Bondage Bonding

Mirror and Image

Pidge was absolutely certain that Shiro was crazy. One hundred percent certifiable. One coo over the cuckoo's nest. Absolutely insane. Completely off his rocker. Nuts.

It had started after a simple practice. Since they finally understood how to form Voltron, the ultimate weapon of the universe, they had started practicing. Basic things like walking, flying, stuff that would build to strategies and victories. But, because theirs was a thrown-together team, coordination was less than easy. Lance wanted to be a soccer star, always leaving Hunk to somehow balance on his own. Pidge herself and Keith didn't always move in synch and could literally butt the heads of their lions together. To Pidge's mind, all they needed was practice. Time to finesse.

But no.

Shiro had been inspired.

So when they gathered for morning practice, they'd found Shiro and Coran, and before even a "good morning" could be uttered, Lance and Hunk had had their legs locked together and Pidge's right hand had been locked to Keith's left.

"What is this?" Lance demanded, trying to lift his bound leg only to jostle Hunk off balance and make him fall, which then made Lance tumble over as well.

Keith and Pidge glanced at each other and looked to their joined arms.

"This is team-building," Shiro said lightly, eyes somewhere between amused and bemused. "Since Voltron is lacking coordination we'll practice outside of the lions where we can do less damage."

So, yes, Pidge was convinced Shiro was over the deep end.

Keith looked to Shiro, eyes narrowed, and frown firmly in place. "Shiro," he said in that maddening way that had layers of subtext.

The Black Paladin looked over, and his amusement softened. "We're doing this," he said gently.

Keith scoffed and went to cross his arms, yanking Pidge's right in the process. Keith grumbled an apology and just looked away.

"Okay team," Shiro looked between both pairs, "for the duration of this week, you'll be locked together like this. You'll alternate days for chores. Keith, Pidge, today you'll follow Pidge's routine, tomorrow will be Keith's, etc. Lance and Hunk, today will be Hunk's routine."

"What?" Lance whined. "But I had plans for today!"

"They'll keep to tomorrow," Shiro replied.

"Awww," Lance grumbled.

"Remember," Shiro continued. "Princess Allura still needs her rest after that ritual with the Balmera. We aren't-" he looked firmly to both pairs "-to disturb her with our shenanigans and Coran has a lot of work to do repairing the castle." He gave a smile that was both amused and encouraging. "Dismissed."

Pidge was still frowning heavily and looked to Keith, who was just as unhappy. Lance was already trying to walk forward to Shiro to complain but instead dragged both of them to the ground. Oh, yes. Shiro had gone 'round the bend...

"Look," Keith muttered. "Just go about your business. I'll stay loose. Just let me get a book or something."

"Sounds like a plan," Pidge replied. "Let's go."

Shiro watched from the corner of his eyes as Keith and Pidge slipped out. While he doubted that the two would get into the level of trouble that pairing Keith and Lance would do together, he wasn't as confident as he would like to be. Keith usually listened but connecting with others wasn't easy for him. He might try and take an easy way out and given Pidge's glares he doubted she was on board with the exercise either. Still, he let them go. He'd check in on them later. Instead Shiro listened as Lance just kept complaining, even from the floor, and Hunk just passively sat there, patiently waiting.

Well, this wouldn't do at all.

So Shiro ignored Lance and reached down to help Hunk up. "Hunk, any plans for breakfast?"

"Hey!" Lance was indignant. "I was talking!"

Hunk glanced between Shiro and Lance before looking down and poking his fingers together. "Well, since the Princess is still so tired, I was thinking of making something special. Lots of carbs to replenish what she's lost in the long term and maybe some sort of sugars or sweets for a quicker pick-me-up..." The more Hunk talked, the less nervous he looked, words and plans starting to flow more easily. "I know people who donate blood tend to be very low on energy and that protein helps, but I don't really know enough about Altean physiology or that ritual to know if it's the same thing or not. Alteans seem to have more direct control over their energy than us, but Coran and Allura can't seem to explain it in a way that makes sense to me..."

Shiro smiled and held up a hand, knowing Hunk would keep going if given the chance. "Sounds like a plan. I'll help in the kitchen, if you want."

"No, it's fine," Hunk said with a smile, starting to turn, then promptly tripped over Lance. "Okay, may be a little help until Lance and I can do a three-legged race."

