Silence in Space: (Keith x Reader) A Voltron Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Put to the Test

You bowed in thanks to the tree beetle after it opened its mouth to release you and Keith from its bowels. It had carried you to the wormhole and back to Arus in its stomach, to keep you and him from suffocating in space. Keith, however, seemed less pleased at the idea.

"Okay, next time, I'M choosing our escape route," he declared in disgust as he shook bits of slime out of his now-shaggy mullet. You couldn't help but giggle a little at how silly he looked. You then started for the bridge, but Keith caught your shoulder before you could leave.

"Hold up. You're not going to the bridge like that, are you?" he asked, turning you around and peering down at you with a judgy look. Even though you didn't fully understand what he meant, you lowered your head in shame. Was your outfit really that ugly to him?

However, that hadn't been what Keith had meant at all. "You've still got slime all over your head," he said, taking off his jacket and squeezing out the last of the slime in it. He then draped it over your head and gave you a vigorous rubdown. You were a little ruffled by the action, but at least you felt drier. You squinted when light poured into your eyes again as Keith lifted the jacket off your head and shook the collected slime off of it.

"There. Good as new," he said, sounding satisfied. You looked up to smile at him in thanks, but it caught in your throat when he bent his brow with a small smirk on his face. "Mm...not quite. You've still got a little bit on your forehead."

Keith placed his hand on your head and used his thumb to wipe the last of the slime off, but didn't notice how smitten you were until he noticed your face going red. He scrunched his eyes and leaned closer to inspect your expression before realizing what he was doing and blushing himself, slowly retracting his hand. For a few moments, his thistle-purple eyes locked with your green-and-blue ones.

Just then, Pidge rounded the corner and noticed them. With a friendly-yet-sly smile, he spoke up without warning. "Hey, Keith!"

You and Keith were so spooked, you snapped out of the trance that had taken ahold of both of you and faced Pidge with red faces. "We're waiting for you guys in the bridge. You coming or not?"

"Y-Yeah, Pidge, we're on our way!" Keith said, putting his head down and scurrying past you to catch up with him. You frowned a little, oddly feeling sad that Keith didn't seem to like being around you for long, but you supposed anyone would've found it embarrassing. With a silent sigh to yourself, you followed Pidge and Keith to the bridge. It was probably time to get serious.

***

You were the last to appear on the bridge. Shiro was the first to greet you, walking up to you as soon as you entered. "Welcome back, Sorin," he greeted you kindly, giving your head a pat. "Did you find the talisman?"

You smiled and nodded, showing him the silver lion pendant you had found in the forest. "Wow, what a pretty trinket. It looks very nice on you." He then glanced back at Keith, then back to you. "Did you run into any trouble?"

You hesitated, remembering the killer vines, seed bullets, and tree beetles you had faced in the forest. You quietly mumbled something about facing those, but you told Shiro that you and Keith had managed. He smiled proudly in return.

"Good. I had a feeling Keith wouldn't let me down," he said. "He was always so protective of you when you took classes in the Garrison together."

You thought about Shiro's reply for a while. In the time you and Keith had been on the same team as cadets in the Garrison, you had always thought that him protecting you from bullies at school was a liability to him. Was Shiro saying that wasn't actually the case?

"Did we find the Red Lion yet?" Shiro asked Coran.

"Allura just located it," the middle-aged Altean stated. "There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's onboard that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!"