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In all fairness, Keith believes that he'd been pretty lucky in terms of who got what assignment. Whilst Hunk and Pidge were off on a mission to go find some kind of battery, and Shiro, Lance and Coran were at the space mall in an attempt to gather more information on a lead they'd discovered, Keith was alone on a planet by the name of Phelimn looking for crystals.You may think that he'd pulled the short straw but actually, he was pretty happy with his mission (not the extracting crystals thing, that was boring as shit). He was just happy to be on a solo mission.For once he didn't have to deal with Lance's obnoxious comments, or Hunk's puking, or Pidge's teasing, Shiro's dad voice whenever he made a mistake, and most importantly, Coran's boring ass stories.It was just him and red and this abandoned planet and Allura on the comms if he needed any assistance. She'd wanted to join Keith on his mission but found that she couldn't land the castle on Phelimn without skewing their communications with the others. Something about strong gravitational pull or whatever. Pidge had explained the whole thing but she used so many scientific words that Keith's brain started to hurt and he'd stopped listening altogether.Anyway, Allura couldn't land the castle and she couldn't exactly leave it just floating around in space unoccupied so Keith was on his own.The only problem was that without Lance's obnoxious comments, or Hunk's puking, or Pidge's teasing, Shiro's dad voice whenever he made a mistake, and most importantly, Coran's boring ass stories he was bored as hell. Somehow in the few months that they'd been a part of team Voltron he'd become so accustomed to the teams bullshittery that now, when it wasn't there, he missed it.Unless it was just the eerie silence of the planet that was making him anxious..Not to worry, all he had to do was excavate a few little crystals and head back to the castle, then he'd see them all again and Lance would brag about some kind of cool stunt that he'd pulled and he'd be like "I bet you missed me and my sharpshooter skills and my super good looks." And Keith would internally agree but Lance couldn't know that so he'd find a way to insult Lance and then they'd get back to their routine bickering and the others would all roll their eyes because these two were a pair of dumbasses, no big deal. Except, it was a big deal, but we'll touch on that later.Keith trudged over to a pile of boulders and started climbing. According to Coran and Allura's vague explanation there was a small system of caves somewhere around here and supposedly that's where the crystals were. He'd just have to do a little searching.As he traversed the rocky mountainside, Keith noticed an odd buzzing throughout his limbs. He couldn't quite place the feeling or relate it to anything he'd felt before but if he had to guess he'd say that this is how one would feel after doing cocaine, only it wasn't nearly as intense. It wasn't painful in any way and he barely even noticed it but there was definitely something there. He just felt slightly odd. As Keith pondered it he was interrupted by a voice in his ear. "Keith, have you found the cave system yet?" It was Allura.Keith climbed on top of one of the larger boulders before answering, all suspicion forgotten. He was trying to find a good vantage point to map out the most plausible area's for the cave system. "Still looking, this mountain range is a lot longer than how you explained it." He complained."Use the scanner on your helmet. If I remember correctly, it should be able to scan the density of the rock's." Allura explained. "I'm not sure how deep the range is but it should give you a good idea of where to look."After a few attempts Keith got the tech working and did an experimental scan. "Woah." He mumbled as a map of the mountain appeared on his visor. He recognised the lighter grey areas of the map as empty space (caves) whereas the darker areas were dense rock. The caves lead off to his right and Keith followed them."Did it work?" Allura asked impatiently. Keith realised that she was most likely even more lonely up there than he was, waiting around for them to return.Keith could see a cave opening just ahead of him. "Yeah, Thanks Princess." Keith picked up his pace now that he'd found the caves. He wanted to get off this planet as quickly as possible. No offence to the planet, it was just as beautiful and fascinating as the others but the atmosphere was so quiet that it was starting to weird him out. "I found the opening.""Oh good. Well, I'll leave you to it then." Keith didn't miss the disappointment in her voice. "Wait, have you heard from the others yet?" Keith asked in an attempt to continue the conversation. He didn't want Allura to leave him with the uncomfortable silence of the planet.Allura's tone significantly lightened, obviously appreciating the opportunity to talk instead of waiting aimlessly in the castle, even if it was useless small talk. "No, it seems that they are too far away for me to reach them at this point in time. I believe it may have something to do with Phelimn's affects on our communication."Keith nodded, he turned on his wrist torch as he entered the cave. "Well, there's no interruption between our communication." He wondered aloud."That could have something to do with proximity." Allura explained though she didn't sound too sure herself. "Whatever it is, I wouldn't want to hang around this planet for too long."Keith agreed. "Yeah, this place is kind of weirding me out." Keith spotted a large blue crystal across the cave floor and moved in to inspect it. The crystal was tightly imbedded in the rock beneath him. He pulled out his dagger and used the tip to dig."What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Allura sounded concerned now. Keith quickly reassured her. "No, it's just really quiet down here. I think I'm the only thing living on this planet." Keith had moved onto his fourth and final crystal by the time Allura answered. He'd piled the others into a pouch attached to his belt."That doesn't sound like a good thing." She replied. "I remember hearing strange legends about Phelimn from my father but don't remember any of them being significantly bad.""You didn't want to mention that before sending me down here?" Keith joked. The last crystal dislodged after an immense amount of wiggling and Keith stuffed it into his pouch. "Like I said, I don't remember any of the legends being bad. As long as you keep your helmet on you should be fine." Allura didn't sound too worried so Keith didn't question it."Well I'm done here anyway. I'll see you in a few ticks." Keith dusted off his knees and headed back the way he came.--Keith was surprisingly exhausted by the time they met in the dining room for dinner and a team meeting. He had absolutely no reason to be this drained. He'd gotten plenty of sleep the night before, his mission had hardly been strenuous and it wasn't even 8pm space time yet. Nevertheless, Keith was so tired that he didn't even touch his dinner, instead pushing the bowl of goo aside without a second glance. When Shiro asked him about it he simply explained that he wasn't hungry. They moved on to talking about more important things such as their next move against the Galra empire. Keith's brain apparently didn't find it important because he was yet to process a word of what they were saying.Not only was he having trouble focusing, his body was starting to become heavy and it was with great difficulty that he kept himself from slumping over onto the floor.The first time he nodded off his head slammed into the table and he jumped back so fast that his chair nearly toppled over. Everyone in the room turned toward him and Keith's face burned with embarrassment. Had he seriously just fallen asleep during a team meeting? He'd never done that before. Never. No matter how boring they sometimes became.He rubbed at his tired eyes. "Sorry. I'm fine. Keep going." He murmured. Both Shiro and Allura held their gaze just long enough to tell him to get his shit together without actually saying a word. Keith sighed, rubbing at his head. He was surprised he hadn’t knocked himself out when he hit the table.Lance snickered at him from the next seat over and Keith shot back a withering glare that worked wonders on shutting Lance up. He was tired which meant he wasn't in the mood for Lance's crap.A few moments later Keith felt his head drooping again. He dragged his chair forward a little so that he could fold his arms across the surface of the table. He used his forearms as a pillow and rested his head down on top of them, hoping to eliminate the chance that he might fall off his chair if he accidentally fell asleep.This was much better. He watched Shiro and Allura conversing at the head of the table, trying to focus but his eyes slowly drifted shut without him actually realising.Keith couldn't quite shake the weird buzzing feeling he'd experience earlier. He knew something wasn't quite right with him today but he guessed it was just because he was tired. Also, he felt bad about not listening during the meeting but he couldn't help. It was nearly impossible to focus and stay awake at the same time.It was fine, they could just brief him about it in the morning when he could actually process what they were saying. They didn't need him for this meeting. Something hard shoved him in the shoulder and Keith groaned. Gosh, couldn't the universe just give him ten minutes sleep? Keith peeped his eyes open just enough to see Lance's disapproving look. "Dude. What are you doing?" Lance whispered.Keith rolled his eyes before closing them again. "Nothing." He mumbled back."You can't just sleep through the entire meeting, that's not fair." Lance complained loud enough to get the others attention.