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The IGF-ATLAS has become home to Team Voltron, the Voltron Coalition and all the surviving members of the Galaxy Garrison for already three months since they left to liberate the rest of the universe from the rampage of Honerva. The past three months became enough for its members and honorary crew to bond during their free time.
Due to the ATLAS being their secondary home, it should also cater every crewmember’s need, regardless of race, culture, and gender preference. There’s a restaurant-class kitchen and a cafeteria big enough to feed the entire crew, a farm and garden powered by green technology engineered to sustain every life, a gym and fitness center for those fighters who want to keep in shape, a library, training deck, simulator, recreational areas...
And, well, it can’t be called a home by some without a swimming pool.
Honoring the Castle of Lions, itself, it was Allura who requested to build a pool within the ship’s preference, and of course, head engineer Commander Sam Holt made sure it was included. It has become a popular place for those who love to hang out, cool down, or stay fit, whatever they want. Other races of aliens find this fixture strangely fascinating and finds its waters refreshing. Of course, the consistancy and temperature of water changes according to how their bodies can adjust.
Everyone enjoys it, especially Lance, a mermaid as he calls himself, and finds it best whenever he drags Allura to join him swimming. Almost the entire crew envies their relationship, and everyone thought the pilot of the Red Lion is the luckiest bastard in the universe for winning an Altean princess’ heart.
Yes, almost every one.
*****
Ever since Lance and Allura became a couple, Pidge has become awfully quiet. She seems contented to see them together, but since then, she stopped teasing Lance altogether. She even stopped bugging him about finishing Killbot Phantasm. She stopped being that too close to him. She just... stopped being around him.
And as she expected, Lance didn’t mind.
Her social experiment that lasted almost four years has reached its conclusion: Lance is, definitely, in love with Allura from the start, while he sees her as nothing but a surrogate little sister and best friend, period. It didn’t bother her at first, to think if he will be smart enough to figure out her own feelings, because first off, he never did, and second, he will never think about it ‘out of respect for their friendship’.
When she discovered the pool within ATLAS’ premises, she thought at first that if someone will be crazily happy to see a pool, it will be Lance. She started to enjoy pools recently, especially with her friends, but as quintents went by, she became a frequent visitor alone. Every closing hours she will don the swimsuit she purchased from that mall in exchange for her favorite book to swim alone: a simple white spaghetti strapped one piece which happened to be her exact size and the only available piece at that time. Back in the Castle of Lions, she has this ridiculous sleeveless spandex in green as her swimsuit which she forgot to include when the castleship crashed to fulfill its sacred duty.
Pidge thought she will only do this if she feels like sweating or anything, but even she couldn’t figure out why she longed to take a swim at closing hours, all alone, when lights are out. A hobby later became an obsession; as she became better at swimming, she felt her own body and soul clinging to every wave...
Like she longed to be embraced by none other than Lance.
Unknowingly, Keith, who was a known light sleeper, has been spotting the little Green Paladin carrying a towel and spare clothes to the pool at a certain hour, wondering why. Until he decided to follow her and from there, he found her swimming like a mermaid enjoying her freedom alone. It has become a sight every particular hour of the day...
And to find out why, he decided to make his own investigation.
*****
Keith is, of course, genuinely happy for Lance and Allura, without making himself obvious that he, too, was hurt.
At first he shove it off, thinking that it was just an infatuation. But his adventure with Allura when they left the Castle of Lions thinking they are the reason why Zarkon keeps on following them changed everything. He was deeply hurt after learning his own blood and Allura, most of all, was affected, having unparalleled hatred towards all Galra.
They reconciled, and his heart was dancing in relief, only to be blocked by his own decision to train with the Blade of Marmora. The whole team dynamics got affected, and Allura was the first to understand his priorities, at the same time, reminding him of his duty as a Paladin of Voltron.
Keith’s feelings towards her has been set aside several times for the sake of the universe, to the point that he almost threw his own life recklessly during Blade missions, in hopes to clear his head from distractions of thinking the ex-princess every time. He even has no idea of her relationship with Lotor until he met Romelle. But if he did, he will not hesitate to protect her and her ideals so she won’t get poisoned by this exiled prince’s promises.
But then, ironically, all of those feelings remained in the shelf until she answered Lance’s feelings, something that he even thought that Lance’s infatuations towards her are all but a joke. Knowing Lance, he admitted he underestimated his feelings from the first time they met the ex-Altean princess, but now that the whole universe knew about their relationship, his heart was torn between happiness and disappointment.
The young half-Galra thought vigilance will be his key to forget the pain and be happy with Allura – even if he never revealed his own feelings towards her. But he never thought, he even noticed, he will slowly become the same person they met the first time. And it is irritating. He wanted to look for a way to escape somehow.
Until he noticed Pidge’s strange behavior.
He knew her to be extremely close to Hunk and (especially) Lance, but just after that first date, she started to keep herself as distant to him as possible. At first Keith thought it was just her nature since Pidge isn’t the type who is into romance manga. But as days went by, her distance with Lance became more and more obvious, with the latter being oblivious at his best friend’s behavior thinking it was just her.
