To Proposals Misunderstood
While Shiro had been acting odd, each of the paladins had caught on to the fact that it very obviously has something to do with Keith, and the way he's acting odd leaves only one possibility.
He's going to propose.
Or 5 Times Everyone Thought Shiro was going to Propose, and the one time Keith Did.
My Sheithlentines gift for @ecori2 ! I tried to combine your ideas of something silly but also a proposal, so I hope you enjoy!
Also on Ao3!
The first time it happens, they’re at a party celebrating Voltron freeing the people of planet Ganziala. Lance had just managed to sneak away from two thankful royals who had bothering him all evening and saddle up to Allura when he spots them.
Shiro and Keith are swaying together on the edge of the dance floor, Keith’s head resting on Shiro’s shoulder as they whisper and laugh together. Cheesy pick up lines forgotten, he hurriedly nudges the princess in the side and points to where the two continue to sway, even as the music picks up around them. Her face is the picture of annoyance when she first turns, but upon seeing Shiro and Keith, her face softens and she leans into Lance’s side with a sigh.
“You know,” Lance starts, hooking one arm around her shoulders. “I overheard someone mention the other day that today’s banquet would be the perfect time for a certain someone to propose to a certain someone else.”
Allura’s eyes dart between the swaying couple and Lance, hand grabbing and squeezing his arm as she smiles.
“You don’t think?”
“Oh, I do.”
Beaming, she’s quick to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him to the dance floor, steering them through all the dancing couples to a position where they’re within hearing range of the other couple, as long as the two speak above a whisper. The both of them keep Shiro and Keith in their line of sight as they dance, and the second Shiro pulls away to get down on one knee, they both freeze.
The both of them are holding their breath, holding so tightly to each other that it’s amazing neither of them are bruised. Time seems to slow down as Keith smiles down at him, but instead of reaching into his pocket, Shiro holds his arms wide open as if waiting for a hug. Allura and Lance only have a few seconds of confusion before Kosmo comes barreling past, sliding right into Shiro’s arms from where he’s escaped from Krolia.
The two of them are so shocked they don’t even listen as Shiro and Keith chat for a few moments with Krolia, share a quick kiss, and leave the room to head back to their room aboard the Atlas. Allura is the first to come back to herself, letting her head fall forward to lean on Lance’s shoulder as she groans, his arms squeezing tight around her waist in response.
“Is it just me, or are the black paladins the biggest idiots you’ve ever met?”
“Trust me babe, it’s definitely not just you.”
The second time, it’s Pidge who assumes.
She’s on her way to Shiro’s office to ask if he still has those scans the Suvetins had sent over when she overhears him talking on the phone. She usually would’ve just walked away and come back another time, but the way Shiro’s whispering into the phone has her curious. Especially because she’s standing outside an empty storage closet listening to him.
“No, no don’t bring it here. I can come by and pick it up when it’s finished. Yeah, I just don’t want to risk him seeing it and ruining the surprise. Wow, you’ll have it done by the end of the week? Are you sure? I don’t actually need it for another 2 weeks, so I don’t mind waiting. I don’t mind the extra cost either, I just want this to be perfect for him. Okay, thank you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you helping me. Okay, I’ll be by Sunday morning to pick it up. God, Keith’s going to love this. Alright, thank you. Bye.”
She’s quick to dart down the hallway before the door opens and Shiro walks out, heart pounding as she thinks over what she just overheard. Shiro wouldn’t make a big deal out of nothing, and from the sounds of the half of a conversation she could hear, he has a pretty big gift for Keith. One he had to go have someone else make for him.
Scans forgotten, she’s quick to dart back to her lab and grab the Rover 2.0 she had finished mere days before. She’d updated Rover’s design with a camera in case she needed him to take photos or videos of the inside of a galra base, but she’s okay using him to take a video of Shiro’s proposal to Keith first.
The next few days are torture, but by Sunday she’s practically vibrating with excitement. Today was the day Shiro had said he would be picking up Keith’s gift, and thinking on it, she’s not surprised that he had a ring custom made. When Shiro asks Keith just after one in the afternoon on Sunday to follow him off the Atlas, Pidge follows as stealthily as she can, Rover 2.0 floating silently behind her.
