#Pidge thank you I’m DYING

[autisticlancemcclain]

The third time Allura clears her throat, Shiro nudges her with his elbow and raises an eyebrow.

“You good?”

Sighing, Allura shakes her head. The thing is that she is parched. All she can think about is a nice, cool water pouch. She hasn’t read a page in her book in who knows how long. She wants a drink.

But she is also comfortable. So, so comfortable. Shiro makes a very good pillow, and he has been very tolerant of her sprawling all over him and leeching his warmth. No part of her wants to move.

“I’m a little thirsty, is all.”

Shiro hums. “Honestly, I could go for a water pouch myself.”

Noooooooo.

Her warmth slab!

“Actually, on second thought, I’m fine —”

“Hey, hey, hold on,” Shiro says, chuckling. He shoots her a sly smile. “I don’t really want to get up, either.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” She settles back under Shiro’s arm, pulling the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands. She’s thirsty, yeah, but is it really worth waking down the cold metal hallways?

No.

Well, at least not yet. She’s well on the road to dying of thirst, but maybe curled up and comfy isn’t the worst way to go. She’ll see how she feels.

“Hey, hold on,” Shiro says. His smile only turns into more of a smirk. “I didn’t say I was giving up on the water quest. I could go for a snack, as well.”

Allura squints at him. “Are humans capable of telekinesis, or…?”

“Just play along.” He clears his throat quietly, then speaks just a little bit louder than he was before. “No, humans can’t do telekinesis. There’s not much we can do, really.”

There’s a brief pause — how is Allura meant to play along? What game is Shiro playing? — and then, every so slowly, she sees Pidge and Lance set down their controllers, and their video game pauses.

All of a sudden, it dawns on her.

“Oh, is that so?” she says, barely holding back her laughter. “I would think your species would at least have some skill, to have survived at all in your death planet. Have you not even strength to protect yourself? Hunk seems to fare well.”

Shiro’s shoulders shake ever so slightly, even though his expression remains impassive. “Hunk is an exception to the rule. The kid’s jacked. But even still, he can’t really hold a candle to you.”

Allura inclines her head. “That’s true.”

Pidge and Lance are no longer making any effort to hide their eavesdropping. It takes every ounce of Allura’s strength to keep her face as innocently inquisitive as she can make it.

“What skills do humans have, then, other than stubborn resilience?”

That is very true of humans, she’s noticed. If nothing else, they are more persistent and hopeful than any other being she has known. Even Keith, who is teased for being ‘emo and pessimistic’ (guess by whom) will easily get up and continue on after enough failures that any other species would cut their losses.

“We have a lot of that,” Shiro agrees, laughing softly. “That’s pretty much it, though.” Imperceptibly, almost faster than she can track, he glances at Lance and Pidge before looking back at her. The tiniest of smirks returns to his lips. “A few humans are decently fast — there’s one woman on Earth I’m thinking of specifically who could probably sprint to the kitchens and grab us a water pouch and be back in twenty ticks — but no one here is nearly that quick.”

“Hey!”

It’s Lance who finally cracks first, indignant hands on his hips, but he and Pidge both look at them crossly. Allura and Shiro both pretend to startle. “I’m plenty fast! I could do that, easy!”

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Shiro says gently. “I’m sure you are, kiddo. But it’s just not possible.”

Allura is impressed. He’s managed to blend his tone into what must be the perfect mix of care and condensation — she can only imagine he’s done this dozens of times.

She quickly covers a laugh with a cough, not wanting to spoil their game.

Oh, poor Keith.

“It is so,” Pidge insists. She turns to Lance for confirmation. “We can get to the kitchen and back in twenty ticks, easy.”

Lance nods frantically. “Yeah!”

“I don’t know,” Allura says, forcing herself to frown. “I wouldn’t want for the two of you to over-exert yourselves on something so strenuous.”

Both Pidge and Lance look comically offended at the mere implication that a quick sprint to the kitchen would over-exert them.

Shiro is a genius. Truly.

“I could sprint to the kitchen and get you water and a snack in less than twenty ticks,” Lance boasts.

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“I can, too!” Pidge says.

Allura and Shiro exchange a look. His black eyes look just as mischievous as hers — it’s a wonder Lance and Pidge haven’t noticed.

“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to try,” Shiro says hesitantly. Allura nods.

Lance and Pidge both cheer, throwing down their controllers and scrambling to get in position by the common room door; crouched low with one leg extended and hands braced on the floor.

“Time us!” Pidge demands.

“Okay,” Shiro calls. “Three, two, one…go!”

Pidge and Lance shoot off immediately, rocketing down the hall at top speeds. As soon as they’ve turned the corner, Allura and Shiro look at each other and burst out laughing.

“That worked perfectly!” Shiro crows. “It never fails!”

Allura clutches her stomach, aching from her giggles. “They were so eager!”

Soon, though, they hear panting and pounding footsteps, and quickly try to rearrange themselves into some semblance of casualty. Allura has to wipe tears from her eyes and pray that her face is not as laughter-red as it feels.

“Ha!” Lance yells, then second he crosses the threshold. “How many ticks was that?”

Shiro pretends to check his watch, mouth dropping in a mask of shock as he does. “19 ticks! Wow!”

Pidge and Lance both cheer, tossing them their drinks and snacks and settling back down in front of their game.

“Told you,” Pidge says smugly.

“Mhm,” Shiro says, taking a massive bite of one of Hunk’s tarts. “You sure did.”

He winks at Allura. She winks right back.

Oh, how she loves having younger siblings.

[maychorian]

Hello I need help please! I’ve been digging through fic finders to find this one specific fic for a while and have had no luck. Fortunately I saw a post of yours from 2017 where you mentioned reading a lot of fics where Lance is captured by glara, which is the niche I’m looking for.

This is what I remeber from the fic:

During a mission, something happens and there’s an explosion that Lance is caught in, ultimately leaving a scar on his back. The galea then capture him.

Lance is placed in a cell where he goes through torture and experiments, namely regarding his quintessence. Eventually the team rescues him. I do not remember much about this part.

Once at the castle, the team is trying to prep him for a healing pod, but he still had on the paladin armor under garments, which weren’t comparable with the pods. However, everything had been healing and scabbing over the clothes, so it was going to be miserable to take off. Shiro and Keith stat with Lance while the rest of the team is in the hallway. Kieth holds onto Lance as shiro has to rip off the clothes.

A while later Allura figures out that the Galra had messed with Lances quintessence and they had to fix it. They set up in blues hangar and essentially removed all of lances quintessence and supplemented it with the blue lions afterwards. He was very close to dying for a while and pidge was upset.

I don’t remember much after that, but I do remember that I loved the righting and the author addresses the trauma very well, delivering lots of gut punching scenes.

I would love to read this fic again if you’re able to find it. Thank you so much for your time, hope you are well and your platonic cuddles puddles are plentiful.

I'm so sorry, I have no idea what this fic is. Maybe search for a Voltron fic finder tumblr and ask there, or maybe one of my followers will know. I haven't read Voltron fics for a long time.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

**Cultivating Love**45**

Leaving the sanctum, their group picked their way through the building. Sanda bound and gagged, then hidden away so as not to slow them down. Splitting off with Iverson, Keith worried over Krolia. His mother had some kind of a plan and her own agenda, and frankly Keith had hoped Krolia would have stayed with them to protect Allura and Pidge. Allura hadn’t mastered Blue, let alone attempted any form of training. Pidge had Green and plenty of spirit, but her talents lacked experience. She lacked the same level as he, Shiro, and Lance… not that any of them were any form of expert at being held hostage within the royal palace complex under a barrier made of sheer evil. Iverson would have been handy too, he knew the palace layout better than Keith did, especially when all the corridors looked the same.

Despite being certain they were retracing their steps, when it came to it, Keith found them exiting the building onto the top of a wall. The long walkway running the whole length of the complex horizontally, with the upper gatehouse in the centre of it. The torches all extinguished, yet the whole world outside glowed as if daylight, only dyed purple instead due to the barrier.

“Did we mean to come out here?”

Keith mentally thanked Hunk for voicing the same question he’d had. Shiro nodding as if he’d planned it all along

“Iverson mentioned it. This way we can see from above as they scope below. There should be access to the roof from here”

Keith seemed to be the only one not knowing what was going… He’d missed Shiro conversing with Iverson, but then again, he’d been watching Lance. He’d gone and gotten scared again when he’d vanished with Sendak, only for Allura to be able to detect the pocket dimension. He’d been scared it’d been the mermaid palace all over again… and now his pride was bruised.

Pidge moved ahead of him, keeping herself small as she ducked out onto the walkway, then looked up. Forgetting to pay attention, Keith grabbed her by the arm and pulled back into the shadows before she got herself caught, causing Pidge to scratch the back of her head sheepishly as she explained

“We’ll need to climb if we want to get up. I’m sure the emperor has a very good reason for having no convenient ladders up, but one sure would have been handy. What do we do? There‘ll be nowhere to hide until we’re on the other side of the roof. Do we risk the walk way? Or should we wait here to see what happens next?”

They all turned to Shiro, Shiro pinching the bridge of his nose

“Iverson made it sound clearer. It would be good to have eyes both sides, as well as below. Lance has already been in one fight, and they know both his and Keith’s energy… They probably know the rest of ours. I would prefer we not split our forces, yet we do need to assess what they are planning. We know the spell in the sanctum is ready to go at any moment. We still haven’t set eyes on Lotor. Lance, you mentioned that you had guards when in the demon realm?”

Lance nodded quickly

“Three. Well, technically four. The forth didn’t show her face much so I never got a really picture of what her capabilities were. If we assume that they’re all here, plus Lotor, Zarkon, and most probably Zarkon’s wife… plus they’ll probably have an army of their own making if they’re making a move against the emperor, I’m not so keen to split our forces. We also don’t know if they’ve set traps along the walk way, or whom else Zarkon brought in. Even with his strength, he would have needed cultivators placed around the palace to form that large of a barrier all at once. We could form a distraction, though that would be what they are obviously waiting for. They’ve already begun executing people in the terrace…”

Keith hadn’t wanted to mention that. Though Sendak was dead, the delay had led to death. Not that they could have prevented it. Shiro let his hand drop

“Alright. Lance, you go with Pidge and Hunk. Keith, you, Allura, and myself will head upwards. Once you get to the other side, try to find a reflective surface. We’ll do the same this side”

Keith instantly objected

“No. Zarkon is the king of watching. Lance was watched in his own home through the use of mirrors. We can’t split up on the off chance we can find a way to communicate. We should stay together instead of acting recklessly”

Shiro looked impressed, Keith resisting the urge to kick him in the shin. He may be the king of acting recklessly, yet even he knew splitting up without a clear plan was not the best course of action. From the back of the group, Allura piped up

“Actually, I have an idea. Pidge can create illusions. Well, Shiro, do you still have your coin purse?”

Shiro seemed clueless to, feeling around his robes until he pulled it out

“Great. You’ve got Lance’s mask in there. I’m sorry, Lance, I only just remembered it. I saw Shiro had placed it down when we first went to meet with you and picked it up. That’s why I grabbed it from my room when we were rushing, then I forgot again. Please don’t be mad at him… anyway, if Zarkon is planning on bringing an army in, then it’d be demonic… yet it would be expected. It may not buy us much time, yet if Pidge were to create a small army…”

Hunk picked up where she trailed off

“Then they would think that Zarkon had ordered it and relax thinking things were moving into the next part of their scheme”

While the pair were looking at each other enthusiastically, Keith looked to Lance. He’d forgotten about Lance’s fox mask. It was charred around the edges, kind of mostly black now, and probably not at all what Lance remembered. He wasn’t mad at Shiro for forgetting either with the stress of the situation. Lance’s eyes went wide at the news

“You have my mask? I thought it was gone forever”

He had to confess. Keith clapping his hands together and bowing his head

“Lance… I’m so sorry. I burned it… I wasn’t in my right mind when I thought you’d die and I’m sorry”

“It can’t be that bad. Can I have it? It doesn’t feel right not having it now that I know it’s not destroyed. I thought I would have to carve a new one?”

Keith cringed hard internally, scrunching his eyes closed as Shiro pulled the mask out. When there was no yelling, he opened his right eye, Lance frowning heavily at the blackened mask in his hand, before catching him peaking

“You and I will be talking about this, but I’m more than relieved to have it again. I know you love the colour black, yet no more burning things with that mood of yours”

“You’re not mad?”

Lance sighed heavily

“Oh, I’m mad. This mask means so much to me, yet I would rather it burned then you lost to corruption, fool. I guess it’s fitting it’s black now, seeing I did kind of get a wee bit tainted. Pidge, you and me, think of that night with the bandits, but let’s kick it right up”

Bandits. Bandits. Why did that sound vaguely familiar? Keith huffing as he corrected his posture

“You and me are going to be talking about that. Plus, we didn’t decide that we were goi be to create a distraction”

Hunk sighed heavily, reaching out to pat Keith’s shoulder

“Give it up. Once they have their minds set, these two won’t easily be dissuaded. Pidge, please don’t tell me…”

Pidge was already in planning mode, her smile bright and eyes mischievous

“Demon children”

Hunk groaned, his arm dropping

“Always the demon children. Can’t we simply have a nice mindless army of beasts? Or something cute?”

Pidge tilted her head

“Mice? Rabbits? Birds?”

Lance elbowed Pidge’s side. Keith noticing him struggling to get his mask into place with the new ribbon on it. He recognised it as offcuts from Shiro’s. Shifting, Lance growled as he reached for the mask, Keith shooting him a very pointed look, causing him to give up and let Keith help as Lance teased Pidge

“No summoning up small prey. You’ll get distracted. No. Demon children will not be enough. Think of absolutely anything you’ve ever wanted to try and let loose. We’ll start when we’ve reached the middle gatehouse. Hunk, your job will be to make sure we remember to duck”

“We’re talking massive aren’t we? Because I’ve got a big idea”

Keith sighed heavily as Lance’s mask was finally tied into place and he had to force himself not to grab Lance and shake him

“Are we forgetting Lance used nearly all his energy?”

“Keith, I’m fine. Plus, look, I have my mask back. Thanks to your temper tantrum it’s still got some of your residual energy within, and I was healed by Shiro. Pidge and I are best for this task, so watch what we can do”

It was no good. Keith did not like Lance’s mask. It made him look utterly evil, when compared to the high shine Lance kept on it when it was white. Cracking her knuckles, Pidge nodded

“I’ve got a plan that will make them scream. You all have to do your part and make sure you don’t get caught”

He was ganged up on, and thinking too much with his heart. He couldn’t protest Lance being with Pidge and Hunk, that would insulting the pair of them, and he knew Shiro had split the teams to give them their best chances

“Alright. Good luck. Let’s make them regret messing with our realm”

“Screw the realm, I’m going to make them regret messing with my best friends”

Keith very nearly hugged Pidge. She was a fierce little thing and he knew she could pull off whatever she had in mind. Despite not having found a way to communicate despite the distance, they had a job to do.

*

Hunk had never not been a natural born worrier. His clan valued family and strength. And in his earlier years he may have had a bit of trouble not wanting to actually hurt anyone given that he was so strong. Still, he definitely felt his worry was well founded. Lance had come back bloodied and bruised. Shiro had come back bloodied. Keith had come back cranky. And someone who was supposed to be a distinguished protector of the realm had betrayed them.

Too soon for his heart, they reached the gatehouse. Peering over the edge only made him worry more. Cultivators and civilians alike had been organised into rows, some dragged to lie where they were without so much moving and some had been beaten by hooded figures with their faces covered. Blood stained the terrace where there should have been peace. This wasn’t his first battle, yet all the other battles had never felt so personal. He and Pidge were as decorated as Keith, Shiro, and Lance, yet there were differences in their skills. And now he had to protect both his best friends from their enemies and from themselves.

Tugged back down by Pidge, he’d felt as helpless as her when Lance had gone and vanished again. He still owed Lance a firm, but not too firm, hit for making him worry

“Okay. First thing is first…”

Lance yelped at the unexpected smack Pidge delivered on his arm. Hunk shocked she’d pick that moment to hit Lance

“… and now that is out of the way…”

Lance yelped a second time, shooting Pidge a glare that Pidge shrugged off

“… and that was for Hunk. Second thing, Hunk, we’re going to need a barrier if things get complicated. I’m going big, so when the chaos starts below, make sure we start running. Lance, honestly, how do you feel? Without those three to worry, I want to know the truth”

Lance kept trying to rub where Pidge had hit him, Hunk taking pity and reaching out to heal the spot

“I feel better now that I can feel my arm again. Thank you, Hunk. And as for energy, it’s still low. I would like to save my energy for Zarkon, but as it is, I wouldn’t get close. It’s better we provide a distraction and perhaps it will spur some of our brothers to action. I won’t be able to touch their minds”

“That’s alright. I thought you were lying to those two”

“I wasn’t entirely lying. Shiro gave me some of his energy, the mask still had some, and I’ve stolen a little from everyone else. It’ll be bigger than the bandits, but smaller than Zarkon’s doom bubble”

There were times in life that Hunk had envied Lance. Like right now where Lance was being so strong for them all. He wished he could pretend to be as brave as Lance was pretending to be too. Pidge nodded

“You focus on left side and I’ll take the front and right”

“What about the back?”

“Oh, I’ve saved the best for last, but you’re going to have to trust me. Hunk, don’t forget, barrier and healing if we need it. You’ve got our backs and we know it”

Before Hunk could say something, Lance was adding

“She’s right. Sometimes we get carried away, but you’re always there for us. We trust you. I trust you. There’s no one else better at healing”

“Except for Shiro…”

Lance shoved him sideways with his stump

“Don’t sell yourself short. He’s a master by title, you’re a master in my heart”

It may not have made sense to anyone else, yet it made sense to Hunk. Lance was telling him he wasn’t lacking a single thing by being who he was and that him being who he was, was more than enough

“Thanks, Lance. You too, Pidge. I would hug you, but I’m kind of scared you’ll summon up a child to scare me”

Pidge snickered

“No, I’ll save that for when you’re sleeping tonight. Let’s show these demons what happens when you mess with me”

Pidge and Lance combined was a scary thing. With Lance’s energy being what it was and Pidge being Pidge, Hunk kept his hands in the centres of their backs to keep a close watch on their chi. Plus, he didn’t have to see the horrors that were causing chaos below if he kept his eyes closed.

“Aw, Pidge! I love it!”

“I figured it’s kind of fitting with your image”

“You mean from the demon realm?”

“As much as you try to hide it, I know you’re not the same… Lance, you’ve outdone yourself”

Hunk didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to at all. Then Pidge and Lance were nice to each other and he felt that maybe he wanted too. Lance gave a light laugh, Hunk nearly opening his eyes and then his best friend had to go make him all worried again

“It’s not that… ooops”

Feeling the wall shake, Hunk was forced to open his eyes. Standing as tall as a the gatehouse, a shudder ran through his whole body as he eyed the demonic beast in front of him. A fox. A giant 9 tailed fox. Kumiho. Everyone knew to fear the Kumiho… especially one tall enough to reach the second story of the gate house. Hitting the wall with one of its tails, the wall shook again

“Pidge… that is an illusion, isn’t it?”

“I may have gone in a little strong. It’s alright, they’re scared, just as the heavens would like. We should get moving”

Moving was good. Hunk could definitely move. Laughing at whatever it was that Lance found amusing and Hunk missed, Hunk was all for moving as the illusionary fox dived at the crowd. Grabbing him by the arm, Pidge tugged him on. She and Lance had outdone themselves as he found his eyes betraying him and looking down. The terrace was filled with demons. Pidge had said no children, then Lance had gone and done it. Those hidden in their robes seemed confused as the apparent demonic beasts went after them. Give him a nice clean sword fight any day… or something to shoot. He could handle that.

Keeping hunched, the three of them ran the rest of the length of the walkway. Fresh yelling was coming from the palace, Pidge filling him in

“Lance, they wiped out your side. They’ve taken out most of mine from the first wave”

“It’s alright, I’m sure they would have. I’ve left a secondary present back on the gatehouse… The main thing is that we made it. I know we are supposed to wait and watch, but we should get off this level. They’ll track the spell back to the gatehouse in no time. Thanks for keeping us safe Hunk. I could feel you”

Pidge shoved Lance playfully

“Oh, and what am I?”

Lance chuckled at Pidge

“I was thanking Hunk, yet I thank you, too. Let’s head down a level. I want to get off the walkway as soon as possible. Your demonic fox is living up to its name”

A boom came from behind them, Hunk shoving Lance and Pidge into the building as part of the wall collapsed. Pidge’s illusion wasn’t supposed to be this strong. Her fox seemed out of control to him, yet it was when he looked back that he noticed that it wasn’t the only beast. Lance had copied her, only, now they had a giant bear to add to his worries

“You made a Hunk!”

“He was busy helping. It didn’t feel right not to send them the message that he was as mad as we are. Shiro’s already wolfed on us, he tried tearing Sendak’s throat out but Sendak hit him”

Crushing the pair of them in a tight hug, Hunk loved them both. Lance laughing and patting his arm

“I know, Hunk, I know. Don’t tell Keith, Shiro, or Allura, yet you two are the best. Support is the most important thing in battle”

“You two are amazing”

Instead of Lance, Pidge replied

“No. The three of us are. Now, let me down before you actually crush me”

Letting his friends down, Pidge then punched him in the arm before Hunk could apologise

“You’re up next… whoa! What’s happening now?”

Blocking Pidge and Lance, Hunk forced himself to look down. One of the hooded figures was channeling some kind of spell towards Pidge’s fox. Purple magic whipping and crackling as it met the fox

“I’m not sure”

“Do you think they’re trying to make it real? Please tell me they can’t do that. Hunk, what do I do?”

“Can’t you cancel the spell?!”

“They normally run out in their own time!”

He didn’t think his time would come all this fast but if the fox was made real, then they were utterly screwed. Drawing Yellow, Hunk still found himself doubting himself, Lance smiling

“Good idea. If you can purify the illusion it’ll break before it becomes real, or you could try shooting them and see what happens?”

