Chapter Text
"Hey, Veronica?"
The tall girl in front of him turned, lowering the orange gadget in her hand. "Oh, hey Curtis. What's up?"
Curtis glanced from the floor to Veronica's face. "You're pretty close with the paladins right? Closer than most?"
A thin brow arched, and Veronica nodded. "I guess. I mean, just cause I hang out with Lance a lot, and he's with the paladins all the time."
"Right, Lance." Curtis nodded. "So hypothetically, if somebody were to want to find out the relationship status of a certain member of the Voltron crew-"
Both the thin eyebrows went sky high this time and Veronica cut in swiftly. "What- Lance? Look Curtis, you're a great guy, really sweet, but I really don't think- I mean, I'm pretty sure Lance has his sight set on a different paladin right now, so really-"
Curtis held up both hand, shaking his head vigorously. "No, no, not Lance, trust me, it's not Lance-"
God he was going about this poorly.
"Right." Veronica drew the word out, crossing her arms. "So who?"
Curtis' eyes lowered and he suddenly became very interested in his shoes. "Uh- Captain Shirogane."
There was a small silence in which Veronica's jaw hit the floor. "You're kidding."
"I wish I was."
"𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘦? As in, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 Takashi Shirogane, best pilot of his generation, captain of the Atlas, second paladin of the black lion? That Shirogane?" She sounded positively aghast, like Curtis had just confessed he was in love with an actual superhero.
Which, he reasoned, Shiro wasn't that far off.
"The very same," Curtis affirmed. "God, V, when you say it all like that I feel like I might as well just turn around right now."
"No, no, no, no, not so fast." Veronica shook her finger at him. "You don't just drop a bomb like that on me and go "Never mind, I haven't got a chance anyway", not on my watch. I am the best matchmaker in the whole Garrison."
"According to... yourself?" Curtis checked, and Veronica elbowed him.
"Hey! Maybe, but that's beside the point. Tell me what you need to know."
Curtis blew out a breath, shaking his head with a grin. If he was making a horrendous mistake, Lord knew it was at least going to be funny. "If he's single or not. But please, be subtle about it. If the MFE's find out, I will not hear the end of it."
Veronica pressed a hand to her heart and raised the other in the air. "I won't tell a soul, I swear."
"Not even Lance," Curtis said firmly.
"Oh, God, especially not Lance," Veronica said, dropping her hands down. "Don't worry, I'll get it out of him without arousing any suspicion."
"Right. Thanks Veronica," Curtis replied, a little doubtfully.
"Hey, I promise! Best matchmaker," she assured confidently.
~~~
"You wanna know what?"
Lance's pose mimicked his sister's, arms folded tightly over his chest.
"Just... say, I wanted to find out the relationship status of a certain member of team Voltron," Veronica said delicately. "How would I do that discreetly?"
Lance surveyed her through narrowed eyes, then a dawning realisation went over his face. "Is this about Keith? Listen Ronnie, he's 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 into his work and all the Voltron stuff, I really don't know if he'd have time for a girlfriend, and anyway, you probably aren't his type, no offence, I don't know if he goes for-"
"Not Keith! It's not about Keith and it certainly isn't for me. It's for... a friend."
Lance gave her a dubious look. "Right. So who is it this friend of yours is interested in?" His back straightened and he tossed his head back. "It's not me, is it?"
"What? No, ew, stop doing that with your face."
"That's my smoulder," Lance said, sounding disappointed.
"Well, cut it out. It definitely isn’t you."
"So who?"
Veronica looked over her shoulder, then cupped a hand over her mouth. "Shiro."
"Shiro?" Lance squawked, and Veronica slapped the back of his head.
"Will you be quiet? This is a very secret operation!"
"Right, right," Lance nodded, clutching his head. "So- you wanna know if Shiro is single? Why didn't you just say that?"
"Lance, you have no sense of dramatic flair. I'm trying to do this properly and you are completely mucking it up."
"I have no sense of dramatic flair? Do you even know who you're talking to?"
Veronica waved away his indignant protests. "So do you know?"
Lance shook his head. "I dunno, he's a very private guy. We don't talk about that kind of stuff."
Veronica fixed him with an incredulous look. "You spent two years on a flying castle ship with only each other as company and you're telling me dating life didn't even come up once?"