The two of them walk for less than fifteen minutes before they get to a section of the Garrison that had been originally for the all-terrain vehicles that had been needed to traverse the desert. Pidge hides behind a stack of crates as Rover hovers around the corner, camera recording as Shiro grabs Keith’s hands and sighs.
She can’t hear exactly what’s being said from where she’s hiding, but she’s catching enough to know that Shiro’s giving a long speech on how much Keith means to him, how much he loves him, and how his life is so much brighter with the other man in it. He reaches for his pocket and she nearly vibrates out of her skin with excitement, which is quickly doused with confusion when he pulls out not a ring box, but a keychain.
“I know you’re not one for large, extravagant gestures, but I did want to do something special for you for our anniversary,” Shiro speaks, setting the keychain in Keith’s open palm and turning around to pull a sheet off a large misshapen object Pidge hadn’t even noticed.
It’s a hoverbike, near identical to the one Keith had been riding all those years ago when they’d all met. It’s red and black with purple accents instead of red and white, with a painted black lion on the side and shinier than anything she’d ever seen in her life.
She reaches out to grab Rover and shut off the recording right as Keith leans in to kiss Shiro and before they’ve even pulled apart, she’s snuck back off to the Atlas, the disappointment of not seeing Shiro propose sitting on her shoulders, but the joy at seeing how happy the two were together off settling it enough that she wasn’t even upset by the time she made it back and discovered that Rover’s recording had cut out halfway through.
The third time, it’s Hunk who makes the mistake.
It’s nearly eleven at night when he runs into Shiro attempting to sneak out of the kitchen, a plate of something extremely burnt tucked in his arms. When he catches sight of the yellow paladin, he’s quick to shuffle the plate behind his back, but even if Hunk can’t see the plate, he sure as heck can smell it.
“Uh, Shiro? What are you doing?”
With a sigh, he pulls the plate out and frowns at it before dumping the whole thing in the trash can behind him.
“I was planning on surprising Keith this weekend with a fancy dinner and a surprise, but I guess dying and coming back to life didn’t give me any magical culinary abilities.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me for help?” Hunk asked, pulling a hand out of his pocket to run through his hair.
“I didn’t want to bother you. I know you and Pidge have been working on upgrading parts of the Atlas. I thought I was being careful and following the recipe, but I guess not.”
“Buddy, as important as the upgrades are, Pidge can handle them herself for a bit while I help you with this. Besides, it’ll be a good opportunity to think about something else for a bit.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
And with that, Shiro tells him exactly what he has planned. A wonderful, fancy dinner ending right as the sun sets with a special surprise for Keith at the end. He tells Hunk that he’s planning on inviting all of the paladins, since it’ll be a special event and they’re family at this point. The way he talks and smiles while telling Hunk his plans makes it pretty obvious that the dinner is a bigger deal than he previously let on, and Hunk can’t help but bounce in glee mentally at the thought that he’ll get to make the meal that Shiro will propose to Keith to.
The next few days pass quickly, with Hunk experimenting and perfecting the menu as Shiro hands out invitations, telling the paladins to make sure Keith doesn’t find out. At this point, Hunk’s pretty sure the others have figured out what’s happening as well, but none of them talk about it beyond asking what they should wear.
When the day arrives, Hunk’s happy to say that not only is the food perfect, but all of the paladins are dressed in their absolute best, with Keith none the wiser to what’s about to happen. They’re all sitting when Shiro walks in with Keith, hand covering the other man’s eyes and guiding him to his seat at the head of the table. They’re all silent, smiling back and forth at each other when Shiro removes his hand with a softly spoken ‘surprise’. Keith’s eyes are wide, looking between all the paladins and the food in front of him with a smile.
After a few minutes of everyone talking, Keith finally turns to Shiro and asks, “So, what’s the occasion?”
Shiro’s small smile widens to a grin as he says “I’m glad you asked.”
