swallowed and followed her lead. She stopped them just short of being under the lion's mouth, and at that point, James' heart was racing. He looked over to see if Katie could tell he was freaking out, only to find that she was starting to crack a grin.

"I know you're not asleep, girl!" Katie laughed. "You can't fool me— that's an old trick!"

James' eyebrows furrowed. Katie simply motioned for him to look up. He did, and that's when he noticed that the eyes of the lion— formerly a lifeless grey— were lit a bright golden color. And wait…was that a twinkle? If he didn't know any better, he'd say the lion looked…amused?

Suddenly, there was the sound of mechanical gears clicking into place, and the lion was moving to bend down. The lion stared at him, its head moving side to side as though it was inspecting him.

The MFE commander stood stock still, too terrified to move. Another moment passed before the lion seemed to deem the inspection complete. There was a sound akin to a growl, then the lion set its head down, opening its jaw. A ramp with glowing steps unfolded.

James gaped at it with wide eyes.

A hand gently squeezed his own. "Come on," Katie whispered. "She's letting you in."

"S-She?" he asked.

"Mhm, Green's a she," Katie replied patiently, though there was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. He was starting to wonder if the rumors about the quintessence of the pilots being the same as their lions was true.

Katie pulled him along, watching James' every movement. He looked around the inside of the lion in awe, wondering how something like this could have been built so long ago. They reached the cockpit, and all he could do was stare. She brought him around to the front and stood back, taking in his expression.

"It's amazing," he breathed. "It's just…wow."

She giggled. "I know."

Dazedly, he reached out and brushed his fingers along a panel—

Then staggered back when he felt something try to enter his mind.

"Green, no! We talked about this!" Katie shouted.

James blinked. Wait, had he fallen? What happened? He shook his head to regain his focus. "Talked about what?"

Katie groaned, helping him up slowly. "She can tell that I've been different lately, and she got me to confess that it's you. She wants to access your mind so she can approve."

James gulped. "W-Wait, do what?"

The paladin rolled her eyes. "Do nothing, because it's not going to happen!" she exclaimed, glaring at the control panel. "It's an invasion of privacy, Green. His mind is his own."

A growl (annoyed, by the tone of it…wait, how did he know that?) went through the cockpit.

"What's she saying?" James asked nervously.

Katie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "She says she'll throw you out if you don't let her…" James's fear must have shown, because she quickly added on, "Not that she actually would, she's just kidding…I think."

Though he was still rattled, James took a moment to think about it. He knew how the lions and their paladins worked, or at least, he'd heard about it. Their relationship was strong, practically unbreakable except through death. And if her lion really wanted to get in his head…

He took in a steadying breath before he took Katie's hands in his own. "Um…I mean…does it hurt?" he wondered.

Katie's honey eyes softened. "It just feels kind of fuzzy and stuff, but…James, if you don't want to, you don't need to."

James gave a little shrug, trying his best to be casual. "But it would be nice for a massive mechanical alien cat to like me, wouldn't it? Especially since it's your massive mechanical alien cat."

Katie laughed and shook her head. A rumble went through the cabin. She listened, then nodded. "Okay, Green wants you to sit down in the pilot's chair."

A surge of anxiety ran through him, but he steeled his nerves. He sat down, and Katie placed herself in front of him, holding his hands firmly.

"Now close your eyes," Katie murmured. "I'll be right here with you, okay?"

He took in one last shuddering breath…and then he let his eyelids fall shut.

The strange feeling from earlier returned. It was fuzzy, just like Katie said…and it was electric, ebbing and flowing as it slowly but surely filled his entire mind. It began to reach further, deeper, now spreading down his spine to his heart.

His shoulders tensed, and immediately, there was an amused sound.

"What's got you so frightened, my Paladin's one?"

James jumped and turned around— only to immediately gasp.

He was in a wide field filled with light and greenery. A gentle breeze passed by him, and an overwhelming sense of laughter and curiosity came to mind. James smiled, his shoulders beginning to relax…but then a shadow fell across the field.

He looked up, and there she was— Green, towering over him in a shadowy vision of green and white. The lion's question returned to him, and he felt his heart skip a beat at the wording.

"I-I, uh…my name is J-James, actually," he stammered.

"My Paladin's James, then," Green corrected herself easily. "Now, what are your intentions with my Paladin?"

'Well that's a big question,' he thought, then immediately realized that she must have heard it when the sound of laughter wound through the tall grass.

James swallowed. Honesty it was, then. "I…well, to make her happy, however I can."

Green purred approvingly. "And do you believe you are the one to do so?"

A jolt of worry ran through his body. Maybe…maybe she had a point. Who was he to think that he could be the one to make her happy? Katie could easily choose someone who knew her better, who knew all of this better— he'd never be able to understand this world like one of the Paladins could.

Bowing his head meekly, James whispered, "I hope I can be. I…I know it'd be a great honor to do so."

All at once, he felt surrounded by a vast wind. She was inspecting him, he could tell— how, he'll never know, it just came to mind as naturally as any other thought.

After a few moments, the wind passed, and Green hummed. "You will do, my Paladin's James."

His head snapped up, and he saw a twinkle in her golden eyes. "Tread carefully, though. I will only seek to harm you if you harm my Paladin first."

James didn't have time to reply. There was a rush of light, and then—

His eyes were blinking open. He groaned, taking his time to adjust to the light.

