Keith can’t swim. Like, for his life. He is a pretty fast sprinter, can run for miles leaving the other paladins far behind and was at the top of his class in P.E. back at the Garrison. But he cannot do the swim.
He tried, really. He read all the books and studied the theory and watched other people do it plenty of times but. It just does not work. Also, the boy lived in the desert for a year so it has probably been a long time since The last time he has seen a body of water bigger than a sink. So not a good place to learn how to swim.
When the paladins land on an earth like planet and Lance hears that there is a BEACH and OCEAN there is no way to stop him from going. So they all go. Keith is a little nervous because he never told anybody about his little problem. It’s a weakness. It makes him vulnerable. And he suspects that he would never hear the end of it if Lance knew. And at first it is not a problem. After they find out that they won’t die if they touch the water, Lance and Pidge and Hunk jump right in and have the time of their lives because it has been so loNG. The rest just sprawl out on the beach and relax, just for a few hours. (Shiro mostly tries not to stare at Allura because she looks so dang beautiful with her hair shining in the sunlight like smooth ivory and pearls and her skin seems to glow from within and her eyes have the color of the sea and he should probably wear a hat because his face is suddenly very hot and red- he is really not that subtle.)
Pidge comes back after a while and they build a sandcastle with Coran because he never did it before can you believe?? Turns out Coran might really have missed out on something because he is really good at it and soon he and Pidge are competing for the best sandspacecastle and they turn out gigantic. Allura is the judge and she can’t decide because they are both so good so Pidge and Coran do a rematch. They won’t stop until there is a winner or someone surrenders. This could go on for ages.
And Keith just tries to relax. It’s not easy for him. Being out under the hot sun, surrounded by all the sand reminds him of his year in the desert. His survival instinct kicks in. He has the urge to go back to the castle and to the training deck and stay there for hours and just let himself go until he is ready to take on Zarkon himself. But when he closes his eyes and breathes, just breathes for a moment and does not think of the loneliness of the desert and the dark thoughts that haunt him sometimes, he can smell the sea and hear the calming sound of the waves and the laughter of his friends. His family. And it has been a long time since he has been this happy. And he might have fallen asleep, just a little, because he wakes up suddenly when someone grabs his ankles and his arms and he his hauled in the air and he doesn’t have time to comprehend what is happening because in the next second he finds himself thrown in the water. His head is underwater. He open his eyes but he can’t see much. Just a blur of blue and green and gray and stirred up sand and he panics. His feet don’t seem to touch the ground even though he would be able to stand if he was calm. He swallows water, wants to scream but can’t and it seems like hours until he feels arms around his body that pull him back to the beach. He coughs and pants and clings to the arms that still hold him. When his ears stop ringing he opens his eyes and sees Lance, kneeling over him with a worried expression on his face. The rest is not far behind, shocked, eyes wide and he thinks that he might look similar. And this is how everybody learns that Keith can’t swim. But really, nobody mocks him for it. Not even Lance. He and Hunk apologize approximately 300 times on the way back to the castle for just grabbing him and throwing him in the ocean. And Keith is not really mad. They did not know better. And they really look sorry. He is more ashamed of himself because even though nobody makes fun of him, he knows that He could have told them and trusted them. It would have been fine.
A new nights pass and nothing happens. The paladins fight a few Galra ships, train, eat, sleep, repeat. But one night there’s a knock on Keith’s door. He opens, bayard in hand, and is surprised to see Hunk and Lance standing in the hallway. And even more so when they tell him that they want to make up for ‘the incident’ at the beach. And it takes time, a long time to convince Keith to let them help him to learn how to swim. But after a few nights of sneaking out of bed at night and going to the pool (because yes, there is a pool in the castle but how would Keith know) he almost likes it. Some nights it’s both Lance and Hunk training with him. Some nights it’s only Lance while Hunk is in the kitchen to prepare a snack for them. And it is one of those nights when the alarm goes on, just when Lance and Keith are ready to go, already in their shorts and Hunk in the kitchen, in his apron and about to make some pancakes. There is no time so they just go straight to the control room. Questions are asked. Mouths are kept shut. Pancakes burn.
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