Chapter Text
Shiro had known something was up with Keith for a long time. He wasn't sure when it started, but he knew for sure it started getting worse after finding out about the Blade of Marmora. Allura absolutely could have handled it better, but he also knew she was doing her best and was spread thin. It was with this diplomacy that Shiro made his way down the castle hall, and knocked on Keith's door.
"Hey. You in there?" Shiro was pretty sure he was, but when he didn't get a response he wondered. Surely he wasn't so upset that he wouldn't want to talk? Shiro never meant to brag, but he was proud with how much he and Keith got along. It made Shiro happy that the young paladin would talk to him. So maybe he wasn't in his room. They'd done some flight practice earlier, but Keith probably didn't think that was enough exercise. Shiro pivoted and made his way back up the hall, to the training room. He rounded the corner just in time to see a flash of green slip into the training arena. Huh. Pidge didn't go in there very often. He stopped and thought for a moment. He was still the only one that knew Pidge's secret. Shiro didn't like secrets, especially between the team, but it was her choice. The reason didn't matter. Taking a few steps forward, he leaned and peered through the window to see what she was up to. He didn't want to disturb her in case she was just shy about exercising. Then he saw Keith. It looked like he was throwing up! But... No, nothing came out. He slid to the floor as Pidge reached his side, and helped him sit. She said something, and he chuckled but he looked like he was trying not to be sick. Shiro's stomach dropped like a ball of cold lead. How long had Keith been this bad? Had he been hiding this?
Then it happened. Keith turned, and... No. No way. Keith's hand winding around Pidge's head told Shiro everything. They were kissing. Two of his teammates, his friends, were kissing and he had no idea- Pidge jumped up and stumbled backward away from Keith. That couldn't be good. Shiro felt all kinds of uncomfortable and a reasonable panic as Pidge turned and ran for the door. Should he hide? He probably should have, but instead, he pushed away from the wall a little too hard and pretended he was just walking along as Pidge burst through the door and ran away. Back turned, she didn't notice him. It was a small relief, but now Shiro had to take over damage control. Only he really didn't know what to do. Shiro contemplated turning around and looking for Coran, or maybe Hunk, but it didn't seem like the best idea. The best idea was to help Keith himself. So he kept taking smaller and smaller steps until he was just far enough away that he didn't trigger the door. Shiro took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold. Keith's attention immediately shot to him, and Shiro was going to pretend the mixture of nerves and then disappointment didn't hurt. But then Keith looked some kind of relieved and relaxed a little. He managed to stand like nothing was wrong, though Shiro didn't miss the teeter in his balance.
"Hey. I think I should take a break for a while, but if you wanna spar I'd be down after dinner." A smile made its way onto both of their faces.
"I'm actually here to talk to you about something." Keith instantly looked like he was going to get hounded so Shiro continued, "Something that's been bothering me. It's... about Pidge." He didn't like underhanded tactics, but it seemed to be for the best. He knew Keith would close up and be uncomfortable if he was straight forward.
"What's wrong with Pidge?" Keith fidgeted, and wow that was unusual. Maybe they weren't in a relationship after all, with what Shiro was seeing. Shiro had to think quick.
"I feel like something is going on. Like there's a distraction that's beginning to affect how Voltron operates. I was wondering if you knew anything." Shiro hoped dodging pronouns wasn't noticeably awkward. He wanted to hear it from Keith first. He ran his hand through his hair and averted his eyes, which seemed very suspicious to Shiro. So Keith was planning on hiding things.
"No, I actually didn't even notice..." He said something under his breath.
"What was that?" A pause.
"I said that's just another reason you should lead Voltron."
That made Shiro's heart drop just a little. "You know that I have faith in your abilities, Keith. Right?"
"I don't know why! You... You should be the one in the Black Lion. Even it it means that I just, stay here." Shiro smiled as gently as he could, and grabbed the young paladin's shoulders.
"Hey. Come on," Shiro pulled Keith, and he straitened out, chest opening in a confident stance, "I have faith in you because you've shown me that you can handle-"
"I can't! You know how badly I messed up while you were gone, we can't afford to pretend that didn't happen! I cost us-"
"Keith!" Shiro could feel him spiraling, and refocused him with a stern gaze. "You've shown me you can handle my trust." Keith stared up at Shiro, absolutely stunned. Shiro refused to break eye contact, afraid that Keith was willing to take any opportunity to sink back into himself. Keith stared and stared, until eventually a haze seemed to lift from his eyes. He looked side to side, like he was remembering they were in the training room, and shivered. A smile slowly made its way onto the young paladin's face, and Shiro could tell it was forced but he smiled too.
"You're right. I didn't give up on you. You trusted me not to and I didn't. But... Can I ask you about something?" But before Shiro could say anything Keith changed his mind, waved goodbye, and headed to the dining hall. Shiro took a deep breath, and for a moment, thought that maybe that went perfectly. Then he remembered he never asked about Pidge.