“Keith.” Shiro said sternly. Keith begrudgingly opened his eyes. He was met with a questioning look from Shiro. Keith sighed again. “Sorry, what were you saying?” Keith asked as he pushed himself back so he could sit in his seat like a normal, functioning human-being.Shiro eyed him suspiciously. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked in a more concerned tone.Keith nodded. “Just tired.” He blinked a couple times to try and get rid of the drowsiness. It didn’t help.“No shit, man.” Pidge interrupted. “You look like crap.”“Thanks, Pidge.” Keith muttered sarcastically. Pidge grinned.“Okay,” Allura announced. “Everyone go get some rest, we’ll finish this in the morning.”Pidge was the first to move. She pushed herself up out of her seat. “Finally.” She cheered before walking off down the hallway. She didn’t even bother saying goodnight.Keith watched as Allura and Shiro started packing up some of their equipment. He wasn’t quite sure what to say. He didn’t want them to postpone the meeting just because of him, but he also knew that he wouldn’t have been able to sit through the rest of the meeting tonight, and Pidge was already gone so he guessed there was no point arguing the case.Keith struggled to even stand but he wouldn’t let the others know that. He stumbled around his chair and got halfway across the room when a hand wrapped around his wrist and suddenly Lance had slung Keith’s arm over his shoulder and his own arm found its way around Keith’s waist. “Come on, you look like you’re about five seconds from falling on your face.”“Let me go. I don’t need your help.” Keith muttered but he found himself gripping Lance’s shirt for stability.“Yeah, sure thing.” Lance let go and Keith would have been sprawled on the floor if Lance hadn’t changed his mind and caught him. Keith accepted his fate and slumped into Lance’s sturdy grip. Well at least he’d tried to act civilised.Lance chuckled. “Jeez, you don’t have to take me down with you.” He readjusted so that Keith was no longer pulling him down before bidding the others Goodnight.Lance basically dragged Keith to his room and the whole way all Keith’s brain managed to think was ‘Lance Mcclain is carrying you to your room’ the same statement looping through his exhausted subconscious as he struggled to make sense of it.Keith figured he should be more worried about the fact that his legs had turned to jelly and he couldn’t keep his eyes open, because there was definitely something strange about that, but for some reason his brain had different ideas. Like how nice it was that Lance was helping him and how attractively broad Lance’s shoulders were.. interesting.Before Keith could figure out what any of this mean’t he heard the familiar swish of the castle doors and then Lance was dumping him down on his bed. Keith blinked at him a few times as Lance crouched down and started undoing his boots. Keith leaned forward and brushed Lance’s hands away. He was tired, not drunk, he could undo his own shoes, thank you very much.Lance huffed out a laugh. “Okay, sorry.” He said, pulling his hands back in surrender. Keith started pulling at his shoes clumsily. He felt Lance peering at him as he stared down at his boots. He lifted his head and squinted at him again. “What are you looking at?” Keith asked, he continued to struggle with his own shoes. How hard could it be to extract himself from a pair of shoes, jeez?“Nothing.” Lance retorted. “Are you dying?” He asked, changing the subject.Keith wished he was dying, he couldn’t be tired if he was already dead. On the other hand, he did actually feel like he was dying and it wasn’t his favourite experience.“No. I’m not dying. Why would I be dying?” Keith asked, finally managing to remove one of his shoes. He started working on the other.“Whatever you say.” Lance shrugged. “You just look like shit, that’s all.”Keith huffed a laugh. “You tell me that everyday.” It wasn’t true, but Lance did insult his hair at least once every hour so it was kind of true. He pulled off his other boot and started working on his jacket. He yearned for the comfort of the bed beneath him and every part of him wanted to hurry up and get his jacket off so he could sleep.“Yeah, well this time I actually mean it.” Lance chuckled, snatching Keith’s jacket off of him.Keith pouted at Lance’s comment, trying to decipher its meaning. He suspected it was just another one of Lance’s backhanded compliments that he was always throwing Keith’s way. Not that they were, in any way, compliments. Lance had just told him that he looked like shit now but he didn’t look like shit all the time. It wasn’t a compliment, he was just deducting months worth of insults. Anyway, Keith was looking too far into the matter.He let out a resigned sigh before flopping onto his bed. Lance stood up and hung Keith’s jacket by the door. “You want me to tuck you in too.” Lance asked, his shit-eating grin never faltering. Keith melted into his pillow and felt his eyes beginning to droop again.“No, Lance. You’ve done enough, thanks.”Then, like flicking the switch on a light, he was out.—Keith woke up with a heavy feeling in his chest. He groaned loudly, reaching up to wipe at his face. Only when his fingers brushed over his cheekbones did he realise that something was wrong. His cheeks felt.. bigger? Almost like he’d been punched in the face except it didn’t hurt. He opened his eyes and shot forward into a sitting position, running his hands over the rest of his face. There was definitely something off, even his lips felt plumper. He looked down and the sight before him almost gave him an aneurysm. His chest was.. well let’s just say his chest wasn’t flat anymore.Keith scrambled out of his bed and ran into the bathroom, heading straight for the mirror. He shrieked when he saw himself. “No. Nope nope nope.” He whispered, staring into the mirror. Even his hair seemed slightly longer. The boy staring back at him was unrecognisable. In fact, he looked more like a.. no, that wasn’t possible.Keith blinked hard a couple times, feeling the panic rise within him. Surely he was just dreaming. Of course he was, this wasn’t happening. He reached up and pinched himself just to prove that he was dreaming. Nothing happened. He tried again, harder this time and found that everything stayed the same, except for his heart rate which was currently skyrocketing.Keith shook his head, more confused than he’d ever been in his life. Aliens and giant cat mecha’s were one thing, but this.. this was fucking unbelievable. Keith grabbed onto his fly with one hand and started undoing his pants. He found they were tight in a lot of unfamiliar places, specifically his hips and his ass. He pulled down his pants and took a look just to make sure he wasn’t going insane and.. holy cow he’d never seen one of those before. “What. The. Fuck.” He was either going insane or he’d just, randomly overnight, turned into a- a girl.No way. That wasn’t even possible... but then he remembered how tired he’d been the night before and how weird he’d felt. He wondered if that had anything to do with this.Keith felt like he was going to barf. He pulled his pants up and ran out the door in search of Shiro.Keith bashed on Shiro’s door, heart lodged somewhere in his throat. Shiro didn’t answer and Keith knocked harder. “Shiro. I need your help. I think I’m tripping on space acid or something!”Sure enough Shiro unlocked the door and let him in. Nothing prepared Keith for the look of horror on Shiro’s face. Apparently Keith wasn’t the only one tripping on something today. “Keith. Your-“ Shiro took him in completely. All the way from his wide eyes, to his rounded jaw, to his curvy hips. “Wh-“ Shiro lifted his hand to cover his mouth but it stopped halfway there and he was just left standing there, hand hanging in the air and his eyes wide as dish plates.“Fuck.” Keith said a little too loudly. So he wasn’t the only one seeing all of this. Shiro laughed nervously. “Your voice.” He said, mouth returning to a crumpled line in his face but his eyes remained wide and confused. Keith could tell he was trying to remain calm.Keith, on the other hand, was completely fine with showing Shiro just how much he was freaking out. “I think I’m going to be sick.” He muttered and the sound of his own voice spooked him. God he even sounded like a girl. This was some next level weird shit.