Nooo. He didn’t want options. Hunk’s got told him to go for the illusion pretty much because it was scarier than the spell caster

“That’s not helping. Which one?”

Pidge scowled at the pair of them, gesturing at the fox with both hands

“The fox. Obviously the fox. And then the bear. No offence Lance”

“No offence taken. I’m proud of our little Pidge”

Pidge grabbed Lance by the collar of his robe, as Hunk lined his shot, firing quickly, then letting Yellow deactivate. His aim was true, hitting the fox and wavering the illusion as the arrow passed through as he chuckled nervously

“I think that makes it one all?”

Pidge grabbed his arm, sliding her hand into his and then he was being tugged onwards

“We’ll make a gambler out of you yet. Also, it’s one all, other than Allura. I hope she’ll be okay”

Lance nodded

“With Keith and Shiro, I’m sure will be safe. Blue will keep her safe. Let’s continue”

Hunk sincerely hoped so.

[cometblaster2070]

SHOUOUT TO SHOWS THAT HELPED FILL THE HOLE IN MY CHILDHOOD WHERE I NEEDED REPRESENTATION

SHOUTOUT TO THE LEGEND OF KORRA FOR HAVING THE FIRST LGBTQ+ PROTAGONIST IN AN ANIMATED KIDS SERIES

(And Bryke, of course)

SHOUTOUT TO REBECCA SUGAR FOR THREATENING TO QUIT IF THEY DIDN’T AIR RUBY AND SAPHHIRE’S WEDDING

ALSO, SHOUTOUT TO STEVEN UNIVERSE (And Rebecca/ Crewniverse) FOR HAVING THE FIRST LGBTQ+ WEDDING IN AN ANIMATED KIDS SERIES

SHOUTOUT TO NOELLE STEVENSON AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO WORKED ON SHE-RA FOR WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY DID THERE

SHOUTOUT TO KIPO AND THE AGE OF WONDERBEASTS (Criminally underrated) FOR HONESTLY HAVING THE FIRST CHARACTER I’VE SEEN IN AN ANIMATED SERIES SAY THAT HE’S GAY

SHOUOUT TO THE DRAGON PRINCE AND RUNAAN AND ETHARI

SHOUOUT TO ADVENTURE TIME’S BUBBLINE, WHICH TOOK 8 YEARS (Which is honestly one of my favorite ships)

A SHOUOUT TO LUMITY FROM THE OWL HOUSE!

JUST A SHOUTOUT TO ALL OF THESE AMAZING SHOWS

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Please feel free to add more down below, my brain isn’t really working right now, so these were all I could think of.

EDIT: Adding some more!

WILLOW’S DAD ALSO FROM THE OWL HOUSE

Enid and Red from OK K.O Let’s Be Heroes! (I’m really sorry I forgot to add)

SHOUOUT TO HARLEY QUINN AND POISON IVY FROM HARLEY QUINN (Also props to Harley for leaving an abusive relationship)

SHOUTOUT TO MIRA AND AO FROM ASTEROID IN LOVE (They’re so damn cute!)

I also recently found out that Asher from Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts was non-binary, so whoo-hoo!

SHOUTOUT TO ASHER FROM KIPO AND THE AGE OF WONDERBEASTS

(Edit: I can’t put anymore tags, help!)

SHOUOUT TO AKILA’S MOTHERS, POTHINA AND THEODA FROM CLEOPATRA IN SPACE

And I almost consider it a crime that I forgot Sherriff Blubbs and Deputy Durland from Gravity Falls!

AND FROM THE DRAGON PRINCE, WE HAVE THE MOTHERS OF THIS BADASS LEGEND

ANIKA AND NEHA!

A SHOUTOUT TO STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE’S SHEP, A NON-BINARY CHARACTER, WHO IS SADIE’S ROMANTIC PARTNER!

AND A SHOUTOUT TO HAZBIN HOTEL, WHICH IS DEFINATELY NOT A KIDS SERIES, BUT IS AWESOME ALL THE SAME AND I’M DYING FOR NEW EPISODES

(And I don’t know whether or not she’s a LGBTQ+ character, but I just wanted to give a small shoutout to Cherri Bomb from Hazbin Hotel for being an awesome character and an amazing friend!)

A SHOUOUT TO SHIRO FROM VOLTRON LEGENDARY DEFENDER!

(Pidge looking adorable in the back)

SHOUTOUT TO JACKIE AND CHLOE FROM STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL

SHOUTOUT TO LUNA LOUD AND LAINEY AND ALICE FROM THE LOUD HOUSE

AND A SHOUTOUT TO EG AND SUE RANDALL, ALONG WITH KEVIN FROM CLARENCE!

TABITHA AND COURTNEY FROM CRAIG OF THE CREEK

AND LAURA AND CAT FROM CRAIG OF THE CREEK

AND MY BRAIN HAS FROZEN SO WE’LL COME BACK TO THIS

EDIT: BRAIN HAS UNFROZEN SO WE BACK TO THIS!

A SHOUTOUT TO KAZI, THE NON-BINARY SUNFIRE-ELF FROM THE DRAGON PRINCE

A SHOUTOUT TO AMAYA AND JANAI FROM THE DRAGON PRINCE WHO I’M NOT SURE ARE CANON, BUT I LOVE THEM!

SHOUTOUT TO ADAM FROM THE HOLLOW! (Another CRIMINALLY underrated show)

A SHOUTOUT TO HOWARD AND HAROLD MCBRIDE FROM THE LOUD HOUSE!

A SHOUTOUT TO MR. RATBURN AND PATRICK FROM ARTHUR!

A SHOUTOUT TO AUNT HOLIDAY AND AUNTIE LOFTY FROM MY LITTLE PONY! (I’m a brony, sue me)

A SHOUTOUT TO LYRA HEARTSTRINGS AND SWEETIE DROPS, (BON-BON) ALSO FROM MLP!

A SHOUTOUT TO TY AND INDY SABREWING FROM DUCKTALES!

AND EVERBODY’S FAVORITE PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA IS ASEXUAL! 

WOOH! SEE YOU GUYS LATER!

[raziroo]

Cotton Candy

Pairing: Lotor x gn!reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Saying "Shit" twice

Word count: 2,076 (yay) (also, I edited this, I still need to update the word count)

Author’s Note: I'm crap at writing dialogues, and this is my first time writing for a gay couple. I'm so sorry if it seems forced or unnatural or shitty. Don't be afraid to call me out.

Story Moodboard!

It’s with a grunt of effort that I manage to lift the carton containing the cotton-candy-maker.

‘Here, dad,’ I say as my dad takes the box from my hands. ‘That’s all?’

‘Yep, that’s all of it. We’ll conquer this carnival with our delicious cotton candy,’ I nod, doing jazz hands while saying the last part. Dad chuckles. I grin.

‘Hey, Honey!’ I turn back, squinting to spot where my other dad is in the crowd of bustling people. Where, where…? Yep, there he is – in his embarrassingly brilliant sunshine yellow and bottle green striped shirt and hot pink trousers, a sharp contrast to his natural bright red hair. Don’t say that it can’t look that bright; you’ll never know just how blindingly bright bottle green can really be until you see the shirt my dad’s wearing. And trust me, he usually dresses in simpler tones; such bland tones that you’d be surprised to know he was capable of wearing colourful hues as well. It’s only that he’s very passionate about his job, and so whenever we set up a booth in fetes such as the current one, he never misses to match the shop logo.

‘Hul-lo, father dearest, how seems to go your day?’

‘Oh, quite lovely, if I do say so.’

‘Well, that’s simply charming –’

‘Alright, enough,’ my other, not redhead dad snaps with an exasperated sort of smile on his visage. You see, my not redhead, a.k.a. brown-haired dad happens to be British. And that means that me and dad would rather paint our teeth blue than to not tease him. ‘You both need to shut it and start helping me with the decorations, now. You know I’m trash at all that.’

‘Aw, now don’t get discouraged,’ I say, patting dad on the back. ‘After all, not everyone can be as blessed as me, can they?’

‘Hey, why don’t you go look around for a bit? You’ve been helping out since before I have.’

‘Yeah, he’s right, pet. You should.’

I huff, rubbing my palms on the fabric of my jeans. ‘You guys sure? I’m not tired, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

‘We’re not worried, we’re just saying you should also get a look, you know? There’s a lot of surprising booths this time around. I mean, there are aliens participating too, so…’

‘Hmm,’ I play with my bottom lip a little, then, ‘yeah, okay. I’ll be back in like, an hour? Forty five minutes? Sound okay?’

‘Sounds great.’

‘Bye, then.’ And with that, I turn on the heels of my Converse, wandering about the pretty stalls and eager children and kissy couples and aliens with curious features.

It really feels bizarre, just how astonishingly fast mankind has accepted the existence of aliens. It seems simultaneously ages and just a day before when conspiracy theorists raged all around the world, presenting baseless theories and concepts as to why and how the three-man squad on the Kerberos mission disappeared. Then came the Galra, bringing along with them global terror – because alien life, intelligent alien life existed and humanity remained oblivious all these millennia, and now they were actually attacking us. It could’ve been, perhaps even was, in some other dimension, the end of Earth. But then a defender appeared; Voltron appeared in all its glory, bringing along with it proof that however much these purple aliens claim that humans are scum of the universe, humans were, in the grand scheme of things, the ones that saved the universe too.

It feels even more puzzling to actually be on a first-name basis with the leader of Voltron; that’s right, I’m personally acquainted with Keith Kogane. It was around six months after him leaving the Garrison did I come across him. He’d been loitering around the neighbourhood, had ended up in a fistfight with some other kids, and along with that a split lip and bruised cheek. I’d been watching. When the fight ended, I (somehow) persuaded him to come along so that I could at the very least provide him with a band-aid.

Long story short, we’d bonded over how our moms were no-shows and how dads were the best and we became surprisingly close friends; the only difference was that after the death of his old man, he lived alone. I’d been adopted by my two current fathers. I told him about how when they’d initially adopted me, I was excruciatingly shy. I wouldn’t even come out of my room except meals. It was only when I came to know that they knew how to make candy floss had I timidly approached them if I could have some, because previously I’d always been grossed out at the thought of having to eat that. I’d overheard this group of kids saying that cotton candy was actually just dyed granny hair, so that’s where that came from.

I love cotton candy now. So much so, that even at the age of twenty-six, I will pout if someone takes some of mine without my permission. As if I’d ever allow them to.

Speaking of Keith, I haven’t seen him in years. We lost all contact when he turned eighteen, and then he went off into space, and even when he came back, I didn’t get a chance to meet him. I bear no ill will, though. He must have formed some close relationships. Our past friendship is comparatively much more trivial.

I spot a booth selling grilled corn. I instantly head there.

As I’m about join the crowd of humans and aliens who also want corn, a familiar call of my name leads me to pull a three sixty.

Lo and behold. Keith Kogane.

Despite him having obviously grown a lot, the face was still the same. I’m sure that, if he gets a split lip and bruise on his cheek right now, he won’t look all that different.

There’s a questioning hesitance on his features; he’s probably wondering if he’s got the right person. My pleasantly surprised smile and raised eyebrows assure him. As I step away from the grilled corn stall, I notice a motley crowd behind him; some are purple, some are holding Voltron plushies, and some look way too curious to be in a carnival. The introduction is going to be fun.

‘Keith! You're gonna live a hundred years - I was just thinking about you. But anyways, it’s – it’s great to see you,’ I say with a little giggle. ‘Though I am kind of surprised you actually approached me. The sixteen-year-old you would never.’

He smiles awkwardly in return. ‘Y – yeah… I, just… oh God, this is – I’m sorry,’ he says, his inner turmoil evident.

‘It’s all good. I know you’re shit at small talk, so… like, introduce me? Maybe?’

He nods rapidly, brows furrowed. ‘Yeah, um,’ he turns to the people behind him, telling them my name, how we met, the whole affair. I give them a wave. Most of them greet me back.

‘And, this is Shiro and Curtis,’ he points to the tall, white-haired yet young man, holding hands with a tanner guy, ‘Lance, Pidge and Hunk,’ he points to a lanky, bright-smiled guy, a buffer, kind-seeming person, and a short chestnut-haired woman who, despite wearing baggy jeans and a baggier tee, looks somehow better dressed than me. ‘Then that’s Allura, Coran, and Romelle, they’re Alteans,’ a woman with enchanting beauty and a regal aura surrounding her, a redhead who’s significantly older than the rest with an impressive moustache, and a youthful appearing girl with a big grin, ‘and Lotor, he’s Galran. The Galran Emperor, in fact.’ Lotor is a tall, lilac-skinned man with aristocratic features who shares the same cheek markings as the Alteans. Oh, and he’s unfairly gorgeous, his hair a luscious mane of white which I just know will be soft. It’s hard not to stare. You remember how I said Allura looked like royalty? Yeah, the way this man carries himself, he has the aura and visage of a God. Even in a white tee-shirt and jeans he looks way better than should be legal.

I rip my eyes away.

‘So…are Noah and Oliver here too? I’d love to see them. I mean, I never did get to thank them to permit a possible criminal to sleep in their house.’

I laugh. ‘Never mind that, but we actually sit up a stall here. I could, you know, maybe even get you guys something to eat.’

‘Free? Please don’t.’

‘It’s nothing, really, just… I don’t know, accept it as a small thank you present for not letting the planet go to shit.’

A bit of thinking. Even after a nod from Shiro, it was Lance who said yes. Good ol’ Keith.

When we reach the stall, my British dad is the only one we find there. He looks up, about to say something to me, when he notices Keith.

‘Dad. You remember Keith?’

‘Your possible criminal friend who turned out to be the saviour of the universe Keith?’

‘That Keith. He wanted to see you.’

‘Oh? Well then,’ he dusts his hands, stands up, and greets Keith. Both of them engage in a conversation.

‘You guys wanna try something?’

‘What do you got?’ asks Pidge.

‘What do we got? Um, we got chocolates, candy, marshmallows, jellybeans, tortilla chips, ice cream, popcorn – butter, cheese, caramel, peri peri – Lays, like, a lot of Lays, and the good old cotton candy. What d’you want?’

So, after providing the humans with two Cream n’ Onion Lays, a pack of tortilla chips, a double scoop of butterscotch and chocolate, a small tub of popcorn, and three cotton candy sticks, I turned to the aliens.

‘I’m assuming you guys aren’t familiar with a lot of this stuff, so you could either pick whatever looks to be good, ask your friends, or I could recommend something. What’ll it be?’

Romelle was the one who asked, ‘What’s ice cream like?’

‘It’s sweet. It’s cold. And it’s like… heaven in mouth.’

‘Ooh. I want an ice cream. The… pink one?’

‘That’s strawberry. You can eat it in a cone, or in a cup.

‘What’s the difference?’

‘Well, the cup you can’t eat. The cone is like a crispy biscuit,’ judging by her face, she didn’t know what biscuit was. ‘I’ll just give you a cone. It’s all on the house, so no worries if you don’t like it.’

I watched eagerly as she licked the ice cream. An unreadable look crossed her face. Then – ‘This is almost as good as Hunk’s cookies!’

‘Really?’ Coran asked, twirling his moustache. ‘Well, then…’ he squinted to read the names of the various flavours. ‘I would like “cookies and cream”. Yes.’ A cone of cookies n’ cream was served.

‘Allura?’

‘Do you have something that isn’t sweet?’ That was a plot twist. I’d have taken her as someone who appreciated sweeter foods.

‘We do. You want spicy?’

‘…Sure.’ Peri Peri popcorn was given and enjoyed.

And last… ‘Lotor. What would you like to have?’

It takes me a lot of will to not laugh at Lotor’s way too analytical expression. ‘What would you recommend?’

‘Me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Out of all this stuff, candy floss is my favourite.’

‘Candy floss… the item that looks simultaneously like a cloud and an old woman’s hair?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I would like a helping of candy floss, then.’

As I hand Lotor a stick of cotton candy, I wait with anticipation for his reaction.

‘How am I supposed to eat this?’

It takes me a moment to process that. ‘Uh, you just… pinch a little of the stuff in between your fingers, then eat it. Or you could just, um, go in directly, which I’m thinking isn’t really your style.’

He narrows his eyes, but follows my instructions nonetheless. Only a second after putting the stuff in his mouth, Lotor purrs.

Everyone around him, being me, Coran and Romelle (Allura’s off telling Lance how great Earth food is), looks with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Lotor appears as if he’s just died inside. The berry-shaded blush on his face is adorable, though.

'I didn't, like, poison you or something, right?'

'No. It's that... I would never in my lifetimes have expected something so tooth-rottingly sweet to be this delicious.'

'So you're okay?'

‘Yes. In fact, I quite like… this cotton candy.’

I grin.

[willadisastercry]

Lance ignores his asthma and Coran is not willing to be an accomplice

Lance’s asthma hadn’t been much of a problem in space... until now. With his last inhaler having been running low for about month, he thought he’d been okay relying on the dehumidifier Pidge rigged up for his room while he milked what was left. And he had been relatively fine with just that. It’d actually been weeks since he had an attack, usually able to calm any inflammation before it developed into something worse. But his lungs are acting up again and he’s officially out of medicine right when Shiro has an agility test planned. So when the fear of knowing he had no rescue after he gets winded during the intense drill only makes the tightness in his chest worsen, he soon has everyone frantically searching for his inhaler... what happens when they discover it’s empty?

UPDATE: now revamped and a lot more literate on ao3, go check it out!

Part 1 / Part 2

“Lad,” Coran sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly as he bent down to receive a another tool from Lance.

“Please don’t,” he grumbled in response, the whistle beneath each word more than evident now.

“The sound of your lungs struggling is louder than the air vent my boy, and it’s broken. Why don’t you take a break and do a breathing treatment—“

“I’m fine, Coran!” he huffed in annoyance, remaining firm in his refusal to admit he was anything other than.

The older man narrowed his eyes, the tone in his dramatically cocked eyebrow admonishing.

“Not like I’m dying or anything, it’s just asthma. Doesn’t mean I can’t still do stuff!”

The last statement was punctuated with a quick cough into the crook of his elbow, it sounded crackly and came from deep in his chest.

Coran’s grimace only intensified.

“We really must establish a more precise translation for the word ‘fine’ because it seems that we have a different connotation in Altea...”

Lance grumbled again, the rattle in his chest worsening with each noise of protest.

“I’m totally alright to finish helping you with this. It’s not a big deal, I can handle it later,” he assured, though none too convincingly since the ladder he was supposed to be holding in place while Coran worked was doing a better job keeping Lance steady.

“Do I need to find Shiro and have him make it an order? I’m sure he would agree that we need our blue paladin in tip top shape, especially with what he’s got planned for training tomorrow.”

The younger boy stiffened at that, his shoulders falling in defeat a second later because he knew Coran was not one to bluff and maintaining his pride wasn’t nearly enough of a motivation to consider calling him on it then.

“Do you require assistance back to your quarters or—“

“M’fine, thanks.”

Lance waved off the idea with a dejected wheeze and officially gave up on concealing the noises his chest was making, letting the subtle wheezes that came with every rise and fall be heard as he made his way down the corridor.

He’d been tight all day and it had only gotten worse as the afternoon progressed.

Training that morning was relatively light considering Shiro wanted to run benchmark tests on everyone’s physical abilities the next day. He had stressed multiple times how it was not a competition and just to see where their strengths and weaknesses were so they knew what to work on, eyeing Lance and Keith when he said so.

They all knew what would happen despite the warning, that it would be a competition no matter how hard Shiro tried to advocate against it. But with the rattling in his lungs only worsening, Lance was becoming concerned for the morning to come.

His asthma hadn’t acted up much while they were in space.

The castle seemed to take care of any dust particles that would have otherwise set him off and the paladin suits usually did a good enough job filtering the air inside and keeping out any potential irritants.

That left only two major issues for him to be wary of: which was 1) the lack of moisture in the recycled air, and 2) intense physical excercise.

The first issue isn’t really an issue anymore because of Pidge.

She’d borrowed an altean mug warmer and tea kettle from the kitchen and rigged up a sort of mock dehumidifier after hearing that Lance had gotten a nose bleed almost every night the first week they were there. It only blew up on one occasion, but once she figured out a way to keep the water hot without shorting several fuses, Lance was golden.

No more nose bleeds unless they planned on ever exploring another bizarre dust planet.

She’d also macgyvered a sort of breathing mask out of a funnel and spare tubing that he could attach to the kettle when he needed something more direct to alleviate tightness during an attack.

This of course was not intended to be his sole means of treatment because his inhaler was supposed to be, but he was on his last one and had to ration what was left.

It was by pure cosmic chance that both Hunk and Lance had one on each of them when they got thrown into this mess. Hunk was perpetually reminded of how forgetful his best friend could be and scarred enough by instances where he’d needed one and hadn’t had it that he made a point to carry one with him pretty much at all times.

And it was his best friend’s determination to avoid the undo stress of such a traumatizing event again (if he could help it) that ultimately saved his ass for the first few months of their stay. And thank fucking god for that because it had gotten him this far through their time in space without major incident.

Lance, however, was still very fucked.

Coran hadn’t yet perfected a medicine that mimicked what was in his inhaler and worked fast enough. The only things on hand that eased inflammation were topical and took too long to improve anything for it to be used the way Lance required.

But he was desperate enough to seriously consider stopping by medbay after dinner to steal a vat of the magical salve to use before bed leaving plenty of time to work before the morning.

Even with this menial solution, he knew that the next day was still destined to be a shitshow of some caliber because enter problem number two...

His asthma only flared during physical activity and inhibited his ability to keep doing that physical activity if he didn’t have adequate time to catch his breath. And Shiro’s usually pretty good about exercising in a healthy and controlled way, so once again he was usually pretty golden as far at that area went.

But he also usually didn’t excercise when his lungs were acting up.

And he’d also always had his inhaler.

And they also usually never did that much cardio all in one day.

Then again, Lance was screwed, so of course everything that could possibly make the situation worse... was.

Though it wasn’t until he was on his cold cabin floor, head between his knees heaving in the steam from Pidge’s tea kettle dehumidifier that he realized just how fucked he might be.

Because it wasn’t helping.

