Shallura Month! Voltron and the bazillion projects I have completely wrecked my sleeping habits but at this point I don't care!

Day 2 : Champion/Gladiator. Shallura and the Paladins take a break. Turns out Keith isn't the only emo person on the team...

Enjoy!

Gladiator lifestyle.

The Paladins all looked at Shiro, surprised by the statement he made. He was always haunted by his past as a Galra prisoner. They all knew by now that he had visions and nightmares that reminded him of how he got his robotic arm in the first place.

Gladiator lifestyle.

They were playing with the UNO cards Lance bought on their most recent space mall trip. After two months of solo and team matches, Shiro remained undefeated. It didn't matter how many times they shuffled the cards, how many pick up fours they played in a row, how much they tried to change the rules. The black Paladin always won. That day as they sat in a circle in Allura's room, Pidge yelled out with an exasperated voice "how is this even possible?!" To which their leader replied "Destroy or be destroyed. It's a gladiator lifestyle, you wouldn't get it." Everyone stared at him. He had a streak of terrible jokes that could only be qualified as dad jokes. But this.. this was dark.

"Shiro, you okay? That was kinda dark." Keith asked.

At that moment, Allura came back from the kitchen, carrying a tray of green and purple cookies. "Did you finally beat Shiro?" She asked. Quickly she sensed the tension in the room. "What happened?"

"I made a dark joke and they're speechless," Shiro replied while reaching for a purple cookie on the platter that was now installed in the middle of the group. "Let me guess… Gladiator lifestyle?" Allura asked teasingly. The Paladins all stared at the princess. "Wait you know about it?" Hunk asked. "I have a particular appreciation for dark humor and it turns out Shiro is especially good at it," she replied as she sat down and made her fingers interlock with Shiro's. "Not only the champion in battle but the champion at making me laugh so hard that I cry." Shiro laughed at her statement, pulling he closer to lay a kiss on her cheek.

"So apparently Keith isn't the only emo kid here?" Lance said under his breath.

"I am not a kid!" Keith said while throwing a pillow at Lance.

"I just wanna know what these jokes are!" Pidge said so that their focus could remain on the topic at hand. Allura stretched her arms out. She loved Shiro as much as the lions needed quintessence. But she was absolutely ready to share these stories with the rest of the team. In the name of bonding, of course. " I can't say too many of these without getting into... gruesome details... But I once caught him singing in the shower…"

"Oh no." Shiro whispered. "Of all the stories you could tell, please…"

"It was a song about carrying on even though your loved one was… dead and gone. Pretty dark considering how loudly he practically screamed the words."

"Wait," Keith said, automatically recognizing the familiar lyrics and shifting his attention from Allura to Shiro. "My chemical romance?"

"What's that?" The princess asked.

"Oh shit, OH SHIT!" Pidge, Lance and Hunk yelled out to each other when they finally understood the song Allura was talking about. Seeing how confused the princess looked, Lance sang a part of the chorus.

"We'll carry on,

We'll carry on,

And though you're dead and gone believe me,

Your memory will carry on."

"Yes that's exactly the song he was singing!"

"Oh lord. Princess you think it's dark because of the lyrics but it's the most iconic emo song ever!" Hunk said while trying to catch his breath.

"So what?" Lance said between laughs. "You're a UNO champion and want to compete for emo champion too?"

At that point, the paladins were all cracking up, openly laughing at the hilarity of the moment. This had been the first time he'd all seen them laugh this hard. In that split moment, they forgot about their worries and the war. If that's how it's going to be, Shiro thought, let's give them something to really laugh about. Before doubts could nail him down, he got up, dramatically passed his Galra hand through his white bangs and...

He began to sing.

Quickly, the Paladins focused on calming down their laughters. This was the first time any of the heard Shiro sing.

Well, except for Allura and Keith.

Keith wasn't as surprised as the others about the emo confession. He always knew that the black Paladin was somewhat twisted. What did surprise him was to hear him sing so dramtically. In a moment of carelessness, he got up and joined Shiro in harmony. Things quickly heated up. Lance, who obviously knew all the lyrics and didn't want the duo to have all the fun on their own, decided to join them. Pidge and Hunk, Not wanting to be left out, got up and their UNO game became a frantic and chaotic group of mashed up singing and dancing.

Allura, somewhat confused by the mayhem she unintentionally provoked, looked fondly at the scene. Shiro was a Champion in more than one way. The title he earned by unfortunate circumstances now took hues of bright purple, blue, yellow, green and red. He was a person that everyone followed without a doubt into the battlefield. He was the one who conquered her heart. And when Shiro pulled her up from the ground to join the chaos, she realized he was also able to make everyone destroy the walls of formalities they had built to dance frantically until their faces turned blue and red.

And as the all crashed to the ground, screaming the final words of the song, she thought to herself.

The champion. A title that fit him like a glove.

P.S. : Coran walked in, saw the team going crazy and quietly backed away because he did not want to deal with human... whatever-that-was that night. Coran needs a vacation.

Song: Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance (truly an iconic masterpiece in my HUMBLE opinion)