“No.” Shiro said, intercepting Keith on his journey to Shiro’s bathroom where he would most likely empty his guts. “No. We’re going to see Allura, she’ll know what’s happening.” Shiro, in no way, sounded sure of himself but Keith had no choice but to let him shove him out the door and steer him toward Allura’s bedroom. He was just glad that they didn’t come across any of his other teammates on the way there.Allura’s reaction was quite similar to Shiro’s. When the door opened the first things her eyes landed on was Shiro’s concerned face. “Oh. Hey Shiro, Kei-“ she didn’t even have to look at him fully before she realised something was off. “Keith! What the..?” She shouted.Shiro pushed Keith inside and the door swished shut behind them. Keith’s first priority was to find somewhere to sit down so that he wouldn’t feint. He shrugged out of Shiro’s death grip and sat down on Allura’s seat by her dressing table.“Allura. Please tell me you know what’s happening.” Shiro pleaded.Allura still wasn’t over her initial shock and she just continued to stare at Keith like he was the strangest thing she’d ever encountered.“Shiro.” Keith deadpanned. “It’s obvious what’s happened. I’m a freaking girl.”Shiro looked like he wanted to say something but he bit his tongue when Allura moved in to take a better look at Keith.She was so close that Keith could see the tiny flecks of darkness in her otherwise light eyes. She reached her hand out to touch Keith’s face and he suddenly felt even more awkward than before. Keith sat completely still as Allura’s hands pressed against his plump cheeks. She giggled, pulling away. “This is crazy.”Keith’s mouth automatically folded into a frown and he scrunched his eyebrows together. “It’s not funny, Allura.” He said, outraged.Allura’s face dropped, suddenly serious. “No, you’re right..” She stopped, her lips involuntarily forming an amused grin on her face. “It’s hilarious!” She burst into a fit of laughter and Keith suddenly felt betrayed. She was laughing at him. Keith was freaking out and Allura was laughing at him!She must have noticed Keith’s distress because she eventually calmed down. “I’m sorry.” She said sincerely, before pulling a chair up to sit across from him. Shiro took a seat on the edge of her bed, his face still a mixture between confusion and stress. “It’s just, my mother used to tell me stories about this planet that could essentially turn boys into girls.” She said the whole thinking in an amused tone. “I always thought it was a myth.”“So it was the planet that did this?” Shiro seemed to be talking more to himself than anyone else.“You knew!” Keith shouted at Allura, the betrayal still winding in his stomach.“No. I didn’t know it was Phelimn and like I said, I thought they were myths.” She said, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “But.. I guess now we have proof that they’re not.”Shiro scratched the back of his head. “Is that even possible?”Allura shrugged. “Apparently. From what I remember my mother believed it had something to do with the planet’s atmosphere, like it only affects you if you breathe in the oxygen on the planet.”Keith shook his head. “I had my helmet on. I didn’t breathe in the planet’s oxygen.”Allura tapped her chin, thoughtfully. “Your helmet has detectors on it that can sense whether the oxygen is breathable. If it doesn’t detect anything then the filters on the helmet open, letting the air in. That must be what happened.” Keith sighed. “Well, no offence, but your helmets are in desperate need of an upgrade.”Allura nodded. Shiro came into the conversation with another question. “It still doesn’t make sense. You can’t just turn into a girl over night.”“Well, no.. but the molecules in phelimn’s oxygen must be able to convert hormones or something. Your testosterone would have switched to estrogen, converting male to female.” Allura explained.“Well, do you know how to switch it back?” Keith asked, panicked. No way did he want to be a girl for the rest of his life! No offence to girls, but Keith was a boy. He’d been a boy his whole life and there was absolutely no way that he was prepared for that to change.Allura looked uncomfortable. “I don’t.” She started. Keith felt his breath hitch in his throat. He tried to breathe but he couldn’t. This was too weird. It was all too weird and he didn’t understand what was happening. Keith’s vision went dark. “But Coran migh- Keith, are you okay?” Her voice switched to concern and Keith felt her grabbing his shoulders. She peered up at him fearfully.Keith shook his head. He looked at Allura, dark tunnels clouding his vision. He felt like he was going to feint. “Dizzy.” He managed to get out. It was like someone was blowing hot air at him while simultaneously beating his skull with a screwdriver. Also, he still wasn’t sure if he was breathing or not.“Shiro, help me get him on the bed.” Allura ordered and suddenly there was a strong grip on his arm and then moments later he was lying down. Shiro sounded alarmed. “Why’s he look so pale? Does this have something to do with-““No.” Allura answered. “He’s just panicking. Can you go to the kitchen and get a glass of water.. and see if you can find a towel.” There was a pause and Keith thought he could hear footsteps and then the door swishing open. “And if you see Coran tell him to come immediately!” Allura said before the door swished shut.Keith felt a cool hand press against his forehead and then another running up and down his arm soothingly. He opened his eyes slowly, only now realising that they’d been squeezed shut. Allura smiled at him. “You’re okay.” Her tone was soothing.“I don’t feel okay.” Keith muttered, referring to the throbbing in his head, possibly brought on by his repeated hopeless attempts to process what was happening. He didn’t feel quite so queasy now that he was lying down. “This is so freaking weird.”“Trust me, I know.” Allura replied. She kept her hand on his arm, never wavering. “We’ll figure out a way to fix this. I’m sure Coran knows something about your uhh.. condition.”Keith nodded. He hoped she was right. Even better, he hoped they could figure out a way to turn him back before the others found out. Especially Lance. Lance would always be able to hold this over his head if he found out.Allura grinned devilishly. “If it’s any consolation, you’re quite a pretty girl.” Keith felt another wave of nausea coming on.—Lance was.. confused. He’d left his room about five minutes ago and he literally could not find anyone. He wondered if they were having a secret meeting without him. No, they wouldn’t do that to him.. would they? He’d nearly bashed down Keith and Shiro’s doors, looking for them but there was no reply from either of them.He let out a frustrated grumble. Maybe they really were having a secret meeting. Nope. Shiro came rushing down the hallway seconds later with a glass of water and a hand towel. He sighed in relief when he saw Lance.“Lance!” He said, he looked stressed and very confused. Shiro shoved both items toward him and Lance quickly took them off him. “Take those to Allura’s room for me.”Lance nodded, suddenly concerned. “Is something wrong with the princess?” He asked. Why else would Shiro be handing him a towel and a glass of water, and why did Shiro look so spooked?“No, she’s fine. It’s-“ Shiro shook his head, a laugh bubbling out of him. “Just go, you won’t believe me if I tell you.”Lance quirked an eyebrow quizzically but Shiro was already walking in the other direction.Lance turned and started heading toward Allura’s room, curious to know what was happening.He had not been expecting this.. The first thing Lance saw was Allura, perched on a white, cushion stool. Then his eyes landed on what he thought was a girl, lying on Allura’s bed, except it was just Keith.“Lance.” Allura announced. He felt her eyes on him instantly. At the mention of Lance’s name, Keith could be heard slapping his hand over his face. Lance felt welcomed.Lance moved further into the room as he talked. “Shiro gave me these and sent me here.” He explained before pointing at Keith who still hadn’t moved his hand away from his face. Lance also noticed an arm held tightly over his chest. “What’s up with him.” Lance asked, pointing half-heartedly toward Keith.Keith peeked out from under his hand and then promptly covered his face again.Allura rolled her eyes, swiftly taking the glass of water and the towel out of Lance’s hands. “Keith, he’s going to find out anyway. Stop being a pussy.” She placed the glass on her bedside table and moved toward her bathroom with the towel.“Find out what?” Lance asked skeptically. He wasn’t sure whether he should be worried or not. It’s not like everyone was walking around with long faces, if Lance didn’t know any better he’d say that they all seemed amused. Keith, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be in good spirits.Keith removed his hand with a sigh and for a moment Lance did a double take. “What the heck happened to your face?” Lance’s eyebrows scrunched together reflexively. The most obvious thing to Lance was how pale Keith was, as compared to usual. The next thing he noticed was how rounded Keith’s jaw was. Lance had grown accustomed to revelling at Keith’s sharp jawline so of course that was the first thing he noticed. Then there was literally everything else that Lance can’t believe he hadn’t noticed when he walked in. If Lance didn’t know any better, he would have thought Keith looked a little more feminine than usual, but that was ridiculous.Keith rolled his eyes. “I told you he’d make fun of me!” Keith called out, supposedly to Allura. She came back into the room with the newly soaked towel. Did Keith’s voice sound different too?