Shiro smiled as he helped them up again.

Going to the kitchen was slow going until the two of them found a rhythm.

"You know," Lance suddenly smiled, resting his chin between his thumb and pointer finger. "I like the idea. Can you picture it? Me, cooking breakfast for the Princess, serving her in bed. I can hear it now: 'Oh, Lance, how thoughtful of you! However can I repay your consideration?' " Shiro offered a flat look, but Hunk was way ahead of them and tripped Lance, letting the Blue Paladin land face first on the floor. Hunk remained standing and offered Shiro a thumb's up.

Once in the kitchen, it was clear that Hunk knew his way around. It was also clear that he couldn't move much with Lance.

"Lance, I need to get some boxes from that cabinet!"

"But I'm mixing!"

"This recipe is time sensitive!"

"I thought you needed me stirring this sauce-thingy!"

Shiro held in a chuckle. All of the Paladins would help Hunk cook once in a while, but Lance, who had been Hunk's roommate at the Garrison, was the most familiar. Shiro had hoped that familiarity would be more of a help than a hindrance, but apparently Lance was a little too familiar with staying out of the way of an enthusiastic gourmand. It took three tries to get some sort of cake or bread baking, two burnt sauces before something fruity was finished, and a whole lot of Hunk elbowing Lance away so he could get the plate and tray perfect.

"And now," Lance smiled in what he thought was an attractive manner, "to deliver to the princess!"

"No," Shiro said firmly, brushing what he hoped was flour off of his sleeve. "I think we've established that you two trying to walk up to the Princess's rooms would lead to all your hard work dissolving in the air and over the floor. I'll handle the delivery. You two need to practice walking."

Hunk hung his head in resignation while Lance's face broke comically into indignant rage.

"Hey! I see what you're doing!" Lance cried out. "You're going to usurp my plan and bring breakfast to the princess! No, no! Nononononono! That's my job!"

But Shiro had already plucked up the tray and was heading out the kitchen. Lance instinctively rushed to grab him, but just ended up in a pile on the floor with Hunk landing on top of him.

"Work on walking," Shiro called back. He would give them a few hours then check in on them. Keith and Pidge might understand the lesson he was teaching once they were on Keith's day better, but Lance and Hunk were going to need a little guiding.

He knocked politely at Allura's door, waited a moment, then announced himself. One of the mice quickly crawled up to his shoulder, giving an appreciative nuzzle as he brought in Hunk's (and Lance's) hard work. The lights were dim and Shiro took a moment to let his eyes adjust. He turned to the mouse on his shoulder.

"She awake?" he asked softly.

"Only just," she replied around a yawn.

"Good morning, Princess," he greeted. The lights came on and Shiro saw Allura was sitting up in bed, supported by veritable mountain of pillows. Dark bags still dragged her eyes down and her hair was loose and askew. She rubbed at an eye before her arm dropped heavily back down to her lap.

Shiro didn't comment on how exhausted she still was. Instead he stepped forward and jutted his chin to the tray. "Breakfast."

"That sounds wonderful," she replied, "I woke most hungry."

He set the tray down. "Made by Hunk and Lance, especially for you." One of the mice climbed on to the try, already pulling out a napkin to lay on Allura's lap.

"That was most kind of them," she smiled gently. Slowly, with clear care, she took her utensils and started to eat. After a swallow, she looked back to him. "If you don't mind, may I hear how the Paladins are doing while we rest and repair?"

Shiro's lips may have twitched up in clear amusement.

"Bonding," he said lightly.

Something of his tone must have bled through, because Allura looked sharply at him, an eyebrow raised and with more perception than her fatigue implied. "Oh?" she asked delicately.

Okay, Shiro might be smiling broadly.

"Just a little exercise that Coran and I cooked up."

Her smile was radiant. "Oh, do explain."

Shiro chuckled, glancing down to better contain his amusement. "Oh, just a little bonding through bondage."

"Now this is an exercise I absolutely must learn of," she smiled widely, eyes dancing.

So Shiro explained. He outlined the basics as she ate, going through the fundamentals and back-ups he had in mind, and delineating alternate strategies as the needs presented. He kept talking so that she could focus on eating, and it was much like giving a report to Commander Iverson when the old war horse was in a mood. Her look improved as she ate, though the heavy bags under her eyes remained.

