Work Text:
“What do you mean you guys can’t help me!? Not even you, Lance!? You use to flirt with people all the time and everything!” Shiro shouted. He never thought he would be asking the paladins for help when it came to dating, hell, he has been through it before, but this time was different. This time he wanted to ask someone very special. Someone who he thought was in a whole other level then he was. He wanted to ask out Allura, though he did not know how to.
“Sorry, Shiro,” said Lance. “You’re on your own with this one buddy.”
“But you asked Keith out! He’s like probably the second hardest person in the universe to ask out! How don’t you know!?” Shiro questioned Lance.
“Hey! It wasn’t easy with Keith either!” Lance shouted, “Besides he rejected me at first but then gave me a chance soon after. I don’t know if you could say the same thing would happen with Allura. You know she’s busy and a princess.”
“I rejected you the first time because you literally used a cheesy pickup line and I was not gonna let you get away with asking me out that way.” Keith said rolling his eyes.
“Ugh,” Shiro said running his hands through his hair.
“Shiro, relax. Allura would except a date with you. I mean you guys are pretty close friends anyways, and there is no way in hell she would say no,” Keith said.
“That’s the problem, Keith, we are friends. She probably doesn’t want to ruin our friendship by going on a date with me. That is why I need help to persuade her.”
Pidge adjusted their glasses and sighed. “Look, Shiro. We may not be able to help you but there may be one person that can. A person that basically knew Allura her whole life.”
“Pidge, I am not going to ask Coran for help.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe I am going to ask Coran for help,” Shiro said to himself. He took a deep breathe to calm his nerves before knocking on his door.
“Who is it?” Coran called out from the other side of the door.
“Uh... it’s me, Shiro. Can we talk?”
There was no response from Coran for a few seconds. He wondered if Coran overheard him and the paladins talking and did not want to help Shiro because he’s basically like her father, so he probably won’t approve of it.
Just then, he saw the door of Coran’s room open. “Hey, Shiro. What is it that you need?”
“Well… I… um… Can we talk in your room, please?” he asked.
“Of course, we can, come right in.”
Shiro nodded and walked past Coran, into the room. Coran closed the door behind him and walked behind Shiro.
“Have a seat, Shiro,” he said as he pointed to the bed.
Shiro nodded again and sat on the bed while Coran sat on his office chair. Shiro’s nerves began to spike up again and regretted even seeing Coran. All he wanted to do was say never mind and run out. But it was too late now.
“So, Shiro, what’s up? Like you earthlings say,” Coran laughed.
“Well… um... It’s about Allura.” Shiro said looking down. He felt like if he faced Coran, he would not be able to get it out.
“What about the princess? Is she okay? Do I need to tend to her?” Coran asked.
“No, no, no. Actually I… well, I really like….” Shiro took a deep breath again. He needed to get it out if he wanted to ask Allura on a date. “I really like Allura, but I don’t know how to ask her on a date. I came to you because you knew Allura her whole life so…... I need to know the best way possible to ask her out.”
Coran stood quiet. ‘Oh no,’ Shiro thought, ‘he’s mad. He’s going to tell me not to do it and give me a speech on how I can’t be with her.’
Coran began to laugh after a few seconds. Shiro quickly looked up and tilt his head. ‘He’s laughing?’
“Oh, Shiro,” Coran said wiping a tear out of his eye, “I cannot believe you came to me and asked me this!”
“Coran, this is not a joke. I really need help here! Please!”
“Alright, alright.” Coran cleared his throat. “Well I like you very much Shiro. You are my second favorite Paladin. Don’t tell Pidge though. They won’t like it.”
“Wait, who’s your first?” Shiro asked.
“Hunk, of course! He’s the only one that appreciates me the most,” he says. “Anyways, as much as I would love to help you, I cannot do such a thing.”
“Wait, what!? Why not!?”
“Because even though I knew Allura her whole life, I think when it comes to the subject of love and whatnot with Allura, that’s the only thing I do not know much about.”
“Coran, please! There has to be some way you could help me!” Shiro begged. “I’m desperate at this point!”
“Hmm…” Coran said as he placed his hand on his chin, “I think I may know one source that would help you ask Allura out.”
“What is it, Coran. Please, tell me!”
“Well, you can get advice from the source itself! It would make everything a lot easier!”
“The source itself?” Shiro thought for a minute before realizing what Coran had suggested. “You mean ask Allura for advice on how to ask her out!?”
“Exactly. See, I knew you would understand,” Coran said, closing his eyes with a huge grin on his face, as if he came up with the most genius plan in the universe.
Shiro shook his head, “Coran, no! That will not work! How can I ask her for advice when it is her that I want to ask out!?”
“It’s simple, Shiro. You say that you are asking for a friend, and she will probably help you out and say it as if she was in your so called ‘friend’s’ shoes.”
“Coran, I don’t think that will work. I can’t do that!”
Coran got up from his seat and walked over to Shiro. He placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Trust me, Shiro. If there is anything I know about Allura, it’s that she would help anyone. Also, I do not think she will notice that you are asking her about her.”