"Yeah," Lance replied, defensive. "That's exactly what I'm telling you."
"Who's he closest with? He's got to have discussed it with somebody."
"Keith, I guess?" Lance shrugged. "Couldn't you just, I dunno, assume single until proven taken? That's what I do."
"And it's earned you two slaps and one very embarrassing berating in the middle of the mall."
"Listen, I didn't know that guy next to her boyfriend. I thought he was, like, her dad."
"So Keith," Veronica interjected, anxious to move away from Lance's horrific attempts at gaining a date. "Can you talk to him for me?"
Lance looked like he'd been asked to do a backflip right there in the corridor. "Me? Why?"
"You know him better than I do, right? He's more likely to tell you than me." She said this like it was glaringly obvious.
"Look, V, if Shiro is a "private person", Keith is like that times a hundred million. Getting information from him is as easy as trying to get scaultrite from a weblum."
"Trying to what?" Veronica wrinkled her nose like Lance had spoken a different language, which, in fairness to her, he had.
"It's difficult, dangerous, draining, and there's a very good chance he'll eat you," Lance said seriously.
"Oh, get a grip," Veronica replied, rolling her eyes. "He's your teammate, you guys have to have some type of bond thing."
Lance didn't reply to this, staring at his sister stubbornly. "I am not asking Keith for information on Shiro's dating life."
"Oh, come on. I'd do it for you." Veronica batted her eyes pleadingly and Lance recoiled.
"Ew, stop doing that with your eyes. Fine, I'll ask him."
Veronica gave him a wide, triumphant grin. "Atta boy. I knew you'd say yes eventually, and I really didn't want to bring out the blackmail."
"What's the-"
"Doesn't matter," she continued blithely. "Point is, I won't have to use it."
Lance looked like he wanted to pursue the point, but stopped himself. "What if he gets the wrong idea? What if he thinks 𝘐 want to date Shiro?"
"Just be subtle. Say it's for a friend. Or a friend of a friend, technically. Don't mention my name though."
"V, I really don't think-"
But she was already leaving, calling airily over her shoulder, "There's a reason we're the best matchmakers in the Garrison!"
~~~
"If you wanted to what?"
Lance breathed in deeply through his nose, hating Veronica with every atom in his body. He really wasn't great with this whole "subtlety" angle. "Let's say a certain unnamed person wanted to ask out another person, a member of team Voltron, on a date, but the certain person who we won't name doesn't know if the other person, the member of team Voltron, is single or not. You with me so far?"
"Not even a little bit," Keith replied, but then he stopped, looking at Lance with a sort of horrified confusion. Lance, who was busy burying his face in his hands in frustration, didn't notice this change in expression.
"Alright, so I can't say who the person is, but they really want to know if a certain member of Voltron is single," Lance began again, looking up and apparently not registering the shock/ horror/ confusion on Keith's face. "And so I thought to myself and I said "Lance, if anyone would know about this certain team members relationship status, well, it's gotta be my good buddy Keith," so here I am, asking you very simply-"
Keith cut in, a brilliant shade of red. "Lance, listen man, I'm flattered, but I really wouldn't have time to go on a date with you."
Lance reeled back like he'd been slapped. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? No, no, no, nononono, Keith, buddy, my man, you misunderstand me."
When he found Veronica, Lance thought to himself furiously, he was never ever going to speak to her again.
"Oh," Keith said, somehow a darker shade of red than he had been. There was a beat of horribly uncomfortable silence, and Lance said quickly, "It's Shiro."
Keith's face screwed up. "You want to go on a date with Shiro?"
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? No, not me! Someone else!"
"Who?" Keith asked, arms crossed, glaring at Lance with unbridled suspicion.
"Your friend," Lance said, trying to remember what Veronica had said. "No- no, hold on, 𝘮𝘺 friend, well a friend of a friend, technically-"
"You know what? It doesn't matter. Shiro probably isn't looking for a date anyway. He's really busy," Keith said with finality.
Lance gave him a look of despair. "Keith, man, please. Help me out. The person who asked me to do this is gonna hang, draw and quarter me if I don't come back with a reasonable answer."
Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, stuff with Shiro is... it's complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"He's... God, Lance, this is really none of your business. Technically, yes, he's single. But listen-"
Lance didn't listen even slightly, prancing off the moment he heard the word "single" pass Keith's lips. "Thanks Keith! Appreciate it, buddy!"
Keith looked after him despairingly then returned to his work with a shake of his head.
~~~
"Complicated? Complicated how?"
Veronica squinted curiously at Lance, who shrugged his slim shoulders.
"He didn't say. He just said complicated, and even getting that out of him was like trying to get water from a stone."
"How can it be complicated if he's single?" Veronica asked, and again Lance shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe he had a little thing with someone. Like a one night thing."
"He's been in space for years, and besides, he doesn't really strike me as a "one night thing" type," Veronica countered.
Lance shook his head. "Then I don't know. Before he went to space, did you know him?"
"Before the Kerberos mission I only knew him by name. Everybody 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 who Shiro was. But I wasn't friends with him."
She sighed resignedly. "Well, I guess you did your best. You've given me a little bit to work with, so that'll placate C- my friend- for just now."
"Please tell me who it is," Lance begged, but Veronica shook her head with an air of firm superiority.
"Can't. I've been sworn to silence."
"Are we in this together or are we not?"
Veronica glared at him.
"I'll be able to help better if I know who it is," Lance reasoned, and it would've been convincing had it not come out like a whinging child.
A small, stubborn silence settled between the two siblings, an almost laughable mirror of each other.
"If you tell a single other person-" Veronica began in resignation, and Lance cut her off with a whoop.
"I won't! You know I won't!"
Veronica glared at him then glanced over her shoulder before whispering, "It's Curtis."
Lance' face contorted like he'd just eaten something sour. Veronica and Curtis had been inseperable as kids, so Lance had grown up with Curtis practically being an extended member of the family. He couldn't have looked more apalled if Veronica had told him that she herself had a crush on Shiro. "Oh 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴, Jesus, why did I ever ask? That's like.. that's like my dad and my- nope, nope, nope-"
"Shiro's like, barely pushing twenty seven, if anything he's more like your brother than your dad," Veronica countered, and then screwed up her face. "No- no that's worse, isn't it."
"Whatever," Lance said firmly, waving the thought away. "Phase one complete, now we gotta work out if Shiro likes him back."
Veronica wrinkled her nose, something still niggling in the back of her brain. "I don't know. It's weird how Keith worded it. "It's complicated-""
She put air quotes around the words. "What could be complicated?"
Lance shrugged again, but then his expression lit up. It was almost cartoonish, Veronica half expected to see a little light bulb pop up above his head. "Hey!" he said, inspired. "Didn't Pidge know Shiro before Kerberos?"
Veronica considered this. "I mean, Shiro and Matt were friends. I think Shiro was round at the Holt's a lot, that's why Sam was so quick to vouch for Shiro to go in the mission in the first place."
"I think-" Lance said with a cat-like grin. "-we should add a couple more people to our detective troupe."
~~~
Curtis had actually managed to put Veronica and Shiro and this mornings conversation relatively far from his mind. Just because the war was over didn't mean work was in short supply; Iverson kindly and lovingly supplied everyone with enough paperwork and diplomacy missions and letters to planet leaders that Curtis actually was beginning to fall asleep mouthing the words, "We would like to extend our sincerest well wishes to the citizens of-"
In any case, he had enough work to keep him suitably distracted for the moment.
You know, until he walked headlong into Shiro because he'd been rereading an email as he walked through a door.
He didn't fall, just sort of stumbled backwards until Shiro caught his arm with a steady, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, hand.
"Careful there."
Words, embarrassingly enough, totally failed Curtis. "Captain! I'm so sorry- totally wasn't looking- I didn't hurt you did I? It's these letters, they're driving me to distraction- quite a strong grip you've got there-"
The last part tumbled out entirely accidentally and Curtis hoped beyond all hope that a meteor would strike him right then and there.
Shiro didn't seem to register his humiliation. He chuckled, seeming almost embarrassed, and released Curtis' arm. "Sorry, sorry. I guess I forget the strength of this thing." He flexed the fingers on his metal hand, the silver gleaming under the harsh lights. Oblivious to the sinful direction in which Curtis' mind had just wandered, Shiro continued with an expression of humorous curiosity. "Shouldn't you be on your lunchbreak anyway?"