"I admire your lesson," she smiled as he finished. "I may have to remember that. The Paladins of old never faced such training."

Shiro raised a brow. "Oh?" he asked lightly. "I seem to remember being cuffed with the entire team and told that we needed to feed each other. It's where I even got the idea."

Allura covered her mouth and giggled. "Oh, that wasn't an actual training strategy. The whole point of the day was to get all of you united against a common enemy. Me. So I chose to make things as difficult as possible. That was one of my last tricks."

"And it worked splendidly," he replied. "And now it's going to work again."

Resting back on her pillows, she smiled. "Thank you for doing all this as I recuperate."

"That's not a problem, Princess," he smiled gently. Staying busy was always best for him. Gave him something to focus on. It was too much quiet that would do him harm. "I think I may need to check in on them. I've left all of them to their own devices long enough."

"A good idea," Allura nodded. "I think I have the strength to wash up. Maybe brush some snarls from my hair."

Shiro looked to her more seriously. "You sure you can manage?"

"Yes," she replied just as seriously. "Then I shall have to retire to bed again. I'm still exhausted."

"Sounds like a plan." He nodded to her and held out an arm for the mouse to join its friends and turned. "Rest well, Princess."

"My thanks, Shiro."

Now. To find Lance and Hunk again. Maybe they were finally able to walk now.

It was a minor miracle, but the pair had, in fact, managed to make it to the main control room for the next shift in Hunk's day: help Coran. They all helped Coran in their own way, of course, but Hunk as the engineer was very hands on. Lance was crossing his arms and looking bored as the Altean advisor outlined the itinerary.

"And the biggest project is cleaning out the purifying vents," the redhead was saying, pointing to a hologram of the ship. "Number Five mentioned the damage created when she was trying to confront Sendak-" Sendak fighting failing falling arm arena armor moonlight mutilation YOU ARE A BROKEN SOLDIER Shiro shook his head, "-and she said that some of the ducts had been damaged by her work. Also, Galran physiology doesn't need oxygen to breathe, and they turned off the filtration ducts while in control of the ship. I've only just noticed it, the air had been getting rather dusty."

Hunk nodded. "Cleaning vents and fixing superficial damage. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Lance said, tilting his head. "How do you expect to maneuver around in there with me? No offense, but it'll be a tight squeeze to begin with and now we're adding you to the mix."

Shiro winced as he walked up to them and saw Hunk pause to consider. His eyes shifted to Coran but Shiro and the Altean had both agreed not to coddle them for this. The royal advisor twirled his mustache as he tended to do, visibly unaffected as he replied. "No worries, you'll just have to snuggle together like a pair of baby yelmores – shouldn't be too difficult."

"I'm sure the both of you will be fine," he said, reassuring. Both boys startled to see him. "You just have to work together. You used to do that all the time in Galaxy Garrison, right?"

Lance looked suspiciously stiff while Hunk made a face. "Yeah," the Blue Paladin drew out. "About that..."

"We kind of always failed," Hunk said, always the most honest. "Like, really bad. Like, bad enough that Iverson would use us as examples of what not to do. Like bad enough that we never passed a single simulation."

Shiro blinked, a little surprised – not about the less-than-standard teamwork, but that it was that bad. Iverson's examples were legendary when he decided to make one, for good or ill. "Well," he said carefully, "You're Paladins of Voltron now. You'll have to figure out how to make it work."

Shiro waited a beat, letting his words sink in. He couldn't sugar-coat this, there was no time and the stakes were too high. He was gentle when he could, but the price of being a CO was having to push when no one wanted to be. Lance and Hunk couldn't mess around – if they did they wouldn't have a leg to stand on – literally, as the legs of Voltron. They needed to understand the role they played and how to coordinate with each other. That required communication. Lance wasn't shy about his opinion, but the lynchpin would be Hunk. Shiro gave him a slightly heavier gaze before putting his hands on his hips. "Dismissed," he said.

He hoped it would be enough.

Hunk was, yet again, sprawled out on the floor. At least this time Lance had cushioned his fall. Seriously, he was going to need time in the cryopod for all the scrapes and bruises he'd gotten from falling down. This was very annoying, and Hunk didn't think himself the type to be easily annoyed. He considered himself an easy-going guy, but wow, ending up on the floor for the bajillionth time was getting to him.