“Coran, I am not going to ask her for advice about her!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe I’m going to ask her about dating advice to date her.” Shiro said whispered to himself.
He was about to knock on the door to Allura’s room, though he stopped himself.
“Okay, never mind. Maybe I should ask her tomorrow. Or how about I don’t ask her at all. Yeah, I won’t. Forget it Shiro, it’s no use,” he whispered to himself.
“Shiro? Are you okay? Is there something that you need?” asked a voice.
Shiro’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Damn it,’ he thought. ‘I’m screwed!’ He slowly turned his head to face the direction where the voice came from. It was Allura.
“Shiro speak. Are you okay?” she asked as she got closer to him.
“Um… yes. Everything is fine, princess. I was just um... I wanted to talk to you, but I don’t think now is a good time. It’s late anyways, so it could wait. You are probably tired also,” he said. “Sorry for wasting your time princess. I will be on my way. Good night.” He quickly turned away and started to walk the opposite direction from where she came from, though he was stopped by her hand grabbing the back of his uniform.
“Shiro, if you came to talk to me at this time, it must be very important, so please, let us talk, okay?”
Shiro slowly turned to face her. ‘God she is beautiful. I defiantly can’t say no now.’
“Okay, princess.”
She smiled at him and let go of his uniform. “That is settled then. Come with me, we can talk in my room.”
Shiro nodded and followed her. He has never been into her room, so he was very nervous about that too. They walked into her room and it was kind of what Shiro expected. It looked exactly like how Allura’s personality was.
“Please, sit Shiro, make yourself comfortable,” she says pointing to her bed.
“Okay, princess. Thank you.” He walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down on it. To his surprise, she sat next to him.
“So, Shiro, what is it that you would like to speak about?” she asked, tilting her head.
“Well um…” he stuttered, “I need advice actually.”
“Advice, about what?” she asked.
“Well… I need advice about…. about asking someone on a date.” His nerves kicked in again, remembering he was supposed to not make it seem like it was him that needed the advice. “It’s for a friend! You see, they asked me about it and I didn’t think I could help them, so I… I thought I could ask you for the advice instead, to help them of course.” He rubbed the back of his head. ‘She defiantly isn’t going to buy this.’
“Is this ‘friend,’ Matt? I know he and his girlfriend broke up not too long ago.”
“What!? No! No, it isn’t. It’s for another friend on the ship. They think since we are kind of famous now for saving the universe, you know, they thought I would know how to ask someone out since sometimes people are all over us and whatnot, but I don’t. I mean it’s not like I didn’t date people before. It’s just that… it’s just that I forgot, that’s all. I thought you could help because the other paladins seemed clueless as well.”
“Oh well, okay. Do you know about the person your friend wants to ask out?” she asked.
“Uh, yes. He told me a little bit about her,” he lied. “He said that she is very beautiful, smart, kind, though way out of his league.”
“Way out of his league? What does that mean?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s an earth term. It basically means that she is… how do I put this,” he said looking up trying to think. “Oh, I got it. It means that she is above him, you can say maybe class wise, or even above him in anyway, such as intelligence, strength, or status.”
She nodded. “Oh, I see now. So, he thinks because she is, ‘way out of his league,’ she would refuse him.”
“Yes, exactly. Do you think you could help me give my friend advice?”
She nodded again and smiled at him, “Of course I can!”
“Well… what do you think he should do?”
“Hmm. How does he know of her?” she asked.
“They are actually great friends. They been friends for a few years now.”
“Oh, great then! She would be comfortable with him. So, if I were him, I would get her something she likes, kind of like bribing but not so much. It has to be more of a nice gesture.”
“If you were the girl, what would you like?” he asked blushing.
“Hmm...” she said as she played with a strand of her hair, “I think I would like something simple, like flowers maybe.”
‘Okay, she would like flower’s. Got it,’ he mentally noted.
“But, if he knows she does not like flowers, get her something small that she actually likes, maybe like a sweet, or a stuffed animal.”
“Okay got it. What’s next?” he asked.
“Next, he has to make sure that they are alone, so that all her attention is on him and nobody is around to interrupt them.”
“Okay, noted,” he said. “Then, now comes to the part on what he should say. What do you think is appropriate to say?”
“I think he should say, ‘Hey, whatever her name is, I have something to get off my chest.’ He has to make it seem somewhat romantic. If she thinks he really cannot stop thinking about her, she would appreciate it, maybe,” Allura says. “Then he should just get to the point and not make her wait. He has to say, ‘look, I’ve had feeling for you for a long time. I think that you are an amazing person, and I cannot help but have feeling for you. I know that we are friends, and you could refuse me if you want to, I will understand, and I hope this does not ruin our friendship, but will you like to go on a date with me?’”
She made it a lot simpler than he thought. He didn’t think she would say that. He thought she would want more, especially since she was a princess, and when it comes to the princesses in stories, they want the most.
“So, you just think that he should be up front with her and express how he feels?” he asked.
“Yes. As a woman, I think a man should be able to express his feelings with no problem. If he really loves her and wants to ask her out, he has to be honest with her about his feelings. Honesty is key really.”