Hunk’s holding his breath at this point, not wanting to interrupt the moment when Shiro stands and walks to the door they had all come through earlier. Before Hunk can question what he’s doing, he pulls the door open to reveal Krolia and Kolivan on the other side.
Keith’s out of his seat and hugging Krolia before Hunk can even blink, with Kolivan resting a hand on his back with a smile.
“I know they were supposed to be gone another four months, but they contacted me a week ago saying they’d be back early and we decided to surprise you. I figure we’d surprise you and then we could all have dinner together.” Shiro says, stepping forward with his arms open as Keith steps away from his mother and into his arms.
Hunk’s brain reboots from where it’d frozen, now realizing that he’d cooked the “Welcome Home Krolia and Kolivan” instead of the “Keith, will you marry me?” dinner, and he’s honestly not even upset. Keith’s smile when seeing the two of them, and the way he’d been so quick to fall into Shiro’s arms is worth all the work, even if it didn’t end exactly like he thought it would.
It’s Krolia who’s fooled next, and it’s through not a single fault of her own.
Shiro approaches her four days after she’s arrived back on Earth, seemingly nervous but quick to ask her if they can talk. In private.
She agrees, and they head to his private office, locking the door behind them. She sits in one of the plush armchairs in front of his desk as he paces behind it, but after a few minutes he turns to her and speaks.
“I would like to ask your permission to eat your son.”
It’s near perfect galran, and the fact that he’s learned to speak it almost surprises her more than the fact that he just asked to cannibalize her son. She’s known that people do odd things to get off, but this is where she’s quick to draw the line. She’s not entirely sure that Shiro knows exactly what he said, and hoping that he’s made a mistake, she asks him to repeat himself. In english this time.
He stutters over his words for nearly an hour, talking on how he’s known Keith for so long and he cares so much for him, not that time is the only reason someone can love someone else. He’s sure she loves her son very much, and he loves Keith just as much, or maybe just a bit less since she is his mother.
It’s the oddest rambling she’s heard since Keith’s father tried to tell her how beautiful he thought she was, but eventually, he reaches a point.
“I was just hoping that as his mother, you’d give me your blessing to be with Keith. Romantically. For as long as he’ll allow me to stay by his side.”
A light bulb goes off in her head as she realizes he’s asking for permission to propose to Keith, and she’s quick to give him her blessing, a hug, and be on her way. Honestly, she’s not surprised he made the mistake in attempting to ask in galran, but she is mildly surprised that he attempted to learn it to ask her.
Honestly, he should have said ‘Myeck nea she tokia’ rather than ‘myeck nea shii toke’, but honest beginners mistake, and she’s glad to find out that he’d simply wanted to ask her blessing for marriage rather than permission for his odd sex life.
The fifth time, all of the paladins are fooled.
They’re traveling a galaxy over for a meeting with a new planet when they decide to stop and rest. The planet they’ve landed on is absolutely gorgeous, and Shiro suggests a hike. They’re all feeling cooped up after staying aboard the Atlas for the last month, so they’re all quick to agree and grab their things.
It takes several hours, but they finally decide to stop when they make it to a large cliff overlooking the entire forest for miles around, a large waterfall a few hundred feet below them spilling into the most beautiful lake. The two suns highlight the whole sight in the most beautiful way, and all of them find their breath stolen as they look around.
“You know,” Shiro starts, turning to Keith with a soft smile. “This view is breathtaking, but as happy as I am to be seeing it, I’m happier seeing it with you.”
The others pause, turning silently to look at where the two are staring at each other lovingly, all of them secretly hoping that today will be the day.
“I can’t believe everything I’ve gotten to do and see since Kerberos, and I’m still so happy that I get to do and see all of it by your side. I know before Kerberos was my final desperate attempt to do something and make something out of myself before my body failed me, but I’ve been able to do so much more, and even when I struggle, you’re right there beside me supporting me. I know we’ve been through a lot, both good and bad, and standing here, I can only hope that we’ll be able to celebrate the good and weather the bad together for the rest of our lives.”