"Breathe!" Lance gasped. "Need-to-breathe!"

Oh yeah.

"Sorry," Hunk mumbled again as he rolled to his knees and, again, stood up. "I thought we had this walking thing down. It's why we agreed to head to my workshop."

"I thought we did too!" Lance offered defensively, straightening out his jacket.

Hunk just sighed and offered a hand to Lance. "Try again?"

"We'll need to," Lance said sullenly. "Otherwise we're just sitting here in the middle of the hall."

"Technically, standing."

"Whatever."

"On three-"

"One, two, three!" Lance lifted his bound leg before Hunk was ready and only managed to raise it all of half an inch before Hunk lifted his. Lance swayed dangerously and grabbed Hunk's shoulder for balance, his weight pushing at Hunk himself and then they were back on the floor.

So annoying.

"Dude!" Lance moaned. "What are you even doing?"

"I can't help it!" Hunk moaned back, hoisting himself to a sitting position. "You say three way too fast and I'm not ready!"

"I'm counting to three! How much more lead time do you need?" Lance demanded, incredulous.

"Okay, you count to three in half a second, and that isn't enough time to be ready!"

"I do not count that fast!"

"You totally do!" Hunk defended. "Trust me, I've been cooking since I was a kid, I used to be the one responsible for setting the oven timers, and I could always wander back into the kitchen before it went off – by the time I was a teenager we didn't even use timers anymore, everyone just asked me – so I know how to track time!"

"Fine, then you do it!" Lance shouted back.

Only then did Hunk realize their voices had risen to the point where they bounced and echoed off the hall, and he shivered with the creeps. Man, the place felt so empty sometimes. He took a deep breath and willed himself to be calm as the pair got up to their feet again. Hunk tried not to think about the cavernous spaces that felt like outer space and made his stomach twist. He almost wanted to go back to the kitchens, where he could feel some small amount of control in his life, but he reminded himself of Shay and her bravery, and tried to take some for himself.

"Okay, two second pauses. One... Two... Three!"

Hunk stepped with his chained foot and Lance did the same. Hunk's stride was much shorter than Lance's, the the Blue Paladin stumbled a little to come down so suddenly, but he didn't outright fall. That was a success. They both stepped with their free feet, and Hunk counted again, and finally, finally, they made it to Hunk's workshop.

"Success," Lance dully cheered.

Both Hunk and Lance looked conspiratorially at each other, eyebrows raised.

"No vents?" Hunk whispered.

"No vents," Lance solemnly agreed.

They both broke down chuckling, Lance slapping him on the back as Hunk wiped a stray tear from his eye. All ill feelings evaporated as they reconnected after such unpleasant walking. With them both sitting in Hunk's workshop and no more motion needed till lunch, things were looking up.

"So," Lance glanced around with a sly grin. "What projects you working on?"

Hunk smiled gleefully and started to explain.

Shiro walked into Pidge's usual lab, but didn't move farther than the door, watching quietly as she and Keith were hunched around something. For now, at least, the two of them where doing exactly what they were supposed to. Working together. Granted, it was more of a talking-than-actual-working, but that was better than how Lance and Hunk had been fairing thus far. Of the two pairs, Shiro expected these two to get the basic lesson the fastest, given how goal-oriented they both were. But the two did have issues to overcome to ensure that they were both focusing on the same goal. Once they were past that, it would be smooth sailing. A corner of his lips twitched. Mostly. The following day, when the two were following Keith's usual pattern... That would likely be when the two would finally click with what he was aiming for. Hopefully their current day would give them plenty of prep. The both of them had to know that Keith's day would be far more strenuous with cuffed arms than just sitting in a lab.

Shiro nodded to himself. He'd spend more time with them tomorrow. For now, he needed to check on Hunk and Lance. He had a very good idea on what they were going to be doing for the rest of the day and he wanted to check. If they were also just sitting in a lab... Well... Shiro had plans for tomorrow.

Pidge, Keith accused, had cheated.

Pidge, she had countered, totally didn't.