Curtis glanced down at his watch. He should. "Like I said," he replied with an abashed smile, regaining a little of his composure. "Letters. Driving me 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦."
Shiro nodded, sympathy plain on his steely features. "Believe me I know. Iverson won't get off my back about a speech."
"A speech?" Curtis frowned. "Iverson never really struck me as a public speaker."
"Ah- no-" Shiro looked suddenly shy, and Curtis was startled by how many years it took away from him. He looked like a teenager. "It's for me. I'm making a speech."
"Oh, you are?" That made far more sense. Shiro was the very image of a leader, he was the face of Voltron for heavens sake. He looked like the kind of person who could make speeches in his sleep.
Although right now his expression and mannerisms suggested that there was nothing he'd like to do less.
"And he's giving you trouble about it?" Curtis asked, shaking his head with an empathetic smile.
"Probably the other way around," Shiro admitted. "He's demented about me at the moment. I was supposed to have it finished-" He made a pantomime of checking his watch. "-last week."
Curtis laughed out loud, missing the way Shiro's eyes softened at the sound. "No, I promise I get that. I have so much work backlogged I can't even see over my desk."
"You should hire a secretary. Or get Pidge to build you a secretary."
"The thought gets more tempting by the day."
The two of them looked at each other, a moment of understanding passing between them, and Curtis watched Shiro's shoulders sink a little, like the tension was physically melting from him.
After a brief silence, Curtis opened his mouth to excuse himself but Shiro beat him to it.
"Curtis, would you like to get lunch with me?"
"Of course sir. Good luck with your speech," Curtis replied automatically, assuming he'd been dismissed. It took a few seconds for Shiro's actual question to process. "Sorry?"
Shiro seemed to backtrack, raising a (human) hand like he was surrendering. "Of course, only if you're not busy, if you have things to be getting on with then-"
Mentally cursing his own relentless stupidity Curtis jumped in. "No- no, I'd love to. You're right, I should be on a break right now anyway."
Shiro smiled and the image nearly sent Curtis stumbling backwards again. "Alright."
"Alright," Curtis repeated, with a similar smile. The air felt warm and the room seemed to have shrunk, so Curtis was all too glad when Shiro beckoned him to follow him to the mess hall.
~~~
It took the entire walk from the downstairs cafeteria to the dormitories for Lance to convince Veronica that they should let the rest of the paladins help.
"If we tell Matt then Pidge is 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 gonna find out, Matt always tells Pidge the MFE gossip, and then if Pidge finds out then Hunk is definitely gonna know by the end of the day, those guys are just a package deal there's nothing they don't share. And then if Hunk finds out then it totally looks like we're leaving Keith out on purpose, and he'll get all protective of Shiro so we might as well just tell him too-"
"𝘋𝘪𝘰𝘴, alright!" Veronica slapped her hands over her ears. "Do you want to just put out an announcement over the PA system? Or maybe write it on a banner and attach it to one of the jets, "Let it be known, Curtis has a crush on Captain Shirogane"-"
Lance hit her hard on the shoulder, cutting her off as they stopped in front of the dorms. Pidge was sitting by the open door, curiosity morphing into humour. "Who has a crush on Shiro?"
Lance gave Veronica a putrifyingly triumphant smile and then turned to Pidge. "Lieutenant Curtis."
A chorus of "What?" echoed through the open door and Veronica prayed a silent prayer that Curtis would forgive her as they stepped inside. Hunk was sitting on a lower bunk, engaged in some kind of tech-y conversation with Matt, who sat at his feet, amongst a pile of half-finished sketches that Veronica couldn't make head nor tail of. Lance scanned the room, the sharp smile fading just slightly. "Is Keith here?"
Pidge crossed in front of them and sat down beside Matt. "He's doing Blade stuff. Or that's what he was doing about two hours ago. Haven't seen him since, so who knows what he's up to now."
Veronica didn't miss how Lance seemed to deflate and made a mental note of the point before Hunk spoke up. "Were you guys saying something? About Shiro?"
As quickly as Lance's grin had faded, it returned, curving his features until he resembled a Cheshire cat. "You wanna tell them again, Ronnie? Or shall I?"