“Oh, you’ll get over it.” Allura teased.Lance watched, quizzically. He really wasn’t sure he knew what was going on in front of him.“What exactly am I looking at here?” Lance questioned, a little worried that he was having some kind of weird hallucinations.Allura grabbed Keith’s shoulder and helped him into a sitting position before carefully handing him the glass of water. Keith looked awfully pale, was he okay? He held the glass carefully in both hands. “So basically, Keith is a girl now.” Allura explained.Shit it was really fucking obvious now that Keith was sitting up and staring right at him. Lance had a moment of discomfort as his brain acknowledged how attracted he was to Keith right now. Jesus, it was everything Lance had ever dreamed of except it didn’t make any sense.He took him in properly. Every detail of his face seemed to be tweaked slightly to make him look more feminine. Lance tried his hardest not to marvel at the sight. He was sure to move on quickly, especially when Keith was looking at him like he was about to combust if Lance even opened his mouth. It was hard to determine many differences in body shape. Keith’s clothing wasn’t all that revealing and Lance hadn’t exactly been given much of an exclusive look at Keith’s body in general. On the rare occasion Keith’s shirt would drift upwards in training, whether he lifted it to wipe his face or swung his sword a little too hard and his shirt followed the motion, Lance would always find himself staring unintentionally. Then of course he’d mentally torture himself about it for the rest of the week.Anyway, the only obvious difference’s were that Keith had.. breasts. He felt weird even think it, Keith.. breasts? Weird. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t a possibility, apparently, cause there was definitely something there that resemble a girl’s privates. So there was that, and there was another detail. Keith’s hips seemed a tad wider than usual. Last but not least, his hair seemed slightly longer. Actually, it was definitely longer. The dreaded Mullet was nowhere to be seen, only shoulder-length, slightly mussed, raven-black hair.“No shit!” Lance squawked, edging closer to Keith who watched him with distrust. “How the quiznak did this happen?”Allura explained the whole situation with a completely blank face, meanwhile Keith sat against the bed head with a wet towel over his head and his arms crossed tightly against his chest. Lance kept gazing toward him..her? He wasn’t really sure about the pronouns, but he was absolutely sure that Keith was intentionally avoiding eye contact.After Allura had explained everything and Lance was slightly less confused but still mostly mind-whacked, he decided to ask a few questions that were bothering him. “How long is this going to be a thing?” He asked cautiously, watching Keith in order to catch his reaction. There was none.“Until we find a solution, I guess.” Allura muttered.“Okay, and does this have anything to do with his weird behaviour last night?” Lance asked, remembering how he basically had to drag Keith to his room last night. He knew something had been wrong with Keith. He’d encountered an exhausted Keith before and his behaviour had been very different to how Keith was acting the night before.Allura nodded. “I suppose so. It would have taken an immense amount of energy to convert your hormones.” She addressed Keith now and her eyes ran over his face, probably mapping out every single detail that had changed. “Let alone your appearance. Alteans have the ability to change our own appearance but not for long as it requires a lot of energy. For your appearance to permanently change.. well I’m surprised it didn’t kill you.”Keith just sighed in response. Sometime during their discussion he’d discarded the wet towel and most of the colour had returned to his face.“One more question.” Lance turned to Keith. “Does this mean you have a vagi-“The door to Allura’s room slid open and suddenly there was a lot of yelling and screaming.Pidge ran over and jumped on Allura’s bed, reaching for Keith’s face so she could analyse him. She made a whole bunch of noises which mostly consisted of oohs and ahs. Hunk poked his head over Pidge’s shoulder and stared at Keith with his mouth wide open. Meanwhile, Shiro came in and stood next to Allura with a flustered expression and Coran began laughing his head off.Keith looked about five seconds from barfing on top of Pidge who had begun pulling at his hair and screeching about samples.
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“You have to, come on.” Allura grabbed Keith’s hand and started pulling him toward her closet.“No. I really don’t want to.” Keith muttered. He wasn’t sure of much right now but he was absolutely certain of this.“Keith.” Allura’s voice was reprimanding and almost commanding. “I’m serious. You really don’t have a choice on the matter.”“I’m not actually a girl, Allura.” Keith strained, unsure of how to explain himself. He knew how he felt about the matter but he couldn’t put it into words.See, the problem was that Allura was taking him to her closet to fit him into a bra. If it wasn’t weird enough to be trying on your friend’s bra’s, then consider the fact that yesterday Keith had a penis and today he had breasts. Maybe now you can understand his inner turmoil.“I don’t care if you’re ‘not actually a girl’ this is a requirement now.” She explained. Her hand was still tightly grasped around Keith’s recently smaller wrist. “If you’ve got boobs, you need a bra. That’s the rule.”Keith whined as Allura stubbornly dragged him along into her walk-in-wardrobe. She’d officially banished all males from her room. Pidge had been allowed to stay but had decided against it. “I dress like a boy for a reason.” Was all she’d said in explanation. Keith didn’t miss the small pout that appeared on Allura’s lips.Once they were in Allura’s wardrobe, she let go of Keith’s wrist and idly moved toward one specific area of clothing. Keith’s face started heating up even looking at women’s under garments. How did Allura expect him to wear them?Instead, Keith turned his attention to the other items in the room. The first thing he noticed was that there were a lot of dresses. None of which Keith would be caught dead wearing. A bra was one thing, no one could actually see it so it didn’t matter as much he supposed, but a dress.. No fucking way.Allura didn’t seem to notice Keith’s discomfort. She sifted through the clothing as Keith stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. One good thing was that he didn’t feel like puking anymore. After all the ‘excitement’ from that morning he’d finally managed to get his head on straight and stop panicking. He told himself that this was nothing that he couldn’t deal with and that he’d get through it. Hell, if Allura was so desperate for him to try on bra’s then he’d even humour her. He could do this.“Okay.” Allura turned with several garments in her hands. “You’re gonna have to take your shirt off.”Keith couldn’t do this. He changed his mind.“Wh- what?” He stammered. Allura just stared at him like he was the dumbest person alive. “You mean here?”“Duh.” Allura rolled her eyes. “Unless you want to wear it over your shirt.” Keith would have laughed at that if he weren’t so aware of himself. When Keith didn’t reply Allura sighed. “God it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” She muttered. “I’ll take mine off if it makes you feel more comfortable.”Keith nearly choked at that. He imagined if Lance, or any other straight male, were in his position right now his head would probably explode with excitement but all Keith managed to feel was discomfort. It was bad enough that he had to acknowledge his own recently-female parts. He was not prepared to see another girl’s.Another girl’s? No. That wasn’t correct. Keith wasn’t a girl. Keith was a boy, had been his whole life. Now he was merely a boy who suspiciously resembled a girl. Fuck. His head would explode if he had to think about it for any longer.“No. Please don’t do that.” Keith finally managed to spit out. He reached for his shirt and in one quick motion it was removed and he was exposed. He didn’t dare look down at himself, too embarrassed to even consider what he looked like.Allura didn’t even bat an eyelid. She just shrugged and stepped closer, sizing him up. Keith’s cheeks felt impossibly hotter as Allura muttered to herself, something about b cups and c cups. None of which Keith understood. He was too busy feeling self conscious. It was rare that you’d find him shirtless, even when he was flat chested, but now that he wasn’t it was so much worse.