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dreamwritesimagines · 4 years

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Burn The Witch 5 - Cross Your Heart [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support and feedback my loves ! ❤ Here’s the next chapter, I hope you like it as well and please let me know what you think! ❤ Thank you! ❤❤❤

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, fake dating, mentions of blood, sex, violence, death, manipulation, language, guns, knives.

Summary: Lying is supposed to be easy for spies.

Series Masterlist

You were beginning to think undercover operations were some sort of punishments given to agents, because lying was one thing, but creating a whole life around that lie was another.

Not only were your knives replaced by a bunch of paintings on the wall, you now had some photos in frames; old photos of people you didn’t know, people who were supposed to be your “cover” family.

You’d still prefer to have your knives on the walls though.

“You’re my best friend, you’re supposed to be on my side!” you pressed the phone between your shoulder and your ear, and heard Chloe’s laugh.

“I am on your side, I just can’t do anything about your uniform.”

You plopped down on the couch, setting your heels down on the floor.

“Bucky might be from 1940s, but he knows that it’s the 21st century now,” you said, putting the heels on, “No reason to make me dress like a….weird pin up waitress.”

“It’s a part of your mission,” she reminded you, “What, you can kill a target with a wine glass but a pin up costume is where you draw the line?”

You clicked your tongue, “Anyone can kill someone with a wine glass. It’s not that hard.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Babe it’s not rocket science, you just break the bowl part, then use the stem to stab them in the—“ you got distracted when you opened the kitchen cabinet, “I’m sorry, why do I have so many kitchen supplies?”

She held her breath in excitement, “Do you like them?”

“I don’t know what to do with most of them.”

“Cover Y/N likes cooking!”

“And the real Y/N can’t stand her,” you deadpanned, making her stifle a laugh.

“So he hasn’t texted you yet?”

“Barnes?” you asked, “Not yet. Why?”

“Well, I took the liberty of taking a look at his messages the other day.”

“Oh God, don’t tell me,” you said, “He’s seeing someone else?”

“No no, not at all,” she said, “He’s totally single, and probably ready to mingle. With you, that is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He and Wilson were talking about you the other day. Well, more like Wilson was telling him to get his shit together and ask you out.”

“I don’t think he’s the type to ask someone out via text,” you said, “I think he will come to the shop one of these days.”

“Why?”

“He looked sort of….” You searched for the word in your mind, “Uh-clueless?”

“Clueless?”

“Yeah, you know how assassins usually flirt,” you ignored her noise of disagreement, “He wasn’t like that.”

“You really need to focus on the personal details of his file.”

You scowled, “What is that supposed to mean?” you asked, “I know his favorite weapons, what knives he—”

“Personal file,” she repeated, “You know there’s more to people than their weapons of choice right?”

“I might have to engage in combat if I’m ever compromised, and do you know how many people walked away alive after engaging in combat with the Winter Soldier in all these decades?” you asked, “Three. Three people; Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and they are legends. I might be good, but I’m not that good.”

“Just memorizing his arsenal can’t help you in this mission,” she said, “Did you know that he hasn’t exactly dated since becoming the Winter Soldier? His ex Connie ended up having 3 kids and a long career at the post office—“

“What am I supposed to do Chloe, stalk grandma’s Instagram?”

“No, she passed away 5 years ago.”

“Of course she did,” you mumbled, “Listen, I don’t have time for this. I’m already knee deep in my own cover, I can’t get into Barnes’s past when it’ll give me no advantage in the mission.”

“Y/N-“

“Trust me,” you cut her off, looking in the mirror to fix your uniform, “I have everything under control.”

***

You had maybe like one thing under control and that was the milkshake you were currently pouring into a mason jar. After a crash course in different recipes yesterday, you barely needed any help from your coworkers and seeing that the shop wasn’t very crowded, you didn’t have to rush.

And now you knew how to make three things; pasta, eggs and milkshakes.

If Keith were here, he would’ve said those were 3 main food groups.

“Tara, we’re running low on maraschino cherries,” you said as you shook the can and your new coworker turned to you.

“Oh that’s okay, there’s another jar are under the counter.”

You put the cherry over the whipped cream, and handed the jar to her. “There you go.”

“Another week of working here and you will come up with your own recipes,” she said, “Tell me the truth, are you like a spy sent by a rival company?”

You stared at her, then forced a laugh.

“I wish,” you said, “Maybe I’d be paid more.”

“Good point,” she said and walked to give the milkshake to the customer while you put the empty jar aside, then went under the counter to search for a new jar.

“Strawberries….” You read the labels out loud as you heard the wind bells chime by the door, “Figs, berries—cherries!”

You reached out to grab the jar and stood up but as soon as you did, you caught the sight of the figure by the door and held your breath, the jar slipping from your grip before you caught it mid-air.

“Bucky.” You breathed out, before you remembered to plaster a smile on your face.

Naïve, soft hearted civilian.

He stole a look around as if he expected someone to attack him at any seconds in a milkshake shop before he stepped closer to the counter you were standing behind.

“Hi.”

“Hi-hi there!” you said, putting the jar down, “You came!”

“You sound surprised,” he smiled and you shrugged your shoulders, shooting him a mischievous look,

“Better late than never, I suppose.”

He hissed in a breath, “Ouch, was it that late?”

“Just a little,” you said “So what can I get you?”

He looked up at the board over the wall, “What are my options?”

“Well, we have Unicorn Cotton Candy, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Candy Cane Passion, Lavender Macaron—“ you stopped talking when you saw the clueless look on his face and cleared your throat, “Or hey, maybe chocolate? We have chocolate milkshake.”

“Chocolate sounds good.”

“Coming right up.” You took a mason jar from the shelf to get to it and he grabbed his wallet, making you raise your brows.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Oh come on—”

“I’m going to make you an overly complicated milkshake if you try to pay for this,” you warned him, shaking the can before putting whipped cream on top of the milkshake, “It’s on the house, I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said quickly, making you point at him with the straw.

“Either way, I’m warning you. I’m armed and dangerous.”

“Consider me intimidated,” he said with a grin as he put the cash into the tip jar and you narrowed your eyes.

“Bucky.”

“Well technically, tip doesn’t count.”

“I wonder where I heard that before,” you muttered under your breath while he walked to pull himself a seat.

“Hm?”

“Nothing,” you said, reminding yourself that your cover probably wouldn’t make dirty jokes and went to place the milkshake in front of him.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” You waved a dismissive hand and rested your elbows on the counter, leaning in slightly.

He was gentleman enough to not check out your cleavage, instead kept his gaze on your face, making you suppress a smile.

“You were right,” Bucky said, his eyes darting around the café after a couple of seconds, “About how this place looked. It is creepily accurate.”

“Really?”

“I mean we didn’t have a neon flowers corner, but…” he trailed off, “Yeah. Yeah, I would say so.”

“Is that why you look like you expect someone to jump out of shadows and attack you?” you asked and his head shot up before he scrunched up his face.

“That obvious?”

“Not that I have lots of experience but so far none of the customers looked this uncomfortable while drinking a milkshake,” you said, “Is it because deep down you actually wanted to try Unicorn Cotton Candy?”

“Oh no, I’m good with classics,” He held up his milkshake, “No I just think that I’m a bit….uh, rusty.”

“Rusty,” you repeated, “On what?”

“On this.”

You batted your lashes, looking up at him and you could almost feel him being lured in.

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow,” you said softly after a beat and he gulped, taking a deep breath.

“It’s just that you’re—“ he cleared his throat, “You’re very beautiful and it’s been decades since I last asked someone out for a date.”

Winter Soldier, credited with over 100 assassinations, you reminded yourself Don’t lower your guard, it’s just a cover.

Don’t believe in your own cover.

You bit down a smile, tilting your head.

“Well, I didn’t think you were rusty,” you said and he raised his brows.

“You didn’t?”

“Not at all,” you said, “For the record, I’m definitely going to say yes.”

“Are you?”

“Absolutely,” you grinned, “Once you actually ask me, that is. With words, not an implication.”

His smile was almost playful, “With words, huh?”

“I’m old fashioned like that,” you taunted him, “Let’s see how we can make it less awkward for you though. Would you feel more comfortable to ask me out if you knew some weird stuff about me?”

“You know, that would help a lot actually.”

You tapped your fingernails on the counter, looking up at the ceiling, pretending to be in deep thought. Your superiors had always said the best cover stories were somehow based on real life without revealing your identity, so you figured telling him random things about you wouldn’t hurt or put the mission in danger.

“Well, I really like grapes but I don’t like the skin, so I end up peeling every grape I eat, one by one,” you counted with your fingers, “I watched a documentary once and now I can’t swim in any lakes because I keep thinking I’ll get attacked by that weird flesh eating bacteria. When I was sixteen, I was the president of the chess club but I had a boyfriend who didn’t believe in the moon landing—”

“I heard about the moon landing!” he said quickly, “I didn’t get around to watch it yet though.”

“Oh my God, you should.”

“What else?”

“I’m scared of peacocks,” you confessed, “I know everyone says they’re beautiful but they look like they’re waiting for the right time to attack you.”

He looked like he was fighting with himself not to laugh and he pressed his metal fist on his lips, his whole attention on you.

“You can’t laugh!” you exclaimed and he shook his head, trying to look as serious as possible.

“I’m not!” he managed to hide his chuckle with a cough, “Keep going, this is very helpful.”

You heaved a sigh. “Well, do you want to hear the most embarrassing one?”

“Absolutely.”

“I normally keep my phone on mute 24/7 but since last week it’s been on full volume because I was terrified I’d miss something important.”

The amused light in his eyes got softer and he lowered his hand, a smile warming his face.

Hook, line…

“I was um— I was hoping for you to call, you see.” you said, averting your gaze from him to look down for a second, biting on your lip.

His voice was raspy; “Were you?”

You shrugged your shoulders, mumbling an inaudible maybe, and his eyes trailed down to your lips before snapping up to lock your gaze in his.

“What time do you get off work today?”

And sinker.

Time to pull back.

You sucked in a breath through your teeth, “I work at the soup kitchen tonight.”

“Oh –I thought you said it was on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

“I did, I’m just covering for a friend tonight. Family emergency, she says.” you said and pushed your hair behind your ear, shifting your weight, “But my shift is over at 6 tomorrow and I can be ready around 7, I live really close by. If you’re- if you’re free, that is.”

“I am.”

“It’s a date, then.”

“It’s a date,” he repeated and stood up, “See you tomorrow, Y/N.”

“See you tomorrow Bucky.” You smiled as he walked out of the shop and Tara came closer to you.

“Wow, you’ve been here a month and you met someone that hot?” she said and winked at you, “Good job there.”

Right.

Good job.

***

“So, wait—“ Chloe came closer to sit between you and Keith, holding a huge bowl of popcorn, “He just showed up?”

“Mm hm.”

“And you have a date tomorrow?”

Keith uncapped your beer and handed you the bottle as you rested your feet on the coffee table.

“You’re being careful, aren’t you?” he asked you and you nodded.

“Sure.”

“He doesn’t suspect anything?”

“No, he’s buying this whole naïve soft hearted civilian thing,” you said while Chloe snatched the remote from Keith’s hand, ignoring protests.

“And are you?”

You dragged your eyes from the list of movies on the screen. “I want a horror movie.”

“Well too bad, I want an action movie.”

“We’re watching a rom-com and that’s final!” Chloe pointed at both of you, making you groan.

“Why does this keep happening?” Keith asked to no one in particular and she snapped her fingers.

“It’s my turn and my place so I pick the movie,” she said and shot you a look, “I’m still waiting for an answer, by the way. You don’t….you don’t have feelings for Barnes, right?”

Keith stole a look at you before turning to Chloe,

“I don’t think our dear friend here wants a relationship beautiful,” he told her, “Not after what happened the last time.”

You could feel the goosebumps rising on your arms as a shiver ran down your spine.

“I don’t even know Barnes all that well yet, but I can assure you he’s not the type to—“ you paused, “Do something that cowardly.”

Keith gritted his teeth. “Where is that asshole anyway?”

“Hungary,” Chloe said and you raised your brows.

“Undercover?”

“Yeah. I hope he gets compromised and dies there.”

“Very unlikely,” you murmured, “Anyways, what brought this on? My feelings for Barnes?”

“It’s just that I recently read Vincent Smith’s file,” she said, “You guys remember Vincent?”

“Who?”

“His code name was Marco.”

“Oh, I remember Marco!” Keith said, “That guy took down a whole unit by himself. What happened to him?”

“He is missing.” Chloe said and you pulled your brows together.

“Since when do agents go missing and we don’t know where they are?”

“Since they fall for the target.”

“No way,” Keith chuckled, “Badass spy Marco fell in love? Poor idiot.”

“You’re a terrible person, Keith.”

You sat up straighter, “Wait, did you say he fell for the target?”

“Yeah, I saw the reports from his handler. And now he’s missing, and I don’t want you to run away with Barnes like Marco did with his target.”

You and Keith exchanged glances and you clicked your tongue.

“Chloe babe, he’s not missing.” you said “He’s dead.”

She pulled back slightly, “You don’t know-“

“Yes I do. You don’t fall for the target and compromise the whole mission, not unless you want to end up dead.”

“There’s no report of that,” she insisted and Keith sipped his beer.

“What did his report say, sweetheart?”

“That he was removed from his mission before going missing.”

Keith scoffed, “Rest in peace Marco, you won’t be missed.”

“How do you know—“

“Because that’s the code,” you said, “If the report says he was removed from his mission and went missing, it means he was killed by an agent on our side.”

“We killed our own agent?” she exclaimed and you turned the beer bottle in your hand,

“He stopped being our agent the moment he fell for the target.”

Chloe covered her mouth with her hands, worry etched into her expression, “Y/N, please, please promise me you won’t somehow get too involved in this mission and fall for Barnes and put yourself in danger.”

You let out a small laugh, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“It’s the Winter Soldier we’re talking about,” you reminded her and chewed on the popcorn, “Trust me, that would never happen.”

“Cross your heart?”

You heaved a sigh and clinked your beer bottle with hers.

“Cross my heart honey,” you assured her, “There’s no way I’d sign my own death warrant by doing something that stupid.”

Chapter 6

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #the falcon and the winter soldier #tfatws #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes imagines #marvel #bucky barnes x you

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 2 years

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**Cultivating Love**2**

Lance slept hard until the morning sunlight woke him. The gentle first rays of the morning were always his favourite. He’d spent more than one night sitting on the roof of the palace with Keith, watching the sun rise over the mountains while Shiro slept below them. He’d made up his mind. Space would do both him and his mates some good. Clearly he didn’t contribute enough, and with their words echoing in his mind, he’d never be able to deal with his broke soul while nursing his broken heart.

Packing lightly, he placed his plans into action. Even if his mates found him smelly and useless, he still treasured the time they’d spent together. Eventually they’d notice him gone, and while he was sure they wouldn’t come to find him, he couldn’t help but hope they’d notice sooner rather than later. With gentle hands he’d set the two lotus lanterns he’d carved on the river, anchoring them with enough spell power that by his calculations they should float off on the same night as the festival. Both were crude, and he’d never be a master crafter, but both lanterns were carved with so much love that they twinkled with fragments of his soul’s magic. Keith’s red lantern unintentionally larger than Shiro’s black lantern… but then again, he’d always been that way, letting Shiro handle himself more than he let Keith did.

From the river it was back to the palace. Blue Fang carefully wrapped then tied to his back, with his fox mask slipped into place to complete his look. He’d chosen his blue robes, free from the insignia of the palace, just in case something happened. The last thing he wanted was to bring trouble on their little slice of peace. Plus, his mask would let him walk the palace grounds without drawing attention from anyone else. The last thing he needed was stupid James and his clique to see him leave and start something with Keith. Pidge might have wanted to leave the following day with the merchants headed south for provisions for the festival, but Lance couldn’t stomach the idea of another day being somewhere he no longer belonged. He’d been sorely tempered to seal his rooms, but that’d only alert Shiro or Keith if they came looking for him that he was no longer there.

When all was in place, Lance made his way to Hunk’s rooms. Pidge had her own space, but she preferred to stay with Hunk when they were back at the palace and not off doing their own thing. Hunk’s betrothed was a pretty maid named Shay, and for the big guy it’d been love at first sight. Both Pidge and Hunk had refused taking higher positions within the palace despite their noble deeds, but Lance had always wished they had… then again, that might have been him desperately trying to cling to better days. With Shay having already left to start her morning in the kitchen, Lance let his mischievous side show, his fox mask masking his true form as he lounged on Hunk’s bed in the sexiest spirit bear form he could muster as his best friend bathed. The only thing he couldn’t change was his tail. Bears had such cute little nubs for tails, though he’d learned his lesson when he hadn’t been able to help himself and touched Hunk’s. Much like his, the base of their tails were an eroginous zone for bears too. His poor best friend moaning on the spot. The best he could do was try tuck his tail away, but seeing he was being mischievous, his tail didn’t want to listen.

Coming from the behind the divider, Lance’s hard work soon turned to Hunk laughing. His best friend really had a great laugh, Lance caught red handed with his tail in both hands, and not at all in the sexy pose he’d hoped to tease Hunk with

“I’m flattered, man… but even a bear as pretty as you isn’t much of a bear with a tail like that”

Lance let his tail go, before sliding his fox mask to the side

“Don’t tease me, it’s not my fault my tail never listens. At least you said I’m pretty”

“Mhmm. Sure, bud. What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting you”

Flopping back, Lance sighed as he grabbed Hunk’s pillow

“I decided I want to come with you and Pidge. If we wait another day, I’m afraid I’ll change my mind”

“Something happened with Shiro and Keith last night, didn’t it?”

Stupid Hunk. Couldn’t he accept Lance had said yes without explanation, then again, he wouldn’t be Hunk if he didn’t question him

“Maybe. I over heard them last night. Dumb Shiro didn’t tell Dumb Keith that he didn’t want me working on the festival. Now Keith thinks I’m intentionally slacking. They’re the ones who decided I should stay quiet and cultivate”

“I’m pretty sure Shiro called it keeping you safe. You know he still carries a wound on his heart from that night”

“That was five years ago. And I would have loved to work on the festival if he’d let me. If they’re not going to be honest about the things they say, then I don’t want to talk to them”

Knowing he sounded like a child, Lance wasn’t surprised when Hunk’s hand suddenly landed on his head

“So you’re running away?”

“No. I’m taking back some of my life. We always encouraged each other… and we always stood as equals. I’m tired of being belittled. Keith dared to say I should have passed that matrix by now. If it was that easy, I would have. You know how different we are from usual mates, well, I’m not coming home until I’ve resolved these feelings inside of me. I’m no more selfish than them for wanting to pursue my own path”

“As long as you’re sure this is what you want”

“I am and it is. Time and space to think is what I need. So now you know, what do you think?”

“I think I’ll need to say goodbye to Shay before we depart. Have you organised the horses?”

Lance detected the light steps across the roof, raising his voice to call their friend out before she could launch her secret attack

“Not yet. We haven’t talked to Pidge yet”

A crash came, followed by a groan. Hunk covering his mouth as he laughed. For a cat, Pidge’s steps could be as loud as heard of demon beasts

“Really?”

Huffing, Pidge took four long steps before landing on him

“You and your big mouth. Don’t tell me you’ve taken to seducing Hunk”

“Hunk wishes. I know you heard me. Are you alright with leaving today?”

Pidge flopped her weight on him, as she reached up and poked him on the cheek

“I still think we should teach those two a lesson. They’re both still sleeping in Shiro’s bed”

That sounded about right. Still, it hurt. No one had moved him to Shiro’s bed, nor come to check on him

“Let them sleep. Shiro is so busy with the festival that he needs the rest”

“Okay, but listen, I’ve been working on a new stink spell…”

Lance groaned. Pidge had such a knack for things that stank

“No. Noooo. No. They have meetings all day. Besides, they may stop us should you disturb them”

“Boooo. Fine. But you’ll need to leave your hair ties if you’re coming with us. They’re too distinguished and both Keith and Shiro have embedded spiritual into the jade beads”

Lance had clear forgotten that. Shiro wore his hair long, Keith wore his in a practical plat, while Lance wore two braids under his high pony tail as a small way of feeling close to his mates. They’d both gifted him his hair ties for one birthday. Red jade from Shiro and Green from Keith

“I’ll leave them here, I’m sure Shay won’t let anything happen to them”

“You should seal them up, to be on the safe side. If she’s found with them someone might try to say she’d stolen them or something”

Lance didn’t appreciate the idea of anyone thinking badly of Shay

“Anyone who knows Shay knows how impossible that is”

“I’m just saying, if those boyfriends of yours get all panicked they might act first”

Ah. Pidge had a point there. Keith was known to charge head first. Even if Shay would wed Hunk, Keith would probably blame her without thinking things through

“Fiiine, get off of me already. I’ll use my seal so they know it was me and leave the envelope with Shay for safe keeping, but I’m not leaving my mask behind”

Shoving Pidge, she leapt back spryly with a snicker

“Okay! I totally thought all of this would happen. I’m packed and ready when you guys are”

Both of them looked to Hunk, who’d barely had time to adjust his yellow robes after bathing. Pidge had the right idea, her green bodysuit peeking out from under her robes

“I’m going, I’m going. I can tell when I’m out numbered. Lance, there’s paper and envelopes in the top draw of my desk”

“Thanks, man. An hour, two tops, and we’ll be on our way”

No matter who the visitor was, everyone within the palace wore a simple pendant necklace. The board next to the bulletin board was dedicated to housing their necklaces when they left the palace grounds. Unlike the white quartz, predominantly worn by students, Lance’s own pendant was made of turquoise mined from Moon Lake in the North. Shiro had mined the stone and Keith had crafted it. His mates taking the time to make it especially for him. Leaving it behind was a heavy burden. Especially trying to hide it down towards the bottom of the rack anyway from prying eyes. No one could take someone else’s pendant from the rack, well, no one of rank. The student pendants all resonated with the palace, whereas individual ones resonated with the owner. Not having to worry, Pidge and Hunk both hung their together on the top shelf. Their coming and going freely from the palace was a natural part of life. Lance leaving… he didn’t even take it off when he went to collect herbs. To leave it on meant his mates could always find him. Now he definitely didn’t want to be found so soon, meaning it shouldn’t have weighed him down the way it did.

Freeing his tail, that he’d been forced to stuff down the back of his pants, Lance breathed a sigh of relief. There weren’t as many foxes at the palace as there’d once been, so he couldn’t disguise himself as a student and expect to blend in. Taking on a simple non-descript maid attire, he’d been granted anonymity, able to follow Hunk into the kitchen where things were briefly explained to Shay. The kiss she bestowed upon Hunk had him longing for a goodbye kiss of his own, Pidge teasing him heartily all the way through the palace then tacking up their horses.