Like at all.

It was loosening up the congestion, sure. But it wasn’t doing anything about opening his airways. They weren’t getting worse as far as tightness went but they weren’t getting much better either, still uncomfortably constricted and making him wheeze.

And so he finally bit the bullet and reached for his inhaler, but his heart seized with fear after feeling how empty it was when he shook it. No. He was certain he’d had a handful of pumps left and that was definitely enough to get him through the next morning, it had to be.

But when he brought it to his lips and inhaled nothing, he almost cried.

That’s just lovely.

Lance stayed hooked up to Pidge’s breathing contraption until dinner was called. He ignored how sore his back and sides had become as he made his way to the dining hall from the sheer amount effort it took to breathe because if he stayed on that fact too long he would start panicking.

He had to work twice as hard to cover up the sound of his lungs straining while they ate, not feeling the slightest bit hungry with how anxious he was that he wouldn’t be able to get his symptoms under control before the next morning.

“Is everything alright number three, you’ve hardly touched your dinner?”

“Food goo’s just not that appetizing tonight, sorry,” Lance managed without sounding too hoarse or crackly, his voice lower than Coran’s so as not to attract the attention of the others.

“Have your swollen capillaries anything to do with—“

“My capillaries are just fine Coran,” Lance sneered quickly.

His glare was deadly but the older man wasn’t budging and didn’t bother to keep his voice down as he probed and Lance continued to push the pile of green sludge around his plate through the entire ordeal.

“What’s this about something being swollen?” Shiro asked, looking woefully confused of which set the other paladins off in a fit of laughter.

None of them had been listening and couldn’t even begin to guess what he was referencing.

“Who is swollen?” the Princess added from the other side of the table, eliciting a resounding uproar from the others as Lance’s interrogation continued.

It seemed that as more pairs of eyes bore into him the harder it had become to fight the tickle at the back of his throat and avoid coughing.

“Lance’s lungs appear to be in distress and it’s giving the boy some discomfort. I believe I sent him to his room earlier to take care of it before it became an issue but it seems—“

“I did take care of it. My lungs are fine now Shiro,” Lance countered, his face burning for a slew of reasons now: embarrassment, dishonesty, fatigue. He just wanted to go back to his room and stick his face in a funnel for however many hours it took until his lungs didn’t ache so badly.

“Hmm, why do I somehow not believe that’s true?”

He could deal with Shiro’s doubtful frown, not like it’s the first time it’s been aimed at him.

“You really should be honest with us Lance, you’re health is not something to be reckless with.”

The disappointment in Allura’s smile was a little harder to withstand.

“Is the tea kettle not staying warm enough? I can take a look at the wiring again...” Pidge offered absently.

“Tea kettle’s perfect, only had to use it for a couple minutes before I felt better,” he said facing Coran and narrowing his eyes.

“It is the duty of the Princess and I to make sure our paladins are well, so do not give me that look, it is most displeasing.”

“Yeah? Well, ya know what else is displeasing? Betrayal!”

“You are so dramatic.”

Lance was almost grateful when Keith rolled his eyes at him.

“See Shiro? That’s how you know he’s okay, right back on his bullshit—“

“Pidge! ”

“They’re not wrong, bud,” Hunk agreed, the threat of an another burst of laughter serious now. Lance didn’t feel like laughing though, not when his chest wasn’t expanding nearly as much as he needed it to.

“You’re all traitors as far as I’m concerned! I’m outta here, thanks for the food I guess,” he grumbled and whisked whatever was left of his goo into the trash before setting off for the kitchen to wash his plate, promptly tuning out the voices calling him back to the table.

His lungs were on fire and once he was out of ear shot he indulged himself in clearing his throat but it soon devolved into a flurry of painful coughs that had been building and torturing him as soon as he’d left his room. They were dry and raucous and left him slightly winded once he finished.

“That’s... not good, not good at all,” he murmured to himself, his voice rasping and crackly as he strode off towards medbay.

The walk making his chest sting with how urgent his strides were, but he didn’t dare slowing. He didn’t even wait until he got back to his room to smear the sticky blue substance across his chest once he made it there.

It had an immediate cooling affect on his skin, the slight sting a nice distraction as it started the slow process of remedy.

A full night was more than enough time for the medicine to do its job, convinced he’d feel good as new when he woke up. And if worst came to worst he would just take it easy during whatever Shiro had planned, which wouldn’t technically be him tapping out or anything, just him being careful.

With this resolve, he took the longer route back to his room to ensure he’d avoid running into anyone, determined to keep the true state of his predicament disclosed until it became an actual problem.

But that also meant twice the amount of walking and it would be an understatement to say that he was merely out of breath when he finally got back.

“Dios... mío...”

It was indeed a rough and long, long night.

He got up to refill the teapot twice and isn’t sure the cream ever performed any miracles, his chest just as tight when his morning alarms started going off as it had been the day before except with sorer muscles.

It didn’t hurt to take a deep breath anymore but every task he had to perform from the moment he rolled his aching body out of bed until he was due at the training deck left him panting.

That’s how Coran found him on the bench of the training room. Breathing too heavy amidst his urgent guzzling of a water pouch to quell the need to cough from the effort of getting himself there.

“How are the capillaries today, lad?”

He finished the pouch with an enthusiastic ‘ah’ and held up his hands as if to convey that he was innocent. Coran studied his hands like they were coated in evidence anyway.

“I am superb Coran, thanks for asking. How are you?”

“That was not the question that—“

“D’ya ever end up getting that air vent fixed?”

“Lance—“

“Alright, everybody! Come to the center for one moment while I go over a few things...”

“Sorry Coran, catch ya later I guess!”

He jogged to the center of the floor where the others were gathering without a second glance and prayed that Coran gave up and left soon.

They were starting with what they usually did at the garrison. A mile warmup run which translated into several agonizing laps around the training deck.

Lance was a strong distance runner despite the occasional limitations from his stupid lungs, but Keith was not. Much like his personality he was best at being quick and rash and not particularly apt at rationing his energy or knowing how to pace himself.

So of course he took off at a dead sprint as soon as they started. Lance eased himself into the intense pace by hovering at his heels for the first lap with Shiro trailing behind them at a slightly slower but steadier pace.

It wasn’t that Lance couldn’t handle a 1600 meter sprint. He’d ran track at the Garrison and was more than experienced in sprinting middle distances, but his lungs weren’t quite as down for that type of workout at that moment.

They were tighter than ever and he could feel the mucus building up with each stride, slowly but surely coating the inner lining of every single pissed off airway.

The only comfort he found was that the mile seemed to be tough on everyone. It wasn’t like they’d had a terrible amount of cardio practice during their sojourn in the cosmos when their main mode of transport aside from the castleship were massive mechanical lions capable of moving a hell of a lot faster than any human could.

Hunk and Pidge stuck together in the beginning but as soon they passed the first mile Pidge started hanging back, Hunk following suit not long after.

Shiro was doing fine and stayed in the middle of the group to keep an eye on everyone, he gaze trained mostly on Lance as he looked for signs of distress.

But he and Keith seemed to be holding up well. They were maintaining each other’s speed for the first couple of laps, stealing taunting glances at one another every once in a while and taking turns pulling slightly ahead, neither willing to cave until they came up on the halfway mark.

Keith seemed to be fatiguing and let up. Lance dropped back to match him because there was no use in exerting anymore unnecessary strain than he already was.

The ache in his chest was making it hard to get enough air in, but he continued to ignore it, switching to breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth to try and get into a good rhythm again.

He’d run feeling worse a handful of times, still he figured he should play it safe and slowed his pace even more, hoping Keith would follow.

But he didn’t. He kept at the speed he’d readjusted to and didn’t appear to have any intentions of giving it up. Lance considered catching back up but the ache in his chest was smarting fiercely and he didn’t think he could handle that without a little breather.

Freaking mullet.

Shiro appeared at his side then and matched his pace, his words coming effortlessly even after the change of speed. Lance was jealous. He wished his lungs could manage that.

“If you need a break you can sit out a lap or two, this is just to see—“

“—where we’re all at, I know,” he spat hurriedly between heavy breaths.

“And I’m fine, just pacing myself.”

Shiro didn’t seem convinced in the slightest.

“Okay, but seriously take a break if you need to,” he urged before setting off after Keith.

“This... is torture... like seriously!” he could hear Hunk saying in the distance.

Lance agreed.

“I thought we’d... escaped these... now that... we’re in freaking space...”

They were close enough that Lance could drop back and stay with them for the rest of the run, but his pride wasn’t that easily squashed and wouldn’t allow him to abandon his death wish.

“Apparently not,” Pidge huffed breathlessly.

He was one of the better runners of the group, his lean legs were made for it, and yet here he was almost at the back of the pack.

Hunk had too much bulk to move nimbly, but he could hold his own on distance circuits and even used to join Lance for the occasional workout at the Garrison’s indoor track.

Pidge was no slouch either when it came to running considering how one of the only things they had in common back at the Garrison was their affinity for cross country.

But he shouldn’t be this far behind. Not when this was one of the things he was irrefutably good at. It was something that came natural, something he didn’t have to work to excel in, just to get better and keep shaving down times.

And if he couldn’t handle a simple warm up run at his normal caliber when his lungs felt shitty, how was he supposed to trust himself in battle when they acted up? There aren’t any ‘breathers’ in war.

It’s this fear that makes his legs pump harder, the distance between Shiro and Keith’s boots getting smaller and smaller with each harsh pant. His lungs protested the pace but there was only one straightaway left after they finished this lap. He could do that. He had to.

He came up on Keith’s right without any warning, the other boy startled at his sudden presence, but Lance didn’t look up from the ground to catch if there was any warning in his expression too. He could feel the glare of disapproval he was getting from Shiro without even having to look.

The spreading tightness in his chest seemed to burn as more of a tender ache as he pushed well past the previous day’s height of inflammation quelled only partially by Pidge’s tea kettle. Stopping or slowing wasn’t on his radar. And he couldn’t see the difference one lap would make anyway.

Lance vaguely heard footsteps trying to catch up as he surpassed them but soon the only sounds he could make sense of were his own grating breaths.

He couldn’t tell if he’d put much distance between them in the end or if either had closed what he did manage, just that he couldn’t feel his legs once he was finished.

It took a couple extra strides to slow down and come back to the world. And when he did it wasn’t even on his own accord but from the shock of Shiro’s hand squeezing his shoulder as he stood hunched over his knees, his gaping breaths apparently audible enough to cause concern.

“You okay? Saw you holding up pretty well with Keith before, but you pushed yourself there at the end when it really wasn’t necessary. I told you, this is just to see—“

“I know... I know... m’good, I just need some water.”

His throat was hoarse and gravelly and trying to sound as normal as possible despite the whistle rattling in his chest every time he spoke sapped too much of his energy.

“Alright. I’m trusting you tell me as soon as you feel crappy, don’t make me regret it.”

The sincerity in Shiro’s expression made Lance’s heart lurch nearly out of his chest with guilt when he met his grey pinpoints and nodded earnestly, turning away quickly before his burning cheeks gave him away.

His legs were starting to feel even lighter as he made his way over to the others who were already sitting around the cooler of water pouches.

Hunk and Pidge were sprawled out on their backs looking just as spent as Lance felt while Keith seemed to have barely even broken a sweat.

He lowered himself against the wall stiffly, the sore muscles in his back and sides twinging as they were pulled on. There must’ve been some sort of sound that accompanied the discomfort he was in that had Keith glancing his way with a frown, but he didn’t inquire further of which Lance was very grateful for because he doubted he had enough energy to handle another interrogation.

Silently ascertaining that he direly needed water and wasn’t going to get it on his own, Keith tossed a water pouch his way and Lance thanked him with a tight smile.

It took his shaking hands a few extra pokes to get the straw through but once he did he started sipping greedily. The water was cold and soothed his burning throat, but the more he sucked down the more he realized how desperately he needed to cough.

“Great job everyone, take the next couple of minutes to stretch and work on finishing a pouch before we move on to strength. We’ll be heading over to the pool after for a short cool down...”

Well shit. Lance wasn’t sure why it completely skipped his mind that the entire training session was a fitness assessment. Or that there’d be more than just the run.

He was certain his chest was rattling audibly as he fought the literal band slowly but surely wrapping itself around his lungs, struggling to both catch his breath and hide his tremors as he held in the explosive coughs his chest was desperate to produce.

The ache was burning more by the minute and progress in slowing his breathing from the run was increasingly harder to come by when every inhale spurred a spasming exhale that couldn’t be held long enough with the need for air so overwhelming.

But it was nothing he couldn’t handle. It was nothing he hadn’t experienced before and come back from without rescue medicine.

The swimming portion would be a challenge but the strength test wouldn’t be that taxing if he took it slow and steady. He would just have to actually take it easy, once again resolving he was absolutely fine to continue.

It was surprisingly not long until he discovered that he was very very wrong.

Keith was the second to bail during the push ups they started with, muttering something about wanting to save his arms so he could kill Lance in the swim as he joined Pidge who’d stopped after she hit the Garrison’s minimum requirement of fifteen.

Lance dropped to his chest not long after and took a moment to try and breathe before dragging himself back over to the water cooler, Hunk and Shiro still going strong behind him and none the wiser of the intense crackle reverberating in his chest.

He plopped down next to Keith with a grunt, figuring that of all the people likely to fuss over him and the sounds that his lungs were making, he wouldn’t be one of them.

He was wrong. Again.

“Maybe slow down on the water, don’t want to make yourself sick...” Keith warned with a cautionary scowl as he sipped from his pouch only a little at a time.

“Right,” Lance all but croaked in response when his pouch emptied, his voice cracking with a whistle beneath even his words now.

His face heated immediately and he closed his eyes as if to pray that it wasn’t noticed.

It was.

“You doing okay...? These are just drills you know, you don’t have to push so hard if it’s making your—“

“This is normal, my lungs just suck. We knew this already.”

His breaths were sounding closer to wheezes each time he spoke, the actual words doing little to convince Keith they were true.

“Lance, I’m serious... hey! Don’t wave me off, you don’t sound good... and you look like you’re overheating.”

He only shook his head and made to get up despite Keith’s protests.

That was it. He was just hot and needed to cool off before it made his breathing an actual issue, nothing a cold towel on the neck couldn’t fix.

“Gonna go to the bathroom...”

But his chest tightened painfully when he rose to his feet and had him leaning over on his knees to wheeze sheepishly as the organs spasmed from the movement, effectively blocking any air from coming in until the muscles relaxed.

And by relax that is to stop actively contracting because they hadn’t been relaxed in over twenty-four hours and wouldn’t be anytime soon.

“Nope, this isn’t normal—Shiro!” Keith called as he moved closer to tug his friend’s arm and try and get him to sit back down.

“Asshole...” Lance muttered with another crackling cough.

“Yep.”

Keith took advantage of his pause to pull on him again and by then Lance’s body was too deprived of oxygen to keep up any protest so he hardly had to yank to have him sinking against the wall in a heap.

“We knew that already though,” he reminded with a smirk and turned to Shiro who was sitting back on his heels next to Hunk who was still at it with another round of push ups.

“What’s up, Keith—wait, what’s wrong?!”

The tightness in Lance’s chest was throbbing incessantly now, effectively dampening his ability to properly take in air and not just to expell it.

Nope! This is as far as this is going to get.

He shrugged Keith’s hand off of his arm as he drew his knees up to his chest and set his legs wide, resting his head between them to work through the strain.

It theoretically wouldn’t be impossible to calm his already decently inflamed airways before it got to a point where he would have needed to use his inhaler. He just had to chill out and not try and subdue the crackling wheezes.

So he took long, calculated inhales breathing from his belly and ignoring the growing lump in his throat.

Just relax, you’re literally fine.

He could hear Pidge muttering something as she scurried around to his other side, her small hand falling to his elbow.

Keith was filling Shiro in as he strode over and Lance made a mental note to smack him the next time he could spare the energy for throwing him under the bus so quickly.

“Damn it, Lance. I told you to take it easy, where’s your inhaler?”

Shiro was kneeling in front of him now, his voice pinched with worry.

Lance refused to lift his head up from where it rested on his knees. Both because the position opened up his lungs and because he didn’t think he could withstand the severity of the glare that would meet him if he did.

“Don’t need it...” he wheezed, “m’fine.”

The thumbs up he summoned from his position between his legs as he focused on deep, calm breaths didn’t seem to add as much validity to his claim as he thought it would.

“Uhm, you don’t look fine,” Shiro countered.

“You don’t sound fine either—“ Keith added.

“—kinda sound like a squeaky toy, ya know?” Pidge chimed in just as Hunk realized what was up and started making his way over.

“Like the ones you squeeze and when you let go they—“

“We know what you mean, Pidge,” Hunk interrupted and shook his head, bending down to Lance’s level and laying a gentle hand on his back.

Lance tried to respond with his own quip along the ‘I’m fine, so everyone just shut up’ variety but all that he could muster was a crackling squeak as he struggled against a raucous hack that had him choking on the mucus blocking his rapidly swelling airways.

“Don’t talk, you’re good,” Pidge shushed, her tiny hand squeezing his arm sympathetically.

“Yeah, just focus on breathing for now,” Shiro urged, the vein in his forehead that only appeared when he was disproportionately worried bulging as he did.

“Dude where’s your inhaler, why aren’t you using it?”

He finally lifted his head to shake it and meet Hunk with desperate eyes but no further explanation.

“What does that mean?” Shiro inquired, voice just as level as before but firmer now as the severity of Lance’s predicament began to unveil itself.

He tried to speak again but when nothing more than a strangled rasp left his lips, he shot another pleading look at the people hovering over him.

Ugh, this is not happening.

The worry in all of their faces jumped a few notches at the way his face twinged and his hand flew up to rub at his sternum.

“Is it on you?”

He shook his head again, the corners of his eyes beginning to brim with tears.

“Then it’s in your room?”

The lack of air was starting to make him dizzy.

“What do you mean no...?”

The surface tension of the tears pooling in is eyes was really being put to the test when he just kept shaking his head, chest feeling heavy with mucus as it continued to fill with everything other than what he needed it to.

“It’s alright, we’ll find it. Hunk do you think you’d know where to look? Okay, Keith go with him and run it back. Pidge why don’t you go find Coran and let him know we may need some assistance here...”

The heat in Lance’s chest was agonizing now. He swore he could feel every minuscule capillary slowly swelling shut. Each individual bronchial tube dilating as the walls secreted a thick layer of freaking phlegm that only hindered his ability to breathe further.

Stupid respiratory response system, stupid inadequate lungs, stupid ship with its desert air, stupid space that doesn’t have an endless supply of ventolin—

“Hey, you gotta try and calm down. They’ll find your inhaler and you’ll feel better in no time...” Shiro attempted to soothe as everyone raced to carry out their assignment.

He looked utterly anguished as Lance searched for something that would soothe the fire in his chest. His hand was firm on his shoulder and his voice was measured and sure. So he wasn’t able to understand why his ministrations weren’t putting him at ease.

Lance’s mouth hung agape, his hands clawing at the collar of his cotton workout shirt like it would release the inexorable pressure that was suffocating him.

But relief wasn’t anywhere to be found. And he knew that. The knowledge didn’t stop him from panicking though.

He wished he could talk. He wished his throat didn’t feel like it was closing with how clenched up everything was. Wished he could explain and speed up the process so they could help him sooner.

But there was no way to tell his friends how fucked he was, the literal only thing he could do was try and calm down a little.

And so he closed his eyes and tried to force deeper breaths despite the cinch around his lungs because Shiro had asked him to, because he’d need as much air as he could get anyway he could get it.

“That’s it...”

He tried even though it burned and even though without his inhaler it wouldn’t make that much of a difference.

“I know it hurts but keep going...”

Everything was starting to get blurry around the edges.

“In... and out...”

He wasn’t sure if it was from the tears or because he was about to lose consciousness from asphyxiation.

“Another... come on, you’ve got it...”

But he fought the tightening cord anyway and forcibly inflated his stupidly inferior organs.

“They’ll be back any second...”

He did it to put Shiro at ease more than anything because he was now desperately wishing that he passed out soon, the fear starting to lace into Shiro’s affirmations almost more oppressive than his inflamed airways as they sealed shut.

“Just hang on a little longer...”

[mckinlily]

SQUEEEEE!!! YOUR MIRACULOUS VLD AU IS BRILLIANT!!! ITS MADE ME GUSH & GIGGLE SO MUCH XD YOUR ARTWORK IS AMAZING AS WELL \(^w^)/ THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!

Thank you, lovely anon!!! ☺️

Just for you… take a few more silly head canons for some of the side characters:

Keith:

You know how Keith is trying to keep Shiro’s secret but is a HORRIBLE liar? Well, Lance has developed a theory that Keith is Chat Noir. It goes about as well as you can except

Pidge blatantly encourages this for the sheer drama of it

Hunk thinks it’s unlikely…but his nosy brain wants to know and what if!!

Keith is stuck. He can’t deny it too strongly without outing Shiro, and every time he tries to prove them wrong he ends up making things worse

“Seriously, guys! Chat Noir is like a foot taller than me! I can’t possibly be him!”

“I donno, man. The suits obviously change their appearance.”

“Yeah, but like hair and eyes and stuff! Not height!”

“….You sure do know a lot about the transformations. Suspicious…”

“What? No! I—No I don’t! It’s not anything that isn’t obvious!”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Chat Noir.”

“I’M NOT CHAT NOIR, LANCE!”

Lance is certain that Keith’s vehement denials mean he’s onto something

Lotor:

He runs a competing blog that (tragically) is still not nearly as popular as the Ladyblog

He was set to it by his mom, and he takes a far more aggressive approach to digging into Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities

He keeps trying to get Allura to help him with the project, but she’s frustratingly unenthusiastic about it

Does she not care about the city? Shouldn’t people have a right to know who their heroes are? WHAT does the over sexualization of Chat’s fine ass have to do with ANY of this?

(Allura denies all accusations and recollection of conversations about Chat’s ass)

Pidge:

She was rescued once by Chat Noir and something about him…he just felt familiar, almost like an older brother but in a way she just can’t put her finger on…

It’s driving her NUTS

And finally...