… She did, of course, but since Shiro was now certifiably insane she figured it was only fair. Once they had gotten to her lion's bay she had quickly grabbed some tools and started fiddling with the cuffs. Keith had looked on in confusion, reminding her that Shiro had given them an assignment, but Pidge ignored him, explaining Shiro's jump off the deep end and explaining her plan to mitigate the headaches. Four hours later she had achieved a victory and the cuffs gained a small tether. It was only about one foot – hardly enough to be useful for her bigger projects, but it was enough to bother Keith much less as she tapped furiously at her keyboard and his wrist didn't need to be jerked left right and center.

Keith – who would never admit it – had nodded in approval and Pidge finally moved on to her projects. As the day waned Keith had learned more than he apparently ever knew about Altean and Galra technology – not that Pidge knew much, either, her understanding was still rudimentary at best, and the former drop out started shifting in his seat next to her, eying the door and making silent noises of wanting to move.

Pidge had paused to actually consider... but she had lost so much time on her projects and she needed to catch up...

"Question," she said, pausing in her typing. "How accurately are we following Shiro's orders about following our respective schedules?"

Keith looked down at her, frowning. "Pretty accurately I guess. Why?"

Pidge frowned – not shy necessarily, but a little embarrassed she had to admit something the others (as far as she knew) didn't know. It couldn't be worse than telling everyone she was a girl, though, so she plunged ahead. "It's just that I'm a night owl. Like, I can be up until three in the morning working on projects. I don't want you to stay up with me, but if we really are following my schedule..."

She watched Keith consider, tucking one fist into an armpit since he couldn't cross both arms.

"Shiro said to follow your schedule," he said finally. "We should do what he says."

"Even if he's crazy?"

"Even if he's crazy."

Pidge nodded and stood, arching her back a little and pointing to the other side of one of her worktables. "There's a cot I keep here. You can sleep on it. With the tether, it shouldn't be a bother. Do you toss and turn a lot?"

"Not really."

"Then we're a good match," she said. She smirked as a thought occurred to her. "Hope Hunk and Lance are decent matches."

"Or not," Keith muttered under his breath as he got up to follow. They both shared a chuckle and pulled out the cot, assembling it by the computer.

"You get comfortable first," Pidge said, "I can work around you."

Keith thought out it before nodding, stretching out on his back and wiggling around before he was comfortable. Pidge tossed a blanket over him and he kept his bound hand above it, shucking off his jacket as much as he could with the cuffs and twisting it around as a second blanket. "Wake me when you want to go to bed," he said. "My room is closer, we can sleep there."

Pidge nodded and wished him good night.

Keith's breathing eventually evened out and disappeared from her thoughts, her screen taking up her world as she continued to reverse engineer the programming language of the Galra crystal that had corrupted the castle's systems. The difficulty threshold had spiked last night when she finally figured out that the crystal wasn't binary but rather a three-state machine, and earth technology had never gotten further than theory. She had sort of figured out naming conventions and might have learned what symbols registered as variable names, but the work would be slow and brain-wracking. In other words, a beautiful challenge. Her world narrowed to the taps of keys and the glow of a screen and the occasional shift as one foot fell asleep versus the other. Without the blanket over her, her bare legs occasionally sent shivers but her work had filled her head.

It wasn't until she heard footsteps politely announcing their owner that she blinked at looked at the clock. Two a.m. She straightened up and felt a crack spread through her entire back. Grimacing, she started to lift her arms to stretch before she remembered the extra appendage, and therefore the extra person attached to it. She rolled her shoulders instead and pulled her glasses off to rub her eyes.

"Hey, Shiro," she mumbled in a quiet voice.

The Paladin sat down on a box, the dim light still able to show his exasperation. "You should be in bed," he said. "Especially now with the bonding exercise."

"I asked Keith," she whispered, defensive, "He said it was okay."

"He shouldn't have."

Pidge made a face, turning up the lights incrementally to see better by but still be dim enough not to wake Keith. Shiro was still in his civvies, shock of white hair sleep tousled and there was a tightness around the eyes. Another nightmare. Pidge straightened (to her back's complaint), eyes darting to Keith, uncertain what to do. This was always... private. Shiro slept as little as Pidge, though obviously for different reasons, and it wasn't uncommon for them to spend time together in the early morning hours. Having Keith here, even asleep, somehow made the entire thing awkward. Her toes curled in her sneakers and she frowned, struggling how to do this differently.

"... Are you okay?" she asked softly.

Shiro's smile tightened before fading, eyes drifting off. "... fine..." It must have been bad, then.

