Keith had tried unsuccessfully to extract more details from Pidge. The truth was, she didn't know anything else. According to her, the only person to witness the event was Hunk, and he hadn't heard or seen what took place prior to the assault. Keith really hoped it was just Lance being extra annoying and Shiro being in a bad mood or something. Unfortunately, Shiro was almost never in a bad mood. Keith viewed him as a strong and worthy leader, and punching one of his fellow paladins was the last thing he'd expect from Shiro. Despite the fact that he wanted to be wrong, Keith was almost certain the confrontation had something to do with him. There was a small part of him that begged to find out they were fighting over Allura, but that was wishful thinking.

He was the only one who would be able to fix this. And he really didn't want to.

Keith turned down the corridor that led to Lance's room. Tend to the wounded first, I suppose. He wasn't sure exactly what to say, and he was almost afraid to hear what Lance would say. If he told him anything, that is. It was very possible that he'd have to go to Shiro to get any information at all. Keith stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever was about to go down. He knocked twice, and took Lance groaning as a sign to enter. He found the blue paladin propped up in his bed, holding an ice pack over the side of his face. Lance didn't look up at him when he entered. Not a good sign.

"Uh….how are you doing?"

"How do I look like I'm doing?"

"Why aren't you in one of the pods?"

"It's just a bruise. Coran says it probably wouldn't heal me any faster than normal anyway."

"Oh."

Keith stood uncomfortably in the doorway, unsure what else to say. Lance could sense his nerves and instantly felt bad. Keith had come to check on him, and he'd made him feel awkward about it. He thought he was never going to understand the red paladin, but little by little, he felt like he was figuring him out.

"You can come in." Lance tried his best not to sound like he was annoyed. Keith stepped further into the room, still looking a bit uneasy. Lance slid himself more upright and turned so his legs hung over the side of his bed. He patted the spot next to him, and inwardly chuckled at how slowly and carefully Keith moved to sit down. When taming a wild Keith, one must be gentle.

"I almost didn't believe it when I heard. Has Shiro ever acted like that towards you before?"

"No way. He's usually….well, you know what he's like. But he was really tense, like before I even said anything. I definitely pissed him off though. I guess it was just the wrong place at the wrong time."

Lance knew the question was inevitable. "What did you do?"

Even though he knew it was coming, he didn't exactly know what he was going to say in response. He couldn't tell him the truth. Especially not now, after he'd come in person to see him. In hindsight, he probably should have just kept it to himself. Even if Shiro hadn't been in a bad mood, he probably would have given Lance a lecture about how it isn't ok to mess with people's emotions. Which, just in case anybody got the wrong idea, Lance agreed with (cough cough Nyma). But that soooo wasn't what he was doing. And so he shouldn't have to explain that.

"Honestly, I don't wanna talk about it."

"I can respect that."

"Well I know you can, Mr. Skips Meals to Avoid People."

"Hmmm, I thought a bump to the head would have helped your brain function better, not worse."

"TOO SOON! I still have the ice pack!"

Keith laughed openly, and Lance grinned despite himself. I'm the only one who makes him laugh. No wonder he's so into me. Lance only wished he had the same effect on girls, preferably alien princesses whose bedroom was of easy access. His bruise began to sting, and he applied more pressure to the ice pack. Keith noticed this and his smile faded, remembering his friends pain. He still felt responsible even though Lance hadn't mentioned anything about him. He knew there was only one way to get real answers, but he was reluctant to leave Lance's side. This was what he'd been dreaming of, minus a the measurable space between them. And the bruise. Probably.

Keith was staring, and Lance told himself it should have been weird. But he just stared back, knowing there was more he should be saying. Should it have bothered him that Keith seemed so enchanted by him? Why was he so cool about it? Lance had always been a pretty laid back guy, but wasn't there a part of him that should reject this kind of behavior? Maybe back on Earth there was, but things were different out here. He was different out here. And everything that had once been his life was wayyy far away.

Apparently, his staring did make Keith uncomfortable. The red paladin turned away from him quickly (to hide his blushing cheeks, Lance liked to think) and got up off the bed. He started towards the door but turned around to offer an explanation.

"I should probably go and see Shiro. Hope you're a fast healer." And just like that, he was gone.

Keith made his way towards Shiro's bedroom, trying not to let his mind linger on Lance. Shiro was probably going to need his full attention, and he was also a little weary of getting punched himself. His reflexes were better than Lance's, but he doubted he'd be able to take on Shiro if no one came to his rescue. Once again, he took a deep breath and knocked. There was no response this time, but Keith knew he was there.

"It's Keith."

A moment of silence, and then a quiet "Come in."

The doors slid open and Keith's stomach dropped. Shiro was seated on his bed, elbows resting on his knees and head resting in his hands. It hurt to see someone you look up to be so broken. It hurt even more when you were responsible. You don't know that yet. It could have been anything. Keith continued to allow himself slight denial as he crossed the room and sat down next to Shiro. Part of him wanted to comfort his friend, while the other part wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. But even the most impulsive of people would know now is not the time for violence. Keith decided he'd wait for Shiro to explain himself. If you're going to punch my boyfriend I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's ok.