“Here.” Allura said, shoving one of her bras at him. It was skin colour and reasonably small. “This should fit. It’s the same size as I wear.” “Oh.” Keith took the item and inspected it, then realised that he had no idea what he was doing. “How do I...”Allura understood and Keith could tell it was taking a lot of her will power to stop herself from laughing. She took the bra back and stepped in behind him. She swiftly fitted the straps over his shoulders and pulled the front of the bra down before pulling the back straps together, which actually kind of hurt if he was being honest, then she fiddled with it at the back and let go when it was secured. “You’re gonna have to adjust yourself.” Allura said. For once she seemed uncomfortable. Keith considered her words before stiffening. He wasn’t well educated on how this, the bra, was meant to feel but he knew that he was way too uncomfortable at the moment. God he was going to have to fix it.He didn’t want to touch any part of himself that resembled female. He wasn’t repulsed by it, he just felt like a massive perv -which was weird considering he was gay and this was his own body. Keith begrudgingly moved his hands to adjust himself, trying his best not to touch any of his own skin. Why did this feel so wrong?He readjusted the bra and let out a relieved sigh when it was done. Not only was he glad he didn’t have to touch his own boobs anymore, the bra was much more comfortable now. He simultaneously understood why girls wore them and also why they hated them so much. It was like wearing a really tight belt around his chest but he also noticed how his posture had straightened slightly and he didn’t feel so... weighed down.“Done.” Allura smiled at him sympathetically. “Does that feel better?”Keith felt embarrassed again and he stared down at the floor. “Yeah, I guess.” He muttered.“Good.” Allura replied. She picked up his discarded shirt and threw it at him. “Put this back on for now. We’re going to have to get you some new clothes.”Keith caught the shirt and looked down at it. “Why?” he asked. He quickly shrugged the shirt back on and pulled it down at the front. “Oh.” He whispered when the shirt sprung back up. It didn’t fit anymore.Allura nodded. “You’ll need new pants too.” She muttered as she made her way out of the wardrobe and into the bathroom. Keith didn’t know what to do so he followed her.The first thing he noticed when he walked into the bathroom was his reflection in the mirror. His eyes darted downwards instantly and he busied himself by inspecting the many bottles and jars that rested on Allura’s sink. He realised he’d never been in Allura’s bathroom. Actually, he’d only been in her room once before this. The stark difference surprised him. Of course Allura’s bedroom and its attachments were bigger than the paladins assigned rooms but they were also more personalised. She had a lot of stuff; candles, soaps, lotions and a bunch of pink, vibrant flowers placed precariously on the edge of her bathtub. They were only the beginning. It was all very stereotypically feminine.Allura stalked over to a set of wicker drawers on the far end of the room. She pulled at each handle, searching for something. When she found it she smiled and turned so quickly that Keith nearly jumped back. In her hand was an opened container full of pink-handled razors. Keith gulped.Allura’s expression hid no signs of amusement. Her eyes crinkled in the corners and she was smiling. She wasn’t making fun of him but she might as well be. This was obviously funny to her.“You might want to shave.” She informed him. “Legs and underarms are a good idea. And ummm.. if you want to you can-” She vaguely pointed to the area between her thighs and once again Keith’s cheeks were burning.“Thanks.” He said, avoiding eye contact and, instead, reaching for a razor. He wondered if this was really necessary. Earlier, after Coran had calmed down from laughing hysterically at Keith’s expense, he’d gotten straight to business. Leaving the room in search of a cure. Keith believed that Coran would find something soon but now Allura was acting like this was a permanent thing and Keith wasn’t really sure what to think anymore.He took the razor and clutched it in his hand.—-Lance was slumped in his dining room chair in a state of delayed horror. Today’s topic of pre-breakfast discussion: Anything that didn’t involve their recently female teammate. Everyone seemed keen on avoiding that topic. Lance, however couldn’t not think about it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this whole ‘Keith is a girl now’ thing. It seemed like yet another excuse for the universe to fuck with him.Everyone else acted like it was just another normal day. Pidge was chatting with Shiro about her most recent experiments, Hunk and Coran were in the kitchen, and Allura seemed content with listening to Pidge’s chatter. Allura had come in a few minutes ago after she’d had her little ‘discussion’ with Keith. Lance wasn’t exactly sure what that consisted of but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know.Lance didn’t have long to ponder it. Hunk entered the room with trays of what Lance suspected was food. He’d never seen any of these dishes in his life but they looked pretty fancy. Hunk placed the dishes in a row on the the long dining room table with an easy smile on his face. Everyone dug in, starving due to their late breakfast. Lance piled way too much food on his plate, keen on distracting himself with food. That worked right up until Keith trudged in with dripping wet hair and a sour look on his face. His eyes screamed murder as he plopped down in his seat.Keith had obviously just showered. Lance wondered how that had gone for him. What, with the.. you know what, never mind. The sour look was an obvious sign that things had gone badly.“Better?” Allura asked, breaking the awkward silence. Lance realised he’d been staring for too long and immediately went back to his food.“No.” Keith deadpanned. He sat forward, reaching for the food. “Of course not.” Allura turned her attention back to her own food. “Well, everyone up for a shopping trip?”“What, today?” Keith asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. Lance perked up at that too. Today was supposed to be a catch up day. The castle was experiencing a few malfunctions lately and they’d planned on resting up and fixing the castle. Now they were visiting the space mall?“Yes, today.” Allura announced. “You need new clothes, there’s a swat moon nearby and we won’t get another opportunity any time soon so we’re going.”“You’re not going to dress him up in girls clothes are you?” Shiro asked, looking wary. “Of course I am. I’m not going to let her walk around in boys clothes.” Allura replied as if this was completely normal. Like it wasn’t at all weird that she’d just addresses Keith as a ‘her’.Shiro must have thought it was weird. “You do realise that Keith is a boy, don’t you?” Shiro asked. His eyes darted from Allura to Keith cautiously, like he was making sure Keith didn’t throw a fit.Allura shrugged. “Keith has girl parts now. She’s a girl.”So Keith did have a vagina! As soon as Lance thought it he pushed it away. Why the hell was he thinking like that? Lance decided to distract himself by staring at Keith instead. He still looked very much like himself but it was amazing what a few slight changes in structure could do. Lance had always thought of Keith as a pretty boy. It was the eyes. They were just so big and round, and he had long thick eyelashes that would make any girl jealous. Keith’s eyes often portrayed more about how he was feeling than his voice did. If Lance ever wondered what Keith was thinking his gaze would immediately move toward his eyes, not that Keith’s eyes were easy to read either but sometimes Lance could see it, the confusion, frustration, and on the rare occasion; joy.Now, Keith’s whole face was more open, Lance didn’t have to look at Keith’s eyes to know that he was equal parts exhaustion and anxiety, it was written all over him.Lance realised with surprise that Keith didn’t have anything to say on the matter at hand. He figured Keith had reached a point beyond caring.Pidge’s hand rose from the table, she looked like she was volunteering to answer a question in class. “I’ll stay behind and help Coran with the castle’s maintenance.”Hunk sat forward, obviously uncomfortable with the way the conversation had been going. “Me too.”Shiro cut in with an “I’ll stay too.”Which left Lance. He didn’t have anything to do here anyway and it’s not like he could help with maintenance, he wouldn’t have the first clue on what to do there.Allura volunteered him before he could even agree. “Lance, you’re coming with us then.” She said, pushing her empty bowl of food goo forward. Keith could be heard audibly choking on his own goo. “I don’t even get a choice?” Lance asked. Not that he cared anyway. The Space mall sounded way better than sitting around in the castle anyway. It would be nice to have his own opinion sometimes though.“No. You don’t. We leave in ten of your earth minutes.” She clapped her hands together and walked out of the room with determination. “Don’t make me late.”