“Your tail’s all flat”

Rolling his eyes at Pidge’s teasing, Pidge drew level with him. She’d never loved horses, but she’d kept that particular grumble to herself

“And you’re on a horse. We all have to make sacrifices”

“If we’d waited you would have gone running to Shiro and Keith to apologise and then we never would have borrowed you…”

“But if we had, you’d be curled up in a cart right now, thinking of all the shiny things that could be out there”

Pidge snickered as she reached into her robe, Lance’s eyes widened as she drew out Keith’s hair tie

“I’ve got the perfect shiny thing right here. He totally didn’t notice me stealing it. I guess we can be grateful he never wore the one you gave him. This baby has zero residual spirit on it”

“Pidge!”

“Don’t Pidge me. They messed with my best friend”

“Please tell me you didn’t do anything else”

“No, but I was highly tempted. He and Shiro left both their blades out almost begging for me to mess with them”

Oh no…

“Don’t tell me you took Red Dream too!”

“Of course not. I’m not authorised and Keith gave you that. The whole point of this trip is to not be reminded of them”

Lance didn’t have an answer, instead he let the clopping of hooves fill the air. Asking him not to think of his mates was like asking him not to breathe.

Gnawed with guilt, Lance still couldn’t find the words as they approached the palace’s outer gates a good mile or so from the palace village. Once he left it’d be the furtherest away from home he’d been in years. The whole palace and mountain were protected. Anyone wondering into the matrix with less than noble thoughts would find themselves back on the way home with no memory of their visit. Shiro’s rage over that night still haunted Lance. He’d reinforced spell after spell, working himself to the point he’d had to give up or risk corruption.

Drawing his horse to a stop, Lance sucked down a deep breath. Hunk nodding silently to ask if he was okay. Lance was not, but now was not the time to consider it. They’d already come this far, he was being stupid all over again. Nudging her horse, Pidge pulled a face as she walked her horse through the gate. Right. If Pidge could do it, so could he. With a tad too much enthusiasm Lance flicked his reins, the jolt of his horses burst of energy coupled with the sudden static shock of passing through the barrier… when he emerged on the other side his tail and hair had fluffed out. He knew he must look a mess, yet Pidge… Her normally smooth and silky tail had tripled in size and her hair was completely wild. Lance couldn’t help laughing at the sight of him as she hissed, clutching her precious tail to her chest. A painful throb passed through Lance’s chest, him mimicking Pidge only he didn’t have his tail. He didn’t have time to think of his soul when the whole world was now in front of him and he was remembering how much he missed it

“I don’t remember it being that damn strong!”

She only made Lance laugh harder. He could feel Shiro in that barrier and not much of anything else. It was possible the barrier felt stronger to him seeing Shiro had kind of put it up while worrying about his safety

“Oh my gosh, here we are, scared of a barrier. Shiro definitely went overboard!”

“More than overboard! I’m blaming you. Normally it’s a kind of tingly feeling”

“It is possible. Shiro possesses incredible power and he was incredibly angry when he reinforced it”

“Because some dumb arse nearly got himself assassinated”

“That wasn’t my fault. Allura and I were having a lovely talk and some nice peach wine. They completely ruined it… uh, we’ve lost Hunk”

Letting their horses take the head, they’d made some distance between them and the gate. Lance tugging on the reins to bring his mare to a halt. Pidge pulling her own horse then turning to walk back to him

“He’s probably throwing up. He never was one for strong barriers. Which is funny considering the strength of the ones he can throw up”

“I know, right? I’ve got some ginger here, we’ll take a rest once he’s caught up”

Pidge groaned dramatically at him

“Don’t bring that stuff near me. And don’t tell me you’ve brought your medical equipment”

Lance fake being wounded, pouting lightly

“Of course I did. We don’t know what situations we’ll find ourselves in. Someone needs to be prepared”

“And with Hunk’s spiritual energy, he’s more than capable of healing minor inflictions”

“It’ll be more problematic if the wounds are demon inflicted. Unstable emotions in battle leave us open to corruption”

“Can’t you just turn your brain off for a moment? I know you’re stressing over your own matrix, but you’re allowed to take a breather. We all know how hard cultivation can be when it’s not cooperating. No. No more pushing it. We’re here for new experiences and perhaps one of those will help your thoughts?”

Lance snorted out a giggle

“Didn’t you tell me not to think, and now you’re telling me to?”

“You’re hopeless”

“Says you. But you’re right. I have been working on this matrix for some time and I do need to reassess how I approach my problem. I think I may have lost sight of what I want my path to be with all the coddling in the palace”

“You mean your arse getting pampered. I wish I had taken Red Dream now…”

“Don’t go there. Hunk’s approaching. You know, I think bears might have it right when it comes to hibernation”

“You nearly died missing him the first time he did. We’ll be back before the first winter snows, so don’t go making problems before they show themselves”

“You know I love our Hunk. I missed him as much as you did… oh, gods”

Catching up to them, Hunk was pale in his saddle. Sliding off his horse, Lance passed the reins to Pidge before moving over to Hunk’s horse and taking it by the reins. Hunk had passed through the barrier, then thrown up. The poor beast scared by the sudden turn of events. For a band of adventures they’d nearly been taken out by the second hurdle. With his free hand, Lance rubbed the mare’s cheek

“Don’t worry about it for now. You are a brave and noble companion to us. He will recover”

The mare turned her face, nudging into Lance hard enough for him to stumble. All mares bred for the palace had a beautiful temperament. They could be as fast as the wind, and strong as a mountain, and they understood their spirit beast cousins deeply

“Yes, yes. Hunk, shall I walk you for a time? Until your stomach settles?”

Hunk groaned, before sipping from his water skin

“Lance, why are barriers so mean to me. It didn’t feel like that last time”

His poor best friends. He truly had the bestest of friends

“Let me sing to you as we walk. It’ll be good for us and good for the mares. I have some ginger if you’d like?”

“I’ve got some ginger too. A song would be nice, I haven’t heard you sing in so long”

Pidge on the other hand wasn’t quite so keen

“Don’t start him off. You know he won’t shut up if we let him start”

“But Pidge, when’s the last time you heard him sing? Remember how the kids would be drawn to him”

“Me and my tail remember quite well enough”

Lance chuckled. Yeah. Coming to the palace for a lot of students was their first time meeting so many different spirit beasts. Due to their cultivation strength some children came before others, and despite how prickly she acted, Pidge was always popular with the smaller children

“Let me sing. Can you walk my horse please? Or I can lead both?”

“I’ll lead your horse. If I fall asleep, make sure he’s stopped singing before you wake me. Love ballads aren’t my thing”

Setting a slow pace, Lance’s voice filled the space around them. The song it’s self didn’t particularly matter as he let his body slowly synch with those around him to even out their electric flows and calm the racing hearts. So he chose a personal favourite that he’d sing to his mates when they had trouble sleeping.

“I am the demon who rode down through the valley,

I am the demon who drove the grove keeper away,

I am the demon who rode down through the valley,

And I’m here to pledge my oath today!

I have come for the beast that you keep in your garden,

I have come for the beast that you keep out the way,

I have come for your beast in your garden,

And I have come to steal that beast away!

I am the demon who comes to your garden,

I am the demon who comes to take my love away,

I am the demon who comes to your garden,

And by the end of this night I will them away!

I am the one who loves you immortal,

I am the one who’s watched you from far away,

I am the one who loves you immortal,

And on my heart I pledge my love today!

I who have watched you as you were sleeping,

I who have watched you toil your life away,

I am the who has seen you,

I will lift you up today!

No more shall your back ache at the end of the evening,

No more shall your skin burn under the heat of the day,

No more shall back your ache at the end of the evening,

No more shall your life be driven away!

For I am the demon who rode down through the valley,

For I am the demon who drove the grove keeper away,

For I am the who will save you,

For I am the one who will take your pain away!

No more shall you hurt under those who don’t love you,

No more shall you hurt under the pain of the day,

No more shall you hurt because darling I love you,

No more shall you hurt for we soon shall be far away!

Tonight we shall cross through the valley,

Tonight we shall flee far far away,

For my darling I shall love you a plenty,

But should you wish to be free we will part at the end of the day!”

Even Pidge wasn’t immune to the effects of his words. Her horse leading itself to his side, with both her and Hunk asleep in their saddles. The reins to his horse held lax in her hand. He hadn’t meant to sing them to sleep, but repeatedly using the word as a lullaby to soothe his two wolves meant that he couldn’t help the warm and safe emotions released as he sang. Being a true ballad the proper ending of the song came when the two lovers were separated by death, but that was after a long and loving life together.

It’d been a song he hadn’t known where he’d heard it, and he was sure at the time that he hadn’t heard the whole thing. At his first festival on the grounds of the imperial palace he’d heard fragments, running off to find the float in the procession and leaving his confused friends behind. By the time they’d found him he’d made friends with the young lady who’d sung it, even learning the steps to the dance. She’d told him it was about the time before demons had fallen and when being a spirit beast was classed as the same thing. Lance’s poor romantic heart had memorised it on the spot. He was a fox who loved love… much to the humour of the rest of his family. He knew all the steps to all the popular dances, even the ones just for the girls. His mates had used to love when he danced.

Realising he was letting himself fall back into depression, Lance sighed to himself, this would never do. He’d sing until the next village and let it out of his system, then Pidge and Hunk would awake and their adventure would truly begin.

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actress4him · 3 years

Text

Bonus Whumptober Content

I had no plans originally of continuing the story from Whumptober Day 28. As far as I was concerned, it ended badly and that was that.

But you can all thank @outtacommission , because I was bribed into continuing it!

If you need a refresher on the original chapter, click the link above or read it on AO3.

This is the start of the new content, which ended up being super long, so I broke it up into three short chapters. I’m really excited and nervous to share this. Writing sequels for oneshots that weren’t originally supposed to be continued is...tough. This is the second time I’ve done it, and I always feel like the continuation isn’t as good as the original. But I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, so I hope that you guys enjoy it, too!

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Warnings: (big spoilers!) needles, implied CPR, broken bones, blood, brain damage, paralysis, amputation, panic attacks

“Quiznak. Oh, holy quiznak, Keith?”

“He’s not breathing. I’ve got no pulse.”

“Hold him steady, I’m cutting the back of this chair off so we can get to the shrapnel.”

“Come on, Keith. Breathe. Breathe!”

“Look, I found this in Red’s first aid kit. I’m a universal donor.”

“Get it hooked up, he needs everything we can give him.”

“Please, Keith. Please.”

“Shiro, his ribs…”

“I know. They’ll heal.”

“Wait! Look!”

“Oh my g-...okay. Okay. Hurry, let’s get him to the Black Lion. I’ll need you to ride with him so you can keep up the transfusion.”

“Right behind you.”

Consciousness came in spurts. The first time, he surfaced from the never-ending blackness to nothing but cold and pain, and the feeling that his insides were twisted into a big knot and trying their best to exit his body. As he retched, body automatically jerking to try to sit up or roll over and sending even more pain shooting through him, frantic voices surrounded him.

“...reaction...blood…!”

“But...O neg...shouldn’t…”

Somebody scooped him up like a baby and ran, jarring his screaming abdomen with every step, before depositing him onto a semi-soft surface.

“...Galra…”

“...sample...synthesize more…”

The words meant nothing to him. All he knew was pain and nausea, and a blur of lights and movement above him.

Just before he passed out again, there was a sharp prick in his forearm that momentarily drew his attention away from the rest of the pain. He couldn’t find the energy to protest it.

The second time, voices were the first to filter in, hushed tones that sounded as if they were speaking a foreign language. His eyes fluttered open, but the bright lights overhead made him wince and squeeze them back shut.

“You’re okay,” someone soothed, the only words he could actually pick out from among the rest. “You’ll be just fine. Go back to sleep, now.”

There was a prick on the back of his hand, and he whimpered involuntarily. But a moment later the nothingness was taking back over, and he gladly slipped underneath.

The next time he woke, he had no recollection of the first two times, or of anything that happened before, but for some reason he was surprised to be waking up. Somehow, he didn’t think he was going to do so. But here he was, awake. Only, he had no idea where here was.

“Keith? Bud? You with us?”

He knew that voice. Turning his head toward it, he willed his eyes to open, and after a moment, they obeyed. A blur of yellow and brown met him.

“Hey, bud! It’s good to see those eyes open. Can you hear me?”

Keith blinked, trying to bring the person into focus. Once their features had solidified enough that he could make out dark brown eyes and a smile, he licked his chapped lips and attempted to speak.

“Hunk.” For some reason the N dragged on for much longer than he had intended, but it was a word, regardless.

“Yeah! That’s me! Oh my gosh, you have no idea how happy I am that you’re awake and okay.”

How long had he been asleep? It must have been a while for Hunk to be worried. And he was pretty sure he felt okay, though maybe a bit numb overall. Maybe he really had been asleep for a long time. It kinda felt like he was waking up after one of those naps you take while you’re sick and your fever breaks in the middle of it.

He licked his lips again, to no avail. “‘hirsty.”

“Yep, yep, I’m sure you are.” Hunk turned and snatched something up off a nearby table, bringing it toward Keith’s face. “Here ya go. Small sips.”

The water was the most wonderful thing he had ever tasted in his life. He wanted to gulp it all down, ignoring what he had been told, but Hunk pulled it away after only a couple of seconds.

“Okay, I’m gonna go get Shiro and Fallenta and let them know you’re awake, alright? I’ll be right back.”

Keith struggled to process that sentence. He didn’t think he recognized one of those names, and he still couldn’t figure out why him being awake was such a big deal. Unless...he had gotten hurt in one of their fights. But then why wouldn’t he be waking up from the pod, not in whatever bed this was?

“Wha...happened?” His words continued to come out strangely, despite his best efforts. Maybe he had been sleeping on his face, because it was one of those numb parts of him that didn’t seem to want to move properly.

Hunk froze at the doorway, turning slowly to face him. “Um...what do you remember?”

It was a good question. Wrinkling his brow, he searched his still half-dazed mind, trying and failing to grasp at the snippets of memories that danced by. It didn’t take long for his head to start hurting, and he shut his eyes, giving up for the moment. “Don’t know. A fight?” He had a vague recollection of being in Red recently. “In the Lions?”

“Um, yeah, well, that’s...one thing that happened.” Hunk seemed nervous, fidgeting with his hands. “I’m gonna go, um, get the others, and they can tell you everything, ‘kay?” Without giving Keith a chance to protest, he disappeared through the door.

Keith sighed, and tested out various parts of his body. Other than most of his right side being curiously numb, and an almost unnoticeable ache in a couple more places, everything seemed to be working properly. He had been in Red right before waking up there...right? Maybe she could tell him what was going on.

Only when he closed his eyes and reached for their connection, he came up empty. There was nothing there. No hum, no purr, nothing. His heart leapt into his throat. Red! Red, where are you? What if something had happened to her? What if she was gone? What if he had done something to make her reject him, and he wasn’t even a paladin anymore, what if that’s what Hunk didn’t want to tell him? If he wasn’t a paladin anymore, then he’d...he’d be nothing. Useless. There would be absolutely no reason for him to be in the Castle anymore, in space at all. The other paladins would take him back to Earth and dump him off, and he’d have no one and nothing yet again.

The door opened, and Keith shot upright, ignoring the way it made his head swim and that ache in his ribs twinge. “I can’t feel Red! I can’t...what happened? Where’s Red?”

“Hey! Hey, shh, Keith, it’s okay!” Shiro was across the room in an instant, sitting down on the side of the bed and grasping Keith’s shoulders in both his hands. “I need you to calm down for me, okay? I’ll explain, but I need you to take deep breaths.”

Drawing in one such breath to appease the man, Keith glanced around the room, taking in Hunk’s worried expression and the alien stranger that stood on the other side of his bed. “Somebody please just tell me what's going on.” The words were still slurred, which was getting more frustrating by the second. “Why’m I here?”

He hated the look that Shiro shot up at the alien before catching his eyes again. They were treating him like a fragile child. Even when he was a child, he had gotten more bad news in his few years than most adults did in their whole lives, so it wasn’t like he didn’t always expect more.

“You were in an accident,” Shiro finally explained, still speaking far too slowly and softly. “You and Red got hit with a zaiforge cannon and crashed into a nearby planet. Do you remember?”

Keith already knew he didn’t, so he wasn’t going to waste time searching his memory when he still wanted answers. “Where’s Red? Is she okay?”

Offering a sympathetic smile, Shiro squeezed his shoulder with his flesh hand. “She’s in rough shape. All her systems are shut down right now. But Pidge and Coran and Hunk have been working on her, and they’re optimistic that everything can be fixed. With time.”

Letting all his breath out with a whoosh, Keith slumped over forward. It was simultaneous good news and bad news. Red hadn’t rejected him, or at least he didn’t think so. But he hated that she was so badly hurt. “I wanna see her.”

Shiro’s smile twitched up a little higher. “I know. But first, we need to check on you. You’ve been unconscious for quite a while. Everything seems to have healed up alright, but there were some things that couldn’t be tested while you were out.”

As if this was their cue, the alien - an objectively pretty, willowy creature with mauve fur, four long, thin arms, and a myriad of long, thin fingers on each hand - stepped forward. Their voice was light and feminine, and had a lilting accent that reminded him of Lance when he fell into his native tongue.

“I am going to give you some simple instructions to follow, okay?”

Keith frowned. “Who ‘re you?”

“Oh, yes, right.” Shiro indicated the newcomer with one hand. “This is Fallenta. She’s a Tellimite. They’re one of the most medically advanced species in the universe. We wanted to make sure you had the best care possible, so Allura brought us to Tellima as soon as we had you in the pod. Fallenta has been...indispensable.”

His explanation only caused Keith more confusion. If he had been in a pod, then why did he need a doctor? And again, why was he in some bed now?

Seeming to sense his questions, Fallenta smiled and settled down opposite Shiro. “There were some...complications from your injuries. Coran and Shiro made the right call by placing you into a healing pod right away, knowing that it was the only way to save your life, but that meant that your bones that were broken could not be reset before healing. One of my jobs was to correct this once your abdomen wound was no longer life threatening.”

“Yes, you actually had two different stints in the pod,” Shiro nodded. His brow furrowed. “Well, three, if you count the time that your body rejected the blood Pidge had given you and started trying to shut down. Thankfully, Coran had those samples he took from all of us at the beginning, and was able to synthesize some more of yours.”

Keith couldn’t stand the troubled expression on Shiro’s face, especially since he had been the one to put it there. Lifting his left arm, he gently squeezed his brother’s elbow. “I’m okay now.”

Shiro smiled, but there was a sheen to his eyes. “You have no idea how relieved I am about that.”

“Your cognition seems to be just fine,” Fallenta said, “and losing memory of the traumatic event is not uncommon. There are a few other things I need to check, though.”

She spent the next few minutes shining a flashlight into his eyes, asking him some questions about things that happened prior to the accident, getting him to remember a short list of objects, and observing his reactions to various movements and sounds. All of it led Keith to believe that it was his brain being tested, and it made him nervous. No one would tell him anything else, though, simply repeating that they would explain everything shortly.

It seemed to be going well, though, and everyone was smiling and calm, so he tried not to let it get to him. Until Fallenta moved on to testing sensations. She started on his left arm, lightly touching it with her finger, then poking her claw into his skin, then digging in her knuckle. Everything felt like it should.

“Alright, the right arm, now.” She smiled at him and held his gaze, but after a moment of nothing further happening, her smile faded into a neutral expression. Another moment, and he was wondering why she hadn’t done the test yet.

“Do you feel any of this, Keith?”

“What?” He looked down, and her finger was on his forearm. As he watched, she moved it up and down his arm, tapping lightly. He swallowed hard. “It's...it's been really numb e’er since I woke up. My face an’ leg, too.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shiro stiffen. “What does that mean?”

Fallenta smiled again, and as nice of a smile as it was, he was beginning to hate it. “Let’s complete the tests, and I will be able to tell you more. Can you feel this?”

This time he watched as she pricked him with her claw, and to his relief, there was a faint jolt of pain. “A little. It's muted, though.”

“That’s good. And this?” She used her knuckle that time, and again, the pressure was faint.

“Same. What's wrong with my arm?” he demanded, glaring first at her, then Shiro. “Why can’t I talk right?”

“Have patience -”

“No!” Keith yanked his arm away from her with far more effort than should have been required. “I'm out of patience! Tell me what's wrong!”

Shiro put a hand on Fallenta’s shoulder, nodded at her, then reached forward and took Keith’s hand. “When we found you…” He paused, his jaw clenching and eyes flicking away for a split second before he seemed to steel himself to continue. “Your heart had stopped. It’s impossible to say how long you had been like that. I was able to get it started again, but it took a few minutes. So your brain…” Drawing in a deep breath, he let it out in a sigh. “It was without oxygen for several minutes, at the least. Brain damage has been a concern from the very start. When I said you have no idea how relieved I am that you’re okay...it was possible that you wouldn’t ever wake up. Or if you did, that you wouldn’t be able to function at all.” An errant tear slipped out, and he dashed it away with his metal hand. “But you’re here. You’re awake, and you can speak and think and...and it’s gonna be okay. I promise, it’s gonna be okay.”

Brain damage? The words hit him like a blow to the chest. That meant his arm...his face...they weren’t just numb, they were...they were…

He ripped his hand from Shiro’s grip. “How can you say it's gonna be okay? Do you hear me? I soun’ stupid! An’ my arm...how’m I supposed to fight an’ fly if I can barely move my arm?”

“But you still have some movement and sensation,” Fallenta broke in. “That is very good news. It means that, with physical therapy, you can regain even more use. You can even have speech therapy to help you build up your facial muscles.”

“Speech therapy?” He almost laughed at that. “We’re in the middle of a war, we don’ have time for speech therapy!”

Shiro’s hand landed on his leg. “We’ll make it work, Keith.”

“No. No.” He shook his head harshly. “Get off. Get off me, I need...” Flailing his one good hand toward Shiro and Fallenta, he gritted his teeth against the tears that wanted to fall. The weight on either side of the bed moved as the two of them stood. “I need some air. I need...” Red, that’s what he needed. He reached for the corner of the blanket that covered his legs. “I’m gonna -”

“Keith, wait!”

Shiro and Hunk both lunged, but it was too late. He had already flipped the blanket to the side, revealing what lay underneath.

Or rather, what didn’t lay underneath.

He was gonna be sick.

His leg. It was…it was missing from the knee down.

Keith screamed.

The next minutes or hours were a blur of tears and pain in his chest and breaths that wouldn’t come. He vaguely recalled Shiro being in front of him, his lips moving but no sound coming out. He vaguely recalled thrashing and slamming his head into the wall behind him.

