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“Princess?”
Allura had never heard Keith’s voice so soft and tentative, and she knew exactly why it sounded like that.
She hadn’t intended for anyone to see her like this; back bowed under the pressure of the universe bearing down on her, weeping into her hands over the destruction of her father’s AI. She was a wreck, and she had hidden herself deep in the bowels of the castle so no one would see her like this; it wasn’t the image of strength she wished to project to her Paladins.
It seemed so silly, so frivolous , in light of all the other things she’d lost. In light of all the destruction and suffering that Galra tyranny had caused.
Especially because she knew the AI wasn’t actually her father. It was an artificial drop in an oceans of sorrows, but apparently it’s impact was enough to break the dam in her mind. Enough to destroy her floodgates and let this spill out. She didn’t want anyone to see it, but perhaps it was lucky that is was Keith out of everyone who caught her moment of weakness; he was the most likely to let her be, to walk away without a word, and never bring it up again.
“O-oh, Keith,” she said, her falsely cheery tone fooling no one, judging by the stricken look on Keith’s face. Allura straightened her spine, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes under the guise of fixing her hair, and gave Keith a smile that felt like a lie.
“D-dust,” she said, voice breaking unconvincingly on the word. “Got in my eye.”
“...Dust?” repeated Keith incredulously. Why wasn’t he leaving?
“Yes, Keith. Dust . The castle is very dusty, it’s been ten thousand years—”
“Okay, okay,” said Keith, hands raised in surrender, nipping her defensive tirade in the bud.
“Don’t let me stop you from what you were doing,” she said, proud of the composure she managed to inject into her voice. Now that she’d formally dismissed him, surely he’d leave? And then she could get back to falling apart...
“I was… um… I was looking for you , actually,” said Keith, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“Oh!” exclaimed Allura in surprise. That explained how he’d managed to find her down here, though what unlucky timing for her. “Alright, what do you need?”
“I don’t need anything,” said Keith quickly, which left them both staring at each other awkwardly. Of all the Paladins, Keith was the least likely to seek out an audience with her alone... Allura really really hoped that Keith wasn’t about to try coming on to her, because Lance was already testing the limits of her patience with his incessant flirting. She didn’t have it her right then to handle that gracefully, and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings; she needed these humans to be defenders of the universe. Soldiers. She wanted their respect as their commander, not their admiration.
“Do you mind if I—?” asked Keith, creeping closer and gesturing to the empty seat next to her.
“Go ahead,” Allura replied, with a wave of her hand.
Keith took the seat, but he still looked supremely uncomfortable. He crossed his arms over his chest tightly, glaring fiercely down at his lap.
“Look, I’m not good at this,” he blurted.
“...Sitting?” ventured Allura, hoping he didn't actually mean flirting. She had no idea what else he could possibly be talking about.
“ No —sitting isn’t—” Keith made a frustrated sound. “ Shiro’s good at this. What he said after was so—I just—I-I wanted to...”
“You wanted to what , Keith?” asked Allura softly. Keith took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened. To your dad’s AI. It really sucks that you had to do that, and—and I wanted to say that—that I’m here for you. If you need someone.”
Allura could only stare at Keith, eyes wide, mouth frozen in an ‘o’ of surprise. Because… Keith . Gruff, prickly, standoffish, Keith , was trying to comfort her.
“I mean—” he continued when the silence dragged on long enough for it to be clear that Allura couldn’t form words just yet, “—You probably don’t need me, specifically. You have Coran, and the other Paladins, and I’m probably the last person you’d want to—which is fine —but I wanted to...” Keith took a deep breath and met Allura’s gaze head on. “I understand what you’re going through, a bit. I lost my dad too, and I didn’t deal with it well. I think maybe things would have been better for me if I had someone? So… I just wanted to let you know, you have someone— me . You aren’t alone.”
Keith’s kindness and understanding were Allura’s undoing. Every earnest word out of his mouth tested her tenuous control over her composure, until, at this, she snapped. Her face crumpled, and she sobbed , harder than before because now she didn’t have to tell herself that she didn’t deserve to be sad anymore. Harder because Keith’s father was gone too, and it wasn’t fair.
“Quiznak! I’m sorry!” cried Keith, horrified. “I didn’t mean to upset you!” He jumped to his feet, hovering with his hands outstretched towards Allura, as if afraid to touch her, face pinched in panic. “Do you want me to go? Or—or get someone—?”
Allura shook her head and wobbled to her feet.
“What do you want me to do?” asked Keith desperately.
Without a word, Allura threw her arms around Keith’s neck so she could cry into his shoulder.
“I miss him,” she choked out. “I know the AI wasn’t really my father, b-but, it hurts. ”
Keith was as stiff as a statue against her, only passively accepting her arms around him... Had she misunderstood what he was offering? Did she overstep?
She pulled back, feeling like she’d just been dipped in icy water.
“F-forgive me, I should have asked—do humans not offer comfort this way?”
“No! We do!” said Keith hurriedly. “I was just surprised.”
And then he hugged her back, raising his arms and wrapping them around her carefully, like if he moved too suddenly or applied too much pressure, she might shatter.
“This okay?” he murmured. He was still so stiff, like he wasn’t used to hugging or being hugged, but it was still nice. Allura nodded in answer to his question. Keith’s shoulder was a nice, warm, safe, place to cry into.
“I’m—I’m s-sorry about your father t-too,” she whispered between sniffs and sobs.
“It’s okay,” he answered, the words coming out in a whooshing exhale, muffled into her hair. “It was a long time ago.”
That only made Allura feel more for him; he must have been very young if it was a long time ago. Too young to lose a father. She wept for both of them.
Keith held her through it, solid and steady, kindly ignoring how wet she was making his t-shirt, until she eventually cried herself out.
Despite how red and puffy her face must be, and how raw her throat was, Allura felt better. It had been cathartic to cry on a friend’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Keith,” she said when they finally broke apart, self-consciously smoothing back her hair and dabbing delicately at her face with one sleeve. “You should tell me about your father sometime, I’d love to hear about him,” she said, managing a genuine smile for him.
Keith, bless him, looked surprised.
“Really?”
“Of course, you aren’t alone either, Keith. Thank you for reminding me that we have each other up here.” Her words made him inhale sharply.
And then—“ Oh ,” Keith breathed, his posturing going soft, blinking rapidly, as if Allura had cut his legs out from under him.
It was a curious reaction for Allura to witness, seeing Keith so taken aback, so affected , at being offered the same emotional support he’d given her so freely.
“On Altea, friendships are reciprocal,” she said gently. She reached up to brush Keith’s hair back from his face, an affectionate gesture she was used to bestowing on children, but it felt fitting here with Keith, and he leaned into it shyly.
Allura was beginning to see that he wasn’t cold, just unsure, and perhaps inexperienced. In need of coaxing.
“They are on Earth too, but I’ll—I’ll try to keep that in mind,” said Keith hesitantly.
Later, as Allura walked back to her room, still sad, but more at peace, she thought about Keith. About how she’d never realized how sweet and sensitive he was. About how she’d perhaps judged him on outward appearances, and his hot-headed temperament a little too much. She vowed to herself that she’d make an effort to get to know him better now. They had time, after all, and you couldn’t ever have too many friends who’d let you cry on their shoulder.