As Cold as Fire [VOLTRON Keith X OC]

Half Princess

WARNINGS: swearing, mention of sexual assault

"Start training level 4." The training bot dropped to the floor with an unceremonious clunk. Riley unsheathed her dagger with a blank expression, and, before the bot could even begin, she sent it flying with an uppercut. The robot produced a long sword, and the two began a long series of blocked attacks, until it delivered a harsh blow to her face with the back of the sword. She crashed to the ground and grunted from impact. The training bot prepared to deliver the final strike when Riley backflipped out of the sword's reach, before sweeping the bot from under its feet and jabbing her dagger through its chest.

The bot slipped away, and Riley leaned against the wall, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her hair was tied up into a high ponytail, and she was trying to tuck away the rogue strands of black and silver. She turned to pick up her water bottle when she caught sight of a familiar purple-eyed boy.

"Keith?" Her face flushed even more at the thought of Keith witnessing her training.

"Hey. You're getting better." Keith was in the middle of thinking of an excuse when his train of thought got interrupted.

"Very observant. Were you just gonna... stand there until I saw you?"

"Um no," he walked forward, "I was going to train but you were already here so I figured I'd wait for my turn." Riley shrugged and turned to leave.

"All yours."

Before she could exit though, Keith quickly asked, "Where are you going?" Riley crossed her arms with a confused look.

"To my room. Why?"

"Uhhhhh," he rubbed the back of his neck trying to think of another excuse, "Do you wanna have a sparring match?" Riley couldn't help but smile despite herself- Keith was such a solo, 'independent' type, she was surprised he wanted to spend time with her. Not to mention happy, almost honoured even.

"Sure."

Keith had no fucking idea what he was doing.

He had no idea why he had walked to the training deck, no idea why he had patiently watched her be a badass, no idea why he just invited her to a match, and he had no idea why he was even there in the first place.

And he had absolutely no idea why he didn't want her to leave.

Keith wasn't good with feelings- it was no secret. But there was something about Riley that just set something off. Maybe it was her smile, or playful words, or the way she doesn't take shit from anyone. She had a mysterious aura about her, as if underneath the tough exterior, there was a mess of hidden secrets and self doubt, and there was something about this that resonated deeply with Keith.

All he knew was that it bothered him that she didn't remember their little flirting moment when they had rescued her and Shiro from Sendak after the explosion, where she had playfully called her emo boy. And what upset him even more was when Rolo flirted with her.

But that was only partly the reason he was here. Since they had disconnected Alfor, Riley had shut herself in either her room or the training deck. She was upset- it was obvious- and the paladins didn't know what to do. Allura and her had gone back to snapping at each other, more frequently than before, and Coran didn't even bother to try to stop them anymore. Keith was determined to find out what exactly Riley's link to Alfor and Allura is, but more so, he was determined to get the cheery, sarcastic Riley back. There was something about her smile that didn't seem quite right.

"Okay, whoever pins the other to the floor for five ticks slash seconds. Let's go Kogane," she grinned, putting her dagger away and getting into a fighting stance.