Don't Ask, I'll Never Tell

Keith Hatches a Plan

Keith doubled back. Lance, who was still in the process of pursuing Keith, bumped into him.

Noticing Keith's hesitant state, Lance used the opportunity to grab Keith's arm and tried to yank him back roughly.

Keith obliged, much to Lance's surprise. As Physics would have it, objects in motion tend to stay in motion. In this case, Keith was the object in motion as the force of Lance's pull launched him directly into a now regretful Paladin. They fell to the ground with a painful thud.

"Ow." Lance said from his flattened state under Keith.

The door that Keith hesitated to open mere moments before slid open to reveal a concerned Allura, Shiro, and Coran.

"What's going on here?" Shiro asked with furrowed brows.

Keith shot up but stumbled against the wall from the sudden motion.

"Reverse baby sitting." Lance replied, getting up and dusting himself off. "I think I'm doing my job pretty well." He grinned cheekily.

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Reverse babysitting?"

"You know. Baby-sitting. Sitting on the baby. The opposite would be the baby sitting on-- you know what? Never mind. You can't handle my comedic genius."

"No one can handle you, period." Keith replied.

"You know what, Keith?" Lance's voice increased an octave, getting closer to Keith's face in rising anger.

"What?" Keith asked, doing the same.

"Shut. Your. Quiznak!"

Allura's face went red while Coran's jaw dropped.

"I don't think you're using that word correctly." Keith hissed back.

"That's enough!" Shiro stepped between Lance and Keith, his thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I thought that if you two spent a bit more time together that you could come to terms with your differences and get along. However..." he paused, switching his attention between the seething Keith and the frustrated Lance. "...it would seem that my efforts are like trying to herd cats with you two."

Lance paused then a sly smirk crept across his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Keith asked bluntly.

"Shiro, are you making a Voltron joke?" Lance asked smugly. "You know, 'cause we pilot lions? Yeah?"

Shiro slapped his own face with the palm of his hand. "No, Lance. Please. Just listen."

"I am listening!"

Keith crossed his arms with his back against the wall for balance. "Last time I checked, running your mouth doesn't count as listening."

"Oh really? You seem to be doing a lot of talking, yourself, Mullet!"

"I think I'm gonna go check on the coordinates..." Coran said awkwardly before stepping away.

"Me too." Allura turned on her heel, looking just as uncomfortable, leaving Shiro to deal with the two boys' squabbling.

Shiro sighed. "I am at my wits end with you two. I can't, for the life of me, figure out what's going on between you two but it needs to stop." He turned to Lance. "Now!"

"Why are you looking at me? Keith started it! He seemed pretty eager to run all the way over here like we were under some Galra invasion!"

Shiro turned to Keith with a mix of confusion and concern. "Keith?" He asked gently.

Keith stiffened. "It's nothing, Shiro. Really. In fact, I don't even remember what I was going to tell you. It wasn't important." Keith forced himself to slow down while his rapidly beating heart and growing anxiety made him want to just finish the conversation so that he could leave.

Shiro didn't seem convinced but, much to Keith's relief, Shiro didn't press any further. "Since you can't get along properly, I have no choice but to send you to your dormitories."

Keith slumped against the wall as he wordlessly followed his commander's orders.

Lance on the other hand, was a different story. "You're sending us to our rooms? How old do you think we are, Shiro?" He demanded.

Shiro crossed his arms. "It's an order." He said sternly.

Lance pouted and stomped past Keith who paused to listen to Shiro yell at that pain in the side named Lance. "Fine!" Lance shouted over his shoulder. He gave Keith the evil eye as he marched past. Keith returned it with just as much enthusiasm.

Thinking back to the whole situation, Keith was almost glad that Lance stopped him from revealing his secret to Shiro. And he was most glad to be alone in his room because it gave him an idea. Sure, it wasn't a well developed plan but he knew that he could pull it off with just a bit of improvisation. He just had to wait until the rest of the Paladins fell asleep.