Keith was willing to overlook his use of the word boyfriend because he was in the middle of a traumatic situation. Yep, that's it.

Shiro wasn't having a breakdown like his position may have suggested. True, he was angry at himself for what he'd done. He didn't, however, wish he could take it back. He never let his emotions get so out of hand that he'd resort to violence, but his desire for Keith outweighed reason. He held his head in his hands simply to avoid looking up at Keith. He was ashamed, and he knew seeing those eyes would tear him apart. He couldn't bear to see the disappointment, the anger, the rejection. All he'd tried to do was defend Keith, and now it probably only pushed him further away.

There was only one thing he could think of to say.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't think it's me who deserves an apology right now."

"Yeah, well, he's not going to get one." Shiro picked his head up, looking straight ahead.

"Why not?" Keith leaned forward, trying to get Shiro to look at him.

Shiro saw it coming and stood up quickly, turning away from Keith towards the wall. He couldn't do it. It would destroy Keith if he told him what Lance said. Would that drive him into Shiro's arms? Or would it drive him into depression? It was too big of a risk. He can barely stand seeing him pining after someone else; Shiro would probably die if Keith hit rock bottom. He tried to keep a strong stance, hide all the emotion he was feeling inside. But Keith would not be ignored.

"Shiro, just talk to me. Lance wouldn't tell me what happened, but if it has something to do with me, I deserve to know." Keith was more commanding and less concerned, standing up and approaching Shiro.

Keith placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, and the taller man spun around and threw his arms around Keith. The black paladin buried his face in Keith's shoulder, if for no other reason than to be close to him. Keith almost stumbled backwards at the sudden weight. He hugged Shiro back, and they stood there like that for a moment. This isn't exactly an explanation, Shiro. Eventually, he released his tight grip and moved his hands up to Keith's shoulders, holding him in place. Keith was met with Shiro's saddened eyes, not knowing how to react at all.

"The only reason I did anything was because I can't stand the thought of you getting anything less than you deserve, Keith. Don't you understand? I need you. In a universe full of problems, you're what keeps me going. You just…" Shiro loosened his grip and began to look away. "Am I not what you want?"

Keith made a mental note to never underestimate Allura's intuition ever again. Oh, and also: what is happening. Shiro returned his gaze to Keith, his eyes eager for acceptance. Keith had never seen him so vulnerable; his entire well being was at his mercy. It was clear what he had to do. Regardless of how he felt, he needed to give Shiro the answer he wanted. There was no way they could ever form Voltron or accomplish anything if Shiro was an absolute wreck. He was going to call it "taking one for the team", but that usually implied doing something unwanted.

Shiro clearly wasn't lacking in the looks department, and Keith couldn't deny it felt nice being embraced by all those muscles. Sure, he was a bit unstable, but Keith wasn't perfect either when it came to that. It was abundantly clear that he really cared about Keith, and it felt good to be so desired. Maybe even a little too much. Really the only reason he hadn't thought about it before was because he viewed Shiro as their leader, someone to look up too and have a professional relationship with. Things hadn't exactly worked out that way.

And then there was Lance. Keith's secret love for him hadn't gone anywhere. It actually ended up giving Lance a black eye. Unfortunately the fight was most likely one sided; Lance would never fight for his affections. Keith had to face facts. Lance was never going to come around. It just didn't work that way. Maybe this would be good for him. He could distance himself from Lance and maintain their friendly relationship at the same time.

Plus, Keith was pretty sure this was the only way he was going to get Shiro to apologize.

"I'm yours." Keith smiled, and Shiro gave him his first real kiss.


Allura slipped into Lance's room, eager to help smooth things out. When she told Shiro to resolve the issue, this was NOT what she had in mind. But, as they say on Earth, all's well that ends well. It would have been nice if one of her paladins hadn't been roughed up in the process, but as long as nothing like this ever happened again, the princess was content. Lance straightened up at her arrival, trying to look cool despite his ice pack. Allura was either oblivious or pretended to be, deciding not to sit down next to him and just give him the news.

"Looks like the swelling has gone down. That's good."

"Speaking of swel-"

"Anyways, I just came to tell you that this whole ordeal should be over by tomorrow. Shiro should be back to his usual self and ready to apologize, thanks to Keith."

"Oh yeah? How'd he manage that?"

"Well, I told him about Shiro's obvious longing for him, and it looks like they finally got together! I was talking about it with Pidge, and she told me I was "fan-girling". It's just so exciting!"

"Keith and Shiro?"

"Oh, don't act surprised. Even you must have seen that coming."

"No, actually I didn't." And for some reason that Lance couldn't understand, the thought of those two together made a knot in his stomach.

And when Allura mentioned kissing, it only got bigger.


Thank you for reading. I meant to update this over the weekend but then I did that thing where I did nothing for two days. I don't recommend it.

More coming soon

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