Pidge had stopped asking if he wanted to talk about it a long time ago, pursing her lips instead and shifting her weight. When in doubt, bring up old grievances. "You're crazy, you know," she said. "This whole idea is crazy." She lifted her bound hand the twelve inches of the tether and shook it for emphasis.

Shiro looked at the cuffs and his eyes widened as he saw Pidge's handiwork. Ah, Quiznak.

Shiro didn't yell though, only covered his face with his human hand and rubbed his fingers down the length of it. "Pidge..." he said in warning.

"What was I supposed to do?" the green Paladin demanded in a stage whisper, instantly defensive. "I can't type at a keyboard without giving both of us carpel tunnel! He still has no hope of training tomorrow – a foot isn't nearly enough for him to do all his fighting."

"That's the whole point, Pidge," Shiro said calmly. "You have to learn to work together – not around, not in parallel, not adjacent, together. You have to learn to have help on your projects, and you have to learn to fight as a team. Cheating the system won't make that lesson any easier."

Pidge breathed loudly through her nose. "... I know," she mumbled. "It's just..."

"It's not Matt," Shiro said, not unkindly. "You've only really been that close with Matt. Sam must have said that a dozen times on the flight to Kerberos. Joined at the hip, twins in all but name, desperate to follow in your brother's footsteps."

Pidge squirmed, looking away as Shiro hit the nail on the head.

"... I'm sorry," she said finally. "I've been so focused on my family this whole teamwork thing... it hasn't really sunk in the way it has for the rest of you." She looked down to her sleeping partner. "He was on board from the get-go, I think."

Shiro smiled.

"It's hard," she admitted. "Thinking about the rest of you. Not that I don't, I do, but even now that I've decided to stay I still have this big mental shift and... this..." she wiggled her wrist, unable to find the right words.

The black Paladin stood, crossing the distance and sitting next to Pidge, wrapping a warm arm around her and encasing her in heat. Her muscles melted almost immediately. "I know it takes time," Shiro said. "Someday Keith will tell you how long it took to warm up to me. But it has to start somewhere, you can't hide here with your Lion, working on your projects, and just expect to be able to work together with Keith to fight as Voltron. You have to know each other, understand each other, even a little. It took the entire flight to Kerberos to get to know Sam and Matt, and by extension you and your mother. It took time to get to know Keith, and it will take time to know Lance and Hunk and the princess and Coran. I'm just giving you a little push."

Pidge nodded into his chest, Shiro's heat banishing her chills and making her comfortable. "I'll try," she mumbled.

She was asleep within minutes.

Keith waited for Pidge to fall asleep before he opened his eyes. Shiro was already looking at him, the older man had known he was awake and listening to the conversation.

"The same goes for you, you know," Shiro whispered.

Keith sat up slowly, his jacket curling back down his arm and the chill of the air giving him goose-bumps. He looked at Pidge, curled against Shiro's chest and the other Paladin's arm around her small shoulders, and something stung, deep in the back of his mind that he wasn't sure how to label. Shiro being down here... that wasn't abnormal. It wasn't just Shiro checking in on his latest bonding project, it wasn't just Shiro being worried. This was a regular event – Pidge didn't even react that Shiro came down here. Shiro didn't even react to coming down here. Pidge even asked after Shiro, like it was a regular question to ask, and it wasn't like Keith was jealous, per se, but none of this sat right with him, and he found his eyes darting between Shiro and the girl, frown pressing down into his chin.

Shiro, of course, saw right through him as always and offered a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry," he said. "She's not going to take your place."

Keith colored in the dim light. "I wasn't thinking that," he muttered, looking away. Then, against his will, "... does this happen a lot?"

Shiro's face changed, the bemusement and warmth fading to something sadder, more distant. Keith had seen this look several times since Shiro's return and stiffened, waiting for another flashback or freeze up, but Shiro simply breathed in long and deep through his nose and exhaled. "It happens," was all the other Paladin could say. "When it does I walk around the castle and check in on all of you. It gives me piece of mind." Then he smiled, slightly forced. "Pidge of course is never in bed when that happens, so I have to go looking for her. The next step is putting her to bed. I'll need your help with that."

Keith was about to protest when he remembered the cuffs. He looked down at the offending object before sighing through his nose and slipping his arm through the sleeve of his jacket and putting it back on. "What do you want me to do?"