—-Only five minutes into their little shopping expedition, Lance already understood why Allura had been so keen on him coming. Keith was being difficult.It was nothing more than his usual level of difficulty. Just the same old unwillingness to show an interest in anything that wasn’t slicing through bad guys. As soon as they walked into the first shop, Keith started complaining.Allura ignored him, sifting through piles of clothes and asking Keith if he liked certain ones that she had picked. Almost every reply consisted of “no.” Or “this is stupid.” Lance’s eyes landed on a faded pink top with a rainbow on it. It wasn’t quite like the rainbows on earth but still similar enough for Lance to recognise it for what it was. He wondered if it would fit one of his young nieces. “Lance,” Allura asked, snapping him back to attention. “What do you think of this one?” She held out a coat hanger with a deep purple shirt hanging on it. The shirt was pretty plain apart from the band of frills around the bottom and the ends of the sleeves. Lance thought it might be alright if not for the frills. Keith would hate the frills.Keith definitely hated the frills. His lips were down turned into a frown and his were filled with horror.Lance tried not to cringe at the shirt himself. “Maybe not.” He replied.Allura sighed and threw the hanger back into its designated space. “Ladies, sir.” A woman just shorter than Keith walked up to them with an elegant smile. She looked almost human apart from her bluish tinted skin and the antennae protruding from her hair. “Can I help you with anything today?” She was the shop owner, obviously.Allura grinned like she’d just been saved. “She needs a new outfit.” Allura spit out quickly, speaking over Keith’s attempts at getting the woman to leave. She shoved Keith toward the woman. “Do you have any suggestions?”The woman considered Keith for a moment, nodding to herself. “Of course.” She replied before turning and waving over her shoulder for them to follow. “Right this way, Miss.”Keith visibly stiffened before Allura shoved him in the direction of the woman. They were out of sight within seconds. Lance wandered around the shop, seeing if he could find anything that might suit Keith and not make him gag at himself in horror. It was a fine line.He found a couple of things that might work. A plain black T-shirt, a striped blue and white shirt -which he figured was a bit of a stretch but what the heck- a pair of denim jeans, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black legging look alikes that seemed way too revealing but they weren’t that different to what Keith was currently wearing.He made his way toward the change rooms where he’d spotted Allura patiently waiting but stopped half way there when he caught a glimpse of something long and red. It was a dress. As beautifully made as it was long. The colour was vibrant and exciting, reaching all the way from its open shoulder to the bottom of the skirt. It was covered in a layer of thin lace, slightly darker in colour and for some reason Lance immediately thought of Keith. Keith would look nice in this dress. Very nice.Then he immediately remembered that this was Keith he was talking about and Keith wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress. He gave the dress one last inspection before turning his back and heading toward the change rooms with his arm full of clothes. Allura looked beyond irritated when Lance showed up. She rolled her eyes at him, a gesture that he suspected was actually aimed at Keith.“What’s wrong?” He asked though he figured he already knew.“She doesn’t like anything that we picked out.” Allura explained, gesturing toward the shop owner who was busy picking out more clothes for Keith.It took a moment for Lance to realise that the princess was actually talking about Keith. This whole ‘She’ business was really tripping him up. First Pidge, now Keith. Who else on the ship was secretly a girl?“Do you think he-“ Lance stopped himself when the shop owner came over. “She would like these?” He corrected.Allura took the clothes off him and looked through them with an even expression. Just as she was about to reply there was the telltale click of a lock and one of the change room doors swung open.Keith stepped out looking bored out of hi- her mind. She wore a pair of black, denim shorts and a midrif navy shirt. Lance thought she actually looked pretty decent but Keith seemed beyond mortified. Especially when her eyes landed on Lance.Lance tried not to look at Keith’s curved, cleanly shaved legs. Lance didn’t see them often and he kind of wished he did. Keith had nice legs.“That’s nice, Keith.” Allura tried.It was in vain. Keith was already shaking her head profusely. “I feel stupid.” She turned to go back into the change room and Lance noticed Allura huff in annoyance. Lance figured he should at least try and help.“Wait.” Lance called, reaching for the door. Keith looked up at him in confusion and Lance turned her toward the mirror. “You feel stupid in it, but if you saw someone walking around looking like this, what would you think?” He offered.Keith stared at Lance’s reflection in the the mirror, scrunching her nose in confusion.Lance sighed, trying a new approach. “Pretend we’re not looking at you. We’re looking at.. your girlfriend.” Lance was just rolling with it. “Does she look nice?”Keith looked at herself with that familiar scrutinising expression that Lance knew too well after all the times it had been directed at himself.“No.” Keith replied bluntly.Lance was taken back by the sureness in Keith’s voice. “Shit, Keith.” Lance replied dramatically. “This is you’re girlfriend were talking about, have some manners.”Keith expression switched from annoyed to something close to amusement. “I don’t even know her name.” She replied, giving Lance that expression that said ‘you’re an idiot.’ Lance was familiar with that look too.Lance tapped his chin thoughtfully. Trying to conjure up the most exotic name he could think of. “Chastity.” He chuckled. “Her name’s Chastity.”“Is my girlfriend, by chance, a stripper?” Keith asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow at Lance. He admitted to himself. Chastity did sound kind of like a stripper name.“Sure, if that’s what you’re into.” He shrugged. Keith’s cheeks flushed an incredibly solid red colour and Lance laughed. “So, now that you two are introduced, what do you think?”Keith turned back to look at herself. “There’s not enough clothing for her to strip off.” Keith explained. “She’s already showing too much skin.” She said, uncomfortably tugging at the shirt to keep it down.Lance smirked, turning toward Allura and reaching for the clothes he’d picked out. He showed them to Keith. “How about these?”True to Keith fashion. She immediately reached for the black items. Figures.Keith took the black shirt and the black jeans and leggings. Inspecting them carefully. She didn’t say anything but Lance could tell that Keith was more comfortable with them than with the shorts and the midriffs. They covered everything that need to be covered and, of course, they were black.“Try them.” Lance encouraged. He stepped out of the way so that Keith could close the door behind her wordlessly.When Lance turned he was greeted by a giggling Allura.“What?” Lance whispered. “Nothing.” Allura replied flatly which made Lance suspicious. “So, why were you staring at that dress over there?” She asked, avoiding Lance’s suspicious gaze and nodding over to the red dress that Lance had be looking at before.Lance blushed, realising he’d been caught. If he told Allura what he’d really been thinking she’d definitely make fun of him.He shrugged instead, trying to stay cool. “It’s a nice dress.” Lance replied.Allura nodded and then, reading his mind, she said. “Keith would look nice in that dress.”She spoke like she was agreeing with Lance, like he was the one who’d mentioned Keith. Lance didn’t realise what he was saying until it fell out of his dumb mouth. “Yeah, She would.” He replied almost dreamily. Lance realised his mistake immediately and he turned to an amused Allura with his mouth hanging open. Shit, shit, shit! “I uh, I mean-“ Lance’s shoulders slouched forward and he frowned. “Please don’t tell him- her I said that.”Allura smiled and then made a motion that resembled a zipper being pulled shut against her lips. A motion Lance had taught her a few weeks ago when she’d asked him about it. “You know, Keith is a very pretty girl.” She said suggestively.Lance knew he was blushing which was totally giving away his cool demeanour. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked suspiciously. Allura was acting quite strangely today.“Oh, Nothing.” She said casually, turning away slowly. “I’m just surprised you haven’t tried any of your lame lines on her yet.” Allura whipped around with a devilish grin on her face and Lance choked. He literally choked on his own tongue and started coughing.Allura waited for him to calm down -which took a very long time- before she continued.