One of the first things he registered was Katie. She was still there, her thumbs stroking the back of his hands soothingly. "How do you feel?" she hummed.

"More scared than I think I ever will be when I finally talk to your dad about this," he admitted groggily.

Katie giggled. "Hopefully Green didn't scare you off?"

He shook his head, adjusting so he could sit up straighter. Apparently being in the astral plane (weird how he knew that term now) made him slouch. "No, not at all. She did threaten me, though."

Her reaction was instantaneous— Katie glared up at the ceiling, calling, "Seriously?!"

James chuckled. He squeezed her hands to get her attention, and she looked back down at him, her expression still annoyed. "She just said that if I hurt you, she'd hurt me," he clarified.

Katie's look softened. "Oh…well then, I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Suddenly, James felt like he couldn't find the words to express how he felt in that moment, wanting to assure her that she was right, but also just so overjoyed that she had such trust in him, yet still feeling that he wasn't wholly worthy of it because he was, just, well, him! Even with Green's approval, he still wondered if he fell short of what Katie deserved or needed.

But then Katie was saying, "I've been working on something, by the way."

James blinked, coming out of his swirling thoughts. She glanced down, and he followed her gaze. It took a moment before he saw it, but when he finally did, his heart skipped a beat. The bracelet she'd made him was different.

"Is it…a new one?" he inquired.

She shook her head. "Same one, just changed the design. I think it's more fitting now."

He rotated his wrist, taking it all in: the little wooden J on top, the intricate braided weave, the tiny starbursts formed out of roots. His mouth hung open, but no words would come out.

Katie smiled, leaning forward and turning the bracelet. "Look— I even signed it!"

And sure enough, her name was there, written on the back in twigs. For the millionth time that day, James was again at a loss for words.

He looked up at her with an indescribable emotion in his eyes, and she simply shrugged. "You deserved something better than my first attempt."

James stared into her eyes, his face growing hot, before he finally stammered, "I-I…you're beautiful, and amazing, and I wish I could figure out how to say how I feel, but my brain won't work right now."

Katie burst out laughing. She stood up from her crouching position and helped him up from the pilot's chair. "I think Green scrambled your brain a bit," she teased.

Grinning, he shook his head. "Pretty sure it's just you." The pair started to make their way out of the lion, laughing softly. He took her hand in his and squeezed before he let out a wistful sigh. "I wish I could function around you for once, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon."

She looked up at him, a silly smile on her face. "I think it's cute, James."

"Thank goodness for that," he chuckled. They exited the ramp and came to a stop, and before he knew what he was doing, he pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Green had a funny name for me, by the way. She called me 'her Paladin's James'."

Katie blushed brightly and looked up at Green. The lion gave a rumble of confirmation. Katie ducked her head. "Only two dates, and she already thinks we're set for life or something," he caught her mumbling.

James smiled at her flustered expression, but then, some of his former anxious thoughts came back with a vengeance. "I-It, uh…it does bring up the question, though, doesn't it?" Her head lifted to give him a curious look, and he swallowed nervously. "Of, uh, what we are."

A little grin slipped onto her lips. "Humans," she replied, and he couldn't help but laugh at her joke.

The laughter died down quickly, though, and was replaced with his former worried frown. He stared down at the ground, his fear beginning to consume him all over again. Maybe he really was falling too hard for her, maybe he should try to protect his heart more, maybe—

"James."

He blinked up at Katie, eyes wide. She took his free hand in her own, smiling softly. "We're happy," she said simply. "And we're getting to know each other, and it doesn't need a label right now. We're just…us."

A sigh of relief went through him, and he squeezed her hands. "Okay, good."

Her honey eyes twinkled. "Now, if all of the sudden you tell me you're going on dates with other girls, well—"

He sputtered, "What! No! That's not— I'd never—!"

Katie just laughed and began to drag him toward the door. "You're adorable, James."

A random streak of confidence ran through him, and before he could stop himself, James used her hand to twirl her back around into his arms. She let out a noise of surprise— but then she wrapped her arms snuggly around his waist. A flutter went through his chest.

He held her close, burying his nose in the top of her head. "And you're gonna drive me crazy," he replied, his breath ruffling her hair. He held her for a moment longer (though he had no desire to let her go), then leaned back. He chuckled when he saw that she had flushed bright red.

His eyes glanced at the clock on the wall— crap, his next shift started in two minutes. He looked back down into wide honey eyes, wishing that for once he could put aside his sense of duty if only to have a couple more minutes with her.

Feeling bold again, he dared to reach out and tuck another strand of hair behind her ear. "My hour's up," he sighed. "I have to go."

Katie blinked. "Y-Yeah, okay."

James grinned cheekily. "That's a nice shade of pink on you, Katie."

She ducked her head, hiding her face in his uniform. "Shut up, James."

"Yes, ma'am," he teased. He gave himself just one more second to take in her scent— vanilla and honeysuckle. Gosh, he wanted to stay in that moment forever. But then, with regret in his eyes, he forced himself to let her go.

"I'll see you later," he whispered.

She nodded quickly. "Okay."

James swore he heard Green chuckling as he left, along with Katie hissing "Oh stop it, you!"

You'll notice there's a theme in my fanfictions of the lions talking to their Paladins, because if there was one thing I could add to Voltron, it'd be that. Also, I have a headcannon that each lion's astral plane looks different, which is why he was in a field as opposed to the starry astral plane that Black has.

Leave a review please! And know that if you have any ideas, I'll gladly take them!