#leilariver

I can’t believe…..my time has finally come.

It’s a huge deal for Acxa to break from Lotor’s ranks, and after she and Keith come to an agreement that he and the rest of Voltron will help protect her in their fight against Lotor and the rest of the generals, she gets her own room in the castle

Her room is super secluded from everyone else because she acknowledges that she’s the outsider here and she can sense the unease from the rest of the paladins, Allura, and Coran at her presence

Keith is the only one who comes to visit her to ask questions about Lotor and how they should proceed, and while she knows it isn’t a personal call to come visit her, she doesn’t understand why he isn’t as afraid of her as the rest of them

When she asks him that very question, she’s startled when he gives her a genuine smile and says “because I’m an outsider too”

Acxa blushes which makes her cheeks go a darker shade of purple and Keith can’t help but notice

consider him shook

They start spending more and more time together and their discussions start to trail into Acxa’s heritage and how they’re both half Galra

Acxa is almost clinical in her retelling of her childhood and her hardships that she faced as a half-breed, and how she had been able to find focus and solace under Lotor’s reign

Keith is fascinated and just wants to learn more and more so he keeps coming back to her and they spend hours talking, first starting with her sitting on the edge of her bed and Keith leaning against the wall by the door until they both unconsciously become comfortable enough with one another that they start sitting next to each other on the bed

The first time Acxa laughs at some dumb thing Keith says in an off-topic rant, his throat kind of closes up and all he can do is stare and the way her eyes crinkle and how she lifts a hand to cover her mouth and wow she’s kind of unfairly beautiful

He immediately makes up some excuse about why he has to leave—“left the food goo machine on in the kitchen, it’ll be a whole thing, so I gotta just–yeah ok bye”—and then stands outside her door with his hand on his chest where his heart’s beating a little fast and has a moment of internal crisis

Acxa’s left confused and blinking at where the door just swished shut 

Acxa has zero (0) concept of understanding human interactions, mannerisms, and general social etiquette so Keith has to keep an eye on her 

Lance: [accidentally spills nunvil on Acxa when they bump shoulders in the hall]

Acxa: [spins around] YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME?

Keith: NO NO, THERE’S NO CHALLENGING HERE

Lance thought he was going to die that day

Despite instances like the one with Lance, Keith convinces Acxa to come out of her room more often to visit with the other paladins to start to make them feel comfortable around her too

Keith has a mini-heart attack when Acxa tilts her head and says “You understand me. Isn’t that enough?” and he just mumbles out something unintelligible and waves at the corridor towards the kitchen in an attempt to make her start walking so she won’t see his face turn red

but for real, once she starts integrating more with the paladins, Acxa makes some very interesting connections

She and Hunk bond immediately 

prob bc Hunk is the epitome of trustworthy and kind and she feels at ease around him and he makes her laugh with his constant food references and dramatic expressions and she always replies with “I do not understand what you’re saying but you are quite entertaining!”

Pidge also slowly eases into talking with Acxa and asking prying questions with that little glint in her eye that always pops up when she’s devastatingly curious and wants to learn more about something and Acxa finds her small stature intriguing

Okay but speaking of Keith blushing

The first time Keith blushes at something, Acxa smiles and comments on how odd it is that some humans have such transparent skin and she reaches forward to touch Keith’s cheek where it’s now bright pink and he sucks in a really sharp breath and freezes up

Acxa notices and says “Oh. Am I crossing a ‘boundary’?” and Keith can’t help but laugh lightly at the air quotes he can hear in her words and he croaks out “Kind of.” 

and Acxa nods once and starts to pull her hand away and Keith doesn’t know what possesses him but he grabs her wrist and Acxa stiffens because she’s used to violence following something like that but Keith’s grip is firm but gentle and she looks into his eyes just as he says “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Neither of them really know what to do from there with the tension hanging between them so Keith lets her go and Acxa folds her hands in her lap and they both just stare at the floor until Keith bids her a goodnight

spoiler alert: Keith doesn’t sleep at all that night

spoiler alert #2: neither does Acxa

Keith and Acxa train together in the training room whenever there’s downtime

Keith is thrilled because he’s fighting another humanoid who pushes him to his limits and not the same robot over and over again

Acxa finds Keith’s intensity and his level of skill fascinating and their sparring sessions go from minutes into hours

Neither of them want to give in even when they’re both about to collapse from exhaustion, and Keith takes the high road and calls a draw so they can both slide down the wall on the far side of the training room and catch their breath

Both of them are satisfyingly sore and worn out and happy that they’ve found a decent opponent to spar with but neither of them say it

Their first kiss is after one of their countless sparring sessions

Acxa got the upper hand in the last half of their session and caught Keith off-guard, pushing him closer and closer to the side of the room until he was backed into a corner with no way out and she knocks his sword out of his hands

Keith trips backwards and falls on the ground with a surprised huff and feels the tip of Acxa’s training spear just under his chin, inches from his throat and their eyes hold for several moments

With a short laugh, Acxa withdraws and holds out her hand to pull Keith to his feet, which he grabs as he stands up, but Acxa pulled a little too hard and Keith was already feeling a little weak at the knees so he ends up stumbling a little closer to her than they’ve ever gotten before

They both just stand there, hands still clasped, lips parted in surprise, a little stunned at the lack of space between them, and that’s when Keith just leans forward and kisses her

Acxa panics and pushes away, covering her mouth with her hand as she says “What are you doing?” and Keith is kind of wrecked and doesn’t know how to reply so he just ducks his head and apologizes and moves past her to grab his bayard and leave the training room

Cue both of them in their rooms mulling it over; Keith, beating himself up and cursing himself for breaking the small bridge of trust he’d established with her. Acxa, with her fingers pressed to her mouth, brow furrowed as she tries to understand

Keith is sitting with his hands in his hair on the edge of his bed when his door swishes open and Acxa steps into his room 

She walks over to him and pulls him to his feet and she’s blushing but looks so vulnerable when she says really softly, “I don’t understand. Can you help me understand?” and Keith can’t really breathe but he cups her cheek and pulls her in to kiss her again

When they finally pull away, Acxa breathes out a little “Oh,” because she gets it now, and Keith can’t help but grin at that