"Carry her."

… What?

Shiro clearly saw his look of incredulity and gave a soft chuckle. "Bonding, remember?"

Keith grumbled, but stood carefully, letting that foot of free space that Pidge had given them work to his advantage so that he could get his arms around her without breaking his wrist. Shiro had his infuriating smile on, clearly amused, so Keith, with no one else to see, made a face.

Pidge was heavier than Keith expected. She was so small and her build so skinny, added to the fact that she could zip through enemies without anyone touching her and how she could practically fly across the room, even faster than him, he tended to think of her as almost lighter than air. But carrying her weight now, Keith reminded himself that the Garrison did have basic fitness regulations and that even Hunk, the most stocky of them, was all muscle. That also meant that Pidge was probably stronger than she looked as well. Keith held back a smirk. No wonder she liked camouflage so much. She was built for people to underestimate her.

Shiro gave a soft, small smile, and together they started to leave the bay and head back to the Paladin rooms.

"She's wrong, you know," Keith said softly. "I wasn't on board with this team thing right away."

Shiro turned, with a brow raised. "I seem to recall you were the one most vocal about Pidge's brief decision to leave us. You were the one to first start working together with Pidge in that food fight the Princess instigated. I can see why Pidge thought you might be on board pretty fast."

Keith frowned, looking away. "That's not… It's just…." He stuttered to a stop. How could he state this? "I can work with others," he said softly. "That's never been a problem. Even at the Garrison. Talking about engines, or schematics, or plans and implementations. Business talk is easy. We need to be a team to form Voltron. We needed to be a team to fly a shuttle back at the Garrison. I get that part. Open communication, blah, blah, blah."

He fell silent, remembering far too well the Garrison. He excelled in all his classes, especially flights. He had always been the strongest part of the team exercises. The fastest, the strongest, the most adaptive. The others had to be as efficient as him to keep up, and that lead to his teammates staying on task without idle side-chatter. There didn't need to be meetings outside of class, or hanging out in order to get things done. That's where he had been coming from before. Calling out Pidge to stay on task with that weird focus exercise, or correcting Lance in the maze or anything else. It was how things worked at the Garrison. Work hard, get ahead, and the others had to follow.

But it wasn't working here. Voltron needed more than just being together to one goal. Shiro was right. They needed bonding. They needed that relationship that came with hanging out and closeness and sharing stories. With telling jokes and camaraderie. All the things Keith wasn't good at. That he was outright terrible at.

"Voltron needs more than that… And I'm not…."

Shiro reached over with his flesh arm and wrapped it around Keith's shoulder. "It's not your forte."

Keith mumbled, "No."

Shiro huffed a laugh and then pulled away, running his hand through Keith's hair, much to Keith's frustration. "Shiro," he hissed. And of course, the Black Paladin chuckled again.

"I'm not asking you to become good at this overnight, Keith," he said softly. "That's impossible. I'm not asking you to become like Lance or Hunk, who are both very open and expressive. Just increments, Keith. Start small, like you did with me. Though, hopefully," he smiled again, "a little faster. Focus on Pidge for the next few days and being able to work with her. Show her the same attentiveness that you usually reserve for me."

That couldn't happen, Keith scowled. He was aware of Shiro in a way that wasn't explainable. That wouldn't ever change. Shiro was… Shiro. That wasn't something that could be replicated.

But…

Paying more attention.

Yeah, Keith figured he could do that.

Author's Notes: This fic is six chapters and only half beta'ed, poor Tenshi has fallen off the face of the planet. It will be updated weekly.

This fic was actually written before Personality's Borderline, as a way to better get into the heads of the Voltron team. We have our favorites: the holy trinity of Shiro, Keith, and Pidge; but this fic isn't glorify them at the expense of others. This is, above all else, exactly what it says on the tin, the Paladins getting closer. The fic takes place between the assault on the Castle of Lions and expedition to the Balmera and the "haunted" episode, so everyone is still new to each other and has projects revolving around those events, hence Pidge studying a crystal and Coran talking about cleaning out vents.

We've tried really hard to be true to the characters as they are in the show, little to no headcannon because we're learning everyone's respective voices. Everyone will have one or two moments to shine and we slowly build up to the next episode. A Slice of Life fic, if you will.

Hope you all enjoy!