After that, though, the nothingness took back over.

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lifeofkaze · 3 years

Text

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 2

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N:

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Mentions of alcohol, mentions of drug abuse, swearing, suggestive NSFW content

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist

Taglist: @slytherindisaster

No, we won't tell a soul where we gone to

Girl, we do whatever we want to

Ah, I love the way that you do me

Cherry, babe, you really get to me

~ Neil Diamond - Cherry, Cherry ~

It had already been pretty late when they had finally left the O2 arena and made their way into the heart of the city. They’d just had enough time to order something to eat at one of their favourite restaurants at the still bustling Heron Tower before last orders were called.

None of them being in the mood to go home just yet, they had taken a cab to Mayfair for an opportunity to wind down from the high of their show. Ethan had wanted to join them, but had waved them away after checking his phone, mumbling something about a lot of work waiting for him in the morning.

No one was particularly sad about Skye’s dad opting out, however; they were currently making their way past the line of people queuing up in front of the nightclub they had chosen for the evening. Orion wasn’t a fan of crowded dancefloors and music he didn’t like blaring so loudly he couldn’t hear his own thoughts, but had bowed to the will of the others.

Many people considered the glitz and glamour that came with being famous as a perk; he just found it shallow and irritating. However, he was still too wound up to just return to his flat; he hadn’t seen his friends in weeks and was looking forward to properly catching up with them. Even if it wasn’t his preferred location for sharing talk and laughter, nothing was perfect after all.

As expected, music washed over them the moment they entered the building and the air grew increasingly warmer as they were led deeper into the bowels of the club. He could see Everett checking out the women on the dancefloor as they walked past, while Lizzie was slightly nodding her head to the music; naturally, she wasn’t able to resist a compelling beat.

The uncomfortably loud volume lessened to a more agreeable level when they arrived at their designated table in the private area. Their first round of drinks hadn’t even arrived yet, when Everett rose from his seat again and left for the dancefloor; none of them had any desire to join him. Lizzie had been considering it for a moment, but Orion knew how exhausted she must be from their performance. His own muscles were burning with fatigue, he could only imagine how she must feel.

Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of stories to tell; before their break, they had spent every day together for months on end, making a span of four weeks feel like an eternity and a blink of an eye at the same time. Skye was telling them about the side project she had started with her brothers while Merula spoke about her dabbling into poetry. Lizzie had spent the whole four weeks in the States with her brother and had brought back quite an assortment of stories to tell.

Orion himself had travelled a fair bit as well; there was nothing sparking his creativity like visiting new places with a clean and open mind. Thanks to a surge of inspiration, the songs for their next album were coming along greatly. Although they were still far from what Orion considered good enough to openly share them, he was satisfied with the progress.

When Everett returned after some time, the atmosphere cooled noticeably. Hanging from his arm was a girl with long brown hair, who was looking at Everett as if he was Keith Richards and Kurt Cobain combined. She was dolled up to a ridiculous degree, with heels as high as her dress was short.

Glancing down at her simple dark jeans and top, Lizzie chuckled to herself. “Now I feel underdressed.”

“If anyone is underdressed, that would be her,” Merula muttered, eyeing the hem of the girl’s dress, which barely covered her bum, with an arched eyebrow.

As she and Everett sat down next to Lizzie, the contrast between the girl’s artificial look and Lizzie’s more natural beauty couldn’t have been greater. Orion would probably never stop wondering why women felt the need to distort their looks in such a way.

Real beauty was not something to be put on and worn on display, forced about with flashy jewellery and an absurd amount of makeup; it was like light shining from the inside. It illuminated everything around it, drawing eyes without even trying to.

Their conversations all but ceased as Everett started boasting about their band’s success, his impact on their music and the solo career he had been fantasising about ever since Orion could remember.

Orion had to bite back a laugh as he saw Skye mimicking Everett’s expression when he didn’t look her way. Granted, he was a passable guitarist and talented singer. None of the other band members had the way of enticing the crowd and holding their attention like Everett did; nor did any one of them want to. He was about show and performance, the way he liked to celebrate himself all smoke and mirrors, but this didn’t stop his act increasingly getting on all of their nerves.

Everett didn’t use to be that way back when he had joined Equinox; while he had always been a charismatic guy, their continuous success had started getting to his head. Judging by his erratic gestures and slurred speech, Orion wouldn’t bet on alcohol being the only thing he had coursing through his system and clouding his view on things at the moment.

It wasn’t long, however, before Everett eventually decided he'd had enough of them.

Ignoring the annoyed looks of his friends, he and his girl had started making out right next to them. After a while she giggled, pulled on his sleeve and whispered something into his ear. Without sparing them so much as another glance, Everett got up and pulled her along towards the exit. There was a collective sigh going through the group after they had left.

“Fuck it, a few more minutes and she’d taken her bra off,” Merula muttered.

Lizzie shuddered. “No need, it’s not like she was wearing one.”

Skye shook her head. “I don’t get it, what do they all see in him? He’s not even that good looking.”

“You don’t find any man good looking,” Lizzie answered wryly while taking a sip of her almost empty drink.

“Fair enough,” Skye shot back, blowing her a kiss over the table. Lizzie rolled her eyes, but had to laugh anyway.

“I see what you mean, though,” she continued a moment later. “He’s been getting downright nasty lately. The way he was talking to Charlie during the feedback round? That was so unnecessary; a little more and Charlie might have hit him.”

“He’d never,” Skye chuckled. “It takes more than Ev to rile someone like Charlie up. That would be like Orion punching someone.”

They laughed at the ridiculousness of that idea. Skye was right though, Lizzie thought. While Charlie had been offended at suggesting his work wasn’t absolutely flawless and up to his own standard, it wasn’t like him to lose his cool over something like that.

“Like anyone pursuing what they love with a passion, Charlie does care about his work deeply,” Orion picked the conversation up again, “it is only natural to feel defensive when attacked. When you pour your heart and soul into something, it doesn’t matter if the results or yourself are doubted; it comes down to the same thing.”

“Maybe, but Charlie’s attitude is causing problems,” Merula said glumly. “As much as I hate to admit it, Ev is right; the pyros are a joke since Charlie’s doing two jobs at the same time.”

Lizzie immediately jumped to her friend’s defence. “It’s only temporary; he’ll concentrate on sound as soon as a proper replacement is found.”

Merula snorted in response. “I’m not sure there is anyone Charlie would be happy with who’s not himself.”

“Giving up something you love to the care of someone else is no easy feat,” Orion conceded, “but Murphy said it himself, they have a new applicant in for an interview tomorrow. If they meet him with an open mind, maybe we’ll have the newest member of our crew faster than we think.”

Merula’s answer was cut short by the waitress approaching their table carrying a fresh round of drinks. She handed them out and was about to leave, when she turned around again. Hesitating for a moment, she blushed a little, the change in her skin colour barely visible in the dimmed lights of the nightclub.

“Excuse me if I’m rude or anything, I really don’t want to disturb you,” she mumbled, looking visibly flustered, “but you are the guys from Equinox, aren’t you? The rock band?”

Skye grinned. “Right you are. You a fan?”

The waitress’s eyes lit up. “A fan? Are you kidding? I adore your music! I’ve got tickets for your show tomorrow and can’t wait! It’s such an honour to have you here tonight.”

“That’s sweet of you to say,” Lizzie smiled, idly stirring her cherry margarita with the cherry that had come as decoration.

The eyes of the waitress followed the swirls she was creating in the dark liquid. She was visibly gathering her courage before blurting out, “Is it true what’s written on your website? On your character profile?”

Lizzie raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Pardon me?”

The girl started blushing again. “In the misc-section, you know. They’ve written you could tie a cherry stem with your tongue; I’ve never met anyone who can do that.”

Now it was Lizzie’s turn to blush and hide her face behind her hand; sitting directly next to her, Orion could see that she was laughing behind her fingers.

“I knew I should have never told anyone about this,” she sighed, “I had no idea Ethan had them put this on my damn profile.”

“Shut up, you can’t really do that,” Skye exclaimed incredulously. “No way that’s true.”

Lizzie furrowed her brow. “Of course it is.”

“You never told me about that.”

“Why would I?”

“Then why did you tell dad?”

“He asked,” Lizzie shrugged.

Now it was Merula’s turn to look incredulous. “Ethan asked you if you could tie a cherry stem?”

Lizzie snorted. “He asked if I could do a party trick.”

Skye crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her seat. She nodded at the cherry between Lizzie’s fingers. “Prove it.”

Amused, Lizzie tilted her head. “What, right now?”

“Scared I’ll call you out, Jameson?”

Her eyes sparkling in prospect of a challenge, Lizzie plucked the stem off the cherry and twirled it between her fingers. “Watch it, Parkin.”

She flashed the still sceptical looking Skye a mischievous grin before she let the cherry stem disappear behind her lips. She knew everyone was watching her intently and Orion could see she was trying not to smirk.

He himself was so concentrated on whether she would succeed or not, he was caught completely off guard when he suddenly felt Lizzie’s hand coming to rest on his knee beneath the table. His breath hitched as she was squeezing it lightly. He had to bite his cheek as her fingers started grazing the inside of his thigh in slow circles, her hand steadily dancing higher and higher. All the while, she was keeping a straight face, her blue eyes fixed on Skye.

Orion couldn’t believe what she was doing; he took a deep breath that came out a lot shakier than he had meant it to.

Just before he had to stop her wandering fingers, she retracted her hand abruptly. Her eyes flickering towards him for the briefest of moments, she pursed her lips and pulled the now doubly tied cherry stem from between them in a deliberately slow motion. With a confident smile, she flicked it at Skye, whose jaw had dropped open.

“Teach me,” was all she managed to say before Lizzie broke into laughter.

“That’s my secret technique, Parkin; I’m not sharing.”

Lizzie leaned back in her seat, visibly satisfied with herself. Judging by the devilish smile playing around her lips, it was not only because she had proven Skye wrong.

Orion closed his eyes for a moment and brushed his hair out of his face to give his fingers something to do. While Lizzie and Skye were bantering back and forth, Orion was counting to fifty in his head in an attempt to reign his thoughts in again.

Just when he thought he had himself back under control again, Lizzie leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand while appearing to listen to Merula attentively. What the others could not see was her using her shift in position to press her leg against his. The cheeky smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth was hidden by her hand, only visible to him.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Orion moved himself out of her reach. “As much as I would love to stay with you, my friends, I’m afraid tonight’s show has taken more of a toll on me than I thought,” he explained at Merula’s and Skye’s confused expressions; Lizzie was merely blinking at him innocently. “If you don’t mind, I’ll head back home to get some well deserved rest.”

Without waiting for any of them to reply, Orion quickly turned around and left for the exit, all the while feeling Lizzie’s eyes on his back.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #harry potter hogwarts mystery #rockstar au #orion amari #skye parkin #merula snyde #lizzie jameson #lizion #when stars ignite #besties collaborate

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lady-griffin · 4 years

Note

Hello! I was just wondering if I could ask your opinion on something :DD I was just thinking about how differently Maria's life would have been if the events of the game still followed. Would her heart be satisfied with not gaining any friends but instead a lover? Can the four boys mend the relationship between Maria and her mother like Katarina did? Would being engaged with a noble/prince give her emotional freedom or would she be ostracized by society even more? Thoughts?

I have so many thoughts on how Katarina’s impact on everyone is so much more significant than Maria’s impact/change on the guys and their impact on Maria in the game.

No shade towards Maria or the guys, but…I mean its Katarina. She’s a goddamn force of nature. None of them can compare to the positive wreckage of Hurricane Katarina.

I would say that Maria’s heart would be “satisfied” with a lover, but more because all Maria wanted was someone to look at her and see her for who she was and it’s clear that each of the guys did that for Maria, in the game’s timeline.

However, just because she’s satisfied with her situation with a romantic partner (because it’s better) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best situation for her or even that healthy for her.

While sure her relationships in Fortune Lover with the guys puts her in a better place than she started, we still have to ask how much better?

Potential Spoilers Below

It was hard for me to organize my thoughts for this question...so I’m sorry if it’s nonsensical Anon (and sorry for any grammar mistakes).

Thank you for asking me this!!

We know from Katarina, that Fortune Lover never went into Maria’s backstory. Katarina knows nothing about Maria’s backstory and even got the wrong impression from what the game chose to show her about Maria.

When Katarina played the game, she thought Maria was simply an unstoppable genius; but in the real world of Fortune Lover it’s clear that Maria worked so goddamn hard.

Maria got where she is, not because she’s another Geordo, but because she put so much time and effort into getting herself at that level.

Maria is very similar to Mary in that regard.

In Hamefura (and Fortune Lover), so many characters only see “Perfect Mary” and not all the work, time and pain she put herself through to get to that point.

That’s basically Maria’s situation with those who play Fortune Lover. They only see the end result, not her countless years of effort and struggle.

But Katarina does see it and recognize Maria for her hard work, after she meets Maria.

Each time Katarina talks about the plot or a certain event, it’s largely about how Maria emotionally saves the guys or heals them.

While the guys do physically save her form the bullies (at least Geordo and Keith), the focus is clearly more on how Maria saves their broken and lonely hearts rather than how they save her own lonely and broken heart.

Her being saved (like how the guys were) by the guys isn’t really a factor in Fortune Lover. Because she’s the vehicle for the player.

Because it’s an Otome game, the game developers clearly didn’t care enough to develop Maria further than what they needed, unlike the guys, who are the main draw of the game.

And however, this world came into existence - The game being unknowing based off the world or the world existing because of the game. The actual world of Fortune Lover, what we see in Hamefura, greatly expands and fills in the gaps that Fortune Lover left behind.

It’s safe to say that the guys didn’t impact Maria’s relationship with her mother.

While it is possible Nicol and Sophia did visit Maria’s home on Nicol’s route, I highly doubt it.

Katarina doesn’t compare her own visit to anything that happens in the game – so the guys more than likely did nothing to help mend Maria and her mother’s relationship.

On the other hand, Katarina is the catalyst for Maria and her mother.

In the Light Novel, Maria’s mother sees how happy her daughter is (with Katarina and Keith) and realizes that she needs to be better. She’s known that for a while now; but it’s finally just hitting her in that moment that if she doesn’t act soon, she’ll be left behind by her daughter and be unable to mend their relationship.

Maria’s mother can’t stay frozen in her own despair and depression if she wants to be with her daughter.

Which gives me the impression that in the game, while never brought up, Maria does leave her mother behind.

I mean she probably doesn’t abandon her mother and if she marries one of the guys, she can easily improve her mother’s situation with money.

But that’s rather hollow in comparison to Maria and her mom working on their relationship together and getting to a better place together.

Katarina doesn’t do the work for Maria and her mother, but because of Katarina, Maria is in a better place to mend her relationship with her mother and vice versa.

Katarina is the catalyst for Maria’s Mother’s self-improvement. Which is very true of Katarina with the majority of the characters she impacts in the story.

Fortune Lover - Bad Endings

I am definitely looking into this way more deeply than I should.

But given how Maria can either receive a good or bad ending with each of the guys, indicates that an actual relationship (in ‘reality’) with each guy is a dangerous thing for Maria to embark on. We can look at it like this –

If Maria’s relationship doesn’t go well with each guy, she’s so screwed…so very screwed.

Geordo’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – that probably weighed on Maria’s conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – With Katarina dead and no Geordo to protect her, it doesn’t seem crazy that the Claes family (not Keith) might or would try to retaliate against Maria.

Geordo self-exiles himself, leaving her behind – Basically the one person she bonded with and put all of her energy into leaves her. She’s alone once more. There’s also a good chance the kingdom will blame her (since Katarina’s dead) for their beloved Prince leaving them – so she’s going to be ostracized by nobles and commoners alike

Not great all-around.

Also given how twisted Geordo is in the game’s timeline, a part of me wonders if Geordo actually did love Maria in his bad route.

Or if he was simply using Maria as a reason to get rid of Katarina and escape his noble life.

Dark? Yes. Possible? I think so.

Keith’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – again, probably weighed on Maria conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – This time Maria is a key part in not only Katarina’s death, but to the Claes family losing their heir…so not great for Maria.

Injury – Maria gets injured by Katarina...or Keith is the one who gets injured, it’s unclear to me. But basically, there’s a chance she gets physically injured.

Keith disappears (goes into hiding, leaving her behind) – Once more the person she put her time and attention into leaves her. She’s all alone. Again. Nobles still probably don’t like her and neither do the commoners and there’s probably so many more vicious rumors about her at this point, because of Keith killing his sister.

Now in Alan and Nicol’s Bad Routes the consequences are less dire, significantly so, but it’s not a stretch to say Maria would still end up alone and maybe even more isolated than she started when she got their bad endings.

And of course, there is the one Bad Route where the whole Student Council (including Maria) gets murdered…

Basically, going pass the point where the game ends, Maria’s life is made so much worse by the bad routes.

Now if Katarina and Maria stopped being friends, it’s not exactly going to be rainbows and butterflies for Maria either.

But I just don’t see things being that dire for Maria IF Katarina’s bad route was to come to pass (so to speak).

I think one benefit befriending Katarina, is that if she were to leave someone (death/non-death reasons), she leaves the person in a better place.

In all honestly though, if Maria fails at romancing Katarina than basically Katarina’s bad route is that you just remain friends with her…so you know, still fucking great.

Also the Katarina route is essentially the friendship route for Maria.

Largely because the Student Council are a large group of close, childhood friends (who are all in love with Katarina) and they all befriend Maria. Which is different than how the student council was in Fortune Lover.

While Katarina is definitely the point of focus for Maria, Maria’s social group has far exceeded her expectations, not just with the student council, but even beyond them.

Fortune Lover - Good Endings (?)

Geordo and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Personally, I find it difficult to imagine that these the game versions of these two would live happily ever after.

It just seems like such a stretch that Maria undoes the 16 years of Geordo’s fucked up life and disposition in one year and everything is great and dandy afterwards.

But we are told that they do end up happily ever after, so we’re going to take the story’s word on the matter.

Maria would still end up so goddamn isolated. I mean she would be ostracized by noble society to such a scary and threatening degree if she ended up with Geordo.

Katarina is a Duke’s Daughter; she is at the top of the social hierarchy and we’ve seen how certain nobles treat her. So, imagine what Maria’s treatment would be like.

After years of being socially isolated in her town, to being bullied and socially isolated at school, to gaining all that hatred and jealousy of all those noble girls who love Geordo.

I don’t think anyone could handle that.

Geordo would probably try to get back at those people and take care of them (to possibly a dangerous degree), which I don’t think would help Maria and might even cause her to further retreat into herself.

Given how Hamefura pulls the curtains behind Fortune Lover, I just find it so difficult to truly see Maria being happy with Geordo (and vice versa).

But it’s not exactly peaches and roses with the other guys.

Alan and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

She’s definitely would be socially isolated and bullied by noble society. Probably not to the degree she would be with Geordo…but still pretty badly.

I can easily see so many noble girls being upset that even though Alan leaves the perfect Mary, he chooses the commoner Maria over them.

I guess it’s possibly for Geordo and Alan to leave their princely lives for Maria, but again, I see Maria taking the brunt of that decision from the nobles.

Nicol and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

While Nicol is described as the most normal, he and Sophia are clearly co-dependent on one another in the game, to such an unhealthy degree.

I’m sure if we knew more about Nicol’s route, Fortune Lover would have said that Maria saved the two siblings from the isolated world they only shared with one another.

But would she have? Or would she simply end up joining their isolated world?

Again, Nicol has so fans (men and women), I just see Maria being socially isolated and ostracized by noble society.

And unlike the other guys, there’s no way Nicol would abandon his duties to his family or to his noble life – he feels a great deal of responsibility towards his family and as his father’s heir.

So while her good ending with Nicol could still be a legit good ending for her, I still see some snags for the two of them.

Keith and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Probably the happiest one, in all honesty.

In the Light Novels, it’s stated that Keith and Maria elope together and Keith abandons his position as the Claes heir. Which yeah, that makes absolute sense.

There’s no way Luigi Claes would be happy with his heir marrying the girl who he would absolutely blame for his beloved daughter’s exilement? No way.

So those two would escape Noble Society together…so they would probably be okay and be able to live normal lives.

Though I will admit, it does seem like they would probably become co-dependent on one another.

Seeing as both of them have been neglected, emotionally abused, isolated and bullied by others and neither of them have probably learned the proper tools in handling all of that.

Also, I doubt there’s therapy in this world…so yeah.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t be able to save one another from their loneliness and build a foundation off of their shared experiences…but given how Fortune Lover focuses on Maria saving Keith from his loneliness and not so much the other way around –

Maria would probably be doing the brunt of the emotional work in their relationship.

…Okay, I may have been way too dark on Maria’s happy endings with the guys.

It’s more than likely her situation if she had ended up with one one of them she would’ve been fine and a lot better than what I’ve portrayed above.

But I still think she would;ve been socially isolated and ostracized (to varying degrees), while still being emotional repressed herself.

One of the reasons why Katarina saving everyone feels severely more balanced than Maria saving everyone one… is that Katarina is well-adjusted.

I mean emotionally speaking she was doing so much better than everyone else when she first met them.

Don’t get me wrong, Katarina has plenty of her own problems and issues – from her self-esteem to legit thinking her friends would abandon her or even kill her.

But Katarina was able to save everyone by just being herself.

And while Fortune Lover and Katarina basically presume that’s true for Maria… it’s not.

Because we see and get to know the real Maria and see how emotionally repressed, she was before she met Katarina.

Her saving each of the guys or all of them together, probably cost her, her own emotional freedom and salvation.

There’s the saying, the saddest people smile the brightest.

Which is not a bad saying, but it can imply a somewhat dark idea if you think about it.

The saddest people have to smile bright to save others, because they know what it’s like to be sad and don’t want that from others.

That gives the impression that those sad people don’t allow themselves to be sad or at least not in front of other people, because they always have to happy and smile brightly for others.

I think that’s Maria’s in a nutshell in Fortune Lover.

One of the beauties of Hamefura is that we see Maria needed to be saved as much as everyone else did.

She was pain and crying out as well, but since she was just the vehicle for the game and player, she wasn’t truly saved.

Maria says her big finale line to Katarina, the one that she always says to the guy she ends up with at the end of the game.

But I think the weight of it, is so much more real with Katarina than it was in Fortune Lover with the guys.

Maybe I’m completely off base, but it just feels more like it comes from a genuine desire when directed towards Katarina rather than a deeply rooted fear of being alone again.

Again, that could just be me.

I think Maria being with Katarina, platonic or romantic, is immensely healthier for Maria as an individual.

For me, I would always choose having multiple good to epic friendships over one epic romance that I’m completely dependent on.

Thaks for the ask anon. And I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense, it was just hard for me to organize and write down my thoughts for some odd reason.

