As Cold as Fire [VOLTRON Keith X OC]

"Hey, Keith?" I said softly. He mumbled something in response. I started to slowly slip off his lap and back to my seat, when his hands caught me by my hips.

"No..." he whined, as he finally lifted his head from my shoulder. His dark hair is even messier than usual, his neck and lips a faint red matching my own. I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"We'll be landing at the castle soon, emo boy. So unless you want Coran to see us..." I didn't have to finish my sentence as Keith's face flushed, and he let me scoot back into my seat while he fumbled to put his helmet back on.

"Right. Uh, yeah. That'd be... bad."

The silence stretched as we sat, staring at stars and planets we zoomed past.

"We have..." He lets out a small laugh of disbelief. "We have a battle with Zarkon tomorrow."

I laughed, somewhat breathlessly, still feeling a little giddy and basking in the aftermath of him. "What? You'd rather be training right now?" I teased.

He turned a few deeper shades of red as let out an exasperated groan. "N-no! I'm just in shock, okay? I mean- we just-" He waved his arms around the space between us, as if willing the word to appear.

I raised a single eyebrow. "Kissed?"

"Yeah! That." He pretended to turn away from me to look out the window, avoiding my playful stare. "I-I mean, I've never done this before! Like, are we, you know?" He trailed off with a mixture of hope and apprehension, as if waiting for me to finish his sentence again.

"Dating?"

"Yeah... That." I caught his shoulders tense.

I started, "Well-"

"I mean, I do if you want to," he interrupted, almost stumbling over his words, before I could even reply. "Like, it's not like- I just don't wanna, you know, assume or anything." He finally turned back to me, clearly flustered. "But I- I don't mind, you know, us doing- that."

"Dating?" I teased again, unable to stop myself.

"Yeah." After a moment he frowned accusingly. "Do you have to keep saying it like that?"

I laughed as he crossed his arms. I feigned my own confidence, the only thing powering me through, the words of his confessions. My laughter died out. "Do you... like me back, Kogane?" I asked albeit softly, with some anticipation..

Keith's expression softened as he glanced at me, his violet eyes briefly catching the starlight outside the cockpit. He nodded immediately, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I leaned towards him, my lips hovering above his. "Then I guess you're stuck with me." I could hear- no, feel his breath hitch as he inched closer.

"Good," he mumbled.

I hummed in agreement. "Good."

"Welcome back, Paladins! Hope the mission wasn't too gruelling. Get ready to land!"

We broke off, fumbling to prepare the pod to dock. "Thanks, Coran," I replied through the comms.

The pod landed with a soft thud, and Coran walked up to us as the windshield opened.

"Do you have the material?"

"Yup." Keith handed it to him. Coran continued to ramble on about the mission, the material, Slav and any questions he had about the ship. He paused for a moment.