“Too bad she wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress.” Allura replied, frowning. So Lance wasn’t the only one who thought that. It was unfortunate, Lance would die just to see Keith in that dress. Keith made for a naturally pretty girl, it was quite unfair actually, of course Keith was beautiful as both genders.Speaking of the devil, while Lance was pondering the inequality of life, Keith had emerged from the change rooms looking much, much more comfortable in her new outfit. Lance grinned. He’d always prided himself on his innate ability to understand people, it was nice to see that he still had it.Keith looked great. A faded black shirt that looked almost identical to her usual shirt, but fitted so much better around her new body shape, and thick black leggings that drew Lance’s attention right back to the smooth curve of Keith’s legs. “Better?” Allura asked. She seemed pleased with Lance’s choice in clothing.Keith nodded. “Better.” He replied with a relieved smile. Lance felt another unnecessary wave of pride. He’d done that. He’d put that smile on Keith’s face.-Allura sent them to wait outside the shop, saying she had her own business to attend to and that she’d be out in a minute.Lance didn’t question it. He figured Allura just needed a new bra or something. So when she walked out a few moments later and handed Keith her bag and kept the other for herself, Lance wasn’t even curious about what exactly was in the bag. Not even when he saw a flash of red lace that looked extremely familiar.-“Are you alright?” Lance asked Keith once they were back in their pod and flying home. Allura was in the front seat, flying the pod while Lance and Keith were in the back.Keith looked angry at Lance’s question which usually would have surprised him but this was Keith. Keith was always grumpy about something. “I’m fine.” She replied, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “Why wouldn’t I be?”Lance scoffed. “I dunno, maybe cause you just miraculously turned into a girl over night!” He suggested. God Keith was a dumbass sometimes.“Oh, right.” Keith replied. “Well I’m fine now that Allura’s not shoving ugly clothes at me.” The memory caused her nose to scrunch up.Lance laughed. “I’m sure they weren’t that bad.” Keith’s dark eyes went wide and accusatory. “You weren’t there, Lance! She tried to make me wear a skirt. I nearly climbed over the changing room door and ran away!” She replied, expression dead serious.Lance couldn’t help it, he was laughing again. That absolutely did sound like something Keith would do. It also sounded a lot like something Allura would do. She knew Keith wouldn’t try on that skirt if his life depended on it but of course she’d try.Keith was looking at him now like he was the biggest asshole for laughing. Like Keith had just told him the most tragic experience in his life and all Lance could do was laugh at her. It only made Lance laugh harder.“What the hell are you laughing at?” Keith yelled.“I’m sorry.” Lance gasped between an outburst of giggles. Keith looked so hurt that Lance was laughing at her. “It’s just been a really weird day.”Keith’s eyes took on a whole new level of offence. “You think you’ve had a weird day?” She said, outraged.“I guess it was probably a lot weirder for you.” Lance reasoned.Keith reached under the sleeve of her shirt and pulled out a thin, nude strap. “Do you know who’s bra this is, Lance?” Keith asked.She had the most frustrated look on her face and Lance nearly started laughing again. He stopped himself. Keith was absolutely venting to him right now. She’d had probably the weirdest day of her life and now she was letting it all out. Lance felt blessed that he got to be the one to witness this. Though he was slightly confused as well. Keith literally never told him anything. Maybe it was a girl thing?“Yours, obviously. You’re the one wearing it.”Keith’s face faltered for a moment as she thought about that. “Well, I guess it is now, but- no! It’s Allura’s bra. She made me try on bras this morning. And- and then she gave me a razor and told me to shave my legs. Do you know how hard it is to shave your legs in the shower, Lance?”Lance shook his head, trying incredibly hard to keep the smile off his face.“I nearly slipped over and died. And then she was like, ‘you can shave here too if you want.’!” Keith motioned toward his privates and Lance almost had a stroke.Keith must have noticed Lance’s discomfort because she laughed. “Exactly. That’s exactly how I felt when she said that.” She pointed at Lance hysterically.Lance was pretty sure that he had never seen Keith more animated in his life. She was literally bouncing out of her seat with trepidation.It was kind of cute.No it wasn’t. Keep it together Lance!“I honestly thought you would tease me more. You’re always teasing me about something, but now you just stopped and it’s making me nervous.” Keith added.Lance actually hadn’t thought about that. Had he not teased Keith at all today? Well, now that Keith had brought it up- “I mean, if you’re so desperate for me to harass you I’m sure we can have something arrange-““No!” Keith yelled, jumping forward slightly. “I don’t want you to tease me I was just making a point.”“Too late, Miss.” Lance purred. He proud to see the blush on Keith’s cheeks. “You asked for this, you shall receive.”Keith groaned but it wasn’t like his usual groan, I was slightly higher in pitch, more feminine. Lance chuckled.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Keith hadn’t believed Allura when she told her her armour would still fit. Allura was usually right about these things but Keith had a sneaking suspicion that she was mistaken.However, as Keith pulled her chest plate into place, it melded to fit her new shape and she was pleasantly surprised. Looks like Allura does know everything.Keith sauntered into the control room, meeting up with the rest of the team. She’d pulled her hair into a high ponytail with one of the hair bands Allura had given her. It was surprisingly relieving having her hair out of the way. She could see better and there was a cool chill that brushed against the back of her neck for the first time in forever. Maybe when things went back to normal she would cut her hair. Perhaps then Lance would stop complaining about it.Pidge was talking excitedly when Keith walked in. She managed to catch about half a sentence. “-Experimenting with some of those crystals that Keith brought back and-““The crystals that Coran needed in order to fix the castle?” Shiro asked sternly.Pidge waved her hand dismissively. “Coran didn’t need them anymore, he gave me the leftovers. Anyway, I thought maybe they could help us figure out why Keith’s, y’know, not male at the moment. Hopefully there’s some clues about how to cure it.” She explained.Shiro nodded. “Okay, that’s fine. As long as Coran doesn’t need them anymore.” He sounded like a distraught parent who’d just caught his precious child stealing. It was funny to watch sometimes.Keith crossed the room and planted herself in her designated seat, the holographic screen lit up once she was seated, an unfamiliar map materialised in front of her eyes.“The grey area on your map indicates the Galra base that you will need to infiltrate.” Allura said, commanding voice unfaltering. She moved straight into her explanation now that everyone was there. Keith’s eyes searched her map for the area. “The base is heavily equipped for aerial battle so it is decided that you will enter by foot. There are two main entrances at ground level.” She pointed to her own, larger holographic map, indicating the entries on opposite sides of the base. “They are also heavily armed so it is advised that you enter without being detected.”Shiro could be heard from his own seat. “We’ll split into two groups. Pidge and I will enter through the west side. Keith, Hunk, Lance; you enter through the east side. We don’t have a clear read on where the prisoners are being held so we’ll have to split up.”Shiro and Allura went on to explain the rest of the plans. Keith listened with unfaltering focus, taking in every detail like it was the most important information she’d ever heard. But as she continued to listen she noticed something surprisingly unnerving. Keith figured she’d just grown deaf to Lance’s little comments and jokes during important briefings, he never failed to slide an inappropriate joke in every so often or find a way to make fun of some kind of exotic alien name that Allura seemed to just make up on the spot. Keith’s focus slipped for a minute as she listened out for one of Lance’s little comments. She found that Lance was strangely lacking in input and it made Keith uncomfortable. The only time Lance was quiet was when he was upset about something..Keith spun around in her heavy chair, peering around the back to catch a glimpse at the blue paladin. To her surprise, Lance was already watching her, his eyes troubled and his lips pulled into a slight pout.Keith cocked an eyebrow at him, feeling self conscious. How long had Lance been looking at her like that?Lance’s eyes went wide and he turned them away from Keith within an instant. Now extremely interested in the map in front of him instead of the back of Keith’s head.Well that was weird..Keith shrugged and turned back to her own holographic map. Lance was just being weird. When was he not?