#Maria Campbell #Katarina Claes #Hamefura #Otome Game No Hametsu Flag #Destruction Flag Otome #Bakarina #My Next Life As a Villainess #Fortune Lover #Anonymous

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loveafterthefact · 4 years

Text

A Deleted Scene

Just some Ulace background fluff for those of you who love them as much as I do

Thace is sitting by the fire, frown cast in deep chasms over his young face. One ear swivels, searching for his mate coming home, chasing fleeting sounds through the night. The other is fixed behind him, on four of his kits sleeping soundly in the den, safe in the knowledge that their bearer is right outside.

At least, they fucking better be, given it took a varga to get the triplets into bed! Why did he want so many kits again?

The answer to that comes with the sound of a particular set of footsteps drawing near, bringing a smile to Thace’s lips. An older, war-grizzled Galra soon comes into sight, the shape of his body haunting in the light of the village’s campfires.

“Welcome home,” Thace murmurs, holding out his arms for the sleeping kit Ulaz carries close to his chest.

“Welcome home,” Ulaz echoes. It’s a long-time ritual of theirs, to call each other home, especially during an age when physical home could be destroyed at any time.

Thace purrs, cradles his youngest kit close, breathing in their scent, drawing his cheek over the top of their head. Without hesitation, Ulaz passes over the newborn infant, understanding his mate’s needs. And Raj’s. Their eyes and ears are barely open, mere silhouettes, the sounds of their family the only things their senses care about. That includes not spending more than a few vargas without one of their parents. Thace feels the same way, instinctively drawn to his littlest kit.

Sometimes, work makes that impossible.

Ulaz sits next to him, pulls a slightly cold dinner toward him. They sit in silence for a while, Thace letting himself relax now that he has all his kits again, Ulaz taking the time to savor a moment after a rough afternoon of profiling. Both are decompressing, relishing their time (mostly) alone.

“So… What’s gone and put that frown on your face?”

“The princes.”

“Not Lotor, I presume.” “No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I feel like I failed somehow,” Thace whispers. “They’re so, so young. Both of them. Lance still smells more like a kit than an adult. And so much is being asked of them. And I- I keep thinking of how I crumbled under everything.”

“You did not crumble, my love.” Ulaz tucks his chin over Thace’s shoulder, smiling down at the kit sleeping in his mate’s arms. “You realized you’d been indoctrinated and then had an identity crisis because you finally started thinking for yourself. Very different things.”

The humor falls flat. Ulaz’s humor usually does.

“I know. I know. I just… Keith- Keith feels like one of my kits to me. Like I love him, and want to protect him, and keep him safe. He’s been through so much and I dunno. I’m dissatisfied.”

“It’s too soon. They should have waited a decaphoeb or two to breed,” Ulaz agrees. “But they are princes, and sometimes what should be, can’t be.”

“I know that too.” An edge creeps into Thace’s voice.

“But you don’t like it.”

“No, I don’t.”

Ulaz chuckles, eyes gleaming with fondness in the dark. “May I make an observation?” At Thace’s hesitant nod, the older Galra continues. “You are… extremely opinionated, and you’ve been known to get very annoyed when people don’t agree or conform to those opinions.”

“So I’m mad that the princes have chosen to go straight from final growth and bonding to parenthood for the simple reason that I don’t like it? Or am I mad because I advised them to do exactly that for political reasons even though I’m a healthcare provider?”

“You tell me. Why are you mad?”

Thace groans, leans away so he can properly glare at his mate. “I hate when you do that.”

“I’m a profiler. That’s what I do. And you used to find it very hot when I do that.”

“It is. When you’re not doing it to me.”

“And I just got you to admit you still think I’m hot.” Ulaz kisses him, smile against smile.

“Oh, you’re very hot,” Thace agrees, returning the kiss. “But I’m hotter.”

A few doboshes pass in easy silence, touch and even breaths replacing discourse. It’s been like this since before they even bonded, the comfort of silence coming naturally in each other’s presence. Decaphoebs of trust lie between them, stemming from care given during a first season Thace hadn’t intended to face alone until it was right upon him.

The younger Galra sighs, eventually surrendering to his older mate’s learned patience.

“I’m mad because if I’d said what I should have said instead of what I needed to say, they would have had more time together just the two of them. And that time was so important to me.”

“You and Keith are different people. You needed time for yourself because you’d constantly been smothered by others. Keith has still been alone for more decaphoebs than he hasn’t. He wants to sink himself into the soil and put down as many roots as he can.

“Don’t begrudge them an early start just because it’s not what you’d choose for yourself. They were happy when you spoke to them, right?”

Thace heaves a sigh. “They were… so happy. I’ve never heard two people sound that happy. Like it was all they ever wanted.”

“Then maybe we give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see if the Altean rises to the occasion before we go sulking pensive in front of the fire.” Ulaz’s arms wrap around his waist, legs crossing beneath Thace’s own crossed legs. “Or go kicking his ass for hurting our little friend.”

“You think you’re clever, don’t you,” Thace mutters, not missing how he’s suddenly in his mate’s lap.

“I missed you. I haven’t seen you all quintant except to trade off Raj.”

Unable to argue, Thace leans back against him, a silent admission. Raj yawns, stretching their little arms as their mouth opens wide, tiny tongue curling.

“I want more of these,” Ulaz whispers, slipping a finger into his infant kit’s fist. “Like a million of them.”

“I don’t know about a million, but a few more for sure.” Thace bites his lip. “You really think they’ll be okay?”

“You know, I really do. I wasn’t ready, but when we got pregnant with Mashan I like to think I did quite well.”

“You did,” Thace promises, gazing at Ulaz’s finger still gripped tight in their kit’s tiny hand. “You did so well, love.”

Ulaz hadn’t always wanted kits, afraid to disappoint, to damage a small, dependent life. Thace had accepted, though not without some heartbreak that morphed into fear after contraceptives failed some dozen seasons down the line. When he told Ulaz, he’d found himself comforted, Ulaz’s fear tempering his own, the promise of a new life pushing everything else away.

That new life became Mashan, their sweet, gentle girl that makes them desperate. Mashan, who will never make it in this life if something doesn’t change and soon. For Forenz, Bimesa, and Lorna, who could thrive anywhere but still deserve better. For Raj, who takes after their bearer already, fierce and ferocious, but should never have to wonder if their parents are coming home.

“I’m so glad I waited for you,” Thace whispers.

“I’m glad I waited for you too.” Ulaz extracts himself from Raj’s grip, squeezes his mate tight, rubs their cheeks together. They purr in concert. They’ve been together for almost two centaphoebs, fathers for not even half that, but given the choice, there’s nothing they would have done differently.

The proof of that comes later, with Mashan curling up against Ulaz’s chest, using his arm as a pillow, clinging to him like a little primate. He’s got her tail in his hand. The triplets are piled between them and Thace, Raj on his chest, still-folded ear pressed to his central heart.

The family he always envisioned for himself, but much better than he ever imagined. So long as he can hold onto it.

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #voltron thace #vld thace #voltron ulaz #vld ulaz #thace x ulaz #ulace #galtean au #klance

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langstforthesoul · 4 years

Text

Klangst

Not What I Meant by: Dodie Clark

TW: Intrusive thoughts, Langst, Klangst, and generally just sad-

*Lance was having a hard time adjusting after Keith came back with his mom, the others brushing him off to go get Allura away from the treacherous Galra Prince. He knew this was far more important than a simple ‘Hello’ from the now apparently older and very much taller blade member. He had this bitter feeling pooling at the bottom of his stomach as he watched everyone rush out of the ship bay to try and contact the princess. ‘Why am I feeling like this?’ He felt the rage and bitterness slowly boil up but he shoved it back down, pushing it aside to deal with it later. He knew that wasn’t wise, but what else was he supposed to do? He had to help with their Lotor situation, despite knowing he wouldn’t be much help.

Skipping forward to after Lotor escaped, everyone had gone their separate ways. Lance wandered around the halls of the castle, lost in his own thoughts, speaking to the stale air as he went.*

Lance: *He had his arms crossed over his chest, the bitterness and anger slowly boiling backup from earlier now that he was alone (or so he thought)* Let’s find out just how far I’ll go, to look like someone you should know.. *he continued on, knowing he needed to get what he was feeling off his chest but not knowing how. ‘Maybe training?’ He thought as he made his way to the direction of the said room.* Maybe I’d sound a little better *he absent mindedly ran his hand over the smooth and very well taken care of skin on his face.* Maybe I’d look more sweet?

*The brunette had walked all the way to the training room only to hear the clashing of a sword against metal. He peeked inside to see Keith and Shiro training together, moving in what could only be described as a dangerous dance of violence. He watched in slight awe before turning to leave, only to pause when he felt the bitterness make its way into his thoughts.*

Lance: *‘Keith just has to always be number 1 huh? No wonder Shiro prefers to train with him.’ His mind spoke with a tone that sent shivers down his spine.* His mind has already been made up, he saw my number and my number is just never good enough. *he let out a soft but sad chuckle as he walked away from the training room door. He turned on his heel to make his way toward the kitchen, his stomach rumbling in agreement of the idea of a snack.* I’ll fight a little better *He felt a small smile tug on his lips.* If I’m willing to compete.

*Keith paused in his movements, hearing the tapping of shoes walking away from the room He and Shiro had been in for the past few hours. He looked at the door for a brief moment, confusion crossing his features. Shiro, ever the concerned father figure, got out of his fighting stance and looked in the direction that Keith was looking.*

Shiro: Keith? *He gently nudged the dazed boy, his brows furrowed ever so slightly in concern.* You ok?

Keith: *He looked over at Shiro then back at the door, blinking for a second.* I could have sworn I heard Lance outside the door… *He rumbled, shaking off the bad feeling he felt. He jumped when he felt the cold metal hand of Shiro’s prosthetic arm touching his shoulder.*

Shiro: Maybe go check and see if he’s alright? I’m sure you could use a break anyways. *He watched for a reaction from the ravenette, knowing the response he was about to get all too well.*

Keith: *He shook his head and nudged Shiro’s hand off lightly.* I’ll do it if I have too, maybe find an Inbetween..

Shiro: *He let out a chuckle and gave Keith a teasing look, slightly shoving the younger shoulder.* Not what I meant when I said, maybe just see if he wants to be seen?

Keith: *He simply rolled his eyes, walking over to the area he set his things aside to and swiped his towel.* I don’t get what you mean but I’ll go check on him. *he wiped the sweat from his brow and walked out of the training room, leaving a chuckling Shiro in his wake.*

*Lance had made it to the kitchen without bumping into anyone, only wanting to grab a quick snack and going to the observation deck where he could drown in his thoughts. He heard humming as soon as he entered, seeing his best friend whisking away as some alien ingredient they got from their last supply pick up. He gave Hunk a smile before grabbing what he needed and leaving without saying a word. Hunk was confused but only shrugged it off, thinking it was only to get back to whatever Lance was doing before.

Lance was back in the halls once more, feeling the chill of the crisp air as it shifted to the night cycle. His mind slowly began to wonder off again, consuming the silence with the loud shouting of his thoughts.*

Lance: *He let out a shaky sigh, running a hand through his already mused hair. ‘Y’know that He only cares about Pidge and their inventions now.. You shouldn’t bother him. Stay on the right path, McClain.’ His mind shouted at him.* How am I meant to stay on track? When each hand I shake will pull me back? *He gripped his hair, trying to keep his breathing steady as his vision blurred. ‘You’re not working hard Enough! You HAVE TO TRY HARDER!’ The thoughts rang louder each time, causing a sharp pang to run through his brain.* Oh, I guess I’ll work a little.. maybe walk a little less.. *When he finally arrived at the observation deck, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Though that hadn’t lasted long, more intrusive thoughts, one more worse than the one before. He tried to force a smile, tell himself that he’s good enough and that he’ll always be good enough but…* And in the end I feel proud! I grit my teeth, and follow that DAMN crowd… *the smile he forced slowly began to crumble.. ‘You aren’t going to make it back home, this war is going to take you away forever!’ That one made him flinch, tears welling up in his eyes as he forcefully wiped them away.* Will I have grow a little empire or made another fucking mess? *That drew out a sad chuckle from the Cuban, a tear slowly slipping down his freckled cheek. ‘You should just leave McClain! Nobody needs you here so why stay?! YOU’RE REPLACEABLE!!’* I’ll do it if I have to…

*Something Lance hadn’t realized was that Keith, his supposed rival to close friend to crush, was listening outside the door. The ravenettes eyes were wide with shock, the feeling of dread cording through him as he listened to everything Lance said.*

Keith: *he placed a hand over his mouth, trying to steady his breathing while staying as quiet as possible. ‘How long has Lance felt like this? Did he really..?’ His mind was racing with one question after the next, resisting the urge to burst in to confront the former blue paladin, to try and figure where all this came from and how it started..*

*Lance slid down to the floor, his knees giving way underneath him as he held in a sob that rose from his throat. He didn’t want to make a sound in fear that someone would hear and feel that they had to come and check. He didn’t want to be a bother any more than he felt that he was. The two boys, one unaware of the others presence, stayed silent for a few moments until the Cuban continued.*

Lance: *His voice came out thick, tears seeping from his eyes as he stared at the stars with blurry eyes and a shaky smile.* Hoping for an Inbetween… *’You shouldn’t draw attention to yourself, don’t make the others worry about you. They already have too much to deal with.’ He let out another shaky breath and pulled his knees to his chest.* Not what I meant when I said that I wanted to be… *A soft sob escaped his trembling and bitten beyond belief lips, he shook with each sob that escaped after the first, finally letting go. He lowered his head and murmured under his breath.*...seen.

Keith: *’I can’t just keep standing here! Lance needs comfort!’ His emotions were getting the better of his rationality, having a war going on in his mind. ‘What if he doesn’t want to see me? What if I make things worse for him?!’ He shook his head, as if to shake away the thought. ‘It doesn’t matter, he needs someone!’ The next words he muttered under his breath..* I’ll do what I have to.

Lance: *He tried his best to calm down, still not noticing a certain mullet head about to enter. He ruffled his hair and gave a wet smile to the stars.* I’ll keep it to myself..

Keith: *He finally made a decision, turning on his heel and storming into the room with a fierce determination that he only showed when he was about to go on a mission.* This is the Inbetween.

Lance: *The male jumped, whirling around at the source of the new voice, surprised to see a very fierce looking keith quickly approaching him.* K-keith? How- W-when- H-how long have you been listening?! *He yelped, suddenly in Keith’s arms as the ladder held him in a tight vice like hug. ‘I must have seen that look somewhere before-‘ his thoughts were interrupted when Keith suddenly spoke after a brief pause.*

Keith: *He held the Cuban as tight as he could without hurting the other, burying his face into the others neck.* I finally know what you meant when you said you want to be… *he inhaled a shaky breath and pulled away to face Lance.*

Lance: *He could watch in awe, some tears still falling but Keith kissed them away as soon as they did.*

Keith: *he gave Lance a sad smile and cupped the others cheek with his, sure to be, rough hands.* ...Seen..

Authors Note:

Uhhmmm Hi? I hope whoever reads this enjoys! I’m considering on writing a part two to this, but I dont really know what song to do.. That’s where you guys hopefully come in! Feel free to drop some song recommendations in the comments and I’ll go through and choose one! Also feel free to comment any notes or Mistakes you see, I would really love a second opinion on this writing! Anyways, I hope you guys have a good day/morning/evening/night! And Stay safe out there!!

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willadisastercry · 4 years

Text

Retrieval mission gone horribly wrong: nearly everyone is whumped...

tw: discussion of blood, breathing difficulties, impalement, loss of conciousness, discussion of the aftermath of an explosion

The mission should’ve been simple. All they had to do was blend in, which meant no armor, only concealed bayards. Everybody knew the deal, Pidge has the tablet that tracts the artifact, the rest follow and protect Pidge who retrieves said artifact. They were supposed to get in and out quickly, to not leave time to dawdle, or room for error. And most importantly, not get caught. But the entire team was off that day, leaving little that went according to plan and multiple members of the group badly injured and in need of tending. It didn’t matter if it was a lack of focus or proper intel... but who was left to save them?

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Hunk had refused to enter the crudely lit corridor and watched in horror as his teammates were enveloped into darkness aside from the shrinking green and red and grey glows of their bayards.

The vibes were just off, he’d argued in protest since the power hadn’t wavered once when they combed the previous floor. We don’t have our suits and cannot afford to blindly walk into an ambush with only our bayards. Not to mention, there is not a single guard around—absolutely nothing to protect this artifact located down a dark and mysterious hallway, does not mean go and check it out anyway?!

But Pidge’s radar confirmed the signal was emitting from just a couples yards ahead and the other boys couldn’t argue with that.

“You don’t have to come with us, bud.”

“Yea, don’t sweat it...”

“...we gotta get moving.”

They were already running short on time for the estimated window of opportunity to retrieve the artifact they were tracking before the security system rebooted. They just couldn’t pass up the chance, but Hunk also just wasn’t going to be caught dead following them down there.

“I guess I’ll cover you on this end...”

There was nothing on his end though. Not a single thing.

He relished in the steady influx of their voices discussing what they saw over the coms. Nothing for a while, Lance stepping on Pidge’s heel, Keith bonking his bayard on the wall accidentally and it scaring them, Pidge saying they were closing in on the artifact. But immediately after they started closing in the clear stream became crackled and unintelligible.

Hunk wanted to throw up, he knew something had gone really really wrong when their coms went down completely but Shiro and Allura could still be heard urging everyone to move faster, that they wouldn’t be able to hold the attention of their defense fleet much longer.

They had drawn the patrol fleets’ fire and were serving as a distraction for nearly thirty dobashes now, their lions had taken a substantial amount of damage and wouldn’t hold up much longer.

“Guys?! Pidge, come in! Lance? Keith? ANYONE?!”

“Yelling! In my ear! Why are we yelling?”

“Shit—yeah, hi Shiro. So... Keith, Lance and Pidge followed the signal down this sketchy hallway, but I didn’t go because it looks like the type of hallway you get murdered in—I shouldn’t say that, but it looks like that. It’s pitch black, zero visibility, I can’t see them at all. Man it felt so wrong down there! I knew something was up, I felt bad about not going with them but I couldn’t, I couldn’t go, something wasn’t right!”

“Hunk! Focus! I need you to calm down and tell me you’re exact location, better yet send it to me.”

“Gosh—okay, yeah, I can focus. I can—“

But Shiro never got to calm Hunk down enough to have him even describe where he was because his end of the coms went out and was replaced with a similar static.

“Crap, Allura I’ve got to go in and help them,” Shiro stated as he sprayed the battle ships with a hail of fire before stealing the castle away.

“I’m coming, guys,” Shiro assured even though they likely couldn’t hear him.

Allura stayed back to draw base’s defensive fighters away and then get them off her tail while Coran cloaked the castle. Once they were out of range, Shiro used their last drop ship to bypass the planets defenses while they were still distracted and landed on the base near Pidge’s green lion.

Shiro had no idea what he’d be walking into when he tracked the artifact on the server Pidge created to identify quintessence.

He sure didn’t think he’d first find a passed out Hunk at the beginning of said sketchy hallway with a heavy plume of smoke billowing from it. His forehead bleeding pretty significantly and he didn’t stir when Shiro shook him.

“Fuck,” he breathed as he lugged the larger boy up by his arms and draped him over his back, using their combined momentum to keep them both upright as he trudged into the thick smoke and dense darkness of the sketchy hallway.

It was so dark he couldn’t see five feet in front of him, but it wouldn’t have mattered with the smoke anyway, the only reason he remembered it was there was how it filled and sat heavy in his lungs.

He called out hoarsely. But nothing for the longest time until he followed the blinking light from the server and turned the corner.

The first thing he heard was heavy breathing. He called out, but no one responded. His glowing hand casting a vague purple sheen that illuminated his path slightly and allowed him just enough visibility to not to eat shit over the debris that littered the floor.

There had been an explosion.

Hunk had been right. There was no one guarding the suspicious hallway with the precious artifact because the guard was the spooky hallway itself.

Shiro slowed and began scanning the entire width of the hallway as he moved, looking for the first sign of life or anything that looked like it would set off a bomb, but wasn’t too worried about that since his team had obviously made it that far without...

He forced any thought about what he might stumble upon when he found them out of his head. All he needed to focus on was finding them in the first place, which got a little tricky when the hallway forked. The server wasn’t precise enough to pinpoint the difference of fifteen feet accurately. So he stopped altogether now and called out again.

He heard nothing for second, but then he heard wheezing, the strangled rattle of someone’s chest working and darted down the right most corridor.

Before he turned down the next corridor he was stopped dead in his tracks when his purple hand illuminated a shaggy haired form crumpled around the corner of the wall. Keith.

He knelt down and grabbed the shuddering boy’s shoulders. His raspy breathing was what he’d been hearing. He refrained from rolling him onto his back to check for further damage because it was peppered with shards of metal, so instead he assured him that he was safe now and that he’d come back for him once he checked on everyone else. Keith only grunted.

Shiro let Hunk down next to Keith and activated his hand once more to begin scouring the hallway.

He called out again, and this time someone responded. Shiro took off on a weary trot as he followed the weak response, he told them to keep talking as he scanned the floor, very aware of each skinny twist of metal that looked remotely like an arm or a leg until he actually saw a leg attached to one. Lance.

Lance was on his side, his shoulder tucked unnaturally under him, with the tip of a jagged wrench of metal sticking into the fleshy part of his thigh.

“I’m okay,” he huffed as Shiro eyed him worriedly, “I just can’t get up. My shoulder is done for but the bleeding on my leg has sort of stopped or slowed at least, it’s not even that deep it’s just very securely in there.”

“Okay, do you think you can stand?”

Lance laughed dubiously, but extended his uninjured arm out to Shiro anyway.

“That was not at all convincing, but I guess we’ll find out... hook your arm around my neck, yeah just like that, now I’m going to brace your bad arm against your side so nothing moves weird and you’re going to put weight on your good leg... on three, one—three!”

As soon as Shiro hoisted Lance up he nearly topppled back over with the wave of excruciating pain that washed over him, he yelped and writhed as he breathed through it, his legs wobbling while he gripped Shiro’s shirt to keep himself upright.

From what Shiro could tell as he carefully manuevered his arms around Lance’s waist and good arm to keep him from falling, his shoulder appeared to be very much dislocated. But it was now safely clutched against his side, so any jostling of it would be awful, but no further damage would be made.

Lance took a shakey breath and stepped back, giving himself a second to sus out if he could make do with his bad leg. A fresh gush of dark red welled around the shard protruding from his thigh and dribbled slowly down his leg. He grimaced, but it carried his weight.