Keith somehow became Pidge when it comes to observing her in the past few days, especially on a particular hour when almost everyone is asleep, she goes to where the pool is. Then at one point he finally spotted her, in his opinion, in the most daring swimsuit she wore, while heading to the pool.
The question now is why, knowing that she isn’t the swimmer type? He decided to find out himself by following her trail.
*****
Pidge has just acquired a new swimsuit, thanks to her mom. It was still one-piece except that it’s strapless and there is a mix of leaves pattern. She looked at herself in the mirror, checking if the fabric puts her curves to their right places. It didn’t disappoint her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but to blush in awe. As far as she remembered, she was flat as a surfboard. Now she could notice two small bumps in her chest, her hips a bit rounder and her waist trimmed by maybe ten to fifteen centimeters? Did the late-hour swimming did that to her body?
She was happy, and sad at the same time. After all, no one would see that reflection but herself.
She stepped in the pool’s vicinity, leaving her glasses and towel in one of the benches and headed towards the pool when she heard a splash within. She froze.
Crap--!
Her eyes roamed around, having a feeling that she isn’t alone in the pool area. She tried to peek in the moving waters without moving a single finger, hoping she wasn’t making a noise. Until she finally noticed who just emerged from the actually-steaming pool waters: someone with signature black mullet, droplets of water crawling on lightly-toned chest and arms, dim light refecting against his unfairly fair skin. The scar on his right shoulder and cheek says it all that Pidge could feel her jaws dropping six feet under.
Before she could even scream his name, the young man on the pool finally saw her, as if he has been expected her to come.
“Wanna come here?” Keith said, his husky voice teasing her.
*****
“So,” Pidge was unsure whether to stare at how hot actually Keith is in the pool or to look away while staying a few inches away from him, sitting a the edge of the pool with half her body submerged in actually steaming water, “you knew?”
“All I know is,” Keith rested his head on the edge of the pool, “I’m worried about you.”
It somehow made her feel the guilt by the fact that someone was concerned enough to wait for her in the pool just to find out what was bothering her, more than that, their leader. “Sorry,” she just muttered.
“I’ll be frank,” he looked at her. “Lance and Allura dating’s been bothering you, isn’t it?”
She felt a slapping shock on her skin upon hearing Keith’s observation. Of course, she has to pretend she is not bothered at all. “Wh-why the hell!?” she coughed. “I was with Allura when we shopped. And I’m happy with Lance, of course. Hunk is, too, so why—”
“Why’re you not talking with him like you used to?”
She leaned back by his next question. A good question, she thought. “We don’t talk all the time, man,” she tried to make a valid excuse. “What do you want me to talk about with him? Pizza? Garlic knots? Girls--?”
“You love him. Don’t you?”
This time, she couldn’t make a comeback. How and since when did Keith became Sherlock Holmes?
“I learned from Dad,” he continued, “people who love someone without any sense of obligation will choose to step down rather than to fight so they won’t get to hurt someone. Dad chose to wait for Mom even if he knew she couldn’t come back because it’s how he loved her. I thought you’re doing the same for Lance, even if you get hurt in the end.”
Pidge, known for her clapbacks, went speechless for the first time, because whether she admits it or not, Keith has just spilled the tea. Biting her lips, she distracted herself by staring at the water, without realizing that drop dents are starting to form in front of her because of her own tears.
Keith, meanwhile, found his own words uncomfortable for the girl that he became conscious enough to say “Sorry,” he whispered, “It’s just that I—”
“I love him.”
This time, it was the young man who paused, as he looked to Pidge, with widened purple eyes upon seeing her in tears.
“I love him,” she repeated, words starting to dissolve because of sobs.
“I know,” he replied, letting her vent.
“I dunno why,” she tried to explain, “but I’ve been... and yet I failed to tell him... Because I thought he’ll be smart enough to realize it... But I understand now...”
“Lance is in love with Allura from the start,” Keith concluded with a broken heart. “And Allura manages to acknowledge it... That only means he’s not joking, compared to what I thought he was...”
Pidge wiped her eyes and sniffed. “Guess we should be happy for them from now on,” she sighed as she looked at him. “Looks like I’m not alone after all.”
“What do you mean?”
Even with the short state of mind she had a moment ago when Keith guessed her problem, Pidge’s calculating brain still ran when she heard him talking about accepting the fact about Lance and Allura. There is no harm done in guessing, after all, Keith managed to hit it right without asking too many questions...
“You’re in love with her... aren’t you?”
It was Keith’s turn to be silent, but he admitted by nodding slowly. Instead of teasing him, Pidge smiled, but bitterly.
“No wonder you’re worried about me,” she said. “And lemme guess: you never told her how you feel, right?”
He sighed, leaning himself against the edge of the pool. “Yeah.”
It was supposed to be lights off for the most of ATLAS, but the pool remained occupied by two broken-hearted Paladins who decided to wash away the pain by swimming in a giant customizable pool, despite the strange silence that is only filled with soft, running waves.