Matt doesn't know how Chat Noir is, but he keeps hitting on him every time he gets rescued (which is unusually common. Are you TRYING to get into trouble, Matt??). Hey, it’s a superhero and the guy is HOT. Why shouldn’t he flirt?

Shiro is dying. His best friend keeps hitting on him but only when he’s in a skintight leather suit and he can’t say anything.

He can’t even tell Ladybug because then she'll find out his identity. It’s agony.

Only Keith understands. But Keith mostly just laughs at him so maybe Keith doesn’t understand at all.

[petri808]

Oh look at the date! Klance ficlet for @diablosart they know why lol 😏

“What the hell we’re you thinking?!” Keith snapped as he popped his helmet off and chucked it hard at the ground. “Thanks to you were now trapped in a cave in!”

“Look, I’m sorry! I got distracted!” Lance snapped back.

“By what?! We were supposed to be scanning for the jababian dagger. What were you doing, watching your smut videos again?!”

Lance pulled off his helmet with a scoff. “First off, I don’t watch smut videos. Second, even if I did, that’s none of your business. And third, no, I was scanning, just wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

Keith rolled his eyes and spat back with a sarcastic riff. “Well that explains why you knocked both our cats out of the damn air crashing us into this place!”

Using a flashlight, Keith scanned the inside of the cave and noticed a lot of fractures spanning the walls. According to the computer in his Lion, the cave was full of an unstable and weak type of volcanic rock. ‘No wonder it caved in so easily…’ He groaned again. “Just great, if we try to blast our way out, it might collapse the ceiling on us.” Keith walked over to his helmet and picked it up. “I’ll need to do a thorough analysis before attempting to break free. The computers on the ship could do a better job scanning this cave, but they won’t arrive until morning.”

“Are you serious?! We’re stuck in here?!”

“At least for the night, so, stop your bitching since you’re the one who got us into this mess! Why don’t you start a fire while I get to work with the computer.”

“Fine,” Lance stomped away muttering to himself. He was just happy Keith was too irritated and didn’t press him further on what he’d been distracted about.

The pair had been sent ahead of the rest of the Voltron group to look for some kind of special dagger. Lance couldn’t remember what was so important about it, just that it possessed magical properties and they didn’t want it falling into the enemy’s hands. A distress signal was sent out to their ship, so now they just needed to settle in and stay warm until help arrived. He managed to find a cache of old animal bones deeper in the cave to use as fuel for the fire, coupled with some dried leaves and tetrodontyl feathers that must have blown in over the years for kindling. Whether it would last the night was yet to be seen, but it was all he had to work with. Their Lions only held so much in terms of supplies because they weren’t meant to hold long term reserves. But luckily there were emergency blankets and some instant rations they could eat.

Lance never realized just how cold and uninviting a cave could truly be until he became stuck in one. It was creepy with the sounds of bugs scurrying in the darkness, water drops echoing through the silent air, and occasional cracking sounds from any temperature fluctuations. He hated the quiet emptiness because it left open room for his mind to wander and more thoughts to break through as he stared into the flames of their campfire. Lance frowned and brows furrowed, remembering the distraction that led to this debacle. Of course, this was the opposite of what he would have wanted! Their lions sustained damage, and to be stuck, alone, with the reason for his distracted mind was causing his stomach to turn inside out.

Maybe Lance should have pushed Keith harder to drag Pidge or Hunk or Allura along on this trip and not him, anyone but him. He didn’t want to come. Didn’t want to be alone with the man. Hasn’t, for a while now ever since he’d developed different feelings for the guy. ‘How ironic,’ Lance groaned in his head. To go from professional jealousy to romantic pining, he was such a fool. Could anyone blame him? Keith was handsome and smart, but not surprisingly it took someone who could be as hot-headed as himself to catch his eye. Or maybe it was surprising if Lance really thought about it. Girls easily caught his attention, but with Keith it was an attraction that grew through close working confines and of admiration. In essence, he fell for the character of the man and not just for his looks.

“Oi?” Keith snapped his fingers to get Lance’s attention. “The eta is now 8 hours till Shiro and the rest get here.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, okay.” Lance responded in a rather distracted tone that mirrored the monotonous looping thoughts in his head. He felt horrible about causing this disaster in the mission while at the same time kept thinking about Keith…

“That’s all you can say?” Keith questioned his teammate. “Okay?” But when he received no response, he pushed the man’s shoulder hard. “What is going on with you lately Lance? You’ve been distracted a lot and it’s starting to affect your performance.”

“Am I not allowed to have a bad day?” Lance retorted. “Everyone has their bad days, man, it’s not always a crisis.”

Keith sighed. His anger had dissipated but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still annoyed. He thought they were close enough friends that would turn to each other if something was wrong, but apparently he was mistaken. “It’s my job as the leader to worry, so cut the bullshit Lance. I know enough to know something is really bothering you. If you don’t wanna talk about it, fine, but you need to figure it out cause this,” he gestured to their damaged lions, “can’t keep happening.”

“I know, I know,” Lance dropped his head with a long exhale. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to screw up. It’s just— there’s something eating me up and I have no idea what to about it.”

A silence took hold as the two men sat there illuminated by the fire’s light. Keith didn’t want to keep pushing, but he could see the angst on Lances face and it bothered him. In all the years they’ve known each other, there was only one other time he’d ever seen the man so… sad? But it couldn’t be for the same reason, because if Lance had met a new girl he was interested in, Keith was certain he would have heard about it immediately. Lance wasn’t exactly shy about the subject unlike himself. So, what could it be? Keith stared at the fire as he pondered what to say next, but nothing really felt right to say to his friend. This wasn’t exactly a topic he was skilled in with his own little buried secret. For the next couple of hours, they stayed that way, shifting only to stoke the fire or eat some of the rations they had available. It would probably be a great idea to get some rest, but neither made a move to do so. Just… kept staring in awkward silence at a dying fire.

The temperature change in the cavern was slower than it would have been if exposed to the outside air, but nonetheless, by the mid-way mark of their wait the pair could feel it dropping. Blankets were pulled tighter around their bodies in an effort to hold back the cold, and the men had moved closer together to conserve the body heat between them. Maybe it was the exhaustion kicking in, but the limited distance no longer bothered Lance. The hours of silent reflection were also leading him to one conclusion. If he wanted to stop the frustration, coming clean was the best solution. Yet one thing kept holding him back from making the leap— the proverbial aftermath.

Yeah, so telling Keith how he really felt might take the weight off his shoulders, but what would happen after that? What if Keith is disgusted? He’ll not only lose a friend, but how could they continue working together? That would be so uncomfortable! Lance groaned in his head. Would he be willing to give up his role in Voltron? What if Keith ended up leaving instead, causing him to feel guilty about it? Would the others hold it against him? Maybe if they talked it out, they can work out something amicable… ‘Argh!’ Lance screamed in his head as cradled his lowered head. Why did he fall for a teammate!

Keith looked over at the movement and saw Lance’s demeanor. “If you’re tired, why don’t you rest?”

“It’s not that,” Lance mumbled. “I mean I am, but it’s not that.”

“Oh…”

“Have you ever had a crush on someone but didn’t know how to tell them?”

‘So it is over a girl…’ Keith’s brow raised. “Why can’t you tell them?”

“Because, it’s awkward when you’ve known them for so long.”

‘Huh, so maybe it is Allura.’ Keith couldn’t say he was surprised, but it stung just a little. “You should probably just tell them, I mean if it’s eating you up this bad, isn’t it better to just know how they feel too?”

“I don’t know…” Lance sighed. “It’s not like they’ve ever given me a reason to think they’d like me back.”

“Still, once you do know, you can start moving forward again, cause right now you’re stuck and that’s worse.”

Lance glanced over to Keith who was looking in his direction. The man was right. Didn’t make a decision any easier… but he was probably right and all he could do is hope for the best. That didn’t mean he was ready to face Keith head-on either or see the physical reaction the man might have. Lance turned his head away and kept his arms wrapped tightly around himself for protection. “It’s… you…” he mumbled quietly.

“Come again? I didn’t catch that.”

“I said… It’s you.” Lance mumbled again, but this time a little louder.

“Me??”

“See, yeah, I told you it would be awkward— just forget I said anything. I feel better just getting it out.”

Keith forced Lance to turn back to him. “No, I mean I was just surprised cause you’re always chasing after women, but—”

“I’ll just drop it and move on,” Lance cut him off. “I don’t wanna make you feel uncomfortable.”

“But that’s the thing,” Keith interjected, “I’m not. It’s okay because I’ve liked you too but I just thought you weren’t into guys.”

Lances eyes flashed wide. He really hadn’t expected such a response, especially not this quickly. “You do?” His voice trembled as he verified the man’s statement.

“Yeah…” Keith blushed. “I don’t exactly have experience in this stuff, but I like you too Lance.”

Lance jumped up in excitement. “Wow— for once my screw up turned out to be a good thing!”

“Uh-huh…” Keith chuckled. “But don’t do that again!”

[jtrbluv]

we’re not really strangers | pjm

summary: We’re Not Really Strangers is a purpose-driven card game and movement all about empowering meaningful connections. Three carefully crafted levels of questions and wildcards that allow you to deepen your existing relationships and create new ones. Ready?

or alternatively,

your furtive infatuation with your lifelong best friend proves to be hard to suppress when there’s (1) alcohol involved and (2) a card game that forces you to reveal more about yourself than you could ever wish for. in short, no, you are not ready.

[friends to lovers!au]

pairing: jimin x reader

genre: fluff, crack, slight angst

word count: 8.7k

warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, two emotionally constipated best friend, PG-15

A/N: hi, i’ve been really excited about this fic for a while, and i’m genuinely so happy that i finally finished it! the card game is in fact real and i got inspired for this fic after i had played the game with a couple of friends myself. AHEM! @koushiningg​ ! we both cried and i do highly recommend to play it! but anyways, i hope you enjoy this fic because i had a lot of fun writing it! sending love always... jumi out!

EDIT: @bangtans-peaceful-piegon​ i’d also like to thank the lovely pidge for beta reading this 4 me as well! PIDGE I FUCKIN LOB U!!! 

PLAYLIST ; SEQUEL

♤ ♤ ♤

Not once in your life did you ever imagine a simple card game to become the bane of your existence. 

Yet Park Jimin was able to prove you wrong. 

Let’s play ‘We’re Not Really Strangers’ he said. It’ll be fun, he said.

You stare down at the card in front of you—everything else in your periphery was blurry in vision and you can audibly pinpoint the erratic beating of your heart. 

The card was practically taunting you, laughing in your face. It was as if there was a sentient being in the room who was aware of your own subconscious and the not so latent feelings you had for the boy sitting in front of you. 

Same said being loved to constantly place you in a state of trepidation concerning your current situation—your blood pressure skyrocketing—nearly feeling the muscular pink thing inside of you thrusting itself against your ribcage. 

The white card with crimson red writing made sure to leave an impact, making you feel the most ridiculed you’ve felt all night which says a lot—leaving your mind in a complete frenzy although you refused to let it be known. 

And so you sat there. Fiddling the card in between your fingers, feigning nonchalance. You were very much on the brink of cracking your facade—your sanity practically crumbling as the minutes ticked by. You didn’t think you’d last this long to be honest. Yet an hour and a half proved to be way too straining on your body, especially your heart. 

He simply sat there with his hands folded on the table—void of emotion, whistling a familiar top 50s tune you couldn’t quite put your finger on. You considered shifting your focuses on trying to comprehend the tune—hoping it would ease the concerning state of apprehension you were in. 

But then you remember that you aren’t that pathetic. Even though you both had probably been sitting in complete silence for about two minutes now. Up to the point where you could probably hear the crickets chirping outside his apartment, except the only sound that was filling your ears was your own conscience telling you how idiotic you were being. 

Your face may be gradually morphing the same shade of crimson as the writing inscribed onto the card itself, and you may have a whole line of sweat encompassing your hairline. But it’s just a stupid little card game. You could say any stupid little answer and the stupid not-so-little boy wouldn’t care. He wouldn’t care. So you shouldn’t care. 

When did you become so pathetic after all?

-one hour and a half ago-

“Why can’t we just play Mario Kart or Uno? This sounds like there’s too much thinking involved,” you whine, leaning against the side of his couch. 

“One, we always play that. And two, I always lose,” he grumbles, plopping down onto the floor.

Jimin rests his back on the frame of the couch as he sits in the small gap made by the large piece of furniture and the coffee table that resided in front of it. You decide to sit on the floor as well, around an arm’s length away from your friend. He places the red box down onto the table—opening the cap and revealing the contents with a mischievous glint in his irises. 

Within the box was a deck of cards, separated into three piles with two pencils on either side. Knowing Jimin, you assumed this game had an ulterior motive you were unaware of, and by the title of the game, you could already tell that you weren’t going to like it very much. 

“How do you even play this?” You ask, causing him to look up in return.

He bites his lip, taking a couple seconds to ponder on your question, “I don’t know it’s my first-time playing too,” he shrugs. “I was watching Jin and Namjoon playing it a couple of weeks ago and for some reason, Jungkook started crying.”

“He is a sap,” you hum in agreement, thinking in retrospect of Jungkook crying from various situations such as Iron Man dying or that one time Jin farted on his pillow and he got pink eye for a whole week. 

“The biggest,” he concurs, “Hm, there’s no instructions in here.” He mutters while shuffling through the cards. 

“Why don’t you just search it up?” You suggest, sliding the box to yourself as he nods and fishes his phone out of his pocket. 

While holding the box in the palm of your hand, you scan the contents—turning it around in your palm until your eyes narrow in on the words printed at the bottom. 

“Oh, it says something here.”

His head perks up. “Hm? What is it?”

You clear your throat at the sight of the long explanation. “We’re Not Really Strangers is a purpose-driven card game and movement all about empowering meaningful connections. Three carefully crafted levels of questions and wildcards that allow you to deepen your existing relationships and create new ones.” You internally grimace at the words. The game hasn’t even started and you already had a bad feeling about it all. “Ready?” You say through clenched teeth, purposely keeping your head hung low. 

Jimin’s lips quirk up into a cheerful grin, unaware of the piercing stare you were giving him. “Okay, I think I got it,” he declares, eyes zeroed in on his phone once more, ”There’s three levels—perception, connection, and reflection. Each level we pass, the deeper and more thought-provoking the questions get. Helping us make a deeper connection and get to know each other better yadda yadda yadda.”

You nod in understanding, sliding the box of cards back towards him—forcing the grimace that kept threatening to plaster itself onto your face into a small, smug smile. 

“The first thing we have to do,” he begins, taking out two pencils and two small pieces of paper, “is write messages to each other. We won’t be able to open these until after we leave.” He explains, sliding a pencil and paper towards you.

“Wow, very cryptic,” you tut, biting down on your bottom lip before more distasteful remarks decided to leave your lips. He doesn’t catch your reaction or your comment though because he’s already got his pencil in his hand, scribbling vigorously onto the tiny piece of paper. Knowing him it could very well be nonsensical insults and doodles, or a whole essay about your friendship and what you mean to him. Most likely ludicrous and full of thought, either way, just like him. 

Without much thought, you lazily jot onto the paper.

know that i love u, u fucker <3 

-y/n

The sound of your pencil falling against the table causes him to look up at you, eyes knit together in confusion. 

“You’re done already?”

You chuckle, “I mean, I wasn’t going to write an essay. You already know how I feel about you. But it seems like you’re writing one though.”

His eyes narrow in on you—giving you an indiscernible look before letting out a small ‘hmph’ and lowering his focus back down to his pencil and paper. You dismiss his enigmatic behavior—deciding to mindlessly scroll on your phone while waiting for him to finish his MLA formatted essay.

Two minutes pass and you hear the sound of his pencil being placed onto the table. “Done.”

“You added citations too right?”

He scoffs, “No, but i’ll gladly add some if you’d like.” 

You roll your eyes for what seems like the umpteenth time in the last five minutes, “Just start the goddamn game.”

He takes the first stack of cards and shuffles them between his hands. “In all three levels, there are wild cards or basically dares we have to complete. And for each level, we get two ‘dig deeper’ cards. Pretty self-explanatory. So this is the perception level. It’s basically designed for first encounters and strangers, and we’re gonna be asking each other questions about ourselves.”

Your eyes widen at the whole confidentiality of it all. “Are we going through all of those cards?” You blurt out, staring at what seemed to be like 50 cards in his hands. 

“Oh no,” he quickly refutes, “It would take hours. We’ll just do like 12 cards each.”

“Alright,” you huff, letting out a small breath of relief. 

“Yay! Okay I’ll go first,” he beams, his toothy smile evident as he places the deck in between the two of you while grabbing a card from the top, “What do you think my name is?”

You snort at the conspicuousness of the question, “Jamal.”

He immediately guffaws at your response, throwing his head back in addition. “Hey, I don’t mind that.”

“Are all of the questions like this?” You say in between hushed laughter. 

“Nah,” he shakes his head as you pick up another card from the deck, “now you ask me.”

“Alright, what’s the first thing you noticed about me?” You ask, slightly taken aback by the sudden earnestness of the question, causing you to become genuinely curious about what his answer was going to be.

He hums, taking a second to think it through. “I think your smile and your laugh. It’s always been really contagious since the day I met you.” He admits, almost matter-of-factly as if it was something you should’ve known by now, yet you did not. 

Your heart nearly disintegrates into a puddle of goop right then and there, but you manage to conceal your reaction, “Aw, you actually like me.” You tease. 

He scoffs with a playful grin on his lips. “Don’t flatter yourself. You still cackle like a damn hyena.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, “At least I don’t laugh at every single of Jin’s lame ass jokes.”

He gasps, jaw slack open due to your all too accurate truthbomb, “I did not ask to be attacked in my own residence.”

“Well, what are you gonna do about it then.”

He snorts. “Holy shit, do you remember when I banged my head on the corner of his coffee table.” 

“How could I forget? I had the picture of the bump on your head as my lockscreen for like a month.” You reminisce, resisting the urge to pull up the picture from your phone.

“Yeah, and that same month I bought and rotated between the same 10 hats.”

“Hey! It genuinely didn’t look as bad as you thought.”

He whips his head towards you, giving you a piercing glare that made you want to redact your statement immediately. 

He grins from ear to ear, the little shit, amused at the reaction he was able to garner from you. 

“Aha!” He suddenly guffaws, shooting out of the floor and prancing towards his fridge. He then takes out three bottles of lychee-flavored soju and makes his way back towards the table. 

Jimin being the borderline alcoholic he is, it doesn’t come as a surprise to you. Not even after he takes another trip back to the fridge to grab yet another three bottles of soju, mango-flavored to be exact. He has probably one of the stupidest grins etched onto his face as he held onto the bottles—meanwhile you were more concerned about the possibility of having to clean up a bunch of broken glass and wasted soju. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time. 

“And do you plan on drinking all of this by yourself?” you say, gesturing towards the bottles.

“I know my liver is strong, but I don’t buy this shit just to enjoy alone,” he retorts. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees you shake your head as you click your tongue, “Playing this while tipsy just sounds ten times better don’t you think?.”

You shrug—although you had a strong hunch for what he was insinuating, “I mean I guess.”

He starts to pour soju into his shot glass, stopping just before it hits the brim. He slides the glass to you and you take it into your hand, eyeing the sparkling fluid and thinking about the way the contents would do its little all-too-familiar dance on your tongue. 

“Well, you know what they say,” he says, pouring a glass for himself, “drunk words are sober thoughts,” he finishes while dragging out the last word—downing the first shot in one quick swig. You follow his lead soon thereafter, refusing to let your mind linger on what he had just said and the viable likelihood of you spewing out the words that could just make or break your longstanding friendship and lead to a lifetime of regret. 

Obviously, everything’s going fine and dandy for you.

-

The next 20 minutes consisted of a plethora of superficial questions that would vary from:

“What's your favorite song lyric you can think of off the top of your head?”

Your head shoots up as if the lightbulb in your head just flashed on. “Easy. Shawty’s like a melody in my head that i cant keep out got me singing like-“

He lunges over to clap a hand over your mouth before you could sing the next line. “Na na na na no Y/N. Please stop.”

Or something along the lines of:

“What character do you think I'd play in a movie?” He asks with a smug smile. 

“You’d be the second male lead that everyone secretly wants to end up with the main character because you act all sweet and kind and and genuinely cares about her but instead she chooses the other guy because something about him draws her in and it was her ‘gut instinct’ or some shit like that.”

“So I would get second male lead syndrome?” He reiterates. 

“Yes.” 

He sets his shot glass back down with a glower, clearly taken aback. “That is the biggest insult I’ve ever gotten in my entire life.”

You also couldn’t forget about:

“Oh, this one says to create a secret handshake.”

“No.” You deadpan.

“And why not?”

“Your pinky‘s the size of a vienna sausa—“ 

He smacks you square in the cheek with a pillow before you could finish your sentence. You don’t even fight back because your mind was so slow to process what he had just done. The fact that you only slept for 5 hours last night didn’t help whatsoever. Your evident lack of energy causes him to jab his finger into your side, causing a loud shriek—your fight or flight response starts kicking in as you grab the back of his neck and slam his face against the fabric of the couch cushion. 

-

Soju was never able to make the two of you full on drunk—buzzed of course, but not enough for complete incoherency. And so you both down a bottle each before finishing the first round. 

“I’m surprised we didn’t get any wild cards that round,” he says while resting his head on the couch.

You purse your lips, “You spoke too soon.” 

His eyes flash open as he cranes his neck in an attempt to see the card. “Wait actually?”

You can feel your insides churn as you read the words in front of you, and you were sure that it wasn’t the alcohol talking. “Write down the three most important things to you in a relationship for 30 seconds and then compare.”

Jimin reaches over to grab two pieces of paper and pencils while unlocking his phone to find the timer app, “Okay, I’ll put a timer on for 30 seconds starting… now.”

And so the internal monologue in your head begins. 

Three most important things… only three? That’s not anywhere near enough to suffice. Wait, what would the first one even be… oh yeah, trust. Trust is very much important yes, yes, yes. What else? Um, communication? Yes of course, that’s essential. Okay, what would the last one be? 