Shiro’s heart sank. An explosion like this wouldn’t have hurt his team as badly if they were wearing their armor, not just the under suit. It was his order, to be discreet. This was his fault.

“Hey, I’ll live. Pidge was father down, she was closer to this explosion,” Lance mused as he leaned heavily on the wall while he made his way forward.

“There were like several. Keith got the brunt of the first one, is he okay?”

“Uh, ish. I had Hunk with me, he’s out so I left him with Keith.”

“Shit...”

“I know, usually takes a lot more to take out the big—“

“No, look.”

Lance pointed to Pidge with the light of his bayard. She was slumped against the wall and looked like she was mostly okay asides from being unconscious, that is if you didn’t mention the glistening pool of blood below her.

Shiro rushed forward and his stomach turned. Only when he got close did he realize that the entire right side of her body was torn up by metal debris.

A lot were minor knicks, but there was one particularly jagged gash in her side that was likely the source of all the blood.

“Pidge? Hey, you with us?!”

The smaller teammate hummed when Shiro shook them.

“I’m gonna get you out of here, okay? This probably won’t feel good, I’m sorry.”

Shiro lifted up Pidge’s limp form effortlessly, ignoring her pained cries as he held her against his chest so that her head rested on his shoulder, one arm clutching the back of her thighs and the other free to help Lance limp back to the rest of the team.

Hunk was responding by the time they got back. A large hand pressed firmly on Keith’s arm as his chest worked, his breath ragged and his lungs wheezing while he breathed through the thick smoke. Shiro made a mental note that he probably had some other injuries to his chest that were making him so susceptible to the effects of smoke inhalation.

“Okay, Hunk how you doing? Can you walk?”

“I ‘on know,” he slurred, “pro’ly.”

“I can help him. You get the mullet, he’s not looking too hot.”

Lance hefted a dazed Hunk to his feet with his uninjured arm. He swayed, but Lance steadied him.

Shiro knelt beside Keith, balancing Pidge on one side while he probbed his stomach.

“Anything hurt over here?”

“No, agh! Not really, mostly my chest... and my back,” he groaned through labored breaths.

“Good, hold on to me,” he postured before pressing the boys hips against his own and bringing him up with him.

Keith’s breath hitched as he adjusted to the new orientation, but he got his feet under him and clutched Shiro’s shoulder before doubling over. He was almost retching like he was going to be sick, but he just couldn’t breathe.

Hunk who was hanging on Lance held out his arm for him to grasp and he did, grateful for the extra support while he struggled to fill his lungs.

“Easy, Keith. Just relax. I know it hurts, but we have to get back to the Castle. We’ll fix you up soon you just gotta work with us for now,” Shiro soothed, dragging him along sluggishly.

“Shi— o— iro— Shiro? Shiro can you hear me?”

As they moved farther and farther away from the artifact, the coms grew clearer until they could hear Allura’s voice distinct and worried.

“We’re here Princess, we’re all here,” Lance answered.

They heard Allura let out a sigh she tried to repress, she didn’t even know she was holding her breath.

“Are the paladins alright?”

“Uh...”

“Ish.”

“Should I patch Coran in and tell him to prepare a pod?”

Pidge let out a particularly pointed whine as Shiro shifted her so she wouldn’t slip lower, his moving also tweaked something for Keith who moaned a very deep and crackly ‘ouch’.

Shiro eyed the darkened expanse of Lance’s thigh, Hunk’s wavering balance.

“Have him prepare a few... just to be safe.”

“Oh dear, alright.”

They had to move quickly but carefully. Shiro had never tread so lightly during an escape except for now when he was toting two very injured and in pain paladins. He moved even quicker when he realized that Keith had gone from only clutching at his shoulder to leaning entirely into his side, his feet at times merely dragging along. Shiro’s grip on his hip pressing it against his own was uncomfortable for them both but there was no other area untouched on his upper body for him to lug him by.

Lance and Hunk made their own way together, swaying and stumbling the entire time. Lance’s leg had pretty much stopped bleeding, the metal protruding from it effectively staunching it for now, but the damage around it grew more and more apparent. His muscles felt both excruciatingly taut and achingly loose as they squelched around the piercing metal.

It would altogether buckle beneath him every now and again, leaving Hunk mostly holding up Lance but relying on him to reorient himself when his head ached so bad that his vision blurred. Hunk was always careful of his shoulder when he’d stop and hang on him, Lance’s bad arm remaining clutched tightly against his side and out of the way anyway.

“We’re almost to Green, come on buddy,” he said as he urged the larger boy forward, practically hoping now.

No one really knew how they made it out without getting stopped, but the robotic foot soliders seemed to only take into account that the perpetrators who set off the explosions would be running, not hobbling.

Green’s whines were present in everyone’s head with Pidge’s conciousness wavering, the jaws of the smaller lion opening up as soon as they neared.

My paladin! Green lion save paladin! Green lion fly paladin to castle!

“We’ve got her, Green. You just get us back and we’ll do the rest,” Shiro assured, settling down on the ground of the cockpit with Pidge between his legs, her back against his chest so he could put pressure on the gash in her side.

He had guided Keith to his knees where he then practically pitched forward onto his stomach.

Looking at the wounds on his back with some of the metal bits still sticking out in better lighting made Shiro want to hurl.

Then again holding Pidge’s insides in place also made him want to hurl but that was why she was positioned the way she was, so he didn’t have to see it.

Her breathing was fast but it was better than Keith’s. Every now and then she’d make a pained sound and he would just whisper in her ear that she was safe and she would calm down soon after.

And then he’d take her pulse. It had gotten slightly weaker but he could still feel it.

Lance had lowered himself to the ground slowly but his good leg was tired and cramping from the effort of getting out of there and so the descent down was anything less than smooth, his legs giving and his back hitting against the wall. It jarred his shoulder so badly he was wailing.

Hunk held his hands against his ears when Lance screamed out, he hated the fact that his friend was in pain but the shrillness of his cries sent stabbing pains into his skull where a pulsing welt had been growing. There had been an explosion at every key checkpoint on the way to the artifact, including the entrance he was supposed to be covering.

When the wave of nausea and blinding pain subsided, Hunk placed his hand on top of Lance’s who didn’t have the energy to tighten around it while he clenched his teeth together, hissing as every movement Green made only hurt him further.

Keith could sympathize.

The only option was for him was to lay on his stomach, shifting his weight to the side of his ribs that hurt less was all he could do. He could feel every one of Green’s movements reverberating in his chest, riling up every bit of hurt that was now present and dialing it to well past ten.

He just wheezed through most of it, the smoke from the explosion still thick and heavy in his throat, but when his lungs ached so bad he couldn’t help but cough it made his bruised and broken ribs hit the ground and his vision whited out several times.

It wasn’t until one fit racked his body so badly he coughed up a bit of blood that hands were on him pulling him to his knees and putting his head between his legs so he could calm down enough to breathe.

“Hey, Green? Please hurry...”

#voltron fic #vld #voltron whump #whump scenario #keith whump #vld lance #pidge whump #hunk vld #takashi shirogane #space dad #whump for everyone #whump fic #explosion #injuries

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otterknowbynow · 4 years

Text

T’as de la place sur le canapé

Sometimes the others need a nap; Hunk is more than happy to provide comfort for his paladin family.

Written as part of Gentron Week 2020 for the prompt Cuddle Pile | Literal Sleeping Together. Also on ao3

Keith falls asleep on him first. Hunk wouldn’t normally expect it, but the guy’s been up for three days straight at this point, probably, between all they’ve been doing for alliance-building since Shiro’s been back and zipping off on Blades missions left and right. He’s focused on going over the notes from his last few sourdough biscuit attempts -- it seems like the space yeast, or whatever it is, is more sensitive to temperature than the Earth variety -- when Keith slumps over sideways against his shoulder. He tenses for a brief moment, worried something is very wrong, and looks over carefully without moving anything apart from his eyes. Keith’s mouth is slack, but his eyes are still open and as they focus on Hunk’s face, they widen, and Keith sits back up again quickly.

“Sorry,” he mutters, looking away. His shoulders tense quickly and resettle as he leans against the back of the couch, as if he’s felt a chill. “Didn’t mean to…” he trails off, one hand waving vaguely in front of himself.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Hunk says with a shrug. And it is, of course, now that he knows nothing’s wrong. “We’re all family here.” Keith looks back over at him and blinks.

“...we are?” He doesn’t sound upset, just bewildered.

“Aren’t we?” Hunk asks, and thinks he’s probably just as confused as Keith is. He’s pretty sure there isn’t a better word for the five of them -- seven really -- than family at this point, considering.

“I…” Keith trails off and picks up his tablet again, and Hunk shrugs as he goes back to his notes. He’s just worked out what he thinks would be an ideal ending point of temperature for the yalmor fat in the biscuits and has started to factor in the ambient temperature of the kitchen to know where it needs to start when Keith speaks again, so quietly he’s not sure he’s supposed to hear. “I guess we are.” Hunk nods without adding anything to that, still mostly focused on the numbers in front of him. Keith shrugs and leans to the side again, tentatively resting his head against Hunk’s shoulder.

“This okay?” That question he knows is meant for him to hear, and Hunk nods again without really looking up.

“‘Course,” he says.

As he finishes writing out the new procedure for his biscuits, Hunk slowly becomes aware that Keith’s body is vibrating softly against him. He frowns, almost opening his mouth to speak, and then closes it as he looks down and realizes the vibrating is accompanied by a quiet rumbling sound, and Keith is out like a light.

“He’s purring,” says a voice, and Hunk looks up to see Pidge leaning against the doorway to the lounge, carrying her tablet in one hand and a shoebox-sized container under her other arm.

“He can do that?” Hunk asks. “That’s…”

“Something he’s done for a long time,” Pidge says with a shrug. “He makes a lot of noises, if you listen for them -- extraverbal communication and all that. I noticed the trend a while ago -- that his tends to be cat-adjacent.” Hunk thinks back over the past several months and nods slowly.

“Yeah, I guess he does. I never really thought about them being cat noises...thought they were just, I don’t know --” it’s Hunk’s turn to wave his hand vaguely in front of himself, carefully avoiding moving the side Keith’s leaning on “-- him noises.” Pidge shrugs again and crosses to sit on the couch on his other side, the shoebox thing between them. “What is that, anyway?”

“Couple of broken communicators. I’m pretty sure they’re just old Altean walkie-talkies,” she says, lifting the lid so he can see two sleek white things that look like exactly that. “The thing that’s cool is they don’t use the same long-range frequencies as our suit communicators or the intercom. As far as I can tell, they’re just run-of-the-mill handheld two-way radios -- maximum communication distance should be something like five miles, but it seems like they might come in handy if I can figure out how to reload their power source..”

“Nice,” Hunk says, looking them over and taking in the dual antennae and impossibly delicate-looking speakers. "Do they not just run on quintessence…?"

"Oh, they do," she says, nodding rapidly, Hunk assumes to offset how low they're still keeping their voices. "It’s just not in a form I’ve seen before, and I’m not sure how to recharge them, or really how they discharge." She flips one of the units over as she's speaking to show him a little catch on the back, which she slides open to reveal what looks like a small bag full of translucent blue gel -- it reminds Hunk more than anything of those little packs of dishwasher soap, but nearly drained.

"Oh, wild," he breathes, careful not to let his shoulders move and jostle Keith. "Is that like...quintessence goop?"

"Looks like it! How they got it in this form is still a mystery, though, and I think I'm well past having the level of focus I'd need to figure it out -- nearly fell asleep in the lab. I thought the change of scenery might help, or you might have some ideas, but..." She glances over at Keith -- head still resting on Hunk's shoulder, arms folded in front of his chest, and soundly asleep -- almost longingly. Hunk grins.

"Tell you what -- why don't you get some rest and let me think on it?"

"You sure?" She asks, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah, I’m sure. You deserve a break, kid.” She grumbles a bit at that, but when he moves the box to the floor and picks up his tablet again, she doesn’t object. Instead, she faces the door and curls up against the back of the couch, resting her head on top of it. It doesn’t look like an entirely comfortable position, but Hunk shrugs and pulls up the data they’ve collected about the different matter forms of quintessence so far.

Halfway through reading about its liquid form, however, he’s interrupted by a highly irritated-sounding Lance, who’s standing in front of him having apparently just come from the pool, if the combination of the smell of chlorine and his wet hair is any indication.

“Oh, sure, no one bother telling me we’re taking a group nap, just don’t try --” he breaks off into a yawn, and Hunk takes the opportunity to shush him as emphatically as he can considering the sleeping forms on either side of him, but Lance continues just as indignantly as soon as he can draw a normal breath. “Don’t try to include Lance; he doesn’t need to know about local comfy gathering, more at 11!” His hands are on his hips, glare so sharp it could probably cut glass.

“Shush,” Hunk stage whispers, holding up his one free arm and trying not to laugh and disturb the others by shaking. “This wasn’t exactly a plan.” Lance narrows his eyes even further, looking down at the shoebox-y container on the floor.

“Then why did you guys move things off the couch, hmm?” he asks, and Hunk is just glad he’s brought his voice down a bit. “Checkmate!” Apparently it’s not quiet enough, though, since Pidge stirs, mumbling something about a crick in her neck. And resettles facing toward Hunk instead, all without opening her eyes or taking her glasses off.

“Lance, buddy, you are welcome to join us,” he says, raising his eyebrows pointedly. Lance’s mouth is already half-open to continue his tirade, but he stops and closes it, blinking.

“Yeah, that’s...probably better,” he says slowly. “I’m pretty beat.” He plops down onto the couch between Hunk and Pidge, where there’s barely enough space even for him. Pidge grumbles half into Lance’s shoulder and shoves him slightly toward Hunk, who lifts his arm to wrap it around him so he can still get to his tablet. Lance settles against Hunk’s side and yawns once, eyes already closed.

“Wake me if there’s breakfast.”

“I can do that,” Hunk says, fumbling a bit as he gets his screen back in front of him. He didn’t notice exactly when Pidge decided that his bicep made a better pillow than the back of the couch, but she’s wrapped onto his arm now, her glasses balanced somewhat precariously where her head was resting before. “I can do that.”

#gentronweek #gentron 2020 #voltron #vld #vld fic #hunk (voltron)#keith kogane #pidge (voltron)#lance (voltron #I don't know what character tags people use RIP #anyway have some really cute cuddle pile times with the kiddos #scribbles #the title is from a french pop song bc I'm a nostalgic sentimental disaster

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velkynkarma · 4 years

Note

Happy April Fools!! For a prompt, I hope you don't mind a classic whump trope: Shiro throwing himself in front of one of the others (Matt or Keith?) to take a hit for them. Hope that's not too vague. Thanks for still writing, you're amazing!!

I really liked this prompt anon, so I went a little overboard and this is a whole fic lol. I picked Matt because I haven’t had enough chances to write him. Kind of a sequel to Break Even. Set in some handwavey time in S4, but it’s up to you if this is Kuron or some AU where Shiro came back on his own. Hope you enjoy :)

——

“I wish that noise would stop already,” Matt snaps in frustration, as he plugs his mini computer into the security panel next to the door.

The alarm screams through the whole Galra ship angrily, blaring over and over just above their heads from one of the intercoms set into the walls and half a dozen others in their hallway alone. It’s loud and thoroughly distracting, but for Matt, it also reminds him of his escape feebs ago. The anxiety of wondering if the enemy will thunder around the corner at any moment is just as strong now as it was then, and sends his heart hammering.

It doesn’t matter how many times Matt has done this, or how often he’s trained for it. He’s never going to forget feeling completely and utterly helpless when he hears that sound.

“I don’t think it’s going to any time soon,” Shiro says, next to him. “Just do what you can.” His tone is authoritative, but he offers Matt a brief, sympathetic look in the middle of scanning the hallways for danger.

That does calm Matt down. A little, at least. If anybody knows what it’s like, it’s going to be Shiro.

Their mission today was simple in theory, but more complex in execution. A Galra fleet had been responsible for utilizing a new, more powerful ion cannon against the rebels, wiping out an entire hidden base in the process. They needed to destroy the weapon itself, while simultaneously stealing any information they could about it, so they could be countered in the future.

The rebels had reached out to Voltron for assistance, and Voltron had been only too happy to help. While the rebels fought the cloud of swarming ships outside—with the assistance of Allura and the Blue Lion, as a decoy to draw their attention—the rest of the team had snuck into the ship itself to get to work. Pidge, Hunk and Lance were Team Weapon, responsible for finding it and figuring out a way to disable it. Matt had volunteered to go in on foot as the rebel representative to hack the data, and Shiro agreed to go with him for backup.

Pidge had been a little upset that she couldn’t go with Matt. It hadn’t been too long since they had reunited, after all, and Matt had to admit it would be both fun and exciting to work in tandem with his amazing little sister. But Shiro made a fair point that they needed a hacker on either team, and Pidge and Matt were by far the most efficient at the task.

Pidge had grudgingly agreed, warned Matt to not die after all the work she put into finding him, and dropped them off from the camouflaged Green Lion on the other side of the ship when the mission began.

And it had gone smoothly. At first. They’d gone undetected on the ship for a while, with the Galra and their sentries so focused on the battle outside. But somebody—Matt still wasn’t sure if it was him and Shiro, or Team Weapon—had tripped some sort of alarm, and it had begun screeching for all it was worth about intruders and danger.

Things had been more difficult after that. Shiro’s armor was scratched from numerous close encounters, and the energy shield mounted on his wrist flickered every once and a while, like it was damaged. Matt’s cloak had several laser rifle burns in it, and he had a new shallow gash on his arm from a too-close encounter with a sentry’s clawed hands.

Worst of all, his leg throbbed at the left knee, aching and uncomfortable. The wound Shiro had given him more than a decafeeb ago to get him out of the gladiator arena didn’t like being pushed too hard with no rest, and it was protesting vehemently.

Matt could fight—the rebels had ensured he could—but he couldn’t do it for huge stretches of time like some of the others could. That was why they’d stuck him at a listening outpost, and utilized his intelligence and stealth more than his combative skills. If he did fight, it was usually in a ship, where he was a decent pilot and a better gunner—and could sit the whole time.

Maybe he shouldn’t have volunteered to do some codebreaking on the ground.

But they needed him. This had to be fast. That new weapon was dangerous, and if they didn’t understand how it worked or where they were being manufactured, millions of people could die. He’s the best hacker they have, after Pidge. He can deal with his leg killing him for a little while if it means a fast and efficient victory.

Of course, efficiency also depended on his equipment. The rebels had some decent tech, but it was nothing compared to Pidge’s nifty little wrist-mounted computer, built into the paladin armor. The technology in even ten thousand year old armor was efficient and elegant in a way that absolutely did not make Matt in any way jealous that his sister had better toys than he did, no, not at all.

Okay, maybe a little bit.

Matt’s mini computer does the job okay, though. He types rapidly on it as he says, “Their encryption is pretty good, and with the alarms going, the security’s beefed up a couple notches. I can get through, but it’s going to take me a little longer than before.”

“Not too much longer, I hope,” Shiro says, frowning. “We’re sitting ducks here. No cover if anyone comes around the corner.”

“I’ll do what I can, but I’m working with pieced together equipment here. Unless…” Matt considers. “Shiro, let me borrow your arm.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “I thought the alarms would freeze me out of unlocking doors with my prosthetic arm?”

“Nah,” Matt says. “I don’t want the Galra tech, I want your Voltron tech.”

“Oh.” Shiro bemusedly extends his right arm to the side for Matt to work with, while keeping his body turned awkwardly so he can still keep an eye on the hallways. It’s a bit odd, but it does work, once Shiro brings up the displays with the internalized mental commands attuned to himself and the Black Lion and grants Matt access.

“Much better,” Matt says, as he brings up the interfaces on the holographic screen that hovers over Shiro’s right wrist. He loved his little rebel minicomputer, but was so much faster than any tech he had access to. “I’ve got to get one of these.”

“I’m sure Allura wouldn’t mind sharing, if it means beating the Galra empire,” Shiro says, scanning the hallways over the top of Matt’s bowed head.

“You think? This is incredible,” Matt says, as he rapidly eats his way through the Galra security with the bolstered Voltron computer. Pidge already had a number of protocols installed that made hacking the Galra security easy; just a few minor modifications here, an adjustment of code there, and he can smash through the walls like they’re made of paper. “The rebels could really use more sophisticated work like this. A lot of what they have is put together from whatever they can find, the Galra have a lockdown on supplies almost everywhere, and—”

“Look out!”

Shiro’s flickering energy shield snaps up by Matt’s head just in time to deflect a burst of energy from burning a hole in his temple. Matt freezes for just a moment, startled.

There are three sentries pacing towards them down the hallway, energy rifles raised. Matt hadn’t even heard them coming over the blare of the alarm.

Another fires, and the shot deflects off of Shiro’s energy shield again, which flickers alarmingly. Shiro himself has to twist awkwardly in front of Matt and extend his arm outward to provide any shielding at all, while still keeping his right arm within reach of Matt’s hacking job.

Matt swears, and reaches down for his collapsible staff. But Shiro orders sharply, “No, keep working! We can’t hit them from here anyway.”

Matt swears again, but Shiro has a point. If they can just get through this door, they might have a breather. In an open hallway without any firearms or cover, they’re screwed. “Right, right. On it.” His heart beats so hard it hurts, and his leg throbs in time, but his hands and his voice are shockingly still and calm as he works.

He’s almost through when another blast ricochets off Shiro’s energy field, and with a staticky shattering noise, it finally cuts out and vanishes.

Matt’s heart stops. For one horrified moment, he looks up from his work to meet Shiro’s eyes, as Shiro turns back to check his progress.

“Almost—” Matt says desperately, frantically swiping at the holographic keys over Shiro’s wrist. Almost, almost, almostalmostalmost—

The sentries fire again. Shiro moves, twisting around to raise his free arm defensively as he puts himself solidly between the shots and Matt. There’s an awful thud-crack-hiss of energy blasts on armor, and an even worse smell of burning flesh and blood.

Shiro gasps in agony almost right in Matt’s ear, and Shiro’s weight slumps against him suddenly. It’s almost too heavy for Matt to bear so unexpectedly, and his bad leg nearly gives out on him, but he braces at the last moment and manages to hold. Shiro’s helmet clunks painfully against Matt’s skull, and his left gauntlet claws weakly at Matt’s cloak as he struggles for balance.

“No, no, no,” Matt yelps frantically, terrified and angry all at the same time. “No, you do not get to do this again. Not again, Shiro, you hear me?”

Shiro’s only answer is a muted groan, as he struggles to get upright again and fails.

Shiro’s right arm had gone as limp and uncoordinated as the rest of him—his Galra arm is a terrible miracle of science, but in many ways it acts a lot like a normal limb and is just as subject to shock as the rest of the person it’s attached to. But luckily the screens from the Voltron armor had all remained active. Matt snatches his wrist, drags it close, and with a final swipe, keys in the last code.

