Breakfast had come and gone, and no one had seen a glimpse of the red paladin. Everyone knew there was something going on, but no one spoke about it. There was a heavy sheet of tension that covered each one of them, and if Keith knew, he'd be kicking himself. This was exactly the kind of thing he'd wanted to avoid, although honestly, he couldn't take all the blame for this one. He might be the one with the problem, but his friends each had their own idea of what that problem was and how to deal with it. And just about everything that had happened so far had only made things worse.

Shiro was clearly affected by this the most, and Allura took this as confirmation that her theory was true. She couldn't understand why humans had to make things so complicated on themselves. If you feel a certain way, you just say it, right? It's not like you can help it, so why not just get it out in the open? Was that against an Earth custom? Well, they're not on Earth anymore. Allura felt slightly annoyed that she was having to do all the work to get these two together, but kept reminding herself it would be better for everyone in the end. She found Shiro still lingering in the dining room, and the disappointed look on his face when he saw her was a dead give away that he was hoping to see Keith.

We all want him to come out and eat, but you're the only one who stuck around waiting. Don't even try to deny this.

"Ok Shiro. Enough with the standing around and waiting. It's time to take action."

"Forgive me princess, but it's just not that simple."

"Oh yes it is! His room is right down the hall! Just go."

"I don't think he wants to talk to me."

"He's just scared, that's all. That might partly be my fault."

"Why?"

Allura gave a sheepish smile, and Shiro felt his anxiety rising. What could she have possibly done to make Keith not want to talk to him?

"Well, I kind of told him an observation I've made. And it's a very solid observation, so don't question me."

"And this observation was?"

"Oh come on Shiro. We both know your obsessive way of worrying about him doesn't just come from being a leader. Anyone with eyes can see there's more to it than that."

Allura knew she was being blunt, but she also knew humans didn't like it when people avoided the point. What did they call it? Beating around the shrubbery? Something strange like that anyways. Regardless, Shiro's expression was somewhere between shock and embarrassment. Allura felt bad momentarily; she hadn't meant to make him upset. She watched as the black paladin turned away from her and sat down at the table, placing his head in his hands. Maybe this runs deeper than I thought. Am I doing more damage to the team than help? Maybe there was a reason humans kept their feelings hidden. Maybe they were inept at dealing with them.

It was silent for a hefty minute, and Allura was too uncertain to break the silence. Finally, Shiro spoke his inner thoughts aloud.

"Why does he push me away?"

She had never heard the man sound so defeated. This wasn't ok. He was the leader, the head of Voltron. This had to be dealt with now. If only she knew more about the human psyche. She had once thought them to be very simple creatures, but it was abundantly clear to her now that each one was different and complex beyond belief. How their society functioned at all is a mystery.

"I can't give you an answer for that. And I'd tell you to forget it if I didn't know how much it meant to you. But it's very clear to me that you feel very strongly about him, and I can't stand to see you suffer anymore. He's struggling too, Shiro. You just need to show him you understand."

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" There was a slight edge to his voice that Allura hadn't heard before. She didn't take attitude from anyone, and she wasn't going to start now.

"Well apparently you haven't been trying hard enough because you've made no progress whatsoever. I want you to be happy, Shiro. But if you're not going to help yourself and make it happen, then maybe you don't deserve it." Allura kept a strong glare as the black paladin looked up to face her. His stare was intense, but she could feel the emotions welling up behind those eyes. She had already won.

Shiro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she really think everything was so simple? Maybe it seemed that way to her, but she didn't know the full story. He was the only one who paid close enough attention to Keith to understand how he was feeling. And it tore Shiro up inside to know that Keith had a strong desire for someone that wasn't him. It made him angry, and Shiro prided himself on never feeling such intense rage. But he couldn't deny the way his fists clenched when he thought about how Lance isn't worthy of Keith's affections.

Shiro was their leader, and he didn't think badly of Lance. In fact, Shiro was fairly certain that with anyone else inside the blue lion, the team wouldn't be half a strong as it is now. But ever since he first laid eyes on Keith, he was so certain he'd found someone who could understand him. Someone he could tell all his secrets too and trust that they wouldn't abandon him. Someone he could lean on while everyone else was leaning on him. Someone he could come crying to when he was feeling down. There was no doubt in his mind that Keith could give that to him, and he was determined to make it a reality. Of course, he had other responsibilities, so he couldn't focus all his time on pursuing the red paladin. But he never thought that, in classic cliche fashion, the strong silent type would fall for the class clown.

Why would Keith do that to himself? Lance clearly wasn't going to return his feelings, and he knew Keith was smart enough to understand that. So why would set himself up to be thrown for a loop every time Lance decided to display his ladies man side? Did he really think one day Lance would change and realize he was into guys? Did he think he deserved to feel that way? Shiro couldn't allow Keith to feel that way about himself. Things could be so much better if he'd just let me show him.