—Once the briefing was over, Lance approached Keith. He had a strange look on his face that Keith couldn’t quite place. “You sure you’re gonna be able to keep up with me now?” He asked, mouth twitching into a smirk.Keith heard something clatter against the control panel where Allura had been preparing for their mission. He noticed that she’d turned her attention to Lance and was giving him a very unhappy glare.“Why wouldn’t I?” Keith asked, properly confused. He turned his attention back to Lance.Lance floundered at Keith’s confusion. “Well you know. You’re a girl now and everyone knows tha-““You two need to get to your lions. The rest of the team is waiting.” Allura cut in. She seemed upset about something. Keith wondered what waswrong with her all of a sudden. She’d been fine a moment ago.Lance seemed confused as well.—“You tied your hair up?” Lance said it like it was a question but it was more of a statement. He had clearly seen it this morning.“Uhh, Yeah. I didn’t want it getting in the way.” Keith replied. She had her helmet on so it was hard to read her expression. Lance suspected she was giving him her trademark ‘You’re an idiot’ look.“You never thought about tying that ugly mullet of yours up before?” Lance asked. He was not at all wondering how Keith would look with that sharp masculine jawline when it wasn’t being covered in his mullet.“What is your obsession with my hair, Lance? Does it really bother you that much or are you just looking for an excuse to pick on me?” Keith didn’t sound annoyed, just curious.“It’s not an obsession I’m just trying to help you out.”“Okay, sure.” Keith replied sarcastically.“Can we please focus on the mission?” Hunk asked from behind them, causing Lance to jump. He’d kind of forgotten the big guy was there. “I don’t wanna get shot because you two were too busy bickering to watch my back, y’know.”“Yeah, sorry Hunk.” Keith apologised. Her attention shifted to the two Galra soldiers guarding the east door of the base. “I’m thinking we should be able to sneak past the guards if we’re quiet. They seem more interested in their conversation than they are about intruders.”Lance followed Keith’s gaze and realised that the two guards weren’t just chatting, they were arguing. The volume seemed to be picking up too which would mean that the Paladins could sneak past unnoticed. “That could work.” Lance shrugged.Hunk nodded in confirmation. “Let’s go.”—They made it past the guards without a problem. Hunk lead them through the poorly lit base with his built in wrist torch. He scanned the several isle at each intersection and chose the way on what Lance guessed was plain old intuition. He could feel Keith’s presence just behind him as they wandered, silent as a shadow.They made it to one more intersection where Hunk stopped for a little longer than he had at the last few. “I’m detecting heat signatures to the right.” He explained. “Only problem is I don’t know if they’re prisoners or guards.”Keith nudged in closer so that she could get a scope of the situation. “Guess we’ll find out.” She shrugged. Then, without hesitation, she motioned for them to follow.Turned out it was the prisoners they’d detected and within minutes the cell door was unlocked. Lance was the first to enter. Every single one of the alien prisoners shied away from him. He held his hands up in the universal position of peace, revealing his empty palms. Some of the prisoners gasped as they seemed to realise that the Paladins of Voltron were here to help them. “We’re gonna get you out of here.” Lance whispered. “I need everyone to stay close and be as quiet as possible. Can you do that for me?” There were a few shared murmurings in acknowledgement and then the prisoners moved forward, awaiting further instruction. “Cool. Let’s go.” Lance said, turning toward his teammates who stood watch by the doors.They made it about half way to the exit before running into trouble. Two Galra sentries turned the corner ahead of them and with so many people to hide in such a short time it was impossible not to get caught out.The drones raised their guns in defence and Lance immediately copied the motion. He was stopped short by a steady hand. Keith’s palm forcefully shoved Lance’s bayard toward the ground. Lance noticed she already had her shield raised, as did Hunk. “Your bayard’s too loud.” She explained, activating her own bayard and turning her attention toward the two guards. “Cover the prisoners.” Before Lance could even convince her otherwise, Keith was running head on toward the guards. Lance stepped back. Raising his shield to protect the prisoners as Keith made light work of the two guards. And damn did she look good doing it. Lance had always admired Keith’s skill with a sword but never as much as he did now. She moved in one fluid motion, slicing upwards as the first Galra robot aimed its blaster at her. The bot clattered to the ground almost soundlessly, prompting the second to turn on Keith.Keith pulled her sword back and effortlessly thrust it through the second guards chest before it could even get a shot in.Then she removed her sword and deactivated the bayard, motioning for them to keep moving. There were several ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the prisoners. They seemed impressed with Keith’s quick work.“Lance, are you coming?” Hunk called. Lance hadn’t realised he’d been staring, mouth wide open and his feet securely planted in place. All of the prisoners were ahead of him now.“Uh.. y-yeah. Yes. Yes I am coming.” He stuttered before running after them. His cheeks were flushed and he knew it was not from running.—Once they were safely away from the base and the other Paladins were just about finished loading the prisoners into the castle, one of the prisoners came over to where Lance and Keith hadbeen chatting. The prisoner stepped forward and shook Lance’s hand. “Thank you for rescuing us.” He said. “We owe you our lives.” It may have just been a mistake but Keith got the feeling that this man was addressing Lance only. As if Keith wasn’t even there.Keith watched Lance as he fidgeted. He looked like he was expecting something from the prisoner and became uncomfortable when nothing happened. “You’re welcome.” Lance replied uncomfortably. He looked toward Keith. “But we wouldn’t have made it out so easily if Keith weren’t there too.”The man turned his attention to Keith. His eyes hid none of the disappointment that he felt. “Do you think that it is a good idea to have females contributing in your mission?” He asked. Once again addressing Lance.Just like before, Keith noticed Allura perk up at the mans words. She stared at him in disbelief.Keith felt something kick in her chest and she thought that she understood now. She felt it on a personal level for once and it made her incredibly angry.“Almost half of our team is made up of females. Each paladin has their own abilities and each paladin contributes equally. No matter their gender.” Keith explained. She tried to keep her voice steady but she could feel Allura watching them and she felt angry.. maybe even a little protective.Keith had always been a tough kid. People had always seen him that way and he couldn’t imagine what it was like, being denied of that just for being born female. Keith was still exactly the same. She could still swing a sword. She was still strong and courageous.She could still keep up with the boys in the team.The only difference now was her gender. That shouldn’t change how people viewed her.“On my planet only men fight in wars. Women do not posses the abilities to cope with such difficult work.” The man replied simply.“You must lose a lot of wars then.” Lance replied with a shrug. “Because at least half of the battles we’ve won would have been hopeless without the girls on our team.”The man glanced toward Keith again and then at the rest of the team who were making their way toward the red and blue Paladins. He seemed nervous.“Is there a problem?” Shiro asked once he’d reached them. He gave both Paladins a concerned look.Lance nodded toward the man. “This guy thi-““No. We’re good now.” Keith cut him off. She turned to the man and motioned toward the castle ship. “We’re done here.” She said in finalisation and the man scuttled off to the rest of his people.“Guy was cruisin’ for a bruisin’, I’ll tell you that much.” Lance replied absently.The others watched in confusion as Lance started walking back to the castle. Then they followed after him. All except Allura who stayed behind with Keith. Her eyes were fixed to the ground but she was smiling. “I know you weren’t saying those things for me, but thank you anyway.” She said.Keith huffed a laugh and nudged her shoulder with her own. “Us girls have got to look out for each other.” She said. “Boys are assholes sometimes. Even when they don’t mean to be.”Allura grinned happily at her and linked their arms before they walked back to the castle together. “Yeah, boys are assholes.” She said. “But sometimes they’re okay.”