The door hisses open.

Matt doesn’t have the time to really survey what’s on the other side. The sentries are coming closer, and raising their weapons to fire again. He’ll just have to hope they aren’t locking themselves in with something worse.

He awkwardly manages to grab Shiro’s left wrist and get an arm around his waist, and winces when Shiro gasps again in agony at his touch. With Shiro more or less flopped awkwardly over his doubled-forward back, rather than in anything resembling an efficient fireman’s carry, Matt manages to drag him through the open door and slap the button to close it.

“Sorry Shiro, I gotta—” Matt says frantically, as he drags Shiro to the panel on the door. With Shiro still balanced precariously against him, he manages to use the paladin wrist computer to seal the door shut with his and Pidge’s own controls. It won’t hold the sentries forever, but it will buy them time.

Immediate threat taken care of, for the next five doboshes at least, Matt turns his attention to Shiro. He sets his friend down against the computer banks on the far wall, and Shiro gasps again as he’s moved.

Now that Matt can see the damage, he can understand why. The paladin armor is incredibly durable, but today it seems to have hit its limit. The jetpack set into the back is shattered, and the armor around Shiro’s back, side, and just under his arm is cracked and burned. Several of the pieces cut into the undersuit and skin beneath, drawing blood.

But the worst injury is the shot to Shiro’s side, just above his hip, which hadn’t even been protected by armor to begin with. That is an awful, bloody hole already leaking red, with tattered burned edges and frayed bits of undersuit melted to the skin.

“What the hell, Shiro?” Matt asks, frantic. He whips off the thick cloak of his rebel uniform and hastily wraps it around Shiro’s waist and back, hoping to stem the bleeding long enough to get help. “Why did you do that?”

Shiro groans at the movement, and the pressure on his injuries, but he doesn’t complain or try to fend Matt off. Instead, he says weakly, “You had to open the door.”

“You can’t—you can’t do that,” Matt hisses, gritting his teeth. He’s trying hard not to be...something, he’s not sure what. Terrified. Overwhelmed. Distraught. His throat feels tight and his eyes prickle painfully, but mostly what it all comes out as is anger. “You can’t do that again, Shiro, not to me. Not for me. Okay?”

He tugs the cloak possibly a little tighter than is strictly necessary in his haste to wrap the wounds properly. Shiro can’t bleed out. Not here, not now, and that wound is bad. He needs a pod as soon as possible.

Shiro gasps, and his fingers twitch reflexively towards the wound at his side. But his eyes meet Matt’s, and they’re full of confusion. “Do what?” he asks, voice hoarse.

“Keep saving me,” Matt says. His throat is tight as he forces the words out, and he still isn’t sure if it’s with dismay or guilt or anger. “Keep taking the hits for me. Trying to get yourself killed to get me out of trouble. You can’t—you can’t do that again, okay. You already sacrificed yourself to save me once, enough is enough.”

“Matt,” Shiro says, slowly. It’s horse and shaky, edged with pain, but he still manages to maintain some degree of calm. “I didn’t die in the arena.”

“I thought you did!” Matt says, as he finishes wrapping the wounds and ties it off as best as he can. “I thought you died in my place. I told myself nobody was ever going to die for me again, and now you’re doing it all over—”

“Matt,” Shiro repeats, with a wince. “I’m not dead yet. Calm down.”

Shiro was like that. He was frustratingly like that, able to stay calm somehow even in the worst situations.

Matt still remembers that day in the arena, disgustingly crystal clear. He can still smell the sawdust and old blood and stale sweat, see the blinding arena lights, feel that raw terror, knowing he was going to die. I’m not going to make it. I’ll never see my family again. And he remember’s Shiro’s answer, his quick thinking in the face of certain death. You can do this. Take care of your father.

Matt was stronger now than he had been back then. He’d seen combat, and he’d thought his way out of hopeless situations, survived against the impossible. He was braver and smarter and more self-sufficient than that naive young kid that went all the way to Kerberos for ice samples and the thought of meeting aliens. But he’d done it all because of that very real fear that still lived in his heart, that other people would have to die for him again because he was too weak to handle it, too scared, too useless, and he never wanted that to happen again.

And yet here they are again, Shiro facing down death in Matt’s place and Matt panicking, and maybe he never really learned anything at all.

No, he tells himself. You’re better than that. You’ve gotten stronger. Nobody ever dies for you again.

He takes a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and lets it carry away his useless panic with it.

You can handle this.

“You’re right,” Matt agrees. “And this time I’m going to make sure we keep you that way.”

Shiro smiles, although the expression is weak. “No argument there.”

Matt nods. His makeshift bandage looks awkward and uncomfortable, but at least it will hold long enough to get Shiro out of there. He stands, presses a finger to the rebel communicator in his ear tuned to the Voltron frequency, and opens communications. “This is Matt. Shiro’s hurt—we’re going to need an extraction, fast.”

“I can’t get to you,” Allura says, from outside. There’s a sharp grunt on her end, no doubt from an impact in the Blue Lion, and several distant blasts. “There are too many fighters. I can try to clear the area for an extraction, but there are too many on me at the moment.”

“Same here,” Olia reports. “This warship is heavily defended. All our ships are engaged.”

“We can get to you,” Pidge says. “If you can hang on for fifteen doboshes. Are you okay?” There’s no mistaking the worry in her tone, and Matt winces a little at that.

“I’m fine. Mostly. It’s just Shiro—”

“I’m okay,” Shiro interrupts.

“You don’t sound okay,” Lance argues immediately. “How bad are you hurt? We’re coming.”

“Not bad enough that I can’t last fifteen doboshes,” Shiro says immediately. His voice is shaky still, and he can’t help but hiss mid-sentence in what’s obviously pain, but Matt can see how hard he fights to maintain as much normalcy as possible.

“Get there in ten, got it,” Hunk says. “On our way.”

Shiro makes an exasperated noise in his throat, and then winces again, hand automatically coming up to press against the cloak-turned-bandage and the wound underneath. “Not like I...haven’t done this before,” he mutters, but his breath hitches painfully. “Why do they always get me in this spot?”

That sounds like a story, but for later. Matt frankly couldn’t care less right now. “Are you okay?”

“I can hang on,” Shiro says, although he finally makes a concession to his injury by tipping his head back against the computer banks, and resting wearily.

From the door comes the first metallic bang of a sentry fist on the other side. It’s so loud even the still-blaring alarms seem quiet by comparison.

Matt and Shiro both watch the door with growing expressions of alarm. “Can they get through?” Shiro asks slowly, after a heavy moment of silence.

Another bang from outside. “Not easily,” Matt says. “I messed with the entry codes. But that won’t stop them from physically breaking through.”

Shiro winces. “Any other way out of here?” he asks, rolling his head tiredly to one side.

Matt glances around, but he doesn’t see any other doors. On the one hand, that’s good; it means no surprise attacks from anywhere else in the room. On the other hand, it means they’re trapped in a box, waiting for the enemy to come through the door after them, guns blazing.

“No,” Matt says, after a moment. Then, “Hang on...”

There’s a vent up by the ceiling. One of the large ones, probably leading to an interior maintenance route. It would be ideal for Pidge to squirrel through, but Matt could probably squeeze into it in a pinch if he had to. He’s always been skinny and small for his age, and not even a decafeeb of training alongside the rebels has done much to change that.

But Shiro would never make it. Even if he was fully healthy, he probably couldn’t; Shiro had way too much bulk and weight, between his metal arm, paladin armor, and an unfairly huge muscles, to ever squeeze his way into that. Wounded as he is, he’d never get up there at all.

Shiro follows his gaze, and his brows furrow. He must be coming to the same conclusions as Matt, but he doesn’t say anything about it for now. Instead, he takes a shuddering, heavy breath, and then groans, “Can you...get the data?”

The data. The mission. The reason they’re in this trap to begin with. Matt glances at the computer banks, wincing slightly at another loud, heavy bang on the other side. “Probably.”

“Do it,” Shiro orders. “If we’re stuck here, we may as well get what we came for.”

Matt can’t really argue with that. There’s nothing to fortify with, and no way to prepare for the inevitable attack. If the doors hold long enough, though, his sister and the other paladins might get here in time, and they’ll need to make a fast exit. Shiro’s life is on the line, but so are millions of others.

“Right,” he says, and gets to work.

He doesn’t have Shiro’s paladin gauntlet computer to work with anymore. Shiro is a little too busy cupping his wound with both hands, and Matt’s not sure if he can stand on his own for long enough to play computer for the hack. But Matt still has his little minicomputer, and he plugs it in quickly.

It takes him only five doboshes to break in and sweep the data into storage on his computer. Pidge could have managed in one and a half, with paladin tech, but five is still nothing to shake a stick at for cracking high-tech Galra software on lockdown. Especially with that anxiety-inducing alarm still blaring loudly through the whole place. When he has everything he needs, he leaves behind a few nasty surprises—viruses that will wipe out the data and everything else. The facilities will still have the blueprints, but at least this fleet won’t have access to them anymore.

“How you holding up, Shiro?” Matt asks, as he unplugs his computer and glances at the door. The bangs on the other side are getting progressively louder, and the door is starting to look a little dented. Not good.

Shiro is also not good. Five doboshes hasn’t done him any favors. His forehead is covered in a thin sheen of sweat now, and his breathing has started getting more labored. His legs are now flopped out in front of him, like he can’t hold them up. Frankly, Matt thinks the only thing holding the rest of Shiro up is the computer console he’s propped against.

“Never better,” Shiro answers immediately. His voice is a little slurred, now, like his tongue is a little too big for his mouth.

Another bang sounds, but this time it’s followed by the unmistakable click-hiss-roar of a torch. The outline of the door starts to glow red as the sentries on the other side take the direct approach, and start cutting their way through.

They are out of time...and still with at least ten doboshes before help is supposed to get there. Five, if Team Weapon rushes, like Hunk had maybe-not-so-jokingly implied.

Matt swallows. How many sentries are out there now? Can he take them all? Shiro’s in no condition to fight; he can’t even sit up under his own power. Can he stall, somehow?

But there’s nothing to block the door with. No explosives or ranged weaponry or even smoke bombs he can use to help. They’re cornered in a box with no way out and no time left.

“Matt...take the data and run.”

Matt whips around to stare at Shiro. “What? No!”

“Millions of lives ride on that data,” Shiro gasps softly. “It’s not worth one. Go out the vent...you can meet up with Pidge and the others…”

“No,” Matt says, and that raw anguish-terror-anger is back. “No. I’m not gonna abandon you to die. Never again.”

“Again?” Shiro slurs. “You didn’t last time, Matt. I made that call. I’m making it now too. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Matt snaps. “It’s not—I promised myself nobody was ever going to die for me again, not because I couldn’t handle it. I’m not leaving.”

“I gave you an order—”

“You’re not my superior officer anymore,” Matt cuts him off. “You’re a paladin of Voltron, and I’m a rebel agent. This is a rebel mission. My call. And I’m not leaving you helpless to die or be captured again. No.”

Shiro looks shocked, even despite his growing weakness. Maybe it is surprising. Even after Matt had been reunited with Pidge and Shiro, and met the paladins, he’d always treated Shiro with the deference due a superior officer. He’d never been the aggressive sort before, never been the kind to deliberately disobey orders so blatantly. He’d cowered next to Shiro when the Galra took them last time and knew he was already going to die before he ever went to the arena. He never fought back.

There’s a little willingness to bend the rules for what’s right in him now, though. After all, he is a rebel. Rebelliousness is literally in the name.

He glances at the door. They’re halfway through now; he only has a few ticks left to spare. He has to move fast. So he slides his hands under Shiro’s arms and hauls him to the far corner, hopefully as far out of the way as possible from stray gunfire, and partially shielded behind the corner of the computer banks.

Shiro frowns, and does his best to haul himself to his feet to help or protest or something. Whatever he’d had in mind, Matt’s not sure, because he gasps in agony and digs his fingers into the makeshift cloak-bandages over his wound, and immediately sinks. “Matt,” he finally chokes out, when he’s able to breathe again, “don’t do this—”

Matt settles him into the corner, as upright and as shielded as possible. “Hang tight,” he says, ignoring Shiro’s gasping attempt at an order. “We’re both going to make it. We’re both going to see our families again. They’re coming right now.”

“Matt—” Shiro coughs. It’s a disturbingly wet sound, which might mean there’s internal bleeding at work. He needs to get out of here. “You need to run.”

“No,” Matt says, as he draws his collapsible staff from the holster on his leg. “This time, I’m going to be the one to protect you.”

And he takes his place to the side of the door, staff at the ready, watching the gleaming red lines on the outside of the door grow steadily longer.

It’s almost funny. He should be terrified. He remembers so intimately what it was like to face down certain death. And yet, although his heart thuds in his chest and his palms sweat beneath his gloves and his bad leg protests angrily, he’s focused. He’s ready for what comes, and he’s fueled by knowing he’s doing the right thing.

He wonders if this is how Shiro felt, right before he’d charged the sentry, cut Matt out of the gladiator matches, and faced down Myzax. If it was, Matt can understand a little better just how Shiro had managed to do any of that, despite facing down certain death of his own.

The sentries on the other side finish cutting through the door, and a shrieking, scraping noise assaults Matt’s ears as the now useless hunk of metal is shoved out of alignment and smashes inward to the ground. The first of the sentries steps through, gun raised.

And Matt, out of sight to the side of the door, brings one of the weighted ends of his staff swinging down at the vulnerable point at its neck.

That was the thing about building any kind of robot in the image of a humanoid: they might be more durable, made of metal, but they still had mostly the same external weak points. Joints were fair game. So were the thinner points where the frame of the robotic skull attached so it could pivot. A weighted metal staff would do a lot of damage to even a robot, applied correctly.

This robot is no exception. The skull caves alarmingly, metal screeching and tearing, before the whole thing snaps clean off. The metal head pings to the ground and rolls off with a clatter farther into the computer room, and the rest of the body starts to sag, rifle dropping from its metal fingers.

Matt doesn’t let it hit the ground. He spins the staff, catches the broken sentry at its slim waist, and uses the miracle of leverage to hurl the thing right back out into its companions.

The resulting mess is pure chaos. Metal clatters violently as the sentries thud into each other. Stray gunfire peppers the walls inside the computer room, sending sparks flying over the console, and out in the hallway as the robots fire reflexively. Two of the sentries are knocked completely over, and a third—a third, the one that must have brought the torch to cut into the room—steps back, ducking away from its weaponized companion but off balance in its haste.

Matt hurtles through the broken doorway with an angry yell into the chaos.

The upright sentry is the first to have to go. It tries to regain its footing while raising its rifle, firing its first shot at Matt. Matt ducks low, twirls the staff in his hands, and spins it out at the sentry’s ankles. His bad leg protests painfully at the sudden drop and brace, but the trick works; there’s enough force and weight in the blow for him to sweep the sentry off its feet.

The gun goes clattering out of its hands, and Matt presses the attack, whirling the staff into an upright position and stabbing the weighted end down on the sentry’s head like a spear. The casing shatters, and the sentry twitches once or twice before falling still.

Two down. Two to go.

The two sentries left manage to shove the broken one off of themselves. One tries to rise to its feet, while the second decides to try and shoot Matt from the ground instead, providing cover for its remaining operating companion.

Not good. He needs to control the fight better; he’s not sure he can handle a two-on-one fight for long, with the two actually cooperating. He swipes with his staff, but the narrow hallway doesn’t give him too much room to operate with such a long weapon, and he’s not close enough to connect.

Cause more chaos. Disrupt the ordered programming the AI is coded to use by doing the unexpected. Sentries are highly efficient machines, with a shockingly impressive artificial intelligence that Matt would have been foaming at the mouth to study just a few years ago on Earth. But they are still machines, and their reactions are limited.

So he uses his staff like a pole vault, and hurtles himself at the rising sentry.

He connects with his heels as he cannons into the robot, and his old wound screams in agony. He hits the ground hard, rolling, and for a moment he’s actually scared he won’t be getting to his feet again. But he manages, somehow, and staggers to his feet, staff at the ready.

The sentry he’d hit isn’t so lucky. Matt’s vaulted kick had hit it squarely in the chest, and sent its weapon clattering out of reach down the hallway, while it had collapsed a second time. It’s already pushing itself to its feet, reaching for Matt with one hand full of gleaming claws. But Matt bats the hand aside with his whirling staff, and brings the other end crashing down on the robot’s head. It smashes back down to the floor in a mess of parts and goes still.

Three down.

Matt’s panting hard, now, and his leg protests angrily. His knee trembles, and he knows he won’t be standing much longer if he doesn’t finish this.

The final sentry fires at him as it hauls itself to its feet.

Matt curses, and ducks aside, trying to get back to the gouged open doorway for cover. The blasts take a chunk out of his left arm and burn several holes in his clothes, and he gasps in pain, but he keeps running. Almost there, and then he can—

His left knee buckles beneath him.

Matt yelps as he goes down, crashing to the floor and slamming hard into one of the downed sentries. He scrambles to get to his feet, but his knee sends a shock of brilliant pain through him, and he collapses again. Damn it, not now!

The sentry raises its rifle, taking aim. So Matt does the only thing left he can do—he throws his staff at it.

It misses, which isn’t surprising. Staves aren’t exactly easy to throw well, especially in a narrow hallway like this. But it does cause the sentry to be distracted, twisting to shoot at the projectile hastily.

That gives Matt enough time to make a scrambling dive for one of the other discarded firearms, snatch it up, and shoot in the sentry’s direction.

Guns were never really his forte. He’d trained in them at the Garrison, of course, because it was required, but he’d never liked it as much as the science and engineering aspects. He’d trained in firearms with the rebels, too, when they’d taken him on, but he’d still never really liked them.

That doesn’t mean he’s useless with them. He can certainly hit a target that close, even with a heavy sentry rifle. He fires frantically, and the sentry jerks once, twice, three times as it’s hit point blank and collapses.

Matt pants, breaths harsh and ragged. He hurts in more places than one, and he’s gonna have bruises for days. His leg is screaming for relief.

But he’d done it. He won.

Nobody had to die for him.

His relief is short lived. He barely manages to force his leg to take his weight—just a little more, please just a little more—when several more shots ping off the walls near him. He glances up, and down the hall are half a dozen more sentries, stomping their way unrelentingly forward with their rifles at the ready.

Matt curses, staggers along the hallway to the fallen sentry and his staff, and manages to snatch it up as he hobble-runs for the computer room where Shiro is still stashed. He leans heavily on the staff like a walking stick, and keeps the stolen rifle in his other hand. He might be able to hold them off for a little while with the gun. Maybe.

Shiro is still conscious when he ducks inside to temporary safety, but barely. His face has gone an ashen gray color, and his eyes are only half lidded. His hands are still pressed weakly to the makeshift bandages at his side, but Matt can see the brown fabric starting to stain a darker, wetter color.

They’re out of time, in more ways than one.

“Y’r hurt,” Shiro slurs, blinking blearily at the way Matt limps over to him.

“Not as bad as you,” Matt says. “Hang tight—there are more coming.” And I know I can’t fight them all off.

“Run,” Shiro orders tiredly.

“I told you already, I’m not doing that. If we can just hold…”

Shiro hums at that. Matt has a feeling he knows how truly screwed they are, though, and it’s not a comforting thought.

The clank of sentry feet gets closer, and every metallic thud is like a death knell, underscored by the screaming alarms. Matt is scared now, but if he leaves Shiro’s chances drop to nothing. He can’t do that. Shiro’s his best friend, and had risked everything to give him a chance to see his family again. He won’t leave now. He won’t leave ever.

So although it literally, physically pains him, he takes up a position by the door again. His leg screams in protest, and he’s shaking from a mix of pain, fear and pure adrenaline. But he holds.

The first sentry comes into view. It raises its firearm, aiming squarely at Matt. Matt prepares to charge, spinning his staff into a ready position.

The sentry goes down in a blaze of yellow energy that cannons into it from the other side of the hallway. And fainter, but growing louder by the second, Matt can hear the unmistakable, angry-panic yell of protest as Hunk lays down cover fire and demolishes the oncoming robots.

“Shiro! Matt!” Lance hollers over the coms, and Matt is deliriously relieved to find he can hear it in real time, too. “Escort’s here!”

“Thank goodness,” Matt pants back, lowering his staff from a combat stance to lean on it heavily again like a walking stick. “I need your help to get Shiro out of here. He can’t walk.”

“Can,” Shiro murmurs sleepily. He makes a valiant effort to rise to his feet, or at least, Matt thinks that’s what he does. His legs barely twitch, but he still groans at the effort.

“I’m guessing whatever that was didn’t work,” Lance yells. “Hunk, I’ll cover you if more show up—grab Shiro.”

“On it!”

“Where’s Pidge?” Matt asks, worried. “She’s okay?”

“I’m guarding the rear exit with the Green Lion,” Pidge says. “We’re in camo, and your ride out.”

“Just two hallways away,” Lance adds. A blue streak of flight flashes past the doorway as Lance snipes something on the other side. “Not far, once we get you guys.”

“Good,” Matt says, relieved. He’s not sure he could run very far. Or even walk. He’s never pushed himself quite this hard before.

He doesn’t regret doing it for a second, though.

Hunk appears around the doorway, dispelling his bayard as he steps in on the collapsed door. He winces sympathetically at Matt, and then follows Matt’s gesture towards Shiro in the corner. “Oooh,” Hunk mutters. “Is that blood? I hate blood.”

“Sorry,” Shiro mumbles. By now, he’s barely coherent.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hunk says, as he heads over to Shiro. “If I throw up, I’ll try not to do it on you.”

“Thanks.” Shiro blinks dazedly. “I think.”

“You’re welcome.”

Hunk tries to sling Shiro’s arm over his shoulder at first to help him walk, but Shiro can’t stay on his feet. In the end, he hefts Shiro into a fireman’s carry slung across his shoulders, mindful of the wound in his side. Shiro groans in protest, but goes frighteningly limp after a few moments, and Matt realizes he’s finally passed out. Matt’s honestly impressed it took so long.

“You good?” Hunk asks, gesturing to Matt and his staff-turned-walking-stick with concern.

“I can keep up,” Matt promises. “Let’s go.”

By some miracle, they manage to make it to their exit point. Pidge had kept the Green Lion in camo, while using her bayard to slice a hole into the Galra ship’s hull. It makes an unpredictable exit, which means the sentries aren’t guarding it like they are all the bay doors. That’s his brilliant little sister, always thinking outside the box.

