Title: Shells by the Seashore Fandom: Voltron Pairing: Gen Rating: General Audiences Additional Tags

Title: Shells by the Seashore
Fandom:Voltron
Pairing:Gen
Rating: General Audiences
Additional Tags: Day at the beach, Walks on the beach, Tide pools, Friendship

Fic Summary: Shiro just needed a moment away from the crowd of the beach party. Thankfully, he has Allura’s help to find some reflection among the tide pools.

This fic was written as a gift for @elegance-and-power for the @paladinsecretsanta2k18 ! Hey, Cloud, sorry this is late! I wound up scrapping it a few times but the end result is something I really enjoy! I hope you enjoy this little piece of beachside bonding!

Too much. It was all too much noise and sound and cheering… He just needed to get some air… Or… whatever it was you excused yourself to go find when you were at a beach party in the middle of the afternoon.
Shiro sighed, giving another glance at the party before turning and heading for the rocky outcropping covered by small, tidal pools. He let himself get lost in the sound of the rolling waves and the small patches of frothy seafoam sighing their last breaths as they faded back into the water.
“Everything alright, Shiro…?” a soft voice came from behind him.
Shiro startled, losing his footing and narrowly avoiding landing on his butt as his foot went straight into the nearest pool. A hand gripped his bicep suddenly and firmly, holding him upright.
“O-oh… Allura… I… didn’t see you…” Shiro offered with a nervous chuckle, standing properly and trying to shake some of the water out of his shoe. “I… yeah, just… needed to catch some air, y’know?”
“Catch the… that seems… kind of a futile thing to do. We’re surrounded by air…” Allura remarked, frowning.
Shiro laughed, shaking his head as the warmth of laughter filled him. Oh… that felt nice. “No… no, it’s just an expression… It just means… I had a lot of my mind and I needed to get away a little bit… To think…”
Allura nodded in understanding, giving a small hum. Shiro was constantly thankful for the way his friends usually managed to know when to speak and when he just needed silent companionship.
“Is… there anything I can do to help?” Allura asked gently.
“Mn… I think I just needed to be away from… crowds for a while? All the bustle… It’s nice out here… calm.”
“I see…” Allura nodded. “Did you want me to leave?”
“…No. No, you can stay,” Shiro said with a smile.
Allura nodded, settling beside Shiro as they wandered between the tide pools.
A while later, Allura spoke up. “Oh! Look at that one!” she said, gesturing to something in the tide pool before scooping up a shiny, curved shell. “Look how shiny it is…”
Shiro blinked at the shell before chuckling with a small smile. “Lance mentioned that you like shiny things…”
“O-oh… he did?” Allura asked, blinking.
“Yeah… He really wants to impress you,” Shiro offered with a smile. “He likes you a lot, you know…”
Allura smiled, picking up another shimmering seashell. “He’s… very sweet… We could get a collection of shells for the castle, you know… decoration?”
“Lance kind of grew on you, huh?” Shiro asked with a knowing smile, fishing out a shell that was a glistening pure black and staring at it with fascination.
“I… I suppose he did…” Allura agreed. “That one looks like Keith… Black and with rather… rough edges…”
Shiro blinked at the shell before barking out a laugh. “I guess it does… He’s not all rough edges, you know… Once you get to know him, he’s… he’s really a sweet person who…”
“Who loves deeper than it seems on the surface?” Allura finished for him, a knowing twinkle in her eye.
“…Yeah,” Shiro nodded with a sheepish smile. “He definitely does do that.”
“…Perhaps we should try to find shells for everyone, ones that remind us of them?” Allura suggested. “Then we can bring them back for everyone?”
Shiro hopped across to another outcropping and paused before nodding, offering a hand out to Allura. “That sounds… that sounds like a really good idea.”