Mere moments after he’s finished speaking, Shiro gets down on one knee. The other paladins are all holding each other, eyes glued to the scene in front of them as they try not to scream in joy. Everything seems to move in slow motion, but the moment is shattered when instead of reaching for a ring in his pocket, Shiro simply turns his attention to his untied shoe.
The others are frozen in shock as he simply ties the shoe, stands up with a smile, and kisses Keith on the cheek as if he didn’t give the most wonderful, heartwarming speech. The other paladins all look at each other, attempting to make sure that they all witnessed the same event, and when it’s confirmed, they all agree to never get their hopes up on the two black paladins getting married.
It’s the year anniversary of the defeat of Galra forces invading Earth when it actually happens, and not in a way any of them expect.
There’s a celebration planned, both to celebrate their victory and honor those who fell during the battles, ending with a celebratory dinner aboard the Atlas at sundown. The paladins and most of the Garrison’s top officials are set to attend, with the event being broadcast for those who aren’t attending to view. There’s a separate table on a stage over the rest set up for the paladins and Shiro, with the garrison officials sitting spread throughout the rest of the room.
Keith sits at the head of the paladin’s table as the head of Voltron, with Lance sitting to his right as the right hand of Voltron. The others are all seated in much the same manner, with Shiro sitting opposite Keith. Keith’s set to give a speech, and while they all know of it, none of them have heard even a whisper of exactly what he’s set to say. When the event finally starts and Keith stands, holding one glass up in toast, the whole room quiets and turns to him.
“It’s been a year since the human race drove the invading Galra forces away from Earth, and while we are here today to celebrate our victory, we’re also here to honor those who lost their lives in the fight. Everyone here has experienced loss, whether that be the loss of someone who lost their life in the battle, the loss of a home destroyed by the Galra empire, or the loss of a sense of normalcy and peace. These losses will not be forgotten, and they have not been taken from us in vain. We honor and remember those who were killed, we mourn but rebuild the homes we lost, and we strive forward still to return to the peace we knew once before.”
Here, he pauses and looks down from where he had been staring out over the crowd to make eye contact with Shiro. He smiles, and tips the glass towards the other man before continuing.
“I know first hand the pain and horrors the empire struck throughout the galaxy, from the horrors we faced everyday as Paladins of Voltron, to the more personal suffering I was witness to by way of being close to the Alteans and those the empire harmed. Still, we all move forward, not only working to restore the peace we held before, but accepting the others who travel to Earth in search of that very same peace. Voltron has been a force for good throughout the galaxy, as well as here on Earth, but more personally, Voltron has led me to my family. Through Voltron, I’ve made a family with the other paladins, the alteans, and even my mother, who I had no hope of ever learning anything about, let alone meeting. While Voltron was responsible for so much good in the universe, there’s someone else who very specifically was responsible for most of the good in myuniverse.”
Setting his glass down with a soft clink, Keith steps away from his seat and walks around the table to stand at Shiro’s side, smiling down at the confused look on the other man’s face.
“Takashi Shirogane has been my guiding light since I first met him, and while I know it wasn’t the best first meeting, he has yet to hold it against me. He’s always pushed me to be the best possible person I can be, while supporting me in every way that he possibly could. Losing him the first time nearly killed me, and I thought I’d been reborn when he came back to me. I’ve fought to keep you in my life, and I realize now that I would fight forevermore to keep you by my side.”
Kneeling, Keith pulls a small box out of his pocket, flipping it open to reveal a simple purplish-black ring. Shiro’s eyes fill with tears as his hands cover his mouth in surprise, the other paladins looking nearly as shocked as he does.
“With that said, Takashi Shirogane, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Shiro nods in agreement, tears finally slipping free as he grins so wide it seems almost painful. Keith’s smiling wide too as he slides the ring onto Shiro’s finger, grabs the sides of his face, and pulls him in for a kiss.
The second they’ve all recovered from their shock, the other paladins stand up and cheer, hugging each other and screaming as Keith and Shiro pull away from each other.
Chuckling, Shiro wipes away one of the tears that’s slipped free of Keith’s eyes and whispers.
“How many times are you going to surprise me before this is over?”
And grinning back, Keith replies.
“As many times as it takes.”