Getting Shiro through the hole is a process, and requires Hunk to hand him through to Lance and Pidge on the other side as carefully as possible. Matt getting through is less of a process, but no less painful, and by the time he’s in the Lion’s cabin his leg has decided on no uncertain terms that it is not working any more today, thank you very much.

But they’ve escaped, so he can live with that. For now.

“Mission accomplished,” he radios over the coms. “Everyone, let’s get out of here.”

They do.

———

It takes Shiro almost a full day to get out of the healing pods, and everyone is waiting to greet him when he does.

Everyone knows the story by now—Matt hadn’t been shy about sharing it—and Shiro is treated to a number of lectures and exaggerated threats about what will happen next time he tries to almost get himself killed. Even Keith, still working with the Blade of Marmora, calls back to give Shiro hell, after learning what had happened through the Blade’s impressive information network.

Shiro accepts the threats and lectures without too much complaint, at least. He knows exactly how much he’d scared everyone, and he damn well should.

Eventually everyone gets tired of telling Shiro off, though, and Hunk announces he has dinner waiting. Most people who leave the pods are hungry—something about the accelerated healing requiring nutrients to compensate—and it’s habit by now to at least have a bowl of food goo ready to go.

“Sounds great,” Shiro says. “Can I get a sec with Matt, though?”

“Of course,” Allura says. “We’ll be in the dining hall when you are ready.”

Everyone files out, other than Matt, who waits patiently where he’s sitting on the steps. Shiro joins him, sitting down next to him. After a moment he asks, “How’re you doing?”

Matt shrugs. “I’m okay. I used one of the pods a little bit myself, but mostly to patch up a few laser grazes and bruises.”

Shiro nods slowly, and then gestures to Matt’s left leg, stretched out in front of him down the steps. “And how’s your knee?”

“Better than it was yesterday,” Matt says truthfully. The pods didn’t really help with healing the old wound—it had been too long—but they did help relieve some of the inflammation and strain, which let him at least walk on it again without wanting to scream.

Shiro’s got that look again, so Matt cuts him off quickly. “We already talked about this. No apologies. I’ll take living with a chronic injury over having died over a year ago.”

Shiro sighs. “Right. Of course.”

They fall into a companionable silence for a little while. Matt likes talking with friends, but on the months-long journey to Kerberos there had been a lot of friendly silence too, and he’s just as comfortable with that around Shiro. There’s no real rush to go anywhere, and sitting is nice.

But eventually Shiro asks, “What was that all about, back on the ship? Why didn’t you run?” A pause. “It’s not because of that life-debt you think you owe me, right? Because I told you, you don’t owe me anything.”

Matt snorts. “Yeah, you were pretty clear on that. But that’s not why I stayed. I mean...not the only reason.” He stares at his feet. “I told you before, I just...I can’t let people die for me anymore. I have to be better than that. I can’t just watch that happen and stand by and do nothing anymore.”

“It was a bad situation, Matt. And you would have been protecting millions of lives. I would never have blamed you if you did run.”

“Well, I would have blamed me,” Matt says. “For the rest of my life, for being cowardly enough to abandon my friend to his death again.”

“I already said that wasn’t your fault either, Matt,” Shiro says, a little helplessly.

Matt shakes his head. Sighs. “I wasn’t ready back then,” he says. “For all this. I wanted to meet aliens, but I figured they’d be the friendly sort, y’know? ‘We come in peace.’ I wasn’t ready and you and dad ended up paying the price.” He narrows his eyes. “I couldn’t have been ready then, but I can be ready now. And I’m not gonna be that person ever again.”

“Matt,” Shiro says, frowning at him. “There was nothing wrong with that version of you either. None of us could have seen the Galra coming.”

“You still handled it,” Matt says, with a sad smile. “You stood up for me and dad. You took my place in a deathmatch.”

“Maybe, but that’s just because we’re different people,” Shiro says with a shrug. “I didn’t know anything about ice samples back then. Still don’t, honestly. I just drove you there, you and Commander Holt were doing all the important science stuff.”

“Somehow, I don’t think ice samples are going to make much of a difference now,” Matt says wryly. “Other things matter more.”

“Well, you made a difference today,” Shiro says. “So thanks for that. I really mean it—I’d be dead if you weren’t as stubborn as your sister about staying behind.” He grins.

Matt smirks. “Yeah...that runs in the family.”

“I know,” Shiro says. “Three sentries on your own in crowded conditions, huh?”

“Four,” Matt says. “It’s no Myzax, but even so…”

“Still impressive. Don’t ever discount yourself, Matt. You’re a lot stronger than you think.” Shiro smiles. “And don’t discount the old Matt, either. He had that Holt stubbornness, too. That’s how you got this far.”

Matt blinks, but then smiles softly. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“No ‘maybe,’” Shiro says, as he heaves himself to his feet off the steps. “It’s absolutely true. Anyway, we should probably get going, before Hunk hunts us down and drags us to the dinner table. You ready?” He holds out a hand.

Matt takes it, and lets Shiro help him to his feet. His left leg takes his weight stiffly, but it holds, and that’s what matters.

“Yeah. Thanks, Shiro.”

#Velkynkarma writes #April Fools 2020 #Voltron #Shiro #Matt Holt #blood #injury #whump #Anonymous

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

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Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 212 prt 1

212

Matt and Rieva returned in the morning. Seeing Lance hadn’t come down with a fever, or bled during the night, Keith let his fiancé sleep. The vampire had been up a couple of times in the morning to use the bathroom, collapsing back into bed as if he’d been sleep walking each time. Rieva was of the opinion Lance should rest, Matt backing up with his fiancé said, both of them leaving within the hour of arriving back home to go to work.

Flicking the TV on for company, Keith woke Lance up with the noise. Shuffling into the room, his fiancé climbed onto the sofa next to him, an arm snaking around Keith’s waist for comfort. He got a very sleepy “I love you”, before Lance fell back to sleep again him. His scent was still off. It was still off and it still filled Keith with nervous energy. Managing half an hour sleep, Lance woke up, mumbling about needing the bathroom. His lover barely gone a few moments before he was back, gripping the doorframe with one hand, and his stomach with the other

“K-Keith... I think there’s something wrong with me”

Jumping over the side of the sofa, Keith caught Lance as his knees gave out. The crotch of Lance’s underwear wet and bloodied. Fuck. Fuck... no. This couldn’t be happening, fluid spilling down the inside of Lance’s shaking legs

“Lance!”

“Nnngh... I dun feel good... I think the twins are coming”

Lifting Lance off his feet, Keith carried his fiancé over to the sofa. Squatting down between Lance’s knees, Keith was far far into panic mode

“Are you sure?”

“Mhmm... it... hurts...”

“Okay. Okay, let me get the keys and we’ll head to Platt. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay, baby. Just hang on for me”

Grabbing his phone up, Keith called Coran, yelling at him to be prepared because Lance was in labour. Finding Lance’s car keys up, he rushed out to the bronco, climbing in before realising he’d left Lance sitting in the living room. He didn’t know what the plan was. Why didn’t they have a birth plan?! Rieva said they needed a birth plan. So why hadn’t they made a birth plan!? Looking to assure Lance it would be okay, that was when he realised he’d forgotten the main component of this nonexistent plan.

Running back into the house, Lance was now sobbing on the sofa, both hands on his stomach, clearly in pain. False contractions had been bad enough, Keith sympathised over the amount of pain Lance must be in. Placing his hand on his mate’s arm, Lance was freezing, that couldn’t be a good sign. He was wearing a hoodie. Why was he wearing a hoodie? Lance should be wearing the hoodie...

“You’re going to be okay, babe. You’re going to be okay. We’ll get to you Platt”

Lance shook his head, crying harder as he did

“I don’t want to go... don’t make me go”

“Coran’s going to deliver our twins, you’ll be okay”

Snatching up the blanket Lance had come shuffling in with, Keith tried to wrap it around Lance’s shoulders, Lance slapping his hand away

“I don’t want him to take our babies away!”

His ego took that as fact, rather than fear. Anger prickling at the idea of their children being stolen away. Shit. Now was not the time. What was he forgetting?! Lance’s go bag. No. No. That was still in the back of the bronco

“That’s not going to happen”

“Please... please don’t let them take them away from me”

“They won’t. They won’t take them away. Can you stand?”

Lance whimpered at him, drawing back on the sofa. He didn’t want to leave his home. They’d come too damn far to lose the twins now.

Forcing Lance up to stand, between his legs was wet with red tinged fluid. The pain leaving Lance hunched. Lifting him off his feet, Keith rushed from the living room, fighting his own ego that screamed at him as he forced himself out the front door. Fuck. Fuck. This was not the plan. This was the plan, but Lance wasn’t okay so this wasn’t the plan. Shit. He needed to call Shiro... and Krolia... and the others... fuck... Clutching his shirt, Lance gazed up at him with glassy eyes

“I don’t want to lose the twins”

“You’re not about to. You’ll be okay, baby. You’ll be okay”

Getting Lance into the bronco, Keith skipped the seatbelt, covering Lance with the blanket before leaning over to crank the heating knob to full heat. Slamming the door closed, he rounded the bronco, climbing in beside Lance, who whined softly for him

“I’m here, baby. I’m here. It’ll be okay”

Shifting closer to him, Lance buried his face against Keith’s shoulder

“I don’t feel very good... it hurts”

“I know, sweetheart. You hold on for me...”

“I love you... I dun wanna leave you...”

“You’re not going to. You’re not going anywhere”

Kicking gravel as he pulled a U-turn in Lance’s drive, Keith’s heart wouldn’t stop hammering. Labour seemed so sudden. Lance hadn’t said anything about his water breaking. Wasn’t that a thing? In the movies it was a sudden gush... Where was the sudden gush? He might have no idea about this, but these things were supposed to happen in order! Lance was supposed to come tell him his waters had broken, then he’d soothe him, and they’d go to Platt, where Coran would be waiting happily to deliver their twins. This was not how it went!

Speeding through Garrison, Keith took a few turns wide as he tried to reach his phone to call his brother. The device sliding along the dash and deciding to stay on the opposite end. The last thing he needed was the red and blue flashing lights in the rear view mirror that were accompanied by a burst of siren just after Balmera. Shit. Lance was in labour. He was on edge. He didn’t need this shit right now. He could make a run for it... but the cops would follow... he really didn’t need a high speed chase. Fuck. Fuck... fuck. Slowing the bronco, the stop was less than gentle as he pulled onto the gravel shoulder, jolting Lance. Moaning at the sudden stop, Lance blinked at him, trying to focus

“Ke-Keith?”

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay”

Watching the officer climb out of the patrol car, Keith nearly gunned the engine. He could put a fair bit of distance between them and police if he left right now... but Lance would be mad if he did that. His lover’s hand finding his and gripping hard as let out a long groan

“You’re okay. You’re okay... fuck...”

Squeezing his hand, Keith felt something break. For being so weak, his fiancé’s strength was there when they didn’t need it. Lance had a death grip on his hand, Keith not sure it’d ever not have his impression printed on it forever.

“Sir, are you aware of how recklessly you were driving?”

Keith had rolled the window down as the officer got closer. He could do this. Nothing was wrong... just his fiancé in labour... nothing to see here

“I...”

“I trust you have some good reason for how fast you were going”

Lance let out a cry, the police officer looking alarmed

“Sir, is there something wrong with your passenger there?!”

“K-Keith...?”

The less Lance had to do with the police officer, the better

“It’s my fiancé. They’re in labour. There’s been so many complications with the pregnancy...”

“Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to step out of the car”

No. Nope. On the other side of the car, the man’s college opened the passenger side door. Keith’s heart beat so loud it was echoing in his head. Lifting the blanket, the officer drew back, talking past the pair of them

“We need an ambulance. There’s blood”

Keith snarled, sorely sorry for having dropped

“We don’t need an ambulance. You need to let me get him to his doctor!”

“Sir, if you’re going to continue to be aggressive...”

Nope. They weren’t taking him and they weren’t waiting for ambulance to come all the way from Platt when he could get Lance to VOLTRON faster and safer for everyone involved

“Oh, fuck this. I’m sorry”

Turning on the engine, the officer at his door tried to stick his arm inside to open the driver door from the inside. Keith tearing his hand off the handle and shoving him back so hard the man fell on his arse. Sticking his head out the window, Keith threw a blanket apology in the man’s direction

“I’m sorry, but you have no idea what’s happening and I like him better than I like the pair of you”

Shit. Fuck. He’d gone and done it now. He heard the police fussing as he pulled off the gravel shoulder, hopefully Coran would deal with the fall out. The Garrison police kind of too shocked to get their shit together in a hurry...

“Babe?”

“It’s okay. I didn’t hurt him...”

“You like me more than them...”

Swerving the bronco, the still open passenger door swung closed as he’d hoped it would

“I do, baby. I love you”

“I dun feel good... it hurts and I’m tired. You said your were worry”

Keith groaned at himself. He made a terrible criminal

“I know. You’ve got stay awake for me. You can do that for me”

“Wanna... push... ‘m scared”

“No! No pushing. You’re okay, it’s not that far”

“Bud my body says...”

All colour left Keith’s face. Nope. No. He didn’t know how to deliver a baby. Plus... Lance wasn’t equipped for things to be coming out of there... that’d hurt...

“You have to keep those legs of yours closed a little longer...”

“I dun know... they’re coming too soon... nigh...”

Squeezing Lance’s hand with his busted hand, there was no pushing happening in the bronco, Lance’s groan was too long not be him struggling

“Don’t you dare push!”

“I...”

“Our babies are going to be born at VOLTRON. Remember the drugs? Think of the drugs...”

Lance nodded sluggishly

“I wan’ the drugs”

“See. You can’t push without the drugs...”

Lance went silent for a long moment, Keith taking his eyes off the road to look at him. Blood trickled from Lance’s mouth

“Babe? Babe, talk to me”

Covering his mouth, Lance coughed wetly, the vampire lowering his hand to show a gloop of blood in his palm. Fucking fuck fuck

“You’re okay. We’re nearly there...”

“I... love you...”

“I love you too, baby...”

The cops caught up with them just outside Platt, Keith had given up on all road rules by then. Entirely selfish and reckless, though he had made sure not cause any accident. Parking in front of VOLTRON, the cops were maybe 10 seconds behind him. Flying out the car, he ran around the front of the bronco, throwing open the passenger door to pull Lance out. The officers had to be confused as hell as to why he’d brought Lance to a twenty-four hour bookstore. Moaning in his arms, his fiancé still felt icy to the touch, Coran opening the bookstore door for him as he carried his precious fiancé inside

“Coran, something’s wrong with him...”

Striding towards the elevator, Coran kept up with him, casting a glance at the officers that’d followed him inside. Mashing the button, the doors opened, closing behind them as the lady behind the store counter moved to talk to the police. They were her problem now

“Keith? Are they with you?”

“I kind of drove off and upset them...”

“Ah. Well... we’ll deal with that later. I’ve got a bed prepared for him...”

Lance moaned in his arms

“Wanna push...”

“I know, my boy. I know, you’re being very brave”

“Hurds”

Coran placed his hand on Lance’s forehead, Keith not stupid as he knew Coran had to be manipulating Lance’s quintessence or something

“I’m sure it does... How long has he been in labour?”

“I’m not sure... He was up and down a bit this morning and very lethargic, then he went to use the bathroom and came back saying he thought something was wrong. Something has to be wrong, he wants to push already”

“Not necessarily. His body is a tad peculiar. It maybe be a survival trait of breeder vampires. A long labour would put them in danger of capture or death... Or he’s simply interpreting the messages his brain is sending out in the wrong way”

Keith had clearly heard what Lance said and Lance clearly knew what he was feeling better than him and Coran

“No offence, Coran, but I’m second away from attacking you for being this close. I don’t want to hear “maybes””

“Right. Here we go, straight through and onto the bed if you please”

Lance clung to him as Keith laid him down on the waiting hospital gurney. Curled around his stomach, his fiancé looked so broken Keith found himself crying as kissed his forehead

“Don’t leave me”

As if he would. His ego was now going wild at the amount of people around his mate

“I’m not. I’m right here with you, baby. I’m here”

“I’m scared”

“I know... I know, but we’re going to meet our twins soon”

Looking up to Coran, Coran nodded

“Number two is absolutely right, my boy. Let’s take him straight through”

Coran was taking no chances it seemed. The amount of blood obviously overruled any standard way of going about this. Holding both of Lance’s hands, his fiancé panted through another contraction

“You’re being so brave”

“I dun like this at all”

“You won’t be giving VOLTRON a good Yelp review?”

“No offence, Coran, but id sucks”

Coran chuckled at Lance’s slurring

“I’m sure it does, my boy. I’ve got things ready, your Keith here has a lead foot”

“He apologised to the cops... and said he liked me more than them”

Keith let out a snort of laughter, taking himself by surprise with the noise. Lance grinned at him around his pain

“Yeah, yeah, I did. And I do like you more”

“I know...”

Wheeled into the room, staff were gathered waiting. Keith thought they’d be staying, but once the bed was positioned, the slowly filtered out

“For staff safety, it’ll be you and me in here, with a nurse for support”

“He’s too delirious with pain to hurt anyone”

“It’s because he’s delirious that we need to take caution. I assume you’re going to stay up that end”

Visions of finding Lance covered in blood came back to haunt him. Though Coran would be in control, he couldn’t face the blood

“I’m good”

“Excellent. Now, Lance my boy, I know it hurts. I need to clean you up and have a little look at your tummy”

“It hurds”

“I’m sure you’re if far more pain than you’re letting on. Let’s get you comfortable, then we’ll proceed. When’s the last time he had blood?”

“This early this morning...”

“Excellent. How much would say he consumed”

“Um... 10 bags”

Coran’s eyes widened, yeah. He got it. He should have called Coran instead of waiting

“That is impressive. Right, not to worry...”

“Telling me not to worry is making me worry”

“Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t the first baby I’ve delivered”

“There’s two of them in there. We’d like both of them, thanks”

Lance missed half the conversation

“Don’t let him take our babies away... I don’t want him to take them away”

“He won’t. We’re going to be the first to meet them”

Lance strained, trying to sit up

“I wanna see them”

“They have to be born first”

“Oh...”

“It’s okay...”

Keith’s job was to keep Lance’s focus on him. When Coran had gone to run an IV line, Lance had tried to escape him, snarling at the fae as he tried to cover his stomach. Sitting with his back toward Coran, the werewolf rubbed Lance’s leg, a blanket placed across to protect his fiancé’s dignity as Coran examined him. Lance not loving being touched, and Keith not loving that Coran was seeing Lance so intimately. Covering Lance’s legs back up with the blanket, Coran was the only one smiling

“Excellent. He’s already started dilating, amazingly fast really. The muscle ring is much softer more pliant than normal. His body is fascinating”

Coran did not just disrespect his mate

“He’s not an experiment. He’s in pain”

“Yes. Well, his waters have broken, perhaps with time he would have been able to deliver naturally, but the blood loss is alarming. You keep him preoccupied while I prep for surgery”

This all felt way too fucking real now that they’d come to a stop. He and Lance were going to be parents. After months and months and months of waiting. After their macaroons had turned to cupcakes, then foot and a half long subs, they’d soon be in the world as actual living people. Leaning in, Keith kissed Lance on the forehead, nuzzling the spot that was still too cold

“I love you so much. I couldn’t be prouder to be your mate”

“I love you, too... I’m sorry...”

“Shhh, there’s no need to be sorry. We’re going to be parents soon”

“You’re going to be the best dad”

“I don’t know, you’re really fucking amazing”

“I’m... it hurts...”

“I know, baby. I know. It’ll all be over soon”

“You won’t leave, will you?”

“Nope. I’m here. I’m here with you”

“Mmmm... best secret fiancé ever”

“Hey, you’re not too bad yourself”

Lance bit his lip as another contraction hit, snorting his breath out through his nose through the wave. Keith repeating himself, as he’d done over and over again in the longest half hour of his life

“You’re doing so good. So good for me...”

“It hurts... I feel gross”

“You look better than you feel””

“You’re beautiful. Our babies are going to be beautiful... Coran’s going to make the pain go away real soon, you just keep holding my hand until it does”

Setting a small curtain up to prevent Lance from seeing his stomach, Coran fetched Keith a chair as he let the drugs seep into Lance’s system. Coming back to them, the fae was far too enthused, followed by a nurse who wore a very tight polite smile. The fae had been gone long enough that Keith wondered if he’d run off to leave them alone to deliver the twins alone. Lance was still fighting the urge to push, Keith trying to remember how to coach him through breathing

“I’ve rung everyone, let them know what’s happening. They’ll be forced to wait upstairs until after the delivery, purely for safety reasons. Don’t want someone losing a limb because they can’t wait to see our babies. Now, this procedure is major surgery, don’t be alarmed if Lance passes out, he’s under quite a lot strain. Keith, did you manage to remember Lance’s bag?”

“It’s in the car”

“Excellent. Now, Lance, you may feel the need to struggle. I want you to keep your attention on Keith. I’m not going to harm you or the twins. Please try to keep that in mind”

Keith didn’t think Lance would fight Coran, not in his weakened state. The moment the vampire saw Coran holding a scalpel as he checked his instrument kit, Lance wanted out of there, promising this was a false alarm and he’d come back tomorrow if Coran took the knife away. The drugs had kicked in, Lance was high as a kite if he thought anyone in the room believed it. Keith didn’t want his scary his face to be the first thing their baby saw, but the poor werewolf’s ego was mad. They wanted to see the twins already, but they wanted to see them without Lance being hurt or cut open to deliver them. His ego was a stupid animal. Coran hadn’t even started the incision and Keith felt faint from the scent in the room.

Growling through another contraction, Keith’s hand was crushed all over again, Lance throwing his head back, sobbing out a “fuck” as the wave passed. Ooooh fuck... he’d grown used to Lance crushing his hand, but that was definitely Lance pushing. He wasn’t supposed to be pushing... Drugged up Lance probably couldn’t stop himself from how badly he wanted the twins out and the pain to be over

“Uhh, Coran... I don’t think he’s waiting for you”

Placing down the scalpel, Coran moved back to table. Lance was naked beneath the sheet, the fae letting panic was over his face before composing himself in the same moment

“He’s started crowning...”

Nope. They may not have had a birth plan, but Lance was clear about “not pooping out a baby”! Keith snapping at Coran

“He’s not supposed to be!”

Coran snapping back at him

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

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actress4him · 4 years

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Whumptober 2020 - Day 26

I had such a hard time figuring out what to write for this one. I knew I wanted to use this alternate prompt as soon as I saw it, but there are sooooo many good possibilities for water whump! I could NOT make up my mind. So I went to @trope-appreciation-tuesdays again, which gave me even MORE ideas, but I finally ended up settling on a mashup between two ideas submitted by @aliceinwhumperland and @theironcarey . I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

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Day 26 (Alt 12) - Water

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: drowning, broken bones

Branches tore at his face and clothes, weird colored leaves sticking in his hair. Dodging left, then right, missing each tree by a fraction of an inch, Keith was racing quite literally for his life through the forest, and as fast as he was running he was pretty sure he was losing the race. After, all these psychotic aliens lived in this forest. They knew it much better than he did.