You sneak a glance over at Jimin. His cheek is squished against the palm of his hand, making his cheek fat (an area in which he lacked in) more prominent and the pink, plush flesh of his lips appear even bigger than they already were. 

The ceiling light emitted a faint, ambient glow—the lights and shadows hitting all the slopes and curves of his face. You never understood how someone could be so effortlessly stunning. Even the mess atop his head that’s supposed to be his hair looks purposely tousled—the ebony strands sticking up in multiple directions was framing his temples and contrasted with the honey-like hues of his skin. 

Unlike the glow that radiated from the lights of the worn-down apartment and the radiance of whatever was beyond the glass of the window behind him, everything about him seemed to glow much brighter.

“Hello, earth to Y/N, your 30 seconds is up.” He interrupts pointedly, waving a hand in front of your face.

Blinking rapidly, you shake your head as well as all preceding thoughts that definitely weren’t consuming your mind a few seconds ago, “Sorry w-what?”

He laughs at your disoriented state, “Did you finish writing your three things?”

No, I wrote your name as number 3. “Yeah, I did. You can go first though.”

He nods with a small smile. “Oh, okay then let’s see. First, I put trust. I don’t know, I think everyone puts that to be honest. After that, I put communication. I feel like that’s just a given y’know. Another thing I feel like most people would say.”

You utter a timid “mhm” under your breath albeit zoning out and being unaware of what he was saying. Opportunely, you managed to scribble out his name with the mere seconds that had passed and now you were tapping the lead point of the pencil against the paper, littering the page with a bunch of grey, little dots—incognizant to the fact that he had his eyes focused on you the whole time. 

“I didn’t really know what to put last. Three things isn’t anywhere near enough in my opinion. But at the last second, I wrote down vulnerability,” he continues.

You look up upon hearing the last word. “Oh wow, that’s good. I didn’t even think about that.”

He chuckles unabashedly, clearly pleased with your reaction. “Right? I just figured. At first, I thought it would go in the same category as trust but then I thought about it more. Yeah, you can trust someone and someone can trust you, but to what extent does that all go to. Where does it start? And where does it even end? You need to be able to open up to the person I feel like. So I guess trust and vulnerability go hand in hand.”

Impressed with his words, you decide to chime in.  “Wouldn’t communication go along with it too?”

“Hm?”

You place your pencil down. “You would open up to each other by means of communication, becoming more vulnerable, and then overall gaining more trust in the end.”

His brows raise at your sudden revelation, “Wait, you’re so right, did you just wax poetic and full cycle all that?.”

You smile, “I mean I guess,” you respond humbly, “ it does make sense though, does it not?”

He hums in agreement while downing another shot, “It applies to us, right?”

You force out a chuckle, but it comes out a lot more faux-sounding than you would’ve liked. “Haha, yeah I guess it does, doesn’t it.” Once again, starting to dive deeper into the abyss of pitiful hope and unrequitedness. 

“Describe your perfect day.” He suddenly interjects.

You quirk a brow. “Didn’t I just go?”

“It’s okay, I’ll go for this one too.”

“Alright,” you say, foot tapping on the wooden floor as you look past him and out into the glass window of his living room, “well, I wouldn’t have school of course. And I think it would all depend on how I feel that day. If I was feeling particularly lazy, the day would probably consist of me binge-watching shows in bed while eating a shitton of carbs. And the other case would probably be galavanting around the city or going to an amusement park with friends.”

Jimin listens intently and smiles as you speak, causing you to avoid his stare before pigment threatened to rush to your cheeks, “Both of those scenarios sound really nice. I better be included too.”

You roll your eyes, turning away to hide the grin creeping up your cheeks, “We’ll see.”

He groans, standing up from his spot on the floor and falling onto his couch instead, “My asscheeks hurt.”

Your face contorts into a look of disgust, “And you want me to do what with that information?”

Scoffing lightly, he leans back into the cushions and tilts his head back, “It was a declaration, not a cry for help.”

“Yeah, and it’s the bony ass for me.”

His head perks up. “It’s having a flatter ass than their guy best friend for me.”

Gulping down the sad but unequivocal truth, “It’s kissing up to every teacher’s ass for me.”

His eyes narrow in pure chagrin, “It’s the crying on your teacher’s doorstep for them to round your grade for me.”

“It’s splitting your pants on orientation day for me.”

“Fuck you, people would pay to see this ass! It’s getting a concussion from falling down the main hall stairs for me.”

“For fuck’s sake, I told you that they waxed the floors that day!” You snap back.

“Okay, and who said it was a good idea to walk down three flights of stairs while trying to cram for a midterm? Yeah, exactly no one.” He says incisively, giving you an even bigger urge to push him off of the couch, yet you digress. 

“This could go on for hours.” You heave out.

“Is that the sound of someone giving up I’m hearing?”

“Is that the sound of a midget I’m hearing?”

“But I’m taller than you?!” He screeches petulantly, smacking your shoulder. You burst out into a fit of laughter—toppling onto the wooden floor with pure malice. 

Gasping for air, you attempt to stifle your laughter and regain your breath. “Wow, I’m on a roll today! I deserve another shot.”

He shakes his head, his anger quelling at the sight of your giddiness. “Remind me to not let you drink and play this game.”

You turn over from your side to lay on your back. “This will be the first and the last time I play this game with you.” You say almost immediately—the words involuntarily slipping from your mouth before you could stop it. 

He sinks in his spot on the couch, brows knitting at your comment. “Why?”

Sobriety crashes into you like a colossal wave —your irritation dissipates almost immediately. The exaggerated tone your voice begins to register through your head—as well as the fact that you sounded a lot more disapproving than you intended. 

Groaning at your hindered ability to think and process properly, you attempt to clear the air, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. We just... practically know everything about each other I guess. What else is there to know?”

He hums. “You sure about that?”

What? “Wait what?”

“Nothing,” he chuckles awkwardly, “next question.”

The straightforwardness of the next question causes you to quirk a brow, “How are you, really?”

His eyes widen. “Well, that’s a deep one, isn’t it?”

You smile. “A little.” 

He sighs, a small grin lacing his features, “Hm, how am I,” he affirms, adjusting himself in his spot on the couch, “I feel content with where I am right now, I guess. Things can always be better, but at the same time they could be worse too.”

Your number one defense mechanism as of late has been to constantly tease and make jokes at the poor guy—essentially using him as your own mental punching bag. He went along with it out of the assumption that it was all caused by your stress from school while you knew the true origins of your behavior. 

You smile at his optimism, "Hey, that's always good to hear."

He chuckles, shifting his position on the couch so he could face you directly, "I don't know, maybe it's the new sense of freedom. Or all the amazing people I've gotten to meet and the opportunities that are offered here. Or the fact that I'm still going to the same school as my best friend after all this damn time."

"Chim, don't get sappy on me man." You warn him while pouting exaggeratedly— slumping onto the frame of the couch while he takes a strand of your hair in between his fingers. You bask in the moment, your eyes shutting close. 

"Hey, I'm just being honest! For some reason, it all makes up for the impending student debt and draining lectures and professors that have a superiority complex as fat as their paycheck."

"Too bad their paycheck still isn't as fat as your ass."

An audible gasp coming from the only other person in the room causes your eyes to flutter open.

"Aw," he coos, ruffling the hair atop of your head, "that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all night. Admit it, you love me."

Out of instinct, you opt to stick your tongue at him instead of replying with a witty comeback. You turn away from him before mumbling to yourself, "More than you'll ever know buddy."

"What was that?"

Shit. "Nothing. Next question!"

-

After twenty questions and a whopping 10 empty soju bottles later, you are quite literally about to implode.

Your eyes stare down at the card in front of you—everything that surrounds it is blurry in vision and you can audibly pinpoint the erratic beating of your heart.

The card was practically taunting you, laughing in your face. It was as if there was a sentient being in the universe who was aware of your own subconscious and the not so latent feelings you had for the boy sitting in front of you. Same said being loved to constantly place you in a state of trepidation concerning your current situation—your blood pressure skyrocketing—nearly feeling the muscular pink thing inside of you thrusting itself against your ribcage.

The imminent headache was starting to spread towards your temples and you practically felt like you could feel your brain shifting inside your head at this point. Although you felt groggy, you were certain that your heart was at a rate that is way faster than it should be. And sitting on your legs has caused them to lose all feeling from the tips of your toes all the way up to your kneecaps. One attempt at standing and you would come crashing to the floor in a heartbeat.

The white card with crimson red writing made sure to leave an impact, making you feel the most ridiculed you’ve felt all night which says a lot—leaving your mind in a complete frenzy although you refused to let it be known.

To say you were mad was an understatement. Out of all the times throughout the entirety of this hour and a half that you were playing this game, he decided that now would be the best time to use his 'dig deeper' card.

There it was.

Admit something.

"Okay fine, I was the one who stuck pink hair dye in your shampoo last semester."

"Y/N, did you really think I didn't know? C’mon I know there’s something else in there.”

You scowl, brows furrowing, “Why would I keep something from you?”

“Why are you getting so defensive over this?”

"What the hell is there for me to admit to you?" You snap back in exasperation, the harsh tone of your voice rendering the two of you speechless. 

He averts his gaze, closing his eyes while inhaling a deep sigh. "Ever since we started college, why have you been treating me so differently?"

Your eyes widen in disbelief, stumped. Yet you refuse to wither out of this. 

 "I– are you mad?"

"No. Of course not," he quickly digresses, softening his gaze, "I just noticed after all this time that you've only been acting differently towards me. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong Jimin. You never have."

His eyes narrow, giving you yet another indecipherable look, "I'm using my 'dig deeper' card." He deadpans.

And so you sat there. Fiddling the card in between your fingers, feigning nonchalance. You were very much on the brink of cracking your facade—your sanity practically crumbling as the minutes ticked by. You didn’t think you’d last this long, to be honest. Yet an hour and a half proved to be way too straining on you in a variety of different ways.

He simply sat there with his hands folded on the table—void of emotion, whistling a familiar top 50s tune you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

You considered shifting your focuses on trying to comprehend the tune—hoping it would ease the concerning state of apprehension you were in. But then you assured yourself that you haven't reached that level of patheticism yet.

Even though you both had probably been sitting in complete silence for about two minutes now —practically anyone else could detect was the crickets chirping outside his apartment, yet the only sound that was filling your eardrums was your own conscience telling you how idiotic you were being.

This was it. There was no point in trying to weasel yourself out of this situation. If you tried, your more than futile attempt could very well end up causing more problems than if you were to go with the latter.

So instead of constantly wracking your brain with witty banter and deceitful ways to gaslight your feelings for the man sitting in front of you, you come to terms with the fact that your time had run out. You internally commend yourself for putting up a good fight, as well as internally become accosted at how immature you were at handling the whole situation.

You sharply inhale through your nose, peering at the man sitting in front of you as his eyes meet your own, "Alright."

He offers you a small yet empathetic smile in return, giving you the tiniest sliver of reassurance. His hand pats the couch cushion next to him, motioning for you to sit down next to him.

You push yourself up from the floor, immediately propping a leg onto the couch to avoid your numb limbs to be the cause of your embarrassment.

You inhale slowly through your nose and out through your mouth. "This is going to sound really absurd. Like more than absurd. Possibly borderline hysterical." No Y/N, why would you say that?

He interjects, placing a hand on your forearm. "I'm beginning to think you're becoming borderline hysterical," he lets out a small chuckle, "slow down Y/N. One thought at a time."

Your jaw is still slack open due to your previous rambling. "I'm sorry, I just—I don't think I've ever felt this anxious… around you at least."

He bites his lip, eyes trailing away from yours as he tries to think of a way to aid you, "Will it help if I turn around?

"Maybe." You reply timidly, smiling to yourself as his back came into view.

“It’ll be pretty funny if we don’t remember this in the morning,” you start off with, “I shouldn’t be saying that either I’m sorry. Stupid alcohol.”

He snickers at your drunken state, it was adorable. “Pretend I’m not here Y/N. Like you’re talking to a wall.” He advises, back still turned. 

You nod although he can’t see you. “Okay. Well, hi Mr. Wall. I’ve been keeping a secret from my best friend for as long as I’ve known him and I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve suppressed it all this time in hopes that it would eventually fade away, and it almost did. No really, it actually almost did. But now it’s back again and all the same feelings came, but like freaking twofold. No, tenfold. No, like a hundred fucking fold.”

Jimin tries excruciatingly hard to stifle his laughter, cupping a hand to his mouth so he wouldn’t move and distract you.

“I’m literally in love with my freaking best friend when I know he doesn’t see me in that light nor will he ever. If he did, we wouldn’t be where we are right now because I am so shitty at hiding my feelings that I am more than certain that I’ve let the truth slip a couple of times.” You say all in one breath.

He slowly detaches his hand from his mouth, eyebrows raising in disbelief in the words you had just said. His body urges him to turn around. Yet you continue to think out loud. So he digresses. 

“Towards the end of high school, I think my feelings started to become more dormant because I had become more concerned over finishing high school and transitioning into college. I was content and I convinced myself that my feelings were fleeting for once.” You begin with, allowing whatever thoughts that you consumed your mind to spill all out for Mr. Wall to hear. 

You sigh, taking a pillow from his couch and squeezing onto it for dear life. “That was until we ended up getting into our top picks and going to the same school. I couldn’t believe it. My stupid head tried to convince me that life had always just paired the two of us up together for some reason. And that maybe, just maybe I had a chance. But whatever I guess. I don’t know.”

A notification causes your eyes to trail to your phone. Really, Professor La, this is not a good time to tell me to finish my research paper. You swipe at the notification, revealing your lock screen—a photo of you and Jimin at an amusement park back at your hometown, sporting matching university hoodies with bright smiles on your faces that were captured mid-laughter.

Setting your phone down, you lean into the couch—letting your head fall into the cushions as your eyelids slowly start to droop shut. “What also didn’t help is how college life just seems to suit him perfectly. He just always looks so happy now. Like yeah, he’s always been a social butterfly. Yet in addition to that he has top notch grades. He charms professors. For fuck’s sake the Dean treats him like a son. His passion, his laughter, his love, his happiness. It’s always been so infectious. But college just made the effect he has on people grow even stronger. I-,” you stammer, pausing breathlessly, “it just looks like he truly belongs here. Like college was just made for him.”

He sits there in a complete stupor—still trying to process all the words that he had just heard. His body is itching to turn around, take you into his arms, whisper soft nothings into your ear. Anythings. Everything. He never wanted you to feel anxious about his feelings for you ever again.  

“Mr. Wall, that was a lot, I’m sorry. But I’m really… really tired.” You utter quietly, a long yawn escaping your lips. You fall asleep. 

Ten seconds pass until Jimin sneaks a glance over his shoulder, scanning your body as he notices your shut eyes and timid grip on his pillow. 

“Y/N?”

You’re unresponsive. 

He grins at the sight. Getting up from his seat, he makes his way toward you—slowly prying the pillow from your grasp as you carefully slides his hands under your body and picks you up from the couch. 

Instinctively, you wrap your arms around his neck and bury your face into his shoulder as he carries you to his bedroom. You are very much still asleep, yet you always had the habit of needing something to hold onto while you were unconscious. 

Kicking the sheets aside, he makes room for you to lie down as he gently places you onto his bed. He quickly scurries to the other side, slipping into the covers himself as he lays down beside you. 

The sudden contact causes you to shift in your sleep—suddenly wrapping an arm around his torso. He lays there, completely stunned at your actions and begins to heavily debate whether he should give into his desires or not. 

The internal conflict lasts about two seconds before he turns to his side—placing his free hand on the small of your back and pulling you into his chest, leaving a small pocket of space in between your two bodies. 

Unknowingly, you close the gap almost immediately—nestling your head into the crook of his neck as your arm that was lazily slung over his torso starts to tighten its hold around his body. 

His arm slings over your unconscious form, his hands making his way to your back as he basks in the foreign feeling, being this close in proximity to you. It was different. Yet it almost felt like it was where he belonged. And he was scared because he didn’t want it to end. 

While gently placing his chin on the top of your head, he begins to stroke your hair as fatigue starts to wash over him as well. “Things will make sense soon Y/N, I swear.”

He retracts, craning his neck in an attempt to see your sleeping form. His attempt proves to be futile when an indecipherable groan leaves your lips—brows knitting slightly and lips curling downward from the sudden lack of warmth. 

His soft laughter fills the room as he obliges—carefully pressing a small kiss to your forehead before reverting back to his original position. 

“For now, just know that I love you too.”

-

The intolerable throbbing sensation in your temples caused you to stir in your sleep.

The only events you could recall from last night was being at Jimin’s apartment, playing that stupid card game, and downing the most soju you’ve ever had in one sitting.

It only occurs to you that you’re wrapped in someone’s arms when you open your eyes and the only thing in your periphery is a firm chest, steadily heaving each time they take a breath.

Your legs were messily entangled with theirs—arms slung around each other’s torsos as you felt a strange yet dense weight on the top of your head.

Carefully, you try to pry yourself from their grasp albeit your haphazard state of mind. You pull back ever so slightly, making sure not to wake them up in the process, discovering that the excess weight was actually their chin that had been resting on top of your head. Their fingers were still twined in your hair as you pulled back, making you freeze in your spot. Curious, you tilt your head, peering upwards and catching a glimpse of their face.

The boy is undoubtedly still asleep. Eyes shut and ample lips slightly parted. Your timid movement, to your luck, which hadn’t phased him in the slightest, as he was unperceptive and nearly immobile at this point. 

If it weren't for your abhorrent headache and the even more abhorrent symptoms that had rooted from your hangover, it would be an understatement to say that you would be freaking out right about now.  In reality,

You'd be in a complete state of manic.

Because of the fact that your body was paying for the despicable amount of alcohol you had decided to consume the night before, an influx of any intense emotion would cause your body to exacerbate itself even more. And the last thing you needed was to puke all over the poor guy after sleeping together for the first time.

While you were physically experiencing withdrawals, your mind felt slightly inebriated nonetheless. You weren't quite sure if it was from last night's affluence of liquor or the way everything's starting to come back to you. And the longer your eyes linger on the boy's face, the clearer everything starts to become. From the foolish banter to your childish outbursts leading up to your intoxicated yet conscientious confession.

You left your heart all out for him to witness last night, and now the only thing you could do is wait for a response.

Taking a deep sigh, you retreat back to his body—deciding not to ponder any longer on the matter and wait until you had felt physically capable of doing so. 

-

Steaming hot streams of water splash against his back. He stands under the shower head while massaging soap into his hair, replaying the events that had happened last night on loop. 

The words that left your mouth were engraved into his mind as they involuntarily kept replaying over and over again—particularly your inebriated confession, which kept garnering the same reaction of both hope and frustration within him. 

The solution should be simple. In reality it is, yet he still felt so internally scattered. 

“—he doesn’t see me in that light nor will he ever...”

That was the singular line that he just couldn’t wrap his head around. There was never a moment where he would hesitate to drop everything he was doing to be there for you and make sure you were okay. 

Yes, he knew that you two were best friends and that it was natural. But what best friend drives across town at 2am because you had the stomach flu and your parents were out of town. Keep in mind it was his mom’s birthday that day. 

What best friend ditches their prom date when yours had stood you up. Or coax the drama teacher into giving you the lead in the school play because he saw the ways your eyes glimmered when you saw the words ‘High School Musical’. And damn, weren’t you justthe greatest Gabriella he’s ever seen.

Little did you know that in reality, he always wanted you to be the Gabriella to his Troy, and not Chad. Yet you seemed to have believed the latter all along. 

But in the end, what the hell kind of best friend remains oblivious to the fact that for years, past exes have consistently broken up with him for the same reason.

“Your heart belongs to someone else.”

Or alternatively,

“I’m not the right person for you.”

Straight A’s don’t mean shit when no teacher has ever taught him how to realize that he was irrevocably in love with his best friend, and that she had always, almost candidly, felt the same way.

He shuts his eyes tightly, hands aggressively running through his soaked hair as he comes to a conclusion. 

Being strangers could never be an option. Being friends, or moreso, best friends was fine. But that’s it. It was just fine. It was normalcy. It has been for years.

And that just wasn’t going to cut it for him anymore.

-

Your arm traces along the fabric of the bedsheets, alerting you that there was a void of space and lack of warmth from the other side of the bed. Your eyes spring open to see that there was no one laying beside you. 

A long yawn escapes your lips as you stretch your limbs, body sprawling all over the bed before selfishly tugging the sheets all to yourself. 

Soft hissing from which you assume was coming from his shower was confirmed to be true when your eyes spot the closed bathroom door and the small beam of light that was emitting from it. 

A small, folded piece of paper that was taking up the space of where his head was resting was where your eyes shift to next. 

y/n <3

You knit your brows together, knowing that it was most likely put there strategically rather than a piece of trash that had slipped out of his pocket.

It was addressed to you after all and so you grab it while making a futile attempt to rub the sleep out of your eyes. Your throbbing headache and churning insides had significantly died down. Regardless of your recovery time you internally make a promise to yourself to never get this wasted ever again. The chances of you sticking to it?  Highly debatable considering the current situation you’re in. 

Blinking rapidly, you finally are able to decipher whatever is written onto the paper. And it says:

hi y/n, i can already tell by the looks that you’re giving me that you already despise this game and im sorry. all i wanna say is that by the time you read this, i hope that we remain close as ever even though what i plan on saying tonight could obliterate all of that. i wanted to play this game bc i know we’re both hiding stuff from each other and it’s about time we get it out. at least for me. whatever happens, i love you. always will. 

- chim :)

EDIT: for fuck’s sake y/n i’m FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO I WAS SUPPOSED TO CONFESS TO U FIRST LOSER NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND T-T

-

“Finally awake?” You hear a familiar voice call out. He walks out of the bathroom, fully clothed (to your dismay) while drying his hair with a towel, eyes immediately softening as they connect with yours. 

You swallow down your nerves, “Yeah, I’ve been.”

He walks over to the edge of the bed, eyes shifting to the piece of paper in your hand before reverting his focus back to your face, “What are you reading there?” 