Pidge thought she could only wash her own pain alone, only to be joined by someone she never expected to be that open when it comes to heartbreak, being someone who experienced it, himself. And she finds the moment more refreshing than the waters of the pool.
“I did it because I have a responsibility to do,” Keith admitted. “We all do. But have to be honest, I envy Lance. He’s brave enough to let Allura know about his feelings without sacrificing his responsibility. It’s something I just... I just can’t do.”
“He’s brave. And stupid,” Pidge said. “At least you have your excuse. While I have none. All I do and think always have a backup. And all my backups have their own backup. It’s just that none of them worked out.”
“You don’t want your friendship with Lance to mess up. I think that’s enough.”
“Lance never saw me as someone else other than a best friend or little sister, so why bother?”
“Well, Allura never saw me as someone else other than being a fellow Paladin and a Galra, either.”
They just looked at each other.
A cue from what Keith just said may have subconsciously told them to look at each other in the eye and just be silent. Pidge didn’t notice herself being mesmerized by Keith’s strangely purple eyes while Keith was speechless at how big and golden her eyes are. Awkward, for some, and cheesy, but both failed to notice both cheeks burning.
It was only for a short second that both realized what they were thinking, with the little Green Paladin being the one to get conscious at first that she didn’t notice herself standing and later slipped from the pool’s edge.
“AACK--!”
Thanks to Keith’s Galra reflexes, he managed to catch her before both of them hit the pool. Splashes of water echoed in the entire hall, loud enough for outsiders to hear even within a few meters away.
Both submerged, clinging to the edge for their own lives as they were catching their own breaths. When everything went calm, Pidge then realized she wasn’t clinging to the pool’s edge but to something soft, smooth and warm.
“Hey.”
It took her that voice for her to realize she was actually hugging Keith that her supposedly organized mind jumbled up and her skin as red as a tomato. She wanted to push him away but instincts of security told her to stay with him. She looked away instead, trying to imagine she was just holding a stuffed toy, but all she could see is a body pillow of the Red Paladin.
Calm down, Katie, this isn’t right! You’re supposed to think about Lance--!
Wait, is he thinking about you?
And then she heard Keith chuckling.
Pidge took it as an insult. “I almost died, idiot,” she growled.
“Won’t you thank me first?” he grinned.
“Yikes, you’re even worse than Lance--!”
Keith suddenly lifted her above the edge, allowing her to sit, before he lifted himself up from the waters, something that left her speechless. The entire hall went calm again, while Pidge started to wonder why this guy, known to be edgy and sometimes untouchable, would volunteer to save her and tease her like he was just trying to look approachable.
“You really know what I needed at this moment,” she tried to guess. “Thank you.”
Keith’s eyes went sullen again after hearing her thanks, as he thought he didn’t expect her to fall for it, but for a deeper reason. And he somehow understood why.
“I just did what I have to do,” he said. “We’re both in the same boat, after all.”
“Funny, we’re in the water and we don’t have a boat.”
That joke cracked him so hard his laughter was heard in the entire hall. Pidge, meanwhile, just raised her eyebrow, either because she didn’t get the part why he suddenly laughed, or because he laughed.
His laughter was contageous that she, too, laughed with him.
It was the best ten minutes they had, so they thought, thanks to Pidge’s lame joke and a supposed session to vent out their broken hearts turned into something enjoyable. Somehow she is right that all she needed is more than just swimming at late hours, while Keith felt benefited as well. He never laughed as hard as that before, probably because of the weight he was carrying as the leader of the Paladins and as a man in love.
He thought it was the best decision ever, or maybe not, for after that ten minutes, their eyes locked at each other again. It was possibly something that only their instincts can answer, but as far as how they are currently feeling, they are starting to get too attracted to each other like opposite poles of a magnet.
No one even knows how it happened, but they have only realized what was wrong the moment their lips touched each other. Ten seconds was even too long for them before they pull themselves away, trying to think of possible consequences they would face.
This is wrong, Keith shut his eyes. I just wanna give her some advice!
Stupid Pidge, Pidge cursed at herself, you and Keith are just damn friends, okay!?
Yet their red faces say otherwise.
“Y-you know,” she jumped into the pool, “Uh, I-I’m just happy that you wanna make sure t-that I’m okay. N-now I’m okay! Uh I guess... I guess...”
“I guess,” Keith continued on her behalf, “it’s the start for us?”
She blinked.
“C-come to think of it,” he tried to hide his face, “w-we haven’t talked this much, s-so I guess...”
Pidge understood somehow. The last time they had a major talk was when she tried to leave Team Voltron to find her family four Earth years ago. And it wasn’t even that good. So she thought it will be best if they can take it to another level, since they are on a same boat.
“I don’t mind joining you,” she said, “if you don’t mind joining me.”
It took Keith three seconds before he agreed. That could be a good start. He joined her in the pool and began chasing her playfully, unmindful of the noise they’re making.
Pidge might have lost Lance as Keith might have lost Allura. But both thought they have found each other’s company, even for a short time... Or if that will be short enough. Joining each other for a night swim is a good start. It will be just up to them what they will do tomorrow.