By the end of the day, Veronica wagered her face would be permanently stuck in a Lance-related glare. "You can 𝘯𝘰𝘵 tell anyone else."
There was a general response of "We won't" and then Veronica said very quickly, "Curtis has a crush on Shiro."
Hunk lit up like a child at Christmas. "Aw, really? How d'you know?"
"He told us," Lance declared and Veronica simply didn't have it in her to correct him. "And now we're recruiting you- well, mostly just Matt but I guess you guys too- so we can figure out what Shiro's deal with relationships is."
"What do you mean, "his deal with relationships"?" Hunk asked, brow furrowed. "He doesn't really have one, right? He's single."
Matt broke in uncomfortably. "It's complicated."
Lance rounded on Matt with the ferocity of a bloodhound. "Why does everyone keep saying that? What's complicated? Either he's single or he's not, that's all there is to it."
"And that logic is always true without exception," Veronica commented drily.
Matt's usually bright, comical expression was unusually grave. "If he didn't tell you guys I really don't know if its my place-"
"Matthew I will actually break down crying if I get told that again today," Lance said firmly.
"Lance-" Pidge spoke up, an edge to their voice. "Leave it, seriously."
"You know too?" Veronica asked, taken aback. "Does everyone know except us?"
"I don't," Hunk piped up.
"Okay!" Matt raised his voice slightly, cutting through the impending chatter. "I'm not telling you about Shiro's deal but uh-" He cleared his throat as everyone turned to look at him again. Veronica felt a twinge of pity for him. Matt was used to being the centre of attention if he was cracking jokes, and the implicit seriousness of what he was about to say had him floundering.
"-I'll tell you something that'll help you put it into context." He raked a hand through his hair and looked at the floor. "Shiro and I shared a dorm at the Garrison with this other guy Adam."
"I remember him," Lance noted quietly. "He was my astrophysics teacher."
Matt nodded and twisted his hands in his lap. "I don't know if you saw the memorial hall but he- uh- he died after a Galra attack on the Garrison."
Nobody spoke. Pidge edged closer to their brother and nudged him with their elbow, a small show of condolence.
Something clicked in Veronica's head and her heart sank to the pits of her stomach. "Shiro wears a chain under his uniform with a ring on it."
Every head turned to her and she shook her head soberly. "We were both training at the same time. I saw him take it off."
"Shit," Lance whispered. "So they were-"
He left the sentence hanging and a somber silence fell over the room.
"Adam was- he was great," Matt muttered. "Shiro was really torn up when he heard the news. Iverson told him a few hours after you all arrived back on earth."
More than a year had gone by since then but Veronica could recall it like it was yesterday. Her mother hadn't let go of Lance for an hour and she'd cried for at least two. Something sharp twisted in her chest when she remembered how Shiro had stood slightly to the side those first few hours, his expression a mask of its usual calm. They'd never been close but Veronica wanted to kick herself for not wondering before about Shiro's family.
Hunks voice wavered when he spoke. "I didn't know." The sorrow in his voice made the whole room feel darker. "I can't believe I didn't know."
Lance had his arms wrapped round himself and Veronica felt a sudden, fierce surge of protectiveness for him. He looked stricken.
"I should've- I should've asked. He's been carrying that alone for- since-"
Veronica felt her heart saw itself in half. If there was anyone who could possibly understand the magnitude of such a loss, it was her little brother.
Matt shook his head. "Nah, you know Shiro. He's pretty solitary. He'd have hated it if everyone knew."
"Hardly anyone even knew they were engaged in the first place," Pidge said softly. "Shiro never mentioned Adam all that time we were in space. It's like-" They paused and swallowed, and when they spoke again their voice was barely audible. "It's like it hurt him too much to remember."
Matt opened his mouth like he wanted to add something, then seemed to decide against it and put his arm over Pidge's shoulder.
"Somebody should tell Curtis," Lance said dully, and Matt shook his head with a surprising firmness.
"No, they shouldn't. It's Shiro's thing to tell." He was quiet for a second then a ghost of a smile came over his face. "And who knows, its been a while. Maybe Curtis is what Shiro needs."
Veronica thought of Curtis then. She saw his easy laugh, his gentle hands, his bright optimism and the endless, endless care he had for every living thing.
"Yeah, maybe."
The room brightened, just a little.