“I don’t know,” you huff, feigning ignorance, “why don’t you tell me.”

A soft chortle leaves his lips as he throws the towel to the side, smiling as wide as ever as he jumps onto the vacant spot on his bed right next to you.

Propping himself up, he sits against the headboard, letting out a content sigh before looking down at you once more. “Come here.” He says, reaching his arms out in hopes that you’d fill the idle gap.

And you do, shaking the sheets off of your body as you place yourself in his arms, freshly revelling in the comfort. You wrap your arms snugly around his waist, letting your head rest on his chest while he clutches onto you tightly. 

“I’m sorry for pushing the subject so hard onto you last night.” He starts off with, “I guess I just never fathomed the fact that you could return the feeling, and I was too stubborn to even admit it to you in the first place.” He expresses while stroking your back,  “I didn’t mean to confront you so harshly, it’s unlike me, and I’m really sorry about it Y/N.”

“Do you think I’m mad about that Jimin?” You inquire, just barely above a whisper.

He pulls back slightly, peering down at you, “Are you?”

“Of course not. I should be the one apologizing anyways for being even more stubborn and resorting to such childish ways.” You disclose whilst mentally beating yourself up.

“Hey, there’s no use in beating ourselves up over it. Look where we are now.” 

“Where exactly are we Jimin?” You inquire timidly, head still resting on his chest. 

His fingers brush over the base of your chin, gently tilting your head up until your eyes found his. 

“Y/N, it’s honestly hard for me to formulate the words but all I know is that I think I’m in love with you. And I think I have been for a long time, no scratch that, I have been for a long time,” he says all in one breath, making you smile at how high-strung he was acting. 

The grin remains plastered onto your face, “I’m not drunk still right because did I just hear you say that you’ve been in love with me?”

“Y/N…” he whines, jutting out his bottom lip as he drags out the last syllable of your name.

You can’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Go on please.” 

He bites his lip, “I honestly had a whole speech prepared in the shower but I forgot all of it.”

“It’s alright, I barely remember half the stuff I spewed out last night,” you chortle.

He chuckles, “Well, if you were wondering, you’re cute as fuck when you’re piss drunk.”

The compliment makes your breath hitch in your throat—your heart starting to pick up speed dangerously quick.

A few seconds pass, allowing you to slightly gain back some of your composure, “Why did you um– I mean– when do you think you fell in love with me?” You stutter. 

“I was actually trying to figure that out too,” he starts, “in the shower. Well, this is going to sound dumb,” he admits, sharply exhaling out of his nose, “But do you remember when we went on a field trip to that amusement park in 8th grade? Around halloween time.”

“I think so… but what about it?”

He nods. “I still remember that night so vividly for some reason,” he pauses, collecting his thoughts, “There were haunted houses all over the park. And they were all different themes. And I think the first one we went into together was—”

“The clown one.” You deadpan. 

“Yeah!” He beams, laughing at the way you shudder after your words, “Anyways, you were walking behind me with your hands on my shoulders, but you had a razor grip and I thought my arms were going to fall off, so I made you walk next to me instead. We had our arms interlocked and you were gripping onto me so closely and you had your head buried in my shoulder the whole time.” He explains, the smile never ceasing to leave his lips.

You don’t take his eyes off of him—smiling sweetly as he explains the retrospective moment that you never knew had held so much significance to him.

“All of a sudden, you grabbed my hand, and honestly, I think that was the scariest part of the whole experience,” he admits, chuckling softly. 

“But then I intertwined fingers with you. And I liked it. Thinking about it now, I probably loved it. It felt almost borderline euphoric. Like as if I was riding a high, and when we detached hands, it felt like there was just something missing. And I guess I never really put the pieces together because it just became a normal thing after that. And when our skinship kept evolving from there, I just kept dismissing it over and over again. Like as if that feeling was a normal thing to happen between friends, because I genuinely thought it was. Yeah, I think that’s the moment I pretty much fell in love with you.” He finishes, giving you a close-mouthed smile while he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear. 

Astounded was an understatement. You couldn’t believe that you both had been suppressing these feelings for so long. Yet somehow, this whole confession didn’t seem out of place or time, it was as if everything that had happened beforehand had led up to this very moment. 

“Wow, Jimin I– I don’t know what to say.” You reply.

He shakes his head. “You don’t have to say anything Y/N. I’m sorry for making you wait for so long, after all.”

You interject, “Please don’t say sorry, I think we were definitely both in the wrong here.”

He smiles, except this time his eyes crinkle up all the way, “Alright, but can you at least let me make it up to you?”

“I’m listening.” You jokingly reply.

“Let’s go on a date,” he declares brazenly, “but tonight, after we’ve recovered from our hangovers and what not.”

The corners of your lips upturn so high that your cheekbones sting, “Jimin, I’d love to–”

“Ah, wait! I’m not done.” He cuts you off, head inching forward, leaning in so close that you could feel his breath tickle your ear and the heat rushing up to your cheeks. 

“And at the very end of the night, I’ll make certain that you won’t be able to walk normally by tomorrow.” He whispers into your ear— voice low and full of lust.

Shivers run through your body as it feels like all the wind had just gotten knocked out of you. Yeah, this was definitely worth the wait.

-

-

-

MASTERLIST ; SEQUEL

[thorin-is-a-cuddler]

Beach Rules

A/N: Paladins at the beach? Sure! Platonic everyone. This is Keith and Shiro centric. And there’s loads of tickling and simping, yay :D

„Is that…“

„No, it can’t be!!“

„Oh, but, but… guys, it’s…“

„A beach!“ Shiro stepped out of the castle, joining Pidge, Lance and Hunk on the surface of this vacation worthy planet with a disbelieving expression.

Allura followed, taking her helmet off and actually giving one of her rare honest smiles. „Yes, a beach. This is the planet of Basoria. 10 000 years ago, this planet has already been one of my favorite places to be. It seems incredible that the Galra haven’t taken over it. But since there are no intelligent beings on here, they probably didn’t see the point. It’s a save place. Coran and I wanted to offer you this. A day off at the beach. With everything you’ve already done, paladins, I am happy if I can give you something back.“

The three younger paladins shrieked happily, shouting their thanks as they took off running for the shore, shoes flying and jackets landing in the sand. Shiro turned his head to look at Allura with a smile. „This is amazing, Allura. I think you couldn’t have made them happier.“

Allura tilted her head and put a hand on Shiro’s left arm. „I was hoping you would enjoy this as well, Shiro. You have been working harder than anyone of us. You deserve a day’s rest.“

Shiro opened his mouth in surprise, a little overwhelmed by so much attention and a little lost for words. Fortunately Keith chose excatly this moment to step out between them, a grumpy expression on his face. „A beach?“ He asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously sceptical about something that involved such a big amount of fun.

Allura narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, having hoped for a rather different reaction. „Yes, Keith. A beach. A place for relaxation and happiness. I’m glad to see that it disgusts you so much.“

Allura went to take off her armor inside the castle, mumbling intelligibly under her breath. Keith merely sniffed and shrugged as the princess moved away, crossing his arms over his chest and looking outside with a wary expression. Three cheerful paladins were splashing around in turquoise water. They were still dressed in t-shirts and pants, but didn’t seem to care a bit about the additional soaked weight. Keith had never seen them this outgoingly happy.

He felt a weight on his shoulder and saw that Shiro had put his hand on it, an encouraging smile on his face. „Go on, Keith. Don’t worry so much. I bet it’s fun out there. Give it a try.“

Keith tilted his head slightly and looked away, a little crease appearing between his eyebrows. „Hmmm. I don’t know, Shiro.“

The warm dark eyes of the older paladin changed, giving room for worry. This guy managed to catch up to everything. „What is it?“

Keith huffed and shook his head slightly, fond of Shiro being so perceptive, yet at the same time wishing he weren’t. „It’s just… I don’t know. I- I’ve never… well, I’ve never been to a beach before. My father and I never went on vacations, you know.“

Keith shuffled around slightly, trying to act as indifferent as he could, while he was actually dying from insecurity inside. He sent a tentative side glance in Shiro’s direction and saw the realization in his expression. Keith smiled and shielded his eyes against the sun.

„I think it’ll come naturally to you, Keith.“ Shiro said softly, making Keith look at him again in surprise. „All we have to do is go out there and… do the next best thing.“

Keith blinked at him, pretty unsure about this much spontaneousness. „And what would that be?“

Shiro put his finger on his lips thoughtfully, making Keith start to consider that maybe Shiro had just as little clue what to do at a beach as he had. His features softened a little at that impression. Where Shiro knew pretty much everything about him, there was little Keith knew about Shiro in connection to his past. Shiro kept most things locked away behind so many doors that walking through all of them could take years. Keith had barely managed to walk through the half of them.

He sighed deeply and slid out of his jacket, leaving it in the castle. „Let’s start by making ourselves more… beach ready.“ Keith made an awkward motion towards his t-shirt and then bent over to take off his shoes and roll up the legs of his pants.

Shiro smiled at that and copied Keith’s actions, stripping to his sleeveless muscle shirt and rolling his pants up as well. For a second he was insecure about the bulgy skin where his right shoulder merged into the metal arm. But then a sudden feeling took over him and made him forget about any insecurities. Was that… giddiness he felt in his stomach?

There suddenly was so much energy inside of him that he had to get rid off. He looked at Keith staggering around on one leg as he tried to keep the material of his pants rolled up on the other leg. And a grin spread out on his face.

He suddenly knew exactly what he had to do.

„Keith..“

Keith looked up in time to manage a very surprised yell, before a very strong arm wrapped around his middle and lifted him off the floor. „SHIRO WHAT ARE YOU-“

„I know what we have to do!“

Keith clawed his fingers into Shiro’s foreram, holding on to him tensely as the pilot started running with Keith dangling from his side, shaking him quite thoroughly. Despite that Keith almost sighed in relief as fresh air ruffled his hair and blew under his shirt, giving him goosebumps and drying his sweat. It felt like flying through the desert with Shiro all over again. The memory of their races untied a knot in Keith’s chest and he suddenly had to let out a laugh as Shiro readjusted his grip on him, lifting him even higher than he’d been before.

„Don’t drop me!!!“

Shiro’s smirk was audible in his words as he raised his voice as well. „Oh, I will drop you in a bit!“

Keith tensed up again and looked to where Shiro was headed. Pidge, Hunk and Lance in the water had noticed their approach by now, curious happy smiles on their faces as they got closer at a dizzying speed. The realization hit Keith and he started struggling, almost causing Shiro to drop him himself.

„NO YOU WILL NOT! DON’T YOU DARE! SHIRO!“

But Shiro wasn’t bothered by Keith’s defiance in the slightest. His soft laughter mixed with Keith’s gasps and yelps and put a warm feeling in his shaking stomach.

Keith’s struggles grew stronger the closer they got to the water, forcing Shiro to swing Keith’s in front of his chest to be able to hold him there with both his arms.

Keith’s fists drummed against Shiro’s forearms, as the pilot reached the shore and took a few steps into the water. How Shiro managed to stay strong enough to hold him like that with all his laughter was a freaking mystery to the paladin of the red lion. „Enough with the violence,“ Shiro chuckled, „Time to cool your head!“

Keith’s knees were pulled up to his chest and he was eagerly trying to keep himself in that pulled up position by wrapping his hands around Shiro’s head behind him and holding on. „I DON’T THINK SO!!“

„Oh, but you will let go,“ Shiro growled, a playful tone to his voice that made Keith’s stomach drop.

„YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!“

„Ah, Keith, you really bring this upon yourself,“ Shiro chuckled and kept his metal arm wrapped around Keith’s middle, the other suddenly dangerously unoccupied and close to his side and ribs and this was when it clicked, but too late.

„SHIRO WAIT-“ Keith shouted out in panic, trying to pull himself up higher to get away, but it was to no use. Shiro’s fingers were already squeezing his side and making their way up and hell on earth, it tickled so much, Keith had never thought anything could tickle this much.

Any plans for holding back his giggles were diminished immediately, as he broke out into hysterical squeals and deep uncontrollable laughter, twitching around like a fish as Shiro’s fingers were crawling up his side, over his ribs and right in the center of his exposed armpit. He really meant to keep his hands behind Shiro’s head, pulling at his hair to keep from being dropped. But forget that, he couldn’t take this without fighting back. It felt like Shiro was tickling him with twenty fingers at least where he was only using five and it wasn’t fair and it led to Keith’s unavoidable fate.

„SHHIHIIHRO NOHOOO PLEEEHEHEHEASE!!“

„I won’t stop until you let go!!“

„BUT THEN YOU’LL DROOHOHOP MEE!!“

„Beach rules, Keith. You are obligated to have fun!“

One last arch in Shiro’s arm, then Keith couldn’t stand it anymore and he tore his arms down, trying to push Shiro’s assaulting hand as far away from his ticklish torso as possible, when it was already time for a dive in the waves of Basoria.

Keith shrieked, when Shiro’s arms suddenly stopped holding him, honest to God shrieked - as if he’d needed any more embarrassment in front of the others. The cold water caught him quite gently though. There were no burns at the impact of the water, there was no water shooting up his nose. There was just a nice feeling of floating around and having his hair fly around his head.

He welcomed the feeling happily. But only for a few seconds. Then his wish for revenge grew too strong and he speedily made his way back up to the surface. He managed to find a stand on the sandy underground, the water up to his chest where it had been up to Shiro’s waist.

Shiro. With narrowed eyes and wet hair clinging to his forehead he saw Shiro quickly making his way deeper into the water, looking over his shoulder, laughing breathlessly.

„OH YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!! JUST YOU WAIT TIL I GET YOU BACK!“

Shiro almost slipped from laughter at Keith’s bubbly attempts oto swim after him, completely out of breath, but fueled with the desire to give him a taste of his own medicine.

In the meantime Pidge was busy climbing on top of Hunk’s shoulders in her soaked shirt, where she held on to Hunk’s hair with one hand, pointing at Shiro with the other and letting out a war cry that would have scared away Galrans. „FUGITIVE ON THE RUN! GO GET HIM! AID OUR TORTURED FRIEND!!!“

Keith almost sunk under the surface from his surprised laughter. He hadn’t expected the others to come to help him. They liked to watch Shiro tickle him into madness during sparring matches rather comfortably. But this. Maybe this was also part of the beach rules. Everyone against the strongest one. It seemed like a good rule to Keith.

Shiro on the other hand was barely able to bring much more distance between himself and the others as panicked laughter started to slow him down. Lance was gaining on him, as Hunk grabbed Pidge from his shoulders and used all his strength to throw her in Shiro’s direction, getting her closer to him as well.

Shiro thought it clever apparently to change tactics and stopped swimming in the one direction to make his way in the other one now.

Keith had to chuckle as he heard Shiro’s breathless gasps for air get closer. Alright, if this was a fun time at the beach he was sold. Now they only had to catch him.

„YOU GUYS, THIS ISN’T FAIR!!“ Shiro shouted, smiling widely as Pidge and Lance were getting awfully close.

„BEACH RULES!!“ Keith yelled as he too was getting closer to Shiro who was trying to make his way to the shore to be able to run away. He’d be way too fast for the other paladins if he managed to reach it. They couldn’t let him get away.

„Oh no, you will NOT!!“ Lance exclaimed passionately as Shiro was stumbling to his feet in the ankle high water. The plue paladin took a large dive and actually managed to pull Shiro down with a splash. The two of them rolled over in the warm part of the water, Shiro breathless from laughter already while Lance was yelling almost as loud as Pidge had before.

„You did it, Lance!“ Keith cheered as he too got to his feet in the low water, throwing himself on top of the other two. Shiro groaned with laughter at the additional weight and tried to push the two of them off of him.

„Now, just wait a second, just wait…“ Another weight took away Shiro’s breath as Hunk dropped down on top of Keith, slowly but successfully building a sandwich.

„We have him! Do we have him?“ Hunk spluttered and looked at his two friends underneath himself. Keith held up a thumb, despite the lack of air.

„We’ve got him! You guys are the best!!“

Pidge arrived with a wide smile on her face and was a bit reluctant to putting herself on top of the three boys as well. She didn’t have to anyway. Instead she dropped down next to Shiro’s face and grinned at him evilly.

„Ha, you didn’t see that coming, did you?“

Shiro glared at her, still out of breath, but he just couldn’t keep it up and a soft, playful expression was back on his face again in no time. „I guess Voltron’s bond must be really strong already. Just don’t lose your head in the process…“

All four of them groaned inexplicably loud at this bad pun and Pidge felt no sympathy for him in the slightest as she told the other three to give him hell just for that. Even though he was pretty doomed in his current position. He couldn’t move out from underneath the three boys and all of them put their hands to good use some place on his tall upper body. Hunk was pinching his sides, as Keith worked his hands under his arms and Lance immediately used his position for good access to Shiro’s ribs.

Pidge was blessed with the picture of Shiro throwing his head back in ticklish agony, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth opened in the brightest smile, as beautiful laughter was shooting out of him.

He couldn’t fight off six hands with just two and Keith enjoyed strongly making him laugh this hard, especially with the aid of his friends. He could tell that Shiro was very fine with them having their fun like this and it warmed Keith’s heart that Shiro was so selfless and soft in every situation. He looked at Shiro throwing his head from side to side, shaking with incessant giggles and trying to arch his back against the overwhelming sensations and he just knew that Shiro would never stop doing whatever it took to make him happy and have fun despite the times they were living in.

He knew that there was no „Voltron losing their head“. Shiro’s love was the starting point of all bonding among the paladins. He was the heart of the group.

Keith certainly knew that. And the others would at the very latest agree now that Shiro’s determination had managed to connect all paladins in having fun together.

[pidgydraws]

The way you DRAW yourself.... I'm speechless. I've never seen an artist to draw themselves so much and so cute.

I love it.

I also love your artstyle.

Looking forward to you opening your commissions again.

Keep up the awesome work.

-Biscuit💜

AH~!!! (>/// w///<) thank you so much! you're too sweet! honestly, i especially love making them right now since they let me pretend like i still have colored hair (T w T) when really, i haven't dyed it since early in the pandemic.

i'm so blond! who is this!? lol lol lol

i've been drawing my little doodles since back in 2016 when i first started my blog! i know i passed 400 of them at some point... it could be over 500 by now!? maybe even more!? i can't possibly remember... and the files aren't on this computer. (^ ___^) but they've sure changed a lot over time!

that's the first ever doodle-Pidge! (using my little wacom tablet!)

this one's from early 2018!

and now...

drawing them in color used to feel impossible, but i've gotten a bit faster over time and was finally able to get a screen tablet, which also really helped. i often find it hard to communicate my emotions on the internet? so i love that drawing myself and using the sort of typed language that feels good to me really helps me feel more understood. and if other people enjoy it too, all the better!

as for commissions, i'm hoping to have them open in a month or so. and maybe this time i should make an option for doodles like these??? well, whatever happens (-^ ___^-) thanks for inspiring this little trip down memory lane! 💙

[actress4him]

Bonus Whumptober Content Part 2

Original Whumptober fic here

Bonus Content Part 1 here

Find it all on AO3 here

.

Thanks for all of the support on the last chapter! I appreciate each and every one of the likes and reblogs and follows I’ve gotten.

Tagging @outtacommission again because Keith would not have been resurrected from the dead without his bribery.

Here is chapter 3 of this fic... see you next week for the conclusion!

.

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: referenced amputation, blood mention, referenced broken bones, self-esteem issues, suicide ideation, death mention, nightmares, abandonment issues

.

When he woke again, he was lying back down on the pillow, staring up at the blank white ceiling. For one, blissful moment, he didn’t remember the events leading up to him passing out again. But it all came crashing down on him an instant later, taking his breath away.

My leg.

My leg, my leg.

My arm, my face, my leg.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice was quiet, tentative. Not like him. “Are you awake?”

He wanted to roll over on his side and ignore him. Close his eyes, maybe go back to sleep, pretend that the world and this nightmare didn’t exist for a little while longer. The only reason he refrained was because he wasn’t sure if his stupid, wrecked body could actually manage it.

“What did you do to me?” It was only a whisper, and as slurred as it was, he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was impossible to understand.

Shiro’s breath hitched audibly. If Keith had been looking at his face, he was sure he wouldn’t like the anguished expression that he would see there. But at that moment, he didn’t have the capacity to care.

“Do you want me to...explain...how it...happened?”

No. Yes. He didn’t know. He needed to know why him losing a leg had been the best option, but at the same time he wasn’t sure if he could handle hearing about it. In the end, he just lifted one shoulder - the one that actually listened and responded right away - in a shrug. 

Shiro shifted in his seat, leaning forward so just the tip of his white bangs were in Keith’s periphery. “I already told you that you...died. On that planet. So when we got back to the Castle, you dying again was a distinct possibility. We...it’s like Fallenta said. We had to get you into a pod, even though your...your left arm was broken, and your knees, especially, were a mess from where the console landed on them.”

He paused, rubbing his palms together. “We didn’t know what would happen. I was scared to death that some of those breaks wouldn’t be able to be fixed after the pod. I mean, we were headed to Tellima, but…” His head dropped. “We had no choice. That hole in your stomach...you were dying.”

Keith could almost imagine it - the frantic atmosphere in the infirmary, the blood everywhere, the desperate conversations escalating into shouts as they debated on what to do. He had no doubt that he really had been dying, that they had made the choice they thought was best. He just wasn’t sure if he agreed with that choice. 

“When you came out of the pod, once the stomach wound was healed enough for you to be stable, Fallenta started working on re-breaking the bones so that they could be set correctly. It was...awful.” The shudder was obvious in his voice. “I’m glad she was able to do it, of course, but I’m also glad that you were unconscious the whole time. Your arm was relatively easy. Your left knee...it took her hours. It was in so many tiny little pieces. And your right…”

Automatically Keith flinched at the reminder of what was no longer there. Of the scarred, chopped off stump that lay just underneath the blanket, and the way his leg just...ended. He could see the void where the rest of it should have been even now, if he were to look down. He was purposely avoiding it.