‘Honesty,’ he thought to himself. ‘I don’t think I would make it through a whole sentence if I was about to be honest about my feelings with her.’
“She would probably think that it is sweet and kind of him to be honest, so he should. Also, it is important that he is himself, and does not act like another person. Kind of similar to what Lance does when he use to flirt with people and myself. You see how he acts like he is a cool, smooth guy, but we all know Lance is actually kind and sweet, though puts on a whole different persona, thinking the person would like it,” she laughed.
‘Okay, don’t be like Lance, got it,’ he mentally noted again.
“So, is that all princess? He just needs to be himself?” Shiro asked.
“Yes, I think he should be himself and be honest with his feeling. And if he does not want their friendship to be ruined after that, tell him to tell her that if she refuses, that it is okay and that he would still like her as a friend.”
“Okay got it,” Shiro nodded. “Thank you so much, Allura. You don’t know how much these means to me,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck again, “you know, because now I can really help my friend out.”
She gave him a smile. “You are very welcome, Shiro. I am glad to be of help. You can come to me anytime.”
Shiro nodded again and got up, “Thank you, again princess. I should let you get some sleep now. Good night.”
“Good night, Shiro.” She said.
Shiro turned and walked out of her room. He couldn’t believe that Coran was right. He couldn’t believe Allura just helped him to ask her out.
“Wait,” he said to himself. “Where am I going to get flowers? We are in space! Damn it!” he said, “Oh wait, maybe Colleen still has some plants she left somewhere in here.”
~~~~~~~~~
The next morning came. His nerves were kicking back up again but he had to calm them down when it came to meeting with other aliens to join the Voltron treaty after the war. He knew he could not ask Allura in the morning because she was busy being a diplomat and he did not want to disturb her or throw her off. He thought it was best to ask her tonight after dinner.
“So, Shiro. Are you going to do it or what?” Keith asked while it was just them two alone. “She basically told you how she would want you to ask her, so just do it already.”
“Keith, it is not that simple. She is busy right now, so I will tell her after dinner.”
“Are you sure or are you gonna be a chicken shit and not do it.”
“Enough, Keith,” he said annoyed, “I will do it. You will see. I’m just nervous because she said she would like flowers, but Colleen didn’t leave any on Atlas since the war ended. She moved her greenhouse out of the ship.”
Keith rolled his eyes. “She would understand, Shiro. We are in space, don’t worry about the flowers, just say what she told you to.”
Shiro nodded. “Right. I just have to be honest with her and tell her how I feel.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was late at night and Allura was done meeting with the king of the planet they were on. Shiro noticed she was not in her room but found Allura alone on the bridge of Atlas looking through some documents she needed for the next stop in their journey of peace.
“Allura?”
She turned and saw that the voice came from Shiro. “Shiro. What are you doing here? Everyone is resting, you should be too. I mean the king really had us all over the place,” she laughed.
“I’m okay, princess. If anyone should rest it is you,” he said, walking towards her. “You haven’t been getting much rest. You need it more than I do. You’ve been working so hard on getting this treaty organized. You need a break too.”
She shook her head. “I am alright Shiro,” she said are she began to pull up a screen with her fingers. Though, Shiro did not let her. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away gently.
“Allura,” he said, still holding her hand. “I… I have something to ask you.”
She stared at him in shock but brushed it off. “What is it Shiro?”
“I…. I really, really like you Allura. More than a friend,” he paused, still holding her hand. By the look on her face, he thought she would reject him already, though he thought if it’s not now, it’s never. “And I... I’ve been having these feelings for quite some time now. I think you are really beautiful, smart, and way out of my league, so I will be okay if you reject me, though I hope we would still stay friends and not make things awkward with each other, but…. will…. you… go on a date with me, Allura?” He couldn’t help but turn extremely red from blushing and embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he actually did it. He couldn’t believe he actually told Allura how he feels and asked her on a date.
“Shiro… that friend you were talking about last night… was it you all this time?” she asked, blushing.
“U-uh yes, it was, princess. I’m sorry I did that, but I really did not have confidence to ask you out before. Also sorry I did not have flowers for you, Collen took her greenhouse out of Atlas.”
Allura shook her head and smiled. “There is no need to be sorry Shiro. And don’t worry about the flowers. I have been feeling the same about you for quite some time now actually, so…” she began to blush harder, “… I would love to go on a date with you.”
He could not believe it. He was in shock. She actually felt the same and didn’t reject him. He was the happiest man in the universe!
“Thank you, Allura!” he said as he let go of her hand in pulled her into a hug.
“You-you’re welcome, Shiro.” she stuttered. She pulled away from the hug and smiled at him. “So… when is our date?” she asked.
“Oh, damn it!” he said as smashed his hand against his forehead. “I forgot we won’t be back on earth for another two weeks. I planned out where I wanted to take you but now we have to wait for two weeks.”
Allura laughed and shook her head. “There’s no need to wait, Shiro. Let’s have our date now.”
“Now? Right here?”
She nodded her head and laughed again, “yes, right here. Nobody is here, and they won’t be here anytime soon, so how about we have it here, while we are alone. And you could save that date till we head back to earth, is that okay?”
“I will love that, Allura.”