Allura could tell Shiro was in deep thought, so she didn't try to extract any sort of response out of him. However, she didn't want to just stand there and stare at him, so she figured she'd give him time to process whatever was going on inside his head.

"Look, I know this is probably difficult for you, so I'm going to give you a little time. But I want this issue resolved. And I really don't want to have to do it myself. Understood?"

Shiro didn't look up at her, but gave a visible nod. As soon as she'd exited the room, he slammed his fist into the table. There was no resolution to their current situation. Not one that would satisfy everyone, anyways. He was too upset to think rationally at the moment, feeling mixture of anger and hurt. He heard his own voice rattling around inside his head, arguing with itself.

Lance is to blame for this. He alone is responsible for the way Keith feels.

Am I really that unbearable that Keith would avoid me after hearing what Allura said?

If Keith can't see that he clearly deserves better, then maybe he isn't as smart as I thought.

Why is Keith afraid to talk to me? Am I doing something wrong?

Keith's low self esteem caused him to purposely seek out rejection. Pathetic.

I thought we understood each other so well. Was I not open enough?

They're both pining after people who don't notice them. They deserve each other.

I need him. Why doesn't he need me?

Shiro nearly slammed his head into the table trying to silence the voices. Allura was right, this couldn't go on any longer. It was only getting worse with each passing day. He just wished he knew what to do. This wasn't a problem Voltron could fight, but it was going to take teamwork and cooperation to solve. Unfortunately, in his current state, Shiro was more likely to scream at someone than to talk things through with them. He needed to give himself time to cool down. This was why he needed Keith. He needed someone to tell him everything was going to be ok. He pictured himself slipping into Keith's room and cuddling up against the younger man, just telling him everything he was feeling as Keith ran his fingers through his hair.

His fantasy was interrupted by Hunk and Lance entering the kitchen. The pair was laughing boisterously about something, paying no mind to their leader who was clearly in distress. Shiro desperately tried to pull himself together. No sense in getting anyone else involved, even though Lance was practically knee deep in this anyway. Hunk eventually went through to the kitchen to make a snack, and Lance plopped down next to Shiro. He felt his anger rising, and did his best to douse the flames. Now is not the time for an outburst.

"Sup, Shiro. Where you been all morning?"

"Here. Allura was here a minute ago. We've just been discussing things."

"Leader junk right? Lucky. You probably get to have more one on one time with her than any of us. Well, except maybe Pidge, but that's not really the same thing. You two aren't being unprofessional when no one is around, are you?"

Shiro closed his eyes, if for no other reason than to avoid rolling them. "No."

"I figured as much. She would never do that to me." Lance's egotistical statements usually made Shiro grin, but right now, he didn't really wanna hear it. He was going to excuse himself, but Lance kept talking. "You seen Keith yet today?"

"Not yet."

"Man, he's been acting really weird lately. I feel kinda bad because I think I know why."

"Oh really? Enlighten me." Shiro wasn't holding himself back anymore, and Lance noticed the obvious venom in his leader's words. He'd never heard that tone from him before, and it frightened him. However, Lance didn't want to let his fear show, so he tried to act natural.

"Well, you see….I'm not like one hundred percent on this….but I'm pretty sure he's got a thing for me. I can't really blame him; I'd want this too if I had to see it everyday. But in all seriousness, I think he's just confused about it or something. It's actually kinda funny to watch him get all flustered. It's sorta become my new hobby."

Too bad Lance didn't know more about what was really going on, otherwise he might have expected the fist that flew into his face mere seconds after uttering that last sentence. He was caught completely off guard and found himself knocked out of his chair and colliding with the floor, the room spinning around him. Luckily, Hunk picked the right time to return, abandoning the food in his hands to stop an advancing Shiro. He hadn't the slightest clue what the hell was going on but he was pretty sure it was about to get worse. Despite Shiro's strength, Hunk was able to hold him off until Coran entered the kitchen and removed a half conscious Lance from the floor. Shiro stormed off immediately afterwards, leaving Hunk more confused than ever.


Keith finally emerged from his room when the protests of his stomach became too loud to ignore. He was hoping to successfully retrieve food and return to his room without being seen, and he made it to the kitchen undetected. He was past the point of caring if the others were worried about him or not. They'd get over it when he got over it, and the only way to do that was to keep himself isolated until he could cope properly. Was that the best way to do it? Probably the farthest thing from it, but Keith didn't have the energy to feel bad about it. He was so ready to put the whole situation behind him and move on being a defender of the universe, which was easier than dealing with his feelings. Backwards as hell, but true.

He was leaving the kitchen when he ran into Pidge in the hallway. He'd been spotted, but at least it wasn't one of the main three responsible for the disaster going on inside his head. He had hoped she'd be too preoccupied to notice him, but she instead looked like she was thankful to have finally found him.

"Has anyone told you about what happened earlier?"

Keith could only imagine. "No."

"Well, long story short, Shiro decked Lance in the face and neither of them are talking so nobody knows why."

Keith felt like passing out.


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