Shiro heaved a huge sigh. “Unfortunately, your right knee was shattered in a way that had been blocking the circulation in your lower leg the whole time. The tissue down there was...dead.” He paused again. “Keith, I’ve...trust me, I’ve gone ‘round and ‘round in my head ever since we...trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently. And...I don’t think there was. We did what we had to do to save your life. I’m just...I’m sorry that we couldn’t save your leg, too.”

His leg was gone. 

Would he ever be able to walk again? Could they find a prosthetic for him like Shiro had, that worked as well as the real thing? Even if they did, how long would it take him to get used to walking on it? Just walking, not even counting anything like running, jumping, fighting. 

Fighting was what he did. It was the one and only thing besides flying that he was good at. He was crap with a gun, he couldn’t sit up in a sniper’s nest like Lance. He needed to be able to move. If he couldn’t, even just for the time that it took to learn how with a new leg and an arm that only half worked...

They’d replace him. What good was a paladin who was crippled? Who couldn’t pull his weight? As soon as Red woke up and found out what happened to him she would realize that he was useless now. And the Princess, the rest of the team...they already knew it. They were probably already looking for a new Red Paladin. How long would it be until they dropped him off on Earth, or on some Coalition planet? Probably as soon as he was healed enough. They didn’t have time to keep taking care of an invalid, they had a universe to save.

They did. Not him. Not anymore.

“Should’ve left me there.”

There was dead silence for a moment.

“What?”

Keith tipped his head back further into the pillow, eyes roving over the featureless ceiling as if he’d see something new. “I tol’ you not to come. I tol’ you to leave me there. You didn’t listen.”

“And now you’re alive.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Keith…”

His hands fisted in the blanket, jaw clenched in sudden fury. “Don’t ‘Keith’ me. Why, Shiro? Why am I alive? What is the point? You know what all this means.”

It meant he’d be alone. And he couldn’t...he couldn’t do alone. Not again. Not when he found a group of people that he actually cared about for the first time in so long. Not when he was just finally getting used to always having people around, always having someone to talk to or distract him from the thoughts that tried to consume him. Not when he barely survived it the first time. 

He’d rather be dead than alone.

Shiro sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “That life is gonna be hard for a while? That you’re gonna have to work harder than ever to get back to where you were? Yeah, Keith, I do know. I know more than anyone else.”

Oh.

Shiro must think he was so incredibly self-centered.

He was self-centered.

He should have thought about how acting like losing a leg was worse than dying would seem to the man who had lost an arm and kept going. But instead he was all caught up in how he was going to lose everything he had grown to love and rely on. Acting like the self-absorbed brat that everyone at the Garrison except Shiro had accused him of being.

“That means I also know how hard it is to accept,” Shiro was saying. “It’s going to take time to adjust. But you will, I promise, and I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

Yeah, right. Keith didn’t know if he was lying to make him feel better, or if he just hadn’t yet realized or accepted that Allura and the rest of the team wouldn’t want to keep him around.

“Just...please, Keith. Please don’t say that we should have let you die. You don’t know…” His voice caught. “I’ve spent these last weeks hoping, praying that you would live. Scared out of my mind every moment of every day that you wouldn’t.”

Keith finally forced himself to turn his head toward his brother and saw him brush the back of his wrist across his eyes. Just that movement was enough to make his heart drop to his stomach. Shiro didn’t cry. At least not where anyone could see him. 

Slowly, he slid his hand out across the bed, palm up. A peace offering. It took only a moment for Shiro to take it, squeezing it so hard he thought a few more bones might break.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. And he was. Not for thinking it, but for saying it. He didn’t want to cause any more pain for any of his friends. 

That’s why when it was time for him to go, he’d do it quietly. No fuss. Don’t let them see your fear or your pain - he had learned that long, long ago. He was good at it. 

Shiro gave him a shaky smile. “It’ll be alright, Keith. I promise.”

Swallowing down the words that sprang to his tongue, he gave a nod. “Okay.”

.

.

The next morning Keith woke up to an empty room. In a way, it was a relief. They obviously didn’t see the need to watch over him and baby him twenty-four-seven anymore. But he was, for all intents and purposes, stuck. With no leg, he couldn’t just get up and leave the room whenever he wanted, head to the training room like he normally would in the morning. There’d be no training for him for a long time. 

Of course there was breakfast to think about, too, and he wasn’t sure whether to expect someone to bring it to him, or to bring him to it. Either way, he hated it. He had always hated being treated like he was helpless, and now it was even worse because he actually was helpless. 

He went ahead and made up his mind, though. No matter what their plan was, he had no desire to be carried through the Castle to the dining room where everyone would give him those looks of pity. Poor Keith. Can’t even walk by himself. It’s just too bad he can’t stay.

He was in the midst of pushing himself up off the pillows, trying to get his right side to cooperate long enough to get in an upright position he could balance in and trying to ignore the strange lightness of his leg, when the door opened and Pidge slipped in.

“Hey,” she said softly. Padding over, she perched carefully on the edge of the chair that first Hunk, then Shiro had occupied. 

Tucking his left leg up close to him - the knee creaking in protest at being used for the first time since healing - Keith cleared his throat. “Hi.” 

Silence fell, but it had never been awkward between the two. The introverted arms of Voltron. Pidge just gazed at him for a long moment, her eyes saying all the things he knew she would never actually be able to say with words. “It’s good to see you awake. I was really worried about you.” 

On the outside, she merely shoved her glasses back up into the bridge of her nose and sniffed. “You better not quiznakin’ ever do that again.”

Keith’s lips turned up at the corners for the first time since waking the day before. “Alright.” 

Besides Shiro, he thought he would miss Pidge the most of all. They got each other more than anyone else.

“So.” Straightening up, she whipped a tablet out of her hoodie pocket. “We’ve been working on a leg for you. The Tellimites have crazy good medical technology, so obviously we’re using their notes, but I’ve also been talking back and forth with the Olkari, because they’re, of course, crazy good with biological connections, and we’ve come up with a design that should communicate really well with your body and, essentially, work like the real thing.”

She launched into a detailed scientific explanation of how every inch of it worked, tapping and flicking through various diagrams that just looked like a plain prosthetic leg to him. He didn’t understand but a few words here and there, but he let her talk. This was one of her passions, and it was nice to let her be able to ramble about it for once without having to worry about being rushed. The way her face lit up was worth every second.

“So...what do you think?” Suddenly she sounded uncertain as she blinked up at him. “We definitely want your input on it. I mean, I suggested putting in a rocket booster, but Hunk pointed out that it would be difficult to control with only one. Lance wanted to add lasers that shot out anytime you stomped your foot, but that seemed pretty dangerous for like, running and stuff, so…”

It almost sounded like they expected him to still be fighting with this thing. Well, maybe he would. Eventually. After all, he wouldn’t feel right about just ignoring the existence of the war when the people he cared about were still out there fighting it, so he’d do his best to get back into shape. Maybe he could convince them to find a Coalition planet for him that had soldiers he could fight with someday.

It wouldn’t be the same as fighting with this team, his...his friends. But at least he wouldn’t be completely useless.

He met Pidge’s eyes and realized she was still waiting on an answer from him. Part of him wanted to keep his words to a minimum, not wanting her to hear his new speech impediment, but he swallowed his pride. “It, uh...whatever you guys come up with I’m sure will be great.” He actually hadn’t even been sure whether to expect them to work on it themselves, or put it off on the Tellimites or some other able species. It made sense, though, that Pidge and Hunk would want to jump on this opportunity to design something they had never gotten to do before. He forced a small smile. “But...yeah, let’s hold off on weaponizing it.”

Smirking, Pidge turned off the tablet and stuck it back in her pocket. “Alright, if you insist. Lance is gonna be super disappointed, though.”

“I’m sure.” He could hear the whining and complaining about how boring and unimaginative he was now. 

“So, I was supposed to ask you about breakfast…?”

Keith stared down at his hands. “Oh. Yeah. I don’...think I’m really ready to...try to move around yet, so…”

He was such a bad liar. But Pidge either didn’t notice or was being nice and pretending not to, merely nodding and standing. 

“Okay. I’ll tell Shiro, he’ll probably bring you a plate down here.”

“Thanks, Pidge.”

She turned back from the doorway and smiled softly at him. “No problem.”

.

.

The nightmares came that night.

And the next. And the next.

Snippets of things he didn’t remember during the day, and wouldn’t remember again when he woke. Alarms blaring. Lights flashing. A horrifying crunching sound, then crippling pain and a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

And then...nothing. No one came. No one heard him calling. He stayed there, alone and bleeding in the dark, until the pain became too much and he slipped away.

He woke with tears streaming down his cheeks and a scream on his lips that didn’t quite make it out into the still air of the infirmary, not knowing what he was even crying about other than the nauseating loneliness that weighed him down, pinning him to the bed. 

Forcing his right hand to be the one to clumsily scrub away the tears - because it was going to work, dang it - he gritted his teeth and pushed against the weight to flop over onto his side. 

Get over it. Get over it, get used to it, stop being such a baby. You’ve always known that this wouldn’t last. It’s a miracle they’ve stuck around for as long as they have. If you try to hang onto them they’ll just end up hating you before they leave. 

.

.

He got away with hiding in the infirmary for two days before Fallenta declared him well enough to be up and about, and Shiro and Allura showed up with the Altean version of crutches. They escorted him slowly down the halls of the Castle to the dining room, chatting amiably the whole way. Keith assumed it was meant to either distract him from his plight, or to keep themselves from staring and pitying.

“Hey, look who finally decided to join us!” Lance announced loudly as soon as he hobbled into the room. “It’s about time you were out of bed, Mullet-head.”

“What Lance means,” Hunk sighed, “is that it’s good to see you up, Keith.”

“That it is, Number Four!” Coran rushed to pull out his usual seat, and his smile was so bright Keith couldn’t even be mad about the special treatment. “You had us all worried for a while there, for sure!”

Swallowing, Keith fiddled with his spork, unsure whether he was supposed to respond. “Um...yeah. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Keith.” Shiro smiled at him softly, knowingly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He just barely kept another ‘sorry’ from escaping. Instead he nodded, picked up his spork with his left hand, and changed the subject. “So, uh...wha’s been going on lately?”

That was all it took for everyone to launch into tales of short missions in the Lions, repairs on Red, and alliances with Tellima. Keith barely remembered to keep eating his goo as he watched all of the animated faces and gesturing hands with a small smile on his face. It was good to be back among his teammates. They were so unlike him in so many ways, it was no wonder that he had never really fit in with them. But he cared about them anyway. They might not feel the same way about him, but he was so glad that they had become a part of his life. 

And now they wouldn’t be anymore. Scowling down into his bowl where no one would notice, he poked at the green goo. How did I let myself get so attached? Before Shiro, it had been many, many years since he had let himself care about anyone this much. He should have known better by then. Letting himself come to consider any person or place home was just setting himself up for heartbreak.

As much as he loved spending this last bit of time with them, he almost wished they would stop acting so natural, as if they weren’t getting ready to kick him out any day now. No one mentioned a search for a new paladin. No one said whether they were headed to Earth, or some other planet. 

He wasn’t going to be able to stand the suspense for many more days. They needed to just get it over with.

.

Later that night, after waking from another nightmare back in his own room, Keith stared at the bare walls, so lifeless compared to the other paladin’s rooms. Maybe I was always prepared for this moment, after all. Or maybe he had just been kicked out and left behind so many times that the ability to settle in was impossible for him no matter where he went. 

Struggling to sit up, he groped for the crutches and pulled himself to his feet. He wasn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon, and no one had expressly forbidden him from venturing out on his own - not that it would have stopped him even if they had.

It took far too long to make it down the four hallways between his room and Red’s hangar. Walking with crutches used a whole new set of muscles that he wasn’t used to accessing, and trying to force his right side to carry that much weight was exhausting. He had to stop and lean against the wall, panting for breath, several times along the way. 

But he made it, eventually. He paused once more outside the door, debating whether or not he was actually ready to see the damage done to Red, before he sucked it up and punched the scanner.

He wasn’t ready. 

The great mechanical beast was lying on her side, a position that somehow managed to make her look vulnerable despite her hulking size. Her legs were splayed awkwardly as if she had just been dropped there. She probably had.

The worst part, though, was that her face was nearly unrecognizable. What had once been her muzzle was completely smashed in, there were spiderweb cracks across one of her dull grey eyes, and the other was missing altogether. 

Actually, he took that back. The worst part was the cold and the silence. 

No purr in his head to greet him. No eyes lighting up in recognition of her Paladin. No warmth filling up his chest and spreading out to his fingers and toes. With Red, there was always some kind of heat. Now, though, a shiver shook his body.

Clenching his jaw, Keith forced himself a few steps closer, until he could reach out, balancing precariously, and lay a hand against her warped, dented nose. It was cold, too. 

Suddenly tears sprang to his eyes for the first time since his panic attack a couple of days before. “‘m sorry, Red.” He stroked his hand over the metal, feeling all of the bumps that shouldn’t have been there. “I’m sorry this happened to you. You didn’t deserve it. You...you’ve always protected me, and…”

Tipping his head back, he took in the mess of a cockpit again, and this time he saw flashes of his nightmare. Something sharp pinning him to the chair. Blood dripping onto the floor.

One tear escaped, sliding rapidly down to his chin. “I don’t even know how I survived this. But if either of us deserved to survive, it’s you. Please, Red...if you can hear me at all...please don’t give up. I know I...I can’t fly you anymore, but…”

It hit him then, the brutal truth of that statement. He’d never fly her again. He might never fly anything again. He’d known it ever since finding out what had happened to him, but now it stabbed him through the heart, how much he was going to miss this semi-sentient alien ship. 

Before he knew it, he was falling none-too-gracefully to the floor, one hand planted in front of him while the other remained on her snout, crutches clattering loudly to the side. The tears came in earnest, then. “Red...Red I lost my leg. I...I can’t fight anymore, I can’t fly…I’m useless.”

He’d told her that before. That time, though, she had reassured him that no, he was her Paladin, he was a defender of the universe, not useless. Never useless.

But now there was no one to reassure him. Even if she had been able, Red would know the truth. He wasn’t her Paladin anymore, he wasn’t a defender of the universe. He was useless.

Next

[stressedsnake]

Twenty questions

"Keith, I'm sorry...he just lost a lot of blood" He could barely hear Coran over his heart thumping in his chest.Lance couldn't be gone, no,he'd promised, he'd promised that he would stay.God no please, lance couldn't leave him, please. Keith collapsed onto the chair, he couldn't breathe, he could feel allura's eyes on him but he couldn't bring himself to care anymore because Lance was dead.

"Thwack"

"Kogane, hey Keith, hey-hey look at me," His eyes shot open, he exhaled shakily, trying failing to calm himself down.

"Hey Keith, look at me buddy "Lance's gentle voice pierced through his panic, wait no Lance was dead.

"It was only a nightmare Kogane, breath shh-shhh" The latino's hands cupped his face, calming him down slightly.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" His senses were clearing, he could feel Lance's hands travel away from his face, he could see his bunker. He turned his head, he was sitting on the bed and Lance was kneeling on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I know we're not supposed to come into each other's rooms without permission but red wanted me to check on you, so I came in and you were crying in your sleep and I panick-" "Thankyou" "I'm so- Wait a second did you just thank me for slapping you?"

"...Maybe"

Lance cracked a smile, fidgeting a little he was clearly uncomfortable but too proud to ask to sit on the bed. "I don't think the floor's that comfortable, why don't you come up here?"Keith asked shyly.

"I'm fine, you need space.Really i-" "Lance, it's fine."Keith bit back a laugh at the other's surprise "Thanks" He brought a hand to his neck, climbing onto the bed.

They sat like that for a few minutes, the silence wasn't awkward but it wasn't all that comfortable either.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about?""Hmm?" "The nightmare, what was it about?" Keith sat very still for a few seconds,trying to figure out a way to tell him without telling him.

"It was about someone I care about. In it they, well they died." "Oh, I'm sorry those are the worst ones." "You've had them before?" Keith sat up a little straighter, and moved a little closer to the other boy. "Yeah, they're about my family dying or this one person." By the end of the sentence, Keith could see a light dusting of pink across his face.

"This person seems really important to you." It was probably Allura, he leaned forward, leaving barely any distance between him and Lance. Surprised by his own boldness, he leaned away slightly, and maybe he was just seeing things due to his utter lack of sleep but he could swear he saw a hint of disappointment cross Lance's face.

"Yeah, they are." He smiled, relaxing his head against the wall.They, he didn't say she, maybe Pidge?Keith stared at him, as though his face would reveal this person. In his pursuit for answers, he ended up noticing the way Lance's lips parted, how angular his jaw was and how his Adam's apple bobbed when he spoke and oh god he was saying something.

"Keith buddy, you listening?" "Sorry, what were you saying?" "I was saying that we should probably get some sleep."He smiled, getting off the bed.

He toed on his slippers and grabbed his robe, only when he was at the door did Keith realise that he was going to leave.

"Lance, do you want to stay?" Keith grabbed his arm, “It’s cold today and I can’t have my right hand man getting sick can I?” He let go of his arm and stepped back. “Yeah,but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for a little bit and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Lance brought a hand to the base of his neck playing with the ends of his hair.

“I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping anytime soon either.” Keith chuckled awkwardly and leant against the wall. "Well if you're not gonna sleep and I'm not gonna sleep, we could play a game!"Some of Lance's regular enthusiasm started to peek through.

"Fine, what do you want to play?"Keith smiled as Lance's eyes widened "I didn't think you would actually say yes!"

"I always love to see how much you believe in me” ''Well you're always the one who complains about the team bonding exercises!" "that's because YOU NEVER REMEMBER THEM" "It was one time keef, one fucking time"The Latino laughed.

Keith stared, he marvelled at the way Lance's eyes glittered when he laughed , it was a low musical thing that made you want to join in. Standing there in his room he realised two things. One:he was definitely in love with lance and two, his legs were falling asleep.

"But seriously we should probably sit down and play something."Lance's words were fast and excited like he couldn’t hold them in any longer. “Fine, what are we playing?” Keith stretched his hands above his head, trying to wake his body up.

“Ever played 20 questions?” Lance bit his lip, his eyes lighting up with excitement. His eyes were gorgeous, why hadn’t Keith noticed this before? It wasn’t like he didn’t stare at him all the time.

“We’re not twelve year olds at a sleepover Lance.” The red paladin rolled his eyes. “Aren’t we?” “Fine, I guess we’re playing Twenty questions now.” He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. It totally wasn’t to stop himself from pushing a strand of hair away from Lance's eyes.

“Ok first, did you actually shave Admiral Gangler’s eyebrows?” Lance started the game. “WHAT?! SOMEBODY SHAVED OFF GANGLER’S EYEBROWS?” “Yeah, the day after you were booted, he showed up at the academy eyebrowless.” “Seriously?” Keith laughed, he tried to imagine the old scrooge without his eyebrows which only made him laugh harder.

“Oh man, I’m sorry I missed it.” “You should be, what were you thinking, getting yourself kicked out?” “Hey!One question at a time!”Keith exclaimed, surprised that his voice came out as steady as it did. The Garrison was still a sore spot for him.

“Speaking of which….” “Fine. Who is this mystery person?” He wanted to know. Bad. It had taken guts but here they were, Keith staring at Lance’s red face. “Ah-ah-ah how does the saying go again?Curiosity killed the cat?” “But satisfaction brought it back.” He bit back a smirk, it wasn’t going to help his case.

“I’m gonna pass on this question.” “I don’t think that’s how the game works, Mclain.” Shiro was right in calling him a stubborn bastard. “Hmm and where’s the rulebook?” Lance took two brave steps closer, and Keith was pretty sure he was going to spontaneously combust if he got any closer. But Lance didn’t seem to notice, and took another step. “Very inconsiderate of him” A voice in his head noted.

“Shut it.” Why hadn’t he noticed that the logical part of his brain sounded oh so much like Shiro? “You don’t have to answer the question.” He was cornered.

“Nonono, now I want to.” Mclain stepped even closer, their lips were almost touching now and a guilty spark of excitement lit up his heart. “He likes someone else, he’s just playing with you keith.” There was the shiro voice again.

Listening to it for once he stepped back, effectively pinning himself against the wall. When had it sprung up there? The excitement was quickly taken over by nervous energy, suddenly he was hyper aware of all his imperfections.

“It���s you. Always has been, always will be” Eight words, it took eight words for Lance to wash away all his doubts and make him forget his own name.

“This was stupid, I should go.” The latino stepped back and Keith immediately missed the smell of cinnamon and coffee. Lance turned around awkwardly, his robe falling a little.

“Wait lance!” Keith impulsively grabbed his hand and lo and behold, they were kissing.

He didn’t know what to do with his hands, lance’s had migrated immediately to the back of his neck, his own hung awkwardly by his side until they decided that the small of Lance’s back was a good place to rest. After a bit the need for air was too great and the two pulled away.

“We should play more often.”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

**Cultivating Love**45**

Leaving the sanctum, their group picked their way through the building. Sanda bound and gagged, then hidden away so as not to slow them down. Splitting off with Iverson, Keith worried over Krolia. His mother had some kind of a plan and her own agenda, and frankly Keith had hoped Krolia would have stayed with them to protect Allura and Pidge. Allura hadn’t mastered Blue, let alone attempted any form of training. Pidge had Green and plenty of spirit, but her talents lacked experience. She lacked the same level as he, Shiro, and Lance… not that any of them were any form of expert at being held hostage within the royal palace complex under a barrier made of sheer evil. Iverson would have been handy too, he knew the palace layout better than Keith did, especially when all the corridors looked the same.

Despite being certain they were retracing their steps, when it came to it, Keith found them exiting the building onto the top of a wall. The long walkway running the whole length of the complex horizontally, with the upper gatehouse in the centre of it. The torches all extinguished, yet the whole world outside glowed as if daylight, only dyed purple instead due to the barrier.

“Did we mean to come out here?”