He came to the cliff so suddenly that he almost pitched right over it, catching himself at the last moment on a tree. His stomach dipped down into his toes before righting itself. For a split second he just stared over the drop off into the sparkling green water below. The ocean. Great.

But there was no time to pause, no time to even look back and see how close the hoard of angry neon aliens had gotten. He didn’t need to, anyway. He could hear them well enough to know they were close, too close. Changing course, he took off again, parallel to the ocean this time. Maybe he could lose them. Maybe they’d think he fell over. Keith winced, not liking the thought of how close he had come to doing just that.

Then again, maybe down was actually the best way to really lose them. The thought was ridiculously stupid, one of those ideas that would get him yelled at by the rest of the paladins. But this whole situation was ridiculously stupid, and if he could find somewhere that he could jump and not land in the water...well, it seemed like a better option than getting mauled to death by aliens that looked like they belonged in a nightclub.

He found his opportunity a few long, breathless dobashes later. A glance over the edge showed that a ledge had formed about halfway down, one that should be wide enough for him to land on. From there, he would be able to contact the rest of the team, make sure they had gotten away, and get someone to come pick him up. As long as the neon aliens didn’t decide to leap off after him.

He gulped, and went for it.

The freefall was forever long and far too short all at the same time. Keith waved his arms instinctively, trying to keep upright in the air, planning on going into a roll as soon as he hit the ground.

What he didn’t count on was landing with his foot at a funny angle, instantly snapping his ankle. Nor did he expect that interrupted momentum to send him careening to the side, slamming his ribs into the side of the ledge before he tumbled over the side. Wide-eyed, he scrambled desperately for something to grab onto, but came up short.

He was falling again, and this time there was only endless water below.

The surface came to meet him all too quickly, the impact bruising his spine. Instantly the water engulfed him. It was freezing. And he hadn’t gotten the chance to take a good breath, so already he was running low on air.

As the light sparkling on the water began to draw further away, Keith kicked and flailed his arms, trying to get reoriented and keep himself from sinking further. Every kick sent pain shooting through his ankle.

But somehow, it worked. Sorta. His face broke the surface for just long enough for him to gasp in a breath, but he ended up sucking in a bit of water, as well, as he immediately went back under. His lungs spasmed, desperate to rid themselves of the foreign substance. Frantically, he kicked again, and though this time only his hand surfaced, he felt something besides just air and water. Something solid.

His hands went into overdrive as black spots started to dance in front of his eyes. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, they found purchase, and he gave everything he had left to haul himself upward.

Glorious air brushed cold against his face. Keith spluttered, coughing up the water that had been sloshing in his lungs and sucking in gulps of air in between. His chest hurt from the exertion, and that wasn’t even to mention the bruised or cracked ribs on his left side.

When he was finally able to draw in slightly rattling breaths without going into another coughing fit, he finally looked around to see where he had ended up. It seemed to be the opening of a cave. The sea went right up into it, but maybe further in there would be some dry land, which sounded glorious right about then.

Slowly, hand over hand, he began to make his way deeper into the cave along the wall. Twice his fingers slipped, and he almost plunged back down into the water. Each time he had to stop, take a breath, and try to stop his heart from pounding out his chest. He hated big bodies of water. Not that he was scared of them, he just...didn’t know how to handle them. And so far this whole experience was close to the top of most terrifying moments of his life. He did not want to go back under.

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached what he had hoped was the back of the cave. Unfortunately, up close it was clear that it merely went around a bend and kept going, with no end to the water in sight. There was no dry land. Nowhere to rest.

It was then, thankfully, that his comm crackled to life. “Keith, do you copy?”

Thankfully because he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to hang there, and thankfully because he hadn’t been sure after that spill in the ocean if his comm was even still working.

“I’m here.”

“Thank goodness.” Shiro sounded more than relieved. “I’ve been trying to get you to respond for several dobashes.”

“Sorry.” Keith attempted to adjust his grip on the stone, wincing. “Kinda got wet. Might have taken a bit for my comm to dry out.”

“What do you mean, you got wet?” Lance broke in.

Shiro ignored the interruption. “Most of us are back in the Lions. We have to swing by and pick up Hunk. Where are you?”

“Um.” Suddenly he was quite aware of how embarrassing his situation was. “I’m...in a cave...in the ocean?”

There was silence over the comms for a moment. Then, “Mullet, please don’t tell me you jumped in the ocean to get away from the nightclub aliens.”

“No,” he shot back a bit too quickly. “I didn’t jump in the ocean. I...fell.” It was mostly true. And possibly a worse admission than agreeing with Lance, but he couldn’t stand the tone of voice he was using.

“Are you okay?” Shiro immediately asked.

“Mostly. A little banged up, but I’ll survive.” He’d get lectured later for calling a broken ankle and cracked ribs “a little banged up”, but that was better than making Shiro worry.

“Alright. I’m gonna send Lance to come pick you up, since his Lion will be best if he needs to land in water.”

He wanted to protest. Like, really really wanted to protest. Lance was the last person that needed to see him right now. But Shiro had a point, Blue was the best Lion for this situation, so he snapped his jaw shut and locked it.

Lance spent the entire flight crowing and preening via a private comm channel over the fact that he was coming to rescue Keith from an embarrassing predicament that Keith had gotten himself into. For his part, Keith just gritted his teeth and bore it in silence, while trying his best to keep his exhausted, trembling arms from giving out and dropping him back into the frigid water. His lower body had long since gone numb. The good news was that that meant his ankle was mostly numb, too, only occasionally giving a throb to let him know it was still broken.

“Are you almost here?” he eventually growled.

“What, you in a hurry, Mullet?”

He wanted to say, “Yeah, I am. Did I mention that I was in the water?” But that would have just given him more fuel to make fun of him.

Instead, he griped, “The planet isn’t that big.”

“Well excuse me, but the shoreline is pretty quiznaking long. All you told us was ‘in a cave in the ocean’. I’m still looking.”

Which, that was fair, he guessed. Not that he would ever tell Lance that. And not that his body agreed. “Maybe if you’d stop talking you could concentrate better on looking.”

“Or maybe if you would stop talking to me, I- oh wait, I think I see it!”

Sure enough, the unmistakable whoosh of a Lion’s flight was drawing nearer. “I hear you. You’re definitely close.”

A moment later, Blue’s face filled the opening of the cave. Lance promptly began cackling. “Holy crow, Mullet, this is the best moment of my life. You look like a drowned rat!”

Keith glared, which probably didn’t look all that menacing considering the circumstances. “Ha, ha, very funny. Now are you gonna come in and get me?”

“Sorry, bro, no can do. This is as far as Blue goes. Shoulda picked a bigger cave.” He still hadn’t stopped laughing.

“Yeah, but...ugh. Never mind.” No way was he handing Lance any more ammo. His arms would just have to deal with it.

His fingers had gotten so cold that they had gone stiff and didn’t want to let go of their hold to start with, but he pried them off and began to painstakingly make his way back toward the entrance. Inch by inch, knuckles aching and muscles quivering the whole time.

“Dude, are you seriously gonna crawl along the wall the whole way?”

“Shut up, Lance.”

A minute of silence. His ribs were starting to smart again, stirred up by the movement.

“Oh my stars, this is gonna take all day! What are you doing?”

“I said shut up, Lance!”

“No, I’m not gonna shut up, this is ridiculous! What are you, Spiderman, now? Why don’t you get off the quiznaking wall and swim?”

“If you’re just gonna sit out there and do nothing but watch, then you have no right to compl-”

Mid-sentence, his broken ankle bumped up against the rock and his vision whited out. The next thing he knew, water was up over his head again. Panicked, he tried to pull himself back up by the one hand that hadn’t lost its grip, sliding the other one frantically around the wall until it found another handhold and he was able to haul himself out. He came up gasping, coughing, and spitting once more.

“You okay there, Mullet?” Lance’s voice came echoing through the cave a few seconds later. Glancing over, Keith saw him sitting up on Blue’s nose.

“‘m fine,” he spat. He was shivering so hard that he wasn’t sure whether he could keep crawling.

“You got a water phobia?”

“No. I’m not scared, I just...just no. Shut up.”

“You sure? ‘Cause you sure looked scared. And if you’re not scared, then why wouldn’t you just swim over here like a normal huma-”

“Because I can’t, okay?” Keith exploded. “I...I just can’t, so leave me alone and let me get there my own way.”

He kept still, despite that demand, still not able to will his arms into moving again. Amazingly, Lance stayed quiet for longer than expected.

“Did you hurt yourself and lie to Shiro?”

“No.”

Lance groaned. “Then I don’t get why you can’t swim -!” He paused. “Wait. You...can’t swim. Is that what you’re telling me?”

No, no, that was not what he was telling him, that was the last thing he wanted to tell him, of all people, the three time swimteam champion and competitive surfer. But if he continued denying it he would just sound stupid.

“So what if I can’t? I grew up in the middle of the desert, okay? There was no need to know how to swim.” And no one who cared enough to teach him, for most of his life.

There was silence again, and Keith couldn’t bring himself to look at what kind of face Lance was making at this new revelation. For all he knew, he was laughing so hard it wasn’t making any sound. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Then there was a splash, and Keith snapped his head around to see Mr. Three Time Swimteam Champion popping back up out of the water next to Blue and shaking his sopping hair around.

“Dude! This water is freezing!”

“Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed. What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Lance started swimming straight toward him with strong, steady strokes. In seconds - covering a distance that had taken Keith forever - he was stopping right next to him, treading water.

He grinned. “I’m coming to rescue you like I was told.”

Keith clenched his jaw and stared hard at the rocks. “I don’t need rescuing.”

“Oh, okay, so should I just go back to Blue and fly away and leave you to do this yourself?”

He wanted to bash his head against the wall. He didn’t think he had the energy. “No. Ugh, fine. I need rescuing. But you didn’t have to get in the water and come all the way in here. I could have handled it.”

“Sure you could.” Keith could hear the eyeroll without even looking. “Look, dude. You can’t swim. That’s okay. It’s not your fault no one taught you, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I grew up on the beach, so of course I know how. You don’t have to pretend like you’re something you’re not just to save face.”

That...was not at all the reaction he’d expected. He kinda wondered if maybe all the water he had inhaled had gotten to his brain, or if the neon aliens had gotten to Lance and done some kind of body swap.

“And besides,” Lance continued, “even the best trained swimmers would have a hard time after being in this temperature water for as long as you have. Which means we should, you know, get going before I can’t swim, either.”

He still wasn’t sure what in the world had brought on this...kind? understanding? very un-Lance-like response, but he wasn’t going to argue against getting out of the water. Even if it did mean having to let Lance drag him around like a little kid.

“Okay. Fine. How...are we gonna do this?”

Lance grinned again. “Well, I’m thinking maybe if we put our arms around each other like this, so we can each use one arm, and we can both kick…” He threw his arm around Keith’s torso, drawing an involuntary hiss as it bumped into his sore ribs. Lance just stared at him, one eyebrow tilted up.

Keith looked away. “I...may have possibly lied to Shiro.”

“And to me.” Lance sighed dramatically. “Fine, so you busted your ribs or something. Any other injuries I should know about?”

“I may have also possibly broken my ankle.”

“Seriously, dude? Alright, don’t kick with that leg, then.”

“I can -”

“I said don’t.”

Keith glared at him. “Fine.”

“Good. So, you just move your free hand like I’m doing, and kick your uninjured leg up and down, and I’ll do the rest. Got it?”

“Got it.” They adjusted until they were in position and were ready to take off toward Blue.

“Hey Mullet?”

“What.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Somehow, he was pretty sure based on the tone that this was more about his refusal to accept help than the whole falling into the ocean thing. He kinda owed Lance a thank you. He definitely would if he actually managed to get them back to Blue without drowning.

What he actually said was, “Takes one to know one.”

He was pretty sure based on the tone that Lance would know what he meant.

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Ducktales Treasure of the Golden Suns Reviews: Wronguay in Ronguay (Paid for by Patreons)

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to the genesis of magillicutty Ducktales with the second part of my months long look at Treasure of the Golden Suns, the mini series that kicked off the series. These reviews are a result of me hitting my first patreon stretch goal. I just did a LONGGG post outlining those here on tumblr so hit that up and help join my patreon so I can reach them and make some more moolah to help keep this my primary job.

So speaking of that job we’re back to The Treasure of the Golden Suns and the first chapter, while not bad, was a tad disappointing, especially since I really liked it on first viewing. So will the second chapter fair just as bad or be a massive improvement? The only way to find out is under the cut.

Previously on Ducktales: Donald shoved off with the navy leaving the boys with Scrooge, with both growing to care about one another... both out of nowhere

The boys ended up embroiled int he Beagle Boys theft of a wooden ship for a mysterious gentleman named El Capitan whose preferedd method of dealing with enterlopers.. was to use a chair like a lion tamer. After being falsely blamed for the theft, the boys ended up chasing the beagles to Scrooge’s candy factory, were vindicated and fought them off with Scrooge’s help , ending with the boys getting covered in choclate. while El Capitan escaped vowing to find the gold. Now knowing the wooden ship was a map, the family prepared to set off

And that’s where we pick up. The reporter from last episode comments on the beagle bust and while the Beagles are hauled off, with Burger asking if they have any milk after eating his chocolate prison. Because his only character trait is that...

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The camera does linger on an impression the ship made in the chocolate... hmmmmmm.

Meanwhile we meet FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. As I said with Catch as Cash Can, he’s not BAD, just not NEARLY as memorable as the triumphantly insane 2017 version. He’s sitll a good villian and we’ll see why soon, he just has the unenviable task of competiting with a far more iconic versoin made decades later whose far more my type of bad guy. El Captian calls him and offers to make him the richest duck in the world, which he naturally is happy to hear him out on. El Captian as a character i’ll get into more.. but for now let’s talk about his weird fucking voice. For some reason, Jim is doing a Dr. Claw impression, to the point I thought this was Frank Welker. I will grant it’s better than a horrible latinx sterotype, and given the grand kishke and a minor character in this very episode, they were NOT above those, but its’ still just.. weird. He just sounds like he’s possesed with about 80 or 90 demons for no explained reason.

Back at the mansion, Scrooge and the Boys are both preparing to go after the treasure on the boat map: Scrooge is practicing vacuming it up using the pool and a sea safe vacum likely invented by Gyro, while the boys find the right coordinates to the treasure. Scrooge naturally.. is a bit of a dick about it, refusing to take them along despite them having found it, and saying they can stay with Duckworth. Duckworth’s response is about what you’d expect:

However before they can argue about this, there’s a bang at the door: It’s Flinty and here’s where the parts of this Glomgold I DO like, that do make him standout, if not as much sa his succesor shine: He plays scrooge, offering him 2 million for the Candy Factory. Naturally not realizing what Flinty’s getting out of the deal, Scrooge jumps at a quick and easy 2 million, since he knows it’ll cost MORE than that just to fix up the place. Flinty then proposes a contest: the two of them try to make as much money as possible from scratch in two days. No rules, no barriers, just whoever dosen’t have more money than the other by the end has to eat Flinty’s hat. Scrooge accepts.. but then realizes he has to eat crow and allow the boys along. With Scrooge sufficently blackmailed, the boys reveal where the treasure is: Ronguay, a made up south american county. Why they did so.. well just wait a second. And no it’s not just for the tile... but your close.

No we find out why as they take the cheapest flight avaliable to Ronguay, only for the boys their going the Wrong way to Ronguay.

Yeah I love a good pun but I draw the line at desinging an ENTIRE COUNTRY for a really obvious one. I have standards on this blog! Standards that include thirsting after Keith David , DBZA refrences up the whazoo and posting this gif of David Byrne at every given opportunity.

Look my standards are weird, but their still standards. I draw the line at making a stupid pun when there’s a rich number of countries in South America. I’m not saying Carl Barks was ever against making up a country, he probably did, could be wrong, but more often than not he did his homework instead, as did his succesor Don Rosa. It feels lazy to just make up a country when you really don’t have to and could’ve just found one with a massive rainy season for your children’s cartoon. It’s not hard. I mean it’s harder than now: now I could just google “what south american countries have torrental rains”.. but it’s not like you guys could’n’t just go to a bookstore and buy a refrence book or a library and rent one. I mean if they ran out of time to do anyresearch fine, but even for the 1980′s it wasn’t that difficult to at least TRY.

Regardless it turns out the pilot is a robot pilot.. who looks amazing but as it’s a flintheart glomgold company joint is purposfuly tring to keep them off path. Look they didn’t have to unplug the poor guy. I know what he wants.

So now on the right way to Ronguay our heroes lan only to find the locals all fleeing in terror of something. Scrooge heads in for suplies anyway and finds... a VERY racist sounding clerk. Seriously just to picture this.. picture say .. Michael Scott trying to do an mexican accent. You good and cringing? If not, adapt that to your doofus sitcom character or republican senator of choice There you go. You see my point. It’s not the WORST i’ve seen.. but only because I sat through the Rediculous 6 with my best friend, one of three, Cory, for a podcast we tried doing a year or two ago. I’ve seen Rob Schinder do this for an entire movie. In 2015 no less. So my threshold for HORRIFCALLY offensive is vast and deep. But this is still garden variety racist and should not have been okay then or now.

And it really SHOULD have the warning label on it. I’m fully in favor of the content warnings Disney started using, and it’s why I got so fucking annoyed during all the talk about it when it happend to the Muppet Show, ESPECIALLY when the republicans got a hold of it and accused them of “Canceling the muppets”. This is NOT fucking cancelation, this is a way to have the past there for posterity, while acknolding it sucked and was NEVER okay. It’s the best way to do this in my opinon, and it bothers me a LOT that a bunch of jagoffs coopted it and threw a hissy fit about Disney trying to do the right goddamn thing. And i’m also okay with leaving some media out. Disney + is a family platform. While keeping classic movies and shows on there with a proper warning is one thing, it’s another to not put song of the south or that episode of the muppets where the host later turned out ot be a pedophile on there. Some things just don’t have nearly enough worth to outpace the harm they can do. And it’s up to companies and consumers to figure out what fits where.

Anyways our heroes find a llama for transport and that the map is seemingly a dead end to the desert. But Scrooge is determined to press on... and while he does El Capitan and Glomgold are following him, though the two clearly don’t agree on whose in charge, or if El Captian sounds like dr claw or not. They followed with their own copy of the map taken from the chocolate.

As things progress the rain starts.. and our heroes find out via the JWG that this is what the citzens were all running from. They loose the llama, though are able to salvage some of their suplies it was carrying, and Scrooge nearly gives up to dispair. It’s a good, if sudden, character moment: Scrooge genuinely laments that he was worried one day he’d loose his step.. and stop being one step ahead of everyone. It shows some much needed vunerablity.. that beneath his boisterious and cantankerious usual personality he’s deathly afraid his age will eventualy mean he’ll have to stop..and having to stop adventuring and stop working and stop doing eveyrthing that makes him Scrooge McDuck is a fate worse than death.

Thankfully he dosen’t as via a figure on the ship, Huey, Dewey or Louie figures out, in a REALLY amazing twist, that the desert itself was the ocean: the ship that has the treasure simply sailed here and hid it. So while our heroes reflect, Glomgold decides to take them out NOW while he has the chance over El Captian’s protests, as the good captain only cares about the gold. But Glomgold is right.. from a villianous point of view at least. leaving them alive is a waste.. granted he does so.. in a way that makes my brain cry out in pain and want to run. He lights a stick of dynamite. In a torrential rainstorm.

I mean i’d expect 2017 Glomgold to try it and have it fail.. not to have the actually clever 87 version not only try something this stupid BUT HAVE IT WORK. THE FUSE LIGHTS. IT’S READY TO GO OFF. HE ONLY STOPS IT BECAUSE HIS MAP GETS EATEN AND THEY NEED SCROOGE’S IN TACT. JUST HOW DO YOU WHY DO YOU AUGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

Okay i’m.. i’m good now. So after that bit of nonsense and some taking my medication, our heroes take shelter in a cave. The grusome twosome try to sneak in while their asleep.. only to trigger the alarms the boys set up using their pots and pans, a “junior woodchuck alarm”. Clever little bastards.

The tables quickly turn though as Thing one and Thing Two trap our heroes in the cave.. as i’ts flooding. Scrooge has them press on in hopes of finding a way out, and it rises further and furthe ran excenelty tense scene. But eventually our heroes manage to find somewhere safe in time: the shipwrecked boat with all the gold. Scrooge even puts on a nifty golden conquestador’s helmet.

Naturally since we have minutes left in the episode the bad guys show up and have a gun... they never had before.

Regardless our heroes are lowered into the lifeboat at gunpoint as the ship goes out to sea and i’ts revealed el captain worked on teh ship as he knows the full manifest.

However both villians personal flaws end up doing them in: Glomgold’s need to gloat means he gives Scrooge a golden coin as he mocks him about winning the bet... only for El Captain to fly into an insane rage demanding he swim out and get it despite just how LITTLE he really needs the coin. He and Glomgold struggle over the ships canon, both no longer needing the other and eventually fire off a ball that capsizes the ship. El Captian seemingly drowns while Glomgold is forced onto the life boat with the McDucks.. and finds out he lost as while he and Scrooge both lost the treasure the coin he tossed scrooge means Scrooge still has made more money. So Glomgold prepares to eat his hat and El Captian prepares for vengance and to get his gold back.

Final Thoughts on Wronguay in Ronguay: The iffy bit with the store clerk aside.. this episdoe is easily the best 87 Episode i’ve seen. It captures the spirit of barks perfectly with plenty of intresting twists that kept me engaged the whole time, some great jokes, and two great villians who are done in soley by their own greed and neurosusi> it’s really great stuff and what I expected more and remember more from the 87 Series: top notch adventure in the barks style but wiht it’s own unique touches. While the pilot was a bit rough due to all the ground it tried to cover, this episode, now having the basic formula of the series pretty much set, is allowed to just be a fun, daring adventure story that brilliantly builds off the last episode but can be wholly enjoyed on it’s own. Hopefully this momentum keeps because I don’t remember being the fondest of the next two episodes.. and given that content warning I think we’re in for a rough time next month.

If you liked htis join my patreon, etc etc, I went into that mor eup top. Till All Are One, See you at the next Rainbow.

#ducktales #wronguay in ronguay #ducktales 87 #scrooge mcduck #flintheart glomgold #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #el capitain #duckworth #reviews #disney plus #the disney afternoon

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