Keith mentally thanked Hunk for voicing the same question he’d had. Shiro nodding as if he’d planned it all along

“Iverson mentioned it. This way we can see from above as they scope below. There should be access to the roof from here”

Keith seemed to be the only one not knowing what was going… He’d missed Shiro conversing with Iverson, but then again, he’d been watching Lance. He’d gone and gotten scared again when he’d vanished with Sendak, only for Allura to be able to detect the pocket dimension. He’d been scared it’d been the mermaid palace all over again… and now his pride was bruised.

Pidge moved ahead of him, keeping herself small as she ducked out onto the walkway, then looked up. Forgetting to pay attention, Keith grabbed her by the arm and pulled back into the shadows before she got herself caught, causing Pidge to scratch the back of her head sheepishly as she explained

“We’ll need to climb if we want to get up. I’m sure the emperor has a very good reason for having no convenient ladders up, but one sure would have been handy. What do we do? There‘ll be nowhere to hide until we’re on the other side of the roof. Do we risk the walk way? Or should we wait here to see what happens next?”

They all turned to Shiro, Shiro pinching the bridge of his nose

“Iverson made it sound clearer. It would be good to have eyes both sides, as well as below. Lance has already been in one fight, and they know both his and Keith’s energy… They probably know the rest of ours. I would prefer we not split our forces, yet we do need to assess what they are planning. We know the spell in the sanctum is ready to go at any moment. We still haven’t set eyes on Lotor. Lance, you mentioned that you had guards when in the demon realm?”

Lance nodded quickly

“Three. Well, technically four. The forth didn’t show her face much so I never got a really picture of what her capabilities were. If we assume that they’re all here, plus Lotor, Zarkon, and most probably Zarkon’s wife… plus they’ll probably have an army of their own making if they’re making a move against the emperor, I’m not so keen to split our forces. We also don’t know if they’ve set traps along the walk way, or whom else Zarkon brought in. Even with his strength, he would have needed cultivators placed around the palace to form that large of a barrier all at once. We could form a distraction, though that would be what they are obviously waiting for. They’ve already begun executing people in the terrace…”

Keith hadn’t wanted to mention that. Though Sendak was dead, the delay had led to death. Not that they could have prevented it. Shiro let his hand drop

“Alright. Lance, you go with Pidge and Hunk. Keith, you, Allura, and myself will head upwards. Once you get to the other side, try to find a reflective surface. We’ll do the same this side”

Keith instantly objected

“No. Zarkon is the king of watching. Lance was watched in his own home through the use of mirrors. We can’t split up on the off chance we can find a way to communicate. We should stay together instead of acting recklessly”

Shiro looked impressed, Keith resisting the urge to kick him in the shin. He may be the king of acting recklessly, yet even he knew splitting up without a clear plan was not the best course of action. From the back of the group, Allura piped up

“Actually, I have an idea. Pidge can create illusions. Well, Shiro, do you still have your coin purse?”

Shiro seemed clueless to, feeling around his robes until he pulled it out

“Great. You’ve got Lance’s mask in there. I’m sorry, Lance, I only just remembered it. I saw Shiro had placed it down when we first went to meet with you and picked it up. That’s why I grabbed it from my room when we were rushing, then I forgot again. Please don’t be mad at him… anyway, if Zarkon is planning on bringing an army in, then it’d be demonic… yet it would be expected. It may not buy us much time, yet if Pidge were to create a small army…”

Hunk picked up where she trailed off

“Then they would think that Zarkon had ordered it and relax thinking things were moving into the next part of their scheme”

While the pair were looking at each other enthusiastically, Keith looked to Lance. He’d forgotten about Lance’s fox mask. It was charred around the edges, kind of mostly black now, and probably not at all what Lance remembered. He wasn’t mad at Shiro for forgetting either with the stress of the situation. Lance’s eyes went wide at the news

“You have my mask? I thought it was gone forever”

He had to confess. Keith clapping his hands together and bowing his head

“Lance… I’m so sorry. I burned it… I wasn’t in my right mind when I thought you’d die and I’m sorry”

“It can’t be that bad. Can I have it? It doesn’t feel right not having it now that I know it’s not destroyed. I thought I would have to carve a new one?”

Keith cringed hard internally, scrunching his eyes closed as Shiro pulled the mask out. When there was no yelling, he opened his right eye, Lance frowning heavily at the blackened mask in his hand, before catching him peaking

“You and I will be talking about this, but I’m more than relieved to have it again. I know you love the colour black, yet no more burning things with that mood of yours”

“You’re not mad?”

Lance sighed heavily

“Oh, I’m mad. This mask means so much to me, yet I would rather it burned then you lost to corruption, fool. I guess it’s fitting it’s black now, seeing I did kind of get a wee bit tainted. Pidge, you and me, think of that night with the bandits, but let’s kick it right up”

Bandits. Bandits. Why did that sound vaguely familiar? Keith huffing as he corrected his posture

“You and me are going to be talking about that. Plus, we didn’t decide that we were goi be to create a distraction”

Hunk sighed heavily, reaching out to pat Keith’s shoulder

“Give it up. Once they have their minds set, these two won’t easily be dissuaded. Pidge, please don’t tell me…”

Pidge was already in planning mode, her smile bright and eyes mischievous

“Demon children”

Hunk groaned, his arm dropping

“Always the demon children. Can’t we simply have a nice mindless army of beasts? Or something cute?”

Pidge tilted her head

“Mice? Rabbits? Birds?”

Lance elbowed Pidge’s side. Keith noticing him struggling to get his mask into place with the new ribbon on it. He recognised it as offcuts from Shiro’s. Shifting, Lance growled as he reached for the mask, Keith shooting him a very pointed look, causing him to give up and let Keith help as Lance teased Pidge

“No summoning up small prey. You’ll get distracted. No. Demon children will not be enough. Think of absolutely anything you’ve ever wanted to try and let loose. We’ll start when we’ve reached the middle gatehouse. Hunk, your job will be to make sure we remember to duck”

“We’re talking massive aren’t we? Because I’ve got a big idea”

Keith sighed heavily as Lance’s mask was finally tied into place and he had to force himself not to grab Lance and shake him

“Are we forgetting Lance used nearly all his energy?”

“Keith, I’m fine. Plus, look, I have my mask back. Thanks to your temper tantrum it’s still got some of your residual energy within, and I was healed by Shiro. Pidge and I are best for this task, so watch what we can do”

It was no good. Keith did not like Lance’s mask. It made him look utterly evil, when compared to the high shine Lance kept on it when it was white. Cracking her knuckles, Pidge nodded

“I’ve got a plan that will make them scream. You all have to do your part and make sure you don’t get caught”

He was ganged up on, and thinking too much with his heart. He couldn’t protest Lance being with Pidge and Hunk, that would insulting the pair of them, and he knew Shiro had split the teams to give them their best chances

“Alright. Good luck. Let’s make them regret messing with our realm”

“Screw the realm, I’m going to make them regret messing with my best friends”

Keith very nearly hugged Pidge. She was a fierce little thing and he knew she could pull off whatever she had in mind. Despite not having found a way to communicate despite the distance, they had a job to do.

*

Hunk had never not been a natural born worrier. His clan valued family and strength. And in his earlier years he may have had a bit of trouble not wanting to actually hurt anyone given that he was so strong. Still, he definitely felt his worry was well founded. Lance had come back bloodied and bruised. Shiro had come back bloodied. Keith had come back cranky. And someone who was supposed to be a distinguished protector of the realm had betrayed them.

Too soon for his heart, they reached the gatehouse. Peering over the edge only made him worry more. Cultivators and civilians alike had been organised into rows, some dragged to lie where they were without so much moving and some had been beaten by hooded figures with their faces covered. Blood stained the terrace where there should have been peace. This wasn’t his first battle, yet all the other battles had never felt so personal. He and Pidge were as decorated as Keith, Shiro, and Lance, yet there were differences in their skills. And now he had to protect both his best friends from their enemies and from themselves.

Tugged back down by Pidge, he’d felt as helpless as her when Lance had gone and vanished again. He still owed Lance a firm, but not too firm, hit for making him worry

“Okay. First thing is first…”

Lance yelped at the unexpected smack Pidge delivered on his arm. Hunk shocked she’d pick that moment to hit Lance

“… and now that is out of the way…”

Lance yelped a second time, shooting Pidge a glare that Pidge shrugged off

“… and that was for Hunk. Second thing, Hunk, we’re going to need a barrier if things get complicated. I’m going big, so when the chaos starts below, make sure we start running. Lance, honestly, how do you feel? Without those three to worry, I want to know the truth”

Lance kept trying to rub where Pidge had hit him, Hunk taking pity and reaching out to heal the spot

“I feel better now that I can feel my arm again. Thank you, Hunk. And as for energy, it’s still low. I would like to save my energy for Zarkon, but as it is, I wouldn’t get close. It’s better we provide a distraction and perhaps it will spur some of our brothers to action. I won’t be able to touch their minds”

“That’s alright. I thought you were lying to those two”

“I wasn’t entirely lying. Shiro gave me some of his energy, the mask still had some, and I’ve stolen a little from everyone else. It’ll be bigger than the bandits, but smaller than Zarkon’s doom bubble”

There were times in life that Hunk had envied Lance. Like right now where Lance was being so strong for them all. He wished he could pretend to be as brave as Lance was pretending to be too. Pidge nodded

“You focus on left side and I’ll take the front and right”

“What about the back?”

“Oh, I’ve saved the best for last, but you’re going to have to trust me. Hunk, don’t forget, barrier and healing if we need it. You’ve got our backs and we know it”

Before Hunk could say something, Lance was adding

“She’s right. Sometimes we get carried away, but you’re always there for us. We trust you. I trust you. There’s no one else better at healing”

“Except for Shiro…”

Lance shoved him sideways with his stump

“Don’t sell yourself short. He’s a master by title, you’re a master in my heart”

It may not have made sense to anyone else, yet it made sense to Hunk. Lance was telling him he wasn’t lacking a single thing by being who he was and that him being who he was, was more than enough

“Thanks, Lance. You too, Pidge. I would hug you, but I’m kind of scared you’ll summon up a child to scare me”

Pidge snickered

“No, I’ll save that for when you’re sleeping tonight. Let’s show these demons what happens when you mess with me”

Pidge and Lance combined was a scary thing. With Lance’s energy being what it was and Pidge being Pidge, Hunk kept his hands in the centres of their backs to keep a close watch on their chi. Plus, he didn’t have to see the horrors that were causing chaos below if he kept his eyes closed.

“Aw, Pidge! I love it!”

“I figured it’s kind of fitting with your image”

“You mean from the demon realm?”

“As much as you try to hide it, I know you’re not the same… Lance, you’ve outdone yourself”

Hunk didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to at all. Then Pidge and Lance were nice to each other and he felt that maybe he wanted too. Lance gave a light laugh, Hunk nearly opening his eyes and then his best friend had to go make him all worried again

“It’s not that… ooops”

Feeling the wall shake, Hunk was forced to open his eyes. Standing as tall as a the gatehouse, a shudder ran through his whole body as he eyed the demonic beast in front of him. A fox. A giant 9 tailed fox. Kumiho. Everyone knew to fear the Kumiho… especially one tall enough to reach the second story of the gate house. Hitting the wall with one of its tails, the wall shook again

“Pidge… that is an illusion, isn’t it?”

“I may have gone in a little strong. It’s alright, they’re scared, just as the heavens would like. We should get moving”

Moving was good. Hunk could definitely move. Laughing at whatever it was that Lance found amusing and Hunk missed, Hunk was all for moving as the illusionary fox dived at the crowd. Grabbing him by the arm, Pidge tugged him on. She and Lance had outdone themselves as he found his eyes betraying him and looking down. The terrace was filled with demons. Pidge had said no children, then Lance had gone and done it. Those hidden in their robes seemed confused as the apparent demonic beasts went after them. Give him a nice clean sword fight any day… or something to shoot. He could handle that.

Keeping hunched, the three of them ran the rest of the length of the walkway. Fresh yelling was coming from the palace, Pidge filling him in

“Lance, they wiped out your side. They’ve taken out most of mine from the first wave”

“It’s alright, I’m sure they would have. I’ve left a secondary present back on the gatehouse… The main thing is that we made it. I know we are supposed to wait and watch, but we should get off this level. They’ll track the spell back to the gatehouse in no time. Thanks for keeping us safe Hunk. I could feel you”

Pidge shoved Lance playfully

“Oh, and what am I?”

Lance chuckled at Pidge

“I was thanking Hunk, yet I thank you, too. Let’s head down a level. I want to get off the walkway as soon as possible. Your demonic fox is living up to its name”

A boom came from behind them, Hunk shoving Lance and Pidge into the building as part of the wall collapsed. Pidge’s illusion wasn’t supposed to be this strong. Her fox seemed out of control to him, yet it was when he looked back that he noticed that it wasn’t the only beast. Lance had copied her, only, now they had a giant bear to add to his worries

“You made a Hunk!”

“He was busy helping. It didn’t feel right not to send them the message that he was as mad as we are. Shiro’s already wolfed on us, he tried tearing Sendak’s throat out but Sendak hit him”

Crushing the pair of them in a tight hug, Hunk loved them both. Lance laughing and patting his arm

“I know, Hunk, I know. Don’t tell Keith, Shiro, or Allura, yet you two are the best. Support is the most important thing in battle”

“You two are amazing”

Instead of Lance, Pidge replied

“No. The three of us are. Now, let me down before you actually crush me”

Letting his friends down, Pidge then punched him in the arm before Hunk could apologise

“You’re up next… whoa! What’s happening now?”

Blocking Pidge and Lance, Hunk forced himself to look down. One of the hooded figures was channeling some kind of spell towards Pidge’s fox. Purple magic whipping and crackling as it met the fox

“I’m not sure”

“Do you think they’re trying to make it real? Please tell me they can’t do that. Hunk, what do I do?”

“Can’t you cancel the spell?!”

“They normally run out in their own time!”

He didn’t think his time would come all this fast but if the fox was made real, then they were utterly screwed. Drawing Yellow, Hunk still found himself doubting himself, Lance smiling

“Good idea. If you can purify the illusion it’ll break before it becomes real, or you could try shooting them and see what happens?”

Nooo. He didn’t want options. Hunk’s got told him to go for the illusion pretty much because it was scarier than the spell caster

“That’s not helping. Which one?”

Pidge scowled at the pair of them, gesturing at the fox with both hands

“The fox. Obviously the fox. And then the bear. No offence Lance”

“No offence taken. I’m proud of our little Pidge”

Pidge grabbed Lance by the collar of his robe, as Hunk lined his shot, firing quickly, then letting Yellow deactivate. His aim was true, hitting the fox and wavering the illusion as the arrow passed through as he chuckled nervously

“I think that makes it one all?”

Pidge grabbed his arm, sliding her hand into his and then he was being tugged onwards

“We’ll make a gambler out of you yet. Also, it’s one all, other than Allura. I hope she’ll be okay”

Lance nodded

“With Keith and Shiro, I’m sure will be safe. Blue will keep her safe. Let’s continue”

Hunk sincerely hoped so.

[just-another-writing-sideblog]

Twenty Questions

Pairing: Klance (sue me) Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Word count: 1405 Requested : No(Please send me some)

"Keith, I'm sorry...he just lost a lot of blood" He could barely hear Coran over his heart thumping in his chest.Lance couldn't be gone, no,he'd promised, he'd promised that he would stay.God no please, lance couldn't leave him, please. Keith collapsed onto the chair, he couldn't breathe, he could feel allura's eyes on him but he couldn't bring himself to care anymore because Lance was dead.

"Thwack"

"Kogane, hey Keith, hey-hey look at me," His eyes shot open, he exhaled shakily, trying failing to calm himself down.

"Hey Keith, look at me buddy "Lance's gentle voice pierced through his panic, wait no Lance was dead.

"It was only a nightmare Kogane, breath shh-shhh" The latino's hands cupped his face, calming him down slightly.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" His senses were clearing, he could feel Lance's hands travel away from his face, he could see his bunker. He turned his head, he was sitting on the bed and Lance was kneeling on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I know we're not supposed to come into each other's rooms without permission but red wanted me to check on you, so I came in and you were crying in your sleep and I panick-" "Thankyou" "I'm so- Wait a second did you just thank me for slapping you?"

"...Maybe"

Lance cracked a smile, fidgeting a little he was clearly uncomfortable but too proud to ask to sit on the bed. "I don't think the floor's that comfortable, why don't you come up here?"Keith asked shyly.

"I'm fine, you need space.Really i-" "Lance, it's fine."Keith bit back a laugh at the other's surprise "Thanks" He brought a hand to his neck, climbing onto the bed.

They sat like that for a few minutes, the silence wasn't awkward but it wasn't all that comfortable either.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about?""Hmm?" "The nightmare, what was it about?" Keith sat very still for a few seconds,trying to figure out a way to tell him without telling him.

"It was about someone I care about. In it they, well they died." "Oh, I'm sorry those are the worst ones." "You've had them before?" Keith sat up a little straighter, and moved a little closer to the other boy. "Yeah, they're about my family dying or this one person." By the end of the sentence, Keith could see a light dusting of pink across his face.

"This person seems really important to you." It was probably Allura, he leaned forward, leaving barely any distance between him and Lance. Surprised by his own boldness, he leaned away slightly, and maybe he was just seeing things due to his utter lack of sleep but he could swear he saw a hint of disappointment cross Lance's face.

"Yeah, they are." He smiled, relaxing his head against the wall.They, he didn't say she, maybe Pidge?Keith stared at him, as though his face would reveal this person. In his pursuit for answers, he ended up noticing the way Lance's lips parted, how angular his jaw was and how his Adam's apple bobbed when he spoke and oh god he was saying something.

"Keith buddy, you listening?" "Sorry, what were you saying?" "I was saying that we should probably get some sleep."He smiled, getting off the bed.

He toed on his slippers and grabbed his robe, only when he was at the door did Keith realise that he was going to leave.

"Lance, do you want to stay?" Keith grabbed his arm, “It’s cold today and I can’t have my right hand man getting sick can I?” He let go of his arm and stepped back. “Yeah,but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for a little bit and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Lance brought a hand to the base of his neck playing with the ends of his hair.

“I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping anytime soon either.” Keith chuckled awkwardly and leant against the wall. "Well if you're not gonna sleep and I'm not gonna sleep, we could play a game!"Some of Lance's regular enthusiasm started to peek through.

"Fine, what do you want to play?"Keith smiled as Lance's eyes widened "I didn't think you would actually say yes!"

"I always love to see how much you believe in me” ''Well you're always the one who complains about the team bonding exercises!" "that's because YOU NEVER REMEMBER THEM" "It was one time keef, one fucking time"The Latino laughed.

Keith stared, he marvelled at the way Lance's eyes glittered when he laughed , it was a low musical thing that made you want to join in. Standing there in his room he realised two things. One:he was definitely in love with lance and two, his legs were falling asleep.

"But seriously we should probably sit down and play something."Lance's words were fast and excited like he couldn’t hold them in any longer. “Fine, what are we playing?” Keith stretched his hands above his head, trying to wake his body up.

“Ever played 20 questions?” Lance bit his lip, his eyes lighting up with excitement. His eyes were gorgeous, why hadn’t Keith noticed this before? It wasn’t like he didn’t stare at him all the time.

“We’re not twelve year olds at a sleepover Lance.” The red paladin rolled his eyes. “Aren’t we?” “Fine, I guess we’re playing Twenty questions now.” He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. It totally wasn’t to stop himself from pushing a strand of hair away from Lance's eyes.

“Ok first, did you actually shave Admiral Gangler’s eyebrows?” Lance started the game. “WHAT?! SOMEBODY SHAVED OFF GANGLER’S EYEBROWS?” “Yeah, the day after you were booted, he showed up at the academy eyebrowless.” “Seriously?” Keith laughed, he tried to imagine the old scrooge without his eyebrows which only made him laugh harder.

“Oh man, I’m sorry I missed it.” “You should be, what were you thinking, getting yourself kicked out?” “Hey!One question at a time!”Keith exclaimed, surprised that his voice came out as steady as it did. The Garrison was still a sore spot for him.

“Speaking of which….” “Fine. Who is this mystery person?” He wanted to know. Bad. It had taken guts but here they were, Keith staring at Lance’s red face. “Ah-ah-ah how does the saying go again?Curiosity killed the cat?” “But satisfaction brought it back.” He bit back a smirk, it wasn’t going to help his case.

“I’m gonna pass on this question.” “I don’t think that’s how the game works, Mclain.” Shiro was right in calling him a stubborn bastard. “Hmm and where’s the rulebook?” Lance took two brave steps closer, and Keith was pretty sure he was going to spontaneously combust if he got any closer. But Lance didn’t seem to notice, and took another step. “Very inconsiderate of him” A voice in his head noted.

“Shut it.” Why hadn’t he noticed that the logical part of his brain sounded oh so much like Shiro? “You don’t have to answer the question.” He was cornered.

“Nonono, now I want to.” Mclain stepped even closer, their lips were almost touching now and a guilty spark of excitement lit up his heart. “He likes someone else, he’s just playing with you keith.” There was the shiro voice again.

Listening to it for once he stepped back, effectively pinning himself against the wall. When had it sprung up there? The excitement was quickly taken over by nervous energy, suddenly he was hyper aware of all his imperfections.

“It’s you. Always has been, always will be” Eight words, it took eight words for Lance to wash away all his doubts and make him forget his own name.

“This was stupid, I should go.” The latino stepped back and Keith immediately missed the smell of cinnamon and coffee. Lance turned around awkwardly, his robe falling a little.

“Wait lance!” Keith impulsively grabbed his hand and lo and behold, they were kissing.

He didn’t know what to do with his hands, lance’s had migrated immediately to the back of his neck, his own hung awkwardly by his side until they decided that the small of Lance’s back was a good place to rest. After a bit the need for air was too great and the two pulled away.

“We should play more often.”

[askvoltron]

This is for Pidge!!

First of all, i love you you're so cool 😎✨

Second, what do you think of Klance? Because I know you definitely have an opinion on the subject

thank you !! i think you’re super cool too anon.

i think they are definitely......people. keith. lance. ya know. combine their names. you get klance. but seriously anon i’m dying here they are so oblivious me and hunk cry about it all the time